Slow and steady wins the race… or does it?

When it comes to losing weight, faster may be the better option.

You may have heard that losing weight quickly has serious repercussions for your health. That you will gain back the pounds you shed plus some more.

That’s true to a point. Nothing good has ever come out of yo-yo dieting. And a strict regimen will only make one feel deprived and discouraged.

But losing weight quickly, especially during the early stages of your weight loss program, isn’t as bad as you might have thought.

How to Lose Weight Fast – Finding the Shortest Way to Weight Loss

A lot of people still believe that gradual weight loss is the way to go. And I can’t blame them for thinking that way, because that’s the information we’ve been fed.

 “Don’t try to lose weight too quickly—you’re going to gain back the pounds just as fast.”

“Rapid weight loss can make you sick.”

For sure, you’ve heard different versions of those things. The problem with that principle is that the idea is possibly based on outdated scientific evidence.

And it’s because of this sort of information why a lot of people are demotivated when they can’t seem to move on with their weight loss goals.

It’s just too hard to keep up the tiny, daily disciplines and willpower when you aren’t seeing results.

But more importantly, you won’t see results if you don’t have the correct strategy.

While I don’t advocate fad diets that promise quick and easy weight loss, I believe that certain methods can help you reach your goal faster.

The truth is weight maintenance is more important than counting the number of pounds you lose per week. That’s the real measure of whether you have been successful with your weight loss goal or not.

According to Science – is Slower Better?

The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) made a study regarding obesity and weight loss. The participants were middle-aged, obese women with a mean Body Mass Index (BMI) of 36.8.

The women were divided into three groups (fast, moderate and slow) in relation to how much weight they had lost in six months. According to the study, people who lose weight faster achieved greater weight reduction over time and were less likely to regain weight than those who lose weight gradually.

This goes to show that losing weight fast at the beginning does not necessarily lead to more weight gain in the future.

More importantly, you should be able to enjoy what you’re doing. Otherwise, it’s going to be easy to slide back into your old ways.

So how are you going to lose weight fast, but also safely?

Habit #1: Keeping Close Track of The Amount of Salt and Sodium in Your Diet

How much salt do you consume in a day?

If you eat out a lot, you probably don’t think about it that much. You also probably underestimate the amount of salt in your food like the diners did in one study.

When you cook your own food at home, you have a very good idea of how much salt you’re using. But restaurants use sodium liberally to enhance flavor and extend shelf life. Even the seemingly innocuous bread most likely has lots of salt in it.

So how do you keep track of your sodium intake whenever you eat out?

The answer is that you don’t. You have no control over how much salt restaurants and fast food chains use in their food unless you research the nutritional value of each item on the menu.

Prepare your own meals—that’s how you keep an eye on your sodium intake. Also, avoid processed foods. Those things are loaded with an obscene amount of sodium. In fact, processed foods are loaded with a lot of things you don’t want in your body, so go easy on them.

Habit #2: Stop Counting Calories Obsessively 

I die a little inside whenever I hear someone obsess over the number of calories they consume per day. Empty calories are no good, but you need calories in general to lose weight and keep it off.

Where you get your calories is more important. Empty calories like those in sodas are just that—empty. They don’t satiate you or make you feel full, but they tip the scale and that’s what you want to avoid.

Most diet programs focus on the “calorie in, calorie out” approach. But this is faulty in a number of ways:

When you restrict calories from your diet, you get hungry easily. Sure, you could ignore the hunger by drinking water or doing other stuff. But it won’t go away permanently.

Then, as your body tries to conserve energy, your metabolic rate slows down. You burn less calories, so you try to less calories, and the madness goes on…

You can see where this leads. You can only cut down on calories up to a certain point. And when you do, your body slows down burning calories, which means that you’ll not only feel famished, but you will also be prone to overeating when hunger strikes (or the hanger). 

The best thing to do is to include healthy fats in your diet. Avocados, nuts, and even dark chocolate are good for you when you’re trying to lose weight.

Habit #3: Get Off Your Butt

Diet alone won’t help you shed off pounds and keep them off. You need physical movement to supplement a healthy diet.

But what kind of exercise should you do? Like foods, exercises are not created equal. High-intensity workouts are best when you’re trying to lose weight fast.

The short burst of intense activity can lower blood sugar levels and help with weight loss.

In a Nutshell – Here’s How to Lose Weight Fast (Backed by Science)

So let’s do a recap on how you can lose weight fast without jeopardizing your health. First, cut back on the sodium and on processed foods in general. Second, don’t obsess about the calories; it’s not exclusively how you lose weight. And lastly, get some exercise. Your body will thank you for it.

Losing weight is a matter of creating a strategy, whether it comes to choosing the foods that you eat or how you exercise.

I know it’s a challenge to do this at the beginning. But believe me, it gets easier eventually.

What other weight loss methods have you tried? Comment below.