How to Lose Weight Fast Based on Science

If you are obese or overweight, you can use many proven methods to lose weight fast.

According to the World Health Organization, over 1.9 billion adults aged 18 and above and 340 million children and adolescents aged 5–19 are overweight or obese.

You can know if you’re obese by checking your Body Mass Index (BMI). Although it doesn’t measure body fat directly, BMI works by estimating your body fat based on your height and weight.

A higher BMI means you have too much fat and should shed it to prevent you from developing health conditions such as diabetes, blood pressure, and heart disease.

This guide takes you through the best ways to lose weight quickly, from weight loss exercises to diet, supplements, and surgery.

What Is Weight Loss?

Weight loss is the reduction in body weight triggered by voluntary and involuntary events.

Diet, exercise, and sickness are the main causes of weight loss. Some people also believe in weight loss hypnosis, which adds some counseling to exercise and diet.

How To Calculate Weight Calories

Age, height, gender, height, weight, and metabolic level are all factors that influence the weight calorie calculator.

You will lose weight quickly if you consume fewer calories. Maintain at least 500 fewer calories than your body weight.

Only then will you manage to lose 0.45 kg every week. Here is Healthy Weight for Women and Men Based On Height and Age.

How Fast Can a Person Lose Weight?

How fast you lose weight depends on several factors: your weight, height, activity level, age, and the foods you’re taking.

Even though most individuals want to lose weight fast and rapidly, experts recommend a weight loss of 1–3 pounds (0.45–1.36 kg) per week or about 1% of your body weight.

Several risks come with rapid weight loss. Some common ones include headache, fatigue, constipation, hair loss, menstrual irregularities, irritability, and more.

How To Lose Weight Fast

Follow these guidelines to lose weight fast:

• Cut Calories and control portions: Consuming excess calories increases your weight and can lead to obesity. Try to cut down on foods with high quantities of calories, such as sugars and fats. Additionally, eating small portions regularly is an excellent way to curb weight gain.
• Cut back on refined carbs: Processed and refined carbs have high levels of sugar that accelerate weight gain. Getting rid of them will help you to lose weight fast. Consuming whole foods such as nuts, fish, lean meat, fruits, seeds, and vegetables is a healthier option.

Diet for Weight Loss

Exercise alone may not give you the desired weight loss results.

Having a diet plan or following a successful weight-loss program that includes weight-loss-friendly foods may help you reach your goals faster.

Below are some of the diets that can help you lose weight fast.

• Eat protein: Your weight loss goals are achievable if you eat lots of proteins. Proteins require more energy to digest than carbs, burning more calories. Eating protein is, therefore, a smart way to lose weight fast.
• Fat: Taking healthy fats is a weight loss plan you should never ignore. Remember, your body needs to stay healthier even as you lose weight. Consider fat sources such as olive oil and avocado oil in your diet.
• Vegetables: Consuming vegetables will take you a step closer to weight loss. For every meal you want to prepare, ensure vegetables are 50%. They are filled with nutrients and have lesser calories.
• Reduce calories in daily drinks: Sugar inhibits weight loss, and it’s even worse in daily drinks. They contain empty calories that will only add more pounds than necessary. Do away with such drinks and replace them with water.

Meal Ideas for Fast Weight Loss

Weight loss involves a couple of factors, but the most common one is diet. If you want to lose weight, always ensure that your diet supports weight loss.

The following meal ideas for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks are ideal if you want to lose weight quickly.

Breakfast Ideas

In your weight loss plan, a breakfast meal matters a lot. It sets the tone for the rest of the day. Take a wholesome breakfast to avoid unnecessary bites in between.

Some breakfast meal ideas include eggs, wheat germ, bananas, yogurt, weight loss smoothies, berries, grapefruits, coffee, kiwis, green tea, chia seeds, oatmeal, flax seeds, and nuts.

Lunch Ideas

Just because you want to lose weight doesn’t mean you skip lunch. Neither does it mean your plate has to contain salads only.

A weight-loss-friendly lunchtime meal gives the best results. Below are some lunch ideas you can use.

• Greek quinoa salad: Has chickpeas, cucumber, olives, and fresh herbs. This weight-loss meal comprises 341 calories.
• Whole30 chicken salad: Comprises mayo, Dijon mustard, celery, and grapes. This meal contains 252 calories in each serving.
• Slow cooker yellow chicken curry: Prepared with coconut milk, peanut butter, soy sauce, garlic, and ginger.

