How To Lose Weight: Complete Fast-Track Guide Including Nutrition Plans & Workouts

Weight Control - A Simple Recap

While the above factors may not be an exhaustive list, they do provide a very useful roadmap on how to limit weight gain. Here is a simple 9 step program that everyone should remember.

• Step 1 - Get moving. Exercise. Do something extra each day.
• Step 2 - Eat better. You don't have to eat perfect, but little improvements will make a big difference over the long haul.
• Step 3 - Control binge eating through preparation and portion control.
• Step 4 - Take steps to avoid or control stress in your life.
• Step 5 - Reduce liquid calories as much as possible.
• Step 6 - Avoid excessive carbohydrate consumption, limiting white sugar and white flour as much as possible.
• Step 7 - Plan your meals. Know exactly what you are going to eat, and when. This will help to reduce impulse meals.
• Step 8 - Ask your doctor about your prescription medications and possible side effects.
• Step 9 - Live a balanced life. Take care of yourself, laugh, love, smile and enjoy. Take care of yourself, mentally and physically.

How to Lose Weight - Eating and Diet Plans

Before we look at specific plans to help you lose weight, let's establish a few weight loss rules.

• Rule #1 - Know your enemy. Understand why you gained weight in the first place. Was it binge eating? Lack of exercise? Understanding what causes your weight gain is half the battle.
• Rule #2 - Base a diet plan off your specific needs. If you are a big night time eater, then plan more of your daily calories for later in the evening. If you're not a breakfast eater, don't force yourself to eat breakfast. Work with your current eating habits, don't fight against them.
• Rule #3 - A diet plan should be a reasonable eating lifestyle. A fad diet is not a wise choice. You want to adopt a new "eating lifestyle"; something that you will stick with (and add calories too to maintain weight) once the weight loss is over.
• Rule #4 - Remember how to eat. Debates rage over high-protein, low-carb and vegetarian eating lifestyles, but there is one this most nutritionists agree upon: choosing whole foods and setting aside processed foods is the way to go. Keep dieting simple. Choose the whole foods you enjoy - fruits, veggies, protein sources, etc. Eating doesn't have to be complicated; we simply have forgotten how to eat. Focus on nutritious whole foods as the base for your diet plan.
• Rule #5 - Don't rush the process. Remember that you are embarking upon a lifestyle change, and not a 6-8 week diet program. Remain patient and focus on fostering new eating and exercise habits. Don't go to diet and exercise extremes all in the name of quicker results.
• Rule #6 - Perfection is not a reasonable goal. Bad days will happen. Instead of getting depressed when they do, plan a day or two each week into your diet that allows for a few extra calories. This way if you get a craving for ice cream or tortilla chips, you can have a bit - within reason - and still remain on your diet.
• Rule #7 - Don't punish your body with exercise. Exercise is good. It helps with overall health, and improves our quality of living. When you hit the gym, train with these goals in mind. There is no need to punish your body with an excessive amount of physical activity. Balance is key.

There are just about as many ways to lose weight, and diet plans, as there are books in a library. The following methods are time tested, and generally considered the most reasonable choices in the fitness and nutrition industry. Please do research on each of these plans to help find out which one is right for you.

Diet Plan #1 - Intermittent Fasting

Intermittent fasting is fast (no pun intended) becoming "the" method for getting ripped and shredded. The premise is simple...you eat nothing for 16 to 20 hours each day, and then eat the totality of your daily calories during a 4 to 8 hour window.

This window could consist if one, two or even three smaller meals and/or snacks. It really doesn't matter, to be honest. Meals, and the fasting period in general, should be structured to best fit the individual's lifestyle and needs.

If you are a binge eater, or love to eat big night time meals, it may be best to limit your feeding window to only 4 hours per day. This way you can work with your current eating habits, feel satisfied, and fall asleep at night without feeling hunger or consumed by food cravings.

Intermittent Fasting "Rules":

• Fast 16 to 20 hours each day.
• Eat mostly clean, whole foods.
• Structure a 4 to 8 hour feeding window that suits your eating habits. You may eat as frequently as needed during this period, as long as you are not overeating calories.

Notes: Because you are free to eat whatever types of whole or clean foods that you like, intermittent fasting is rather flexible and easy to adhere to. With that said, take some time to Google "healthy recipes." Having plenty of tasty recipe choices is never a bad thing.

Diet Plan #2 - The Warrior Diet

The Warrior Diet is an intermittent fasting variation that existed prior to the modern rise in popularity of Lean Gains. When on the Warrior Diet, you alternate between carb heavy and protein heavy meals. You are also allowed a very minor amount of nuts, seeds, light proteins or low glycemic fruits/veggies during the underfeeding (fasting) window.

