What’s the most effective way to lose weight?
If you haven’t noticed, there’s a lot of diets out there claiming to be the best way to lose weight. There’s also a lot of supplements claiming to help you melt away the pounds and aid in fat loss. If you’re trying to lose weight, it can really overwhelming. It can also be really frustrating, because most of those diets and supplements are just marketing ploys.
The fact is, there is no “weight loss secret.” Weight loss takes patience, consistency, and a solid diet. Your overall caloric intake has more of an impact on your weight than any other factor… including exercise! That being said, keep in mind that you should never place yourself into too large of a deficit. Very low calorie diets can backfire, affecting your overall health. There’s a few other important things to keep in mind too:
Weight loss does not mean you’re being healthy
While losing weight can be a healthy decision, it does not guarantee good health. It’s possible to lose weight and be unhealthy, just like it’s possible to gain weight and be healthy. Micronutrients (like vitamins and minerals) have little impact on your weight loss, but they have a great deal of impact on your overall health. Keep in mind that this infographic addresses weight loss specifically – the quality of your food is important to your health, even if it’s not that big of a deal for weight loss.
There are many ways to create a caloric deficit
Calorie counting, macro counting, portion control, and honoring your hunger cues are all viable ways to reduce your caloric intake. Even diets that do not focus on portion control (ex: ketogenic diet or the Whole 30) typically result in weight loss because they encourage you to eat more satiating foods…ultimately resulting in you eating less overall.
At the end of the day, your diet should be something that (1) makes you feel good and (2) works with your lifestyle. Some people feel satisfied on a low carb diet while others feel deprived and lethargic. Some people love the structure of calorie counting, while other people get stressed out by weighing and measuring everything. Some find success eating intuitively and following their natural hunger cues, while others get frustrated by it. How you get to a caloric deficit really depends on your individual preferences.
Weight loss is not the same as fat loss
As I’ve mentioned on other posts, it may seem like fat loss and weight loss are synonymous, but they’re actually slightly different. Weight loss just means the scale is going down. A drop in scale weight could mean you’re losing muscle mass along with fat. Fat loss, on the other hand, is focused on specifically losing fat. With fat loss, you can be maintaining or even increasing your muscle mass… so the scale might go down, or it may stay the same.
Because fat loss is focused on your body composition rather than your scale weight, exercise (especially strength training) is much more important. Additionally, macronutrient intake will be more important in fat loss to maintain lean muscle.
Weight Loss Factors Infographic
Below are four common factors for weight loss: caloric deficit, macronutrient intake, nutrient timing, and supplements. Creating a caloric deficit, by far, has the biggest impact on weight loss results. Check out the infographic to learn more!