1. Eat less calories every day.
2. Do more movement throughout the day.
It is really as simple as that! In this blog we will detail how you can implement these two principles and see some real changes to your physique in no time!
When we ask our friends, family, and gym clients what their weight loss plan is, the typical response is:
“I’m not going to eat junk food”
“Run 5 miles a day starting tomorrow”
These plans are actually effective to lose weight, but to most people these are drastic changes to lose weight.
In this blog we will be breaking down these concepts so you can start making SUSTAINABLE changes today.
We at Forge 24/7 Fitness, a 24 hour gym near Tampa Florida, strive to not only provide high quality equipment, but also bring great information to help you reach your goals!
Best Way to Lose Weight | Be In a Calorie Deficit….Daily!
It is important to be eating less calories that your body needs to maintain your weight to begin losing weight.
For those of you who are beginners I will attempt to break it down very simply for you.
What is the Best Way To Lose Weight?
Here is a quick outline of what will be discussed in this blog for the fastest way to lose weight.
Understanding What Are Calories
Calories are a measure of how much energy our bodies need to survive. We consume calories through solid or liquid foods.
To know how many calories we are putting in our bodies, simply read the nutrition label and serving size.
1- Serving size tells you the amount of calories and other nutrients there are in that given amount. If you plan on eating the whole container, then multiply every value by the servings per container value.
In this case the amount of calories for the whole package is 230 x 8 = 1840.
In order to change our body weight, we either eat more calories (to gain weight), eat the same calories (to maintain the same weight), or eat less calories (to lose weight).
A calorie is a calorie. One calorie in an ice cream is the same as one calorie in a piece of fruit. The only difference is the nutrition value in one or the other.
So you can lose weight with only eating ice cream in theory, but you will likely not feel good eating ice cream only and will develop health problems. Funnily enough, it would be the same if you only ate peaches or one vegetable.
A balanced diet is one that has all the nutrients you need and that will keep you at a healthy weight.
So is the best way to lose weight is to eat a lot less?...Sort of!
It can be dangerous if you lose too much weight too fast. Some side effects of losing weight that I have experienced are feeling lethargic, not getting enough sleep, and worst of all feeling... hangry 😭 .
It's recommended to lose weight at 1-2 pounds per week to avoid the above side effects. People who are diagnosed obese can lose more per week, like 3-5 pounds, and still feel great since there is more fat the body can use to survive and not feel drained.
Eat More Fruits And Vegetables
One of the best ways to lose weight is to eat more fruits and vegetables in your meals. This will allow you to eat less calories overall, since the idea is to take up the room in your stomach with fruits and vegetables first
Eating more to eat less calories?! Yes it is as good as it sounds.
Fruits and veggies have fewer calories, then your favorite treats. Oftentimes 10x less as shown below. We compare a an apricot to a small quart of ice cream.
The strategy we are using here is to fill your stomach with lower calorie foods, so this means eat a large helping of fruit and vegetables, then enjoy some of your favorite snacks.
Be creative and make sure you enjoy your fruit or vegetables and don't make it feel like a chore. I don't like eating nasty food and I assume neither do you!
So instead of you eating a full pint of ice cream only, eat a lot of grapes and carrots first and half a pint of ice cream.
If you're used to eating a full bag of chips, now instead eat a huge salad and then eat half a bag of chips.
Take these small steps, because you are eating enough calories to not see weight loss, or you are slowly gaining weight.
Adding a lot of fruits and vegetables before eating your cravings means you get to eat more without gaining weight.
Eat Slowly!
If you didn’t know, your body is telling your brain that you are hungry! By eating slowly, you are allowing those signals to reach your brain so you are forced to slow down or stop.
The simple rule I follow is to make my meals last 15-20 minutes.
You probably have done something similar when out eating with friends, you're starving at first, then when the food arrives you eat a bit but get sidetracked talking to your friends that you cannot finish your plate.
Try it when you are home and you will see a big difference!
Eating More Protein
Eating foods with high protein are very satiating because the body takes longer to digest it. Try eating these more often and see how you wont need to snack as often, and hopefully not at all in the future.
Here is our quick list:
-Steak: New York strip is our favorite; Ribeye is a slightly fattier cut but to be honest start with one you like the most and see how your weight responds. The calories in these foods are lower than a lot of the junk food that is out there and it is micronutrient packed!
