You are probably looking forward to the next 2 months with great expectations regarding achieving your weight-loss objective. It could be that you're aiming to make the most of your vacation or sabbatical leave to ensure that you get a considerable number of pounds (of body weight) off. Whatever the case may be, a good weight loss routine requires some planning and effort to bring to fruition. In light of this, you may desire to know how much weight you can possibly lose in the next 2 months, and how you can go about it. If that's the case, then let's take a ride together - here and now.

First things first; the amount of weight you can lose in 2 months is 8 - 16 pounds, and this is based on the standard set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). To break it down; this means you will be losing between 1 - 2 pounds every week. This gradual approach to weight loss should help you retain the result for a long time, and it will even make it easier for you to forge ahead with a healthy lifestyle. This is unlike what happens when a weight loss routine is rapid or aggressive - which leads to an unsustainable outcome over time.

How weight loss works

The early stage of a weight loss routine is expected to evolve with a substantial number of pounds being shed off. This comes on the back of you losing body fluid, proteins, and other nutrients along with body fat. However, the trend is not expected to continue for long as your body system begins to get used to the routine you're subjecting it to, and by the end of the sixth week, it's only body fat that will be consistently lost. This is the case when you're following a slow weight loss - the healthy choice, by the way.

It is yet very likely that you experience a weight loss plateau whereby you hardly notice any significant shedding of body weight. As such, the scale may not capture the true picture as per how much weight you've really lost. Nonetheless, this shouldn't bother you or cause you to discontinue the weight loss program - you will certainly see the impact in no time if you don't stop. That said, the noticeable plateau can arise as a result of the dietary restrictions you are observing or due to the alterations in your body's metabolism that cause a reduction in the number of calories given off as your activity level increases.

Towards the goal

To lose 16 pounds at the end of 2 months, you will be looking to burn around 7,000 calories daily. You can achieve this by ensuring a caloric deficit of 500 calories every day. What this means is that you will consume less than the calories you regularly take to allow the accumulated fat in your energy reserve gets converted to fuel your body's metabolism. You can then aim to burn another 500 calories by engaging in exercises.

You can do cardio exercises like brisk walking, jumping rope, running, swimming, stair climbing, dancing, etc on different days. A good mix will make it all fun and ensure that you even achieve your weight loss - and fitness goal - in quick time. Besides, strength training like weightlifting, squats, lunges will also be very helpful in this regard. This is even beneficial in developing muscle mass hence bringing about increased metabolism - which causes more calories to be burned.

Keeping the wins

Shedding weight is one thing, and maintaining the gains is another. It's not unusual to see individuals who have successfully lost some pounds at some point gain weight again - in just a matter of weeks. This could be anyone, and it only takes a measure of discipline to keep healthy body weight. This will even be crucial in the instance where you'll not be able to commit much time to do exercises. It is to this end; you will need to see to the following:

Maintain a healthy dietary habit: There are a lot of benefits associated with keeping to a healthy dietary habit as far as weight loss is concerned. For one, you should watch out for the number of calories you consume; check the labels of grocery items; cross out junk and processed foods from your list of favorites, and stock your pantry with foods rich in fiber and protein - fruits and veggies are also great.

Manage stress: Stress has been implicated in weight gain or emergence of unhealthy body weight, and this is traceable to increased activity of cortisol. As such, you should find a way of easing off stress; you can do this through meditation and relaxing as much as you can.

Get adequate hours of sleep: A good night's sleep is a luxury you cannot afford to trade if you're particular about maintaining a healthy body weight. So, you should have at least 7 - 8 hours of sleep at night. Asides from the fact that having a good sleep is a means of managing stress, undisturbed night sleep can also prevent unhealthy eating patterns or overeating as hunger-inducing hormones are known to have increased activity levels at night.

Stay active: Your tight schedule may not allow you to have much time at the gym or do regular workouts, but you can have a way around this. For one, you can go for exercises you will enjoy doing - for instance, dancing, stretching, climbing stairs, etc - to burn calories. More so, you can have short sessions of these exercises at different intervals. All you just need to do is keep track of the number of calories burned during every session.

Conclusion

Starting a weight loss routine and continuing with it into the second month should bring about considerable gain. This should, however, encourage you to keep going and ensure that you sustain the weight-loss outcome going forward.

References

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Melby, C. L., Paris, H. L., Foright, R. M., & Peth, J. (2017). Attenuating the Biologic Drive for Weight Regain Following Weight Loss: Must What Goes Down Always Go Back Up?. Nutrients, 9(5), 468. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu9050468

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