How To Lose Weight Fast: 10 Smart Ways (Guaranteed To Work)

How To Lose Weight Fast: 10 Smart Ways (Guaranteed To Work)

Paul Jenkins MSc Paul Jenkins MSc
35 minute read

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I’m sure you’ve heard that weight loss is simply a matter of calories in Vs calories out, and that all you need to do to lose weight is to create an energy defect.

However, if weight loss was truly that that easy there would be hardly any over-weight people.

This article teaches you how to safely and effectively lose weight fast. It also explains how to achieve permanent and natural weight loss without resorting to extreme crash dieting or performing endless hours of exercise.

It further provides comprehensive answers to pertinent weight loss questions such as:

  • Will cutting out sugar reduce belly fat?
  • Will fruit make you fat?
  • Is it better to eat before exercise or after to lose weight?
  • Can eating veggies make you fat?

To summarise, this is an evidence-based practical guide detailing some of the best ways to lose weight as opposed to promoting the latest hokum, snake-oil, magic tricks or any other outlandish ways that for example, claim to help you lose 20 pounds in a week.

So if you've reached a weight loss plateau, or are fed up of following fad diets and want to learn how to achieve real-world targeted fat loss, then this article is for you.


LEARN MORE > DNA Lean Custom Diet Plans (Premium Sports Nutrition)


Tip 1. Weight training facilitates weight loss.

In lay-terms

It appears that weight training is synonymous with bodybuilding, yet building muscle isn’t just a case of lifting weights. You might even think that this is a tip on how to lose weight fast for men, but you'd be wrong.

There is a misconception that if you visit the gym a couple of times a week, you’ll end up “too big”. Don’t worry, that won’t ever happen, and if you are a woman don't let this deter you from lifting weights.

So how does training with weights correspond to weight loss?

Simply put, weight training is one of the most overlooked and incredibly effective ways that you can lose weight fast. This is because muscle is the furnace where body fat is incinerated. If you don’t have enough muscle mass, then you cannot effectively burn body fat and lose weight.

People who suffer from extreme obesity cannot lose weight because of insufficient muscle capacity

For example, this is an overwhelming problem in people who suffer from obesity and have become so heavy that they can no longer walk. Their muscles literally aren’t strong enough to lift their bodies, rendering them immobile.

Unfortunately in these scenarios, where the ratio of body fat to muscle is so high, it is unlikely that they will ever lose all of their excess weight. This is simply because they do not have the muscle capacity to burn the body fat.

If you don’t have adequate muscle mass you will never conquer weight loss either. Ergo, training with weights is an absolute must if you are serious about losing weight.

Weight training stimulates an increase in muscle; this in turn increases oxidative capacity and your ability to burn body fat.

In expert-terms

Oxidative capacity refers to the ability of your muscles to use oxygen. While this may sound simple, its implications are far reaching.

Consider a candle burning on the bench of a chemistry lab; it will continue to burn as long as its wax lasts. Nevertheless, cover the candle with a glass bell jar and within seconds the flame will cease, regardless of how much wax remains.

This is because the flame will run out of oxygen. In the absence of oxygen, the process of oxidation cannot continue and the candle flame will be extinguished, it’s the basic premise of redox (reduction/oxidation) reactions.

In order for a substance to “burn”, oxygen must be present. Consequently, your ability to lose weight from burning fat is largely governed by your muscles ability to use oxygen.

The energy density of fat is well over twice that of protein and carbohydrates. When you burn fat, you need more oxygen and the greater your oxidative capacity, the greater your capacity to burn fat.

Mitochondria and oxidative capacity

Oxidation of food stuffs occurs within microscopic sub-cellular structures known as mitochondria. All cells from all tissues have mitochondria; essentially these are the “power-plants” of the human body.

These microscopic organelle structures have a fundamental role in metabolism including the oxidation of fatty acids. In biochemistry, beta-oxidation is the catabolic process by which fatty acid molecules are broken down in the mitochondrial matrix.

