There are many different ways to lose weight, some follow more extreme diets, while others rely on meal replacements such as soups, protein powders, or other weight loss products such as diet pills. Which one works for you, depends entirely on you and how much weight you want to lose. However, diets are, in principle, better for weight loss at first. However, finding the best diet can be very difficult, as the media is full of different diets.
In this article, we have gathered some effective and fast weight loss diets for losing those extra pounds.
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Three principles of a diet
One of the most obvious ways to lose weight is to follow a particular diet. In order to succeed in losing weight by following a diet, you should make sure that the diet is properly distributed because we all need proteins, carbohydrates and fats. Therefore, the diet is usually built around these three nutrients.
It is important that you get the right amount of these three nutrients with each meal. That is, you need to make sure you get low-fat protein, healthy fats and an adequate amount of carbohydrates for every meal.
Good sources of protein: Chicken, turkey, low-fat beef, fish, shellfish, eggs, chickpeas/hummus and beans.
Sources of healthy fats: Almonds, nuts (roasted and salted), avocado, olive oil, coconut oil, fatty fish such as salmon and mackerel, pesto.
Carbohydrates: Vegetables, dark pasta, rye bread, brown rice, quinoa, oatmeal, fruit and berries.
Combine different foods so that you get something from every three groups with each meal.
Diet plan for the first day of the diet
Breakfast: Oatmeal with water, berries and almonds.
Lunch: Rye bread with avocado and shrimp.
Dinner: Wok vegetables with chicken and brown rice.
Snack: Hummus, fruit, rye bread and chicken.
It is important that you eat only one serving per meal otherwise, you will get too many calories and will not lose those extra pounds. Eat only until you are no longer hungry and losing weight without exercise is manageable.
Advantages: You treat your body with good and healthy food your body needs. It is a lifestyle that guarantees lasting weight loss and a comfortable feeling in your body.
Disadvantages: Lifestyle can be difficult to change. It may require a lot of planning and organization to learn to eat healthy and versatile all the time. In addition, it may be more difficult to eat outside.
Weight-watchers diet and exercise
Another way to lose weight is to increase the amount of exercise. When you burn more calories than you eat, you will certainly lose weight. Although, many people think that consistent exercise is difficult and depending on the life situation, even impossible. Increasing the amount of exercise is an unbelievably effective way to lose weight.
However, this requires that you do not eat more than usual and that you move considerably more. A short 20-minute walk will not burn a lot of calories, so you have to do a little more than that. Moreover, it is the most effective to lose weight while changing your diet habits, not just by increasing your physical activity.
Here’s a list of sports and activities that can help you lose weight:
- Start a running program for beginners. It mainly builds fitness and muscles, but if you continue for a longer period of time, the changes will begin to appear in your body. It is good for muscles, blood circulation and metabolism. Such programs can also be found on the web or as an app.
- Get a gym membership at your local fitness centre. Larger muscle burns more fat and hence more calories. Remember, however, that your muscles weigh more than fat, so it may take some time before the weight starts to fall. Weight training can be used simultaneously with running, swimming or the like.
- If you are very overweight, joints can make it difficult to get started. Then, swimming is a good option because it is gentler to the joints.
- Walk longer distances at a faster pace. Time can well play a key role in the early stages of weight loss, as most people can walk for a relatively long time. Small loops without speed do not drop many calories, so consider walking a few miles at a slightly faster phase.
- Dance, play and move naturally because exercise can also be fun. Find the sport you are interested in and make it yours. Dancing in the living room or playing with the kids can burn a lot of calories. Most importantly, it’s fun for exercise to become a natural part of your life. Gardening can also be an option.
Advantages: Your body needs exercise so that the muscles, blood circulation, brain and other organs work optimally. It can also have a positive effect on stress tolerance and mood.
Disadvantages: Weight loss through sport requires will. Exercise is often much needed in order to lose weight and it is, therefore, a lifestyle change that needs to be maintained.
Keto (ketogenic): low-carb diet
A keto diet is a low-carbohydrate diet aimed at getting the body into ketosis (carbohydrate intake of less than 100g/day or less than 800kcal/day). The carbohydrate supplies are exhausted and thus the liver starts to consume fat supplies, effectively promoting weight loss.
The keto diet avoids, in particular, starch and sugar-containing foods, and increases the consumption of low-processed, fatty and high-protein foods. Keto has been found to drop weight much faster than low-fat diets. The best-known diet in this category is the Atkins diet, which we will have more later on.
5:2-diet
The 5:2 diet is a relatively new diet, which means that you can eat very normally on five days of the week, while on two days a week you eat very little. On fasting days, men can enjoy 600 calories and women 500 calories. Thanks to this, the week’s calories are reduced so much that your weight loss is successful. To refine the calorie count, you should use a calorie counter. The results and experiences of the 5:2 diet have been mostly positive because this diet really works.
