Want to lose weight? Many times you should do the complete opposite of the status quo to get results. Here are 8 weight loss tips that defy common sense.
Eat More to Lose More
Aren’t you supposed to eat less to lose weight? Technically, yes, but that all depends on how much you’re eating in the first place. Many people get too aggressive with cutting calories and end up causing themselves more harm than good.
You should aim to eat as many calories as possible that still enables you to lose weight. Eating too few results in down-regulation of important fat-burning hormones and a slowed metabolism. What typically happens is quick weight loss, followed by stagnation, followed by frustration and giving up. Eat more food and you’ll see slower but more sustainable weight loss.
Working Out For Less Time Burns More Fat
That’s right. You don’t need to exercise for an hour at a time to get in a good fat-burning workout. You can actually get better results with shorter but more intense workouts.
Studies have shown that high-intensity interval training burns more total fat than endurance training even when you burn less overall calories [1]. Focus more on the quality of your workouts than the quantity.
You Can Lose Weight Eating Anything You Want
You might think I’m crazy, but these stories are in the news all the time. How about the nutrition professor who lost 27 pounds in two months eating nothing but Twinkies, Nutty Bars, Doritos, and Oreos? Or the recent news of the teacher who lost 37 pounds on the all McDonald’s diet.
This is not an endorsement to eat a bunch of garbage food. You should never try to lose weight at the expense of your health. However, it just goes to show you that you can include your favorite foods in your diet and still reach your goals. Count your calories and enjoy all foods in moderation.
Weight Loss is the Effect, Not the Cause of a Healthy Lifestyle
This is a slight case of the chicken and the egg. Most people assume that once they lose weight they’ll be healthy. They actually have this backwards. First comes getting healthy, and then weight loss is a side effect of that lifestyle.
For this reason, you should be focusing on action goals that get you healthy. Goals like getting more active or drinking more water will build on each other and eventually have a weight loss effect.
Weight Loss Shouldn’t Be the Focus of Your Weight Loss Program
That’s kind of an odd thing to say, right? If not weight loss, then what should be the focus? Well, there are many things – fat loss, body image, and healthy habits are just a few.
When it comes to body transformations, weight means very little in the end – body composition is what matters most. Losing 50lbs of fat is much more impressive than losing 25lbs of fat and 25lbs of muscle. The goal of your weight loss program should be to lose as much fat as possible while also maintaining as much muscle as possible too.
Gaining Weight When First Starting Exercise is Expected
Time and time again people start an exercise program and start eating healthy only to see their weight actually go up. Once they rationalize that all their hard work is for nothing, they give up and revert back to their old lifestyle – left to attempt weight loss again sometime in the future.
Here’s the thing – weight gain at the beginning of a fitness program is to be expected. The first 2-4 weeks of a weight loss program is a time when your body is making many adaptations. Fuel storage capacity is being expanded to accommodate more activity, and this brings along extra water weight that can mask fat loss. Don’t stress, weight is not fat. Be patient and the scale will start ticking down.
You Must Fail at Weight Loss to Succeed
If you look at all the successful people in the world you will notice one very common thing – they all failed numerous times on their way to success. The same goes for the people who made body transformations too.
No one goes from point A to point B in a straight line. The weight loss road is paved with uncertainty, plateaus, and moments that test your fortitude. Treat failures as opportunities for personal growth, don’t give up, and watch your life transform before your very eyes.
Don’t Diet If You Want to Lose Weight
Following diets is a one way ticket to a yo-yo dieting lifestyle. OK, not everyone fails at following diets, but only 20% of people who attempt to lose weight actually succeed, and only a small portion of that number do so by following a diet [2].
Most of the people you read about in body transformation stories lose weight and keep it off by changing their lifestyle. That means slowly and methodically creating new healthy habits over a period of time. It’s these habits that form the basis for a healthy lifestyle and lean body composition.
As you can see, not everything about weight loss is common sense. Some aspects of fitness defy logic, but if you can begin to think of weight loss as a cause/effect dynamic, everything starts to make a lot more sense.
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in order to gauge that you’re eating more, are you an advocate of counting calories? i eat clean but always mindful that I don’t eat enough. Metabollic effect does not advocate counting calories. but i feel my metabolism stalls, plateau, maybe due to undereating. have worked out eat clean since nov ’12, lost 35 pounds, but seek to lose last 15. great website, most informative1
I do like counting calories, but I admit it’s not 100% necessary. It does provide valuable info in circumstances such as weight loss plateaus, however. Perhaps you should count them for a week to get a gauge for your intake. Then you can adjust portions and not worry about it anymore.