The oxidisdation of fatty acids generates acetyl-CoA, which is subsequently metabolised via the Krebs cycle to generate ATP as part of energy metabolism.

Therefore, beta-oxidation is the process of burning fat for fuel.


If you want to lose weight efficiently, you’re going to need optimal mitochondrial function.


Resistance training can not only increase muscle mass, but can also improve oxidative capacity (1). Therefore, weight training is essential if you want to lose weight. The greater you’re fat burning capacity, the faster you can burn the fat and lose weight.


Actionable tip: To maximise weight loss, perform 3 x 1 hour weight training sessions per week. Focus on different body parts each workout, completing your whole body every week.

Question: Can I lose weight by lifting weights only?

No.

Even though weight training can increase oxidative capacity, you won't just lose weight from weight training alone. Lifting weights is effective for weight loss when combined with a holistic training and nutritional plan, including all the tips in this article.

Tip 2. Keep sugary foods to a minimum

In lay-terms

Added sugar is pretty much everywhere and you are likely eating far too much of it. Not only is this stopping you from losing weight, it is effectively increasing your chances of becoming obese. Depending on your sugar intake, you could even risk developing a myriad of other diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome.

The trouble nowadays is that most folk have become functionally hypoglycaemic (2), that is, they have entrained their bodies to be artificially spiked with sugar and insulin. It has become the “norm” to regularly consume snacks of sugary tea, biscuits and other such treats in between meals.

Thus resulting in continual training of their bodies to feed of what’s in the gut, versus living off its structure (body fat). The key here is to feed the body effectively so that the body doesn’t crave.

In terms of weight loss tips, this is one of the most important – become accustomed to reading labels and avoid added sugar as if it’s the kryptonite to your Superman.

In expert-terms

Sugar has some profound effects on our bodies; none of them are notably good. Consuming large amounts of sugar (100 grams + per day), significantly increases your insulin level. High insulin is typically associated with fat storage.

You can think of insulin an energy storage hormone. Sugar is fast energy and if you are not burning it off quick enough, you are most likely going to store it as fat. In fact, it is proven that insulin transports sugar in to fat cells (3). Furthermore, insulin makes fat, and the more insulin you’re producing, the more fat you’ll be storing.

Low glycemic index is best for weight loss

Nevertheless, not all carbohydrates are your enemy because not all carbohydrates are equal. It’s true that all the carbohydrates you eat ultimately become glucose, but the route that they take to get to the glucose varies tremendously. Pure sugar (glucose) takes no digesting at all and will very rapidly increase your blood levels and spike insulin.

They key is to choose your carbohydrate sources carefully. Eat only complex carbohydrates that don’t digest too quickly and cause a rapid increase in insulin.

The ability of a carbohydrate to increase insulin is measured by its glycemic index (GI). The lower the glycemic index of a food, the less insulin you’ll get from eating it. The glycemic index uses a scale of 0-100, with 100 being pure glucose.


Actionable tip: Make yourself consciously aware of what foods contain what macronutrients. Take note of food labels and opt for foods that are low in sugar and have a low glycemic index.

Question: Will cutting out sugar reduce belly fat?

Eating less sugar will reduce insulin, less insulin means less fat storage. However, it is impossible to “spot-reduce” fat from particular areas of the body. There is no set rule for where you will lose fat from first. As you lose weight, you will notice an overall reduction in body mass.


LEARN MORE > Ketogenic Diet: An Ultimate Guide To Keto (2022)


Tip 3. Don’t drink calories

In lay-terms

Alcohol, fruit juices and soda are stealth calories. They tend to fly under the radar while you focus on reducing your intake of solid calories. In terms of losing weight, however, these are even worse than the latter.

When you eat solid food, you attain satisfaction and thus your body compensates by limiting further intake. This is not the case with liquid calories, these don’t increase satiety the same as eating a meal does, but count towards fat levels nonetheless.