Warrior Diet "Rules":

• Fast approximately 20 hours per day.
• Alternate between carb-heavy and protein-heavy eating days.
• Small snacks are allowed after the big meal, but within reason.
• You can eat a very minimal amount of seeds, nuts, light proteins and/or low-glycemic fruits/veggies during the underfeeding window.

Notes: Despite allowing for a minimal amount of daily grazing, the Warrior Diet is a tad bit more restrictive than pure intermittent fasting. Because of the cycling between heavy carb and protein meals, meals must be planned to a minimal degree.

This will get easier over time, certainly, as you develop habits. With that said, for many people the Warrior Diet will not work well as a lifestyle choice because of the alternating carb and protein meals.

Diet Plan #3 - Low Carb Diets: Atkins Diet, Paleo Diet

These are many different types of low carb diets that advocate slight dietary variations on the same low carb theme. The main thing to know about low carb eating is that you want to focus on eating whole, nutritiously dense foods. 

Most low carb diets allow you to eat whatever you want, within reason. Obviously binge eating is never a good idea, but with low carb diets the advice is generally "eat until satiety, and when hungry, eat again."

Many people can lose weight eating this way. With junk food out of the equation, and high fats added to the equation, you are likely to feel a greater degree of satiety. That said, monitoring calories during weight is still a wise thing to do.

Paleo Diet "Rules":

• Eat when hungry.
• High fat, moderate protein, low to moderate carbs.
• No limits on saturated fats.
• Eat all the veggies you want.
• No grains, including corn and corn products.
• No legumes, including peanuts, peas, etc.
• No refined sugars (including high fructose corn syrup).
• No dairy. Some allow allow butter and heavy cream.
• Starchy tubers are an area of disagreement. Some say yes, others no.

Atkins Diet "Rules":

Note: This is for the "induction" phase, or first 2 weeks. For more information on the Atkins diet please click here.

• Eat plenty of protein foods.
• 12 to 15 grams of carbs from veggies.
• Up to 3-4 ounces of cheese.
• No trans fats.
• Eat plenty of cold water fish.
• Olive oil is recommended.
• Avoid corn oil, soy oil, safflower oil and sunflower oil.
• No margarine unless it is free of trans fat.
• No sugar or processed flour.
• Splenda is ok.
• No grains, or anything made from grains.
• No fruit juice.
• No diary products except for butter and heavy cream.
• No starchy veggies, including potatoes, beets and corn).
• No legumes.
• No alcohol.
• No nuts until after induction.

After induction you are allowed:

• Up to 1-2 ounces of nuts.
• More veggies.
• Seeds.
• Coconut milk, almond milk.

Diet Plan #4 - Simple Calorie Reduction

While calorie reduction is a cornerstone of most weight loss programs, simple calorie reduction often has very few rules. You determine an appropriate amount of calories per day, and eat whatever you want as long as you do not exceed your limits.

Obviously, it makes little sense to eat only junk foods or processed foods. Consider the following to be guidelines, rather than rules.

Simple Calorie Reduction "Guidelines":

• Do not use a starvation-style diet.
• Eat mostly whole foods that are nutritionally dense.
• Try to balance your macronutrient intake on some reasonable level - protein, carbs and fats.
• Don't adopt an eating lifestyle that will be hard to maintain after your diet is over.

Diet Plan #5 - Anabolic Diet

The Anabolic diet was developed by Dr. Mauro Di Pasquale. The goal of this eating approach is to build muscle while burning fat, and was set up to allow a natural lifter to achieve quality gains. By eating the right foods at the right times, the Anabolic diet is said to maximize your anabolic hormones, helping you to maximize your efforts in the gym.

Anabolic Diet "Rules":

• High protein, high fat, carb cycling.
• During the week you eat proteins, fats and veggies.
• During the weekends you eat lots of carbs.
• General rule is to take your bodyweight and multiply it by 18 to determine your calorie intake.
• Start the program with 12 days of fats and protein only, and no carbs. Follow this with 2 carb days.
• No carbs days include 40% protein, 60% fat, and 25g carbs maximum.
• High carb days include 15% protein, 25% fat, 60% carbs.

Note: It will take a while to adapt to this style of eating. At first you may feel foggy or lethargic. 

Diet Plan #6 - Zone Diet

The Zone diet is a popular weight loss system created by Barry Sears. The main focus on this weight loss system is on eating proteins, carbs and fats in a balanced manner. The purpose of doing so is to balance your hormones, preventing your insulin from getting to high or low, and glucagon levels too high.

