How to lose ten pounds in 3 weeks

If you are overweight, there's a good chance you could be making smarter lifestyle choices. To lose weight, you'll have to train yourself to substitute poor choices with ones that will help you drop pounds.

Even if you have biological tendencies that make it easy to gain and hard to lose weight, you can be leaner and fitter than you are now.

If you follow the Lose 10 pounds in three weeks plan, not only can you start to get in the best shape of your life, you'll feel happier and more optimistic.

Here's what you need to do first:

- Take three days of this week to write down everything you eat. This will help you identify your specific eating patterns and spot areas where you can improve.

Always note what time it is, whether you're eating a meal or snack, and exactly what and how much you ate.
If you eat one banana, that's fairly straightforward. But if you eat one omelet, you'll need to describe how many eggs were used, and if it was an egg-whites-only concoction, what vegetables you put in it, whether you cooked it in butter or canola oil, and other factors. If you eat processed or packaged foods, save the nutrition labels. If you eat at fast-food restaurants, look up menu items online for specific ingredients and other nutritional information. Remember to write down all drinks, especially if they have calories.

- Learn to improve your diet.

Throw in beans. Beans are filling and packed with nutrients and fiber. Even if you think you're not a bean lover, experiment and no doubt you'll find types that you enjoy.

Always garnish with extra vegetables. Whether on a sandwich or burger, in chili or pasta, extra fresh vegetables barely boost the caloric level but add filling fiber and plenty of nutrients.

The most common diet mistake is eating little to nothing early in the day, then chowing down at night. But if you eat smaller, regular meals six times a day, you can quell the hunger and cravings that lead to nighttime binges. Stay satiated with a healthy dinner that gives you 350 to 550 calories.

When you're eating out, it's easy to succumb to the dessert cart. But those dishes can contain more than 500 calories. If you must, split a dessert with your dinner companions. Or go for the fruit plate. Or find something else to satisfy your sweet tooth—a cappuccino with vanilla syrup, or a small chunk of very potent dark chocolate. When it comes to dessert, think quality, not quantity.

- One of the simplest ways to squeeze fitness into your life is to walk more. Start the Walk-the-Fat-Off plan; each week has a designated walking program.

Week 1 :

- Figure out in advance what you will eat for each day's meal and snack.

Write out a daily menu, spreading your caloric intake evenly between your meals and snacks. On this plan, you will need to knock off 500 calories daily from your normal eating habits. This week's focus is to improve your diet by eating more nutritious and lower-calorie foods. Reduce calories in small ways—choosing lower-fat items, substituting lower-calorie spread and dressings, cutting out the liquid calories, and so on.

- Walk the fat off.
Follow a daily walking routine. No matter what, fit in some exercise every day. But if a workout feels too strenuous, back off slightly.

Week 2 :

- Focus on high-fiber plant foods.

You might not always be able to whip up your special low-fat menus. Or you may find yourself out with friends or colleagues—and margaritas and chicken wings. This week's focus is to improve your diet by adding more fruits and veggies to all your meals and snacks.

- Walk more (or figure out workout alternatives).

When you start easing off the strict calorie control, you can make up the difference by burning more calories through exercise. It's important to stay with the Walk-the-Fat-Off plan and increase the length and intensity of your workouts. The Walk-the-Fat-Off Plan provides intensity recommendations by the minute so you can follow the routine doing other aerobic activities besides walking. It's always better to do something than put off exercise altogether. If body aches are slowing you down (after consulting with a health professional) see if there are movement options that don't aggravate your problem areas.

Week 3 :

- Eat six meals or snacks every day.

If you are on a strict diet and/or you eat infrequently, you're not maximizing what is known as the thermic effect of food. The process of eating, breaking down and absorbing nutrients in food usually accounts for 8 percent to 10 percent of your daily energy expenditure, or about 200 to 400 calories for the average active person. Eating too little or waiting long periods between meals can minimize the effect. Some experts speculate that eating small, frequent meals has the potential to speed up your metabolism.

Keep in mind that eating protein with carbohydrates seems to induce a greater thermic effect—getting sufficient protein along with eating more "good" carbs tends to make you feel satiated, so you'll eat less and still feel full. And the greater amounts of fiber in the less-processed carbs crowd out extra calories. That helps your body burn more stored energy, and you'll therefore lose more weight. Continue to log everything you eat this week and how many times you eat. Make sure to meet a quota of six times per day.

- Be more active all day.

You can eat more if you move more. But to avoid gaining weight, you'll have to eat less if you don't move much. So the key to avoiding the starving-yourself feeling of deprivation that you get on many diets is to be more active. If you're more active, you can eat and feel satisfied, but still control your weight.

- Burn more calories by walking.

Exercising at higher intensities increases your burn rate, which is one reason why the Walk-the-Fat-Off routines include intervals of walking faster or more vigorously. And exercising harder provides another payoff: After a longer, high-intensity workout, your body stays revved up, burning extra calories even after you've gotten off the treadmill. A post-cardio afterburn could mean a loss of anywhere from 15 to 50 extra calories on top of what you burned while exercising.