5 ways to lose weight effectively

The topic of weight loss has always caused many problems, and a lot of various myths have arisen around it. For years, specialists have competed in developing more or less uncompromising methods of getting rid of extra pounds, often having nothing to do with a healthy approach to this issue. As long as you aren’t affected by any hormonal problems and you follow a negative caloric balance, apart from the psychological aspect of persevering in your decisions, losing weight isn’t as complicated as it might seem. The issue of healthy and non-invasive body fat reduction, which always brings the greatest benefits, is however a bit more complex.

A properly constructed diet plan should be designed so that it doesn’t burden you either physically or mentally. In addition, it is important that its maintenance is easy and convenient. Using it can’t be a torment and you mustn’t resort to implementing radical methods that allow for faster, but often dangerous to health, loss of unnecessary fat. While on diet, you shouldn’t also feel as if you have to persevere at all costs, just  to return to your original, unhealthy habits later. Changes for the better should be introduced slowly and adhered to for a longer period of time, so that the progress is sustainable, without the yo-yo effect, so popular after losing weight.

How is a fat reduction diet plan different?

A diet plan for fat reduction is a nutrition regimen, the purpose of which is to get rid of excess body fat. Below you will find important guidelines and variables that should be taken into account when creating such a plan, in order to make it effective.

Determine the caloric deficit

The first thing you need to do is determine your caloric demand, because a specific amount of calories will be subtracted from this value, leading to a negative caloric (energy) balance. Thus, a caloric deficit is a state in which the caloric supply is less than your body uses during the day. In other words, the body burns more calories than it takes in from food.

Achieving this state is necessary for the processes taking place in the reduction of adipose tissue, although the size of such a deficit will depend on you. Certainly, it shouldn’t be too large, because the low and extremely low caloric supply kept for a long period of time predisposes to loss of muscle mass. This is due to its strong catabolic effect on the body (contributing to the breakdown of muscle tissue). When food is scarce, the body begins to break down the aforementioned muscle tissue in order to obtain amino acids from the protein from which it is made. These elements will serve as a source of energy, but unfortunately at the expense of muscle mass.

Introduce physical activity

Regardless of what type of activity you choose, it will always provide an additional stimulus that will allow you to spend more energy, i.e. burn extra calories. A great choice is strength training, which, as proven by scientific research, allows you to increase the rate of resting metabolism by about 7%. A single training session with weights leads to an acceleration of the metabolic rate for up to 48 hours. This is due to a phenomenon known as the after-burn effect  or excessive post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC), and the processes involved in restoring the hormonal balance. This, in turn, directly translates into the number of calories burned after exercise.

The introduction of physical activity in the form of resistance training is associated with an initial increase in weight due to glycogen being accumulated in the muscles and building actual muscle mass. However, this process can’t be done indefinitely and the end result will be fat loss. The prerequisite for burning fat is, of course, creating a caloric deficit through diet alone or by increasing energy expenditure, e.g. through physical activity. It’s extremely important that when introducing an activity in the form of strength training while you are on a weight loss diet, you shouldn’t be discouraged by what your scales shows. In this scenario, much bigger allies in the measurement of body fat will be: body pictures, a mirror, a skinfold caliper, a measuring tape and body composition analyzers.

Keep a food and training log

Over a period of time, try to make careful notes of everything you eat each day. Many people are unaware of how valuable this advice is and choose to ignore it right from the start. On the other hand, if you approach it seriously and take into account every snack, every bite of every product that goes into your mouth between meals, you’ll notice that you have accidentally consumed quite a lot of calories, and very often this amount is extremely far from the assumed reduction balance.

This approach will help you realize that losing weight, maintaining weight and gaining weight is pure math and comes down to playing around with how much calories you consume or burn. To put it simply, it’s basically like this:

• you provide less calories than you burn – you lose weight,
• you provide the amount of calories from a certain range in which you don’t lose weight or gain weight – you maintain the weight,
• you provide more calories than you burn – you gain weight.