Intermittent fasting – just try it. Resets hormones and hormone sensitivity, can increase energy, extend life, kill off old/dead/mutated cells, as well as put you in fat burning mode.
Many people do get great results with IF. Good to see you Matt.
I just wanted to add that Intermittent Fasting was a DISARSTEROUS choice for me! It seemed to make perfect sense at the time, and it did shift my weight loss plateau initially. BUT what I never realized was that along with every fasting period, my body was quietly going into a famine-panic mode until it finally burst out as the trigger for uncontrollable binge eating. I very much regret my decision to do IF – as in the final analysis, I regained all the weight I had lost over a 2 year period of very gradual weight loss. My body was changing shape, but the problem was that I became impatient.
Indigo, I have been trying IF too, but I can’t handle it either and I end up binging worse after.
Yah, me too. And I did give IF a fair chance (3 months) during which time I didn’t feel unduly starved to begin with – anyway, i disiplined my mind and also did regular gym workouts – these done on an empty stomach also promise the same sort of things that Matt mentions above. But doing IF for this amount of time gradually made be more and more obsessive about food, whereas previously the weight came off very slowly but I never once had the urge to binge.
What was your caloric intake like? This sounds like not enough calories taken in. I’m just starting IF but I know from other fasts I’ve done, especially while still working out, if I didn’t get in sufficient calories I was sluggish and fatigued..so much so that I gave up just before the finish line on my personal 30 day exercise challenges…making it 24 days or even 27 days. Then of course I binged and gained. This time I’m getting more strategic. I’m focusing more on my diet and less on exercise. I’ll be adding back in more activity in the coming weeks. Its been a few weeks since I’ve officially “worked out” and I’m itching to get it in..but I felt I needed a reset period. I AM learning more with each failure just as Tony noted in the article.
My calorie intake was only just low enough to effect weight loss at about 1lb per week, but I did feel fatigued during the IF phase, so it probably wasn’t enough – the problem being that my weight had become stuck over a long period despite same calorie intake & exercise.
The problem I have with IF is this: We might think we are in complete control of our body; but actually our body has its own seperate agenda. This agenda is raw animal survival, and when you subject it to routine fasting combined with a vigorous physical workload… it responds with panic as though it thinks it’s very survival is at stake.
My mind understood that I was not in any physical danger, and that I was only forfeiting body fat in exchange for a healthier and fitter form; but my body finally went into panic mode and I just could not stop eating until I had regained all the weight.
My point being that if I had just stuck with the oh-so-slow program, and not gotten impatient, then I would be much slimmer today, and I would not have to start from square one all over again. I very much regret my decision to do IF as in the final analysis it was my undoing.
You will have to accept my apology, but I think your wrong on a lot of your assumptions.
Before I tried intermittent fasting, I was a slave to food. Trying to eat every few hours when you LOVE food, is like asking your alcoholic friend to bartend at your bar. Constantly thinking, planning, shopping and the like for food means I was always wanting to eat it. Having fasting periods put me in TOTAL control over food, it no longer pulled me here or there and no chance to trip up and eat a donut or whatever at the office because I was fasting, I decided when I ate and what I ate.
I was brainwashed into thinking I needed to eat often also, that I would wither away or go into a starvation mode if I didn’t eat every few hours. It is not true, its more a matter of caloric balance over 24hrs than it is over 3hrs. It took a great leap of faith for me to try intermittent fasting because I really believed you HAD to eat or you’d panic and kill someone. I am glad I did as its one of the staples that continues to prove its worth to me, and helps me stay on track no matter what is going on with my work schedule (I work random hours, on call shifts, and so forth).
I personally think you had a lapse in determination, and that is the excuse your using now to accept your weight gain, and that is upsetting so your directing your energy at IF more than recognizing what really happened. It is ok, we all slip up from time to time, don’t be so hard on yourself.
And for the record, your body does respond to fasting in a physical way, it does make you more alert, more physically capable, and more focused – its an evolutionary response so that you can obtain food easier. This doesn’t mean its going to make you binge eat and go into a panic, it just means your going to be better physically so that your next food opportunity is more likely to be a success.
The one thing that IF does that your not going to get from other methods of eating is the hormone sensitivity reset. When this occurs you won’t need to eat as much without feeling full, you might feel like your eating way too much food but I bet if you measured out what you ate vs what you normally eat when not fasting – it would be quite a bit less. In fact for me, my first trial of IF I was still eating a horrible diet consisting of mainly fast food – yet I lost 11lbs in 2 weeks just by doing the 16hr fast with 8hrs of eating time a day. I ate the same terrible foods, I was just eating less of them.
