A workout diet plan for weight loss can be helpful if you are planning to lose some weight. Once you start losing weight and trying to achieve fitness, a workout diet plan is essential because it helps you to follow a proper diet and exercise to lose a certain amount of weight over a period of time.
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Plan Your Day to Lose Weight
Making lifestyle changes doesn’t come naturally. To change your eating and exercise habits, you’ve got to plan – to make it happen.
You’re running late, flying out the door. You might skip breakfast: the cereal box is empty, and the milk’s gone sour. Forget taking lunch: there’s peanut butter in the jar, but you are out of bread. Exercise before work? You’ve got to be kidding. It’s a typical hectic morning, at the beginning of a typical jam-packed day. What happened to those resolutions to exercise more, eat healthier, and lose weight? It’s easy for them to get lost in the daily shuffle.
In a perfect world, we could accomplish all this by the time our busy day starts:
- Jump out of bed by 6:30 (or earlier).
- Get a good chunk of exercise, 20 minutes or more.
- Eat a satisfying but healthy breakfast: fresh fruit, high-fiber cereal, and low-fat milk.
- Brown-bag a wholesome lunch: more fresh fruit, low-fat yogurt, whole-wheat bread, homemade vegetable soup (maybe that you prepared last night).
It’s true — with a little planning, this could be your reality. Your morning rush would go more smoothly, and your weight loss efforts would stay on track. You bounce out of bed, knowing what your next move is – all day, all week, all year.
“If you leave exercise and healthy eating to chance, it’s not going to happen,” says Milton Stokes, RD, MPH, chief dietitian for St. Barnabas Hospital in New York City. “You’re responsible for yourself. Use your personal digital assistant to set your day – gym time, dinner. Make these things pre-meditated – so it’s not like a surprise, you’ve got an extra hour, should you go to the gym or watch TV. If you don’t plan it, you won’t do it.”
Planning for Weight Loss
Planning helps you build new habits, says Barbara J. Rolls, Ph.D., the Guthrie Chair in Nutrition at Pennsylvania State University in Pittsburgh and author of The Volumetrics Weight-Control Plan. “Without planning, you’re always going to be struggling – trying to figure out how to eat what you should. You’ll end up making yourself eat things you don’t want to eat. Eating will always feel like work.”
Indeed, planning involves discipline – and that is a key trait that is evident among the “successful losers” who belong to The National Weight Control Registry. They have maintained a 30-pound weight loss for at least a year – and many have lost much more, and kept it off for much longer.
“It is very difficult to lose weight and keep it off – and people who succeed must have discipline,” says James O. Hill, PhD, the Registry’s co-founder and director of the Center for Human Nutrition at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. “People who are most successful plan their day to ensure that they stick to their eating plan and get regular physical activity. It takes effort to be successful in long-term weight management.
Goal No. 1: Plan Your Daily Food
First, take note of every bite of food you have during the day. Don’t forget that run through the supermarket – all those tasty samples you couldn’t pass up. “A food journal is the single best thing you can do,” says Gary Foster, PhD, clinical director of the weight and eating disorders program at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. “You become more conscious of what you’re doing. It helps you monitor yourself, and make corrections in mid-course.”
Dietitians call it a food journal. But really, it’s research for your plan of action, he explains. You’ll see where you need improvement. “Plans work better than platitudes,” Foster tells WebMD. “Instead of ‘I’ll exercise more,’ make it ‘I’ll walk tomorrow morning at 7 a.m.'”
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Keep it simple.
Journals don’t have to be labor-intensive, he says. Focus on your high-risk time slots when you’re most likely to get off course. Example: You know you eat junk at night, or that you snack after 3 p.m., or between lunch and dinner. Just keep notes during that time period. You’ll quickly see problem habits: banana split vs. banana, the whole container of nuts vs. a handful.
Set specific goals.
You can’t just tell yourself to eat less junk food after 8 p.m. Be specific – ‘I’m going to substitute popcorn for potato chips.’ That way you know exactly what to do. There’s no question.
Use weekends wisely.
