Have you ever tried to lose weight and found that your progress eventually slowed to a crawl—or came to a grinding halt? Sometimes, when you’re in the middle of a fat-loss program, you grow so fixated on the process that you don’t step back and make sure that what you’re doing makes sense.
When it comes to dieting, misinformation often reigns. An effective weight management strategy combines determination, strategic planning, and tactics.
14 Research-Backed Weight Loss Diet Tips
1. Implement Regular Cheat Or Refeed Days
One result of intense dieting is that your metabolic rate can slow down. This is because your body isn’t getting the calories it needs to create energy, so it adapts by burning fewer calories daily.
If you’re on a deficit diet and consuming 500 or more calories less than you need, start adding in regular cheat or refeed days to perk up your metabolism.
Refeed days are when you purposely eat too many carbohydrates, while cheat days are when you indulge in a food you crave.
By boosting your metabolism, you burn more fat—and the break can help you stay psychologically sane.
2. Go Easy On The Steady-State Cardio
Don’t make the mistake of thinking that you’ve burned a ton of calories because you spent 60 minutes on a cardio machine.
Instead, focus on interval training, which boosts your metabolic rate for hours after a workout to help preserve muscle tissue.
3. Increase The Protein Content Of Your Diet Plan
Adding more lean protein to your meal plan helps ensure you don’t lose muscle, which enables you to maintain a higher metabolic rate. But eating protein burns more than its share of calories too.
Your body burns more energy breaking down protein than carbs or fats. Plus, protein combats hunger better than any other nutrient.
When trying to burn fat, consume at least 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight.
4. Don’t Fear Carbohydrates, Time Them!
Carbs can help sustain weight loss by normalizing your body’s leptin levels.
People who follow very low-carb diets may initially see rapid weight loss. These same people tend to plateau faster than those who keep consuming carbs.
The trick is to choose wholesome, high-fiber, low-sugar carbs and time them close to your workout, so they’re readily available to power you through your lifts.
5. Think Twice About Eliminating Dairy
Research shows that people who include dairy in their fat-loss diet show more significant overall fat loss in the abdominal region.
So eat up. You may want to choose lower-fat, lower-sugar options like Greek yogurt, low-fat cottage cheese, and reduced-fat hard cheese.
6. Use Fat Burners Wisely
Many people use fat burners, and that’s fine—don’t abuse them. Any stimulant-based fat burner will stress your body, and too much stress can lead to burnout, fatigue, or illness.
There are several types of stimulant-free fat burners on the market:
- Resveratrol: Supports healthy blood glucose levels and recovery from exercise-induced inflammation
- Carnitine: Affects the transport of fat within cells
- Capsinoids: Supports your body’s ability to burn calories and fat
Non-stim fat burners are generally considered safe—don’t use them as an excuse not to exercise and eat properly.
7. Get More Sleep
Focus on getting as much sleep as you can. You need eight hours per night. People who don’t get enough sleep at night can suffer from insulin resistance, suppressed testosterone levels, and increased appetite, all of which undermine their fat-loss goals.
8. Get Yourself A Program Buddy
Do yourself a favor, and don’t do your fat-loss program alone. It’s more fun and motivational when you work toward your goal with a friend. It can be a game-changer.
9. Take Omega-3 Fatty Acids
If you take one supplement for your weight-loss program, make it omega-3 fatty acids. There are no sexy claims about this supplement, but make no mistake, it will help you lean out.
Take omega-3 fatty acids all the time, regardless of your goals. They help improve insulin sensitivity, support your immune system, optimize your metabolic rate, and reduce your risk of various health conditions and diseases.
Take an omega-3 capsule with 3-6 grams every day.
10. Squat. Often.
All compound lifts are excellent fat burners because your body burns so many calories to do each rep. Even so, nothing compares to the squat.
Not only do squats work your entire lower body and core, but they also bring your upper body into action. People who squat heavy as part of their fat-loss program will find they’re burning calories faster all day—every day of the week.
11. Note To Self: Fat Loss Is Never Linear
Remember that fat loss is never linear to stay sane and motivated on your program. Too many people get discouraged when they lose 2 pounds one week and nothing the next.
Rather than focusing on what happens week by week, look at trends. Are you feeling leaner? Are your clothes looking looser? If the answer is yes to any of those, rest assured that you’re moving in the right direction.
If you go more than three weeks without any changes in your weight, cut your calories—or schedule a refeed or cheat day.
12. Meal Prep, Meal Prep, Meal Prep
The saying “If you fail to prepare, you’re preparing to fail” is valid for nutrition. Plan what you’re going to eat, then take time during the week to prepare the meals. If you don’t, chances are you’ll eat something you shouldn’t.
13. Choose The Rights Fats, And Add Them Wisely
Just as you should avoid removing all carbs from your diet, avoid limiting fats too, but choose—and use—them wisely.
Smart fats, including nuts, seeds, olive oil, coconut oil, avocados, and fatty varieties of fish, will keep your heart healthy and encourage a lower body composition. Avoid manufactured fats (trans fats) and any fats found in processed foods. Neither of these fats encourages a lean body and often comes with health risks.
