Weight loss hacks: How to Lose Weight is one of the most searched queries on the internet in todays time. It is one of the biggest concerns that most people are facing. An excess weight near your belly can be annoying, not only because its difficult to lose, but also because it affects your general health. A flat stomach is a fitness motivation goal for many but not many know how to achieve it.Also Read - Weight Loss Hacks: Try These Natural Remedies to Lose Weight Sustainably

Lets first understand what is belly fat and the risks. Belly fat, also known as visceral fat, is excess fat formed in the abdominal region. This form of body fat, more than any other, is linked to the risk of heart attacks, diabetes, and other life-threatening diseases. Carrying excess weight around your stomach poses a faster decline in fluid intelligence, the type of intelligence that can affect your short-term memory and problem-solving ability. Also Read - Weight Loss Tips: 3 Healthy Habits That are Essential For Permanent Weight Loss

You can lose abdominal fat by making a few lifestyle changes. In this article, we will tell you 5 simple ways to lose belly fat. Also Read - Weight Loss For Women: These Diets Are NOT Working For You, Ladies. Stop Following Them Blindly!

To reduce belly fat, the main thing is to start eating healthy. Our body needs a good intake of protein and all goods sources of fiber. Eggs, beans, peanut butter, almonds, and lean meat are all good sources of protein. Oats, fresh fruit, and leafy green vegetables are all good sources of fiber. Reduce your intake of refined sugars by avoiding sugary cereals, pancakes, pastries, and instant oatmeal. Oats and other high-fiber carbs help you lose weight by maintaining a healthy blood sugar level. Adding this to your meal can help you to lose weight naturally.

2. Workout in Moderate Intensity to Reduce Belly Fat:

Working out is great for more than just adding years to your life, increasing your brain health, and also reducing stress levels. Plan a fitness routine that includes a variety of techniques such as weights, crunches, planks, aerobics, Pilates, running, swimming, and so on. This can help you lose weight quickly by reducing the amount of fat around your waist. Remember to stay within your bodys limits and avoid overdoing things. Try to work out at least 4-5 days a week and make sure that your sweat session is intense.

3. Eat Small Meals Frequently to Reduce Abdominal Fat

It is important to keep a check on your food intake as it can help in achieving certain objectives such as boosting protein intake or reducing carbs for weight loss. Although it is recommended to have small meals every 3-4 hours to speed up your digestion and reduce the load on your body. By planning low- a calorie meal you can see a reduction in belly fat.

4. Drink Plenty of Water to Lose Weight

Water can help you lose stomach fat by cleaning your system and flushing out toxins from your body. Drinking plenty of water will also help you curb your appetite and reduce your overall food intake. This helps to reduce weight and belly fat in an indirect way. Aim to drink at least 6-8 glasses of water per day. Significantly dont consider alcohol, sugary drinks, and carbonated beverages that will affect blood sugar levels in your body.

5. Reduce Stress to Reach Your Weight Loss Goal

One of the leading causes of weight gain and body fat is stress. Stress levels that are too high might contribute to sadness and stress eating. To lose belly fat, you must first address the underlying problem. Keep your mind at ease by practising meditation or other relaxing activities. You can also talk to a friend or family member to whom you feel close, it will indirectly make you feel better and can be positive all again.

So, are you gonna try these effective hacks to lose abdominal fat?

View original post here:
Easy Tips For Weight Loss: 5 Quick Life Changes That Will Help You Reduce Belly Fat - India.com

A reverse diet is commonly referred to as the diet after the diet.

Its been popular for many years in the bodybuilding scene as a way to gradually increase calorie intake after a competition in efforts to avoid rapid weight regain.

Further, it has exploded in popularity in the general population as a segue between a low calorie diet and resuming normal eating. In theory, a reverse diet allows you to eat more food while preventing fat regain after weight loss.

While it sounds promising, you may wonder if this eating strategy works or if its another fad diet.

This article tells you all you need to know what a reverse diet is and how to reverse diet.

Reverse dieting is a strategic eating plan that involves gradually increasing your calorie intake over a few weeks or months to allow you to eat more food after a diet while also increasing your metabolism and preventing fat (re)gain.

This style of eating was first popularized in the bodybuilding community as a way to prevent rapid weight regain after a competition. During bodybuilding competitions, athletes must follow very strict and unsustainable diets to achieve their desired physique.

Once the competition is over, they return to more sustainable, higher calorie eating styles. However, quickly returning to a much higher calorie intake may lead to rapid fat and weight gain, since the bodys metabolism decreases during the restrictive periods.

