How to lose 15 pounds in a month is the solution to the following problems:
You need to lose weight.
Your doctor given you an ultimatum, either you lose 15 pounds and lower your cholesterol or it is statin time.
This guide on how to lose 15 pounds in a month is going to kill three birds with one stone:
Weight loss
Lowering your cholesterol to safe levels
How to lose weight in your face
Without going into the well documented dangers of obesity and high cholesterol levels right now, let's get into the steps for how to lose 15 pounds in a month.
If you need to lose more than 15 pounds, you can repeat the following steps until you get to your ideal weight, ideal cholesterol level and ideal body fat percentage.
I am writing this guide on how to lose 15 pounds in a month for you, so please give me your feedback as to what additional information you need to be successful.
I am going to use an imaginary thirty day month for the template and you can start your day one on any day that you choose.
How to Lose 15 pounds in a Month – Day 1
Today you know that you must lose weight.
The question is how.
You might have seen a recent picture of yourself.
You were shocked.
Who is that?
Where did those jowls on your face come from?
You want to lose weight, you even want to take off weight from your face.
If you are like many other people, you might have tried way too many diets than you care to admit, so you are not alone.
Maybe nothing seemed too serious until your doctor said that if you do not take off the weight, you need to be on medications.
Whatever it is that is fueling your desire to finally get the weight off and get your cholesterol down to healthy levels, the question now is how to do it?
There is the weight of fat which is physically not healthy.
Then there is the weight of potential depressed knowing that you are not as healthy as you thought when the doc wants you on statins and has told you that you have a risk for cardiovascular disease within the next ten years if you do not do something about your high cholesterol level and obesity.
Taking off the fat will absolutely help get you fit fast.
Every diet can be boiled down to ‘eat a little less, move a bit more'.
But since we grew up a country where kit kats are considered food, most likely our taste buds are more used to processed foods.
So most likely the weight gain you are experiencing is coming from having too much good food too late in the day, or night.
And/or eating too many processed foods to ease the pain of depression.
If the latter, we both know that these junk foods are addictive and research has shown that the same areas of the brain light up for oreo cookies and cocaine.
I know that losing the weight will give you more confidence and a sense of control, especially when dealing with the nightmare of not being able to lose the weight.
Here then are your initial strategies for how to lose 15 pounds in a month :
1. Do not eat after 7pm and get to sleep by 10pm –
Start with sleep because the longer that you stay awake at night, the more likely it is to start noshing on junk food.
By 11pm you will get hungry again and make your way down to the corner deli to get a blueberry muffin and then might rationalize why you need some pepperidge farm chocolate cookies and a ben and jerry heath bar vanilla crunch.
The shock is that you only are overweight now and not a thousand pounds if you have been eating much junk food.
Also, the body is winding down in the evening and your body needs to repair and if the night time is spent on digesting another meal, especially one made up of substances that the body cannot even recognize like cheese doodles and snicker bars, you lose that opportunity of rejuvenation, what some people call the beauty sleep.
2. Get up around 6am and try to get in 30 min to an hour of exercise before you start the day.
What you eat and how you move your body is in your control.
So we have to pay attention to ourselves.
We have to take care of ourselves first, first thing in the morning, not last, not after work, not after some event, but we have to be the main event, because you are the most important person in your world.
3. What type of exercise?
At the minimum, walk.
As long as we are able, we should walk, at least 30 min to an hour a day.
There are many studies which show that walkers are the healthiest and that walking is wonderful for your entire body and cardiovascular system, even causing the blood vessels to become more flexible and supple, improving blood flow.
Use a treadmill, elliptical, swim, walk, run, get moving in some way.
That will also help to put distance between yourself and the pain of obesity that you are feeling as well as any feelings of depression.
Movement towards something is great.
Nature hates stagnation.
Molecules are always moving.
Sitting and crying that you are fat is against the laws of nature and of course makes us feel worthless and sad, because we are not living in the world of action, which is the nature of this world.
So, get up and start moving.
Try strength training 3 days a week, like squats, deadlifts, pullups, kettlebell swings and jumping jacks.