I also have done similar experiments with holidays when I am out of town – keeping my fasting protocol I might gain 2lbs eating any and everything I want and that goes away once I normalize my diet again. When I go off fasting I can gain 5-7lbs and only 2-3lbs of that goes away once diet normalizes. There is a stark difference there and I have done this experiment a few times with the same results.
Also don’t forget that we are meant to fast, its showing in many studies these days that fasting is almost if not equivalent to chemo treatments for killing off cancer. Cancer cells are not as hardy as normal cells, when you fast it puts them in a hardship that most cannot withstand (same as chemo but less deadly). Same goes for old or other mutated cells, when fasting the body cleans up the system. It is like we are built to fast at least occasionally.
At any rate, if fasting doesn’t work for you thats fine, but don’t make presumptions that it can’t work for anyone.
Matt, nowhere in my posts did I presume to say that IF doesn’t work for anyone else. But you have presumed that I ‘had a lapse in determination’ hense lacking in will power (the old dieter bashing stick). But I do think 2yrs of following a calorie controlled diet and exercise routine takes a fair amount of determination.
And do you really think my post was just a need ‘to blame something’ – seriously, does that REALLY work?? I don’t think so.
And I’m not a kidult and I take full responsibility for all my decisions as well as learn from my mistakes.
From what you described I can see how IF works for you because it gives you a break from eating. But I was in an entirely different situation and had an entirely different outcome. Everyone here is trying to find out what works (for them) so this is not a contest.
Good luck with your quest 🙂
You worded the post like there is no way to survive fasting, that your body “responds with panic as though it thinks it’s very survival is at stake.” And went on to say that because of this, you must binge eat which negates any weight loss from fasting. Hardly sounds viable for anyone when you make statements like that 🙂
I just wanted to point out it is very effective for a lot of people, and honestly I think everyone should fast a little here and there no matter what their normal regime is for optimal health.
Most of peoples issues with fasting that I have seen is they are too carb centric with their diets. They are used to eating carbs every few hours so their body doesn’t quite know how to burn fat primarily to make up the difference. Because of this their cravings and energy levels are out of whack – they quit fasting and binge eat in response.
I felt this way initially also, its been so long ago now but I think the first 4-5 days were really tough in terms of energy for me (I workout 6 days a week btw, 1/2 my workouts are fasted). But since then I have been on and off IF several times, I try to stay “fat adapted” by eating minimal carbs based on workout load and where my body prefers to burn fat primarily – and if I drop IF and come back to it being already fat adapted makes it so much easier. Your body already knows how to burn fat well, so your energy doesn’t take a hit and your cravings are much less and most (initial) hunger pangs (they go away after you do IF for a bit) can easily be satiated with water.
I worded my posts exactly as are a true reflection of my own experience. I cannot speak for others, only my own experience. My goal here is (like others) to find a way that works.
It’s easier said than done but like others, I put a lot of effort into getting results, so when something doesn’t work – I’m inclined to take it hard. (You burn, you learn).
I’ve learned that my body does not at all appreciate being starved – even though my mind fully accepts that fasting can be good.
It’s possible that I may have overdone it, I was training hard 5 days a week for 3hrs a day, doing IF every other day.
I am very motivated and eat healthy so hunger was not the issue for me (frankly, I enjoyed not having the fag of food preparation on the fast days).
After about 6 weeks of this I began to feel tired after workouts (I was fit so this was new) but as my goal was to burn fat, I pressed on. And anyway over the next day I’d recover so I thought it wasn’t anything to worry about. But it got worse and worse, this feeling of being utterly drained of energy on the fast-days.
It was around this time that I believe (in hindsight) that my body was going into the ‘panic mode’ I mentioned that precipitated the binge reaction.
As you may believe your mind is in full control of your body; then perhaps this analogy will explain my point of view: if you ride a horse solo – far away from its comfort zone, you will eventually meet an invisible boundary where that animal no longer feels safe. In fact it’s very survival feels threatened and the ONLY thing that horse wants to do is bolt for home. It matters not that the rider believes the territory to be safe, animal instinct for survival is not guided by abstract concepts.
Our bodies are animal, and more concerned with survival than with neat concepts. So in order not to panic-the-horse, so to speak, any significant change must be made in such a way that the animal/body feels safe, otherwise it will eventually bolt for home.
