3 Simple Steps To Lose Weight – Based on Science
There are many ways out there to lose weight rapidly, but very few to do so both quickly and effectively. If you’re not made of stone, it will be extremely difficult to force your body to eat less, exercise more, and achieve this on your own. There are several key ways to help you achieve weight loss through natural changes, that are not going to cost you a lot in the way of hunger. It is difficult using crash diets to achieve real weight loss without being hungry the entire way. If you’re hungry when trying to lose weight, you will ultimately fail and gain much of it back when you try to revert to a diet you can maintain over a longer period.
Step 1 – Cutting Down on Starches and Sugars
The first step to any weight loss is to remove sugars and starches. These are sources of significant carbohydrates, which are turned into sugars in our body. This causes a boost in insulin production, which causes you to store more fat. Lower levels of insulin actually make it easier to burn fat that’s been stored in your body. It’s fairly common to lose around 10 pounds of fat within the first week or so of cutting out starches and sugars from your diet, typically lost through both water weight and stored fat. The graph below shows the difference between cutting fat, and cutting sugars/carbs out of your diet.
There are numerous reasons for this difference seen between the groups, however, once you start cutting carbs you aren’t necessarily impacting your hunger. You actually are just decreasing your sugar intake, insulin production and eating until you’re full. Groups trying to cut fat try to reduce calories overall, and oftentimes feel hunger as a result.
Step 2 – Eat Fat, Protein and Vegetables Regularly
For your meals during the day, with the exception of breakfast perhaps, it’s advisable to have one source with fat, one source with protein and a serving of vegetables as well. The protein and fat are sometimes coupled, for instance with a steak, but this allows you to construct a carbohydrate intake of 20 to 25 grams per day. Several studies have shown that diets high in protein actually help reduce your hunger and increase the feeling of your stomach “shrinking” when you are regularly eating less. That helps you to stick to your diet and achieve results. Low carb vegetables you can add to meet this requirement include things like kale, spinach, cauliflower, lettuce and cucumber.
Step 3 – Do Weight Training 3 Times Per Week
While it’s true you don’t need to exercise to lose weight, it certainly helps a lot. You will generate better results if you’re also regularly exercising, particularly exercises that build muscle. Muscle helps oxygenate your blood, enabling for easier transport of stored fats to be consumed. It also increases your body’s metabolism. This helps combat a major problem with weight loss, where dieting actually slows down your metabolism typically.
It’s not necessary to count calories in order to lose weight. Simply by switching to a higher protein and lower carb diet, and adding some weight training to your routine, you can achieve significant weight loss over the long term. You can even switch back to carbs one a week, as long as you ensure you’re getting those carbs from a healthier source, such as rice, beans, or other vegetables.