Achieving healthy weight loss is undoubtedly a process that demands time, patience, and commitment. But how long does it take? Perhaps you’re wondering specifically about shedding 10 pounds—can it realistically happen within a month?
For most people, safely losing 10 pounds in one month isn’t feasible. Weight loss experts caution against rapid weight loss as it could pose risks like gallstone formation and rebound weight gain, especially if achieved through extreme calorie restriction.
So, let’s rephrase the question: What is a safe amount of weight to lose in a month? According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), aiming for 1 to 2 pounds per week is considered healthy. This translates to a monthly goal of 4 to 8 pounds of weight loss.
While it’s tempting to aim for faster results, particularly in the initial stages of a diet, it’s important to prioritize sustainable and healthy practices to maintain weight loss in the long term.
In this article, we’ll delve into 7 simple yet effective tips to achieve a healthy and sustainable 10-pound weight loss.
How to Lose 10 Pounds In a Month
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Eat More Fiber
Fiber is an important component of healthy eating, and high-fiber foods are perhaps the best foods for weight loss. In fact, ample research shows that fiber intake is a strong predictor of weight loss success (2).
Fiber is found in many whole foods like vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and seeds. It’s super filling. Fiber passes through your body, so your body does not get any calories from fiber.
Therefore, foods high in fiber help you feel full without adding excessive calories.
So, if you like eating larger volumes of food, fiber is your friend. Non-starchy vegetables are high in fiber and low in calories. Adding these foods to your meals can add bulk without adding many calories.
If you struggle to get adequate fiber-rich vegetables in your diet, try adding a healthy smoothie. You can find 10 delicious weight loss smoothie recipes here.
Eat More Protein
Protein-rich foods are also foods to eat to lose weight. Like fiber, protein is filling. When you combine protein and fiber in one meal, you will be amazed at how full you will feel.
Moreover, digesting protein takes more calories than digesting other macronutrients.
Healthy animal-based protein foods include:
- Lean free-range chicken
- Lean turkey
- Fish
- Free Range Eggs
You don’t have to eat meat to get your daily protein. Plant-based foods also contain protein.
Healthy plant-based protein foods include:
- Nuts
- Seeds
- Beans
- Nutritional Yeast
Limit Refined Sugars, Refined Grain, Fried foods, and Ultra-processed Foods
You may notice that sugary desserts, chips, and packaged pastries never seem to fill you up. There is a reason for that. Refined sugar and grains are low in fiber and high in calories.
So, when you eat, say, a swiss roll, you are left feeling hungry even though you ate a high-calorie snack.
Clean eating involves eating less of these ultra-processed foods. Processed foods are filled with sugar and unrecognizable ingredients and void of nutrients.
Ultra-processed foods (even savory salty ones) are often high in calories and sugar.
Ultra-processed foods are not only high in calories, but they also use up fewer calories in the digestion process. Why? Because many processed foods are easier for your body to digest.
You can find a list of more foods to stop eating to lose weight here.
Exercise on Most Days
Exercise doesn’t have to look one way. You can work out at home or in a gym. You can use weights or your body for resistance.
Working out doesn’t even have to happen all at once. You can split up your workouts throughout the day by adding NEAT activities. NEAT stands for non-exercise activity thermogenesis.
NEAT activity is all the movement you do in the day besides traditional exercise. Today we are not getting as much NEAT as people did in the past, but we can find ways to add it to our day.
NEAT Ideas:
- If you have a desk job, set an alarm to go off every hour. When your alarm goes off, do a cardio exercise like 20 jumping jacks.
- While watching TV, march in place during every commercial break.
- Park far away in the parking lot.
- Take the stairs instead of the elevator.
HIIT workouts are another great option for those that are short on time. It can help rev up your metabolism, burn fat, and tone your body in a short amount of time.
HIIT workouts can even be performed without weights.
Drink Water to Lose Weight
Water is an essential nutrient, meaning our body needs it to live. Unfortunately, many are not getting enough water every day.
Water is not only crucial to our survival but is also important for our weight loss efforts. Chronic dehydration is associated with slower fat metabolism (3).
Drinking water in between meals is also an important step toward mindful eating. Drinking water between each bite helps you slow down and notice your hunger cues.
Plus, drinking water with your meals instead of sugary drinks will cut down on calories. Water is the perfect zero-calorie drink!
Activate your Metabolism
Foods that can help activate metabolism include:
Green tea
Studies suggest that green tea is an effective weight-loss drink. In one study, the women who drank green tea lost more weight than the women who didn’t (4).
Also, a review of several studies found that green tea appears to help reduce body weight (5).
Apple Cider Vinegar
Some studies suggest that apple cider vinegar may aid in weight loss (6, 7, 8). Including apple cider vinegar and apple cider vinegar recipes into a balanced diet is a healthy weight loss option.
However, drinking excessive amounts of apple cider vinegar can cause tooth erosion. So, don’t overdo it.
Capsaicin-rich Foods
Studies show that capsaicin may slightly increase metabolism (9). Capsaicin-rich foods include peppers and pepper-containing condiments. Cayenne peppers, jalapenos, and tabasco all contain capsaicin.
Whole foods
As mentioned earlier, whole foods take more energy to digest than ultra-processed foods. Include more of the following whole foods into your diet:
- Whole grains
- Nuts and seeds
- Fruits and vegetables
- Lean meats or plant-based proteins
You can find a list of other foods to eat for weight loss here.
Mindfully Eat
Mindful eating is about slowing down and giving your body time to notice you are full. An easy way to incorporate mindful eating into your life is to put your fork down in between bites.
Then, take a sip of water before you begin preparing your next bite. Many of us are scooping up our next bite while we are still chewing on the first.
When you are chewing, stop everything and enjoy the flavors in the food you are eating at that moment.
Can You Lose 10 Pounds in a Month?
Losing 10 pounds in a month is possible, although you will lose water weight along with fat.
Still, if you keep up with healthy eating and exercising, you will see 10 pounds of fat loss in no time.
How Long to Lose 10 pounds?
A healthy and realistic weight loss goal is an average of 1 to 2 pounds a week. This is an average. You may see more or less weight loss each week during your weight loss journey. At this rate, you can lose close to 10 pounds in 1 to 2 months.
Now that you know that losing 10 pounds in a month is possible, you may be asking what are the best steps to do this. Fortunately, we have those for you! Below are the 7 steps to successfully lose 10 pounds.
Are you hoping to lose a little more weight? You can find tips to help you lose 20 pounds here.
Summary
Losing 10 pounds is totally possible, but when and how fast you lose weight depends on many factors.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s guidelines states
1 to 2 pounds per week is a healthy range.
From this, aiming for 4 to 8 pounds of weight loss per month is not only doable but also healthy and steady.
You can lose 10 pounds in a month, although some will be water weight and some will be fat loss. When trying to lose weight, aim for 1 to 2 pounds a week on average.
To lose 10 pounds of fat:
- Eat fiber and protein-rich foods
- Limit refined sugar, refined grains, fried foods, and ultra-processed foods
- Exercise on most days. Consider adding HIIT workouts and NEAT activities to your day.
- Drink plenty of water
- Include foods that activate your metabolism in your meals and snacks:
- Green tea
- Apple cider vinegar
- Capsaicin-rich foods
- Whole foods
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