“Can I really lose 50 lbs by doing 5 pushups and squats per day?”
Well, that’s not exactly how it works.
I wish it were that simple. The reason is because the whole approach is really about motivation.
If you are inactive and want to lose weight, the best way to motivate yourself is by setting easy to obtain goals.
Suppose you are overweight and want to start exercising at home with the goal of losing 50 lbs in 1 year.
If you set the goals of your physical training regimen too high you will likely become very frustrated at not being able to achieve your objectives right away.
If you say, “I’m going to start with 50 pushups and 50 squats per day”, you might find that you can only do 20 pushups and 30 squats.
Right away you will feel frustrated and likely feel bad about not being able to burn off the weight right away.
And, you are likely going to be feeling a certain degree of pain and soreness the following day.
You will also likely skip doing any exercise for the next day or so until you recover. Eventually, you might stop trying altogether.
Set Low Goals And Achieve More
By saying to yourself on the first day that you are going to start with 5 pushups and 5 squats, you will easily achieve these goals.
But, here’s the neat thing about setting such low goals for your fitness routine.
We also recommend that you read “Darren Hardy’s Guide to Losing Weight (What?) and Achieving Any Other Goal” for more motivation.
By setting goals so low that they are so easily achievable you will almost always do more than just 5 pushups and 5 squats.
More likely you might do 10-15 pushups and 20-25 squats.
You feel the burn and easily achieve your goals without overexerting yourself. You feel more positive about your achievement.
Let’s look at how losing weight works, and how physical exercise impacts weight loss.
In their article “If you Do 100 Sit-ups Each Day for One Week – How Many Pounds Will you Lose?” the author notes that:
Losing pounds requires a calorie deficit, meaning that you burn more than you consume. While it may seem as if 100 sit ups a day may lend itself to the six-pack of your dreams, solely doing sit ups will not help you lose weight… To lose 1 to 2 lbs. per week, which is the healthiest rate of weight loss, according to MayoClinic.com, you must include proper diet and exercise.
And, they also go on to say that:
According to Csgnetwork.com, a calorie burn calculator, a 145-lb. person doing 5 minutes of vigorous sit ups will burn only 33 calories. In one week, that’s only 231 calories — not even half of what you should be burning per day.
Although performing exercise routines such as pushups and squats will burn off some weight, it might not be enough. You will have to make some changes to your diet as well.
In their article “3 Exercises to Help You Lose 10 Pounds In a Month”, the author says that to lose 1 pound per week, you must understand that:
In one pound of fat there are 3500 calories. Therefore, in order to lose one pound of fat per week, you must cut out at least 500 calories from your diet each day. While you might typically use a combination of diet and exercise to achieve this deficit, it can be done with exercise alone. However, be aware that you may have to spend a significant amount of time performing the exercise in order to achieve optimal results.
Don’t despair because you do not have to eliminate 3500 calories in a single day. It actually works out to having eliminate 500 calories per day.
If your work out burns 300 calories per day then you can eliminate the other 200 calories simply by eliminating I can of soda and a bag of chips.
Did you know that your average can of soda pop contains around 140 calories? If you drink 2 of these daily and replace them with water, you can eliminate 1,960 calories per week.
And, there are also tons of ways you can eliminate even more calories without having to sacrifice a lot of the foods you love.
But, you should also keep up with the physical exercise routine.
If you can comfortably do 10-15 pushups and 25 squats a day, it work be too long before you begin to increase the amounts you started out doing.
In a couple or 3 weeks you might set your goal upward to 10 pushups and 25 squats per day. By setting goals low, you could now end up doing 20 – 25 pushups and 35 – 40 squats daily.
You might also decide that’s a bit boring doing this everyday and might consider doing more walking such after you eat lunch or after supper.
One thing to keep in mind – extreme diets or exercise regimens that are being touted everywhere generally don’t work!
The reason why this won’t work can be found in “How to Lose Two Pounds Per Week”, where Tom Venuto says that:
It’s not practical to do that much exercise, and it’s not practical to cut your calories below a 1000 a day and remain compliant. If you manage to achieve the latter, it’s very difficult not to rebound and regain the weight afterwards for a variety of physiological and psychological reasons.
Bottom Line to Losing Weight Successfully
It’s all about starting by setting ridiculously easy to achieve small goals for both exercise and diet and gradually building on them.
Now, depending how and where you start, you might not lose very much weight immediately. But as you build onto and increase you small easy to do goals, the weight will start burning off faster and faster.
Losing 50 pounds is very obtainable but it always starts with small baby steps.
Another great way to learn to lose weight is through a sensible weight loss plan. “Alkalete by Yoli” has a great plan which helps you lose weight. This plan considers that many foods we eat are too acidic.
The body is a finely tuned machine and needs a specific pH level to maintain good health.
Many researchers have now come to understand that many physical ailments have a direct correlation to unbalance pH level because foods which are too acidic.
We recommend you read our article “Body pH 101-Helath Risks and How to Alkalize your Body” to learn more.
Small Goals Lead to Successful Weight Loss!
