How to Lose Weight Quickly
Do you know how to lose weight quickly? People often want to lose weight quickly – whether for an upcoming holiday, for a wedding, or to fit in a favorite item of clothing. There are two key questions to consider if you want to lose weight quickly: - Is it Possible?
- Is it Safe?
The answers to these two questions are hard to separate, but to simplify the answer, yes you can lose weight quickly, but it’s not a great idea! Here’s why. Any time you try to lose weight, there are three potential types of weight you can lose: • Fat
• Muscle
• Fluid (water)  Of the three, the only one that you want to lose is fat. Fat is what makes you fat and flabby, what hangs over the waist of your pants, what jiggles on your thighs and upper arms, what gives you double or triple chins. It is also what endangers your health.
Muscle, on the other hand, is your friend. The reason for this is simple – muscle is the body’s engine, its furnace. Muscle burns calories, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Muscle helps you get up and down the stairs, helps you carry the groceries in from the car, helps you to pick up your kid when they are crying and need a hug. Muscle is good. Water, of course, is also good. People who are overweight often worry that they are bloated because they are carrying too much water – in fact, the opposite is often the case – many people are actually dehydrated. The reason they look puffy is that when we don’t give the body enough water, it holds onto whatever you give it, making you look and feel bloated. Give it more water on a regular basis and it will stop hoarding it. The problem with quick weight loss is that when you lose weight quickly, you tend to lose a combination of fat, muscle and water. The actual pounds lost may seem good to start with, but the water loss will soon stop, and the muscle loss is actually undermining your goal of losing weight – the less muscle you have, the fewer calories your body burns! As your metabolism slows, your weight loss grinds to a halt. There are also potential health issues. Rapid weight loss has been linked with the development of gallstones and an increased risk of heart disease. It can also lead to loose skin, and it is also associated with an increased risk of developing an eating disorder – either you starve yourself, which can lead to anorexia, or because you experience strong food cravings, you are tempted to binge and purge, leading to bulimia. So Do You Really Want to Learn How to Lose Weight Quickly? If rapid weight loss is something you are determined to do, there are ways of doing it that increase your chances of success and reduce the risks. Follow These Seven How to Lose Weight Quickly Tips and Cut the Flab Fast 1. Cut calories gradually: Suddenly cutting your calories drastically has a profound effect on the body. It thinks you are starving it (which you are!), so it goes into a famine mode. The biggest change is that your metabolism slows, so you burn fewer calories – the exact opposite of what you want! Either cut calories gradually, or try a technique used by bodybuilders when they are shedding fat – alternate between low calorie days and regular days. The best way to do this is to cut calories on the days you don’t work out, and eat a regular (but not excessive) amount on the days you do work out. 2. Drink more water: With sodas now the main source of calories in the average American’s diet1, cutting out the sodas and drinking water is one of the best strategies for weight loss, a guaranteed method for how to lose weight quickly. In addition, water is required by the body to burn fat, helps to flush toxins from the body, and can help fill you up so you eat less. 3. Eat Regularly: Research shows that people who eat small, regular meals lose more weight than those who eat large, irregular meals. That means starting the day with breakfast (another proven way to lose weight), and eat every two to three hours. It shouldn’t be a full meal every time – a piece of fruit or a handful of nuts between meals will keep your sugar levels stable, and mean that you eat less at meal times. 4. Work Out with Weights: Remember what we said about muscle? It is the body’s engine, burning calories 24/7. So if you want to maximize the amount of fat you are burning, add some weight training to your schedule. Not only will it add muscle (and thus burn more calories), following a weight lifting program has been shown to boost your metabolism more than any other form of exercise. 5. Eat More Protein: There is more and more evidence showing that high protein diets can help with weight loss2. A high protein meal is more satisfying than one that is high in fat or carbs, and also helps to stabilize your blood sugar levels. Be sure to choose lean (low fat) sources of protein like fish, poultry, and beans. 6. Exercise Regularly: There is little doubt that exercise can help you lose weight. But it is better to exercise regularly, doing a variety of different things, than engage in marathon single activity sessions. You’ll have more fun, and suffer far fewer injuries. 7. Avoid Alcohol: Not only is alcohol is calorie laden, high in sugar and carbs, it also acts as an inhibitor for burning fat. Finally, alcohol is often associated with poor food choices, adding even more of a calorie load to your night out. Although long-term weight loss requires you to make sensible life changes that will have long term effects on your body, now you know how to lose weight quickly, you will be able to lose weight both rapidly and safely.
For more information, please read our article on quick weight loss tips.
1Experimental Biology 2005 2http://www.webmd.com/diet/guide/high-protein-diet-weight-loss
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