How to Lose Weight Quickly and Effectively

When people think of the word "diet" their mind automatically imagines somebody starving themselves.

Maybe they picture an overweight person who is on a verge of collapsing because they haven't eaten in 3 days.

But the reality is oftentimes completely different.

Dieters who know what they're doing are eating just enough and are very happy with the nutritional choices that they made.

What they did was some careful planning, put in some mental effort, they followed the advice of those who have already done the research and the results followed.

But nutrition is not the only thing to consider here.

And it’s actually simpler than you might think. 

Also, the best part of it all is that if you’re a super busy person who doesn’t really have time for lots of self-maintenance, the advice you’ll read about in this post will help you to understand that you don’t NEED much time. You just need to spend the time you have SMART.

So without further ado, let’s see what you should do.

The 2 biggest categories that affect your weight loss speed and effectiveness are:

• Nutrition
• Exercise

But out of those two the biggest and most important category is definitely nutrition. What you eat and more importantly what you don’t eat.

And after those 2 there are some other important and useful factors to consider like

• Sleep
• Motivation
• Unhealthy habits

So let’s see first what we can say about the things you put in your body AKA nutrition.

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Nutrition

The first thing I want to mention when it comes to losing weight is something I wrote a separate article about, the ketogenic diet.

The principle behind the ketogenic diet is that the body is burning the fat deposits that you have stored instead of burning carbs, which is the usual fuel source for the body.

So the first thing that you have to do is to stop eating so many carbs.

THAT DOES NOT MEAN TO STARVE YOURSELF!

You just have to know which foods to eat and which not to eat.

Basically, all the food that have a high level of sugars like cakes or fruit drinks and all the foods made with white flour dough are forbidden.

WAIT, WHAT?!

I know, I know, but don’t hang up on me just yet!

There’s the opposite side of the spectrum. YOU CAN EAT ALL THE FAT YOU WANT!

In fact, the more the merrier.

When you cut carbs from your diet, the only thing giving you energy is fat. So you need lots of it! That means you can eat all the bacon, butter, oil and grease you want!

Now, let’s see 3 things that it does to your body:

1. The first and most express thing it does is that it drains out excess sodium and excess water from the body making you lose weight rapidly in the first week of starting the diet.

2. It gives you a feeling of fullness for a long period of time, much longer than with carbs. That is awesome because you are not feeling hungry and have the energy for a long period of time. That makes you eat fewer calories and keeps you motivated to continue with the diet because you’re not hungry all the time.

3. Makes you lose weight faster than any other diet and it also gives your health an overall boost by lowering your blood sugar and levels of "bad" cholesterol, increasing levels of "good cholesterol" and lowering blood pressure

I highly recommend trying out the keto diet if you are thinking about starting with a weight loss program.   

And you don’t have to be too hard on yourself. You can do a carb cheat day once a week, which will keep you even more motivated to continue with the diet. And when you do that, stick to good carbs from whole grain and unprocessed food like rice, potatoes, raw fruit etc.

Start your day with a good breakfast

As we’ve all known since we were kids, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It is always better to eat large in the morning, rather than in the evening. It gives you energy and it makes you crave less food during the day.

So what should you do?

You should eat around 400 calories for breakfast, and those calories should consist of foods like eggs, bacon, yogurt (unsweetened), peanut butter, berries and other fruits and vegetables filled with fiber, lean protein and also whole grain foods.

Eat protein

When compared to fat and carbs, protein intake should be somewhere in the middle, with up to 50mg/day.

Here are some good sources of protein:

• Eggs
• Chicken
• Pork
• Lamb
• Salmon
• Beef
• Trout

Eating enough protein is great for boosting your metabolism and it makes you full enough to reduce cravings.

Eat spicy foods

Capsaicin, a compound of spicy foods such as jalapeno and cayenne peppers, can increase adrenaline and speed up your ability to burn calories.

It can also help you slow down your eating, letting your body let you know when you’re full before you’ve eaten too much.

Here are some spices you can use:

• black pepper
• jalapenos
• turmeric 
• oregano    
• ginger

Eat whole foods

Whole foods are basically the most natural foods you can find. 

They are not processed or packaged which means you will be eating the same way people ate for thousands of years before the modern industries took over food production.

Always try to buy fresh items, fresh fruits and vegetables, and whole grain products.

They will make you full with much less carb intake.

Some low-carb vegetables:

• kale
• cauliflower      
• spinach  
• broccoli
• cabbage
• lettuce

What about water?

Drink LOTS of water! It will help flush you out. Try to remember to drink a glass of water about a half an hour before a meal.

Don’t drink sports drinks, fruit and sweetened drinks which contain lots of calories and are high in sodium. 

Proper hydration is proven to bring you a great boost of energy so you can do more in the gym!

Should I drink coffee for energy?

Absolutely! Coffee is, as you all already know, a GREAT energy booster. Before you go to the gym or for any type of workout, drink it.

You will be able to push yourself harder without even realizing it.

Drink up to 400mg of caffeine for optimal energy.

A good replacement for coffee is dandelion or fennel root tea which is also a natural diuretic, just like coffee, making you get rid of that extra water.

What should you avoid?

You should avoid simple carbs like rice, products made from white flour dough like spaghetti and white bread, anything sweetened artificially like sugary drinks, juices, caramel lattes etc.

Ingesting those types of carbs will make you full for a very short period of time and will make you crave a snack very soon.

Stop snacking, especially before bed

Make a sacrifice for yourself.

Get rid of those chips or that candy you have on your coffee table. Stop eating mindlessly when you’re in front of the TV. 

