How Fast Can I Lose 20 Pounds?

My 4 simple rules that you can copy to lose weight.

Me drinking a gallon of a water a day — Losing 20 pounds in 30 days challenge. Me drinking my gallon of water a day.

Between my grief and moving forward, I have gained weight, my “Kummerspeck.” Most people did, and while it may sound cliché, love yourself, and be kind to ourselves, we still have to work on that belly fat — fast.

I am fat, and I have no excuse.

Life continues. The world is getting back to normal. Employers ask their employees to be back in the office, and some may even allow you to bring your pandemic pet.

The research has shown, 61% of people during the pandemic has gained weight. So I need to lose 20 pounds in 30 days, and I am not alone.

And for anyone who needs to go back to the office, it means buying new clothes a few sizes bigger.

Here are my 4 simple steps that will help you lose 20 lbs in one month.

4 Point-Action Plan

Rule #1: Drink more water.

Drink a gallon of water. There was a time, everyone was doing it. While we all heard of the advice, drink 8 glasses a day, it is easy to forget when you are busy. Or when you ate a lot, you feel full — that a glass of water will make you feel sick.

How many water bottles make a gallon

Depending on the size of the water bottle, you only have to divide it from 128:

Let’s say you have a 500 ml water bottle.

It is roughly 16.907 oz.

Divide 128/16.907 = 7.57

It means a gallon of water is equal to 7 1/2 16 oz water bottles.

Make it 8 water bottles and you are drinking more than a gallon of water a day.

As a general rule, drink when you are thirsty. Your body will tell you if you are dehydrated or not.

Stay away from sugary drinks. Although I have shifted to zero-calorie soft drinks, the sweet taste makes me crave sweets. So for the next thirty days, all that I will drink is water.

Rule #2: Eat the same meals.

Let us call a spade a spade. Losing weight needs a diet plan. And it has to be a simple eating plan, with simple rules to follow; otherwise, it is easy to fall off the wagon.

For my eating plan, here goes,

Eat when hungry, stop when you are full.

Lose 20 pounds in 30 days meal plan.

Water:

Lemon water — Optional.

You can substitute it with warm water. When I wake up, I don’t reach out and make myself a coffee.

I take half a lemon, squeeze it, and add warm water—my glassful of lemon water in the morning ritual.

Clean drinking water — 8 glasses minimum.

This is just me, but I am doing the “drink a gallon of water a day” for 30 days. I rather call it a routine than a challenge. I did it in the past, and I felt its health benefits.

By drinking water instead of reaching for food — to be honest, when I am writing, it is easy to go for that chocolate bar, for the processed food in the refrigerator.

Instead of cooking, I relied on fast food, unhealthy food because I feel cooking takes away time from my writing. That mindset has to change real soon.

I am less hungry.

Coffee — 2 cups a day?

Actually, to your heart’s content, again, if you have so many rules, you are likely to break them.

My only “rule” I am delaying gratification. I wait until 3 hours after I had my lemon water and make myself a lovely brew using my Hario V60 coffee dripper.

Proteins:

Eggs
Chicken
Beef
Pork
Fish

There are three macronutrients — protein, carbohydrates, and fats. I can’t overemphasize the importance of protein in my weight-loss diet plan.

I will not try to convert you to a keto diet or ketogenic diet, but I can say it works personally.

I was on a strict keto for three years when I first needed to lose 20 pounds or even more for health reasons. Otherwise, I would have turned into a diabetic person.

But low-carb or variations like slow-carb also work. Avoid anything white — that includes rice, bread, and anything with sugar.

To make my meal plan simple, what do I eat next to the water and coffee next?

I will start with having as many eggs, we all have been told that eggs are bad, but an egg is an excellent protein source.

I will also eat a lot of avocados, a great source of healthy fat.

For the next 30 days, I am committed to eliminating any carbohydrates.

Again, in a nutshell, it will be protein and fat. Eat until full, and forget about the ratio.

Rule #3: Intermittent fasting.

Many of you may disagree, and I advise you to ask your medical doctor for advice. But, again, I am speaking based on my personal experience.

As a rule,

Eat when you are hungry.

Allow a window of time for your body to digest your food. When we sleep, we fast.

It is why our first meal is called the breakfast — which literally means ‘breaking the fast.”

As I started to drink more water, I became less hungry and even delayed my first meal.

Lose 20 pounds in 30 days by intermittent fasting

Eating 3 meals a day isn’t a rule set in stone. Our body knows itself better than our minds, which at times play tricks on us. Our body knows when it needs sustenance. When it is hungry, follow it, not your wind.

I don’t advice you to feel hunger.

If the word fasting makes you feel uncomfortable, go back to the simple rule of — eat when hungry.

Rule #4: Commit 100%.

Don’t make losing weight a New Year’s resolution, one that you break because you feel there is always the next time, the following year.

But please be kind to yourself, love yourself, and love your body, whatever its size, shape, and form.

Do it for yourself.

One of the best ways to improve your health is to lose weight. We all heard this advice. While losing 20 pounds in 30 days isn’t a quick solution to your health problems, it is the first step towards living a healthy life.

Conclusion

It doesn’t matter if you only lose 5 or 10 pounds in 30 days for maintaining health.

What matters is that you continue to make healthy choices. Losing weight is one of them.

There is no one size fits all solution to weight loss, and if you have more than 20 pounds to lose, it is best to consult a doctor.

But, also read about intermittent fasting and the ketogenic diet. There are two people I trust, and you can follow them on Twitter,

Dr. Tro and Amy Berger.

They tell it the way it is, no fluff. They have their own weight loss journey and how keto made a difference in their lives.

Dr. Tro hosts the top-rated LowCarbMD Podcast, which you can listen to on iTunes and Google.

Amy Berger has a popular YouTube channel: Tuit Nutrition — Keto Without the Crazy.

I also believe in exercise.

I still do a few pull-ups, push-ups, and walking. But by focusing on one goal first, and that is to lose weight in 30 days, takes away the pressure on doing many things simultaneously, in my personal experience, leads to failure.

Lastly, be kind and love yourself.

Instead of a “lose 20 pounds in a month diet plan,” call it a “lose 20 pounds plan” the weight may not come off in 30 days, but whatever weight you lose in a week, a month, a year is a triumph in itself.

Bonus: How to lose 20 pounds in a month without exercise

If you are working from home, like myself, this tip may work for you too.

I rearranged my work area to include a small “pantry table” where my gallon of water is within my arm’s reach.

Drinking a gallon of water makes me go to the bathroom more often, which is good. Because when I write, I forget to stand up when I am “in the zone,” and sitting for long hours isn’t good for my health.

Meal Time has no set time. Eat when hungry.

Good luck, and I would love to hear about your weight loss progress and journey.

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As it was published on Medium on July 12, 2021