Keen to know how to lose 50 pounds in 6 months? Firstly, before you try anything to turn your life around, just get a health check up. It’s important to know the state of your health - and what you are up against. Your level of fitness will determine the kind of workout and nutrition program you should follow. The last thing you want is to add extra stress onto your health. However, below are 5 basic ways on how to lose 50 pounds in 6 months:

1. Changes need to be long term - make some changes to your lifestyle that you can enjoy and maintain for a lifetime. If you make heathy eating and physical activity part of your daily life, you have more than a good chance of achieving and maintaining a healthy body weight. Start now and make permanent changes to both food and activity habits. It can only get better from where you are now!

2. Eliminate DEAD processed, empty calorie foods and drinks. So what’s empty calories? There are the kind of foods that supply us with calories and little else. The next time you’re grocery shopping try to avoid the following : white bread, white rice, cereal, pasta and fried food with breading; Ingredients beginning with the word ‘enriched’, it has less than 5 grams of fiber and/or more than 8 grams of sugar; ready to eat in a bag or box that comes with ingredients you can’t pronounce; lastly, ditch the fizzy drinks. Processed, empty calorie foods and drinks burn less calories, rapidly increase and decrease your blood sugar levels, resulting in hunger and fatigue which will slow your metabolism. Instead choose, wholesome, fresh foods over dead processed foods - you will get full on fewer calories and more importantly you will get loaded with nutritional benefits!

3. When it comes to fitness, one factor trumps all others - CONSISTENCY. And while this is the key to experiencing all the benefits exercise has to offer, few people make it a long term endeavor. Why? Because life is often hectic and that makes it easy to lose focus on the importance of physical activity and healthy eating. The key to consistency is preparation and planning your schedule ahead. So plan your day and week out to include your workouts and 6 healthy mini meals a day.

4. This is the obvious point but often misunderstood - but Eating Less makes you hungry! But if you Eat little, but more often, you will control your cravings. The best approach to combating the snack attack is to plan a daily dose of five to six healthy meals a day for sustained energy and better concentration, so tap into your inner bovine and graze away. Eating less, but more often controls blood sugar levels, preventing dips in energy and focus once that ‘high’ from your loaded lunch has dwindled. You’ll also be less likely to gorge at the nearest KFC. The challenge is to keep your mini meals ‘mini’. It’s critical that at the end of the day, the calorie content of your mini meals does not exceed what you would eat in three larger meals. The best rule is, fill up of your plate with leafy veggies for fiber load.

5. As you improve your fitness - alternate short bursts of high intensity with lower intensity activity. These kind of workout will fry and boost your fitness faster than exercising at a constant, moderate pace. For example, try 30 seconds of sprint interval for every 5 minutes of treadmill time, or in the pool, 1 speed lap after a few slower laps.

The above tips are ways you can combat your fat loss now - however, be patient with your results. If you are consistent and follow the guidelines, you can lose the 50 pounds in 6 months or more. But expect the lows and highs of fat loss. And finally, it really depends on how discipline and careful you are with your health.