Snack Ideas

A study by the American Heart Association (AHA) shows that skipping meals for weight loss eventually backfires. It eventually causes overeating.

Instead of skipping meals, incorporate healthy snacks such as nuts, hard-boiled eggs, low-fat cheese, hummus, and vegetables.

Learn More: Here are 30 Healthy snacks to eat for weight loss

Dinner Ideas

As long as you’re keeping it healthy, dinner matters in weight loss. Just go for something quick but healthy.

Dinner ideas when losing weight take about 30-45 minutes to be ready. Some ideas include:

• Crispy cod with sweet potato fries
• Sheet-pan Italian pork chops
• Butter-baked salmon and asparagus
• Pesto Chicken

Exercise for Weight Loss

Physical activity is very important during weight loss. It increases the number of calories your body burns off.

When burning calories from physical activities is combined with eating fewer calories, it creates a calorie deficit, leading to weight loss.

Exercise is an excellent weight-loss activity. This is because it is muscle-focused and burns more calories in the long run.

Several exercises can help you lose weight, and when you combine them with cardio, the results are even better.

Kettlebell Sequences

Studies conducted by the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research show that kettlebell circuits are perfect for weight loss.

Making movements without releasing the weights burns calories and increases muscle strength.

Move your lower and upper body alternatively to achieve the result without too much fatigue.

Running and Jogging

You can lose weight by running since the entire body is lifted. A 10-minute run is equivalent to burning 566–839 calories.

Simple jogs for 30 minutes daily will do the trick too. It’s also wise to set the intervals you want to run.

Jumping Rope

Jumping rope is a perfect way to burn extra calories. Put your feet together, then jump in intervals for a minute.

This is a weight loss exercise and a way to improve coordination and strengthen your ankle muscles.

Weight Loss Supplements

Apart from diet, weight loss exercises, and surgery, you can use weight loss supplements to lose weight.

Weight loss supplements come in different formats, including pills, drugs, and natural supplements. They are made to cause weight loss by reducing appetite, reducing absorption, and increasing the fat-burning process.

Weight loss pills are safe to perform a perfect job. However, you need to be careful about the supplements you choose.

Before settling on one, it is recommended that you consult with your doctor. It will help you stay protected since some have adverse health effects.

Some of the most common weight loss pills and supplements reviewed by science include:

• Glucomannan: This is a fiber substance made from the konjac plant. It absorbs all the water in food, forming a gel-like substance that inhibits fat absorption. Glucomannan works best when taken four hours before other drugs. Otherwise, it will harden your body’s ability to absorb the medication.
• Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA): This supplement is commonly found in fatty acids known as linoleic acids. It’s found in healthy fatty foods such as cheese and butter. CLA is popular for lowering metabolism, lessening the appetite, and facilitating the breakdown of calories. A 2012 study showed that CLA could make you lose three pounds.
• Hydroxycut: This weight loss supplement works perfectly as it contains ingredients such as caffeine and other plant extracts. They help with weight loss.
• Caffeine: Caffeine is an excellent weight loss booster. It’s common in coffee, green tea, dark chocolate, and processed beverages. Caffeine increases metabolism and speeds up the burning up of calories, leading to weight loss.
• Orlistat (Alli): Orlistat is an over-the-counter drug that helps in weight loss by reducing fat absorption. This supplement ensures less calorie intake to facilitate weight loss.
• Raspberry ketones: Raspberry ketones in the synthetic version boost weight loss by increasing fat breakdown and releasing adiponectin, a hormone responsible for weight loss.
• Green coffee bean extract: This supplement contains caffeine and chlorogenic acids, common weight loss ingredients. Chlorogenic acid lowers fat absorption in the gut to facilitate weight loss, while caffeine increases metabolism and burns more calories.
• Meratrim: Meratrim is a weight loss pill that works by inhibiting the multiplication of fat cells in the body. It also helps these cells quickly break fat down to meet your weight loss goals.
• Green tea extract: Green tea extract works well with weight loss as it contains an antioxidant known as EGCG that burns calories. The Norepinephrine hormone found in green tea extract also accelerates fat burning.
• Forskolin: Forskolin is a mint plant extract believed to help with weight loss. This supplement releases a compound called cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) into body cells to cause the breaking down of calories.
• Bitter Orange: Bitter orange supplement contains synephrine, a compound with weight loss mechanisms. Synephrine reduces appetite, making you consume less. It also speeds up fat breakdown for quick weight loss results.