Reverse dieting was introduced to help bodybuilders slowly transition back from very low calorie diets to higher calorie diets. The idea was that doing it slowly would help them gradually restore their metabolic rates, allowing them to eat more while minimizing fat gain.

Due to many anecdotal success stories, reverse dieting also became popular among non-bodybuilders, including those following low calorie diets or who feel that theyre experiencing weight loss plateaus.

The idea of reverse dieting is based on adaptive thermogenesis (metabolic adaptation), which is a protective process that alters the bodys metabolism to increase energy intake and decrease energy output in efforts to slow down weight loss (1, 2, 3, 4).

The body does this through a few mechanisms (1, 2):

The good news is that studies suggest metabolic adaptation likely isnt permanent, and your metabolism can gradually increase as your calorie intake increases. In fact, its thought that most weight regain after a diet is the result of excessive calorie intake (5, 6, 7).

This is where reverse dieting comes into play. By gradually increasing your calorie intake in a slow and thoughtful manner, you can support your body in restoring its metabolic rate, manage your hunger levels better, and potentially reduce rapid weight regain (1).

Reverse dieting is a strategic eating plan that involves slowly increasing your calorie intake after a restricted-calorie diet in an attempt to restore your metabolism while preventing rapid weight regain.

The actual percentage of people that regain weight after a diet isnt known. That said, studies suggest that people lose an average of 59% of their initial body weight within the first six months but, after five years, they only maintain an average weight loss of around 3% (8).

While each individual will have a different experience, most research supports the notion that maintaining weight loss is difficult, especially as the years go on (8, 9, 10).

The reasons people regain weight after dieting vary depending on individual circumstances, such as the type of the diet, the length of time they dieted, and whether sustainable habits were developed and maintained once they stop dieting.

One of the main reasons for weight regain is the sense of freedom a person may feel after discontinuing a restrictive diet. Once its over, a person may overindulge on previously forbidden foods, leading to weight gain.

This is quite common in diets that are very restrictive, such as those that physique competitors follow. In fact, many competitors will consume and in many cases binge much larger amounts of food than their bodies need after a competition as a way to celebrate (11).

However, if that behavior becomes a habit or compulsion, a person may continue to overeat, especially as a way to resolve the excessive hunger theyve likely been experiencing during their diet.

Whats more, many diets fail to teach people healthy, sustainable lifestyle habits, such as learning to read nutrition labels, prepare nutritious meals, and practice mindful eating.

Thus, once they end their diet, people return to previous habits that led to the unwanted weight gain (9, 10).

Additionally, if a person does not have a sufficient support system (e.g., healthcare provider, coach, supportive friends) to encourage them to continue their healthy behaviors, their motivation may decline (10).

Finally, even if a person is meticulously watching their food intake, they may still be eating over their calorie needs.

During long periods of calorie restriction, your metabolism decreases. Therefore, your daily calorie needs to maintain your weight may be lower than it was before the diet. If you resume your normal eating right away, you may be eating in a surplus (10).

Overall, most diets fail to prepare individuals for life after the diet. This is one of the reasons why temporary diets arent usually recommended.

Instead, most health professionals recommend adopting lifelong habits that may help you lose weight in a sustainable way, such as eating more whole, nutrient-dense foods, limiting processed foods, being physically active, and getting proper sleep (9).

Weight regain is very common after dieting and weight loss. Common reasons for this include changes to metabolism, returning to previous eating habits, and lack of a support system.

Though difficult, it is possible to avoid regaining weight after a diet. But first, lets talk about why avoiding a diet is the best choice in the first place.

Following restrictive diets which usually involve eating a very low number of calories is hard long-term. As mentioned, your body engages mechanisms to prevent drastic weight loss when it notices that youre in a large calorie deficit.

In addition, its very difficult to ignore feelings of deprivation and hunger. As a result, sticking to a low calorie diet especially those that restrict many foods or entire food groups is understandably tough.

The unsustainable nature of these diets can lead to yo-yo dieting, where a person cycles between losing and regaining weight (12).

If you can avoid dieting in the first place, youre setting yourself up for more success over time. Instead, its ideal to focus on adopting healthy lifestyle behaviors that you can successfully and happily do long-term, such as (9, 10):

However, if youve followed a restrictive diet and are looking to get out of it without regaining weight, a reverse diet may be a good option for you.

Ideally, its best to avoid diets altogether and instead adopt healthy, sustainable lifestyle habits that may help you lose weight and keep it off.

