How to Lose Weight – Best and Simple Guide on Weight Loss

I. Introduction

“How to Lose Weight?” is the most searched question on the internet. I think this is probably the most popular New Year’s resolution in the world. Some people advise you to go on a low-carb diet, and some advise you to go on a low-fat diet. some say do this, some say do that. But when you follow their advice, it does not work for you, and eventually, you get frustrated and lose your motivation.

To be honest, the answer to “How to Lose Weight?” is not that complicated. You just have to follow some points with proper dedication and discipline and don’t worry, starving yourself is not included in these points, you don’t have to cut all the foods from your diet.

In this guide, I will explain “How to do Healthy Weight loss” and will try to explain all the things in the best and simplest way. So that you can easily understand all the aspects of the fat loss journey and get your dream body shape by implementing them in your lifestyle.

---

II. Understanding Weight Loss

A. Basics of calories and energy balance

The food you eat, whatever you drink, except water, all of them have energy in the form of calories. The definition of calories is that “it is a unit of energy”. So, the food and water you are consuming that is where the calories are coming from. Since calories are a form of energy, everything for which the body uses energy, calories are burned for those.

The most obvious thing that comes to people’s mind to burn calories is exercising. But our body needs energy for every process so calories are burned for everything. To make your heart beat, for your lungs to breathe, and to digest food in your stomach energy is needed for all. For this reason, even while sleeping at night, your calories are burned. Generally, a normal person burns 40 – 80 calories per hour while sleeping.

A-1. Caloric intake vs. expenditure

The logic behind weight loss is very simple. Imagine that you have a bank account, all the money you earn gets accumulated in your bank account and all the money you spend is deducted from your bank account, so if you want to increase your bank balance, you either have to increase your earnings or reduce your expenses.

Similarly, our body has a calorie bank, the calories you consume, accumulate here. And the more you spend, it is deducted from the stored calories. This calorie bank is our body. To store calories, they are converted into fat and stored by the body, which increases our weight.

So if you want to lose weight, either reduce your calorie intake or spend more calories. Spending calories is known as burning calories,

A-2. The role of metabolism

When we eat food, some chemical reactions happen in our body in order to convert this food into energy and our body uses this converted energy for almost everything. This system of our body is known as metabolism.

Fast metabolism simply means the process of converting food into energy of our body is fast and slow metabolism simply means this process is slow.

A fast metabolism is considered better for fat loss.

Your lifestyle affects your metabolic rate. if you just follow a good workout ( add strength training ) and a healthy diet plan you can boost your metabolic rate.

B. Different types of weight loss (fat loss vs. muscle loss)

You have to understand the term weight loss because weight loss can be of different types (for example fat loss, muscle loss, and water loss). But you have to choose a healthy form of weight loss.

losing muscles during fat loss is not considered good. yes, of course, you will lose some muscle mass during fat loss which is normal but if you lose a major amount of muscle mass then it is not good. because after the weight loss, you will not look that good without muscles. Try to maintain muscle mass during your weight loss journey.

One of the major factors that motivates people to do weight loss is looking younger and good. But if you lose too much muscle mass during weight loss, you will not going to look good. Eventually, you will end up becoming skinny fat. That’s why I am advising you to maintain muscle mass during weight loss. Add strength training to your exercise routine, this will help you in maintaining muscle mass as well as muscle building.

if you are overweight then you don’t have to think about muscle loss. you just have to focus on weight loss, it doesn’t matter if it is from fat, muscle, or water.

But if you are slightly overweight then do consider maintaining muscle mass.

“Fat loss is always more healthier than weight loss” and “Fat loss is always more attractive than weight loss”. That’s why I am advising you to do fat loss rather than weight loss.

C. Body Mass Index (BMI) and its relevance

BMI stands for body mass index. It is an estimation of an individual’s body fat.

Body mass index is a standardized way of measuring whether somebody is overweight. you just can’t decide whether someone is overweight or not by just knowing their weight, it is not the right way because someone with a 6ft height and 80kg is considered normal, and someone with a 5ft height and the same weight is considered overweight. That’s why you can not decide whether someone is overweight or not by just knowing his weight.

To solve these problems, the body mass index was created.

The formula for calculating body mass index = weight in kgs/ height in meters*height in meters

BMI is less than 25 – ideal weight

BMI is less than 18 – Underweight

BMI is more than 25 – Overweight

BMI is more than 30 – obese

---

III. Creating a Healthy Diet Plan

A healthy diet plays an important role in your fat loss/ weight loss journey. there is a famous saying “You are what you eat” and it is accurate because the food you choose will decide how you will look.

It is not going to happen in one day, but if you stay consistent with your healthy diet plan you will get your desired results.

In the next sections, I will discuss all the aspects of a healthy diet for fat loss. After understanding all these aspects, you will be able to make your diet plan so, that you don’t have to search for a new diet plan every month.

A. Find your Maintenance calories

Simply maintenance calories are the number of calories, your body needs to maintain your current body weight.

