How do you lose weight?

We can’t stress it enough: the best weight loss treatment is your own motivation!

People who are obese or overweight should follow some basic rules in order to lose weight.If you are already overweight or obese, these are essential steps to take if you want to lose weight. Once you have started the regime you must be consistent and motivated when following your diet, both in order to see the effects and to avoid putting the weight back on.

Thus you can achieve extraordinary weight loss results with hard work and motivation, by using the simplest of techniques: physical activity, healthy eating and motivation.

Above all, losing weight is a mental exercise

Because of this, you can lose weight by acting directly on what originally caused you to gain weight, but something in your brain needs to click before you can start engaging in the weight loss process.

This revelation must be accompanied by conviction and patience, as nothing will happen straight away. You can look for motivation in your own personal life and find specific reasons that will motivate you and give you the strength to lose weight every day. If you have a family, the support of your close ones is essential, and you can often diet as a whole family.

If everyone in your family is also following a diet it can be extremely beneficial, especially if your children are also used to an unhealthy or high-calorie diet already. It is also beneficial if your wife or husband show signs of obesity, or are already overweight.

You should not get your motivation from societal expectations or the desire to conform to modern feminine and masculine beauty standards: doing this can be more discouraging than encouraging. On the other hand, it is good to find motivation by believing that losing weight will make you feel better physically and emotionally, because this will lead you to have a healthier heart and is hence a good source of determination, as you’ll be able to enjoy activities without getting out of breath.

Motivation can also be linked to having an awareness of the health risks associated with being overweight or morbidly obese. Losing weight, therefore, involves more of a mental change than a physical one.

You have to be mentally prepared to change your life … but you will never feel better after!

Whatever the treatment is that you are thinking of to lose weight, it is always necessary to make changes to your daily habits involving diet and physical activity.

If you are taking medication, results will only be achieved alongside an adapted dietary regime, otherwise, they are useless. Similarly, if you opt for cosmetic surgery by liposuction (which is not an obesity treatment) you must also adopt a low-calorie diet in order to maintain your figure.

As for bariatric surgery (bypasses, gastric bands and sleeve gastrostomies), these all require you to change your eating habits to not put your health at risk.

Why you should be wary of dieting using hunger suppressors

These diets rely on one thing only: losing weight quickly. However, the right question to ask is not “how do I lose weight quickly?” but “how do I lose weight permanently?”. People starting a diet should not look to lose weight quickly, but should look to lose the weight accumulated over several years in a sustainable way, so that they never put the weight back on. There’s a big difference between these two aims: if you put the weight back on as soon as you stop dieting, then it hasn’t done you any favours!

Worse still, it might even knock your confidence and cause you to gain even more weight than at the beginning. Often diets that guarantee quick and easy weight loss eventually lead to weight gain. So beware of promises given by these fad slimming diets, whether the Dukan diet and its complete lack of metabolic logic or the very popular and well-marketed slimming programs such as Weight Watchers, with its mostly unsustainable menus.

Similarly, food supplements such as hunger suppressors are not recommended. These pills are completely useless, as not only do they not work, but they actually deprive you of nutrients and vitamins that are essential for your body.

Moreover, if you constantly want to lose weight quickly, this is an indication that you are not quite ready to start a proper regime. It is not the right approach to take, as this shows that you are already starting with a weakness: not being strong enough to confront your problem for a long enough time to change your metabolic mechanism.

Your body becomes used to a dietary regime over several years, which means that it needs a bit of time to readapt to another one. However, do not confuse becoming thin fast and becoming thin easily: the first is a trick, whilst the other is actually possible!

There is a process of understanding and adapting your metabolism to a new way of living; eating, and moving; all of which can take some time to adapt to, but as soon as your body understands that you are imposing a new regimen it will be easier to lose weight.

The best method to lose weight is to be disciplined, patient, motivated and convinced as to why you are losing weight. By doing this, losing weight becomes easy. You can speed up your weight loss by using fat burners on top of your regime. When used as part of a strict low-calories program, they can prove to be excellent assets for losing weight.

