Why 10 is the magic number for weight loss

This autumn, we're focusing on the power of 10 to help you reach your weight loss goal.

Take 10 minutes a day to track your calories. Hit the 10,000 steps a day target. Keep this powerful combo up for 10 weeks, you could lose 10lbs or more.

10 weeks

If you want to give your weight loss a boost, why not try our 10 week challenge?

10 weeks to lose 10lbs (at least) – that's a clothes size smaller.

Just keep in mind each day the number 10 – 10 minutes for food tracking and 10,000 steps a day exercise. A simple but powerful combination.

10 minutes each day

We asked Nutracheck members how long it takes to keep their food diary each day. The answer was 10 minutes or less. This is no time at all to take out of your day to help you achieve an important goal like losing weight.

It doesn't matter whether you track what you eat as you go, or at the end of the day, or even in advance. The most important thing is that you get into a habit of spending a few minutes each day thinking about your food choices and being mindful of exactly what you have eaten. Here's a mini challenge. To kick start your weight loss this autumn, aim for an unbroken run of 10 days continuous food tracking. The result will speak for itself.

10,000 steps a day

Most of us have heard of the 10,000 steps a day target. Chances are that many of us don't manage this in our daily routines. So your challenge is to focus on achieving this target every day over the 10 weeks. We all have busy lives, so a good place to start is to consider your typical day and think creatively about ways to build in a few more steps. To give you some ideas, read a blog by our Super Stepper – NC member Dippyem. You can also get some fun ideas from this Fitbit article.

Of course this assumes that you have an activity tracker to count your steps. If you don't, we strongly recommend buying one – it's such a powerful motivator to be more active. There are loads to choose from.

10% weight loss makes a difference

When you select your goal weight, you'll notice that Nutracheck shows how much this is as a percentage weight loss. This is important for two reasons:

1) To help you set a realistic goal.

We recommend setting your weight loss target in steps of 10%. It is far more motivating to set mini goals and work to this and then reset the next, than to set a big target that can seem a long way off.

2) Losing just 10% of your body weight when overweight is enough to make notable improvements to your health. Check out the list below.

10 health benefits of losing just 10% of your body weight:

1. Reduced risk of type 2 diabetes
2. Reduced insulin resistance
3. Reduced blood pressure
4. Increase in levels of good cholesterol in blood
5. Reduced triglyceride levels in blood
6. Improved sleep
7. Reduced inflammation in body
8. Improved mood
9. Improved movement capabilities
10. Increased immunity

Read more about these 10 valuable health benefits and what is going on in your body to cause the changes