Add 5-10 grams of fat to most of your meals during the day—except around workouts. It takes your body longer to digest fats, making you feel sluggish.
14. Keep The Big Picture In Mind
As you go about your fat-loss program, don’t let yourself get too narrow-focused, like obsessing about building six-pack abs.
Keep your goals broad: Diet to gain more confidence and improve your health. Continually check in with yourself to see how you are doing in terms of reaching those goals.
Embrace the process to progress. Quality results require an investment of time and good old-fashioned hard work!
Weight Loss Myths Debunked
Single-food diets don’t work
Commonly, carbohydrates (such as grain foods) and proteins (such as meat foods) are incorrectly thought to ‘clash,’ leading to digestive problems and weight gain.
The opposite is often true – foods eaten together can help the digestive system. Such as, vitamin C in orange juice can increase iron absorption from a meal rich in plant-based iron like beans and rice, lentils, and other legumes.
Superfoods can’t help with weight loss.
Some people believe some foods can help us lose weight – for instance, grapefruit, celery, or kelp can burn fat or speed up metabolism. But this is not true.
Fiber from food comes closest to having special dietary qualities because it provides a feeling of ‘fullness’ with minimal kilojoules. High-fiber foods (such as fruit, vegetables, wholegrain bread, cereals, and legumes) are usually high in nutrients and low in unhealthy fats.
If you enjoy these foods and can afford them, there’s nothing wrong with having them as part of a healthy diet. But don’t expect substantial health benefits from eating a few of these with a poor diet.
Skipping meals will not make you lose weight.
It sounds simple enough – don’t eat, and the weight will come off – but skipping meals can fail. Not only will starving yourself result in feeling tired and lethargic, but your body is also more likely to miss out on essential nutrients.
Then when you do eat, you’re more likely to overeat and make poor food choices. Over the long term, skipping meals is unlikely to help with weight loss.
Intermittent fasting
Evidence shows there is generally no difference in the amount of weight lost by following a fasting diet compared to a traditional energy restriction diet.
As with any diet, it is being able to sustain it is vital to losing and keeping off weight. If following a strict intermittent fasting schedule doesn’t sound like something you could do for a long time, then this may not be the best way to keep your weight in check.
Eliminating foods will not lead to weight loss.
Eliminating whole food groups from your diet won’t necessarily help you lose weight.
Unless you don’t like a food or choose to go vegetarian or vegan for cultural, ethical, or other reasons, eliminating animal products from your diet won’t help you lose weight. This is because you need to reduce your overall kilojoules (energy) – just like a diet with animal products.
Many drinks contribute to weight gain.
We must drink fluids to avoid dehydration; water is the best choice. It also does not contain any kilojoules (energy) like many other drinks.
Plain milk is another excellent choice as it has many nutrients and energy.
Most other drinks have extra energy (usually from added sugars) without the health benefits of other nutrients. These include:
- soft drinks and slushies
- alcohol
- sports drinks
- flavored kinds of milk
- packaged iced teas
- coffee made with whole cream milk and flavored syrup.
And if our body does not use energy from drinks, it will be stored as fat.
‘Clean,’ raw or organic foods are not the solution to weight loss
Foods considered ‘clean,’ natural, or organic may be nutritious but may not. There are benefits to choosing foods that are minimally processed. But many other healthy foods will be missing from your diet if you eliminate whole food groups.
Be careful of products that claim to be organic. Although they might have been produced organically, this does not guarantee it’s a food that should be consumed regularly as part of a healthy lifestyle.
Science matters when it comes to weight loss
The amount of information available on food, diet, and weight loss is endless; not much is credible or correct. Popular media is full of fad diets and magic weight loss potions endorsed by celebrities and supported by personal success stories.
Much of what is claimed is based on anecdotal rather than scientific evidence. Often, there is something to be gained by the person or organization behind the claim (such as profit from sales).
While it’s true that we’re all different and what works for some may not work for others, proper scientific studies include a wide range of people – to account for individual differences.
The key to weight loss
The best way to lose weight is slowly by making small, achievable changes to your eating and exercise habits. Rather than being a slave to the number on the scales, be guided by your waist circumference. The recommended waist size for women would be 32.5 inches, and for men, 35 inches.
Suggestions for safe and effective weight loss include:
- Don’t crash diet.
- Be mindful of your portions – the bigger the service, the more energy.
- Cut back on refined and added sugars.
- Increase your intake of fresh fruit, vegetables, wholegrain breads, and cereals.
- Cut back or eliminate empty kilojoules from sugary drinks and alcohol.
- Eat less takeaway and snack foods.
- Exercise for approximately 30 minutes on most days of the week. Don’t eliminate any food groups. Instead, choose from a wide range of daily and ‘whole,’ less-processed foods.
- Have a regular pattern of eating and stick to it.
Watch your energy (kilojoule) intake.
Energy intake should not be more than energy output to avoid weight gain.
Avoiding large portions and limiting your intake of saturated fats and added sugars will help keep your energy intake in check.
Regular exercise is also critical for long-term weight loss success.
If you are unsure where to start or find it challenging to manage your weight, seek help from a dietitian. Dietitians can guide you to a healthy way of eating based on the latest research and tailored to suit your health and lifestyle.