Sugar sweetened beverages are also a key player in spiking insulin, as I highlighted earlier, insulin instantly kills fat loss. Furthermore, steer clear of “low-sugar” and “zero-carb” advertised drinks. These are usually loaded with the artificial sweeteners such as acesulfame K and aspartame.

Despite these sweetened drinks being be low or sugar free, acesulfame K and aspartame come with their own plethora of unwanted side effects, and have also been shown to amplify insulin response in the presence of glucose.

Although the evidence does not appear to be 100% conclusive on artificial sweeteners spiking insulin, as an added precaution I’d recommend staying away from these.

In expert-terms

Your appetite is regulated by a hormone called leptin. Leptin is an adipokine (cell signalling protein), secreted by your adipose tissues and is directly connected to body fat because it is responsible for regulating your "energy balance" and body weight, by sending signals of satiety to your hypothalamus.

Since leptin is secreted from your adipose tissue, the amount of leptin you produce is directly proportionate to the amount of body fat you have. If you add body fat, your leptin secretion will also increase, and vice versa. Leptin is part of a vast array of hormones that collectively form your body’s hormonal axis.

Your hormonal axis is self-regulating and is in constant feedback with itself.


If your leptin negative feedback mechanism gets broken, your body will not feel satisfied and unless you eat, you will be struck by hunger-pangs.


This is a huge problem in people who suffer from obesity, their leptin levels become so high that they become leptin resistant and their in-built ability to manage their energy balance and fat mass is diminished (4).

Your will to lose weight can be over-ruled by your hormones

Even the strongest will can be over-turned by hormonal dysfunction. For instance, if you’re not armed with the right knowledge you could easily fall folly to the cunning ingredient combinations of commercial drinks industry.

In 2018 the UK soft drinks market was estimated to be valued at 16.7 billion Euros (5). Needless to say the global corporations behind the soft drinks industry know their science, and pay their food scientists large salaries to ensure continuity and growth in sales of their soft drinks.

Let’s take a look at the soft drink coke, it contains caffeine, salt (sodium) and sugar. Caffeine is a diuretic and makes you pee water, salt makes you thirsty and sugar masks the taste of salt. The more you drink, the more you want to drink. The net effect is that your body is tricked into drinking a ton of sugar-laden soft drink.

Regularly consuming sugar sweetened beverages will sky-rocket your insulin, and fat mass too (6). This can pose an increased risk of leptin resistance, it’s a slippery slope and before you know it you could be on a downward spiral to join the obesity club.

Drinking an extra can of coke per day could lead to a weight gain of 15.6 lbs in just 1 year

Consuming just one extra can of coke or equivalent, every day, for a year, could equate to an annual weight gain of up to 15.6 lbs of fat.

The maths:

1 pound of fat = 3500 calories, this is based on:

Fat contains 9 calories per gram.
Water contains 0 calories per gram.
1 pound (454 grams) of body fat is approximately 85% fatty acids and 15% water.
0.85 x 454 grams = 388 grams of fatty acids.
388 x 9 = 3492 calories.

Rounded off to 3500 calories.

One can of coke contains approximately 150 calories.

365 days/year x 150 cal ÷ 3500 = 54'750 calories

54'750 ÷ 3500 = 15.6 lbs of fat a year.

You might be wondering, are soft drinks a contributing factor of the rapid increase in obesity?

According to:

Richard Adamson
Scientist for the National Soft Drink Association
BMJ 2003;326:515


"There is no association between sugar consumption and obesity".


Unfortunately, statistics show the per capita consumption of sugar sweetened beverage (SSB) in 2018 was 211.5L
Source

An average can of SSB contains 330ml of fluids. Consuming 1 can of 330 ml per day, every day, for a whole year, yields an annual consumption of (365 x 0.330) 120.4L.

Average consumption of SSB in both the UK & USA, per capita exceeded this figure in 2018.

According to the CDC, the figures for USA are around the same; U.S. youth consume 143 calories from SSBs and U.S. adults consume 145 calories from SSBs on a given day


Actionable tip: Replace all soft drinks/fruit juices with pure water and/or herbal tea. Green tea in particular is beneficial for weight loss.