For example, on day 1 you might do 5 sets of 5 reps of squats at 110 pounds and deadlifts of 135 pounds, 1 set of 5 repetitions.
Think about running as well.
The other 3 days take an hour walk.
Do something that you can be consistent with for 30 min to an hour a day.
Of course, do not start any exercise program without consent from your physician.
4. Think about the food that you are putting into your body.
That food is powerful and will become your blood and that blood is what will nourish you today and going forward.
Eat the healthiest foods possible in their real state.
Stay far away from processed foods.
Eat vegetables, whole grains and when I say whole grains, I mean kasha, quinoa, brown rice and whole grain pasta.
If you eat any bread, must be minimally processed and only eat that in the morning and not after 3pm.
Fruit is for a treat, because too much fruit will make it harder for you to take off weight.
Do not forget to chew at least 20 times each mouthful, you will see that you will feel better and digest better.
If you predominantly eat real food, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, some animal food if you want once a week, a little red wine and dark chocolate for a treat and stop eating the junk, you are going to be rocking!
5. Think positive thoughts.
‘I love and approve of myself',
‘I am young, healthy, wealthy and wise',
‘By night and by day I am getting stronger in every way',
‘I look and feel great and appreciate everything and everyone that I have in my life'.
Sample meal plan and schedule
6am wake up and be grateful that you did. Focus on what you have and what you want.
7am Workout – walk or strength train or run or bike or swim
8am simple breakfast:
1/2 cup of raw oats
1/4 cup of grapenuts
1/4 cup of uncle sam cereal
2 tbsp of raisins
2 tbsp of walnuts
sliced banana
some orange or grapefruit slices as well as their juice on top of the cereal
1/2 to 1 cup of almond or hemp or rice milk or cows milk (though I do not recommend that for humans)
or
cooked oatmeal
or
sauteed vegetables with egg whites
Snack
An apple or some mini cucumbers and a handful of nuts
Lunch
A bean soup like black bean or chick pea
or
Peanut butter sandwich on whole grain bread
Dinner
Bowl of kasha varneshkes – buckwheat and whole grain bow tie noodles
sauteed asparagus and garlic
some raw vegetables
Lentil soup
Finish dinner by 7pm
Read, learn, meditate, do stuff that makes you happy
Sleep at 10 and plan out your next big day.
Let me know if any of this is helpful and if not, what do I need to do to make it useful and helpful.
How to Lose 15 pounds in a month – Day 2
If you got to sleep at 10 pm last night, you should be feeling pretty good if not great this morning.
Your body needs sleep and sleep is going to help you lose weight.
Weigh yourself at night and in the morning, if you have not eaten past 7 pm the previous night, you should see a drop in weight by morning time.
Yesterday, on the first day, you did some strength training, either pushups, deadlifts, squats or 30 minutes to an hour of walking.
Today will be a rest day from strength training and just focus on a nice long walk of up to an hour first thing in the morning before having breakfast.
Today's menu will be similar to yesterday.
Simple cereal bowl in the morning which will take you about five minutes to prepare if that.
Lunch will be a whole grain and some bow tie noodles with a recipe called Chana.
Snacks are vegetables and fruit when you are hungry.
Dinner will consist of a bowl of lentil soup and a whole grain on the side along with sauteed vegetables.
How to make Chana:
Soak raw chick peas overnight in a bowl of water on the counter.
Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a pan to sautee.
Chop one whole raw potato into medium size pieces and sautee in the olive oil until brown.
Sprinkle a teaspoon of coriander powder on top of the potatoes.
They should be crusty brown.
Put the soaked chickpeas, chopped onions, chopped cilantro, tomatoes on top of the potatoes.
Sprinkle a tablespoon and a half of hot curry powder on top of the chickpeas.
Salt to taste.
Pressure cook for ten minutes.
Voila, this will take about 15 minutes to prepare cutting the vegetables and then another ten minutes in the pressure cooker.
Leave in the pressure cooker longer if you want the chick peas to be even softer, but they will be pretty soft.
