How to Lose 20 Pounds in 2 Weeks Master Plan

How to lose 20 pounds in 2 weeks? Yes, it is possible!

If you keep up with a healthy diet, throw in some physical activity, and be determined, you can achieve anything!

We are going to cover the core diet ‘rules’ which are a MUST to be successful in this diet and any diet. We have also put together a meal plan to help you lose 20 pounds in 2 weeks.

Whether you want to lose some pounds with or without exercise, we have got you covered!

How to Lose 20 Pounds in 2 Weeks

If you are trying to lose 20 lbs in 2 weeks, there are some basic rules to follow.

Here is what you should do to effectively maintain your weight-loss routine and avoid making common diet mistakes.

Set Realistic Goals

Knowing what you can expect from your body is very important.

Before you start your journey of ‘losing 20 pounds in 2 weeks’, try to calculate and see how much you are capable of losing with cutting down the calories and exercising.

20 pounds of fat equal to 70,000 calories as losing one pound of fat requires burning 3500 calories. See how much weight you can lose realistically and don’t put too much pressure on yourself.

If you are going to exercise, count how much calories your favorite physical activity burns.

Create an Exercise Plan

Your weight loss journey will be much more effective if you not only limit the calorie intake but also engage in some kind of physical activity.

Create an exercise plan and stick with it. If you are new to working out, don’t go straight to intense training. Instead, choose something easy that will still burn extra calories.

An hour of physical activity may burn up to 400 calories. And everything from jogging to hiking or dancing counts. Check this link to know more about the calories you burn for different activities.

Prep your Meals Ahead

Prepping your meals ahead is one of the healthiest strategies you can take to control your weight.

Having your meals prepared beforehand will not only save you time and money but also reduce the risks of cheating on your diet.

Sometimes when you are hungry you care less about what you eat and grab the first thing at hand. However, with meal prepping that won’t be the case. You always know what you are going to have for snacks and dinner after long working hours.

Additionally, you will be able to carefully count how many calories go into each meal. Thus, you won’t exceed the calorie limit and achieve the desired result after 2 weeks.

To keep up with the meal prepping strategy, use a weekly meal planner to make things easy.

Have Healthy Snacks Handy

There are so many options for healthy snacks that you don’t even have to worry about.

Berries, fresh vegetables with hummus, almonds, kale chips, dark chocolate, and the list goes on.

If you are leaving home, carry some with you so that you don’t buy something unhealthy or eat out. Additionally, you won’t come home extremely hungry and exceed your daily calorie limit.

Check out our ultimate healthy snack list under 100 calories.

Drink Water

If you want to lose weight, you should make drinking water a habit.

Always carry a bottle of water with you to make sure you drink a sufficient amount.

Try to limit the consumption of other drinks.

Water detoxes the body making it easier for you to lose weight. Additionally, avoiding drinking sweetened tea, sweetened coffee, alcohol, store-bought juices, and soda will decrease your calorie intake significantly.

A cup of your favorite coffee with added sugar may contain up to 50 calories. So, do the math.`

Snack More Often

Don’t try to cut down the calories by skipping your snacks. Just on the contrary, have a snack to feel less hungry for lunch or dinner. This way, you will eat less during your meals.

Snacking in between your breakfast and lunch, as well as lunch and dinner is a good idea. I definitely feel like hunger is under control when I snack every couple of hours. Something small and healthy 🙂

According to this study, eating healthy snacks promotes satiety and appetite control.

Try Intermittent Fasting

Eating during 8 hours of the day and fasting for the rest of it is a great method to incorporate during the 2 weeks of losing weight.

Intermittent fasting aids weight loss and it has been proven that it causes little harm physically and emotionally.

Intermittent fasting may be hard to follow for many. However, as restrictive as it is, the results will not make you wait.

Control Your Portions

To lose weight you will need to decrease your calorie intake. This means you will no longer eat as much as you used to.

To control your portions, use a smaller plate. This way, you will have less food on your plate, and therefore, fewer calories.

Always have a good variety of vegetables. Make sure protein occupies not less than 20% of your plate.

Consuming 15% more protein may be beneficial in losing weight.

Count Calories

Calorie counting is a good way of keeping track of your diet.

The key to losing weight is burning more calories than you put into your body.

Counting calories may be stressful if you put too much pressure on yourself. However, when done right, it is the best way to see how much you should exercise to use the calories you get from your food.

Fortunately, there are many apps on the internet that make calorie counting easy. check this link to know more about these apps.