Barry Sears has made the claim that a 30 to 40 ratio of protein to carbohydrates places your body into "The Zone", which works to keep insulin and glucagon levels where they need to be. Sears also claims this ratio is both heart-friendly and works as a natural anti-inflammatory.

The obvious question becomes: how does this help us lose weight? The answer: lower carbs and better food choices. While the Zone Diet is not extremely low carb, Sears does not believe that a low fat and high carb diet are good for the waistline. He also believes in nutritional balance. Therefore, The Zone Diet advocates lower carbs rather than minimal carbs.

In addition, the fact that you are making better food choices will help with the weight loss process. By reducing junk food and high glycemic carbs you should start to see a change in your body composition and an improvement in your health.

Zone Diet "Rules":

• Use a 40/30/30 macronutrient ratio.
• 40% of your calories from carb intake.
• 30% of your calories from protein intake.
• 30% of your calories from fat intake.
• High glycemic foods are limited.
• You do not eat fewer calories, just better calories.

Note: The Zone Diet book details a method of structuring your eating plan. Space constraints prevent us from adding more detail regarding how much food to eat per day, and when to eat it.

Diet Plan #7 - Dukan Diet

Originating from France, the Dukan diet is protein rich weight loss plan developed by doctor Pierre Dukan. Though Dukan had been promoting this style of eating for 30 years, it did not catch fire in the dieting industry until the release of his book The Dukan Diet. Sales of this book currently exceed 10 million copies.

The Dukan diet consists of four phases: attack phase, cruise phase, consolidation phase and the stabilization phase. You are also provided with a list of 100 allowed foods. 

Dukan Diet "Rules":

• The attack phase - you are allowed to eat as much as you want of 72 protein rich foods over the course of the first 2 to 7 days. Expect to lose some weight during this phase simply because you are not eating carbs and junk food.
• The cruise phase - 28 approved veggies are added as options. Expected weight loss is about 2.2 pounds per week.
• The consolidation phase - fruit, bread, cheese and starchy foods are introduced back into your diet, as part of 2 celebratory meals per week.
• The stabilization phase - you are allowed to eating freely within a certain set of rules.

Diet Plan #8 - Carb Cycling

The cycling of carbs, and along with it calories, has been around the muscle building realm for quite a long time. This style of eating usually involves some form of rotation between low carb days, moderate carb days and heavy carb days.

Many carb cycling diet approaches keep fat and protein intake consistent on a day to day basis. By doing so, calorie intake is also rotated as carb intake is rotated.

The following are not rules, but rather suggestions.

Carb Cycling "Suggestions":

• Men: try and eat at least 160 to 180 grams of protein per day. Women - try to eat 100 to 120 grams of protein per day.
• On low carb days avoid high glycemic fruit, starchy veggies, grains, legumes, sugar and flour. Try and limit your carb intake to 25 to 50 grams.
• On moderate carb days consume about 0.8 grams to 1.5 grams of carbs per pound of bodyweight.
• On high carb days consume about 2.0 grams to 2.5 grams of carbs per pound of bodyweight.
• Fat intake should be around 20-30% of overall average daily calorie intake.

Diet Plan #9 - Carb Nite

Carb Nite is an eating approached outlined by John Kiefer in his book The Carb Nite Solution. It is an eating system that allows for fat loss while maintaining, or building muscle mass, and is rapidly growing in popularity in fitness, strength and muscle building circles.

Carb Nite was initially introduced to help anyone - even couch potatoes who don't exercise - drop bodyfat while maintaining muscle tissue. It works by manipulating the body's leptin levels via the use of high carb refeed meals. 

Carb Nite "Rules":

• Start with a 10 day recalibration, eating no more than 30 grams of carbs for 10 days.
• After 5pm on day 10 start eating carbs - whatever you want. Donuts. Pizza. Ice cream. Go for it.
• From this point forward, eat low carb all week and have one refeed night per week - a Carb Nite.

Parting Thoughts On Choosing a Diet Plan

For every diet approach listed on this page, you could find 10 other reasonable approaches in books or on the Internet. When searching for a diet plan, please keep these factors in mind.

Avoid Starvation Diets

There are many downsides to starvation approaches. First and foremost is the reality that once you are off this style of a diet, you will be right back to your old ways of eating. Couple this with your body's desire to overcompensate for this starvation period, and you are very likely to not only gain all your weight back, but then some.

Another huge downside of starvation diets is that they cause you to lose lean muscle tissue. Even if you do lose weight on this type of a plan, you'll look horrible - skinny fat. Thin, but flabby. This is not the type of body most of us are after.

