How to Lose 30 Pounds Before Labor Day

If you want to lose 30 pounds before Labor Day, unfortunately there are no miracle diets that will help you. However, the right amount of exercise and eating the right types of foods can help you lose weight. View eating healthy and exercising as a permanent solution, and you'll be better equipped to keep the pounds off.

Things You'll Need

• Gym membership (optional)

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Instructions

• 1

  Calculate the number of calories you need to burn per month before Labor Day. According to the Mayo Clinic, 3,500 calories is equal to a single pound of fat. This means you need to burn 105,000 calories to lose 30 pounds. Divide 105,000 by the number of months left until Labor Day. For example, if it is six months until Labor Day, divide 105,000 by 6 to get 17,500. This is the number of calories you need to burn each month, which translates into about a pound and a half of weight loss per week.

• 2

  Cut calories. Cut your daily calorie intake so you consume between 1,800 and 2,000 calories each day. If you are currently eating 2,300 to 2,500 calories each day, this means you can lose around one pound per week just by cutting calories. Fortunately, this doesn't mean you need to eat less -- it does mean you need to change the types of foods you eat.

• 3

  Eat the right types of foods. The first step is eating a healthy breakfast each day. Eat eggs, fruit, oatmeal, milk, whole grain toast and English muffins, which can help speed up weight loss, according to Self Magazine. For lunch, pick foods like turkey, chicken and tuna, whole wheat wraps and pitas, hummus with whole grain crackers and salads with olive oil and vinegar. For dinner, stick with lean meats like fish, turkey and chicken, and eat several servings of different types of vegetables every night. Keep a food diary. Track everything you eat using a free online food diary from The Daily Plate, Fit Day or my-calorie-counter.

• 4

  Exercise to lose the rest of the weight. The Department of Health and Human Services recommends a minimum of two and a half hours every week of moderate aerobic activity or an hour and 15 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity along with strength training two times each week. But if you want to lose 30 pounds by Labor Day, you're going to have to do a little more. Pick a high-impact activity you enjoy doing, whether it's aerobics, running, swimming or playing basketball. With these types of high-impact activities, you can burn between 500 and 1,000 calories per hour. Do two or three hour-long workouts each week using a high-impact activity and combine this with two weight-training sessions consisting of squats, dead lifts, lunges, shoulder presses, push-ups and sit-ups, and you will lose 30 pounds by Labor Day.