Last Updated on September 11, 2020 by Michael Brockbank
Starvation fasting, keto, paleo and other diets…that what many people think of when they want to lose 80 pounds in 4 months. However, you don’t really have to go to such restrictive lengths to drop the weight for health and fitness. In reality, it may have more to do with your motivation.
A lot of people will come out of the gate strong with exercise and dieting. But because of boredom and removing tasty foods, a large portion of these individuals will quit.
Personally, I’d rather rely on being motivated to improve overall health to lose weight without removing all the goodies I love. The trick is to keep an eye on how much of it I’m eating.
In fact, people are more likely to keep off the weight if they gradually slim down. [note]CDC – https://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/losing_weight/index.html[/CDC]
Is it Possible to Lose 80 Pounds in 4 Months?
First, let’s take a look at what losing 80 pounds in 4 months entails. Overall, that’s a loss of 0.67 pounds per day. Personally, I’ve recorded loss ranging between .5 and .7 pounds per day…so this is possible.
At least it is for me.
On average, one pound of fat equates to roughly 3,500 calories. So theoretically, losing 0.67 pounds of fat per day would mean you would need to burn 2,345 more calories in a day than you consume.
But keep in mind, this is an average for how people lose fat. This could be higher or lower depending on your physiology.
However, this average means if you eat a 2,000 calorie diet, you would need to burn 4,345 calories in total for the day.
It sounds like a lot, right?
But this is “total” calories. You’ll burn some just by being alive. This is because the human body is constantly converting glucose and fat into energy to keep you functioning and alive.
It’s kind of like keeping the engine of a car in idle while you sit. The engine will still burn gas, though not as much. And when you exercise, you’re putting your foot on the gas pedal and revving your personal engine.
Understanding Your Own Physiology
One thing a lot of people don’t put into consideration is how everyone’s physiology is different. Though we’re all humans, everyone one of us has a different set of needs and nutritional requirements.
Some are allergic to nuts while others can’t eat certain berries.
Personal physiology will affect everything from metabolism to muscle development.
Why is this understanding important for health and fitness?
Because knowing yourself and what your body needs will affect how you lose 80 pounds in 4 months. For instance, I could never do the fasting diets because of hypoglycemia. This is because I push hard when exercising and have low blood sugar levels all the time. [note]Mayo Clinic – https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hypoglycemia/symptoms-causes/syc-20373685[/note]
I would never do fasting diets anyway simply because the risks are too great to health and fitness.
For one thing, I am far too activity today to restrict caloric intake. When I do, I begin to get dizzy and pass out.
Are Mainstream Diets the Way to Go?
I’m not going to tell you that mainstream diets don’t work. But, they don’t work for me. I don’t like the idea of being restricted in what foods I eat on a daily basis.
And this is what impacts weight loss. If you don’t think something will work, it probably won’t.
Don’t get me wrong, a lot of people have found a great deal of success. On the other hand, I know an equal amount of people who failed at many diet plans because of restrictive eating.
Perhaps the best diet plan for you is one that you’re comfortable with doing. Whether it’s a mainstream diet plan or something you plan yourself, it’s all about what works for you.
If you can maintain your diet and lose 80 pounds, then consider it a success. Not everyone can because of physical and mental cravings.
How to Lose 80 Pounds in 4 Months
OK, so how do we go about losing some weight? Because I don’t know your specific physiology, all I can do is break down how losing 80 pounds in 4 months works for me.
Perhaps this can give you an idea of how to do it on your own. So feel free to modify the following in ways that work for you.
Committing to Living Better
First of all, weight loss to any degree is going to require a lot of mental discipline. It’s easy to get up and say, “I’m going to lose weight today.” But it’s another thing to actually commit.
For me, it’s all about starting my day with some motivational music. My phone will wake me up with the training theme to “Rocky.”
But that’s first thing in the morning. What can you do to keep yourself motivated throughout the entire day?
You need to find a way to commit yourself to live better in general. This means probably tossing aside some bad habits. I even went as far as to quit smoking cigarettes.
Monitor Your Portion Sizes
One of the biggest problems people have, especially in the United States, is overeating.
