How to lose weight?

How to lose weight? So easy, but still so hard. Sometimes it seems like everyone else is able to do it but you? Why is that? Are you just not working hard enough? Are you eating too much? Too little? Not the right food? 

In this post, we hope to help you out by answering the question of how to lose weight. 

Sometimes you’re probably asking yourself why it’s so hard. Losing weight should be pretty easy. And it is, well, in theory. 

Losing weight is all about burning more energy or calories than you put in (your body). Simple. 

I wish it were. I’ve been where you are, so let’s dig deep. 

The science

Our bodies need the energy to do all the things we do. Our brain needs energy, our digestion system needs it, our muscles needs it and so forth. So we need to provide it with that energy. 

But what does it do when it gets too much? 

This is where the body is really smart, or is it? 

The body is pretty old, so it learned, from way back when we collected berries and was hunted by sable tigers that we had to store the food we consumed but didn’t need somehow.

The body’s solution was smart! It stored it in our fat reserves, as fat. Because the fat can be used by the body as energy for a later day when we run out of that fast energy. 

By the way, this is also why you get cravings. Biology! Because way back when we were hunter/gatherers we stored up on the energy we could find when we could find it. 

So when we came by a really rare and delicious carbohydrate source such as raspberries we ate them all! The problem is that the carbohydrates we find these days isn’t raspberries, it’s chocolate, chips, and candy. But the body hasn’t adapted yet. Because that takes time. So we eat it all as we did back in the day. The only problem is that no, it has a tiiny bit more carbs and fat in it than back then. And you guessed right, it gets stored as fat! 

So, if the body stores fat it means that we: 

1. Have to burn more than we eat

This is simple math. In order to lose weight, you have to burn or consume more energy than you provide it aka eat. You have to burn more energy than you eat so that your body uses what it has. If your body uses your fat reserves, your fat reserves will be reduced and you will lose weight. 

This leads us to the next point. 

2. You have to teach the body to burn what it has

You have to teach the body to run on the energy it already has, the fat reserves, and not use the fresh energy coming in from your food consumption. 

How do you do this? You have to eat less energy than you need so that your body will use your reserves when it needs more energy. 

Now you might think you can stop eating altogether, or limit it drastically. That is not a good idea. First, it can lead to eating disorders. Second, your body will go into starvation mode. This means that it will shut down and hold on to all the energy it has stored. Simply because it is energy-deprived and doesn’t know when it’ll get food again. 

So cutting too much too fast can actually be counterproductive  

How to do it

Too many posts are waay too complicated, so I’ll try to keep this as simple as I can. 

Now you have the basics of how the body works. How do you actually go about it? 

Well, there are two tools in your toolbox: 

1. Restrict your eating 
2. Work out 

Restrict your eating

Limit what you eat, this can best be done by using a food plan such as Renaissance Periodization or similar. 

When you restrict what you eat it is important to make sure that the food you eat has the right composition. This is what is known as macros. Macros are fat, protein and carbohydrates. 

Your body needs all of these energy sources to survive, thrive and recover. 

Simply put:

• Protein is the building blocks of your muscle, you need about 1,6-1,8g per kg you weigh (per day).
• Fat is what will keep you full and ensure you have the energy to run on when you don’t eat
• Carbohydrates are fast energy that will ensure you perform

A balance between these food sources is important. 

Many people swear to different sources of diet, some of which have proved very successful to many people is the low-carb or keto diet.

This diet restricts carbohydrate intake and you increase your intake of fat. This will ensure that your body will run on the energy reserves that it has, not the fast carbs it receives. 

Personally I have tried this, but I prefer a more balanced ratio between carbs, fat, and protein. This is what works best for me and my performance.

Both Tobias and I use RP strength (Renaissance Periodization) and this is what has provided me whit the best results. 

Work out

This is the second tool. Work out. Working out will ensure that you burn more calories. 

Working out will also make you more hungry, so here you should be mindful of what you actually eat. If you start rewarding yourself for working out, you will soon notice that you are not getting the results you want. 

There is also a difference between different kinds of training. 

For weight loss, weight training is recommended over cardiovascular training (cardio).

The reason for this is twofold.  

1. When you do weight training or strength training you work your muscle. Your muscle will continue to burn energy up to 24 hours after you work out. Whereas during cardio this will only last for 30 min to a couple of hours. Simply put, weight training will ensure you burn energy for longer. 

1. Weight training will ensure you build muscle. Muscle needs energy not only to grow but also to sustain itself and remain as it is. This means that just by having more muscle your body will burn more energy.

If you want to read and learn more on how to do weight training I recommend you to read this post on weight training where we explain how you should go about your weight training. 

Now you understand the basics of how the body works and have been provided some simple tools on how to lose weight. I really hope this will help you on your weight loss journey! 

If you feel like it, please let us know how it goes! 

Featured image photo cred: Photo by Arisa Chattasa on Unsplash