“When things are a little quieter on weekends, you can think about the upcoming week,” says Stokes. “Decide what you’re going to eat. Go to the market, so you’re a little ahead of the game. You can even prepare food on the weekend and freeze it, then pull it out during the week.”
Consider your options.
Keep lists of healthy foods and meals you love, and plan accordingly, add Elisabetta Politi, RD, MPH, nutrition manager at the Duke Diet & Fitness Center at Duke University Medical School. “I advise people to think of five different breakfast, lunch, and dinner options. Then you’ll have some freedom – you can choose from your favorites. But your eating will be more structured. That’s what’s important.”
Shop wisely.
A well-stocked fridge and pantry can make it easier to grab a healthy snack or prepare delicious meals that are also good for you. Keep basics like these on hand: low-fat milk and yogurt, eggs, peanut butter, a variety of fresh fruits (including berries and grapes) and vegetables (including carrots and celery), soybeans, garlic, whole grain pasta/bread, fish, and high-fiber cereal.
Plan healthy treats.
Low-fat cheese or yogurt, hummus with veggies, and fresh fruit are great choices. Keep them at home; take them to the office. That will help you eat the right foods when you’re starving – especially in the late afternoon, during drive time — and when you finally get home at night.
Do it yourself.
These are great prepare-ahead healthy meals that will keep you feeling full and help you control your weight:
- Make a dried fruit-and-nut mix for emergency snacking. (Be wary of granola, since it typically has lots of sugar, says Stokes.) Pack small amounts in a little plastic bag – great for the car or office.
- Cook a big pot of homemade vegetable soup, which can be frozen for several lunches or dinners.
- Try smoothies – blend low-fat yogurt and fruit – for a grab-and-go meal.
- Mix up big salads or a pasta primavera with lots of veggies and whole-wheat pasta. Prepare large quantities so you can have a moderate-sized helping for dinner and then have leftovers for lunch the next day.
Buy healthy frozen entrees.
“These have really improved,” says Rolls. “They have more whole grains in them now, and they seem to be getting tastier. If I’m traveling and can’t get to the grocery store, I make sure I have frozen entrees on hand.”
Don’t limit yourself.
It’s OK to eat breakfast food for snacks, lunch, or dinner. “You can eat a hard-boiled egg or cereal any time, not just breakfast,” Stokes advises.
Goal No. 2: Plan Your Exercise
First, talk to your doctor – especially if you are overweight or are at high risk for heart disease, advises Thompson. Your doctor may suggest that you ask a fitness trainer to develop a workout plan that best suits your needs.
Analyze your morning schedule.
“You’ll find there’s a lot of free time there,” says Gerald Endress, ACSM, fitness director at Duke Diet & Fitness Center at Duke University Medical Center. “People tell me it takes them two hours to get ready for work. It’s not that they’re prettying themselves up – they’re basically just wasting time. But when they start exercising in the morning, they find they use their time better. One guy told me he got to work 20 minutes earlier on days he exercised. If you’ve got a structured period of activity, you know to keep things moving.”
Set your program.
Decide what works best for you, such as 8 a.m. on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. “You don’t let anything interfere with that,” advises Thompson. “That’s not to say once a month something comes up you can’t exercise. That’s OK. It’s when you’re making excuses three, four, five days in a row — that’s a problem. It’s got to be the highest priority because it’s your health.”
Know your options.
What kind of exercise – or physical activity – will get you out of bed in the morning? A yoga video, walking, a workout session at the YMCA? Figure out what will motivate you.
Tackle roadblocks.
Is inertia a problem for you in the morning? “When the alarm clock sounds, it’s easy to hit the snooze button,” says Bryant. A workout buddy can provide motivation. “If you know someone is waiting for you, counting on you, you’ll go. Once you go, you’re happy you went. Once you get past that inertia, you’re glad you did the workout.”
Don’t think of it as “early”.
It’s a mindset issue, says Foster. Setting the alarm 30 minutes early should not be a negative in your day. Give it a positive spin. “Quit thinking of it as getting up early. Your day starts when the alarm goes off. That’s how you should think of it.”