Yes, it’s that simple! The same applies to the training diary in which you will record your training progress, which will allow you to see whether you have made progress, or maybe it’s time to give more attention or make changes to your training plan.

Not all calories are the same

The flexible diet approach, often referred to as “If It Fits Your Macros” (IIFYM), has recently become very popular. It’s based on a virtually complete freedom in terms of the number of meals, frequency and quality of consumed products, as long as they are within the assumed goals of the energy balance and the proportions of macronutrients. Simply put, the source of the ingredients isn’t important in this model of nutrition.

Will all people benefit from this approach? Definitely not, the benefits of such a strategy will be noticed mainly by healthy people, although harmful ingredients will also have a negative effect on them, e.g. on: cardiovascular and digestive systems, brain function, as well as increased production of free radicals, accelerating skin aging processes and increased risk of cancer. IIFYM isn’t beneficial especially for people struggling with:

• diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance,
• metabolic diseases,
• hormonal disorders (including those suffering from autoimmune diseases),
• inflammation of the intestines and stomach,
• food intolerances and allergies,
• psycho-dietary disorders prone to binge eating (e.g. bulimia),
• any diseases that require the use of pro-health diets.

Due to the fact that not all calories are the same, you should always consider the effects of chemical ingredients on your body. Just as an example, a chocolate bar, in terms of quality, can’t even be compared to a full meal of fish with groats, olive oil and vegetables of the same caloric value. Of course, once in a while you can afford ingredients that aren’t on the healthy list, as everything is for people, but try to be moderate in approaching them. On a daily basis, you’ll undeniably benefit most from reducing or eliminating processed foods that contain chemical additives and sugar (e.g. sweets, snacks, pre-made meals, sauces, colorful carbonated drinks, juices). The ideal solution would be not to buy such products, because if you don’t have a certain item in your environment, you simply won’t be able to reach for it. Thus, you won't allow unhealthy foods to sabotage your weight loss progress. Bet on natural and nutritious food and mineral water!

Just be patient

The appropriate pace for the reduction of body fat, which won't negatively affect your health, is a decrease of about 0.5-1 kg per week. It depends on the accumulated amount of adipose tissue, metabolic rate and the determined caloric deficit, which you’ll introduce with your diet and/or with the help of training. In the course of the weight loss process, you shouldn’t drastically reduce the established number of calories. Moreover, it’s absolutely normal for the fat burning rate to slow down along with the duration of the reduction. You just need to patiently continue the course of action and wait for the results. Occasionally the weight will increase and then decrease again due to the fluctuating degree of water retention, which is also a natural phenomenon.

You may find that you don't experience weight loss for even a few weeks, but that doesn't mean you should panic. On the contrary, you need a lot of patience to go through weight loss healthily and without compromising muscle tissue. A reduction based on the consumption of more calories is always a better solution than starving yourself, and the associated negative impact on the body's hormonal balance. Aggressive depletion of the amount of energy supplied quite often leads to metabolic disorders and problems, including the thyroid gland, which is responsible for: metabolic rate, thermogenesis, fertility, water and mineral balance, kidney and skeletal function, cardiovascular system, central nervous system, immunity and quality of the skin, hair and nails. It is better to lose weight slowly but make these effects permanent than to lead to disorders that will require the implementation of hormone therapy and its use for the rest of your life.

Summary

The basis for losing weight will always be the use of a negative caloric balance, regardless of whether you create it by diet, diet combined with training or by training alone. However, there’s a lot you can do to help support this process, both mentally and physically. From the physical side, it’ll be extremely beneficial to introduce activity in the form of training (strength training is highly recommended in this case), and from the mental side, motivate yourself to keep a log, develop healthy habits, consciously choose products rich in valuable nutrients and patiently maintain your goals.

Set aside taking drastic measures and testing yet another diet method on yourself. It has been known for years that the most effective and healthiest eating strategy is a balanced diet that is rich in antioxidants and anti-inflammatory ingredients, and doesn’t impose strange and difficult-to-meet dietary restrictions. In addition, it should be adapted to the digestive capabilities of the body and any coexisting diseases.