Fast food restaurants and other eateries make you believe a heaping plate of food for a cheap price is good. Unfortunately, these places are also feeding you about three times what you should be eating.
For instance, one of the things I used to eat a lot was one of the combo meals from Taco Bell. While the price was right, the calorie count wasn’t. Just one meal put nearly four times the calories into my body.
In many cases, this was nearly 2,000 calories in just a single sitting. No wonder I blew up to well past 300 pounds!
Nowadays, I try to keep portions under control. This means eating less at each sitting. So, I’ll still have fast food once in a while. But nowadays, it’s all small or medium sizes…and I usually don’t drink all of my soda.
And I only have fast food maybe twice a month.
If you want to lose 80 pounds in 4 months and be more likely to keep it off, you need to control the amount of food you eat at each meal. It doesn’t matter how much exercise you get if you’re still putting in more calories than you lose.
Increase Physical Activity
Next, you really should think about increasing physical activity. This doesn’t necessarily mean joining a gym or committing to a daily workout regimen of sit-ups and jumping jacks, though.
Anything that elevates your heart rate is good for you in terms of burning fat. This could mean running, swimming, bowling, golfing or even playing the Xbox Kinect.
Find fun activities you enjoy that help you work up a sweat. Remember, if you want to lose 80 pounds, you’ll need to burn more than 2,300 calories per day.
Now, this may sound like a lot. And in many cases, it probably is depending on your level of current physical activity. But for me, this consists of playing the Xbox Kinect twice per day and then going for a two-mile walk later.
Of course, this is in combination with keeping the caloric intake down.
The bottom line is that you don’t merely want to lose fat. You want to strengthen your cardiovascular system and improve overall metabolism. Which means you really should reconsider a sedentary lifestyle.
Otherwise, you could still put yourself at risk of heart disease even while losing weight. [note]Mayo Clinic – https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/heart-disease/symptoms-causes/syc-20353118[/note]
How I Lost More than 80 Pounds
So, how did I lose most of my goal weight so far? Well, it’s a combination of a few different things.
Just remember, these steps are what worked for me. You may have a different experience. And like I said before, feel free to modify this to best fit your specific needs and goals.
What I Eat
I keep calories to reasonable levels throughout the day. Since I sit at my desk 16 hours, I require less food because I am not burning it as fast as other people.
In the morning, I’ll have a protein shake, banana and either a Nutrigrain bar or a cup of fruit. For lunch, I’ll have a frozen meal of some kind…either something I made from Trader Joe’s or a Lean Cuisine I picked up from Walmart.
For dinner, I usually cook something and then portion out leftovers to create my own frozen meals. Which is great not only for health and fitness, but I don’t throw away food.
Throughout the day, I’ll snack on a variety of different things. It all depends on my mood and what I have the calories for that day. If I want something more, I’ll try to make sure I walk or play the Xbox to burn enough to “afford” the snack in terms of calories.
In a nutshell, I try to keep meals to less than 300 calories. This is easily accomplished if you’re monitoring what you put into your body. Especially when you consider how fruits and vegetables have fewer calories per gram.
My Physical Activity to Lose 80 Pounds
Now here is where it gets a little complicated for me. I work and play at my desk, which means I don’t get a lot of exercise throughout the day. I need to really push to get myself up and burn some calories.
If I wanted to burn 80 pounds in 4 months, I would have to get up regularly and do something to elevate the heart.
A few things I do throughout the day include:
- Playing the Xbox Kinect for 20 to 30 minutes. But when I play, I really throw myself into the game while wearing wrist weights or weighted gloves. This greatly increases the workout.
- Take a walking break every hour and a half to two hours. Because I have knee problems, I need to get up anyway. What better way to work out the kinks than to take a few laps around the backyard?
- Take a few minutes two to three times a day to workout with dumbbells or other cardio movements. I don’t want to merely lose 80 pounds. I want to be stronger and healthier in general.
- Walking to the store. Safeway is about a mile round-trip for me. And since I am often carrying about 10 to 20 pounds of groceries back, I am also working on muscle development.