-Ground Turkey: Ground turkey has so much protein for such low calories, and it tastes great. (I like steak better but I can’t afford it as often). This food is a great alternative to ground beef which has more calories, you will be surprised when you start cooking with this instead. Cheap, effective, tasty, what more can you ask for?
-Chicken Breast (leanest of these two) / Chicken Thighs (slightly fatter): Chicken breast is the leanest of these two, and I would take the time to learn to make a juicy chicken breast without adding a lot of high calorie ingredients like butter or a lot of oil. Chicken thighs are fattier by default and very delicious, just slightly higher in calories. You can start off with thighs first and then transition to chicken breast if you don’t see any changes.
-Fish: Salmon is the fattiest fish, where Atlantic cod is more leaner. There are other types of fish so if you are a fan of them, venture out and find a tasty one for you! These are my favorites to eat. Baking in the oven is my preferred method of preparing fish.
-Protein Powders: Ideally I prepare a huge protein ice cream, if you follow Forge 24/7 Fitness on Instagram or Facebook, I will post my recipe soon so you guys can give it a try. Very large portion, very filling, very tasty, and best of all…super low in calories!
-Protein Bars: Quick hack on these, if you throw them in the fridge it will take longer for you to eat them since they are tougher to eat quickly. This guarantees that I will hit the 15-20 minute rule.
There are other great sources of protein, we have only listed a few here so please join the conversation and post your recommendations in the comment section to help each other out!
Burn more calories!
So is the best way to lose fat to run 5 miles a day? Could be! If you are properly trained to do so without getting injured.
For an individual whose job is sitting or standing stationary most of the day. These drastic actions are not necessary.
Check out our previous blog on the best way to burn cardio to see how you can do so at your own gym, but if you're in Tampa Florida, check out Forge 24/7 Fitness, the best 24 hour gym!
If you can’t access a gym, don’t sweat it. Start by taking a walk and aim to walk for 10,000 steps a day.
The number sounds really large but can normally be accomplished within 1-2 hours. Just have a nice playlist on Spotify or YouTube or some great company and the time will fly!
Make sure to pace yourself.
If you are overweight, the stress can greatly impact your feet, ankles, and knees so start with 5,000 a day and move up another 1,000 next week until you get to 10,000 calories a day.
The Fastest Way To Lose Fat | Putting It All Together
I want to finish this blog by emphasizing, don’t overdo it and to outline a plan for you!
Do not cut 1,000 calories and attempt to walk 10,000 steps a day. You. Will. Feel. Awful
Weight Loss doesn’t need to be you intentionally torturing yourself.
The fastest way to lose fat is:
Replace the higher calorie foods or drinks with zero calorie alternatives: A soda is around 180 calories a can, if you drink a zero calorie soda, then that’s already subtracting 180 calories from your total.
Don’t drink your calories: If you can, drink only water and zero calorie drinks. I only drink my calories when I'm trying to put on weight since it is very easy to put down the calories. So avoid these as much as possible. Beer (There are light beers available), Juices, Full Fat Milks, Sodas.
Replace higher calorie snacks with fruits and veggies first then have the snacks. Explained above in the section titled Eat More Fruits and Vegetables.
Start walking 5,000-10,000 steps a day or perform a sustainable cardio routine at your gym. See our other blog Best Cardio Routine for more details.
After a couple of weeks of losing weight from the above plan, you can start getting more serious about losing weight.
Here are the more advanced recommendations:
Increase the amount of calories you're burning by 100-200 during your cardio workouts.
Find out your maintenance calories My Fitness Pal. When you choose the option to lose weight, they will tell you the amount of calories you can eat to reach this goal. The app is free and easy to use!
See if you're losing weight after increasing the intensity of your workouts and tracking your calories, if you are not losing around a pound a week, then I would recommend either cutting 200 calories per day from your foods or burning 200 more from your workouts.
Counting your calories won’t need to be a normal thing if you don’t want it to be. Eventually you will be able to estimate how many calories are in a meal so that you can be more intuitive with your diet.
The app is so you can learn about calories since you likely had no idea how many calories were in the foods you were eating.
If you found this blog helpful or have any insights on how you lose weight, drop them in the comment section below!
If you're looking for the best 24 hour gym near Tampa Florida, come check us out! Our personal trainers can help you out with your weight loss journey by personalizing your plan and keeping you accountable!
That is it for this blog, until next time!
In my opinion, the quickest approach to lose weight and in a short period of time is to follow a diet prescribed by a doctor or specialist, and I also highly recommend the keto diet and supplements that aid in weight loss.
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