How to Lose Weight Fast: 3 Simple Steps, Based on Science
There
are many ways to lose a lot of weight fast.
However,
most of them will make you hungry and unsatisfied.
If you don't
have iron willpower, then hunger will cause you to give up on these plans
quickly.
The plan
outlined here will:
Here is a
simple 3-step plan to lose weight fast.
1.
Cut Back on Sugars and Starches
The most important part is to cut back
on sugars and starches (carbs).
When you do that, your hunger levels go
down and you end up eating much fewer calories.
Now instead of burning carbs for energy,
your body starts feeding off of stored fat.
Another benefit of cutting carbs is that
it lowers insulin levels, causing your kidneys to
shed excess sodium and water out of your body. This reduces bloat and
unnecessary water weight.
It is not uncommon to lose up to 10 pounds (sometimes
more) in the first week of eating this way, both body fat and water weight.
This is a graph from a study comparing
low-carb and low-fat diets in overweight or obese women .
The low-carb group is eating until
fullness, while the low-fat group is calorie-restricted and hungry.
Cut the carbs and you will start to eat
fewer calories automatically and without hunger.
Put simply, cutting carbs puts fat loss
on autopilot.
2.
Eat Protein, Fat and Vegetables
Each one of your meals should include a
protein source, a fat source and low-carb vegetables.
Constructing your meals in this way will
automatically bring your carb intake into the recommended range of 20–50 grams per day.
Protein Sources
·
Meat: Beef, chicken, pork, lamb, etc.
·
Fish and Seafood: Salmon, trout, shrimp, etc.
·
Eggs: Whole eggs with the yolk are best.
The importance of eating plenty of protein cannot be overstated.
High-protein diets can also reduce
cravings and obsessive thoughts about food by 60%, reduce the desire for late-night
snacking by half, and make you so full that you automatically eat 441 fewer
calories per day — just by adding protein
to your diet (9, 10).
When it comes to losing weight, protein
is the king of nutrients. Period.
Low-Carb Vegetables
·
Broccoli
·
Cauliflower
·
Spinach
·
Tomatoes
·
Kale
·
Brussels sprouts
·
Cabbage
·
Swiss chard
·
Lettuce
·
Cucumber
·
Full list here.
Don’t be afraid to load your plate with
these low-carb vegetables. You can eat massive amounts of them without going
over 20–50 net carbs per day.
A diet based mostly on meat and
vegetables contains all the fiber, vitamins and minerals you need to be
healthy.
Fat Sources
·
Olive oil
·
Coconut oil
·
Avocado oil
·
Butter
Eat 2–3 meals per day. If you find
yourself hungry in the afternoon, add a 4th meal.
Don’t be afraid of eating fat, as trying
to do both low-carb AND low-fat at the same time is a recipe for failure. It
will make you feel miserable and abandon the plan.
To see how you can assemble your meals,
check out this low-carb meal plan and this list of 101 healthy low-carb recipes.
3.
Lift Weights 3 Times Per Week
You don't need to exercise
to lose weight on this plan, but it is recommended.
The best option is to go to the gym 3–4
times a week. Do a warm-up and lift some weights.
If you're new to the gym, ask a trainer
for some advice.
By lifting weights, you will burn lots
of calories and prevent your metabolism from slowing down, which is a common
side effect of losing weight (11, 12).
Studies on low-carb diets show that you
can even gain a bit of muscle while losing significant amounts of body fat (13).
If lifting weights is not an option for you,
then doing some cardio workouts like walking, jogging, running, cycling or
swimming will suffice.
Optional
— Do a "Carb Refeed" Once Per Week
You can take one day off per week whereyou eat more carbs. Many people prefer Saturday.
It is important to stick to healthy carb
sources like oats, rice, quinoa, potatoes, sweet potatoes, fruit, etc.
But only this one higher carb day — if
you start doing it more often than once per week you're not going to see much
success on this plan.
If you must have a cheat meal and eat
something unhealthy, then do it on this day.
