There are many ways to lose a lot of weight in a short amount of time.
However, most of them require you to be hungry and unsatisfied.
If you don’t have iron willpower, then hunger will cause you to give up on these plans quickly.
The 3-step plan outlined here will:
- Kill your appetite.
- Make you lose weight fast, without being hungry.
- Improve your health at the same time.
Step 1 – Eliminate Sugars and Starches
The most important part is to remove sugars and starches (carbs) from your diet.
These are the foods that stimulate secretion of insulin the most. If
you didn’t know already, insulin is the main fat storage hormone in the
body.
When insulin goes down, fat has an easier time getting out of the fat stores and the body starts burning fats instead of carbs.
Another benefit of lowering insulin is that your kidneys shed excess sodium and water out of your body, which reduces bloat and unnecessary water weight.
It is not uncommon to lose up to 10 pounds (sometimes more) in the
first week of eating this way, both body fat and water weight.
This is a graph from a study comparing low-carb and low-fat diets in overweight/obese women.
The low-carb group is eating until fullness, while the low-fat group is
calorie restricted and hungry.
Cut the carbs, lower your insulin and you will start to eat less calories automatically and without hunger.
Put simply, lowering your insulin puts fat loss on “autopilot.”
Bottom Line: Removing sugars and
starches (carbs) from your diet will lower your insulin levels, kill
your appetite and make you lose weight without hunger.
Step 2 – Eat Protein, Fat and Vegetables
Each one of your meals should include a protein source, a fat source
and low-carb vegetables. Constructing your meals in this way will
automatically bring your carb intake into the recommended range of 20-50 grams per day.
Protein Sources:
- Meat – Beef, chicken, pork, lamb, bacon, etc.
- Fish and Seafood – Salmon, trout, shrimps, lobsters, etc.
- Eggs – Omega-3 enriched or pastured eggs are best.
Protein is the macronutrient that contributes most to fullness and eating adequate protein can raise your metabolism .
Low-Carb Vegetables:
- Broccoli
- Cauliflower
- Spinach
- Kale
- Brussels Sprouts
- Cabbage
- Swiss Chard
- Lettuce
- Cucumber
- Celery
Don’t be afraid to load your plate with these low-carb vegetables.
You can eat massive amounts of them without going over 20-50 net carbs
per day.
A diet based on meat and vegetables contains all the fiber, vitamins
and minerals you need to be healthy. There is no physiological need for
grains in the diet.
Fat Sources:
- Coconut Oil
- Butter
- Olive Oil
- Lard
- Tallow
Eat 2-3 meals per day. If you find yourself hungry in the afternoon, add a 4th meal.
Don’t be afraid of eating fat, trying to do both low-carb AND low-fat
at the same time is a recipe for failure. It will make you feel
miserable and abandon the plan.
The best cooking fat to use is coconut oil. It is rich in fats called Medium Chain Triglycerides (MCTs). These fats are more fulfilling than others and can boost metabolism slightly.
There is no reason to fear these natural fats, new studies show that saturated fat doesn’t raise your heart disease risk at all.
To see how you can assemble your meals, check out this low carb meal plan and this list of low carb recipes.
Bottom Line: Assemble each meal out of a
protein source, a fat source and a low-carb vegetable. This will put
you into the 20-50 gram carb range and drastically lower your insulin
levels.
Step 3 (Optional) – Exercise 3-4 Times Per Week
You don’t
need to exercise to lose weight on this plan, but it is recommended.
The best option is to go to the gym 3-4 times a week. Do a warm up, lift weights, then stretch.
If you’re new to the gym, ask a trainer for some advice.
By lifting weights, you will burn a few calories and prevent your
metabolism from slowing down, which is a common side effect of losing
weight.
Studies on low-carb diets show that you can even gain a bit of muscle while losing significant amounts of body fat.
If lifting weights is not an option for you, then doing some easier
cardio workouts like running, jogging, swimming or walking will suffice.
Bottom Line: It is best to do some sort of resistance training like weight lifting. If that is not an option, cardio workouts work too.
Optional – Do a “Carb Re-feed” Once Per Week
You can take one day “off” per week where you eat more carbs. Many people prefer Saturday.
It is important to try to stick to healthier carb sources like oats, rice, quinoa, potatoes, sweet potatoes, fruits, etc.
But
only this one higher carb day, if you start
doing it more often than once per week then you’re not going to see much
success on this plan.
If you must have a cheat meal and eat something unhealthy, then do it on this day.
Be aware that cheat meals or carb refeeds are NOT necessary, but they can up-regulate some fat burning hormones like leptin and thyroid hormones.
You will gain some weight during your re-feed day, but most of it
will be water weight and you will lose it again in the next 1-2 days.
Bottom Line: Having one day of the week where you eat more carbs is perfectly acceptable, although not necessary.
Other Weight Loss Tips to Make Things Easier (and Faster)
Pretty much all you have to do is the 3 steps:
- Eliminate high-carb foods.
- Eat Protein, Fat and Veggies.
- Exercise 3-4 times per week (optional, but recommended).
However, there are a few other tips that you may find useful if you want to speed things up even further.
None of these are old wives’ tales, they all have scientific evidence to back them up.
Drink Water, Coffee or Tea: Satisfy your thirst with water. If you’re a coffee or a tea drinker, then by all means drink as much as you want as both can raise your metabolism slightly.
Use Smaller Plates: Studies show that people automatically eat less when they use smaller plates. Strange, but it works.
Sleep Like a Baby: Poor sleep is associated with weight gain and obesity, taking care of your sleep is important.
Reduce Stress: Being stressed can elevate the stress hormone cortisol, which can cause fat accumulation in the belly.
Good sleep and reduced stress levels can also help prevent cravings,
the dieter’s worst enemy. There are many other tips to prevent cravings in this article.
Bottom Line: It is most important to stick to the three rules, but there are a few other things you can do to speed things up.
You Don’t Need to Starve Yourself to Lose Weight
If you have a medical condition then talk to your doctor before
making changes because this plan can reduce your need for medication.
By reducing carbs and lowering insulin levels, you change the
hormonal environment and make your body and brain “want” to lose weight.
This leads to drastically reduced appetite and hunger, eliminating
the main reason that most people fail with conventional weight loss
methods.
This is proven to make you lose about 2-3 times as much weight as a typical low-fat, calorie restricted diet.
Another great benefit for the impatient folks is that the initial
drop in water weight can lead to a big difference on the scale as early
as the next morning.
Try these out and by all means keep us all informed on the results.
Good luck!
Repeat the movements describe in steps 1 through 3. It's recommended
starting off by doing 2 sets of 10 repetitions. If doing 10 reps is
difficult split the work up into smaller sets.
