How to Lose Weight in a Month and a Half

Miracle diets and exercise infomercials will claim that you can lose drastic amounts of weight in just a few weeks. In most cases, this is simply untrue. In the rare cases that it does happen, it is usually in an unhealthy manner. While you cannot expect dramatic results in a month and a half, by eating fewer calories and exercising to burn off more calories than you consume you will most certainly see some weight loss within a six-week period.

Instructions

• 1

  Write down your current weight and multiply this number by 6.23 if you are a man or 4.35 if you are a woman. In a separate column, write down your height in inches and multiply it by 12.7 if you are a man or 4.7 if you are a woman. Add together totals from column one and column two.

• 2

  Multiply the age you are now in years by 6.8 if you are a man or 4.7 if you are a woman. Subtract this number from your final number from Step 1. This number is called your BMR; this is the number of calories your body would use naturally operating its excretory, respiratory, nervous, and other autonomic systems even if you did not move a muscle all day.

• 3

  Think about your normal daily level of activity. If you are very sedentary, multiply your BMR by 1.2; if you perform regular chores or light exercise one to three days a week, multiply by 1.375; multiply by 1.55 if you perform moderate exercise or play sports three to five days a week; if you participate in heavy exercise or other activities six or seven days a week, multiply by 1.725; if you are a professional athlete, health trainer, or otherwise engage in very rigorous physical activity on a daily basis, multiply by 1.9. The product of multiplying your BMR and physical activity number is the number of calories that you need to consume daily to maintain your current weight.

• 4

  Determine how many pounds per week you can realistically and healthfully lose; a reasonable number is between one and three pounds each week. Multiply your weekly pounds loss goal by 3500, since there are 3500 calories in one pound, and this will tell you your target weekly calorie deficit. Divide this number by 2, as you will be cutting half of the calories from what you consume and burning half of these calories through exercise.

• 5

  Find your daily target deficit by dividing the weekly dietary deficit by 7. Subtract this number from your total calories needed for weight maintenance from Step 3 to find out how many calories you should eat each day. Incorporate enough daily activity to burn the second half of your necessary calorie deficit and watch the pounds melt away.