Question: Will fruit make you fat?

Fruit contains natural sugar in the form of fructose. However fructose does not spike blood glucose and insulin and has a glycemic index of only 20.

Fruit also contains some awesome nutrients; vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, fibre and other phytonutrients. If you want to lose weight you can definitely eat a couple pieces of fruit each day.

However I recommend sticking with lower glycemic index fruits such as bananas, apples, cherries, apricots, grapefruit, dates and oranges and mangoes.

Tip 4. Ditch the Sweat Suit (these are great for water loss only)

In lay-terms

Contrary to popular belief, working out in a sweat suit does NOT burn body fat. Sweating excessively is a fantastic way to lose water weight and increase dehydration.

Nevertheless this does not help the body to burn any body fat. Weight loss achieved through the use of a sweat suit will inevitably return as soon as those lost fluids are replaced.

This technique appears to be a popular method that boxers use as an aid to make their fighting weight. Little do they realise, dehydration significantly impairs physical performance.

In expert-terms

There are no expert-terms for this tip, simply refrain from doing it.

Tip 5. Food before exercise kills fat burning

In lay-terms

The thought of exercising on an empty stomach may seem quite daunting to some, however it is essential not to eat any food prior to a fat burning workout (low intensity cardio).

If your weight loss routine involves coming home from work, eating dinner, then shooting off to the gym to spend an hour on the treadmill, understand this; you will are not burning any fat.

In expert-terms

Carbohydrates stimulate the release of insulin, insulin instantly “switches off” fat burning. Some proteins can also stimulate the release of insulin (gluconeogenesis). Dietary fats on the other hand are hardly insulinogenic at all.

Nevertheless eating fat before a cardio session will remove the need for the body to break down and burn (oxidise) stored fat mass as energy. Furthermore, food in general is a preferential energy source over body fat.

Thus the resultant effect of eating food before working out is that your body burns food for energy. Needless to say, burning food for energy does not equate to weight loss. If you want to lose weight, you need to burn fat mass.

However, I must stress, lifting weights is totally different to performing a fat burning workout (low intensity cardio). Eating a meal prior to weight lifting is essential.


Actionable tip: As a rule of thumb, never eat before a fat burning workout. This should ideally be performed fasted, upon waking.

Question: Is it better to eat before exercise or after to lose weight?

It depends on the purpose of your workout.

If you are training with weights to increase your muscle mass and oxidative capacity, I’d suggest eating a balanced meal 1-1.5 hours prior to working out. If on the other-hand, you are doing a fat burning workout, such as speed walking. I’d recommend doing this fasted, first thing in a morning.

Tip 6. Cardio for weight loss

In lay-terms

There seems to be some misconceptions about cardiovascular exercise and losing weight. Some people say that low intensity cardio is best, while others argue that high intensity interval training (HIIT) burns more calories.

So which is best?

Both have their pros and cons, I will explain how you can best use cardio to lose weight fast.

HIIT workouts are as you would imagine, very brief periods of high intensity exercise, followed by a “recovery phase” which usually lasts at least as long as the duration of intense exercise. A good example of a HIIT workout would be as follows:

100 metre sprint -> walk back recovery
100 metre sprint -> walk back recovery
100 metre sprint -> walk back recovery
100 metre sprint -> walk back recovery
100 metre sprint -> walk back recovery

Each sprint would be performed at maximum speed and intensity, and the recovery phase, although not intense, does not include any static or stationary rest. The complete workout is designed to be brief and usually last around 15-20 minutes.

This style of training is nothing new; rather it seems to have been newly named “high intensity interval training”. HIIT is great for explosive and cardiovascular fitness but burns sugar/glucose rather than body fat.

Low intensity cardio burns fat mass over sugar/glucose, however, losing weight takes a long time from low intensity cardio alone.

To put this in perspective, 1 hour speed walking on the treadmill will burn approximately 300 calories in total (of course this can vary depending on other factors such as speed, body weight, age, etc). It would take approximately 20 – 25 hours on a treadmill to burn 1 pound of body fat (3500 calories).

