Whether you want to lose weight for an upcoming event or get your body beach-ready in record time, you want results fast, don’t you?
If so, good news! Contrary to popular belief, you can slim down in record time without damaging your health or burning away muscle mass.
In this article, you will discover eight evidence-based tips that will allow you to say “Goodbye, gut! Welcome back, flat stomach!” faster than you ever thought possible
1 Be in a 25% Calorie Deficit
While often harder in execution, losing weight is easy in theory.
- You’ll lose weight if you consume fewer calories than you burn
- You'll gain weight if you consume more calories than you burn
Therefore, if you want to lose weight, make sure that you are in a calorie deficit, which means that you take in less energy than you burn.(1)(2)(3)
But how do you calculate how many calories you should consume per day?
It’s easy. First, you use this calculator to determine how many calories you burn per day. Then, you reduce that number by 25%. And at last, you consume that number of calories per day.
A 25% calorie deficit offers an excellent balance: fast weight loss without setting you up for excessive muscle loss.
2 Eat More Protein
One of the easiest and most effective ways to lose weight fast is by eating more protein. That is because protein is highly satiating. Consuming more of this nutrient tends to reduce calorie intake automatically.
One study, for instance, found that when subjects increased their protein intake from 15% to 30% of their daily energy consumption, they consumed, on average, 441 fewer calories per day.(4)
As a result, they lost, on average, five kilos in just twelve weeks. That is impressive, especially when you consider that they did not receive any other nutritional or exercise guidelines – only the advice to eat more protein.
But that is not all. In addition to aiding weight loss, consuming enough protein also helps you to retain muscle mass while you become leaner, which benefits both your appearance and your metabolic rate.(5)(6)
When it comes to your daily protein target, aim to get at least 0.73 grams of this macronutrient per kilogram of body weight. So, if you weigh 80 kg, get in at least 129 grams of protein per day.
If you are having a hard time consuming such a sufficient protein intake, supplement with a high-quality protein powder like this one.
3 Cut Refined Sugars from Your Diet
On average, British people consume 58.8 grams of sugar a day. That equals an enormous 85,848 calories per person each year, which, in terms of energy, represents 11.4 kilograms of pure body fat.(7)(8)
Not only is such a high sugar intake terrible for our health, but also for our body weight, since sugar has almost no satiating effect. That is why sugary calories tend to go on top of to the ones you already consume.(9)
The good news? By cutting sugars from your diet, you will automatically end up consuming fewer calories. In fact, this reduction is enough for most people to automatically be in an energy deficit and lose weight.
So, start to drop all refined sugars from your diet, especially those found in soft drinks because it is very easy to drink up many calories in a short time-frame.
You do not, however, want to eliminate whole fruits from your diet since even though fruits contain sugars, they aid weight loss due to their highly satiating effects.
4 Drink More Water, Especially Before Your Meals
Drinking more water is a proven and easy way to speed up fat loss. That’s because drinking more water tends to pair with a reduced calorie intake.(10)(11)(12)
One study, for instance, found that habitual water drinkers consume, on average, 9% fewer calories than those who don’t drink water regularly.(13)
Now, if you’re going to increase your water intake, it is especially beneficial to drink water before your meals, as shown by a study published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.(14)
The researchers found that consuming half a litre of water thirty minutes before breakfast reduced ad libitum calorie intake during that meal by 13%.
The reason for this reduced food intake is that water stimulates the stretch receptors in your stomach wall, which signal your brain that your stomach is already partially full, leading to a decreased appetite.
5 Increase Your Fibre Intake
Another way in which you can reduce your calorie intake automatically and thus lose more weight is by eating more fibre. That is because fibre reduces hunger and makes you feel full for longer between meals.
One review study found that for every fourteen grams of fibre you consume, total ad libitum energy intake reduces by an average of 14%.(15)
That is why increasing the fibre content of your diet could automatically get you into a calorie deficit and put your fat loss results on autopilot.
Regarding your fibre intake, aim for least 25 grams as a female and 38 grams as a male. In addition, get most of that fibre from fruit and vegetables since these food groups are highly satiating but score low in calories.
6 Get More Sleep
Even if you follow the six other steps outlined above, failing to get enough sleep can cause your fat loss efforts to falter. That is because sleep deprivation reduces fat burning while setting you up for muscle loss.
So found a 14-day, calorie-controlled weight loss study that sleeping for 5.5 hours per night instead of 8.5 hours significantly reduced fat loss while increasing muscle wastage.(16)
What’s more, not getting enough sleep also makes you feel more hungry. One study found that if, for four days in a row, you sleep for six hours per night instead of eight, food intake tends to increase by around 20%.(17)
That increased energy consumption is because sleep deprivation changes your brain chemistry. It lowers the satiety hormone leptin while increasing the hunger hormone ghrelin.
So, if you want to lose weight, make sure to get enough sleep. While there is no set-in-stone length you should aim for, most people need at least seven to nine hours to be well rested.
7 Decrease Your Salt Intake
Dr Jack Osman of the Towson University found that consuming an extra 400 mg of sodium could cause one kilo of weight gain. And the reason is that salt causes you to retain water.(18)
Fortunately, it also works the other way around. If you reduce your salt intake, your body will shed excess water, and the number on your scale will drop.
Thus, scale down on the sodium if you want to lose weight fast. The most effective way to do that is by eating less processed foods because those are the main contributor to total salt consumption among most people.
In addition, increase your intake of the mineral potassium. Doing so is beneficial because potassium counterbalances the water-retaining effects of sodium by pumping water out of your cells.(19)
The best dietary sources of potassium are avocado, spinach, sweet potato, wild-caught salmon, dried apricot, pomegranate, coconut water, white beans, and bananas.