How to lose weight quickly and not harm your health: a scientific approach

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

The life hacker has studied dozens of scientific papers so that you can choose the right speed, make a diet and a training plan.

How quickly can you lose weight without harming your health?

Many people think that fast weight loss leads to rapid weight gain after giving up the diet, and slow, on the contrary, helps to maintain weight. A recent Australian study refuted this opinion.

One group of subjects lost weight in 12 weeks, and the other in 36. Then those who lost more than 12.5% of their original body weight were waiting for a 144-week program of weight maintenance.

As a result, 70% of those who quickly lost weight and 72% of those who lost weight gradually regained all the lost pounds. However, in the first group, 81% of the subjects were able to lose 12.5% of body weight, and in the second - only 50%.

It turns out that fast weight loss is more effective than slow weight loss.

Dr. Donald D. Hensrud from the Mayo Clinic advises to lose no more than 0.5-1 kg per week. In his opinion, when losing weight too quickly, people often get rid of not fat, but water or even muscle tissue. After all, it is difficult to burn a lot of calories in a short time.

In addition, rapid weight loss can have other negative effects as well. They were listed in an article by Dr. Michael Dansinger:

1. Gallstones. From 12 to 25% of people who lose weight quickly suffer from this ailment.
2. Lack of nutrients.
3. Headache.
4. Fatigue.
5. Dizziness.
6. Constipation.
7. Menstrual problems.
8. Hair loss.

So, in order not to harm your health and lose more fat, lose weight by the maximum per kilogram per week.

If you count, a kilogram per week is a fairly quick result (8 kg in two months), which allows you to form good habits and maintain weight for a long time. Now let's talk about how to properly formulate a diet.

How to compose a diet

How to calculate calories

Since one kilogram of fat contains 7,716 calories, to lose weight per kilogram per week, you need to create a deficit of 1,100 kcal per day.

A two-year American study found that avoiding 25% of calories is not harmful to health. Therefore, if your current diet is less than 4,400 calories, create a deficit not only through diet, but also through physical activity.

For example, you can cut your daily allowance by 500-600 calories and add an hour and a half of quiet running or other exercise.

It is also worth considering the amount of proteins, fats and carbohydrates (BJU). This is especially important for those looking to lose fat and retain most of their muscle mass.

How to calculate BZHU

Protein amount

A study by the University of Washington School of Medicine found that a high-protein diet can help you lose weight even without calorie restrictions.

The diet of the subjects consisted of 30% protein, 20% fat and 50% carbohydrates. People consumed fewer calories without any restrictions and after 12 weeks lost about five kilograms.

A research article published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2015 confirms the benefits of a high-protein diet. It claims that a daily intake of 1, 2-1, 6 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight reduces hunger and helps control weight. In this case, muscle mass is preserved, and fat, on the contrary, disappears.

Add more protein to your diet: 30% of your daily calorie intake or 1.6 grams per kilogram of body weight.

The ratio of fats and carbohydrates

Contrary to popular belief, it is not fats that are to blame for gaining extra pounds, but carbohydrates. Therefore, low-carb diets are generally more effective.

Participants in Frederick F. Samaha's study on a low-carb diet lost 5.8 kg in six months, while those on a low-fat diet lost only 1.8 kg.

In a study by Stephen B. Sondike, people on a low-carb diet lost 9.9 kg in 12 weeks, and on a low-fat diet lost 4.9 kg.

Similar results were obtained by Jeff S. Volek in 2009: 12-week low-carb diet lost 10 kg, low-fat diet - 5.2 kg.

In addition, low-carb diets are beneficial for heart health and reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes.

In the studies of Samahi and Sondeik, diets with a consumption of 20–40 g of carbohydrates per day were used, in the study of Volek, carbohydrates accounted for 10–12% of the total number of calories.

If you want to quickly get rid of extra pounds and are ready to completely abandon starchy foods and sweets, try a diet with a BJU ratio of 30-60-10 or 30-50-20.

A diet with a ratio of 30-30-40 or 30-25-45 BZHU will allow you to add porridge and pasta, a little bread, dried fruits to the diet. But the results will have to wait longer.

Remember: the main thing in a diet is to follow it. Therefore, try different ratios of protein, fat and carbohydrates and choose the one that suits you best.