The above has been witnessed by the father of the 5:2 diet, Michael Mosley, who has himself dropped over nine pounds with this diet and got his sugar levels back to normal. With this plan, the blood insulin levels decrease as the sugar metabolism normalises, and this fights against adult diabetes. This diet does not limit any dishes, even pizzas and burgers are allowed. By following these instructions, a person can leave unnecessary snacking. It should be noted, however, that this diet is not suitable for children, those with illnesses, pregnant women, elderly or young girls whose hormonal activity may be disturbed.
Advantages: It is said that this diet has a beneficial effect on both, the body and the mind, and it can be used when trying to lose weight. It is also relatively easy to follow because you can eat normally five days a week. The diet doesn’t restrict compared to other diets.
Disadvantages: You may feel tired and fatigued in those two days. You may find it harder to do things which can make the week more difficult.
8-hour diet
Another new and popular diet is the so-called 8-hour diet. The effectiveness of this diet, invented by David Zinczenko, is based on the fact that the fasting of the day triggers the action of the body’s mitochondria and thus improves metabolism.
Scientists believe that if you eat all the daily meals within 8 hours, weight loss may be possible. For example, you can have breakfast at 10 am and dinner at 6pm and lunch between them. However, it is not enough to eat all within 8 hours, but it is still good to think about what you put in your mouth. Healthy foods are still profitable. Particularly preferred are the following foods.
- low-fat meat, fish and eggs
- nuts
- low-fat milk products
- beans
- berries
- fruit
- green vegetables
- whole grain products
It is unclear how this diet works, but scientists think that it may be easier for the body to burn calories when it knows exactly when food enters the body. The method has been proven in mice where two groups received the same amount of food in one day. One group received a specific time slot, and this group was thinner than the other, even though the calorie content was the same for both groups.
The Stewardess diet
This diet is also known as the four-day diet because it lasts for four days. Its efficacy is based on the fluid-depleting effect and, moreover, it is an almost carbohydrate-free diet and thus also in connection with the keto diet. However, it is true that the flight attendant’s diet may be difficult to maintain if the willpower is weak. In the short term, however, it works because you can drop up to 4 pounds in just a few days, but after that, you have to take at least one month off before you try it again. The most important thing is to follow the diet guidelines really closely, drink plenty of water and avoid salts.
Atkins diet
This diet is best known from all low-carbohydrate and ketogenic diets. Its idea is to force the body to burn fat instead of ordinary carbohydrates. This option has been invented by the US medical doctor Robert Atkins. Originally it contained a lot of animal fats and meat products, but very few vegetables, but in the early 2000s, the diet was updated and much more vegetables added.
The Atkins diet has received a lot of criticism, especially because of its one-sidedness and excessive amounts of fat and protein. In general, however, it works for weight loss. Many prefer this because they do not have to limit the intake of proteins which doesn’t lead to hunger and, moreover, the ingredients are easily defined. However, the amount of unlimited fat may be harmful to the heart and patients with cardiovascular problems and diabetes should talk to their doctor before starting a low-carbohydrate diet.
The Sirtfood diet
This three-week low calorie diet promises that you can drop pounds in a very short time, up to three pounds in seven days. Its efficacy is based on sirtuin protein as it boosts metabolism and promotes fat burning. In addition, it protects cells from damage and stress and prolongs their life. In the first week, calories are limited to 1,000 kcal a day, but during the second and the third week you can eat outside, as long as you eat sirt dishes. The following are sirtfoods.
- apples
- citrus fruit
- blueberries
- strawberries
- rocket
- kale
- parsley
- capris
- red onion
- cumin
- green tea
- soy
- olive oil
- red wine
- dark chocolate
- coffee
Developed by Aidan Goggins and Glen Mattens, the sirt weight loss diet has sworn to its effectiveness and healthiness but it has been criticized especially for ingredients such as chocolate, red wine and coffee. This diet includes many green juices and sirt meals. In general, however, the ingredients of the Sirt diet are healthy and are used especially in Italy and Japan, whose diets are known to be quite healthy.
The Paleo diet (Stone-Age diet)
When you are following the Paleo diet, you can eat anything that was available back in ancient times. These ingredients include lean meats, fish, nuts, leafy greens, regional veggies, and seeds. Unfortunately, you have to steer away from candies, cereal, pasta and any other ingredient that wasn’t available also thousands of years ago. This is because according to this diet, us humans and our bodies never adjusted to eating all the grains and sugar we are consuming these days. This is why the Paleo diet won’t require you to count calories but allows you to eat until you’re fully satisfied but only if you are eating the right ingredients and don’t consumer whole grains or dairy products.
