Now that you're in your late 20s, it's important to take the health risks associated with being overweight, including diabetes, heart disease, liver disease and certain cancers, more seriously. Aiming to lose 10 pounds is a realistic goal — and one that can provide health benefits if you're overweight, notes the Weight-Control Information Network. Your late 20s is a good time to get down to a healthy weight and to improve your eating and exercise habits, before aging begins to slow your metabolism and makes physical activity more difficult to start up.
Step 1
Decide how quickly you want to try to lose 10 lbs. A weight-loss rate of 1 to 2 lbs. per week is considered healthy and achievable, meaning you could lose 10 lbs. in five to 10 weeks. To lose weight at this rate requires burning 500 to 1,000 calories more than you take in every day.
Step 2
Replace unhealthy and high-calorie foods and beverages you consume often with lower-calorie, healthier alternatives. Drink water rather than beverages that contain calories, like sugary sodas. Eat fruit, vegetables, whole-grain crackers, low-fat yogurt or other healthy snacks in place of junk food. Eat legumes, seafood and skinless poultry in lieu of red meats.
Step 3
Reduce your portion sizes, particularly of high-calorie items. Eat from smaller plates to limit your servings without empty space on your plate making you feel deprived. Fill your plates and bowls with low-calorie fruits and vegetables. For example, take less cereal and fill your bowl with berries and banana, or eat half as much pasta as usual, but load up your sauce with vegetables.
Step 4
Drink two 8-oz. glasses of water about 20 minutes prior to your meals to reduce your appetite beforehand. Have a low-calorie snack if you're hungry between meals. The extra calories may seem counterproductive to losing 10 lbs., but if you sit down to a meal famished, you're likely to overeat, taking in considerably more calories in the end.
Step 5
Get cardiovascular exercise every day, because it's key to burning more calories to create the necessary deficit for weight loss. Take brisk walks or jog, swim laps, take up an aerobics routine or use a treadmill or elliptical machine. Exercise for at least 30 minutes each day at a moderate to intense pace. Of course, you must build up to this gradually if you're not accustomed to strenuous physical activity. Check with your doctor, too, if you have any health concerns that may affect your ability to exercise.
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