What Is the Most Efficient Method for Weight Loss?

Medically Reviewed on 4/6/2022
What is the most efficient way for weight loss
Diet combined with exercise is the most effective method for weight loss.

Diet combined with exercise is the most effective method for weight loss. Eating a low-fat, low-calorie diet and exercising regularly will help lose weight and keep it off. Studies suggest that when it comes to losing weight and body fat, diet and exercise are more effective when done together.

Follow this basic rule: any calories consumed that are not burned will be stored as fat, which will lead to weight gain eventually.

Learn three efficient strategies for weight loss below.

3 efficient strategies for weight loss

  1. Mindful eating:
    • Try not to eat after 7 p.m. If you are hungry, eat only almonds or small fruit.
    • A protein-rich diet will always aid with weight management.
    • Increase your intake of healthy foods, such as fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy products.
    • Avoid refined sugar-containing goods in your diet.
    • Reduce your alcohol consumption and quit smoking.
    • Consume foods that boost your basal metabolism, such as capsaicin.
    • Make sure your coffee is not overly sweet.
    • Avoid extremely restrictive diets because they will eventually lead to binge eating.
    • Try not to eliminate any dish from your plate. Instead, minimize its portion and frequency.
    • A well-balanced diet rich in necessary macro and micronutrients aids in weight loss and health maintenance.
      • A bowl of fruits or food made of whole grains with lentils or vegetables for breakfast is an excellent way to start the day because you are consuming the necessary nutrients.
      • Lunch and dinner should include lentils and vegetables with herbs and spices served with brown rice or foods made of whole grains.
      • Have low-fat yogurt with different salads and nuts as snacks.
      • A plant-based, balanced diet has been found to effectively prevent obesity.
  2. Physical activity: Bodies are built and evolved to be active regularly.
    • The current physical activity guidelines encourage 150 minutes of moderate to strenuous physical activity per week (or about 30 minutes five days per week). This is especially important for weight loss.
    • Aerobic exercises, such as running, and Zumba, help maintain heart strength and burn calories because body cells rely on a constant supply of oxygen for energy.
    • However, some anaerobic training, such as strength training, is required to rapidly improve your exercise capabilities, tolerance, and performance.
    • Walking at a brisk pace is the best way to exercise. Avoid taking an elevator whenever possible.
    • Running at an intermittent pace, often called interval running, is an excellent kind of aerobic exercise for weight loss.
    • Go to the gym at least three times a week for weight training under supervision.
    • Cycling and swimming are both enjoyable recreational activities and effective toning exercises.
  3. Change your thinking:
    • Set attainable goals for yourself. Begin with minor goals, such as exercising every day.
    • Do not be too hard on yourself. Instead, be optimistic about your chances of success.
    • Everyone is unique, so avoid comparing yourself to others.
    • Feel grateful for your healthy physique. It is natural for weight to fluctuate or reach a plateau. Do not be concerned about it. Instead, be consistent.
    • Rather than focusing on having a great body, focus on fitness.

SLIDESHOW

The Best Diet Tips: How to Lose Weight the Healthy Way See Slideshow

Why both diet and exercise are important for weight loss?

Over the past few years, experts and dieticians have argued about the best strategy to treat obesity. Trying to reduce weight through physical exercise or eating habits has similar challenges (regulating food metabolism and resisting the impulse to consume more). They both have different effects on the body.

Exercise

  • Being overweight is defined as having an excess of fat in the body that is not proportionate to body height, giving the appearance of obesity.
  • Fat proportion and muscle mass influence body form and weight.
  • Exercising and dieting are both proven to affect the body's fat proportion and muscle mass.
  • Physical exercises cause the body to burn fat and stimulate muscle growth, resulting in increased muscle mass.
  • Remember that your weight will not change considerably because fat has less mass than muscle.
  • As a result of physical exercise, there will be a drop in fat mass followed by an increase in muscle mass, resulting in a thinner body because muscle takes up more space than fat.

Disadvantages of doing exercises alone:

  • The body conserves energy by creating fat layers. Both diet and exercise reduce fat tissue but losing weight take time.
  • Physical activity is a time-consuming strategy to reduce weight, and the effects are readily lost because the body burns more calories while storing very few.
  • Exercise increases appetite, and you may end up ingesting more calories than your body requires, causing the body to store the extra as fat.
  • As a result, unless you change your eating habits, your body weight will increase.

Diet

  • The most significant aspect of eating habits management is lowering your daily calorie consumption.
  • If this is done regularly, the body will adjust and store fewer food reserves in fat tissue, resulting in weight loss.

Disadvantages of dieting alone:

  • You will have to limit your calorie intake to balance things out; this should be maintained until weight reduction is stable and apparent.
  • When dieting, the body releases the ghrelin hormone more, which makes you hungrier.
  • Food is meant to be enjoyed. Hence, you may end up eating more eventually.

Which is better for losing weight, diet or exercise?

Managing eating habits is more effective than exercise. This is due to the easier way of lowering daily calorie intake.

Nonetheless, for some people, decreasing the consumption of food may take a long time, so it is best to both manage your dietary habits and exercise regularly to achieve the best. 

Losing weight is 75 percent dieting and 25 percent exercising. Excessive exercising followed by bad dietary habits will not result in significant weight loss.

How much weight should you aim to lose?

Studies have reported that people who are diagnosed with obesity may need to decrease just three to five percent of their body weight to enhance their health. According to the recent guidelines, losing five percent of body weight results in better overall health.

  • Weight loss relates to higher health advantages. The guidelines indicate that patients should begin by aiming to lose 5 to 10 percent of their body weight over six months.
  • Most specialists advocated losing 0.5 to 2 pounds every week to achieve this goal.
  • This normally entails removing 250 to 1,000 calories from your daily diet.
  • The number of calories you should consume, however, will vary depending on your present weight and exercise level.

Most research suggests that you can sustain your weight loss if you maintain a healthy food intake, continue to exercise, and monitor your weight so that you can recognize when your regimen needs to be adjusted.

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Medically Reviewed on 4/6/2022
References
Image Source: iStock Images

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Losing Weight. https://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/losing_weight/index.html

HelpGuide. How to Lose Weight and Keep It Off. https://www.helpguide.org/articles/diets/how-to-lose-weight-and-keep-it-off.htm

Institute of Medicine (US) Subcommittee on Military Weight Management. Weight Management: State of the Science and Opportunities for Military Programs. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 2004. 4, Weight-Loss and Maintenance Strategies. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK221839/