How Long Does It Take To Lose 5 Pounds? Small Steps for a Thriving Body!

By - Aneeza Pervez

You might have a tough time losing the last 5 pounds. Even though you eat a healthy diet and exercise regularly, you still can’t seem to lose weight.

How can I safely lose 5 pounds? And how long does it take to lose 5 pounds?

When you lose weight from the standpoint of your health, it’s a good thing. Maintaining a healthy weight prevents you from many diseases and illnesses. But it is important not to take shortcuts while losing weight, as it can erode your bones and weaken the body.                                                                

How Long Does It Take To Lose 5 Pounds?

How long does it take to lose 5 pounds depends on several factors. Some of them are your current weight, diet plan, workout strategy, etc. Moreover, the quality and quantity of food you ingest are managing your weight.

As we know, excess fat builds up when we consume more calories than we burn. I require burning 3500 calories for 1 pound.

Losing five pounds a week is equivalent to cutting calories by 3500 over seven days. We refer to this value as a deficit because it indicates a decrease in calorie intake. It will take you 17,500 calories to lose five pounds in a week, which is a significant calorie deficit.

The amount of calories you should consume is 1,250 per day if you weigh 250 pounds, which is too low and could lead to starvation.

How to Lose 5 Pounds in a Month?

The three main factors contributing to weight loss healthily and sustainably are nutrition, training, and lifestyle changes. You can lose 5lbs in a month by following a training plan, eating in a calorie deficit, and resting and sleeping well.

We have put together everything you need to know to lose 5 pounds in a month successfully.

Losing 5 Pounds With a Diet

Keeping a healthy and active lifestyle is crucial to weight loss. Maintaining weight while exercising and following a healthy diet can be a smart choice.

This guide will help you how to lose 5 pounds with diet.

Calculate Calories Intake

Recommended calories intake depends on sex, age, height, and lifestyle. It is a general rule to take 2500 calories for men and 2000 for women.

While on a weight loss plan, it is recommended to burn 3500 calories; thus, you suggest eating 500 to 700 or even fewer calories per day. Indeed, this will help you to lose 1 to 2 pounds per week.

A calorie counter is a great way to guarantee that you’re still on track to lose 5lbs in a month while being safe and healthy. Data that is quantitative and measurable eliminates guesswork and gives you a clear picture of what is happening.

But how can you track your calories consumption? Following are the few tools that can help you to track your nutrients’ consumption:

Take In Enough Protein

Protein is the macronutrient that helps build muscles. Be sure to get enough of this macronutrient throughout the day to maintain your muscle mass. As a bonus, it induces satiety so that you will feel full between meals.

A person should eat 0.81 grams of protein per kilogram of lean body weight. Also, remember that although protein is necessary to build muscle, eating twice as much won’t necessarily double the development rate. When you’ve eaten enough to grow your muscles, eating more isn’t helpful.

So, how do you relate this to your calorie deficit? In general, proteins have a caloric density of 4 calories per gram. Indeed, if you consume 96 grams of protein (out of 500 calories), 384 of those calories will come from protein.

The following foods are rich in protein and can help you lose 5 pounds.

Balance Your Carbohydrates and Fats

You must take your remaining nutrients from fats and carbs. Both are essential macronutrients that are helpful for the body’s normal function. There’s no exact figure of how many carbs and fats you must eat for weight loss. It all comes down to what works better for you.

Some people prefer to eat food with low-fat and high carbs. Others like to eat fewer carbs and more fats. However, a balanced approach of these can work best for dieters.

Likewise, protein, 1 gram of carbs, is equal to 4 calories. However, 1 fat accounts for 9 calories. Ensure that your total calorie intake does not exceed your total calorie deficit.

Invest in Fiber

Including fiber in your diet plan is still important, even though it is not a macronutrient. Fiber helps your digestion and regulates your bowel movements. It thereby enables you to lose stomach fat.

Besides these, it also promotes the growth of probiotics and keeps you fuller for a longer period. Ultimately, this will result in a reduction of calories.

Aim to consume 25-30 grams of fiber per day to lose weight.

Eat Home-Prepared Meals

I don’t mind eating at restaurants or cafés. But, the problem in restaurants is the extra oil and butter they use to make their food taste great, but they can sap your calories.

Moreover, you cannot track the nutrients that you are ingesting at restaurants. Thus, it is good to eat healthy and nutritious homemade food.

With home-cooked meals, you can eat wholesome food while reducing the calorie-dense ingredients you consume.

Keep Yourself Hydrated

Staying hydrated assists with weight loss. It helps you in suppressing appetite and lubricates your internal organs. Moreover, it also boosts immunity and metabolism. All these factors help in moving the weight scale.

It’s extremely important to stay hydrated, regardless of whether you’re trying to lose weight. The more water you drink, the less bloating, the less water weight you have, and it makes you feel better in general.

Related: Will Eating Less Make You Lose Belly Fat?

Weight Loss Through Exercise

In order to lose weight, you need to burn more calories than you consume. Therefore, adding exercise to your routine makes sense since it helps you burn more calories.

You likely want to know how to lose weight and what kind of exercises you should do.

Cardio exercises, including cycling, swimming, and running, burn more calories per minute than resistance exercises. Ideally, a workout program that includes cardio and resistance training will produce the best results.

Here is the best weight loss exercise that will help you lose 5 pounds safely and quickly.

Cardio Exercise and Weight

Exercise that is aerobic or cardio is the ideal strategy for weight loss. Indeed, this is due to it having more physical activity, which helps burn more calories at once.

The following cardio exercises will help you achieve your fitness goal.

