A healthy rate of weight loss is 1-2 pounds (0.5-1kg) a week and not more. The ‘not more’ part is very important, as highlights Huffington Post as losing weight too fast can cause serious health problems (heart issues, digestive disorders, gallstones, etc.). That’s why it’s essential to use a well-balanced weight loss plan and monitor your wellbeing carefully. It’s even more important to choose a smart kind of a fast fat-burning plan that will give you results but not endanger your health.
Is Fast Weight Loss Impossible?
You can lose weight a bit (or even a lot) faster than the ‘recommended’ rate of 1-2lb per week if:
- You use a highly effective and intense fat-burning program.
- You go on a fad diet that will drastically cut your calories (sometimes completely excluding essential food groups, like fats).
Obviously, only one option among the two is healthy, and only when it’s used right. Starting an intense fat-burning program won’t have negative consequences for your body if you listen to the said body and drop the intensity of exercises if your discomfort gets too strong. This will help prevent physical injury.
You will also need to complement an intense workout regimen with a well-balanced 7-day diet plan. This plan must not exclude anything but unhealthy junk foods and processed products laden with saturated fats and ‘empty’ calories. It must provide you with no less than 1,200 calories a day, and perhaps even more as you’ll need a lot of energy to do the exercises.
Note that fast weight loss should be achieved through ‘fat-burning’ plans because it’s the stubborn excess fat that you need to attack. This is imperative if you want the results of your intense program to be long-lasting. After the initial 2-week blast you can reduce the intensity a bit and continue moving toward your ultimate goal. This approach will allow you to get a pleasing fast result, for example when preparing for a special event. But it will also pave the road for a sound weight loss strategy that you’ll need to stick to in the future.
The problem with fad diets is that they don’t give you such a positive outlook. Cutting your calories drastically does help you to lose weight fast. However, in this case, you will be losing not only the excess fat but also very much needed muscle tissue. Your body will also start filling with toxins and malfunction.
It’s because of these changes that only intermittent fasting is considered healthy. It doesn’t put your body under extreme stress and helps avoid the negative consequences of extreme calorie cuts. That’s also why on the ‘eating’ days of an intermittent fasting plan you are allowed to eat as much as you want.
If your healthy fast turns into starvation, your body activates the ‘energy save’ mode, which actually slows down the loss of fat stored under your skin. It’s this chemical reaction that will eat you to eat more when you finally stop the unbalanced diet and will result in a greater weight gain overall.
Therefore, if you want to lose weight fast, be sure to develop a plan that doesn’t endanger your health. Design a diet that will provide you with all essential nutrients. If you want to cut calories, use safe intermittent fasting plans. If you want to exercise to get toned, focus on weightlifting and aerobics. If you want to stay healthy and get the body of your dreams, avoid extreme diets and programs that do not account for your actual wellbeing.