How to actually lose weight

To determine how many calories you need to eat in a day use a BMR calculator online. Take your BMR and use the Harris-Benedict Equation to add in activity ratio. This will be your estimated maintenance caloric intake. From this you will minus 500 calories. Do not make the mistake of subtracting 500 calories from your BMR without the activity ratio added in.

When you want to lose weight its important to not only focus on cardio. While cardio will help you burn more calories throughout the day, it wont help you maintain or build muscle. During a caloric deficit muscle loss is inevitable, your goal should be to reduce the loss as much as possible. This can be done by eating enough protein and through resistance training. You do not need to change the rep range or exercise selection, unless your current program isn't great.

EAT AS MUCH FIBER AS YOU CAN. Eating fiber has so many benefits not only for weight loss. Fiber can help reduce LDL cholesterol levels, improve bowel movement, and improve microbiota composition/diversity (this can improve immune health and also aid in weight loss). Fiber will keep you feeling full during a meal due to the distention of your stomach your brain will get a signal to stop releasing ghrelin, a hunger hormone, and you will feel more satiated. Humans cannot digest fiber because we lack specific enzymes to break the carbohydrate into monosaccharides. Fiber passes through our stomach and small intestine and eventually reaches the large intestine where our gut bacteria goes to town. You should think of fiber as food for your gut bacteria. High Fiber diets promote the growth of beneficial bacteria.

Drinking water will work similar to fiber, more volume in your stomach will make you feel full.

There is some research that suggests a chemical found in green tea (ECGC) can help with losing body fat. These studies hypothesize ECGC works by activating AMPK, a regulator for many processes in the body such as autophagy. Whether or not green tea can help humans in weight loss is debated with evidence on both sides. Regardless, green tea is also a good source for antioxidants while remaining a relatively low caffeine beverage. You should be aware that caffeinated beverages like coffee and tea inhibit iron absorption. It would be best to drink these beverages either 1 hour before or after a meal.

Fruits and vegetables should be high in your diet. As said before these are a great source of dietary fiber and micronutrients (vitamins and minerals). Fruits and vegetables also contain phytochemicals and other nutrients. These are not essential, but when consumed can improve our health in many ways.

One of the best things you can do if you have trouble with hunger when trying to lose weight is eat low calorie nutrient dense veggies and fruits before your meal. Salads are a good option, as long as high calorie dressings are left out. Instead use vinegar, spices, lemons, limes, and fruits. Eating raw veggies may be a good idea to provide more water and fill your stomach before your meal.

You can lose weight on ANY diet, yes even McDonald’s, as long as you burn more calories than you consume each day.

This doesn’t necessarily mean the diet is healthy or sustainable in the long term. No matter what diet you follow it should be high in vegetables and whole plant foods. If your diet plan is telling you it’s okay to eat tablespoons of butter, steaks, and bacon, but to avoid micronutrient rich fruits and higher calorie vegetables that’s probably not the best diet for health.

If you only consider aesthetic goals then you can follow any diet, but you should think about the long term potential health consequences as well. While there may not be one diet that fits all, there is a diet that fits most. That diet is one high in plant foods, low in added oils and added sugars, and low in processed foods.