Avoid Fad Diets

A fad diet can be hard to define. They generally involve practices that make little sense, like eating only a grapefruit and 2 Hershey's kisses for lunch, or eating only cabbage soup for a week.

Some fad diets will call for a tight restriction on proteins or fats.

Think "Lifestyle"

A quality weight loss diet is one that can easily be transitioned into a weight maintenance program after you have reached your goal weight. For example, let's look at intermittent fasting. Once you have finished losing weight, you can eat until satiety at night and have very few issues maintaining weight, as long as your food intake is balanced and sensible.

On the other hand, weight loss programs like the cabbage soup diet are not lifestyles. Once you have lost weight, you are right back where you started - having no clue how to eat to maintain weight.

Nutrition, Nutrition, Nutrition

The cornerstone of any good weight loss plan should be good nutrition and whole foods. Fruits, veggies, meat, seafood, nuts, etc. - all of these types of foods are unprocessed, packed with good nutrition and should make up the bulk of your food intake.

Some junk food is ok, as long as your overall calorie intake is kept within check. A reliance on junk food creates a nutritionally weak diet, which can lead to additional food cravings and weakened resolve.

Exercise and Weight Loss

Exercise, just like an eating plan, should be reasonable and something that fits your lifestyle. Far too often people will either try to lose weight by living in the gym (while ignoring their calorie intake), or by neglecting exercise completely while trying to starve themselves.

You do not need to exercise excessively to lose weight. Several 20-30 minute cardio sessions per week is plenty. This additional amount of exercise will not only work to increase your metabolism, but it will also improve your health.

Furthermore, exercise should be eased into. How many times have you hit the gym all gung ho, only to wake up immovably sore the next day and completely devoid of motivation? If you're like most of us, this has happened to you.

Start slow. Do a little bit, and try to improve each day. It's ok to start with "only" 2 minutes of cardio, if that's all your body wants to do. The next time you hit the gym try to do 2:15, or 2:30. These small steps will make it easier on you physically, make maintaining motivation easier, and allow you to get physically fit within months.

Here are some fun cardio workouts for those of you who want to move beyond the treadmill:

• Core, Strength and Fat Burn Workout
• The Bear Barbell Complex
• 5 Cross Training Workouts For General Conditioning
• 40 Minute Blast: Abs, Cardio And Resistance Workout
• Kettlebell, Bodyweight And Treadmill Cardio Workout

Muscle Building/Resistance Training

Most of us who are looking to lose weight want one thing...to look amazing. Resistance training plays a vital role in how we look after the weight loss process is done.

When you train for progressive overload (trying to get stronger) you are telling your body that its existing muscle tissue is needed. This makes it much easier to hold on to your existing muscle while losing weight. The result is that you will look much better.

Many people lose weight but are unsatisfied with how they look. The mirror will reveal a skinny, but still flabby-looking physique. Many folks will then attempt to lose more weight, trying desperately to get "ripped and shredded." Without resistance training the only thing they will achieve is a greater degree of muscle loss, and a skinnier but still unattractive body.

Approach resistance training just like you do cardio. Three to four sessions per week is plenty. There is no need to lift weights 6 to 7 times per week. If anything, this will decrease your motivation while trying to shed the pounds.

Here are some top rated resistance workouts from Muscle & Strength:

• 4 Day Power Muscle Burn
• 10 Week Mass Building Program
• Doug's 4 Day Split Workout
• 4 Day Maximum Mass Workout
• 12 WEEK PROGRAM

Exercise/Activity Types and Calories Burned Per Hour

The amount of calories burned in a given hour can depend on intensity and weight. The following ranges involve individuals that weight from 130 pounds to 210 pounds. Individuals heavier than this can expect to see a greater amount of calories burned per hour.

• Hiking w/Backpack - 410 to 650 calories per hour.
• Step Aerobics - 500 to 800 calories per hour.
• Basketball, Shooting Hoops - 270 to 420 calories per hour.
• Bowling - 180 to 280 calories per hour.
• Circuit Training - 470 to 740 calories per hour.
• Walking, Moderate - 200 to 310 calories per hour.
• Cycling, Moderate - 470 to 750 calories per hour.
• Swimming - 400 to 750 calories per hour.
• Gardening - 240 to 370 calories per hour.
• Golf, No Cart - 250 to 400 calories per hour.
• General Cleaning - 200 to 330 calories per hour
• Running - 650 to 1000 calories per hour.
• Sex - 250 to 300 calories per hour.
• Stairmaster - 350 to 700 calories per hour.

Weight Loss Supplements

Can supplements help with the weight loss process? Let's take a look at common supplements and see what science has to say. 