Remind yourself.
Put yellow sticky notes on the fridge or the computer – like “get off the bus four stops early – Mon., Wed., Fri.”
Reward yourself.
“Establish a goal for your workouts – daily, weekly, monthly goals,” Bryant advises. “When you’ve done those workouts, accomplished those goals, pat yourself on the back.” He suggests going out and buying a favorite DVD or CD, or even getting yourself that iPod you wanted! “Rewards help keep you motivated,” says Foster.
“Planning helps you overcome the unpredictability of daily life,” says Foster. “Having any plan, even if it’s a bad or ineffective plan, increases your confidence in accomplishing the task at hand. Just the fact that you’ve thought it through means it will have some effect.”
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A Trainer’s 4-Week Workout Plan to Jump-Start Weight Loss
For many people, losing a little weight and improving health go hand in hand.
Although your health and fitness are measured by far more than your weight, research suggests that the rising rate of obesity correlates with increased rates of metabolic and cardiovascular diseases that can ultimately cause major health problems
Don’t get me wrong, you should not fixate singularly on weight loss. However, if you do want to lose weight, this 4-week workout program for weight loss will rev up your metabolic engine and kick-start your weight loss journey.
Meet your trainer
My name is Tyler Read. I have a Bachelor of Science in kinesiology, and I’m a National Academy of Sports Medicine certified personal trainer. I’ve been coaching fitness clients for more than a decade.
In that time, the vast majority of my general fitness clients have wanted to lose weight and be healthier — and they typically have not had much time each day for exercise.
With this in mind, I’ve consistently relied on short, hard-hitting workouts my clients can do on a daily basis, alternating cardio and strength training and performing workouts on their own.
Losing weight requires a calorie deficit, meaning you must burn more calories than you eat in a given time frame, typically broken down into calories per day.
Although effective exercise programs can certainly speed up your weight loss, it’s important to remember that long-term weight management requires sustaining healthy habits over time.
This includes eating a variety of whole foods, drinking enough water, and ensuring you get enough sleep and manage stress.
That said, research shows that exercise plays an important role in weight loss
My 4-week workout plan for weight loss is a great way to kick-start your journey toward better health or add more variety to your workouts if you already consistently exercise.
4-week weight loss program structure
I build my program around three types of training:
- upper and lower body strength training
- interval training/conditioning
- low-intensity cardio
The strength training will help you build muscle and strength that you can apply to your interval training.
Furthermore, the added muscle will increase your metabolism over time, meaning you’ll burn more calories at rest just to sustain yourself, which can contribute to the calorie deficit required for weight loss
Interval training will provide a massive metabolic boost immediately after your workout. Interval training involves brief periods of high-intensity exercise followed by relatively short rest periods.
This method keeps your heart rate elevated throughout the workout, giving you aerobic benefits while maintaining sufficient intensity to stoke your metabolic fire.
Finally, low-intensity cardio, such as walking, jogging, swimming, or cycling, gives you a slight bump in your daily calorie burn and allows you to exercise while recovering from the more intense strength and interval training.
You can perform an hour or more of cardio, but even just 20 minutes is sufficient.
Each workout should take roughly 20–22 minutes, allowing you to fit the program into a busy schedule.
Over the course of 4 weeks, this workout structure helps target weight loss on all fronts, through both daily calorie burn and increase your metabolism over time.
Start with a lighter weight and increase the weight of each set until you find the point where the final repetition gets really hard.
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Week 1
Day 1: Lower body strength
Equipment: dumbbells or kettlebells, barbells and plates, leg curl and/or leg extension machines
- 3×12 dumbbell/kettlebell goblet squat
- 3×12 barbell or kettlebell deadlift
- 3×20 walking lunge with dumbbells (10 on each side)
- Optional: 3×12 leg curl and extension in the gym
Day 2: Low-intensity cardio for at least 20 minutes
- Choose walking, light jogging, or your preferred method of cardio — even better if you can do it outside!
