How to Lose Weight Fast and Safe: 6 Simplified Steps

successSo you’ve decided you’ve had enough, and you want to lose weight, not now, but right now. For whatever reason many people need a quick solution to their weight loss dilemmas.

A solution that’s not only quick and effective but that provides you the tools to keep the weight off. There’s no shortage of gimmicky weight loss systems out there, programs promising you’ll lose 15 lbs in 2 days, supplements claiming to boost your metabolism 200% and the list goes on.

But before you waste your time and money on promises empty of scientific data, try this simple, proven to be effective system that will give you the results you want without leaving you feeling depleted and hungry.

How many times have you failed at dieting simply because you felt hungry all the time and had zero energy?

Here’s the thing, it doesn’t have to be that way, you can lose weight and still feel full and energized. The way to do this isn’t by sticking to a low fat, calorie counting diet.

Those types of diets may help you lose weight, but they won’t be effective for keeping the weight off and it won’t leave you with balanced blood sugar levels. On constrictive low fat diets, people find that they are on a roller coaster of emotions and energy.

The cravings just never subside and the sugar/high carbohydrate addiction is continually fueled. Just because you want to lose weight, doesn’t mean you have to stop living life to the fullest.

The solution is simple, high protein, high fat, low carb, no junk, all cravings will subside after a few days and your body will start to burn fat.

This formula will cause accelerated weight loss by itself, paired with exercise and you will be looking and feeling great in no time.

Fast and Effective Strategies for Real Lasting Weight Loss

Ditch the Junk

1417643621You knew this was coming, get rid of all sugar and refined carbohydrates. The first few days are never easy as these foods have a very addictive nature.

Make sure you eat lots of protein and fat to quell the cravings for the first few days, after that they’ll disappear. Sugar drives fat storage, and tricks the brain into thinking you’re hungry, creating a vicious cycle (1).

Research shows sugar to be the real culprit in causing obesity and other menacing diseases (2).

You don’t need it in your life, try drinking lemon water instead of fruit juice and nuts instead of candy bars. In the end refined sugars and carbohydrates drain your body of energy and cause your blood sugar to rise and fall drastically, causing your energy levels to be dependant on your next sugar fix.

Once you get past the initial hump you’ll feel like a new person.

Take a step in the right direction by eliminating just 1 sugary item from your diet for a week, and monitor your craving levels throughout.

Eat Fat, Lose Fat

The simplest tool in your weight loss arsenal, is to realize that saturated fat doesn’t make you fat, it actually helps you to lose weight. Saturated fats have been demonized in society even though there is no evidence to their contribution to heart disease (3).

We see in the diets of ancestral peoples a high saturated fat intake side by side with near perfect health (4). But what is saturated fat exactly and how can it help you to lose weight?

Saturated fats are solid at room temperature, butter, lard and coconut oil are some examples. Their name stems from the fact that the carbon atoms are fully “saturated” with hydrogen atoms.

A naturally occurring fat source, saturated fat is abundant in animal foods and rarely found in edible plants, aside from coconut and palm oil.

Saturated fats are ideal for cooking with since their molecular structure remains undamaged when heated. These types of fats also help prolong satiation and cause you to eat less while still feeling satisfied.

Another reason that healthy fats can help you lose weight is their effect on blood sugar. Insulin is the main fat storage hormone in our bodies, when you control insulin through proper nutrition your body is able to let go of excess fat (5).

Healthy fats stabilize blood sugar levels, as the energy they provide is released over the course of many hours, unlike carbohydrates whose energy is burned much faster.  If you’re looking for a very structured diet, then I would recommend looking at the paleo diet plan also known as the caveman diet.

Must Have List of Fats to Eat and Avoid

Protein for Energy and Stamina

Another key element of a successful weight loss plan is ensuring adequate protein consumption. This will help you feel full and provide you with long term energy.

A diet high in protein can actually raise your metabolism (7) and make sticking to your new lifestyle a whole lot easier. Eating 2-3 meals per day that are high in protein and healthy fats will enable you to lose the weight quickly without feeling sluggish and lethargic.

If you find that you need a snack, include some macadamia nuts, low in carbohydrates and high in protein they’ll give you a good energy boost.

Key Protein Sources

  • Meat- Beef, pork, chicken, turkey, bison, lamb, elk, venison etc…
  • Seafood- Salmon, shrimp, scallops, white fish etc…
  • Pastured Eggs
  • High quality whey protein powder

Ketosis

Ketones are produced whenever body fat is burned. Normally our bodies convert carbohydrates into glucose, the bodies main energy source.

When carbohydrate intake is limited to between 20-50g per day (which they are in this plan) the body enters ketosis and starts to burn fat and turns the fuel source to ketones instead of glucose.

Dietart ketosis naturally occurs when one limits carbohydrates and starts to burn some serious fat. Being in ketosis is perfectly healthy and sustainable.

You lose your sugar and carb cravings and your body is fuelled by a healthy high protein high fats diet with generous amounts of low carb vegetables. Excess ketones are released in the urine, you can purchase urine strips to test if your body has entered ketosis.

This method is proven to cause dramatic weight loss and for people with a significant amount of weight to lose, it is a perfectly safe long-term approach (8).

Eat Your Veggies

Eliminating grains and gluten from your diet will not cause any nutritional deficiencies. Biologically speaking there is no necessity for grains in the human diet.

