How to Lose Weight Fast
What Actually Works Long Term
You’re probably here because you have tried getting to or maintaining a healthy weight and found it unexpectedly difficult. Losing weight, or fat specifically can be a long journey, but what factors allow it to happen FAST?
What does losing weight fast actually mean?
Fat Loss
vs
Water / Glycogen loss
Glycogen is stored in the liver, muscles, and fat cells in hydrated form associated with potassium. In the first week or so of a low-calorie diet, total body potassium decreases along with muscle glycogen. Water leaves the muscle and often leads to DEXA scans overestimating a loss in fat free mass (muscle). Long-term, fat loss is responsible for a decrease in body weight.
How quickly SHOULD you lose weight?
0.5-1% of your body weight per week
Objective
Measurement
Most Common Problem slowing down Weight Loss.
Trying a new routine for some time and not having objective proof how well it’s working. When you do resistance training you gain muscle. Sometimes people lose fat at the same rate they are gaining muscle, leading to stagnation on the scale.
BUT, the objective measurement of improvements in strength, muscle, endurance, body shape, etc. is key. Assessing your plan properly would tell you that your productive in your fat loss attempts overall.
Otherwise you need to change your routine if it isn’t working.
How Fat Loss Actually Works
Fats are liberated from Fat cells (adipocytes) into circulation to supply the needed energy. Fat is stored in the adipocyte in the form of triacylglycerol. When stimulated to do so, the adipocyte releases triaglycerol into the bloodstream as free fatty acids (FFA). These FFA reach the target tissue (ex. muscle) and get inside of the mitochondria (thanks to the help of the hormone – lipoprotein lipase [LPL]).
This is a perfected process of our body preserving energy for when we need it. With plentiful access to food however, this beautiful feature of nature becomes a mechanism for adding excess unwanted fat.
How do we get our bodies to utilize the stored energy within our fat cells?
Lipolysis
Enzymatic cleavage of triacylglycerol
to generate glycerol & free fatty acids
It’s complicated,
but what you NEED TO KNOW is this process happens under conditions when:
Fuels are LOW
and/or
Energy Demands
are HIGH
Fuels are Low: Calorie Deficit
Calculate your metabolic rate
You don’t have much of a choice here. No matter what method or diet proposes to help shred fat fast. The mechanism is eating less than your MAINTENANCE calories.
With my clients, I find this number and structure their eating plan around being in a deficit. Objective measurements of body weight or body fat percentage are then used to validate the success of this eating plan. If you STILL aren’t losing weight while eating in a deficit, then you likely aren’t in a deficit on AVERAGE.
Maybe you eat well on the week days, and blow up on some weekends. Enough to put your average daily calorie consumption above maintenance. The only way to know this is by having an objective form of measurement.
Energy Demands are High: Exercise
How much energy do you BURN on a 30-min run?
Intense running for 30-min only burns that many calories???
Our priority for exercise is NOT just burning calories. Of course it helps and can keep us in a calorie deficit. Especially if we are doing a lot of training.
Our priority is adding/maintaining MUSCLE and increasing MITOCHONDRIA in our cells. Remember the process of fat loss? Free fatty acids find the target tissue (muscle) and go to the mitochondria to be converted to energy.
If we have more muscle (lifting) AND more mitochondria (cardio), we use fat.
– This simplifies our fitness routine –
Because now we do resistance training to prioritize building muscle and strength. Then, we do cardio to prioritize the physiological adaptations that make us better at cardio (not just to burn energy).
What my clients do to LOSE FAT
Lift 2-5x/week
This is specific to the starting level of each client. But prioritizing compound strength exercises. Then higher rep lower weight bodybuilding exercises.
Cardio 1-3x/week
HIIT, SIT or LSD
I know that sounds strange but these
are the three main types that I program.
High Intensity Interval Training: (HIIT) 1-3 minutes of very high intensity work interspersed with 1-2 minutes of ACTIVE rest. Repeated for at least 3 rounds.
Sprint Interval Training: (SIT) <30 seconds of work interspersed with PASSIVE rest between 2-5 minutes of rest. Repeated for at least 3 rounds.
High Intensity Interval Training: (HIIT) 1-3 minutes of very high intensity work interspersed with 1-2 minutes of ACTIVE rest. Repeated for at least 3 rounds.
Eat in a Calorie Deficit
I create customized meal plans that fit the exact calories needed by each client. Each client chooses their meals every 2-weeks. I pair this with a grocery list that matches their program.
We track progress objectively and alter our course when needed.
This works LONG-TERM because you are creating lasting adaptations to your body and metabolism. And eating for PERFORMANCE rather than deprivation.
APPLY FOR 1-1 TRAINING
References
Kreitzman SN, Coxon AY, Szaz KF. Glycogen storage: illusions of easy weight loss, excessive weight regain, and distortions in estimates of body composition. Am J Clin Nutr. 1992 Jul;56(1 Suppl):292S-293S. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/56.1.292S. PMID: 1615908.
Krotkiewski M, Landin K, Mellström D, Tölli J. Loss of total body potassium during rapid weight loss does not depend on the decrease of potassium concentration in muscles. Different methods to evaluate body composition during a low energy diet. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 2000 Jan;24(1):101-7. doi: 10.1038/sj.ijo.0801092. PMID: 10702758.
El-Zayat, S.R., Sibaii, H. & El-Shamy, K.A. Physiological process of fat loss. Bull Natl Res Cent 43, 208 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1186/s42269-019-0238-z
Richard AJ, White U, Elks CM, et al. Adipose Tissue: Physiology to Metabolic Dysfunction. [Updated 2020 Apr 4]. In: Feingold KR, Ahmed SF, Anawalt B, et al., editors. Endotext [Internet]. South Dartmouth (MA): MDText.com, Inc.; 2000-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK555602/