Lose 5 pounds a month OCTOBER 2010 CHALLENGE

It is great to see so many people. So how does one go about losing 5 pounds in a month. Let's look at it mathematically.

1 pound = 3500 calories! 5 pounds =17,500

To lose 5 pounds you need to create a calorie deficit through diet and exercise that equals 17,500 calories.

That sounds like an awful lot but lets break it down to a daily basis. There are 31 days in October so divide that out and you need a deficit of 564.5 calories per day. How do you do that?

If you are just starting out try not to make drastic changes you cannot live with.

I read somewhere to start by eliminating 100 calories from every meal. Its easy if you eat bread at every meal. Most breads (except diet ones) run around 100 calories per slice. If you eliminate 1 slice of bread from each meal you have already eaten 300 calories less than normal.

Now go for a 2 mile walk. Time does not matter as much as distance. If you speed up to walking a mile in 13 minutes or less, you will be burning more calories per mile. But for most beginning walkers, it is best to increase the distance before working on speed. A simple rule of thumb is 100 calories per mile for a 180 pound person.

Now you are at 500 less calories....that would be a pound for 7 days of doing this. And you now you are almost there.

Skip cream in your coffee...don't drink that soda or eat that treat and you are losing enough to lose 5 pounds per month.

LET'S DO THIS TOGETHER!

Terri