Be aware that cheat meals or carb
refeeds are NOT necessary, but they can boost some fat-burning hormones like leptin and
thyroid hormones (14, 15).
You will gain some weight during your
refeed day, but most of it will be water weight and you will lose it again
in the next 1–2 days.
What
About Calories and Portion Control?
It is NOT necessary to count calories as
long as you keep the carbs very low and stick to protein, fat and low-carb
vegetables.
However, if you really want to count them,
use this calculator.
Enter your details, and then pick the
number from either the "Lose Weight" or the "Lose Weight
Fast" section — depending on how fast you want to lose weight.
There are many great tools you can use
to track the number of calories you are eating. Here is a list of 5 calorie counters that are free
and easy to use.
The main goal of this plan is to keep
carbs under 20–50 grams per day and get the rest of your calories from protein
and fat.
10
Weight Loss Tips to Make Things Easier (and Faster)
Here are 10 more tips to lose weight
even faster:
1. Eat a high-protein breakfast. Eating
a high-protein breakfast has been shown to
reduce cravings and calorie intake throughout the day (16, 17).
2. Avoid sugary drinks and fruit juice. These are the most fattening things you can put into your
body, and avoiding them can help you lose weight (18, 19).
3. Drink water a half hour before meals. One study showed that drinking water a half hour before
meals increased weight loss by 44% over 3 months (20).
4. Choose weight loss-friendly foods (see list). Certain foods are very useful for losing fat. Here is a
list of the 20 most weight loss-friendly foods on earth.
5. Eat soluble fiber. Studies
show that soluble fibers may reduce fat, especially in the belly area. Fiber supplements like glucomannan can also help (21, 22).
6. Drink coffee or tea. If
you're a coffee or tea drinker, then drink as much as you want as the caffeine
can in them boost your metabolism by 3–11% (23, 24, 25).
7. Eat mostly whole, unprocessed foods. Base most of your diet on whole foods. They are healthier,
more filling and much less likely to cause overeating.
8. Eat your food slowly. Fast
eaters gain more weight over time. Eating slowly makes you feel more full
and boosts weight-reducing hormones (26, 27).
9. Weigh yourself every day. Studies
show that people who weigh themselves every day are much more likely to lose
weight and keep it off for a long time (28, 29).
10.
Get a good night's sleep,
every night. Poor sleep is one of
the strongest risk factors for weight gain, so taking care of your sleep is important (30).
Even more tips here: 30 Easy Ways to Lose Weight Naturally (Backed by Science).
I can personally lose 3–4 pounds per
week for a few weeks when I do this strictly.
If you're new to dieting, then things
will probably happen quickly. The more weight you have to lose, the faster you
will lose it.
For the first few days, you might feel a
bit strange. Your body has been burning carbs for all these years, so it can
take time for it to get used to burning fat instead.
This is called the "low-carb
flu" or “keto flu” and is usually over within a few
days. For me it takes three. Adding some extra salt to your diet can help with
this.
After the first few days, most people
report feeling very good, with even more energy than before.
Despite many decades of anti-fat
hysteria, the low-carb diet also improves your health in many other ways:
·
To top it all off, low-carb diets appear to be just as
easy to follow as low-fat diets.
You
Don't Need to Starve Yourself to Lose Weight
If you have a medical condition, talk to
your doctor before making changes because this plan can reduce your need for
medication.
By reducing carbs and lowering insulin
levels, you change the hormonal environment and make your body and brain
"want" to lose weight.
This leads to drastically reduced
appetite and hunger, eliminating the main reason that most people fail with
conventional weight loss methods.
This is proven to make you lose up
to 2–3 times as much weight as a typical
low-fat, calorie-restricted diet (38, 39, 40).
Another great benefit for the impatient
folks is that the initial drop in water weight can lead to a big difference on
the scale as early as the next morning.
Here are a few examples of low-carb
meals that are simple, delicious and can be prepared in under 10 minutes: 7 Healthy Low-Carb Meals in 10 Minutes or Less.
On this plan, you can eat good food
until you’re full and still lose a ton of fat.
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