And since animal survival is tough, fat storage is deemed valuable.
Our bodies have far more inherited experience in survival, and would no more concur with a mental idea than a horse would concur with a rider’s need to head out into the wilderness alone.
My body’s powerful urge to binge after my experience with IF was a reaction to its being starved, not a change in my beliefs. Before I introduced fasting to my routine, I had no need whatsoever to binge at all. I ate healthy and my body was strong. But I wanted to lose more fat and I got impatient because it was taking too long.
Perhaps less haste more speed. In any case I would have preferred to have stayed put rather than go backwards!
Just reading this now, but I have always found my female body responds entirely differently to Fasting than does my husbands. It’s common knowledge in studies that women’s bodies are geared to conceiving and producing a fetus so the responses to everything are different. I believe you are comparing apples to oranges. Just a FYI.
I’m struggling with this right now . . . reforming my former dieting mentality, trying to eat more b/c I’ve upped my weight lifting/cardio significantly in the last 6 weeks. Know intellectually that all you write about here must be true, but I’ve never given it time to apply it to my training. I’m tracking cals/macros, doing well, not hungry, workouts are great and I’m gaining strength, but my weight is staying the same/going up a bit and it’s freaking me out . . . I know if I slam back to 1200 cal/day I’ll take off some lbs., but at the expense of muscle, most likely . . . I’m trying to stay the course for 12 weeks to see what happens body-comp-wise, but it’s a head game, for sure.
Really enjoy your advice! I have learned a lot and you keep me inspired to keep going!
Definitely can mess with your head. Eating habits were formed over a lifetime, and it will take some time to change your thinking process.
Over the last few months I have been experimenting with various diet strategies. I have done IF, low carb, ultra low calorie, carb tapering, calorie tapering, the virgin diet, the fast metabolism diet, fighter diet, …….for me, the results are the same.
I tried each method for 10-14 days.
I wanted to drop 5 pounds.
I coupled the dieting with 4 days of lactic acid weight training. very little true cardio other than using my fitbit to track 15000 steps per day.
From doing all of this, people that see me say I have bulked up.
using an Omron device indicates no change in bodyfat %
Weight has gone up 2#.
I track all food intake and nutrients diligently. allowed myself a cheatday per week.
I’m not a newbie so didn’t expect dramatic change, but this snail’s pace is maddening.
I’d like to hear your thoughts on the plight of the professional dieter 🙂
I can knock weight off of my clients no problem, but for myself, its much more difficult.
I think 10-14 days isn’t much time and is barely long enough for your body to make its initial adaptations. Your weight is always going to be a function of calories. If you think you’re eating sufficient calories it’s time to cut them by 100 and track your progress. If nothing happens cut 100 more. Eventually you’ll find the right number.
Great tips as usual! I love your website and how you keep it simple!
Thank you, Felicia.
I’ve been doing IF for the past 3 months, it’s been the only thing to really kick the menopausal weight off (down 15 pounds of fat, plus I’ve gained about 6 pounds of muscle). I’ve also continued weight training, HIIT, and eating 1400-2000 calories (lol, there’s just some days when I’m craving stuff, so I eat it). I’m 52 and weigh less than when I graduated from high school.
hi gina i have been wanting to try IF, do u do 5 days on 2 days off or is it a 16 hour fasting 8hr eating window?
Eat bacon.
Enjoy reading and information is very useful.
My body tells me what to eat. My dog tells me to get off my butt. Great combo!
Some good tips here but I find my biggest issue with losing or maintaining weight is keeping off processed carbs absolutely, feel better too. The mention of junk food and losing weight here is obviously to make a point but could mislead some to make life harder with high GI stuff which I think is mostly only useful on marathons (not me!).
I personally include carbs of all nature in moderation. Over-restriction leads to binging to me. I just stay away from food additives and artificial things of that nature.
Eating more calories can help also with your metabolism…win win!!
Go to sleep!
I love that you addressed eating less isn’t always best. I’ve come across so many people who think starving themselves is the only have to fit into their old jeans.
Personally I couldn’t do it. I love food.
~Lea
Hey, Tony!
I have a question: I box for twice a week, and lift weights an hour thrice a week. I’m wondering on how much calories I should intake to get a leaner physique. I’m 5’4, 22 yo, female. I’m 119lbs, I think. Any tips on this will help me so much. Thanks! 🙂 Please do reply! 🙂
Hi Charlie, take a look at this calorie calculator. It should answer your question – https://coachcalorie.com/calorie-calculator