In fat loss, you have to eat less than your maintenance calories so that extra energy stored as fat can be used for fat loss.

Find your maintenance calories with the help of maintenance calories calculator.

B. Creating a calorie deficit

let’s assume your maintenance calories are 2000 calories, for fat loss you have to eat 10 to 20% less calories than maintenance calories. Because there are negative outcomes of high-calorie restriction during fat loss like muscle loss and nutrient deficiencies.

Eating less calories than maintenance calories is called calorie deficit. You just have to create a small calorie deficit at the start of your fat loss journey though the progress will be slow with a small calorie deficit but will be sustainable.

C. Allocating Macronutrients ( Protein, Carb, and Fat )

Most of your calories come from protein, carbs, and fats so you have to allocate them carefully.

In this example, I am allocating macronutrients for a person whose weight is 70kg and whose maintenance calories are 2000 calories.

For fat loss, I am creating a calorie deficit of 15% calorie.

After subtracting 15% calories from 2000 calories, I have 1700 calories. so I have to allocate macronutrients within 1700 calories.

C-1. Proteins

Protein will keep you full for a long time and preserve muscle mass during fat loss.

We have to take almost 1.5g of protein per kilogram of body weight in a day during fat loss.

In our example, his weight is 70kg, so he has to eat 1.5*70 = 105g of protein per day during fat loss.

Per gram of protein has 4 calories, so in 105g of protein, he will get 420 calories.

C-2. Fats

Recommended fat intake is 25 to 35% of total calories. So, if we take 25% then the total fat intake for our example is 1700*25% = 425 or 50g of Fat ( per gram of fat has 9 calories ).

C-3. Carbs

The remaining calories, we will complete from carbs.

for our example, the remaining calories are 1700 – 420 – 425 = 855 calories or 210 grams of carbs.

Now add food items to your fat-loss diet according to these macronutrients. In starting you don’t have to perfectly measure every macronutrient, start slowly, just focus on protein. Try to complete your daily protein goal, other macronutrient goals will also be fulfilled with protein, because when you eat any food you do not only get protein from that food, but you also get other nutrients as well.

D. Add Fiber to Your Fat Loss Diet

Include protein and fiber at each meal during your fat-loss journey to stay full.

Fiber will help you to reduce your appetite. In your fat-loss journey, you will be in a calorie deficit and sometimes it will be hard to maintain calorie deficit. In this case, fiber can help you by reducing your appetite.

E. Micronutrients and Hydrated

Micronutrients are vitamins and minerals, that will help your body to repair and recover. When you eat food, you also get micronutrients other than macronutrients. sometimes in extreme fat loss, we can not complete our micronutrients from row food, so we add multivitamins to our diet.

Water is depleted from our body during workouts and any other physical activity through sweating. You should always make sure that your body is hydrated because dehydration can lead to many problems like cramps and delayed recovery. Dehydration can negatively affect your progress, so always be hydrated.

G. Importance of nutrient-dense foods

Some foods are referred to as superfoods since they are extremely healthy and nutritious while containing high amounts of nutrients these foods offer you many health benefits too.

Nutrient density is the amount of nutrients you get for the calories consumed. Nutrient-dense foods provide more nutrients without adding too many calories to your diet.

Try to add nutrient-dense foods to your diet to complete your nutrients while maintaining a calorie deficit.

---

IV. Effective Exercise Strategies

A. Benefits of regular physical activity for weight loss

Regular physical activity can bring many physical and mental benefits to your life. over time you end up strengthening the muscle that surrounds your heart, you also pump a greater volume of blood with each stroke, which causes a decrease in resting heart rate, you develop a lot more red blood cells, which improve your ability to bring oxygen to your muscles, and your lungs become stronger and better at supplying your body with the oxygen it needs.

Regular exercise can reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease, developing type 2 diabetes, and metabolic syndrome. Research also shows that active people have a lower risk of colon and breast cancer, and regular exercise can also increase your chances of living longer.

Metabolic rate is the rate at which your body burns calories. during exercise, you obviously burn more calories than when you rest, however, your metabolic rate at rest is enhanced even after your workout session is completed, as your body uses energy to repair muscle and replenish ATP storage and glycogen storage. this does depend on several factors, including the intensity of the exercise and your current fitness level.

Physical activity can be a key part of a complete weight management plan to avoid excessive fat gain and to maintain a healthy weight.

Regular exercise burns more calories and increases muscle mass, both of which are key to weight loss.

B. Types of exercises for weight loss

B-1. Myth

Regarding fat loss, one of the common pieces of advice is “Do more cardio”. Most people think that if you want to slim your body down then you should do more cardio and if you want to build a bulky body then you should do more weight training. But it is not true.

Yes, the right amount of cardio can boost your fat loss progress, but on the other hand, if you are only relying on cardio for fat loss then there are high chance that you end up becoming skinny fat.

