How To Lose Weight Fast…or forever?
Wondering how to lose weight fast? It is a very common question we get asked.
Well, let’s take a moment to ask – WHY do you want to lose weight fast?
Are you trying to move away from the pain you find yourself in?
The pain when you look at yourself in the mirror?
The pain of waking up feeling knackered everyday?
The pain of going shopping for new clothes?
The pain of social events – feeling embarrassing and lacking the confidence to face them?
Or
Is it when an upcoming deadline makes you reflect about the way you feel and look today, right now, and puts the fear of God in you!
Or
You get called “fat” or “chubby” or judged by someone you know or someone random on the street – like what happened to one of our members in Brazil 🙁
Whichever of these applies to you, you are left thinking “Sh*t, I better do something about this – FAST!”
So I get it – there is a powerful need to lose weight fast and start heading in the right direction.
Arete Principle: Debt vs Re-Payment
Here’s the thing though – losing weight can be compared to a financial loan.
When you put on weight, which normally happens over years, not weeks or months, it is like building up a debt with your body.
The bigger the loan the the longer the term needed to pay it back, depending on your monthly repayment or reinvestment.
But if it took you ages to get into this debt – why should you expect a quick fix and magic bullet to pay it back?
It is an issue championed in the media and in society generally because of the need for instant gratification – the magic pill!
And there is morsel of short term satisfaction in the temporary false hope you feel…until it runs out.
Listen, if I lock you in our gym. Trained you appropriately hard. Starved you and only gave you some water for 4 weeks, what do you think would happen?
Of course you’re going to lose weight!
But you would be unhappy.
Unhealthy.
And want to kill me by the end of the month!
Any restrictive diet and crazy exercise protocols basically amounts to the same thing.
But what happens after this time?
You “fail” because your body is smart – it is built for survival – and figures out what you’re doing.
For every extreme action = an extreme reaction.
Heard of or experienced “yo-yo dieting” ?
Or hated exercise because the latest bootcamp/class/fad/trend you tired smash you into the ground leaving you a shell of a human, unable to walk for a week never mind think about getting to the gym again?
If we can accept that it takes time to pay the debt off – and asking “how to lose weight fast” is actually the wrong question to ask in the first place.
We can ask a different question:
“How can I lose fat effectively, safely and most importantly for LIFE?”
In other words, how do I get debt free once and for all?
Notice I said lose FAT.
You don’t want to lose weight you want to lose fat – muscle is vitally important for our health, fitness and aesthetics so you want to nurture it at all costs.
If you have your ducks in a row – which we will discuss in a moment – 1-2 pounds or 0.5 to 1kg of fat loss each week is about the most you can aim for whilst maintaining your lean muscle mass.
With all of that being said, I do get the need to see changes quickly because if you don’t feel you’re on the right track, you’re not likely to stick at it for much longer.
How to lose weight fast
Now it is possible to lose fat at the optimal rate but you are going to have to
Sacrifice more for a time
Become more organised for the rest of your life!
Say “NO” a lot to yourself and others for a time
You will also have to know what to do.
Here are 10 things you can start actioning to see the most change in the shortest period of time
step 1 – start doing appropriate HIT (High Intensity Training)
Nothing gives your body the signals it needs to mobilise stored fat more than HIT.
It is a lynchpin for all the other pieces.
Learning how to train like this safely and effectively is a must.
step 2 – drink more water
Drinking enough water is massively overlooked when you are figuring out how to lose weight fast.
Aiming for 2-3 litres of water each day will
- boost your metabolism
- help with energy transfer
- regulate your appetite
So get drinking!
We love these water bottles by Equa and use them everyday.
How To lose weight fast Step 3 – increase your protein intake
Anything that walks, runs, swims or flies along with eggs is a good place to start.
Portions can be measured by the size of your palm.
Ladies, aim for 1 palm size serving 3-4 times per day.
And Guys, aim for 2 palm size servings 3-4 times per day.
Step 4 – dramatically reduce your sugar intake
If you keep giving your body excess energy from ENERGY RICH foods like sweets, pastries and bread, what reason are you giving it to tap into your stored energy supplies – body fat?
Try to use our principle of *Replace vs Restrict* and eat a lot more veggies and salads which are NUTRIENT RICH instead
step 5 – sleep
This deserves a whole separate post – which we will write soon!
Suffice to say your mood, concentration, energy, sex drive, immune system and body composition will all be effected by the quality of your sleep.
A consistent routine is key.
Try to go to bed at the same time each night and wake up at a similar time too, even at the weekends.
step 6 – Relax!
Being stressed all the time ramps up your body’s perceived need for energy due to our FIGHT or FLIGHT response.
This makes sense – you need energy to be available quickly and constantly if you have to run for your life!
Hopefully you don’t have to do this with any regularity…so aim to find ways to chill out and help your system calm down.
Remember – that work deadline is not a life and death situation, however much it may feel like it at the time!
Practice some kind of relaxation technique like mediation, deep breathing or going for a walk in the fresh air for 15 minutes – it doesn’t take much to unplug and feel a big difference.
step 7 – Boost your omega 3 fats intake
Fats make up our cell walls.
If they are made up of Omega 3s, they will be more fluid, allowing stuff in and out more easily.
This is EXACTLY what you want if you are trying to lose body fat.
step 8 – Have FUN!
Why do we stop playing as adults?
Why are fun and games reserved for carefree youths?!
They aren’t!
I am not saying this is how to lose weight fast directly.
BUT doing things you WANT to do…that give you pleasure and make you laugh…alongside the things you HAVE to do, helps improve your quality of life and your state of mind.
If your mind is happy, your body will be happy and vice versa.
So scheduling in some fun time is every bit as important as the serious stuff.
Step 9 – Stop snacking
Snacking simply isn’t necessary if you are eating proper meals. Period.
Step 10 – “Say No” to drinking alcohol
you can’t drink booze excessively and lose fat fast.
Alcohol plays havoc with your hormonal system – makes you crave sugary, fatty, salty badness and is full of energy itself.
Stored body fat can’t be metabolised by your liver until alcohol is fully eliminated because alcohol can’t be converted to be stored or used as energy.
After a big night out, this takes around 3-4 DAYS!
So for every step forward – you will be sabotaging your progress with a step backwards.
Resulting in you going nowhere fast.
Our view: how to lose weight fast…or forever?
Once you know WHAT TO DO you’re going to need help with actually DOING IT.
You are going to need structure, accountability and support along the way.
We believe getting LEAN for Life is a much cooler goal than how you’re going to look for one evening or stand alone event
Like I said to someone recently “wedding or no wedding, we want you looking and feeling your best and what about for the marriage bit too?!”
Because that is our goal for all of my members:
To look and feel good 365 days per year. No matter the season.
Staying lean and healthy is never out of season in our book!
So if this becomes your ultimate goal, what is the rush?
If you do it right this time, you will never have to worry about it ever again.
If you start applying a few of the steps I have shared, I promise you will start to feel a lot better.
Remember, you don’t need to put yourself and your body under so much pressure with unrealistic deadlines.
Think progress, not perfection. The old cliche – Rome wasn’t built in a day is true here.
And actually the process should hopefully become fun once you know what you’re doing and start to reap the benefits.
Want me to show you how?
I would love to hear from you 😉