Green Tea and Weight Loss

• Waist Line Decrease - Individuals drinking more green tea showed a significantly greater decrease in waistline over a 24 week period. (Study link)
• Green Tea and Caffeine - Over the course of 12 weeks, individuals taking both green tea and caffeinehad fat loss rates trending towards statistically significant. (Study link)
• Weight Loss - A meta-analysis of eleven studies revealed that green tea increased weight loss by 1.31kg over a 12 week period. (Study link)

L-Carnitine and Weight Loss

• Body Composition - Two grams of L-Carnitine was administered to 84 subjects over a 30 day period, resulting in an improvement in body composition. (Study link)

CLA and Weight Loss

• Fat Loss - A double blind study involving 60 subjects revealed that CLA dosages above 3.4 grams per day was associated with a decrease in fat mass. (Study link)
• Fat Loss - 157 obese but healthy subjects were given 4.5 grams of CLA for one year resulting in a decrease in body fat levels while experiencing an increase in lean muscle tissue. (Study link)
• Fat Loss - A two year study of 134 overweight subjects given 3.4 grams of CLA revealed a reduction in body fat lass. (Study link)

Whey Protein and Weight Loss

• Increased Protein Intake - Over a 23 week period, overweight subjects using whey protein while bringing protein intake levels up from 12 to 23% experienced a reduction in fat mass by 2.8kg. (Study link)
• Women and Fat Loss - 31 overweight and older females on a calorie restricted diet were administered an additional 50 grams of whey protein a day resulting in enhanced fat loss. (Study link)

HMB and Weight Loss

• Athletes and Fat Loss - 8 athletes were given 3 grams of HMB per day during calorie restriction resulting in a greater amount of fat loss than the placebo group. (Study link)

Weight Loss FAQ

What is the optimal rate of weight loss if I want to maximize muscle tissue retention?

To look your best you need to maximize muscle tissue while reducing fat. Assuming you are utilizing some form of resistance training while dieting, most sources will tell you that any weight loss greater than 1.5 to 2 pounds per week may lead to fat loss and muscle tissue loss.

I don't know how many calories I should eat to lose weight.

Men, start with 2,500 per day. Women, start with 1,800 per day. If after 2 weeks you are not losing an acceptable amount of weight, drop calories by 200-300 per day and give this another 2 weeks.

Why do you lose weight rapidly during the first week of a diet?

When you cut calories you also generally reduce your overall carb intake and sodium intake. When this happens, your body flushes out quite a bit of excess water, resulting in a "week one weight loss surge." Never assume the weight you lose during the first week of a diet will continue. That is unlikely to happen. Weight lost during weeks 2 and 3 of a diet are a better indicator of what to expect at your current calorie intake level.

What diet plan is best for me?

The best diet plan is the one you are most likely to stick with. Pick a plan that motivates you to get started.

Do I have to be perfect, and never eat junk food again?

No. Think about the reasons you gained weight in the first place. If you can address the problems with your diet, and reduce these issues and occurrences by 80%, you should have a rather easy time maintaining your existing weight.

Is eating at night bad?

No. Eating more of your food later in the day does not lead to weight gain. Eating too many calories per day leads to weight gain. It really doesn't matter when you eat, as long as your eating is reasonable.

How many calories are in one pound of fat?

3,500.

Does eating fat make me fat?

Absolutely not. Eating too many calories leads to weight gain.

Why do so many diet plans involve carb reduction?

As a culture we eat a lot of excess carbs. Cookies, chips, sugary drinks. By reducing junk carbs, or going low carb, you make it much more difficult to overeat. Very few of us can overeat protein foods, or fats for that matter. Most of the fats we overeat are contained in carb-heavy junk foods.

Is fruit juice better than soda?

Not generally. Fruit juice is usually fruit with all the good nutrition removed - pulp, skin, etc. All that is left is a high sugar drink, often times with more sugar per ounce that sodas.

If I am very obese should I be performing high intensity cardio?

There is no need to abuse your body with high intensity cardio. Listen to your body and do forms of exercise that make sense. Moving is moving.

What form of cardio is best?

Pick forms of cardio you enjoy. You will be more likely to stick with exercise this way.

Why do most diets fail?

People either quit when they have bad days, or look at dieting as a short term fix rather than a lifestyle change. When you are living a new eating lifestyle it's ok to have bad days, because you go right back to your good habits.

Can you spot reduce fat with exercise?

No. To reduce areas with excess fat you must diet. Exercise will not spot reduce these areas.

Share this:

ABOUTME

Ali Al Zeez, Online Fitness Trainer, Blogger.