In expert-terms

If you want to lose weight, it is important to understand the distinct difference between losing "generic weight", and reducing your body fat. Consider this; you lose 7 lbs in weight, but lets say that 7 lbs is a mixture of water mass and muscle mass.

This scenario would unfortunately result in an increase in your body fat percentage. If you reduce your overall bodyweight while your fat mass stays the same, a higher percentage of your body mass is fat, despite your fat mass remaining the same.

So let's delve in to how your body actually burns fat.

Fat is incredibly energy dense, proteins and carbohydrates both have 4 calories per gram, whereas fat has 9 calories per gram. As I explained earlier, everything needs oxygen to burn. Therefore, the process of burning fat requires considerably more oxygen than is required to burn sugar or protein.

If you’re gasping for air or panting while you’re working out, you’re in an oxygen deficit. This means that you aren’t supplying enough oxygen to facilitate body fat to be burnt and used up as energy. Ergo, when you pant you switch to burning sugar.

For those of the opinion that HIIT burns more calories and therefore burns more body fat, I’d like to point out that burning calories does not equate to burning fat. Weight loss has to be targeted from body fat stores. Furthermore, research also shows that HIIT workouts are not advantageous for losing weight by way of burning fat (7).

Are you doing the treadmill for cardio training or fat loss? You can’t do both at the same time.


Actionable tip: As part of your weight loss programme, do 45 minutes of fasted cardio, speed walking or similar, 5-6 days a week. Walk fast enough to work up a sweat and increase your breathing, but not so fast that you pant.

Question: Does HIIT help lose belly fat?

There is no exercise on earth that is proven to spot reduce body fat from a particular area of your body. Losing weight is a process of gradually reducing body fat from all over your body.


Any claims that you can spot reduce body fat are cases of media sensationalism. Don't just make a claim, back it up with scientific evidence.


Tip 7. Supplements that are best for losing weight

In lay-terms

Here is my top pick of supplements that help can help you to lose weight fast:

  • Omega 3 fish oil
  • Thermogenic fat burners
  • Vitamin D
  • L-Carnitine
  • Chromium Picolinate

In expert-terms

Omega 3 fish oils

It is a well established scientific fact that Omega 3 fatty acids increase weight loss from body fat mass. In fact, some studies have actually linked obesity to low levels of omega 3 fatty acids.

One study in particular showed that supplementation with long chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids promoted weight loss in obese adults (8).

Thermogenic fat burners

In tip 6 we saw that low intensity cardio helps you lose weight by burning fat. However this is a slow process. You can speed weight loss up and maximise your efforts by supplementing with a thermogenic fat burner prior to doing your low intensity fasted cardio.

In order to burn fat you first need to stimulate your adipose cells to release fatty acids into your bloodstream. Synephrine, a naturally occurring phenylethylamine found in the fruits of Citrus Aurantium tree, known as bitter orange or Seville orange, does just this.

Research shows that synephrine has the ability to stimulate the release of free fatty acids into the bloodstream making them available for oxidation (9). Synephrine, along with other botanicals are widely used as ingredients in thermogenic fat burners

Thermogenics have also been shown to increase RMR (resting metabolic rate). Increasing RMR leads to an increase in energy expenditure which can lead to a decrease in fat mass over time (10).

Taking a thermogenic fat burner before doing cardio is an absolute must. Try using either thermo-xy fat burner for men, or thermo-xx fat burner for women before your cardio workout, to help you lose weight faster.

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Vitamin D

Vitamin D amongst its many functions, promotes fat loss and helps regulate a balance between skeletal muscle tissue and body fat (11). The main problem with vitamin D is getting enough of it. Foods that contain vitamin D are rare, and in the UK we have around 6 months of the year where the UVB from the sun is too low.

L-Carnitine

The amino-acid L-carnitine is an essential weight loss supplement and plays a pivotal role in energy metabolism.