- House cleaning. Don’t think of cleaning as a chore. I like to monitor my calorie burn to see how much effort I put into the house and yard. It’s a great way to help lose 80 pounds in 4 months.
Keep in mind, it’s all about what engages you. These activities are fun for me because I find a way to gamify fitness. Find activities that work best for you to burn as many calories as you can in a day.
Apps I Use on My Phone
We live in an age of smart technology, and there is plenty to help guide health and fitness. You might as well get the most out of it to help you lose 80 pounds in 4 months.
The most commonly used apps on my phone include:
Fitbit
I use my Fitbit data on a daily basis. This is because I am a geek when it comes to spreadsheets and tracking my activity. Again, this is fun for me.
As Fitbit will feed physiological data to my other apps, it’s the first point of losing weight. And it’s a helpful reminder that I want to lose weight for health and fitness.
MyFitnessPal
MyFitnessPal is a free food and activity-tracking app. You enter what you eat throughout the day and MyFitnessPal will tell you how many calories you’ve consumed.
And since Fitbit feeds activity data into MyFitnessPal, I can see when I need to exercise if I want to keep my calorie count in the green.
It’s scary when you start recording eating habits at first. I was shocked when I saw how many carbs I ate throughout any given day when losing the first 10 pounds for health and fitness.
Taco Bell is one of my demons!
Exercise.com
I like using Exercise.com to keep track of my physical activity. Because it gives certain exercises a point value, it’s a good way to gamify workouts. Plus, it keeps track of personal records.
At any point, I can see what day I broke my personal push-up record. And breaking records is another way I gamify losing weight.
RunKeeper
I don’t use Runkeeper as often as I should. And that’s something I plan on changing in the near future. It keeps track of walking, running and other activities that involve movement…including swimming!
Using GPS tracking, you can see your routes, how many calories you burn and any inclines along the way.
My Exercise Equipment
I don’t have a lot of exercise equipment at my disposal when losing 80 pounds. But what I do have has made a significant impact in muscle definition and calorie burn.
At the moment, my exercise equipment for health and fitness consists of:
- Xbox 360 Kinect
- A growing library of fitness games for the Kinect
- Pair of 2-pound weighted gloves
- Pair of 2-pound wrist weights
- Set of 2.5-pound leg weights
- Resistance bands set at 45 pounds
- Pair of 20-pound dumbbells
- Yago mat
- Armband for my phone when I walk
In reality, I haven’t spent all that much on my exercise equipment. In fact, I only buy a few items every couple of months to make it more affordable.
My next purchase is probably going to be a weighted vest. For the most part, I want to see how it impacts calorie burn so I can review the product on this website.
My Biggest Downfalls
I’m not perfect when it comes to weight loss. Everyone has their weaknesses, and sometimes it’s difficult to overcome them. But I don’t want an instant fix for losing 80 pounds.
If I truly want to succeed, I need to face my demons head-on. Otherwise, I run the risk of putting the weight back on.
Midnight Snacking
One of my biggest failings is snacking at night. Sometimes, I’ll even gorge myself into heartburn and sickness from overeating.
While this doesn’t happen as often anymore, it’s still something that is quite the struggle.
On the upside, I’ve still lost 80 pounds and have kept it off for the most part. If I can control the nightly snacking, I would easily lose the fat.
Getting into the Wrong Headspace
The second worst thing that I and plenty of others struggle with is getting into the wrong headspace. Since I also struggle with depression and stress, it’s easy to binge.
I’m a stress eater.
Or if I’ve had a really bad lunch full of calories, sometimes I’ll say, “to hell with it” and binge-eat the rest of the day.
The first step to being successful in losing 80 pounds in 4 months is to be mentally focused. Sometimes, this is harder than it sounds for a lot of people.
The best way to tackle health and fitness is to remain focused and in control.
Losing 80 Pounds in 4 Months is Possible…
Losing more than half a pound of fat per day is possible without starving yourself. It just requires a lot of work and motivation for health and fitness. Find a method that works best with your needs.
The last thing you want is your heart to stop because you didn’t take better care of yourself.
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