How To Lose Weight Fast

The biggest challenge in terms of how to lose weight fast is having the discipline that such a process requires.

Losing weight over a long period of time isn’t too difficult. Naturally you will lose more weight some weeks than others but over the months you will see a general downward trend in your body weight and fat reserves.

The odd snack or missed exercise session due to bad weather, tiredness or just plain laziness isn’t the end of the world looking at weight loss over the long term. So long as you get back up again and get on with things at the next available opportunity you should be fine.

Losing weight fast is a different matter.

Every single thing you do has an effect. Every meal must be totally healthy. Every workout session must be completed accurately. No slip ups are permissible.

Also, bear in mind that some doctors will warn against rapid weight loss, classing it as unhealthy for you and that you should lose weight at a more leisurely pace.

With these warnings out of the way however, let’s take a look at a process that will enable you to lose weight fast if you’re able to stick to it.

Whilst some people have success losing weight either by controlling their diet or by increasing their exercise, for best best chances of fast weight loss I would encourage you to do both.

Firstly the nutrition element.

Having tried all sorts of different diets over the years, the best results I have seen involve cutting carbs out of the diet almost entirely. Instead, the diet consists mainly of meat, vegetables and salads, and some dairy products. Think of it as a low fat Atkins diet of primarily protein and complex carbohydrates.

So breakfast might be grilled turkey bacon, scrambled eggs and mushrooms.

Lunch might be a green salad with strips of chicken and chopped soft-boiled eggs.

Dinner could be a steak with leeks and a creamy sauce.

All these meals are tasty and reasonably healthy and will help you to lose weight fast.

There are, of course, only so many combinations of meat and vegetables that once can make so experiment with adding different herbs and spices to your meat in order to change the flavour somewhat so keeping things interesting but adding few extra calories.

Editor’s note: Kathy Freston is the author of “The Lean: A Revolutionary (and Simple!) 30-Day Plan for Healthy, Lasting Weight Loss.” She is on Twitter.

The numbers are stunning: By the year 2030, 42% of Americans will be obese, according to a new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nearly half of our population will be struggling with obesity-borne problems like cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, and even certain kinds of cancer. These ailments are serious, time consuming, painful and costly (the increase would create $550 billion of obesity-related health care costs on top of already soaring expenses). this is not just a crushing problem for the health care system and our economy; it’s a crushing problem for us as individuals. It’s personal. 

We need to lose weight. and we need to do it once and for all in a way that is healthy and sustainable. I’m not in favor of fad diets that make you lose weight quickly but cost you your health, and I really don’t like schemes that would have you put the weight back on as soon as you complete the rigid plan. We need to approach weight loss thoughtfully, and with ease. I believe we can lean into weight loss.

I like to do things with the least amount of effort to get the biggest possible payoff. Don’t we all, really? if you’ve ever dieted, or if perhaps you’ve spent much of your life dieting, you’ve undoubtedly worked very, very hard to achieve results and possibly experienced the devastating disappointment of having the weight creep back on. whether you’ve been working against 10 pounds or 200, losing weight and keeping it off can be one of the toughest challenges, and I have no doubt that the efforts you’ve made so far have been heroic. what I’m here to tell you now, however, is that it doesn’t have to be hard.

My secret? It’s all about “crowding out,” not cutting out. “Crowding out” is a term used in nutritional circles to describe how to eat in a healthy way so that you never even have the chance to feel hungry. you literally crowd out the junk you think you want to eat by choosing to eat key foods throughout the day so that you’re always satisfied. Isn’t that preferable to depriving yourself of foods and white knuckling it all the way?

Here’s how it works: I’m going to have you add healthier choices to whatever else you’re already eating. all I ask is that you eat the new stuff first. That’s the only catch. before you dig into whatever it is you really want to eat, you’re going to have a few whole grains and beans and fruits and veggies and nuts (etc, etc, etc!).

When you gradually add in nutrient-dense, fiber-rich foods, you simply stop feeling cravings. you run out of space in your belly for the old junk. instead of craving, you feel full, fulfilled, and content. 

Here are three simple things you can do to get started:

1). Eat an apple a day. The fiber fills you up and keeps your blood sugar steady. The pectin from apples is actually twice as good as other fiber because it leaves your stomach twice as slowly, so you feel fuller longer. Eat one before a meal and you’ll eat far less calories.

2). Drink eight glasses of water a day. this keeps your metabolism (and every other system in your body) running optimally. in regards to weight loss, it’s called pre-loading: in a recent study, people who drank two cups of water before meals lost five pounds of fat more than people who didn’t drink water in a 12 week period.

3). Eat a hearty, fiber-filled breakfast. When you skip food for a long period of time, your body goes into starvation mode. Your blood sugar drops, you get cranky, and you can’t think straight. Your metabolism can slow down by as much as 40%! have a big bowl of steel cut oatmeal with blueberries and soy milk, or a bowl of brown rice (make a batch twice a week and keep it in the fridge) with chopped almonds and dates, topped with almond or rice milk. Easy!

Please join me, along with Jane Velez-Mitchell, throughout the month of may on HLN as we make this journey into healthy, lasting weight loss. I promise it will be easy, and I promise you will be pleasantly surprised by the results!