It transports fatty acids across the inner mitochondrial membrane for subsequent β-oxidation whereby fats are oxidised and used for energy (12). L-carnitine functions as a shuttle-bus service for fats, a one a one way street to incineration.

Furthermore, l-carnitine also has an anti-oxidant effect on mitochondria and helps maintain oxidative capacity.

Chromium Picolinate

Maintaining your chromium status is one of the ways you can sustain a stable level of insulin. In fact, chromium is essential for maintaining a normal and healthy insulin metabolism, and for reducing insulin resistance (13). Unfortunately most modern diets are lacking in this essential mineral.

Every time you eat sugars, especially sugar sweetened beverages, your blood sugar sky-rockets and so does your insulin. The universal law of cause and effect is ever in motion and inevitably the increase in insulin is the cause of your liver metabolising the excess into blood triglycerides (fats) which are quickly accumulated into your fat mass.


Actionable tip: To lose weight faster supplement with either Thermo-xy or Thermo-xx and 1000mg of L-carnitine before your fasted cardio session. Take 200-400 mcg Chromium picolinate with your post workout meal. Combine this with 5000 mg of purified fish oil and at least 1000 IU of vitamin D before bed.

Question: What vitamin deficiency causes weight gain?

Some research data shows an association between obesity and vitamin D deficiency. Although research is not conclusive that vitamin D deficiency is a cause of weight gain, it’s a safe bet to supplement with vitamin D in any case.


LEARN MORE > Vitamin D Deficiency: 3 Effective Ways To Cure (FAST)


Tip 8. Increase protein intake to lose weight faster

In lay-terms

Adding protein to your diet is perhaps the easiest and most delicious way to lose weight. It has been demonstrated that protein can increase satiety and decrease food cravings and snacking. In other words, not only will it help you lose weight, but the more protein you may eat it, the less you will miss your usual comfort foods.

For most people, protein is synonymous with steak, beef, chicken, pork, fish and other animal sources. Don’t think that eating more protein necessarily means eating more meat. There are plenty of other, plant-based options out there, like almonds, quinoa, tofu, lentils, and various types of beans or chickpeas.

Although plant-based protein sources generally don’t contain all of the 9 essential amino acids, by combining a couple of them in the same meal, you can usually make up for this shortfall.

In expert-terms

Every working unit in the human body is a protein. Everything else, essential fats, minerals, vitamins etc are all co factors to these proteins. You could say that protein is of primary importance, in fact the word protein stems from the root greek word; prōteîos (meaning primary).

If you are serious about losing weight, you can benefit from eating more of it. Research shows that protein can boost your metabolism and energy expenditure (14), and thus increase weight loss.


Actionable tip: Include protein in every meal that you eat, and don’t just include it, make sure that the protein content outweighs the carbohydrates and fats.

Question: Is protein powder good for weight loss?

Protein powders alone aren’t going to help you lose weight, you have to think holistically. Eating more protein every day, combined with all the other tips in this guide will help you lose weight.

You can definitely supplement your diet with a protein shake each day, but don’t be fooled into thinking gobbling down a “diet protein drink” is the answer to losing weight.


LEARN MORE > Protein Powder: An Ultimate Buyers Guide (2019)


Tip 9. Eat more fibre (increases satiety AND regulates blood glucose)

In lay-terms

Fibre improves constipation and helps keep you “regular” by improving digestive transit of food stuffs; it supports colon health.

Some studies show that fibre, and especially viscous fibre, can help your body reach satiety faster than other foods (15). In terms of losing weight, fibre helps keep you fuller for longer and the more satisfied you are, the less likely you are to overeat.

To up your intake of fibre say hello to your new best friends, veggies. If you don’t already eat them you should do because vegetables are full of essential nutrients and a great source of fibre.

In expert-terms

If you thought that the only thing fibre did was to keep you fuller for longer, you’d be wrong. Studies also show that fibre has a regulatory effect on blood glucose, and starchy foods that have a higher fibre content are associated with a lesser insulin response (16). Properly controlling blood glucose and insulin is imperative if you want to lose weight.

