Losing weight is extremely important. There are many health related diseases linked to excessive weight that you may be worried about or suffering with such as diabetes, high blood pressure, heart attacks, strokes and even smaller problems like snoring.
Also, purely from an aesthetic point of view you may not like the reflection that looks back at you in the mirror.
You may feel weaker and may not have the same energy you once did.
I will cover 8 reasons why you are failing at losing weight fast, give you easy to follow steps of how to achieve each hack.
Also I will define how fast, should fast be, when you are looking to lose weight fast.
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO LOSE WEIGHT FAST?
It may be that it will help you stay motivated. Nothing is going to make you lose motivation faster than not seeing results quickly.
Your reason for wanting to lose weight fast may also be:
●for a wedding,
●To be a role model for your kids
●You may have been told that you are close to getting diabetes
●You may have high blood pressure
●You may even be worried that you are going to become ill unless you change something fast!
I want to help you to lose weight no matter what your reason is. Despite being a personal trainer I have had fluctuations in my weight over the years and I hope my experiences combined with my knowledge can help you.
When I was younger I never had to worry about controlling weight, however when I got older I had to learn about dieting and not rely solely on exercise. The first time I tried to lose weight was for rowing to optimise my performance.
I use to check my weight every day!
It was frustrating not seeing the scales move over night. I was a bit obsessed, and It wasn’t a realistic expectation, but I had never tried to lose weight before, so I wasn’t sure if what i was doing was right.
You will have your doubts at first, and you will want to lose weight so badly that you will want to get quick results.
In this article I am going to try to define the different ways you may be failing at losing weight fast. As well as give you some of the fastest hacks you can do to lose weight fast.
5 WAYS TO FAIL AT LOSING WEIGHT FAST
1) YOU DO NOT KNOW YOUR ENERGY INTAKE
This was something I learned in my late 20’s. I never use to take diet seriously before this age.
I use to think that the fact that I exercised 5 times a week, I could eat whatever I want. However, when I started eating well I noticed that I had better energy levels and lower body fat.
When it comes to the fastest way to lose weight it is important to define how fast is fast. If you lose weight too fast, it can be unsafe, so always consult your GP to know what is safe for you.
1-2 pounds per week is considered to be a safe amount of weight to lose a week (1), and you are more likely to pile it back on again try to lose weight too fast.
1-2 pounds or 1 kg is the target I aim for when I want to lose weight quickly.
For instance, during the season I was rowing I got an injury that meant that I missed 3 months of the season, and my weight increased by one and a half stone, because I ate too much while I injured.
I had always trained 5 times a week and would eat anything I wanted. Now I realised that I had to learn the correct things to to eat, and I needed to learn quickly.
It shocked me to learn that 70% of weight loss is down to your nutrition. I also realised that I needed to apply some simple maths.
If I ate less calories then my body needed I would lose weight because I would be in energy deficeit (1). I will explain shortly what energy expenditure is shortly. It is based on energy intake.
No your energy intake
Your energy intake is based on your metabolism, body shape, muscle mass, and activity levels to name but a few.
I know this may sound confusing, but it is really simple. Let me break this down and make it really simple.
There are 3 states that you can be in when it comes to your calorie intake. They are:
- Energy deficit = you lose weight (You eat less calories then what your body requires)
- Energy balance = your weight stays the same (your calorie intake equals the amount of calories your body needs)
- Energy surplus – gain weight (You eat more calories then your body need)
I am now going to give you 2 of the simplest ways to get into energy deficit.
1) Use a meal delivery service
As someone who is busy it will be easier to have your calorie intake for weight loss worked out for you. This is why a meal delivery service would be perfect.
They will provide a simple questionnaire that you fill out to workout how many calories you need to eat to ensure that you lose weight at a speed that is safe and that you are happy with.
Once your calorie intake has been calculated the meal delivery service will provide tasty, healthy calorie counted meals with fresh ingredients and deliver it straight to your door.
Meal delivery services charge a monthly fee for the ease and convenience of providing a great service. It will up to you to decide how much your time is worth to you.
Some examples of meal delivery service companies are:
- Slim Chef
- The Pure Package
- Green Chef (for vegetarians and vegans)
- Mindful chef
2) Track you calories easily with fitness apps
If you do not want to pay for a food delivery service then you can workout your calorie intake with a fitness app called My FItness Pal.
This app is available on both Android and Apple.
Studies have shown that using fitness apps can improve the success rate and increase the speed of weight loss (2, 3).
