Shedding 20 pounds quickly and safely is achievable with a commitment to lasting lifestyle shifts. But too-extreme diets inevitably backfire through rebound weight gain when old habits sneak back. To both effectively drop substantial weight and sustain your lighter physique, blend science-backed nutrition, exercise, and mindfulness techniques. Here are 12 expert tips to lose 20 pounds fast while building healthy patterns that stick!
Tune Into Your True “Why”
Clarity around your weight loss motivations profoundly impacts success rates. Are you craving more energy to play with young kids? Are you hoping to minimize joint pain or resolve health issues like high blood sugar? Or are you eager to feel confident and comfortable in your skin again? Connecting to your deepest “why” creates emotional fuel during the challenging moments ahead. Write down all the ways losing 20 pounds can positively transform your daily life –anchor into these truths when temptation strikes!
Address Emotional Eating Triggers
For many chronically overweight dieters, emotional issues around food underlie the struggle. Do you reach for sweets out of boredom? Stress? Loneliness? Habitually stuffing down difficult emotions with food creates rocky relationships with eating long-term. Build self-awareness around your unique triggers through journaling, then proactively insert healthier alternative coping strategies like taking a walk, calling a friend, or meditating when old sabotaging urges bubble up.
Cut Liquid Calories
Amazingly, each can of soda, sweetened coffee drink, juice, or other sugary beverage can contain 10+ teaspoons of straight sugar and 150+ empty calories! These liquid laps feel innocuous going down but add up fast. Simply swapping out your daily latte, soda, and juices for unsweetened coffee, sparkling water, and tea can chop hundreds of weekly calories. Hello, quick pounds gone!
Slow Down & Decrease Distractions
Modern life promotes mindless munching whenever we multi-task – typing while nibbling, scrolling social media during snacks, grazing all day at our desks, etc. Slow down, get present, and intentionally taste each bite. Removing digital distractions and sitting at a table to focus on eating makes overeating far less likely. You feel satisfied with smaller portions when giving food proper attention.
Fill Up On Water & Protein
Protein keeps you feeling energized and full while staving cravings far better than carbs alone. Toss eggs, Greek yogurt, nuts, seeds, beans, lentils, fish, poultry, and lean red meat into meals and snacks. Pairing higher protein foods with ample water prevents falsely confusing thirst for hunger between meals, too! Give your body the most satiating macros and fluids to minimize temptations.
Eat More Veggies & Fiber
Don’t undermine your efforts by restricting intake too much when attempting weight loss. Generous fruits, vegetables, and whole grains actually allow you to eat more food for fewer calories, keeping your body nourished on a deficit. Leafy greens, broccoli, berries, and apples are lower-calorie picks packed with filling fiber, so you eat less overall.
Set A “Stop Eating” Time
Nighttime fasting gives your system a metabolic break while promoting restorative sleep. Stop eating at least 2-3 hours before bedtime, not grazing right up until lights out. Turn off kitchen access too – wash dishes, floss/brush your teeth to cue your body it’s done fueling for the day. Sticking to defined eating hours stabilizes appetite-regulating hormones for effortless calorie reduction!
Schedule Refeed Days
When running high deficits trying to shed pounds, periodically bumping calories back up aggressively prevents adaptive downshifts in metabolism. Increase calories to maintenance levels every 7-14 days before resuming your regular deficit. Known as zig-zag dieting, this science-backed tactic helps with weight loss by preventing plateauing.
Incorporate Strength Training
Cardio burns crucial calories, but lifting weights and bodyweight training tones muscle essential for lasting change. More muscle mass equals greater daily calorie burn at rest. Just two strength sessions per week while running a steep calorie deficit prevents lean tissue wasting, so the scale keeps dropping! Squats, lunges, planks, and push-ups are perfect starters to torch fat.
Step Up Non-Exercise Activity
From fidgeting to household chores to extra marching in place, non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT) burns sneaky calories. Daily step count matters too – aim for at least 10K daily. Park farther away, take the stairs more often, walk laps while on calls, pace during commercials, or while cooking. It all contributes to cumulative calorie burn 24/7!
Monitor Macros, Not Just Calories
Simply tracking total calories aids weight loss, but optimizing macros skyrockets results. Protein foods keep you fuller while supporting retained muscle. Healthy fats enhance satiety, too, and fibrous carbohydrate sources aid workout performance without blood sugar spikes. Download a tracker app and set reasonable macro goals given your age, sex, size, and activity levels.
Pre-Portion & Meal Prep
Planning out servings and preparing several days of snacks and meals ahead of time prevents excuses for grabbing drive-thrus and processed snacks. When everything is prepped in appropriate portions, you eliminate mindless overeating! Meal prepping also locks in nutrition for the week. Set aside a few hours each Sunday for food prep and reap rewards all week.
The Takeaway
Through mindful nutrition, structured eating patterns, dedicated training, and daily NEAT, losing 20 pounds healthfully and rapidly is very achievable! But sudden changes only transform you short term without inherently shifting your behaviors and relationship with food. Rethink your routines, triggers, and habits with consistency and self-compassion. The lasting change that sticks goes far deeper than any number on the scale!