How to Lose 22 Pounds

Whether you want to lose 5 lbs. or 22 lbs., there is no need to drastically reduce your caloric intake or to stop eating entire food groups. Crash diets may promise quick weight loss, but you will most likely end up gaining the weight back because the weight loss would have occurred due to lost muscle tissue and water weight, not fat. To lose weight the healthy way, you have to do it gradually with the help of exercise and healthy eating habits.

Instructions

• 1

  Give yourself at least 11 weeks to lose 22 lbs. Lose no more than 1 to 2 lbs. per week by cutting out 500 to 1,000 calories daily. According to the Medline Plus website, this is a healthy rate to lose weight at and keep it off.

• 2

  Eat regularly to keep your metabolism running and feed your body constant nutrition. Consume a small meal every two to three hours of the day. Eat up to six small portions daily instead of three large ones.

• 3

  Learn how to make healthy food choices. Eat complex, brown carbohydrates that digest slowly, instead of simple, white carbohydrates. Consume brown rice and whole-wheat bread and pasta. Fill up on vegetables and fruits. Skip fatty meats such as beef and pork and opt for lean protein such as chicken and turkey instead. Read product labels and look for heart-healthy unsaturated fats, such as olive oil, instead of saturated fats that raise bad cholesterol levels.

• 4

  Start a cardiovascular exercise routine to increase your metabolism and burn calories. Bring the heart rate up by running, swimming, walking or biking for at least 45 minutes per day, three days of the week.

• 5

  Tone and build muscle tissue by working out with weights, three days a week. Muscle tissue speeds up your metabolism so you burn fat the entire day. Focus on all parts of the body. Performs weighted lunges and squats for the leg muscles; biceps curls and triceps dips for the arms and crunches and dead lifts for the stomach and back.