You may agree that losing weight is really difficult. Some people who lose weight rebound even heavier than before.
There are many ways to lose weight. However, not everyone can find the best method for themselves. Especially because there are many unscientific weight loss methods that can actually be harmful to you.
However, healthy eating is the best way to lose weight. It can not only help to reduce your weight, but also improve your overall health.
In this article, we will introduce 10 steps that can help you lose weight quickly and keep it off.
Follow a healthy diet, restrain your craving and maintain a healthy lifestyle. In this way, you will be able to gradually achieve your goal.
10 Steps to Lose Weight Fast
1. Stop Dieting
Dieting implies restriction and limitation of pleasurable foods and drinks. It’s often considered a quick solution to obesity.
However, evidence has shown that weight loss through dieting is only temporary.
The vast majority of people who lose weight through dieting end up gaining all of the weight back, or more. Almost 60% of those gain back more weight than they lost. [*]
The most important thing is that aggressive dieting lowers the basal metabolic rate which means that all the calories you eat can be used more efficiently. This makes it not only harder to lose weight, but much easier to gain it back. [*]
Instead, follow a healthy diet and ensure adequate nutrition. In addition, choosing high-quality ingredients and correct cooking methods can also help you lose weight successfully and stay healthy.
2. Reduce Carbohydrate Intake
If you want to effectively reduce your weight, then you should decrease your carbohydrate intake.
Especially refined or simple carbohydrates, which are bad. Simple carbs include sugars and refined grains. They have been stripped of all bran, fiber and nutrients.
Refined carbs include white bread, pizza dough, pasta, pastries, wheat flour, white rice, sweets and many breakfast cereals.
These foods are easily digested and their high glycemic index causes an unhealthy rise in blood sugar levels.
They can also cause fluctuations in mood and energy, while also causing a buildup of fat, especially around your waistline.
Therefore, you should focus on good carbs such as whole grains, beans, fruits and vegetables.
3. Stop Snacking After Dinner
You stick to your plan all day long, eating healthy well-balanced meals. Then, the evening comes and you find yourself repeatedly reaching out for snacks.
If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. For many people who want to lose weight, nighttime snacking is a struggle.
The best way to curb your craving is to use some short-term strategies to break the habit.
Here are a few tips you can try:
- Don’t stock any snacks at home.
- Brush your teeth immediately after dinner.
- Go for a walk.
- If you really feel hungry, you can eat small portions of nuts or oats.
- Go to bed early.
4. Eat More Vegetables and Fruits
Fruits and vegetables are not only low in calories but also high in dietary fiber.
Fiber-rich foods can increase satiety and reduce hunger. Fiber is also an essential nutrient that plays an important role in weight loss.
Some people like fruit juice. The fact is, fruit juice is not healthier than whole fruit in general, even juice that is freshly squeezed on the spot.
Therefore, make sure to add plenty of vegetables to your daily meals. In addition, eat fresh fruits for the best benefits.
5. Go With Healthy Snacks
You may be wondering if it is possible to lose weight without giving up snacks.
The answer is YES.
In fact, snacks can be integral to weight loss if you choose healthy whole foods that contain a lot of protein and nutrients.
Some healthy snacks can even help you stay full throughout the day, while also reducing your cravings for unhealthy foods.
Here are some examples of weight-loss-friendly healthy snacks:
- Nuts
- Greek yogurt
- Celery sticks with cream cheese
- Kale chips
- Dark chocolate
- Chia pudding
- Hard-boiled eggs
- Baby carrots with blue cheese dressing
- A piece of cheese
- Whey protein shake
- Edamame
6. Drink plenty of water
The effect of water on the body is not just to quench thirst. Water can also help you drop some pounds.
If your goal is long-term, moderate weight loss, then ensuring adequate hydration may be a good start.
Many studies have shown that drinking more water can help lose weight in many ways:
- May suppress your appetite naturally.
- May stimulate your metabolism.
- Could help reduce your overall liquid calorie intake.
- Helps the body remove waste.
- May improve motivation and reduce stress.
In one study, people who drank water, lost about 15.5 pounds, while the dieters who did not drink water lost only 11 pounds.
Even better, most water drinkers, followed for an additional 12 months, not only kept weight off but “even lost another 1 to 2 pounds,”
7. Eat Slowly
You can observe some of the thin people around. They often have one thing in common, that is, they chew slowly when eating.
This is a good eating habit and is conducive to weight loss.
First of all, eating slowly can increase fullness hormones. A study has shown that eating at a physiologically moderate pace can lead to a more pronounced anorexia intestinal peptide response than eating quickly. [*]
Eating slowly will not only allow you to receive the signal of fullness faster but also be a benefit to the health of the stomach and intestines. As a result, you may avoid gastrointestinal diseases caused by eating too much.
8. Exercise Regularly
A well-balanced diet can help you lose weight. However, you can also use aerobic exercise to keep fit along the way.
What is aerobic exercise?
Aerobic exercise is any type of cardiovascular conditioning. You probably know it as “cardio”. It can include activities like power walking, swimming, running, biking or climbing, etc.
Find your favorite aerobic exercise and enjoy it. When you develop a habit and maintain regular exercise, it can transform your body shape like a miracle.
9. Don’t Forget Strength Training
If you want to speed up your weight loss, strength training may be the key.
While cardio can get your heart working harder and help your body burn calories, strength training is what’s really going to give your weight-loss goals that extra boost.
What is strength training, exactly?
Simply put, strength training (also called resistance training) involves using your own weight or tools (such as dumbbells or resistance bands) to build muscle mass, strength and endurance.
The benefits of strength training are impressive：
- Stronger bones
- Improves body image
- Builds lean muscle and decreases body fat
- Can alleviate symptoms of depression
- Increase metabolism and help burn more fat
As you can see, adding a well-structured strength training program to your weight loss regimen is a smart and healthy thing to do.
10. Get More Sleep
Staying up late can easily make you hungry, craving and eating lots of snacks.
If you eat too much greasy food before going to bed, fat will accumulate in your body during sleep and you will gain weight.
In addition, lack of sleep can cause an imbalance in the metabolism of cortisol.
Cortisol is a steroid hormone secreted by the adrenal glands and plays a key role in the body’s stress response [*]. It is often called the “stress hormone” and is involved in the regulation of the following functions:
- Blood pressure regulation
- Glucose metabolism
- Immune function
- Inflammatory response
- Insulin release
This study has shown that long-term elevations of endogenous circulating cortisol are associated with weight gain.
With too little sleep, the body is also more likely to produce the stress-response hormone cortisol. After sleep deprivation, subjects in several studies had higher levels of cortisol later in the day, a time when it should be tapering off to prepare the body for rest.
scientificamerican.com
People who sleep less than 8 hours a night can have a chronically high cortisol level, which affects the function of cortisol to regulate sugar, protein and fat metabolism.
The negative effects of cortisol can lead to increased blood sugar, increased appetite and weight gain.
National Sleep Foundation guidelines advise that healthy adults need between 7 and 9 hours of sleep per night. Babies, young children, and teens need even more sleep to enable their growth and development. People over 65 should also get 7 to 8 hours per night.
sleepfoundation.org
Summary:
A weight-loss plan that includes a healthy diet and regular exercise is not only more successful but is also healthier.
In this way, you can lose weight quickly and keep it off. In addition, you may have stronger bones, muscles, and heart, while reducing the risk of certain diseases.
Even if you don’t necessarily lose all the weight you want to lose, you will be healthier and you will feel and look better too.
