2-Step Pandemic Weight Loss

Joining a gym, sipping green smoothies, and lifting truck tires is one route to losing weight. An easier way costs virtually nothing with rapid results.

Lose Weight In 3 Months

People say that the camera makes you look 10 pounds heavier. Is it possible that your sedentary videoconferencing has added a few extra pounds? Experts say it takes just a matter of weeks to get out of shape. Are you ready to trade your “backpack” for a “six-pack?” How can you emerge from your protective isolation with less weight and more sass?

You don’t have to weigh every bite and record every calorie. The general rule is to consume fewer calories than you burn in a day. If you are more active, your calorie intake can be a bit higher than if you are sedentary.

Step 1. Regular Food

Using common sense, cut out fattening snacks and beverages. Drink more water—before and after meals. Eat a balanced breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Each should have about one cup (or 8 ounces) of protein and whole grains, with twice as much fruit or vegetables.

You don’t need to obsess with measuring. Fill one-quarter of your plate with protein, another quarter with grains, and half with fruits or vegetables. This is the proven Choose MyPlate method. In between meals, munch on healthy snacks.

Step 2. Regular Exercise

Walking is underrated. Proper walking is ignored. Sports enthusiasts consider under 3000 steps per day to be sedentary. You do need to burn more calories than you consume. So a simple goal is to walk for 30 minutes 5 times per week. That is about 3000 steps each session. Pair walking with another regular activity as a reminder. For example, take a walk before a shower. Walk after eating a bowl of granola or emptying household wastebaskets.

Walk at a pace that makes it difficult to hold a conversation. If you can talk on the phone or to a sauntering buddy, you will have little benefit from the effort. You lose weight through exhalation. So you should be panting.

Those are the two steps. Easy, right? In summary, eat normal proportions of healthy food regularly and briskly walk 5 times per week. You should see remarkable results within 6 weeks. During the next 6 weeks, you may want to extend your walking to 50 minutes. Add some muscle strengthening with pull-ups, barbells, or planking 3 times weekly.

After each five-pound drop, you may experience an impasse. But with persistence, you will reach the next milestone.

Start Stepping

These tips sound simple, but everyone’s health goals vary. Do what you can, and increase according to your circumstances. You might begin walking for 20 minutes twice a day. Others may have the stamina for longer walks, cycling, swimming, or dancing. When your exertion is outdoors, you also get the benefit of natural vitamin D from the sun.

If you have a setback in fitness or food, shake it off and resume the plan rather than quit. Within three months, most or all of that sedentary pandemic weight should melt off. You will have the joy from fitting into your clothes and from the boost of endorphins.