This ‘Chana' dish is delicious, easy to prepare, very economical and good for you, having fresh legumes and vegetables.
The origin of this dish is from Nepal as well as India where ‘Chana' is popular.
Chana can be eaten by itself or with Kasha, Quinoa or Whole Wheat Bow Tie noodles.
You need to learn to cook for yourself.
You will never wonder again what exactly you are eating once you learn to cook for yourself.
One excellent whole grain which is not even a grain, but looks like one is Kasha, also known as Buckwheat.
Buckwheat is actually not related to wheat and is a great food for people who are wheat sensitive.
Buckwheat are the seeds of the rhubarb plant, a fruit!
Here is how to prepare a perfect bowl of Kasha.
One cup of whole grain Kasha, they are triangular in shape and not cut.
Boil two and half cups of water in a pot.
Slowly stir in the kasha to the boiled water.
Add a teaspoon of salt.
Lower the flame to simmer, cover the pot and set your timer for twenty minutes.
By the end of twenty minutes, all the water will have been absorbed by the kasha which is fluffy and ready to serve.
In a second pot boil two to four quarts of water and stir in a cup of whole wheat bow tie noodles.
These noodles are called varneshkehs.
Add a teaspoon of salt or less and set your timer for eleven minutes.
Drain the varneshkehs and mix together with the kasha.
You now have a perfect meal of kasha varnishkehs.
You can add the chana on top of or on the side of the kasha varnishkehs.
Kasha varneshkehs and Chana is a perfect breakfast, lunch or dinner with an international flavor, Nepal and India are represented with the Chana and Ashkenazi Jewish Cuisine is represented with the Kasha Varnishkehs.
Even better, this meal will keep you full and satisfied while you are meeting your goal of losing 15 pounds over this next month.
You will notice that as of yet, no animal products have been prepared.
This is because you are attempting to lower your cholesterol without having to resort to statins, medication.
Only animal products contain cholesterol and even though studies have shown that eating cholesterol will not always raise your cholesterol, still, in a case where you are attempting to lower your cholesterol, doctors have recommended to avoid all animal products.
Before you read any more, make sure that you get yourself outside for a thirty minute to an hour walk or get yourself up on a treadmill, elliptical or in the pool for a swim.
Do not be lazy.
You will feel better after your morning exercise, guaranteed.
By the way, before your walk, have a glass of water with lemon to keep your body hydrated.
How to Lose 15 pounds in a month – Recipes
Simple Breakfast Cereal Bowl
1/2 cup of raw oats
1/4 cup of grapenuts
1/4 cup of uncle sam cereal
2 tbsp of raisins
2 tbsp of walnuts
sliced banana
some orange or grapefruit slices as well as their juice on top of the cereal
1/2 to 1 cup of almond or hemp or rice milk or cows milk (though I do not recommend that for humans)
Chana (Chickpeas) Masala Nepali Style
Soak raw chick peas overnight in a bowl of water on the counter.
Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a pan to sautee.
Chop one whole raw potato into medium size pieces and sautee in the olive oil until brown.
Sprinkle a teaspoon of coriander powder on top of the potatoes.
They should be crusty brown.
Put the soaked chickpeas, chopped onions, chopped cilantro, tomatoes on top of the potatoes.
Sprinkle a tablespoon and a half of hot curry powder on top of the chickpeas.
Salt to taste.
Pressure cook for twenty minutes.
Kasha Varnishkes Ashkenazi Style
One cup of whole grain Kasha, they are triangular in shape and not cut.
Boil two and half cups of water in a pot.
Slowly stir in the kasha to the boiled water.
Add a teaspoon of salt.
Lower the flame to simmer, cover the pot and set your timer for twenty minutes.
By the end of twenty minutes, all the water will have been absorbed by the kasha which is fluffy and ready to serve.
In a second pot boil two to four quarts of water and stir in a cup of whole wheat bow tie noodles.
These noodles are called varneshkehs.
Add a teaspoon of salt or less and set your timer for eleven minutes.
Drain the varneshkehs and mix together with the kasha.
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