UK Government guidelines published in July 2015 say that your dietary fibre intake should be 30g a day. The problem is that most folk rely on processed and pre-packed foods, resulting in them eating far less than the recommended 30 grams a day.

For weight loss I'd recommend eating as much as 40 grams of fibre every day.

The different types of fibre: soluble, insoluble and more

Fibre isn’t technically a food for humans; rather it’s a part of a plant that our bodies cannot properly digest, nontheless you definately need to include a good amount into your diet plan.

There are literally hundreds of different types of fibers, each with their own different physiological effects. There are six basic categories of fibers:

  1. Celluloses
  2. Hemicelluloses
  3. Pectins
  4. Gums
  5. Mucilages
  6. Lignans

To cover all bases, you should eat a little of each:

  • Soluble fibres such as the pectins in apples and oranges
  • Gummy fibre in rolled oats
  • Insoluble celluloses in wheat bran


They key to proper nutrition is eating a variety of whole foods and learning what foods contain what nutrients.


For instance if you thought of having a walnut salad with your avocado and salmon, you’d absolutely get a dollop of fibre, but probably too much fat. Despite those foods containing good fats, it’s still too much fat. Don’t be ignorant to what you put into your body, it’s your responsibility.

High Fibre Foods (Nutritional Info based on 100 grams of dry/uncooked food) *All values are in grams

To make it easy for you, I have listed my top 10 picks of high fibre foods below. All nutritional values have been referenced from the United States Department of Agriculture.

[table id=1]


Actionable tip: Add a portion of mixed green vegetables to every meal you eat. Don’t just eat broccoli, have some brussel sprouts, and artichoke or kale with it too. Mix it up and add some fresh herbs for some extra flavour if needed.

Question: Can eating veggies make you fat?

Vegetables are naturally low in calories, high in fibre, and packed full of micro-nutrients such as vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.

It would be near on impossible to eat enough vegetables to gain weight because they are so calorie rare.

Focus on eating a mixture of green cruciferous vegetables with each meal and this will help support your weight loss.

Tip 10. A proper sleeping pattern is great for weight loss

In lay-terms

Studies have linked poor sleeping patterns with an increased risk of obesity in adults (17), as well as with an aggravation of cravings throughout the day.

As it turns out, sleep might be as important as dieting and exercise in terms of weight loss. Do not underestimate the importance of a regular, healthy sleeping schedule.

There are no end of biological processes that take place when you sleep, including expending energy. Of course the energy demands of sleeping are low, but this is perfect for weight loss.

As I explained earlier in weight loss tip number 6, burning fat requires a lot of oxygen. Sleeping doesn’t put you in an oxygen deficit, and the slow energy provided from fat mass is the perfect fuel for a good night’s sleep.

In expert-terms

Melatonin is a master hormone that regulates sleep, circadian rhythm, and over 100 physiological process that are set to run while sleeping, including burning fat. Sleep is a great window of opportunity for weight loss.

In fact, working at night can around double the chance of being overweight; you can’t entrain or override circadian rhythm. When darkness descends your melatonin system kicks in. If you continually interrupt this process not only will you age faster, but you will also hinder your ability to burn body fat sufficiently.

It is important to note that some electromagnetic frequencies significantly interfere with melatonin production. For example, the frequency of light emitted by the backlight on your mobile phone interrupts melatonin production (18). Needless to say, restricting the use of your mobile at night is important to maintain your melatonin production.

Melatonin upregulates BAT for night time weight loss

Scientists have known for a long time that in hibernating animals melatonin acts to convert white body fat (white adipose tissue or WAT) to brown adipose tissue (BAT).

The significance of this is monumental in terms of burning body fat to lose weight. Take a hibernating bear for example; they can typically lose between 15 and 30 percent of their body weight over a period of 5-7 months of hibernation.

White adipose tissue (WAT) stores energy in the form of triglycerides, has few mitochondria and a low oxidative rate. WAT is also recognised to have various other important biological properties, other than being an energy store, such as endocrine function.