How to train properly

Why do you need training

Exercise helps you lose weight faster for several reasons:

1. Burn more caloriesduring activity. This point is self-explanatory: the harder and longer you move, the more calories you burn.

2. Increase post-workout calorie burndue to oxygen debt (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption, EPOC). For a certain time after exercise, the body uses up more oxygen to return to its normal levels, and spends more calories at rest.

In 2011, researchers found that after 45 minutes of intense training, the metabolism remained accelerated for 14 hours. At rest, the subjects burned an average of 190 kcal more than on non-training days.

3. Increase the amount of brown fat that spends calories … In 2012, Dr. Bruce Spiegelman discovered in a mouse study that working muscles produce irisin during exercise. This hormone travels through the body with blood and turns white fat cells into brown, a unique tissue that uses up energy instead of storing it.

Since humans also have reserves of brown fat, Spiegelman decided that the hormone irisin performed similar functions in the human body.

Scientists have calculated that 50 grams of brown fat can burn about 20% of the total daily calories.

An adult's body contains about 20-30 g of brown fat, but its amount can increase under the influence of cold and exercise.

How to exercise to lose weight

If you only want to lose weight, choose cardio. A study by Professor Joseph E. Donnelly of the University of Kansas showed that cardio can help you lose weight even without dieting.

For 10 months, overweight people spent 400-600 kcal on a treadmill five days a week. As a result, they lost about 5 kg without any diets.

A study by Leslie H. Willis and colleagues at Duke University showed that aerobic exercise is better for weight loss and strength exercise is better for gaining fat-free mass.

Combination workouts can help you reduce fat and preserve muscle.

How hard to train

Research by Rachel Simmons showed that oxygen debt is significantly higher in the first 10 minutes after high-intensity interval training than after moderate-intensity exercise. However, over the next 30 minutes, the EPOC numbers become more or less the same.

A study by Edward Melanson from the University of Colorado confirmed that calorie expenditure during the day after training is independent of its intensity. The same conclusions were reached at the University of Massachusetts.

High-intensity workouts help you burn more calories faster. But if you have time and don't want to die in the gym, go for medium-intensity cardio and strength training.

Here are some activities that will help you burn about 600 calories for a 70 kg person:

1. An hour of running at a speed of 9 km / h and a pulse rate of 140–150 beats per minute.
2. Two hours of walking at a speed of 5-6 km / h.
3. Two hours of cycling at a speed of 10–12 km / h or an hour of riding at a speed of 20 km / h.
4. Two hours of calm sailing (1–1.5 km / h) or an hour of fast sailing (1.8 km / h).

For interval training, burpees, double jumping rope, medicine ball throws, and other weight loss exercises are suitable.

How many times a week to train

Scientists at the University of Alabama at Birmingham have figured out that you need to exercise in moderation. Those participants in the study who exercised four times a week began to spend 200 kcal more per day in their daily life. And those who had six workouts a week, 150 kcal less.

Four workouts a week are suitable for those who want to expend calories not only in the gym, but also the rest of the time. With this frequency, you can do both strength and cardio exercises.

Don't do HIIT too often; twice a week is enough. On other days, you can do moderate-intensity cardio.

You shouldn't overdo it with running either. Experienced running trainer and physiologist Susan Paul recommends starting with three running sessions per week and complementing the program with two more cross-training sessions if desired. For example, dancing, yoga, zumba and others.

Checklist for those who want to lose weight quickly

1. Calculate how many calories you consume per day.
2. Subtract 500 calories from your daily allowance. Depending on your weight and the desired rate of weight loss, you can subtract more or less kilocalories, but in any case, you should not cut the diet by more than 1100 kcal: this can be dangerous to health.
3. Make a menu so that about 30% of all calories are protein, and 10-45% carbohydrates.
4. Do 3-5 workouts per week. Calculate your physical activity in such a way that you burn about 600 calories in one workout. If you're short on time, try high-intensity interval training.
5. Do cardio if you only want to lose weight, and add strength to it if you want to maintain muscle mass.
6. Avoid stress. Many studies have shown a link between stress and visceral fat. Read more about this in this article.
7. Get enough sleep. Studies have shown that lack of sleep increases appetite and is bad for health.