Try Healthy Juices/ Smoothies

Don’t sleep on juices and smoothies while trying to lose weight. The important thing is to know how to make them healthy.

Some of the best ingredients to put in juices and smoothies to lose weight are berries, banana, leafy greens, nuts, seeds (chia seeds, flax seeds), citrus fruits, cruciferous vegetables, etc.

Well-balanced smoothies can also be a meal replacement and make a good addition to your 2-week weight loss diet plan.

Don’t Skip Your Meals

Skipping your meals is not a good option to cut down the calorie intake. In fact, it may have the opposite effect.

For example, if you don’t have a well-balanced breakfast, you are likely to crave sugar later in the day. This is because skipping breakfast leads to a surge in insulin levels.

Skipping your breakfast could increase the risk of mortality from cardiovascular diseases according to this research.

Not skipping breakfast, on the other hand, gets your metabolism going for the day and controls insulin levels.

How to Lose 20 Pounds in 2 Weeks Meal Plan

Two weeks is not a long period of time to plan your meals all at once.

So, if you need more motivation to start your diet right away, here’s a super easy meal plan that requires no cooking experience.

Monday

• Breakfast –  2 boiled eggs, half an orange or other citrus fruit
• Snack – Apple slices with half a spoon of natural peanut butter
• Lunch – Salad with fresh greens and tuna
• Snack – Greek yogurt with berries
• Dinner – Grilled beef with a side of brown rice and vegetables

Tuesday

• Breakfast – Blueberry smoothie with non-dairy milk (1 cup) and protein powder (1 scoop)
• Snack – Almonds
• Lunch – Grilled chicken salad with greens
• Snack – Celery and carrot sticks
• Dinner – Steamed salmon with broccoli

Wednesday

• Breakfast – 2 boiled eggs, a quarter of an avocado
• Snack – Greek yogurt with berries
• Lunch – Chicken salad with vegetables
• Snack – Coconut chips
• Dinner – Steamed beef with vegetables

Thursday

• Breakfast – Blueberry smoothie with non-dairy milk (1 cup) and protein powder (1 scoop)
• Snack – Berries
• Lunch – 2 eggs with a green salad
• Snack – Apple slices with half a spoon of natural peanut butter
• Dinner – Steamed salmon with vegetables

Friday

• Breakfast – 2 boiled eggs, a quarter of an avocado
• Snack – Celery and carrot sticks
• Lunch – Salad with fresh greens and tuna
• Snack – Almonds
• Dinner – Grilled beef with a side of brown rice and vegetables

Saturday

• Breakfast – 2 boiled eggs, half an orange or other citrus fruit
• Snack – Greek yogurt with berries
• Lunch – Grilled chicken with a side of grilled vegetables
• Snack – Almonds
• Dinner – Grilled fish with vegetables

Sunday

• Breakfast – Blueberry smoothie with non-dairy milk (1 cup) and protein powder (1 scoop)
• Snack – Coconut chips
• Lunch – Grilled chicken with a side of greens
• Snack – Celery and carrot sticks
• Dinner – Grilled fish with a side of vegetables

How to Lose 20 Pounds in 2 Weeks Without Exercise

Exercising combined with healthy eating is what will give you the most long-lasting results. However, you may choose to lose weight without exercise for one reason or another.

If you are someone that wants to slim down without much physical activity, these are some diet changes you should make.

Eat More Fruits and Vegetables

Everyone knows that fruits and vegetables are an important part of a healthy diet. But when it comes to losing weight, negative calorie fruits and vegetables are a great addition to your diet.

Some of these fruits are grapefruit, lemon, and other citrus fruits, apples, apricots, berries, including blueberries, raspberries, cranberries, and strawberries, mangoes, watermelon, etc. From vegetables, reddish, celery, cabbage, zucchini, cucumber, and mushrooms will work amazingly.

Switch Soda for Water

Soda contains a lot of sugar and thus, is high in calories. One can of soda contains around 150 calories.

When you are trying to lose weight and decrease the calorie intake, drinking so many calories that aren’t even good for you is certainly to be avoided.

Cut Down Salt and Sugar

Reducing salt and sugar intake is one of the first steps you should take to successfully lose weight and make your diet healthier.

We all know by now that cutting down added sugar is a key step for not only losing weight but many other health benefits as well.

If you are trying to lose weight and be healthy, try to avoid added sugar. Instead, consume more fruits and vegetables high in natural sugar.

Our no-sugar diet guide will be helpful if you are a newbie at cutting down sugar intake.

When it comes to salt, you are not recommended to cut it completely out of your diet.