Day 3: Upper body strength
Equipment: pullup bar or lat pulldown machine, dumbbells
- 3×12 pullup or lat pulldown
- 3×12 dumbbell overhead press
- 3×12 dumbbell row
- 3×12 dumbbell bench press
- Optional: 3×12 biceps curl and triceps extension
Day 4: Low-intensity cardio for at least 20 minutes
Day 5: Interval conditioning
Equipment: plyometric box, slam ball
Perform the following exercises for 15 seconds at a hard pace, then rest for 15 seconds and move to the next exercise. I’ve included two options you can choose between, depending on your current level.
Exercises focus on lower body movements performed at a moderate to high pace.
The large muscle groups in this area help get your heart pumping much more effectively than exercises using smaller muscle groups.
For Week 1, perform 3 rounds of the following as discussed above:
- Squat or jump squat
- Box stepup or power stepup
- Alternating lunge or jumping lunge
- Lateral box step up or ice skater
- Burpee
Week 2
Week 2 involves the same exercises as Week 1. However, you should be performing 1 warmup set and then switching to the weight you finished with last week and, if possible, increasing the weight of each set.
Bump up the intensity or duration of your cardio sessions by 5–10%. Be sure to keep it light enough that you can perform a minimum of 20 minutes without stopping.
For the conditioning, perform 4 total rounds instead of 3.
Day 1: Lower body strength
Equipment: dumbbells or kettlebells, barbells and plates, leg curl/extension machines
- 3×12 dumbbell/kettlebell goblet squat
- 3×12 barbell or kettlebell deadlift
- 3×20 walking lunge with dumbbells (10 on each side)
- Optional: 3×12 leg curl and extension
Perform 1 warmup set with body weight or light weight before starting the 3 working sets.
Day 2: Low-intensity cardio for at least 20 minutes
- Bump up time or intensity by 5–10% from Week 1.
Day 3: Upper body strength
Equipment: pullup bar or lat pulldown, dumbbells
- 3×12 pullup or lat pulldown
- 3×12 dumbbell overhead press
- 3×12 dumbbell row
- 3×12 dumbbell bench press
- Optional: 3×12 biceps curl and triceps extension
Perform 1 warmup set with body weight or light weight before starting the 3 working sets.
Day 4: Low-intensity cardio for at least 20 minutes
Day 5: Conditioning
Equipment: plyometric box, slam ball
Perform the following exercises for 15 seconds at a hard pace, then rest for 15 seconds and move to the next exercise.
For Week 2, perform 4 rounds of the following as discussed above:
- Squat or jump squat
- Box stepup or power stepup
- Alternating lunge or jumping lunge
- Lateral box step up or ice skater
- Burpee
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Week 3
In Week 3, I reduce the repetitions on the resistance training to 8 per set, which should allow you to increase the weight relative to your 12-rep sets.
If you can, begin performing barbell movements instead of using dumbbells, but either one is OK.
This takes the muscular endurance and movement proficiency from Weeks 1 and 2 and triggers more strength and muscle growth.
Bump up your cardio another 5–10% and perform 5 total cycles of your interval training.
Day 1: Lower body strength
Equipment: dumbbells or kettlebells, barbells and plates, leg curl/extension machines
- 3×8 barbell back squat or dumbbell/kettlebell goblet squat
- 3×8 barbell or kettlebell deadlift
- 3×16 walking lunge with barbell or dumbbells (8 each side)
- Optional: 3×10 leg curl and leg extension (keep reps higher on these isolation movements)
Perform 1 warmup set with body weight or light weight before starting the 3 working sets.
Day 2: Low intensity cardio for at least 20 minutes
- Bump up time or intensity by 5–10% from Week 2.
Day 3: Upper body strength
Equipment: pullup bar or lat pulldown, dumbbells
- 3×8 pullup or lat pulldown
- 3×8 barbell or dumbbell overhead press
- 3×8 barbell or dumbbell row
- 3×8 barbell or dumbbell bench press
- Optional: 3×10 biceps curl and triceps extension (keep reps higher on these isolation movements)
Perform 1 warmup set with body weight or light weight before starting the 3 working sets.