All those snacks are filled with simple, refined sugars that won’t make you feel full, but will cause you to feel miserable instead.

And you won’t get rid of that weight. In fact, you’ll gain more!

So when you’re in a supermarket, don’t just routinely buy snacks while buying all your other groceries. One thing you will not want to do is go to the store just for a pack of snacks when you suddenly start craving them.

Don’t skip meals!

Have some snacks with you to take a bite if you start feeling hungry but can’t whip up a meal right now. You should never go long periods without food because that slows down your metabolism.

And if you haven’t eaten all day, you will eat your whole fridge in the evening before going to bed and gain weight as a result.

So, to prevent all that, you should eat at least 3 meals per day and never go longer than 4 hours without eating.

What about alcohol?

You should be careful when drinking alcohol because alcohol can slow down the speed with which the body burns fats, making it difficult for your body to use them as fuel.

Exercise

There are 3 main types of exercises you can do:

• Weight training
• Cardio
• Bodyweight workout

Now let’s say something about each one of those…

Weight training

A good thing about weight training is that it keeps your heart rate elevated, making you rapidly burn calories and at the same time it shapes your body by building lean muscle tissue.

Also, a consequence of weight loss is slower metabolism, so maintaining a habit of strong physical activity helps keep your metabolism at a consistent level.

A great thing about weight training is that it burns calories even after you’ve stopped training, even while you’re sleeping. 

Imagine it, you’re both losing weight and building strength all while taking a nap. Isn’t that the dream?

The recommended amount of working out with weights is 3 times/week and it is best to do compound exercises like squats with weight on your shoulders, bench-presses, deadlifts or a rowing machine but you can also do isolated exercises like bicep curls, tricep extensions, leg presses etc.

Soon after you’ve started you’ll notice a more toned and shaped physique.

Cardio

Doing cardio means doing exercises that will elevate your heart rate immensely and start pumping blood a lot faster through your veins.

And increased heart rate means more calories are being burnt and more weight is being lost.

Also when you’re doing cardio, your engaging various different muscle groups which will demand a lot more energy. That also means burning more calories.

You can do cardio for as much as you want, but for those on a busy schedule, 15-30 minutes a day is just enough.

You can start just by walking and then progress to more active exercises like running, cycling, swimming and even some group activities like Zumba or a spinning class.

Cardio burns calories very fast, around 300 calories in just half an hour, and at the same time, it tightens your body toning up your muscles and also making you a lot stronger and more endurable.

Bodyweight workouts

Bodyweight workouts, also called calisthenics are also an excelent way of losing weight, especially if you can’t afford a gym or your own set of weights.

There are many benefits of this type of workout, some being gaining lots of strength fast, but also burning lots of weight fast by engaging all kinds of muscles.

Exercises you can do involve push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups, lunges, squats and all types of variations of those.

You can challenge yourself every day in regard to how many of which you can do, and set the bar a little bit higher every time you reach your previously set goal. That will make you engaged more and motivated to achieve the next goal.

Also, it can be lots of fun!

Now let’s move onto the three bonus factors that can majorly affect your weight loss.

MOTIVATION

The only way you’ll be able to reach your desired weight loss goal is to not give up! 

And it’s easy to do that when things get a little bit difficult or you’re not seeing the results as fast as you expected.

That’s why you need to constantly motivate yourself to keep at it.

I also wrote a separate article about what you can do to keep yourself motivated to keep working out. You can check it out here.

For persisting with your diet, the principles are very similar.

A good thing you can do is to weigh yourself every day.

That’s an awesome motivational booster as it keeps you focused on your big goal while you’re seeing with your own eyes that you’re achieving the little ones.

And don’t be too hard on yourself! It’s ok to treat yourself every once in a while. Don’t think you will sin if you eat something you know you shouldn’t every now and then. 

Just do it moderately.

Keep it under 200 calories a day and you will have the strength to keep going without messing everything up. Enjoy your food and your life.

You can also make a log of every bit of progress and maybe even make a little graph where you connect the dots of every day and every week you achieved your goal. Then as you see the bar go down on weekly basis you will stay motivated to bringing it down to your desired level.

Also, don’t set up too high expectations.

Set up a realistic goal that you know you’ll be able to achieve.

During the first week, you can expect a greater weight loss, even up to 10 lbs. But after that, it slows down a little bit to around 3 lbs per week.

Be aware of that and keep going.

Something that always gets me pumped up is good music.  Find some music that gets your juices flowing and also listen to some good motivational speeches. Those can be especially powerful before a workout.

Stop with the unhealthy habits

Unhealthy habits can be a powerful motivational killer, so try your best to get rid of those. Smoking, excessive drinking or worse, doing drugs, will most definitely not give you the willpower to lose weight.

So before making your first step towards weight loss, get clean in other areas.

And finally - Sleep

It is important for your health, in general, to get enough sleep every night, but it is important for losing weight also.

You can try going to bed 30 minutes earlier and getting that extra half hour of sleep every night. It can do nothing but good. 

You should never sleep less than 7 hours a day, and 8 hours is optimal.

You will be well rested where you won’t need that piece of cake to give you a quick fix of sugar for extra energy, and you won’t be too tired for a workout. And getting to bed earlier will prevent you from having that late night snack in front of the TV.

Also, it will keep your metabolism at a normal rate, because insufficient sleep tends to slow it down.

And there you have it. I know this article might be a little too long but this is what I think is important and what is usually considered good advice for losing weight.

If you do at least some things written in this article, the results are sure to follow! Good luck!