Are you struggling to lose weight? Tried everything and nothing seems to work? Sick and tired of watching others lose weight while you stay the same?
Behold the Eight Great Ways to Weight Loss…and what may be sabotaging your efforts to lose weight.
1. Timing is Off
- Much of weight loss can be attributed to WHEN we eat. Ideally, we should eat more in the morning and less at night. Trouble is, most people do it the other way around. They don’t eat enough for breakfast, are under-fueled for most of the day and eat more late at night. This causes our bodies to store more fat because we are, typically, less active later in the day than we are earlier on.
2. Drinking Too Much
- You can’t get lean if you drink a lot of alcohol – it’s a physiological certainty. The reason is that alcohol is 7 cal/gram (comparable to fat, which is 9 cal/gram) and is metabolized in a way that makes it very tough to get lean with it. This applies to either drinking more than 1-2 times per week or have many drinks at one sitting. Either one brings us down. And don’t pay attention to the low-carb beers…it isn’t the carbs that make us gain weight – it’s the alcohol content.
3. Not Eating ENOUGH.
- When we restrict our calories TOO MUCH our metabolism slows down to match it. Then when we eat more we gain all the weight back…and then some. This is the exact reason that most dieting schemes don’t work. The maximum recommended fat loss is 2-3 pounds per week…anything more we’ll no longer be losing body fat – we’ll be losing muscle. So, yes, you’ll lose weight this way but it won’t be the right kind of weight.
4. Not Eating OFTEN Enough.
- If you want to have a metabolism that’s always burning hot…start by eating every 2-3 hours. Be a grazer; not a binger. More frequency, smaller portion sizes. Think about it – if you build a fire and you want it to burn for a long time, you’re going to constantly add wood to it at regular intervals, right? You’re not going to dump a bunch of wood on it, let it burn out, then try to start it up again. It makes no sense. Your metabolism is the exact same way. Food is wood and the fire is your metabolism.
5. Not Strength Training.
- All you cardio junkies, listen up. Cardio burns FAR fewer calories than strength training. Why? It comes down to a simple principle of EPOC, which stands for Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption. Your body continues burning calories even after the workout is done, which is what happens when you strength train.
If you are fixated on cardio, the best way to simulate this is to do intense intervals. Just look at the body types of sprinters vs. marathoners – which one would you rather have?
6. Not Strength Train INTENSELY.
- When is the last time you lifted a heavy weight till TOTAL failure? Total failure means you couldn’t lift it another time even if someone was screaming at you. Yes, this is tough and, no, you don’t have to do this every time you strength train but, occasionally, it is necessary to make continued progress. Otherwise you’re going to hit a plateau and not go anywhere.
(note for women – unless you are taking a testosterone supplement you WILL NOT get bigger strength training this way. Trust me.)
7. Not Drinking Enough Water.
- If you’re not drinking AT LEAST half your bodyweight in ounces of water each day, you’re sabotaging your own metabolism. This means that someone who is 150 lbs needs to be drinking a MINIMUM of 75 ounces of water. If you work out, you need more. If you drink caffeine, you need more. If you live at altitude, you need more. And if you live in warm weather, you need more.
Almost anyone I’ve ever met who wants to lose weight, but can’t, needs more.
8. Eating The Wrong Combinations
Two good rules of thumb:
- Try not to combine significant fat and carbs in the same meal. Your body will metabolize the carbs and the fat will be stored as exactly what it is – fat.
- Try to have protein AND carbs at every meal. Having these two things together keeps insulin levels stable and minimizes a blood sugar response. This means you won’t have a “crash,” and you’ll feel fuller, longer.
And that’s it. Almost anyone who is struggling to lose weight can probably improve in at least one area. If you do this you’ll be on the fast track for weight loss.
All the best to you!
