How to Lose Weight Quickly

The age-old question- “How to Lose Weight Quickly?” As a personal trainer and health coach, this is a question I get asked all the time. Everyone wants to know the ‘secret’. Sure, you can lose weight quicker by over-exercising and under-eating BUT not only is that NOT HEALTHY at all, but it also isn’t a long term solution. Undereating can lead to eating disorders and over-exercising can lead to injury. So let’s stay away from those.

The truth is, healthy weight loss is 1-2 lbs a week. You MAY lose weight faster in the beginning, based on your current situation (and some of it may be water weight). In the long run, focus on 1-2 lb weight loss per week because remember, we want to lose fat, not muscle.

There are two main factors that contribute to weight and fat loss: Nutrition and fitness. Other factors also have an effect to some extent like sleep, stress, etc.

A pound of fat is 3500 calories, so the best way to lose fat is by making changes to your nutrition and fitness. Say you cut back 500 calories in your nutrition- IF you are able to do that while fueling your body properly and you also burn 500 calories from exercise. That’s 1000 calories a day, or 7000 in a week which equals the healthy rate of loss of about 2 lbs/week.

Let’s dive into how to make this happen.

1. Nutrition

This is your starting point. Actually taking a look at your nutrition and changing your habits. You’ve heard it before, you can’t out-exercise a bad diet. There is much truth to the saying as nutrition yields about 80% of your results.

How to Approach Nutrition

a. Take a look at what you currently eat, figure out what your body needs.

Just do it. What do you eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner? Do you snack? How about those snacks you stand in front of the fridge or cupboard eating?

Get real with yourself and how you actually do with nutrition. A lot of the time, those little snacks and bites here and there add up- by simply paying attention to those, you can make an easy change.

Also, a lot is going to play into how many calories you need per day (gender, activity level, goals). I recommend the MyFitnessPal app as a great tool to use to figure this out. I DON’T want you to obsess over macros or calories but use it for about a week to see your calorie needs and how different foods fit into those.

You should NEVER consume under 1200 calories per day. If you are doing this and losing weight, it’s most likely water or muscle weight which is not what we are aiming for.

b. Come up with a clean eating plan.

Clean eating is essentially limiting processed foods and eating food in its most natural form. Some AVOIDS are things like added sugar, white bread, candy, white flour, etc.

You need to fill your diet with wholesome foods full of protein, fiber, healthy fats, and complex carbs. This will not only fuel your body and mind but also keep you full. Check out tips on how to come up with a clean eating meal plan here.

Remember it’s not about eating LESS but eating SMARTER.

c. Follow the 80/20 rule.

What is this? Eating healthy about 80% of the time and allowing 20% of the time to indulge helps with long term weight loss and management. This way, you are not restricting yourself from any foods or drinks, but you are eating mindfully and intuitively.

It doesn’t have to be exact. You might think it sounds restrictive but in turn, if you are eating three meals and one snack a day, that’s 28 ‘meals’ in a week, 6 of which, you can indulge. You can do that, right?

2. Fitness

You might be thinking, only 20% of my results come from fitness? Well, there is a lot more that goes into it.

a. Find fitness you ENJOY doing.

This is first and foremost key. If you aren’t doing anything for fitness, first try something just to get you moving. Walking while listening to your favorite podcast, dancing, playing a sport, kickboxing, yoga, etc. The key is finding something you enjoy doing so you aren’t dreading your workouts.

The American Heart Association recommends 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity per week. Try aiming for aerobic exercise you enjoy and spreading it throughout the week.

b.Building Lean Muscle

You might be thinking since I mentioned above, that burning 500 calories a day from working out, that you need to go heavy on cardio but this is in fact, not the truth.

Of course, you need some cardio, but building lean muscle is going to translate to burning MORE calories while you are at rest. So the key is- a balance of cardio and strength training. Read more about more muscle burning more calories while at rest here.

Not only does lean muscle help you burn more calories while at rest, but it also helps that ‘toned’ look that you cannot get from cardio alone.

Maybe you don’t enjoy strength training but there are countless ways to work it in. Total body HIIT (high-intensity interval training) workouts are a great way to save time and get in your cardio and strength. Adding on 20 minutes of strength training 2-3x a week after a cardio workout is another great option.

Key Takeaways

• Focus on healthy fat loss versus losing weight quickly.
• You want to develop a lifelong approach, not a short term solution.
• The key is to find a healthy and balanced diet that will keep your body fueled, along with exercise you enjoy.
• Make sure you are incorporating a variety of exercise, including strength training into your routine.
• Don’t beat yourself up! It’s going to take time and take it one day at a time! “How to lose weight quickly?” is not the question you should be asking. It should be “How to lose fat in a healthy and sustainable way?”