5 Ways To Lose Weight

If you've found this blog post, I beg you to read to the end. I know, you may be mad at me at first, but please bear with me. I will tell you how to achieve the perfect diet for your body.

First of all, I want to say, there is no one-size-fits-all diet. There is no winning regime that will help EVERYONE lose weight. But, that being said, there is a way to get the exact diet that will help you maximize weight loss.

Any health professional will tell you that losing more than 2lbs a week is unhealthy. Does that mean it is impossible? No. Is it a good idea? That depends. What is your goal? If you want to fit into that little black dress for a special occasion, it can be done, but I can't promise you'll keep it off. If you want to lose weight and keep it off (long term), you'll have to take the slow and steady approach.

Here's the real question though- are you trying to lose weight, or lose inches? Those are 2 very different things. I am 5'7", and I currently weigh 140lbs. My boyfriend is 6'2, is much skinnier than me, and he weighs 180lbs (or more- I can't remember). Yes, gender does play a roll in this, but the big difference here is I have mostly fat and little muscle. He has all muscle and little fat. He looks lean and... flawless. I have rolls and squishy spots.

Losing weight does not necessarily mean you will fit into that little black dress. It means you'll be easier to carry (both on your feet and/or someone else's).

Losing inches will put you in that little dress, but depending on how you go about it, you may end up heavier than before.

So what is your actual goal? Do you hate the number, or the person you see in the mirror? If it's the number, keep reading. If it's the person in the mirror, you'll have to bear with me while I go over that in another post (honestly it may be much later when you read this- feel free to check and see if I have yet).

WAYS TO LOSE WEIGHT

This is what you want, so I won't make you read my entire life story. We're just going to jump right in.

1. Counting Calories

The basis for losing weight is this: the calories you consume (food) must be at a "deficit" compared to the calories you burn (exercise & activities). People will tell you calorie counting doesn't work, but it does. You just have to know how to do it right. I personally preach about the MyFitnessPal app. It's free, and it calculates how many calories you need (you specifically, not just anybody) to lose weight. If you don't want to download an app, you can use this calculator to help you figure out what you need.

Now, for myself, let's say I'm desperate to lose weight fast. To lose 2lbs per week, I'd have a goal of 723 calories per day. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! That's 1 meal, maybe 2 if you enjoy salads. But, there is a way around this. I can eat 2,000 calories per day and still lose this 2lbs per week... I just need to burn off the extra 1,277 calories. This can be done through exercise, but, hear me out... you don't need a gym. Walking to work/school burns calories. So does sweeping the floors. Carrying my daughter around when I'm trying to put her to sleep. I'm going to recommend MyFitnessPal once again, because they have the calorie calculators in there that can count exactly how much you burn doing these things- based on you and not just a generic number that may be higher or lower.

2. Keto (Low Carb)

This one is great. I know because my mom has diabetes, and she is still losing weight. She has tried everything, from Herbal Magic, Herbal Life, Slim Styles, Aerobic DVDs, the soup diet, all of it. She even had a complicated meal plan that forced her to sit and watch as we enjoyed many delicious meals without her. None of them worked because diabetes just made her body store MORE fat and gain more weight. If keto can work for her, it can work for you. It's this easy: cut out carbs. Now, I'm not saying you can never eat another french-fry or pizza ever again. That would be too extreme. Zero carbs isn't healthy either, it'll set your body into starvation mode and cause, you guessed it, more weight gain. All you want to do is LIMIT your carbs. Try to keep your carbs mid-day. Now, I'm not going into the technical science behind it, honestly I don't even understand it. It's something about carbs causing your body to store fat, while other foods don't.

3. Exercise

This one is easy, but I also find it the hardest. Mostly because my daily routine doesn't have space for activities, and also because my 9 hour job is sedentary (desk) work.

Essentially, no matter what you eat, you want to burn all of it off. This could be walking, running, weights, yoga, dance, you name it. You can eat all the food in the world, but your activities will burn them all up into energy instead of shoving it into storage (fat).

4. Pills

I've covered my favourite pills; the ECA stack, in this post. This may be risky for you if you have heart conditions, as it does increase blood pressure, but honestly I've never heard of any OTC pills that work. This is the only pill option that actually works.

5. Surgery

I really don't know how to cover this one. If you've got the money, you can always go for liposuction. I have no experience on this, as I do not have the money, but it is a last resort.