Day 4: Low intensity cardio for at least 20 minutes
Day 5: Interval training/conditioning
Equipment: plyometric box, slam ball
Perform the following exercises for 15 seconds at a hard pace, then rest for 15 seconds and move to the next exercise.
For Week 3, perform 5 rounds of the following:
- Squat or jump squat
- Box stepup or power stepup
- Alternating lunge or jumping lunge
- Lateral box stepup or ice skater
- Burpee
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Week 4
There is nothing particularly special about Week 4.
You will continue increasing the weight on the strength exercises, bumping up your aerobic intensity, and performing a full 6 rounds of conditioning. If this is too intense, you can dial back as needed.
Day 1: Lower body strength
Equipment: dumbbells or kettlebells, barbell and plates, leg curl/extension machines
- 3×8 barbell back squat or dumbbell/kettlebell goblet squat
- 3×8 barbell or kettlebell deadlift
- 3×16 walking lunge with barbell or dumbbells (8 each side)
- Optional: 3×10 leg curl and extension (keep reps higher on these isolation movements)
Perform 1 warmup set with body weight or light weight before starting the 3 working sets.
Day 2: Low intensity cardio for at least 20 minutes
- Bump up time or intensity by 5–10% from Week 3.
Day 3: Upper body strength
Equipment: pullup bar or lat pulldown, dumbbells
- 3×8 pullup or lat pulldown
- 3×8 barbell or dumbbell overhead press
- 3×8 barbell or dumbbell rows
- 3×8 barbell or dumbbell bench press
- Optional: 3×10 biceps curl and triceps extension (keep reps higher on these isolation movements)
Perform 1 warmup set with body weight or light weight before starting the 3 working sets.
Day 4: Low intensity cardio for at least 20 minutes
Day 5: Interval training/conditioning
Equipment: plyometric box, slam ball
Perform the following exercises for 15 seconds at a hard pace, then rest for 15 seconds and move to the next exercise.
For Week 4, perform 6 rounds of the following:
- Squat or jump squat
- Box stepup or power stepup
- Alternating lunge or jumping lunge
- Lateral box stepup or ice skater
- Burpee
What is a healthy 4-week weight loss goal?
The typical weight loss recommendation is to lose 1 pound of body fat per week, which is achieved through a 500-calorie deficit per day
With the above program, you may be able to further lose weight by hitting more than a 500-calorie deficit, but this is difficult for most people.
I should mention that losing a pound of fat per week typically results in more than a pound of scale weight lost due to lost water weight.
While a pound of fat per week might not sound like much, if you are currently overweight, losing even small amounts of weight can result in drastic improvements to your health
Given that weight maintenance is a long-term process, think of my 4-week program as a way to kick-start your journey as opposed to a one-stop shop for weight loss.
Exercising and staying motivated long term
While I structured this program into 4 weeks, you can extend it much longer than that if you want to. For example, you could perform the 12-rep sets for a full 8–12 weeks before switching to the 8-rep sets, which would give you a 16-week program instead of a 4-week program.
Furthermore, as you perform this program, you will learn which types of exercise or specific movements you prefer and explore those in more depth down the line.
If you enjoy strength training more than cardio, you can consider finding a more comprehensive strength program or hiring a personal trainer.
If conditioning is your thing, you can perform 2 or 3 conditioning workouts per week instead of 1 and consider joining a group fitness class.
Finally, if the long, slow cardio is your thing, you can build up to massive endurance levels over time through running, swimming, or your preferred aerobic training method.
The most important thing is that you stick to exercising for the long haul.
So, focusing on the types of exercise you like is more important than intently trying to optimize a program you are unlikely to perform long-term.
The bottom line
There is no magic formula for weight loss other than burning more calories than you consume. Still, there are better and worse ways of approaching this goal.
Combining frequent exercise with a healthy lifestyle is ultimately the most reliable method to improve your health.
My 4-week program is a great way to kick-start your weight loss exercise training, explore the fundamentals of fitness, and hopefully get fired up about exercising long term.
Always remember that, ideally, fitness should be fun.
Nobody has the final answer on the best way to stay active, but it all starts with your first workout.