Also, they are easy to use and most users are extremely satisfied using them (4) This is an app I use religiously. It has so many good features.
First of all the app will ask you the questions it needs to know to calculate the amount of calories you need to eat a day to lose weight.
Once the app has this information, you can list the foods you eat on a specific day into the app.
It will then calculate how many calories are in that food, and then calculate how many calories are in all the foods that you ate for that day.
It makes it very easy to see if you have gone over your calorie intake.
When I was losing weight during my rowing season I had to read food labels to work out the calories in foods, and write things on paper.
I was determined to lose the weight, so I made it work for me, but this is so much simpler!
2) YOU’RE NOT EATING A LOW OR EQAUL CARBOHYDRATE TO PROTEIN RATIO
When I was studying my degree at University, I came across the saying that a calorie, is a calorie, is a calorie.
The meaning being that whether your calories came from protein, fat or carbohydrates it wont make any difference. The main thing is to ensure that you are in calorie deficit.
As my knowledge of nutrition improved over the years I discovered that high protein diets help you lose weight faster (5, 6, 7).
Studies have shown that if you set the same amount of calories for two groups, but have one group eat a higher percentage of protein, while the other group eats a lower percentage; the group with the higher percentage of protein will lose more weight ( 8, 9)
The reason that scientists believe this type of diet is so effective is because:
- It increases or maintains your muscle mass
- Speeds up your metabolism
- Reduces hunger
- Incrases fullness
- protein also requires more calories to burn
I have personally noticed that reducing carbohydrate intake also helps me to lose fat around my belly faster. However, I have noticed that everyones carbohydrate tolerance is different.
Some ratios to play around with (you can set this in My Fitness Pal) are:
●40% carbohydrates, 40% protein and 20% fat
●50% carbohydrates, 30% protein and 20% fat
Warning – Some people have gotten kidney stones from eating too much protein, so when starting out with weight loss try 50% carbohydrate, 30% protein and 20% fat (if you use a meal delivery service you may want to ask what percentages they are using for carbs, proteins and fats).
3) YOUR NOT EATING ENOUGH FRUIT AND VEGETABLES
I went vegan for 9 months, and one of the things that no one tells you about going vegan is that you’re going to fart a lot!
The reason i was passing so much wind was because of the high amount of fibre in your diet.
However, one of the good things with the fibre in your diet is that you feel full. There were days when I struggled to eat more than 1500 calories, because I was so full from the fibre in the foods I ate.
Another advantage of eating fruit and vegetables is that it will help with digestion. You may take anywhere between 24-72 hours depending on the health of your gut.
When I initially started calorie counting to lose weight, I wish that I had included more vegetables in my diet. After eating a lot of carbohydrates and meat I found that vegetables helped me feel less bloated.
4) YOU’RE DRINKING TOO MUCH ALCHOL
Over the years I have had many clients do a dry month. Without making any other changes in their diet other then cutting out alcohol they have lost 3-4 kilos within that month. Give it a try and see the type of results you get.
I know it may be difficult to stop drinking if you drink with clients or work colleagues during meetings or conferences. However, give it a try.
I have a few clients of mine who have decided to either give it up or greatly reduce their alcohol intake and they have greater energy, better skin, lower body fat and they look and feel amazing.
Other people around them still drink, but they respect their decision to stop drinking. So don’t use peer pressure as an excuse.
5) YOUR NOT EXERCISING
This is going to be tough for you. There is no point in me recommending training an hour 5 times a week. You probably won’t have the time.
Also, you probably haven’t exercised for a long time, and to train 5 days a week would probably kill you. It doesn’t mean it wouldn’t work.
Exercise allows you to burn extra calories. Also, depending on the type of exercise you do you can release hormones that will help you lose weight.
Start with exercising 3 days a week, and try different types of exercises to see what you like doing.
CONCLUSION
So, in summary, eating well is the fastest way to lose weight. The easiest way to ensure that you are eating well with your busy schedule is to subscribe to meal delivery service company as they will provide foods with:
- the ideal number of calories to eat,
- A good protein to carbohydrate ratio
- A variety of vegetables and fruit
- Foods that are easy to prepare in the microwave or to cook
Everything is taken care of for you. If you prefer to save money you can use an app like my fitness pal and monitor all the variables, I mentioned by yourself for no cost.
Avoid alcohol intake, as these are calories that are unnecessary. Lastly, make sure you exercise 3 times a week for best results.
LOSE WEIGHT FAST AND EASILY
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