Fastest Way to Lose Weight

Fastest Way to Lose Weight
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Losing weight fast takes extreme dieting and exercising. However, this behavior is not sustainable over the long term, making it easy to gain the weight back.
Permanent changes to your exercise and eating habits will result in successful weight loss. A 1 to 2 lb. weight loss per week is recommended for you to maintain your weight loss. Losing weight quickly might be from a reduction in water weight or lean tissue because it is hard to burn a lot of fat calories in a short amount of time.

Diet

Your body needs nutrient-rich foods to work properly and prevent weight gain. Avoid processed foods, foods high in saturated fat and excess alcohol consumption. Incorporate into your diet foods high in fiber to keep your digestive tract working properly. Your body cannot digest fiber, so it goes through the body, attaching itself to fat and protein, which it flushes out of your system. Fiber-rich foods include apples, chickpeas, strawberries, broccoli, beans, brown rice, bran and nuts. Replace red meat with lean protein that helps maintain muscle mass, important for burning fat. Good protein choices include fish, low-fat dairy products and egg whites. Good fats, such as oily fish, contain essential fatty acids that help your body burn fat. Carbohydrates found in fruits, vegetables and whole grains are beneficial for weight loss because they are low in fat and calories, and will give you a full feeling, thus eliminating unhealthy snacking.

Exercise

To lose any substantial amount of weight, you must exercise in addition to changing your eating habits. Add cardio to your daily routine at least five days per week. This can be walking, running, bicycling or any other activity in which your heart rate increases for at least 30 minutes. Mixing up your exercise routine will help you burn more calories because you will be using different muscles. Kickboxing or interval training will help you burn a high amount of calories. Exercise will also reduce your risk of heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes, in addition to weight loss.

Weight Training

Muscle tissue burns more calories than fat tissue. The more muscle you have, the easier it will be to lose weight and keep it off. Increasing your muscle mass will increase your resting metabolic rate. Try lifting weights three days per week on nonconsecutive days after you finish your cardio exercise. Find a weight that you can lift, but becomes challenging after 10 repetitions. When this becomes easy, increase your repetitions to 15 or 20.

Considerations

It is important to set realistic goals for yourself. These goals should include both exercise and eating habits. To lose one pound of fat, you must burn 3,500 calories more than you consume. If you add exercise to your daily routine and burn 500 calories per day, and decrease your calorie consumption by 500 calories per day, you will lose 2 lbs. per week. Slow and steady weight loss will be easier to maintain than fast weight loss. Your weight loss routine should be a lifestyle change that you plan on sticking to for the long haul.

References

Article reviewed by OmahaTyppo Last updated on: Feb 17, 2011

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