Surgery for Weight Loss

Surgery is another option for weight loss when diet, exercise, and weight loss supplements have failed to work for you.

Your doctor might recommend a weight loss surgery known as bariatric or metabolic surgery if you’re extremely obese or overweight.

However, you need to adjust to a permanent diet and lifestyle for long-lasting results.

Some of the common weight-loss surgeries include:

• Gastric band: This surgery involves an adjustable gastric band fixed on your upper stomach. Below it is a pouch designed to make you eat less food.
• Gastric bypass (Roux-en-Y): Gastric bypass surgery combines your upper stomach with the small intestines. You’ll eat less as few calories need to be absorbed.
• Sleeve gastrectomy: A large part of your curved stomach will be removed in this surgery. This leaves a small portion that won’t accommodate a lot of food.

Learn more about weight loss surgery (bariatric or metabolic surgery).

Medical Help for Weight Loss

When diet, surgery, and exercise fail in weight loss plans, weight loss medication comes in. It’s applied when excess weight becomes detrimental to your health.

Note: Drug prescription works best when combined with diet and exercise. To proceed with medical help for weight loss, your BMI has to be more than 30.

Some of the recommended weight loss drugs include:

• Bupropion-naltrexone (Contrave): As its name suggests, this drug is a combination of Bupropion and Naltrexone. Bupropion treats alcoholism while Naltrexone is an anti-smoking aid. Its prescription means you get full faster. Avoid taking the drug if you have high blood pressure as it causes seizures.
• Liraglutide (Saxenda): Liraglutide facilitates weight loss by making you feel fuller. Though used to treat type 2 diabetes, this drug causes nausea and vomiting.
• Orlistat (Xenical): This drug works by lowering the amount of fat your body absorbs by up to 30%. It becomes easier to lose some pounds as fewer calories get into your body. Side effects such as diarrhea, gastro-intestinal gases, and stomach pains are linked to this drug.
• Phentermine-topiramate (Qsymia): A dose of phentermine-topiramate contains a combination of an anti-appetite and anti-seizure prescription. This drug works by sending a message to your brain that you’re fuller. Some of the side effects include dizziness and dry mouth.

Weight Loss Tips

Apply the following tips to realize your weight loss dreams;

Choose weight-loss friendly foods

Keeping away from unhealthy foods is one step towards weight loss. Do away with junk foods such as chips and cookies since they lead to obesity.

Always make sure healthy foods such as nuts, whole grains, yoghurt, fruits, and vegetables are within your reach.

Eat a high-protein breakfast

Studies have shown that eating a high-protein breakfast makes you eat less. As you incorporate proteins in the first meal, food cravings reduce. Adding some nuts and high fiber foods to your breakfast serving also does the trick.

Avoid sugary drinks and fruit juice

Anything sugary is a leading cause of weight gain. Avoid all drinks that have added sugar. Replace them with weight-loss drinks such as water.

Drink water before meals

Water consumption is a healthy way to lose weight. Research shows you’ll lose weight when you have a glass of water before meals. Staying hydrated keeps you fuller, making you eat less food in the long run.

Drink coffee or tea

Black coffee and green teas are linked to weight loss benefits. Don’t add any sugar on either to have good results.

Coffee and tea have antioxidants that mix with caffeine to increase metabolism. Consequently, calories are burnt by up to 10-29%.

Base your diet on whole foods

A whole foods diet is perfect for your weight loss plan. Since whole foods contain fiber, you stay fuller.

Incorporate whole foods such as oatmeal, legumes, brown rice, fruits and vegetables, whole-grain bread, and pasta into your diet. That will help in weight loss as you won’t consume more throughout the day.

Eating slowly

Chewing your food slowly is associated with mindful eating. It gives your brain the time to send signals of satiety. At the end of the day, you’ll have eaten less hence lose weight.

Get good quality sleep

Studies show that sleep deprivation causes 89% obesity in adults and 55% in children. When you don’t get enough sleep, you crave unhealthy foods linked to weight gain.

Adequate sleep releases the satisfaction hormone called leptin. This helps control your eating habits as well as lose weight.

Conclusion

Several methods can help you lose weight fast. Weight loss based on science revolves around diet, exercise, pills and supplements, and surgery. It’s possible to shed off those extra pounds with patience and consistency.

Give yourself time to get results since weight loss never happens over the night.