Tricks for losing weight

Here are some tips for losing weight permanently and painlessly, as well as for radically changing your life. These tips are also effective in teaching children who have grown up in an obesogenic environment. Food education is essential at any age, and it is never too late to learn!

• By adopting good eating habits

This is the key piece of advice given to people who are already overweight and who could become obese quickly, as well as to people at risk of becoming overweight. A healthy, balanced diet is the best weapon against weight gain. The word balance is fundamental because eating well is about consuming an optimal amount of carbohydrates, fats, proteins, fruits and vegetables.

The biggest problem for people with weight problems or who suffer from excess weight already is a dietary imbalance from eating too many calories from fats and sugars, rather than other nutrients. To lose weight permanently, it is necessary to work hard to rebalance your diet.

This requires a low-calorie diet. You do not completely avoid fat, but rather you consume “good” fats instead (however, you should still not have as high an intake of these foods as vegetables). Depending on how overweight you are, you should tailor these measures to be more or less extreme.

For example, people who are moderately overweight can lose weight by adopting these measures and reducing their calorific intake, whilst also consuming some good fats to prevent weight gain and disturbing your metabolism enough to lead to obesity, when losing weight becomes much harder.

However, very obese people should follow this advice rigorously, as their metabolism has been disturbed and is hence used to a much greater amount of calories and a less nutritious rhythm. In this circumstance, it is necessary to re-educate both the stomach and the brain. Before tapping into these reserves, the body will seek to use whatever is available. So if an obese person continues to consume fats (even in small amounts), the body will not lose weight. To lose weight, you must simply ban fats altogether. When the body realises it needs to dip into its fat reserves without waiting for calorie intake, it will use up fats, which will hence burn them.

Your body is not used to this metabolic process of destocking, so it does take time. Imagine trying to get a complex machine to work in reverse when has been doing the opposite for years! You must put all of your energy into this rehabilitation period: once the new mechanism is in place, you will lose weight very easily. You, therefore, have to take your time, as one or two low-calories meals will not change your metabolism.

We must, therefore, eat less, and reduce the amount of food so that your stomach size is reduced, and rebalance its power to regulate your metabolism. Looking at it this way, it is possible that some practices might be accidental reflexes, yet you can take some simple measures to prevent yourself from gaining weight by accident.

It is certainly wise to start reading the label on your supermarket products rather than blindly throwing any ‘low fat’ item into your cart: diet products might have fewer calories, but they are often full of sugar.

This is definitely the case for breakfast products and diet snack bars which say ‘light’, that will have fewer calories in total, yet which will have a much higher sugar content than other products.

The calorie content is a good indicator, but it is important to look at the food’s composition (what makes up these calories). If there is a lot of protein and not as many carbohydrates, then it is a preferable product to one with fewer calories but more sugar.

Nevertheless, a home-cooked meal will always be healthy, nutritional and good quality in comparison to slimming products or any supermarket items. Because of this, it is essential that overweight or obese people need to learn to cook and to rediscover the taste of fresh, homemade food if they consume a lot of industrial and pre-prepared food. We must learn, understand and be aware of what we are eating.

For example, we often ignore salt in terms of our diet, but it is nevertheless a factor that encourages weight gain and prevents weight loss, as well as provoking cardiovascular illnesses. Who has ever eaten some chips or fries without having the irresistible urge to have another one straight away? This is the salt, that excites your taste buds and promotes dopamine secretion, which then increases the feeling of hunger: savoury dishes make us want to have seconds.

Eating more salt promotes water retention. Decreasing your salt intake is another trick to losing weight. If you cook at home, you can replace salt with other spices or herbs, and you can avoid putting salt on the table. This also helps you to choose good fats like:

• olive oil
• rapeseed oil
• peanut oil
• unsaturated fatty acids

Because all of these fats help lower your cholesterol!

What you eat is important, if not central, but the rate at which you eat it is also an important parameter. It is essential to have a regular schedule and avoid snacking, which constantly stimulates the stomach and makes it grow in size.