It’s important to meet your vitamin and mineral requirements by eating lots of fresh vegetables, adding some raw vegetables or a fresh salad to your meals will aid digestion and provide you with valuable enzymes.

Exercise Effectively

effective exercisesIdeally you can get some sort of movement happening every day, whether it’s lifting weights, playing ultimate frisbee, or doing yoga any kind of movement you choose is beneficial and will help you to achieve your goal faster.

I recommend combining some sort or HIIT (high intensity interval training) or cross fit workout 3x per week, which will not only help to build muscle but strengthen your cardiovascular system as well.

Yoga is great for releasing tension and lowering cortisol which has been shown to add to stubborn belly fat and even trick your body in to storing more fat (910).

Though you’ll still lose weight on this system, building muscle is beneficial for ramping up metabolism (11) and creating a toned and healthy body.

Get Lots of Rest

Sleep doesn’t normally come to mind when we think about weight loss, but its a crucial piece of the puzzle. Researchers have found time and time again that a good sleep plays a pivotal role in our health.

A sleep deprived brain is more likely to crave high carbohydrate comfort foods late at night (12). When your sleep deprived, the reward centres of the brain go into overdrive seeking a quick source of satisfaction.

Lack of sleep increases key hunger hormones leptin and ghrelin. The more sleep you get, the easier it’ll be to drop the pounds. Researchers found that over a 2 week period dieters who were sleep deprived lost 55% left than their well rested counterparts.

Metabolism Boosting Additions

There are various scientifically proven substances which can boost weight loss and increase metabolism. You can include as many or as few of these substances as you please, they aren’t necessary for your success but they could speed up the process.

  • Coffee (13) The caffeine in coffee stimulates the metabolic rate and increases fat oxidation. Over a 1-2 hour period caffeine increases energy expenditure by around 16 % compared to non caffeinated coffee. If you’re going to drink coffee, skip the sugar and stick to full fat cream.
  • Cayenne/Capsicum pepper (14) Consumption of hot chiles with a meal increases thermogenesis and boosts metabolism for 30 minutes after a meal. Try adding some spice to all your meals to stimulate increases calorie burning.
  • Ginger (15) The compound gingerol has a thermogenic effect in the body helping to burn more fat.
  • Black Pepper (16) Piperine in black pepper has a similar effect to ginger in its thermogenic effects.
  • Coconut Oil (17) Medium Chain Triglycerides are to thank for coconut oils metabolism boosting effects. This unique fatty acid structure provides a great source of energy and hunger satiation as well.
  • Black Tea (18) A study done on rats shows that when fed black yes extract they had a significant decrease in appetite and increase in weight loss.

Recipe Ideas

If you are looking for inspiration, there is certainly no shortage. Check out “keto friendly recipes” on Pinterest and thousands of delicious recipes will be at your fingertips.

If you’re short on time and looking to keep things pretty simple and straight forward, the slow cooker is your friend.

Prepping food ahead of time is a time saver and will save you from succumbing to take out if your in a hurry.

Foods like steak and chicken breasts grill up fast and are great protein sources, paired with a slab of butter and a big salad, you certainly won’t be left feeling deprived.

Eating Out

Going to a restaurant on your new diet doesn’t have to be a huge challenge, most places have plenty of options.

Stick to salads, vegetable sides with real butter, seafood or a nice steak. Instead of grabbing dessert, drink a tall glass of lemon water and go for a stroll.

Always carry a bag of macadamia nuts with you in case your starving and the food is taking too long.

Tell Yourself You Can Do It

Remember the most important part to losing weight is believe in yourself. You can look and feel amazing, even if it’s the first time in your life you owe it to yourself to feel your best.

If you need inspiration try searching shocking before and after photos of people who’ve followed a similar journey.

Be easy on yourself and know that no huge transformation happens over night.

This system is designed to be fast and effective but don’t expect to be down 50 lbs in 2 weeks.

Give yourself the necessary time to lose the weight and you will feel happy and proud of yourself.

Simplified Steps for Accelerated Weight Loss

  1. Cut out all junk food, sugar, carbohydrates and starches. Curb your cravings the first few days by making sure you eat enough healthy saturated fats and foods high in protein. Drink cold lemon water throughout the day and coffee or black tea to boost your metabolism.
  2. Eat plenty of protein, good quality fats and low carbohydrate vegetables at every meal. Use plenty of thermogenic spices like cayenne pepper, ginger and black pepper  to boost your metabolism even more.
  3. Minimize carbs to 20-50g per day so that the body can enter ketosis and burn fat efficiently. To make sure your carbohydrate intake is low enough, purchase urine strips to test for the presence of ketones.
  4. Exercise at least 3-5 times per week to boost metabolism and build lean muscle. Exercise and weight training will help you to build muscle and speed weight loss.
  5. Make sure to get a good nights sleep of 8hrs or more and keep stress levels down. Sleep and cortisol both have crucial parts to play when it comes to losing weight and functioning at your best. When you exercise sleep usually comes easy and it helps to release endorphins and ease unnecessary stress.
  6. Believe in yourself and remain inspired. Practice positive affirmations and know that you are worth it.

About the author

Mark

I've been in the health and wellness field for over 15 years. My specialty is utilizing plant based solutions combined with the right kind of exercise to live an optimal life. I hope we can learn from each other. Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of Root and Sprouts or its staff.