B-2. What are Cardiovascular exercises

Cardiovascular exercise or aerobic exercise, in general, is any exercise that raises your heartbeat. Your respiratory and cardiovascular systems work together to deliver the oxygen you breathe in, to all parts of your body, and doing regular cardio exercise sessions strengthens both of these systems. there are different types of cardio exercise and they are usually based on heart rate and exertion.

Steady-state cardio is Keeping a constant pace for a specific distance or duration, such as walking or jogging. Even performing everyday tasks such as cleaning the house, walking the dog, or working in the ward can be considered a moderate form of cardio.

Interval training is another type of cardio, where you may walk for three minutes and jog for 30 seconds, repeating this cycle for a specific period.

Circuit training can also be a form of cardio, combining some strength exercises with cardio-based exercises. for instance, 4 exercises, side-to-side hops, side dumbbell raises, lunges, and push-ups. You can take short rests between the exercises or do the complete circuit, take a rest, and then do the circuit again.

And more advanced athletes can do HIIT or high-intensity interval training. An example of this would be to sprint for 20 seconds, then walk for 20 seconds, and repeat this cycle for say eight bouts. This would be a one-to-one ratio, and the ratio can be changed, as many athletes do a two-to-one ratio, sprinting for 30 seconds and then walking for 15 seconds.

B-3. What is Strength training

Strength or resistance training is any type of exercise that requires a muscle or group of muscles to exert force. Resistance training can improve strength, stamina, increase bone density, improve sleep, and it can also make many everyday tasks easier. such as climbing upstairs or carrying groceries into the house. There are many different types of ways to perform strength training exercises.

You can use free weight, such as dumbbells, which are very efficient as they allow for a full range of motion and work more stabilizing muscles, resistance bands are very versatile as all you need to use them is something to wrap them around, which in many cases can be your own body. Bands are great at providing what is called progressive resistance, which means they provide increased resistance throughout the range of motion of the exercise.

Exercise machines provide another way to do resistance training, most of these machines are based on a cable pulley system to provide the resistance.

body weight exercises are another way to perform resistance training, in these types of exercises, your body is providing resistance against gravity.

There are many other ways to perform strength training exercises such as with medicine balls, suspension trainers, and exercise balls.

B-4. Cardio vs Weight Training (Why You Should Limit Your Cardio Exercises During Fat Loss)

In fat loss, we have two goals first to lose fat, and second maintain muscle mass because if we lose our muscle mass during fat loss then we end up looking skinny fat. So we have to plan our workout plan, in such a way that we lose fat and at the same time also maintain muscle mass.

Here are two reasons why you should limit your cardio exercises during fat loss –

B-4.1. Cardio Does Not Cause Fat Loss

Yes, cardio does not cause fat loss directly because fat loss only happens when a calorie deficit is created in the body.

Let’s take two cases

In the first case, Your total calorie expenditure per day is 2300 calories, and to want to create a calorie deficit, you decided to eat 500 calories less than your total calorie expenditure. So you eat 1800 calories. fat loss depends on calorie deficit so in this case fat loss will be equal to 500 calories.

In the second case, you decided to add cardio to burn more calories, now your calorie expenditure is increased to 2500 calories. At the same time, you also increased your food intake, let’s say you increased your calorie intake by 200 calories, and now your total calorie intake is 2000 calories. In this case, your body will also burn fat loss equal to 500 calories because the calorie deficit is same in both cases. ( calorie deficit = total calorie expenditure – total calorie intake )

As you can see, in both cases, we get the same results because calorie deficit is the main factor that decides fat loss. It doesn’t matter how much cardio you do the only thing that matters is calorie deficit.

In the long term, you will get sustainable results by portion control and diet control, not by increasing energy expenditure.

B-4.2. Cardio Plays No Role in Muscle Maintenance

Muscle mass maintenance is equally important as removing fat during fat loss, we have to give a message to our body to sustain muscle mass because in calorie-deficit conditions our body will burn muscles if we do not use them. It is nature’s law that “Whatever you don’t use, you lose”. If we do not train our muscles during fat loss our body will burn them to fulfill our body needs.

So, how we will give a message to our body to maintain muscle mass, the answer is by doing resistance training or weight training.

Cardio can help you to create a calorie deficit but it will not help to maintain muscle mass.

B-5. Combination of Cardio and Strength Training

Combine cardio and strength training for the best fat loss results. Use cardio as a tool to create a calorie deficit and use strength training to build and maintain muscle mass. plan your workout plan according to your lifestyle, do not extra complicate it, just adjust your workout according to your routine.

Like, if you have time to do workout two times a day, then do weight training in one session and do cardio in the second session, you can do weight training in the morning and cardio in the evening or you can do cardio in the morning and weight training in the evening.

Or you can combine them into a session.

You can do three allocate three days for weight training and the other three days for cardio.

---

Disclaimer :

This guide is for educational purposes
only. It is not a medical advice. Please consult a medical or health
professional before you begin any exercise, nutrition, or supplementation
program.