Strength Exercise and Weight

Calorie-burning activities of all kinds may help you lose weight. Weightlifting, for example, is a weight training activity that has several benefits. Resistance training enhances your strength, muscle mass, and body tone.

Resistance training makes your muscles stronger by causing them to work against a force.

Several studies have shown that lifting weights increases muscle mass and metabolism. The activity can also improve strength, flexibility, and physical function while assisting with fat reduction.

Among these factors, all of them help trim your body fat. Listed below are a few strength exercises for effective fat loss.

Yoga for Losing 5 Pounds

Yoga is another safe and effective method to lose weight. The more active form of yoga helps you in cutting more fat. Indeed, yoga, combined with healthy eating, can help you lose excess weight very quickly.

Here are the 8 best yoga poses for weight loss.

#1 Weight Loss Fact Many People Ignore

The majority of people try to lose weight only through diet, exercise, or yoga. For weight loss, you should maintain a balance between your diet and exercise and get adequate sleep.

Doing heavy workouts and ignoring diet or diet only without exercise will have little or no effect on your BMI.

Thus, you should make a good weight loss strategy that includes a complete workout and diet plan if you want to lose weight.

Is Losing 5 Pounds in 2 Weeks Good?

It is possible to lose 5 pounds in 2 weeks or even a week, but this is not a safe method. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended that losing 1 – 2 pounds in a week is safe. There may be more harm than good if you lose more than that.

Fast weight loss may seem fascinating at first, but it may cause long-term side effects. Some of them are the following:

The number on the scale is not as significant as losing a few inches around your waist and hips. The goal of losing weight should be to build muscle and drop excess fat.

Is Losing 5 Pounds Noticeable?

Weight loss makes an enormous difference to your personality, as well as your features and physique. Moreover, you may also notice a huge improvement in the functioning of your body. Losing even 5 pounds boosts immunity, metabolism and normalizes sleep patterns, mental health, and self-esteem.

Aside from these, you will notice many noticeable changes. For instance, your belly fat, abs, arms, legs, and thighs lose weight. You may appear more muscular and attractive.

Besides your body weight, losing 5 pounds also has a considerable effect on your face.

Related: Does losing weight affect your nose?

Some Benefits of Losing 5 Pounds

Listed below are some advantages to losing your first or last 5 pounds.

Can I Safely Lose 5 Pounds in the First Trimester?

If you are overweight and pregnant, you can safely lose 5 pounds to ensure safe delivery and healthy growth for your baby. Gaining weight during pregnancy is inevitable, but it tends to occur in the second or third trimester.

The best time to lose weight during pregnancy is during the first trimester.

In fact, the first trimester is a period in which you should take great care and precautions. Actually, this is the time zone in which babies’ organs develop, especially their brains and hearts. In these cases, extreme dieting or heavy workout plans can lead to malnutrition in infants. They may also prevent labor or cause miscarriage.

The mother-to-be can lose up to 5 pounds in her first trimester by following these safe and healthy methods.

Conclusion

Losing weight is good for your health. You can lose 5 pounds in a month or even in 3 weeks. Indeed, it is a safe and healthy time zone to lose 5 pounds.

Weight loss sounds exciting, yet it is not as simple as you might think. Losing weight relies on limitations in diet and exercise. However, the process is not straightforward. If you ignore your diet or exercise, you won’t lose weight.

But you can safely lose weight with a good and consistent weight loss strategy.

FAQs

How long does it take to lose 5 pounds on keto?

The ketogenic diet can be a means of weight loss both in the short and long term. A rapid weight loss can occur during the first week. There is a misconception that this is fat loss, but primarily water and carbohydrates are used up.

To determine if you’re in ketosis, you can test your body’s ketones. At this time, you are expected to lose 1-2 pounds per week. Furthermore, at this point, you will feel less hungry since the fat you consume will supply you with fuel.

It is generally advised that you maintain a caloric deficit of 500 calories a day. When you lose weight at this rate, you may notice measurable results in anywhere between 10 and 21 days.

Related: What to know if you’re Gaining Weight in the First Week of Keto

How long does it take to lose 5 lbs?

A 500-calorie reduction in diet will allow you to lose five lbs in five weeks. In spite of this, 3,500 calories do not account for what the body and metabolism do when dietary habits change. It may therefore take ten weeks to reach a similar result.

How can I lose 5 lbs. quickly?

Losing 5 lbs in 2 weeks is quick and easy if you follow these techniques:

Does drinking water help you losing weight?

A great way to lose weight is to increase your intake of water. It has zero calories. As a result, you burn more calories than you consume. Moreover, it increases metabolism and even suppresses appetite when taken before meals.

Switching to water instead of sugary beverages can also provide many benefits. A simple way to reduce sugar intake and calories is to drink water.

How long does it take to lose 5 pounds on a treadmill?

Regular use of the treadmill can be helpful for weight loss. Adding treadmill activities and reducing your caloric intake can help you reach a calorie deficit of 500-1,000 per day. You will lose around 1 to 2 pounds per week following this regimen.

There’s no better option than the treadmill for losing weight, as overweight people can still lose weight even if they can’t run long distances.

Related Articles:

How Long Does It Take To Lose Belly Fat?

How Long Does It Take To Lose 20 Pounds?

How Long Does It Take To Lose 40 Pounds? 6 Best Strategies to Expedite It

How Long Does It Take To Lose 100 Pounds in 9 Simple Ways?

Best Weight Watchers Wendie Plan

References:

https://medlineplus.gov/ency/patientinstructions/000885.htm

https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/nih-body-weight-planner-added-usda-supertracker-food-activity-tool

https://www.fns.usda.gov/cnpp/dietary-guidelines-americans