What is the best way to lose weight fast?
Losing weight is, at its core, a fairly simple calculation. All you have to do is consume fewer calories each day than you burn, known as a calorie deficit. In other words - exercise more and don't eat too much. Setting a goal is simple, but even if you stick to it, there's no guarantee how quickly you'll shed the pounds. If you're working to a deadline, you'll need to adopt a number of healthy habits to help you lose weight as quickly as possible.
Eat protein for breakfast
It is the most important meal of the day, but we often neglect it. More often than not, we're in a rush in the morning, which means we might reach for a bowl of cereal or toast. These can often give us the energy we need to get going, but they also contain a lot of sugars and carbohydrates.
You have two problems. First, they will be stored in the body as fat. Second, they produce a quick release of energy, which can leave you feeling hungry mid-morning. This encourages snacking, which increases calorie intake.
No spam - just the good stuff
Instead, try to get enough calories through protein like eggs, meat or nuts to lose weight. Protein has been shown to reduce fat, especially in the abdominal area, and promote weight loss. One study found that women who increased the proportion of daily calories from protein from 15% to 30% reduced the total number of calories they consumed each day by 441. They experienced a significant weight loss of 11 pounds in 12 weeks.
For extra filling, you can add spinach or other high-nutrient, low-calorie vegetables. These will fill you up for the morning and help you make it through to lunch without the urge to snack.
Try high-intensity workouts
We all know how important exercise is to losing weight. However, finding time to exercise daily can be difficult. High intensity workouts are good for people who want to maximize gains in the shortest amount of time.
High-intensity exercise involves short bouts of intense exercise followed by low levels of active rest. For example, you could try sprinting for two minutes and then jogging for one minute. Doing this for about 15 minutes each day will raise your heart rate and see you burn more calories than a 40 minute run.
Go for a walk
It's not all about the high intensity stuff. Walking is an exercise we can all do. It's low impact and won't leave you sweating buckets. If you increase the number of steps you take each day, you will burn more calories in the background.
Taking time out for a 30-minute or hour-long walk during the day will burn a significant amount of calories during the week and boost your well-being at the same time. If you don't have that much time in the day, there are things you can do to increase the amount of walking in your routine. For example, you could try walking to the shops instead of driving, or replace a short bus ride with a walk on your way home from work.
Getting more fiber in your diet, through seeds or whatever, can help you lose weight. Ideally, men should aim for 35 grams of fiber in their diet, while women should aim for 25 grams per day. Fiber is essential for a healthy gut and can also reduce appetite by making you feel fuller. Your body doesn't metabolize it, which means eating lots of high-fiber food will fill you up without bulking you up.
Avoid carbohydrates
In addition to increasing your protein levels, fast weight loss diets often require you to eliminate carbohydrates. A typical diet may mean that you get around 50% of your calories or more from carbohydrates. By reducing this amount and replacing it with protein, you will reduce the amount of calories that are converted to fat.
Carbohydrates increase the amount of sugar in your system, which triggers a spike in insulin, which in turn sends glucose to fat cells to be turned into fat.
Try to cut out all white carbohydrates such as sugars, white bread, potatoes and pasta. Even some fruits like bananas can be high in carbs, while cereals are notoriously full of carbs – even those marketed as healthy.
That's not to say that all of these foods are necessarily unhealthy, but if you're trying to lose weight fast with a low-carb diet, they're a good idea to avoid.
To drink a lot of water
Hunger pangs can easily derail even the most conscientious dieter. To avoid hunger during our daily routines, we can easily succumb to the temptation of a quick snack. Although this snack is relatively healthy, it will contain more calories.
However, our bodies can often confuse hunger, thirst and tiredness. If you are hungry during the day, try drinking a glass of water. You might find that it works.
Get more sleep
The latter should be easier, but it's still hard for us to fit in our schedules - getting more sleep. In our fast-paced modern world, people often do not get enough sleep. Too little of this causes the body to produce more of the stress hormone cortisol, which slows your metabolism and encourages you to reach for sugar.
Lack of sleep also brings fatigue, which can cause rapid hunger, including cravings for foods high in sugar. This adds to the list of temptations that encourage you to break your diet and prevent you from losing weight.