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How to lose weight naturally fast
There are some strategies supported by science that can answer the query how to lose weight naturally fast.
- Trying intermittent fasting (IF) is a scheme of eating by following regular short-term fasting and eating meals within a shorter time period in a day.
Several studies have suggested that short-term intermittent fasting of 26 weeks duration is as helpful for weight loss as consuming a daily low-calorie diet.
The most comprehensive intermittent fasting methods are the following:
- Alternate Day Fasting (ADF): Fast every other day and consume a particular diet on non-fasting days. It involves taking just 25–30% of the body needs on fasting days.
- The 5:2 Diet: Fast on 2 days a week. In these 2 days of fasting, just consume 500–600 calories.
- The 16/8 method: in this method there is a fasting of 16 hours, and you must take food only during an 8-hour window. For most people, the 8-hour window is around noon to 8 p.m. in the evening. A study on this technique explained that eating during a confined period in the participants results in consuming fewer calories and losing weight.
Avoid overeating on non-fasting days.
2. Tracking your diet and exercise
People who want to lose weight should be well aware of what they consume and drink a day. One practice is to list these items in either a paper or an online food tracker.
Research suggests that tracking diet and exercise may be advantageous for weight loss because it boosts behaviour changes and promotes motivation.
Regular tracking of physical activity helps weight loss. Even a simple pedometer can be a helpful weight-loss tool.
3. Eating mindfully
Mindful eating is a technique where people notice how and where they eat food. This practice can make people enjoy the food they consume and may promote weight loss.
As most people have busy lives, they are often prone to eat quickly, in the car, workplaces, and watching TV. Consequently, many people are hardly aware of the food they are taking.
Practice for mindful eating include:
- Sitting down at a table: Pay attention to the food and enjoy eating.
- Avoiding distractions while eating: Do not watch TV, or a laptop or phone.
- Eating slowly: eat slowly and chew it well. This technique assists with weight loss, as it provides a person’s brain sufficient time to analyze the signals that they are full, which prevent over-eating.
- Make considerate food choices: Select diet items that are full of nutrients and those that will satisfy you for hours.
4. Eating protein with meals
Protein can regulate appetite hormones to help people feel full. It is also suggested that the hormonal effects of eating a breakfast full of protein can last for several hours.
Protein breakfast, including eggs, oats, nut, and seed butters, porridge, sardines, and chia seed pudding, is a good choice.
5. Cutting back on sugar and refined carbohydrates
When the diet is increasingly high in added sugars, it can promote obesity even when the sugar occurs in beverages.
Refined grains contain most of the grain’s fiber and nutrients such as white rice, white bread, and regular pasta.
These foods are easy to digest, and they break down to glucose rapidly. Excess glucose provokes the hormone insulin, which can increase fat in the adipose tissue. This bestows weight gain.
Where possible, people should replace highly processed food and sugary items with nutritionally dense food items. Good food substitutes include:
- whole-grain rice and bread replacing their white versions
- eat fruit, nuts, and seeds by replacing high sugar snacks
- drink herb teas and fruit-vegetable juices instead of high sugar sodas
6. Eating plenty of fiber
Fiber in food describes plant-based carbohydrates that are not digested in the small intestine, unlike sugar and starch. Including plenty of fiber in the diet can give the feeling of fullness, leading to weight loss.
Fiber-rich foods include:
- whole-grain breakfast cereals,
- whole-wheat pasta,
- whole-grain bread,
- oats, barley, and rye
- fruit and vegetables
- peas, beans, and pulses
- nuts and seeds
7. Balancing gut bacteria
One sprouting area of research is highlighting the role of bacteria in the gut on weight management.
The human gut hosts a huge number and variety of microorganisms, including around 39 trillion bacteria.
Every individual has various types and numbers of bacteria in their gut. Some types may increase the energy extraction from food, resulting in fat deposition and weight gain.
Some foods can boost up the number of good bacteria in the gut, including:
- A wide variety of plants: Increasing the number of fruits, vegetables, and grains in the diet will result in an increased set of gut bacteria. 75 Percent of a daily meal should contain fiber.
- Fermented foods: Fermented foods such as sauerkraut, kimchi, kefir, yogurt, tempeh, and miss contain probiotic microorganisms. It may possess anti-obesity effects.
- Prebiotic foods: These stimulate the growth and activity of some of the good bacteria that assist weight loss. Prebiotic fiber is present in many fruits and vegetables, particularly in chicory root, artichoke, onion, garlic, asparagus, leeks, banana, avocado, and in grains i. e oats and barley.
8. Having a good night’s sleep
Studies have explained that sleeping fewer than 5–6 hours per night is linked with an increased incidence of obesity. There are many reasons behind this.
Insufficient or poor-quality sleep delays the process in which the body processes calories to energy, called metabolism. When metabolism is ineffective, the body may store unconsumed energy as fat. In addition, poor sleep can promote the resistance to insulin and boost up the levels of cortisol, which also promotes fat storage.
How long someone sleeps also affects the working of the appetite-controlling hormones leptin and ghrelin. Leptin provides signals of fullness to the brain.
9. Managing your stress levels
Stress triggers the adrenaline and cortisol hormones, which initially decrease the appetite following body’s fight or flight response.
However, when there is constant stress, cortisol staying in the bloodstream for a longer time will increase appetite and consequently lead to them eating more.
Cortisol signals the need to refill the body’s nutritional stores from the carbohydrates.
Insulin transfers the sugar from carbohydrates from the blood stream to the muscles and brain. The body will store it as fat.
Some methods to reduce stress include:
- yoga,
- meditation
- breathing and relaxation techniques
- spending some time outdoors, such as walking or gardening
- praying
- exercise
