How To Lose Weight Fast
Whatever the latest diet or exercise trend, whatever bullshit lines the personal trainer at the gym is feeding you, and whatever the latest scientific research is telling us, losing weight revolves around one factor and only one… CALORIES. Consume more than your body burns in a day, whether through your natural basal metabolic rate, your day-to-day activities, or exercise and you will gain weight. This is known as a calorie surplus. Burn more than you consume and you will lose weight. A calorie deficit. It really is as simple as that.
The more significant gulf between energy consumed and energy used you are capable of generating, the more quickly you will lose weight. Whilst the component parts of the equation are simple, the way you go about solving it is a little more complicated, particularly if it is to be sustainable. It’s very easy to tell yourself to eat less and be more active, but a lot harder to actually do it consistently for long enough to see results.
There are of course lots of ways in which you can manipulate both your diet and exercise regime in order to give yourself the best opportunity to both lose weight and then maintain those losses as part of a healthy lifestyle.
The Why?
You can’t help but be aware of the health risks associated with being overweight. Whether it be online, on the TV, or in magazines and newspapers, information is everywhere. As a society, we have become increasingly concerned with healthy living and in particular diet and exercise. And rightly so. These areas represent an enormous challenge to millions of people all over the world.
Excess weight, and in particular, obesity, negatively impacts almost every facet of health. As well as the widely known increases in the risk of life-altering and deadly diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and cancers, your reproductive and respiratory functioning, memory, and mood can also be severely compromised.
I think the motivation for achieving and maintaining a healthy weight are pretty clear.
The How?
This is where we get back to that all-important equation:
Calories consumed – Calories burned = Energy balance
Negative energy balance = calorie deficit = weight loss
Positive energy balance = calorie surplus = weight gain
The two easiest ways to influence your energy balance? Diet and exercise!!
Diet:
There should be little surprise that what you eat (and drink) and how much of it you eat (and drink) determines your calorie intake for a period of time. Consequently, one of the simplest ways in which you can alter your energy balance is by consuming fewer calories. Over an extended period of time, provided the adjustments are significant enough to create an energy deficit, you should lose weight.
Eating less than your body is used to all of a sudden, unfortunately, is easier said than done. There are, however, a few strategies you can implement in order to give you the best chance of success.
Ditch the sugar:
Sugar is the devil. It is addictive. Eat more of it than you can burn off and your body stores it as… FAT! Excess sucrose (sugar) in your blood causes elevated insulin levels. This prevents the body from accessing stores of fat for its energy demands and results in the brain telling you that you are hungry.
Moreover, sugar also causes leptin resistance. Leptin is a hormone that helps us release fat from stores to be used as energy. Also, it tells the brain that we have enough energy supplies and we don’t need to eat. Increased levels of fructose in the blood raise the level of triglycerides, which block the transmission of leptin from the blood to the brain. The brain thinks the body is starving and tells us to eat more than our energy demands require. Thus we gain weight.
Sugar has also been shown to have very little effect on our feeling of fullness relative to the number of calories being consumed. That my friends is a slippery slope. One which isn’t going to help anyone lose weight, nevermind lose it quickly.
See, I told you sugar was the devil!
The good news is, the less sugary foods you consume, the less your brain craves them and the less you eat. All YOU need to do is break the cycle.
Here are a few top tips to help you cut back your daily sugar intake:
1. Avoid drinking calories. That means fruit juices as well as the more obvious sodas.
2. Reach for an apple rather than the candy. Whilst fruit obviously contains sugar, your body responds very differently to fructose in comparison to heavily processed, sucrose rich foods. Fruit can also be a great way of satisfying any cravings for sweet foods you may have without the drawbacks of regular chocolate binges.
3. Avoid pre-packaged ‘convenience’ type foods that are often high in added sugar. The best way of knowing exactly what you’re putting in your body is by making your meals from scratch as much as possible.
Up the protein, fat, and veggies:
When it comes to losing weight, protein is king. Studies have demonstrated that protein may boost the metabolism by up to 100 calories per day. That’s the energy you’re burning simply sitting on the sofa twiddling your thumbs.
What’s more, high protein diets have also been proven to reduce cravings and make you feel fuller for longer. All of which are going to help you achieve the all-important calorie deficit required for meaningful weight loss.
Low carbohydrate vegetables (normally the green ones), like broccoli, spinach, lettuce, cucumber (you get the idea) are a great way of filling out your meals without adding excess calories. Vegetables have a high fiber content which means they not only provide volume but also take longer to digest meaning you stay fuller for longer. They also provide you with some really important vitamins and minerals which will help keep your immune system in tip-top shape. It’s a win all around really.
Whatever you do, don’t neglect fat. This is probably one of the most counterintuitive aspects of weight loss nutrition. Eating foods high in fat surely makes you fat? Provided you’re consuming the right kinds of fat (unsaturated and naturally occurring) rather than those found in heavily processed foods then they are a hugely important part of a balanced healthy diet and can help you lose weight.
By upping your fat intake in relation to your carbohydrate intake you can create an environment in which fat loss is actually more optimal. As already discussed, our consumption of carbohydrates releases insulin. The more carbs you eat, the more insulin your body produces, and the harder it is for your body to access fat stores for energy purposes. Therefore, by replacing some of the calories you consume through carbohydrates with fat, you will reduce your insulin levels which will, in turn, make it easier for your body to access fat stores for energy at the same time as allowing fat to enter and fuel your muscles. Winning!
All low-fat diets do is reduce your body’s capacity to burn fat and increase its ability to burn carbohydrates. Hormones such as adiponectin, which help boost your metabolism and break down fat cells are also inhibited.
Foods high in fat are also much better than those high in carbohydrates at making you feel full for longer. When the fat you eat enters the small intestine it releases hormones including cholecystokinin and peptide tyrosine, which both play a major role in the regulation of your appetite. The more full you feel after eating, the less inclined you will be to dip into the snack cupboard or go for seconds, all of which is going to help you consume fewer calories in the long run!
As with anything in life, moderation is the key. Foods high in fat are calorie-dense. So whilst upping your intake in replacement of carbohydrates is definitely a good idea if you want to lose weight, if you don’t take care of the all-important energy balance then you won’t see the changes you want to.