In contrast to WAT, brown adipose tissue (BAT) has many mitochondria, a high oxidative rate for efficient energy dissipation, and uniquely expresses a protein called uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1). BAT plays a pivotal role in temperature regulation via thermogenesis (19).

Thermogenisis is where chemical energy in the form of heat, (exothermoic reaction) is liberated from the breakdown of fatty acids to increase your body temperature. The uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) facilitates the release of heat energy by “uncoupling” the use of oxygen from the generation of ATP.

This means that oxygen can then go directly to the production of heat by mixing with and oxidising the BAT.


Thus, by activating BAT and thermogenesis, you can increase energy expenditure and lose weight fast without exercising.


Studies on humans and melatonin are now confirming the same, that is; melatonin also increases BAT in humans (20). Sleep like a bear and burn fat without moving a muscle.


Actionable tip: Stop using electronic devices such as mobile phones and tablet computers after 9 pm, and get at least 7-8 hours uninterrupted sleep every night. Supplement with 3-5mg of melatonin 1 hour before bed.

Question: Can you lose weight by sleeping?

Proper sleep will help regulate your hormonal system, not to mention, keep you in good health. In terms of weight loss, sleep is an important part of the equation, but don’t rely on sleep alone to lose weight.

You cannot over-eat then expect to lose weight by sleeping.

What about calories, portion Control, and meal frequencies?

I do not recommend that you count calories to lose weight, if anything, track your macronutrient intake. Opt for a 50/30/20 split of protein/carbohydrate/fat respectively.

Eat as much as 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight, and set the rest of your macronutrients according to the above ratio. No doubt you will have to make adjustments as time goes on, think of this as a baseline to work from.

To control your portion size, try using a smaller plate and take your time eating, you will feel full before you have finished eating this way.

Eat 4 balanced and nutritious meals per day and add in a couple of healthy snacks in between meals if you need to. Fruits, nuts or even a large mixed salad is good, stick to whole foods.

We have become so accustomed to all kinds of processed foods that switching back to single-ingredient, whole foods now appear to be a colossal effort. However, the benefits of a whole food diet, as opposed to the damaging effects of processed foods, simply cannot be overstated.

Most importantly, it would be very difficult to gain weight around such a diet – you would have to try not to stay lean.

Bonus Section: When you Lose Weight, Where Does It Go?

Being a chemist, I have known the answer to this ‘conundrum’ since my early days of education, yet as simple as the answer is, it never ceases to amaze me that so many people still do not know where your body fat actually goes.

Here is a clue, it doesn’t just turn into heat energy and dissipate or evaporate into the ‘ether’.

Yes I am aware that Einstein taught us that e=mc2 (energy and mass are interchangeable), but let us not forget about the principle of mass conservation which states that mass can neither be created nor destroyed in a chemical reaction.

From hereon in, I am now going to quote the genius work of Australian physicist, Ruben Meerman.


“The correct answer is that fat is converted to carbon dioxide and water. Energy is released, but no mass is created or destroyed.”


In fact, Ruben brilliantly calculated that 84% of fat is exhaled as CO2 and 16% of fat is excreted as H2O. This means for every 10 kilos of fat loss, you breathe out 8.4 kilos of CO2!

Let’s take a quick look at the chemical composition of fat, water and carbon dioxide:

Water = h20
Carbon Dioxide = CO2
Human Fat = C55H104O6 (the average fat molecule)

How does fat leave your body?

The most basic chemical equation for this process would be this:

C55H104O6 + 7802 → 55CO2 + 52H2O + (energy)
(Fat + Oxygen → Carbon Dioxide + Water) + (energy)

However, as Ruben importantly points out, the bits inbetween (→) is incredibly complex and to fully understand this process, requires 3 years of biochemistry study!

So now it’s your turn, what has proven to be your most valuable weight loss tip?

Article by Paul Jenkins CEO and founder of DNA Lean®

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