Reverse dieting will look different for everyone, but it usually involves adding 50150 daily calories per week for around 410 weeks until youve reached your pre-diet calorie intake or other goal amount.

To put this into perspective, one tablespoon (16 grams) of peanut butter offers about 100 calories. Therefore, the amount of food that youre gradually adding to your diet per week remains very small (13).

To begin, youll first want to decide whether you want to take a conservative or more aggressive approach.

A conservative approach will take you longer to reach your calorie goal, but it may help reduce weight regain and digestive discomfort, since youre giving your body more time to adapt. You may increase your calorie intake by around 5% each week.

A more aggressive approach may be more suitable for those who want to return to a highly active lifestyle and restore their energy levels quickly. You might increase caloric intake by around 15% right away and then increase further by 5% each week for the remaining time.

For example, lets say youre currently eating an extremely restrictive 1,200-calorie diet and want to increase your intake to 2,000 calories over 12 weeks. This is what your reverse diet may look like:

Your reverse diet will look different depending on your starting calories, your desired approach, and your goal calorie intake.

If youre less concerned about a bit of weight regain, then you may wish to increase your calories more rapidly (e.g., 1520% increase from starting).

If you notice that youre regaining weight quickly, you may want to double-check your portion sizes to ensure youre actually eating the amount you intend to. In many cases, we overestimate the number of calories we consume.

As well, keep in mind that you may gain some water weight or muscle mass during this period. Thats especially likely for physique competitors who may have dehydrated themselves prior to a competition. In many cases, weight regain is not solely fat regain (11).

Keep in mind that calorie counting to the degree that reverse dieting requires can be laborious and problematic for many people, meaning reverse dieting isnt for everyone.

Reverse dieting looks different for everyone and will depend on their goals though, most people will gradually add 50150 extra daily calories over the course of 410 weeks.

Reverse dieting is an eating strategy used to prevent rapid weight regain and restore ones metabolism after following a low calorie diet.

To reverse diet without gaining weight, slowly increase your calorie intake to a higher target calorie goal. By doing this in a strategic, slow manner, you may be able to boost your metabolism, manage your hunger levels, and prevent or reduce rapid weight regain.

Many people find success with reverse dieting since its a gradual and tailored approach, but its not for everyone because it relies on strict calorie counting. Its best to find a solution that works best for you.

Ideally, your best option is to adopt a healthy lifestyle that is sustainable and enjoyable for you rather than following strict, unsustainable, low calorie diets that do more harm than good.

Continue reading here:
How to Reverse Diet Without Regaining Weight - Healthline

New research from the United Kingdom has found that while most adults with obesity have tried to lose weight, often through diets or exercise regimens, many have been unable to successfully lose the weight and keep it off.

The findings, which are being presented at the European Congress on Obesity between May 4-7, show that exercise programs and calorie-controlled diets are least effective at helping people lose weight compared to pharmaceutical treatments and bariatric surgery.

The researchers say the findings highlight the need for increased support and better solutions when it comes to weight management.

Dr. Dan Azagury, the section chief of minimally invasive and bariatric surgery at Stanford University, says these findings reflect what providers see every day.

When you are trying to lose weight, the odds are stacked against you. It is so much more challenging than people who do not struggle with extra weight or do not treat these patients assume, Azagury told Healthline.

The researchers surveyed 1,850 individuals with obesity from six European countries France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden and the UK.

The participants were asked questions about their comorbidities, demographics, treatment use, healthcare use, weight and weight loss efforts over the past year.

Seventy-nine percent of the respondents said they had attempted to lose weight, either by calorie-controlled or restrictive diets (72 percent), exercise plans (22 percent) or pharmaceutical treatments (12 percent).

But three-quarters said they did not lose a meaningful amount of weight, which was defined as losing at least 5 percent of their body weight. A third of the respondents said they gained weight, which was defined as gaining at least 5 percent of their body weight.

According to the report, exercise plans and calorie-controlled diets were least effective about 20 percent of the respondents were able to lose weight through this method.

Though weight loss surgery is traditionally known to be the most effective weight loss strategy, few of the participants had undergone bariatric surgery.

The findings are very important and support the need for better, more comprehensive strategies for managing patients with obesity, Dr. Jorge Moreno, a Yale Medicine internist who is board certified in obesity medicine and assistant professor of medicine at Yale School of Medicine, told Healthline.

The report also underscored just how common it is for obesity to coincide with other health complications, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes and osteoarthritis.

As obesity progresses, these complications tend to worsen as well.