• By staying hydrated

The food we eat is also composed of liquids, the most important being water, which is vital to our life support. However, people rarely choose water over sodas and sugary drinks that are on offer, especially on menus. In some countries, they are even cheaper than water! This is the case in Mexico, which is the highest consumer of sugary drinks and sodas per capita in the world (with Coca-Cola in the lead), ahead of the USA and also one of the top 20 most obese countries in the world.

What’s more, high-calorie foods with a high salt content (which are often the choice in an obese environment) tend to increase one’s thirst, which often leads to a selection of drinks deemed to be ultra-refreshing, such as soft drinks. Despite them being quick to quench your thirst, this effect is actually deceptive and short lasting, as they entice you to have another glass shortly afterwards. Therefore, you must drink water and ban sugary drinks and sodas, as well as “100% natural” fruit juices: it’s not true!

Fruit juices are also very high in sugar and are actually very close to sodas, with a minimum of 7 teaspoons of sugar per drink. If you fancy an orange juice instead of a glass of water, nothing is better than squeezing them yourself to extract all of the vitamins and minerals and benefit from the natural fruit sugar. Water can also be replaced by tea, which is an antioxidant with anti-inflammatory benefits for the body. However, you should not consume more than 10 cups a day (and even this is a lot) so that you do not experience negative effects from the tannin and caffeine.

In conclusion, you should choose to drink water over anything else, as it is the healthiest and most refreshing thing to drink. You must also drink a lot: diuretic effects are also a boost for weight loss.

• By practising regular physical activity

It is essential to practice regular physical activity whether or not you are overweight. Apart from helping you to lose weight permanently, moving your body also helps you stay healthy longer and to delay old-age diseases such as arthritis or cardiovascular problems.

Overweight people wanting to lose weight should not only adapt their calorie intake but should also gradually try to practice more intensive and regular exercise.

The duration and regularity of physical activity are what has the greatest effect when combatting obesity.

Because of muscle memory, the body will be more capable and willing to spend the energy provided by food on exercise and will do so with little physical effort. If you start getting your body used to burning calories little-by-little, it will become easier each time. So, it all comes down to patience when losing weight efficiently and permanently.

Running is one of the best sports for obese people. This is primary because running forces your body to dip into the fat reserves. It is also recommended to run on an empty stomach, which is more effective to weight loss. Running also makes your heart work and helps to prevent cardiovascular diseases, which are common amongst overweight people. Therefore, start by getting used to running every day. It will be hard to run for longer than 15 minutes at the beginning, but you can set weekly goals to gradually increase the distance or time.

You must especially start this routine at the start, because, as we have said earlier, this is the most crucial time mentally and physically, as the metabolism must get used to the new routine that is imposed. Your efforts will be in vain if you only run from time to time. You must keep it up from the moment you start, because although you won’t see results immediately, you will suddenly get obvious results after just a few weeks of effort.

However, you must accompany running with weight training. Indeed, losing fat is one thing, but turning it into muscle is another. Body builders have a special system: absorb as many fats as you can in a short period of time and quickly turn them into muscle.

Obese people should follow the same principle, but it will be more difficult for them to transform the fats that have been accumulated over years, stored deep in the body, especially belly and thigh fat.

Because of this, losing belly fat takes some time as this is where the visceral fat cells lie. Reaching these cells means that you need to get rid of the more superficial layers first, so gaining muscle in the abdominals is very important when trying to lose belly weight. Getting rid of thigh fat takes less time, but…

There is one final tip to increase your basic metabolism and make the most of your efforts. This is the minimum energy expenditure that allows us to stay alive and perform our vital functions, i.e. to breathe, run our organs and sleep. This base metabolism varies depending on the individual, but those who perform more physical activity will also use more energy while resting.

Thus, if you train your body to move and your metabolism to burn energy, it will do even more when you are inactive.

• By sleeping better

We have seen the links between sleep duration and weight gain. These results can be surprising but they are an opportunity for you to minimise them in your own life. Scientists recommend at least 7 hours’ sleep per night and ideally 8 hours per night and remind us that each extra hour of sleep minimises our risk of obesity by 9%.

Firstly, getting a good night’s sleep has other virtues than helping to fight obesity: it strengthens your immune system, allows your organs to rest and it protects your heart, as it acts on brain activity and makes you less irritable, stressed and nervous.

