Hello Everybody,
The answer is you don’t. Or rather you can, but it is not a good idea. Presumably it is some sort of an emergency.
You have won the lottery.
It is a shot-gun wedding.
You are totally useless at forward planning.
Surely not just for a party.
Whatever it is you can lose the weight and there are plenty of crash diets available to help you do so. But be aware that you will lose mostly water, dehydrate and you will put the weight back on again within weeks. There are a few other problems, such as fatigue, cramps and muscle wastage. But this is an emergency and you really must lose twenty pounds in two weeks. So, no doubt you will try.
Having succeeded and lost some weight you may want to stay that way. After all, you just bought expensive new clothes and it would be a pity if you could not wear them after the event. There are two options. Either go back to eating your old diet and take the new clothes to Oxfam, or look at how to keep your new weight and safely lose some more.
The problem is you have been eating too much, not getting enough exercise, or both.
I am sure you like your food and probably don’t much like exercise. But it is not too difficult to change to a more healthy lifestyle. First of all we must know what we are talking about. We are not talking about living on nuts and spending hours in an expensive sweaty gym with a crowd of chavs displaying their six packs. This is not for you, so don’t worry about it.
The whole principal of gaining and losing weight is quite simple. Calories are like money in a bank account. Put more money in than you spend and it will go up, put less money in than you spend and it will go down. Eat more than you burn off in exercise and your weight will go up, eat less and it will go down. It is possible to lose weight healthily without exercise, but you will have to eat less and you will not get as fit. You lose weight faster if you exercise daily.
So how do you do it? First of all you give up things you probably like a lot. Junk food, cookies, sugars, fats, fizzy drinks. Clear out your fridge - if junk food is there you will eat it. What you should be eating is more fresh fruit, vegetables, lean meat, grains and fish such as mackerel. If that sounds horrible think of your holidays. Maybe you went to France, Italy, or Spain. You may have noticed a lot of people were slim. You will have eaten their food. Did it taste good? Most people say very good. It is also very healthy. That is what you need to eat - the Mediterranean diet. Eat your holiday food and you are on the best long term diet available. There are recipes on the internet in abundance and what other diet includes a daily glass of wine? Try it.
Now for the exercise. Forget the gym. Just take a walk. Start with half an hour a day, walking at a comfortable steady pace. After a couple of weeks try to walk for an hour a day. It can be half an hour in the morning and half an hour in the evening if that is more convenient. Keep it up and that is all there is to a healthy lifestyle. You will probably lose 1-2 pounds a week. Not exactly a crash diet but this is sustainable.
Then after a few months you will have the joy of hearing the most annoying words a fat person can say to a thin one. ‘Of course you don’t have to worry about your weight.’
See you soon,
Peter Stockwell
4 July 2010
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