Should you lose a lot of weight quickly?
The Questions
This post is an answer to a question with multiple layers to it
The question breaks down like this:
What should I do first, lose a lot of weight quickly or eat healthy and lose weight slower. Plus what should I do for cardio and weights, more cardio or more weights?
The guy asking the question is overweight, borderline obese according to the BMI chart. What should he do first, he wants to know. Where should he start.
A great question.
Let’s get right to the point here. This man’s priority is losing weight. Specifically bodyfat. This man should aim to get his weight down to a healthy range. If he wanted to go with the BMI chart that would be fine as a guideline but the exact number is not as important. He just needs to lose that bodyfat first.
How to do it? Fast or slow? What kind of diet? What kind of training? So many questions.
Simplify.
First off, a person that is very heavily overweight or obese can lose weight much faster than some closer to average weight. This can help in the beginning as you see progress in pounds off and clothes getting loose.
The Diet
There are so many misconceptions about diet and nutrition. Where do I even begin? Let it suffice to say that you can take most any approach and find some success with it. For a time. Anything works for a month or two. But what will you stick with? What diet plan is sustainable for you?
There are pros and cons to losing weight quickly vs slowly. In this case, the heavily overweight or obese trainee can lose more than a pound per week. The first few months it’s common to see a drop of 15-20 lbs. without any extreme dieting. Just finding the sweet spot for the appropriate nutrition intake.
The key is to find a way of eating that isn’t restrictive and gets the job done. A plan that can be tweaked but is sustainable long-term. Always leave some room for minor adjustments but the foundation should be solid and able to withstand the months to come.
Training
The fitness industry has confused people with conflicting information, marketing, and downright lies to the point that many folks have no idea what to believe or where to begin.
Training should include some strength/resistance training, some low-intensity cardio and a little bit of high-intensity work.
Keeping it simple is the name of the game. If you’re number one priority right now is to lose bodyfat then your training doesn’t need to be complicated. Do some resistance training a few times a week. Nothing crazy is necessary. Walk every day. That’s essential. Nothing fancy needed for cardio. You can add in a day or two of high-intensity bursts but they are not absolutely necessary at this time.
Your workouts won’t be specific to losing weight by burning lots of calories. To burn enough calories from exercise is not the best choice in this situation. Let the diet take care of that.
You have to do a ton of activity to burn a few extra calories. This can be a problem because super long hard make-you-wanna-puke-workouts lead to more hunger, which can result in more snacking, overeating and disrupting the progress you’ve made.
Put it all together
Get your nutrition in order. Find a plan that resonates with you and that is sustainable. Once you see some progress, stick with it.
Train with resistance 2-4 times per week. Moderate weight. Add a few lbs. each session when you can. Nothing complicated here. Use free-weights if possible. If not, find a good bodyweight program.
Walk daily. As long as possible or take multiple short walks.
Add in as much activity and movement as possible. NEAT- non-exercise-activity-thermogenesis is important and it includes all the motion your body makes while not sleeping. Move more all day. Any time you can take the steps. Park farther away. Do bodyweight squats at work. Stand up and walk around. Move your arms around, do isometrics while waiting in line. MOVE more!
If you stick to that simple outline you WILL lose bodyfat. If you have a lot to lose it will start falling off quickly. Stay with the plan. There will always be ups and downs but don’t get deterred. Sometimes you need to make minor adjustments but generally just follow the path and reap the rewards.
That answers the question Should you lose a lot of weight quickly? Like most fitness-related questions the answer is usually “it depends”. In this case, the guy who needs to lose a ton of bodyfat can start losing weight quickly without starving himself just by finding a good simple plan and sticking to it.