Rising obesity is endemic and has increased the risk of obesity-related diseases such as coronary heart disease or diabetes. The urge to shed extra pounds has transformed weight loss into an industry. People who follow crash diets for rapid weight loss often tend to lose more muscle mass and water than fat. The focus should not be on how to lose weight rapidly but rather on a weight loss regime that guarantees sustainable health. Experts are proponents of losing 1-2 pounds for a safe and healthy weight loss.
[Reference: CDC. “Healthy Weight Loss.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 19 Sept. 2022, www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/losing_weight/index.html.]
What is the best and safest way to lose weight rapidly?
Nutritionists, health companies, and pharmaceutical companies have introduced numerous ways, regimes, and medicines to lose weight fast. People become victims of fad diets to accelerate weight loss, paying no heed to the harmful effects of losing weight quickly.
One finds numerous pieces of advice, fad diet plans, and weight loss drinks for weight loss when deliberating on losing weight rapidly. A balance must be struck between what is safe and what is unhealthy for your overall health. The answer lies in strategizing weight loss for long-term effects with strategies that are not radical and difficult to sustain. What follows ahead in the article will focus on those little adjustments in your eating habits and daily routine that are safe and wholesome for maintaining a healthy body weight.
Focus on behavior change!
When it comes to losing weight, your approach to food and diet plays a crucial role in determining your success. Many people resort to crash diets or fads that leave them feeling dissatisfied and constantly preoccupied with calorie counting. This leads to an unpleasant relationship with food, which is something you want to avoid at all costs.
Instead, view rapid weight loss as a journey towards overall health and prioritize taking care of your body. This involves embracing a healthier lifestyle, reducing the consumption of unhealthy foods, increasing physical activity, managing stress levels, and ensuring quality sleep.
The key is finding a weight loss routine that you can adopt and sustain as part of your daily habits. Remember, losing weight is not the ultimate challenge; maintaining a healthy weight in the long run is what can be truly difficult. Therefore, it is essential to shift your behavior towards food and incorporate your weight loss routine into your lifestyle. By doing so, you can prevent the cycle of weight gain that often occurs when old habits resurface.
Don’t diet; rather, eat healthy foods!
Dieting for weight loss has inherent risks, causing more muscle loss instead of fat loss and a slower metabolism. Though curbing calorie intake is imperative for rapid weight loss, not at the cost of nutrients, taste, or satisfaction, eating plant-based foods, fruits, vegetables, and whole grains will lower the intake of calories. Here are a few tips to curb the intake of calories through healthy eating.
- Eat complex carbs and reduce your consumption of refined carbs, sugar, and starches.
- Add variety to your every meal; ensure you include proteins, healthy fats, and whole grains.
- Leafy green vegetables are nutrient-rich and have low calories or carbs.
- Healthy fats are an essential requirement for the body. Nuts, seeds, olive oil, and avocado oil are good sources of healthy fats.
- Add fiber to your daily meal to boost the feeling of fullness. Whole grains, fruits, vegetables, beans, and pulses provide the required fiber for the body.
- A protein-rich, healthy breakfast will help reduce your cravings throughout the day and curb your calorie intake. Eggs, oats, nuts, butter, quinoa porridge, sardines, and chia seed puddings are a few protein-rich breakfasts that can help you with rapid weight loss.
Be active and exercise.
An active lifestyle will make a difference in promoting rapid weight loss. Non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT)—every activity other than eating, sleeping, and exercising—is the fastest way to lose weight for women and men alike.
[Reference: “Non-exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT) – PubMed.” PubMed, 1 Dec. 2002, pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12468415.]
Make small changes to your daily life that help your energy expenditure and calorie deficit. Taking the stairs, parking away, carrying groceries, and walking to work can help burn hundreds of extra calories. Studies have shown that even standing for a considerable time will increase energy expenditure.
Cardio and resistance training are both weight-loss exercises. Lifting weights helps build muscles that burn more calories than fat and promote excess post-exercise consumption (EPOC). This elevates oxygen uptake and boosts metabolism during and after strength training. More muscles in the body will also enhance your resting metabolic rate (RMR). The higher the RMR, the higher the calorie requirement.
[Reference: “Cardio Vs Weights Vs Concurrent: What’s Better for Body Comp? – American Family Fitness.” American Family Fitness, 10 Nov. 2020, amfamfit.com/cardio-vs-weights-vs-concurrent-whats-better-for-body-comp.]
For rapid weight loss, 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity cardio or 75 to 150 minutes of high-intensity cardio workouts each week will help. Running, rowing, walking, swimming, and cycling are easy cardio weight-loss exercises to lose belly fat.
Sleep well and increase your water intake.
Water is an effective weight loss drink and improves the process of burning fat for energy, called lipolysis. Notwithstanding your diet and exercise routine, ample water intake will help you lose weight. Studies have shown an increase of 24 to 30% in calories burned after drinking 0.5 liters of water. Drinking water before a meal helps with satiety, resulting in reduced food intake.
Final Thoughts
Rapid Weight loss is not only about diet programs and workout regimes. It is equally important that you give your body enough time for rest and repair. Studies suggest 15% higher chances of obesity in people who sleep for less than five hours a day. Poor sleep is more likely to increase your hunger and make it harder to lose belly fat. The reason lies in the disturbed production of appetite-regulating hormones (ghrelin and leptin) or an increase in cortisol levels. The rule of 3-2-1 is highly recommended for weight loss; it denotes to stop working 3 hours before bed, don’t eat anything 2 hours before bed, and stop using any screen 1 hour before bed to lose weight fast.
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