Remember that a night’s sleep helps to fight against weight gain by allowing the metabolic system to rest: losing sleep generates ghrelin, which is a hormone that increases your appetite. If you stay up late, you are not only more prone to cravings caused by this metabolic effect, but your body also needs more energy to function if you are tired.

What’s more, your metabolism is less able to eliminate and assimilate food during the night, and it is more likely to store it instead, which is bad for weight gain.

Finally, people are less able to face stress when they have less sleep, which also leads to appetite gain. The combination of these circumstances reinforces the idea that sleep helps to maintain a good dietary rhythm and prevents you from eating at night when exposed to impulses leading to an uncontrollable urge to eat, which is harmful to your health.

Sleeping well and for a long time also helps you to control your metabolic cycle, even during the day, and prevents you from opting for fatty foods that lead to weight gain. Also, eating a healthier and balanced diet helps you get to sleep easier and have a good night’s sleep.

Try to adopt a regular sleep cycle of at least 8 hours’ sleep after a light evening meal, which will stop you from snacking late at night.

• By managing your stress and anxiety better, as well as other strong emotions

We have seen how stress is a weight gain factor because it raises the levels of cortisol in the brain. Therefore, you must take stress into account when trying to control your food intake, but managing your stress will also improve other factors in your life.

It is true that this is not easy to do: you need to learn about stress, its causes, and, according to your propensity to becoming stressed, consider various actions to take. Some people get stressed around punctual, identifiable moments, such as an exam or work deadline, and they compensate for their stress by eating badly, such as eating whilst working, or devouring a cake to feel better. These people can anticipate these triggers and limit the damage by opting for lower-calorie foods like fruits or nuts, which give you energy and stimulate your body positively.

You must also try to work to avoid these stress triggers. People who are almost permanently stressed and who eat a lot to comfort themselves need to try to identify the source of their stress and to combat it by practising anti-stress activities such as:

• yoga
• meditation
• relaxation therapy
• sport
• etc…

For example, combat sports are known to be an excellent stress outlet, because the worst thing you can do is internalise your anger. These tips and procedures also apply to anxiety, depression and emotional stress, which is also a cause of eating.

Being overwhelmed by negative feelings such as sadness and melancholy are also conducive to weight gain, as you often seek emotional compensation in food. This must all be combatted to both improve your daily life and mental health, as well as to avoid weight gain.

Of course, this is difficult and takes a lot of effort, but try to see the positive side of forcing yourself to practice an exciting new activity or one that you usually love, rather than locking yourself away and feeding your emotions with chocolate or a packet of chips.

Concentrating and immersing yourself in something else will make food cravings disappear as you start a new phase in your life: the desire to continue your activity in the long term.

This can be accompanied by taking plant infusions such as:

• John’s wort, with calming and antidepressant uses
• Infusions based on jasmine, lavender, or saffron, which have soothing properties

How can I lose weight quickly?

These tips for losing weight are fundamental if you want to lose weight permanently. For more information, we advise you to consult our page on weight loss drugs.

As we mentioned earlier, a dietician or nutritionist can help and guide you towards creating a nutritional regime for your metabolism so that you lose weight more effectively.

It may also be helpful to also take anti-obesity treatment—such as fat burners—alongside your low-calories diet. Please note that we do not recommend routine use of these pills to lose weight, but instead in the beginning when you need to restart a new metabolic routine when these drugs really can help you to lose weight. Because they give good results in the first few weeks, they also help people maintain their motivation. For more information, we advise you to consult our product page on Xenical or Alli before buying it online: it is a well-known fat burner because of its effectiveness.

As for morbidly obese people with a Body Mass Index over 35, it might be necessary to consider a more radical means of weight loss, as obesity is so entrenched at this point that it will be very difficult to reverse. Bariatric surgeries are practised increasingly and could be a solution to think about. These weight loss tips also apply to your diet post-operation, which must also change radically. Therefore, it is a last resort and by no means an easy option.

Medical review on March 10, 2017 by Dr. Davis Taylor