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How to Lose 30 Pounds on a Diet

Setting goals is an important part of accomplishing any major task. In the case of weight loss, 30 pounds is an aggressive goal and impressive accomplishment. To meet this goal, you'll need to do four things: track your calorie intake, track your calorie burn, record your progress and reward yourself for positive results. Thirty pounds is a lot of weight. Losing it safely will take several weeks or even months. But if you stay on track, you'll find those pounds will be gone.

Things You'll Need

  • Calorie calculator for food
  • Calorie calculator for exercise
  • Bathroom scale
  • Journal
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Instructions

  1. The Math

    • 1

      To lose one pound, you need to burn 3,500 more calories than you take in.

    • 2

      To lose 30 pounds, you need to burn an excess 105,000 calories.

    • 3

      Burning an extra 100 calories a day, it will take you 105 days (15 weeks) to lose 30 pounds. Do this with a combination of exercise and dieting.

    Calorie Control Diet

    • 4

      Before beginning, track your calorie consumption for a week. Your goal here is to establish a baseline from which to set your goals.

    • 5

      Use your journal for the week to identify where you can consume 500 fewer calories than usual. This may mean avoiding snacks, or simply replacing soda with water.

    • 6

      As you diet, make the most out of the calories that you do consume. Eat lots of vegetables, which have lower calories for their mass. Avoid processed sugars and sweets, which are high in calories but low in nutrients.

    Exercise

    • 7

      Choose two or three aerobic exercises to which you can commit long-term. Your goal is to exercise enough to burn an extra 500 calories per day.

    • 8

      Alternate daily between light exercise and moderate exercise. Exercise every day.

    • 9

      Track your exercise and estimated calorie burn in your journal.

    Celebrate Success

    • 10

      Because your goal will take weeks to accomplish, it's best to celebrate and reward yourself at benchmarks along the way.

    • 11

      Reward yourself with an activity you enjoy--not with food--each week you stick to your routine.

    • 12

      Set other excuses to reward yourself and celebrate. This could be total calories burned, total weight lost or inches shed from your waistline.

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