How to Lose Weight, Fast

Calories.

The number one thing that we need to consider when discussing how we can lose weight are the calories we are consuming compared to the calories we are expending every day. There is nothing special or crazy about it. When we break everything down, it’s all math.

One big issue we hear nowadays is a common complaint regarding not wanting to keep track of calories or not knowing how to. Friends, neither of those are good excuses and if you’re someone who uses these regularly, it’s time to stop. It’s 2023, there is plenty of good education out there, for free, that can help you better understand how this stuff works. I even have written about it extensively and have done public speaking regarding energy use and how it relates to our overall fitness. Let’s do some math together in order to help make this concept even more palatable.

Before we get into the hard math, let’s consider what we really want in losing weight. Deep down, we want more than just weight loss, we want a lean, strong, aesthetic, and attractive body. Everyone does. So, what does that actually look like? We all have preferences to body types and different goals regarding our physiques, but overall, losing weight as a goal needs to be more specific, otherwise we will just end up as “skinny fat.”

What is “skinny fat?”

“Skinny fat” is a term that refers to having a high percentage of body fat and a low amount of muscle.

It’s a common misconception that small or thin bodies are an indicator of good health. However, those with higher body fat and lower muscle mass — even if they have a body mass index (BMI) that falls within a “normal” range — may be at risk of developing the following conditions: insulin resistance, high cholesterol, high blood pressure. (https://www.healthline.com/health/fitness/skinny-fat)

Along with all of those issues, a “skinny fat” body composition is not aesthetic looking. People who work so hard at losing copious amounts of weight without any regard to maintaining their muscle mass suffer a fate of poor body composition, low basal metabolic rates, and weak bodies. So yes, we want to lose weight, but what we really want is to lose body fat.

Let’s get into the math

Now that we have a common understanding of good body composition (lower body fat percentage with a healthy level of skeletal muscle mass), let’s get into the real math. A common rule to follow is roughly 3,500 calories is equal to 1 lb of body fat. Here’s some specifics and a little nuance:

A pound of body fat may contain anywhere from 3,436 to 3,752 calories. However, it is a myth that just eating 500 fewer calories per day (3,500 per week) causes weight loss of one pound. This may work in the short term, but the body will soon adapt by making you burn fewer calories. (Healthline link)

The quote here is true but also nuanced. Yes, we can keep it simple here and understand that 500 fewer calories each day could result in consistent weight loss, and for most people it would be pretty darn sustainable. The key to success here is the weight training. The weight training, simply put, allows us to continue to stimulate our muscle sending the signal that we actually use this stuff, so we can’t break it down for fuel, we need to use body fat for energy instead. Secondly, it helps support a healthy metabolic rate. The more muscle we have on our frames, the more calories it takes to support it.

So, how do we actually lose weight, fast?

Here’s how: We set up a maintainable calorie deficit for ourselves, do our math to make sure we are on track consistently, and do our resistance training multiple times each week in order to promote healthy and aesthetic body composition. That’s it. As we continue we may need to manipulate numbers in regard to how the body is reacting to calorie count, macronutrient levels, training load, etc. If we are not losing weight fast enough we need to lower calories slightly, inch by inch, in order to find a more suitable weight loss pace. Remember, it’s all about sustainability. You can’t bake a cake in half the time by turning the heat up to 800 degrees, same thing goes here. Pick a sustainable calorie deficit and stick to it, it’ll work out, I promise.