Experts shared real tips to help you lose weight in a month. Many people think that they need to get rid of those extra pounds.
But at the same time, most of them are afraid to even start losing weight.
How to lose weight if it's scary to even start?
- Prepare lunch at home, as a quick lunch in a cafe is unnecessary calories. It doesn't take long to prepare dinner. In addition, you can cook something that is not only tasty, but also healthy.
- Lack of a clear training plan makes it difficult to lose weight. You need to create a flexible training schedule, set aside a convenient time for sports, and at the same time take into account your biorhythms, fatigue after work and household chores.
- More goals, more results. Small goals are an excuse not to give up what you started. When a person does not have a specific goal, he loses his aspiration. Therefore, first, decide on a global goal, and then mark many small ones.
Do you have weight loss problems? Or would you just like to lose weight faster? The sad truth is that conventional ideas - eat less, run more - rarely work in the long run. Counting calories, exercising for several hours every day, and constant hunger? This is needless suffering and probably a waste of your time and precious energy.
In the end, people often give up, so over-focusing on calorie counting may be one of the causes of the current obesity epidemic. Fortunately, there is a better way.
What is the essence of the matter? Your weight is hormonally regulated. If you lower your levels of your fat storage hormone, insulin, it is likely that it will be easier for you to lose weight.
Choose a low-carb diet
- If you are looking to lose weight, consider starting by cutting out sugar and starch (such as bread, pasta, and potatoes).
- This is an old idea: for 150 years or more, there have been a huge number of weight loss diets based on eating fewer carbohydrates.
- What's new is that dozens of modern scientific studies have proven that yes, on average, low carbs can be the most effective way to lose weight.
Obviously, you can still lose weight on any diet - just eat fewer calories than you burn, right? The problem with this simplistic advice is that it ignores the elephant in the room: hunger.
Most people do not like to "just eat less", as this can lead to their hunger. Sooner or later, a normal person is likely to refuse and eat, hence the prevalence of the "yo-yo diet".
- The main benefit of a low-carb diet is that it can make you want to eat less.
- Even without counting calories, overweight people tend to eat fewer calories on low carbohydrates.
Sugar and starches can increase your hunger, while avoiding them can reduce your appetite to more adequate levels. If your body wants to have the right amount of calories, you don't need to worry about counting them. Thus, calories are counted, but you do not need to count them.
Recently, large-scale and rigorous research has confirmed the metabolic-saving effect of various weight-loss groups burning an average of 200 to nearly 500 extra calories per day on a low-carb maintenance diet compared to a high-carb or moderate-carb diet.
Bottom line: A low-carb diet can reduce your hunger. And it can also increase the rate of fat burning.
Eat When Hungry
Don't be hungry. This is the most common mistake when starting a low-carb diet. Carbohydrates and fats are two of the body's primary energy sources, and it needs at least one of them.
Low Carbohydrates and Fat = Fasting
Avoiding carbohydrates and fat can lead to hunger, cravings, and fatigue. Sooner or later, many people break down and give up. You can eat more natural fat until you feel satisfied. For instance:
- Butter
- Full fat cream
- Olive oil
- Meat (including fat)
- Fatty fish
- Bacon
- Eggs
- Coconut oil, etc.
Always eat enough to feel satisfied, especially at the beginning of the weight loss process. The fat you eat will be burned for fuel by your body as your level of fat, which stores the hormone insulin, will be reduced.
Are you still afraid of saturated fat? You might want to reconsider this. The fear of saturated fat is based on theories that recent research has shown to be flawed and incorrect.
Butter is a great food. However, feel free to eat mostly unsaturated fats (e. g. olive oil, avocado, oily fish). This could be called the Mediterranean low-carb diet and it works just as well.
Eat only when you are hungry
On a low-carb diet, you should aim to eat when you're hungry. And if you're not hungry, don't eat.
Limit unnecessary snacks. Unnecessary snacks can be a problem. Some things are easy to eat just because they are tasty and readily available. Three common pitfalls are:
- Dairy products such as cream and cheese. They work well in cooking because they are satisfying. The problem is, you can eat a lot of cheese in front of the TV in the evening . . . without being hungry. Be careful with this. Or a lot of cream with dessert when you're actually full and just keep on eating because it's delicious. Or another common culprit: high amounts of heavy cream in coffee.
- Nuts. They are very easy to eat until the nuts disappear, no matter how full you are. Tip: According to science, salted nuts are harder to stop eating than unsalted nuts. Salty nuts tempt you to overeat more. Another tip: avoid bringing all of the packaging on the couch. Choose a small bowl instead.
- Low-carb baked goods. Even if you're only using almond flour and sweeteners, baked goods and cookies usually provide extra nutrition when you're not hungry . . . and yes, it will slow your weight loss.
Feel free to skip meals
Do you have to have breakfast? Research has confirmed that the answer is no. Don't eat if you are not hungry. And this applies to any meal.
On a strict diet, hunger and the need for food tend to be significantly reduced, especially if you are overweight. Your body can happily burn your fat stores, reducing the need for food.
- If this happens, be happy!
- Don't fight it by eating food you don't want.
- Instead, wait for the hunger to return before eating again.
- This will save you time and money while speeding up your weight loss process.
Some people fear that they will lose control if they do not eat every three hours, which will cause them to eat thousands of calories and completely disrupt their diet.
This constant snack may be necessary on a diet high in sugar or processed carbohydrates to control hunger cravings, but it usually isn't necessary on a keto diet. The hunger will only slowly return, and you should have enough time to cook and eat.
Bottom line: To lose weight in a sustainable way, eat when you're hungry - but only when you're hungry. Forget about the watch and listen to your body.
How to maintain weight in the long term
- Losing and maintaining a lot of weight in the long term most likely won't happen unless you change your habits permanently.
- If you lose weight and then return to your old life, do not be surprised to find yourself overweight.
- Maintaining weight loss usually requires long-term changes.
Forget quick fixes. If you lose some weight each month, you may eventually be able to shed all of the excess weight. This is inevitable progress. This is what you want.
Long-term change is most difficult in the beginning, especially during the first two weeks. It's like quitting smoking. Once you develop new habits, it will become easier and easier for you every week. In the end, it can come naturally.