While salt ‘contributes’ to water retention in the body, sodium is still one of the minerals our body needs.

Limiting your salt intake and having salt-free evening meals is an efficient way of losing water weight.

Eat Good Fats

Not all fats are bad. Even when you are trying to lose weight, consuming healthy fats is not only good for your health overall but is also effective in weight management.

Some of the good fat foods are avocado, nuts, olive oil, grapeseed oil, etc.

Endomorph diet is a good one for weight loss. It implies consuming good fats and lowering your calorie intake.

Eat More Fiber

Paying attention to your fiber intake while you are losing weight is quite important.

Fiber will keep you feeling full longer. It suppresses the appetite thus making you consume fewer calories.

Controlled fiber intake combined with physical activity may have positive results in losing belly fat.

Track What You Eat – Food Diary 

Keeping a diary to monitor your calorie intake is a perfect way of staying aware of what you eat.

In addition to calorie counting and tracking your diet, you can also weight yourself every 2 or 3 days to see if you have registered any success.

Seeing results in your food diary will also give you the motivation to keep going.

Food diaries are especially helpful if you are the only person monitoring your weight loss diet and exercise regimen.

Cook Your Own Meals/Avoid Eating Out

When you cook your own meals you know full well what goes into them. Thus, you can count calories and keep track of your eating regimen.

While you can eat healthy when eating out, stick to making your meals at home for at least 2 weeks.

It goes without saying that you should avoid eating junk food completely. A fast-food meal easily exceeds your daily calorie intake.

Cut Off Simple White Carbs

Simple white carbs, including pasta, sweet desserts, white flour products, and your favorite pizza cause an increase in the insulin levels. The latter results in weight gain.

And it is exactly the opposite of what you are trying to do.

Aim for a Colorful Plate

Having vegetables on your plate, no matter it’s breakfast, lunch, or dinner, is very important.

Vegetables are generally high in fiber and don’t contain much sugar, which a good thing if you are trying to lose weight.

Don’t forget about fruits, as they make a healthy snack for weight loss alongside fresh veggies.

Eat Slowly

Eating slowly is not an easy practice in today’s hectic pace of life. However, you should make it a habit to really enjoy your meals.

Not only will you feel good but you will also feel fuller after eating your meals slowly according to this study.

Eating slowly may also lead to fewer calorie intake as satiety hormones increase while you chew your food without a hurry.

How to Lose 20 Pounds in 2 Weeks With Exercise

Exercising and healthy eating – the best combination for losing weight.

Whether you have enough time for a full workout or can only fit in a few exercises into your daily routine, physical activity to any degree is always good.

Exercise Anytime

When you are trying to lose weight, it is important to take every opportunity to burn some calories.

If you have a busy schedule and can’t have a full hour to work out properly, do little exercises whenever you can.

Park your car far away from your workplace, move around the house a lot, do push-ups or crunches during ad breaks. In a word, any physical activity and movement will do you good.

Exercising for 5 minutes every 1 hour is also an option if you can’t fit in the gym time into your daily routine.

Try HIIT

High-intensity interval training is highly efficient when you are trying to shed extra pounds.

While they may not be for starters, it is never late to get into a new workout routine.

If you decide to try HIIT for weight loss, make sure to plan your exercise schedule well. You will need to have a good rest both before and after the HIIT workout session.

For starters, Tabata Yoga is a good option.

Exercise Every Day

Depending on how used you are to exercise, try to come up with a plan and follow it every day.

Exercising every day will ensure that you burn excess calories, thus leading to amazing results and help you stay motivated.

If you don’t have time for a workout session, do a few exercises to put you in a good mood and keep you motivated.

Take Pre-Workout Supplements

Pre-workout supplements may be a good boost for losing weight.

Taking BCAA supplements before your work out will enhance weight loss as well as reduce muscle soreness. The latter is common among people who are not accustomed to exercising.

There is a wide range of pre-workout supplements on the market, including creatine, caffeine, citrulline, and many others.

These supplements can aid you in weight loss. You just have to find one that works best for you.

Mix Weight and Cardio

Cardio workouts, such as running, jumping rope, and cycling, will definitely help you burn some calories. Only-cardio trainings, however, may lead to losing muscle mass too.

For the best results, the ideal combination of workouts is mixing weight lifting and doing cardio. The two combined will help you burn more fat.

Additionally, you will build endurance from lifting weights.

Walk more, drive less

When trying to lose weight, every calorie counts, and it is not only about eating.

Try to walk as much as you can and wherever you can. Increasing the time when you are physically active will only improve your chances of achieving your desired result.

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