Obesity negatively affects every organ system in the body, therefore, many health issues are directly affected by obesity, says Dr. Mir Ali, a bariatric surgeon and medical director of MemorialCare Surgical Weight Loss Center at Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, CA.

Metabolic syndrome can contribute to heart disease, reproductive health issues and cancer, according to Azagury.

For example, high inflammatory markers in adipose (fatty) tissue can contribute to impaired insulin resistance, which leads to diabetes, according to Moreno.

Increased adiposity also results in increase lipid production which can result in coronary artery disease or fatty liver disease, Moreno said.

Many popular diet and exercise plans are not sustainable.

The patient will typically lose weight with most methods; however, as soon as the diet or exercise regimen is stopped, the weight comes right back, says Ali.

The most effective weight loss strategies involve long-term diet and behavioral changes, Ali said, adding that each patient and their practitioner must develop a custom plan that the patient will be able to maintain in the long run.

Moreno says that patients need to be informed that obesity is a chronic health condition and that treating it takes time and various methods, such as counseling, medication or surgery referral.

Doctors hope the study will continue to raise awareness on obesity along with the most effective ways to treat it.

A multidisciplinary approach to tailor the best tools to each patient is needed, we now have multiple safe and effective drugs and procedures to help our patients be successful, Azagury said.

New research shows that while most adults with obesity have tried to lose weight, often through diets or exercise regimens, many have been unable to successfully lose weight.

Popular diet and exercise programs are difficult to maintain in the long-term, so while some may lose weight in the short-term, many often gain it back quickly.

The researchers say the findings highlight the need to develop more solutions to help people with obesity achieve their weight loss goals.

Excerpt from:
Study Highlights Need for Tailored Weight Loss Plans to Treat Obesity - Healthline

Lili Reinhart, an actor known for her role as Betty Cooper on TV's Riverdale, took to her Instagram stories on May 3 to call out celebrities for behavior that sends a toxic message about how bodies should look.

"To walk on a red carpet and do an interview where you say how starving you are because you haven't eaten carbs in the last month all to fit in a f***ing dress?" Reinhart wrote in an Instagram Story,People reported earlier this week. (The original Instagram Story with Reinharts post was live for only 24 hours.) "So wrong. So f***ed on 100s of levels," Reinhart wrote.

She didnt mention Kim Kardashian by name, but theres strong speculation that Reinharts comments were in response to Kardashians Met Gala appearance. Kardashian donned the same dress that Marilyn Monroe wore to sing "Happy Birthday" to President John F. Kennedy in 1962, and said she lost 16 pounds in three weeks to fit into the gown for the gala, People also reported. Kardashian told Vogue she wore a sauna suit twice a day and followed a very strict diet (cutting out all carbohydrates and sugar) to do so.

Reinhart followed up with a tweet on May 4, 2022. I do not say the things that I say because I want to be relevant or get attention, she wrote. I speak up because I dont see enough people with large platforms calling out toxic behavior in our industry.

This isnt the first time Reinhart has spoken out about body image. In January 2022, she used her Instagram Stories to share how the pressures of celebrity had messed with her relationship with her own body. Ive been struggling with obsessive thoughts about my body/weight the last few months and its gotten pretty severe the last week, she wrote, as HuffPost reported. Reinhart said she didnt feel at home in her own skin, and that it was devastating.

Nutrition and body image experts applaud Reinhart for coming forward.

When people call out behavior like Kims, it helps bring to light the fact that diet culture very much exists, says Amanda Sauceda, RDN, a nutritionist in Long Beach, California, who helps people with gut issues and intuitive eating. In the past, we would have seen praise for [Kardashians] weight loss splashed on magazine covers without a second thought.

Its important to see pushback against the way Kardashian talked about extreme weight loss so flippantly, says Paula Atkinson, LCSW, a psychotherapist in Washington, DC, who specializes in eating disorders and body image. It is really great to see other people who have much influence calling out such harmful behavior, first and foremost but then also critiquing Kim's choice to talk about it with somewhat of a sense of pride, she says. Just a few years ago, everyone would have been on board with the belief that Kim was displaying strength and virtue by subjecting her body to this trauma.

Kardashian has a huge platform, which she has used to bring attention to diet behavior that is unhealthy and potentially dangerous, Sauceda adds. She admitted to cutting out an entire food group, wearing a sauna suit ( a tracksuit that retains heat, causing you to sweat more than usual and potentially leading to water weight loss, but also dehydration), and losing weight far too quickly, Sauceda explains.

The National Institutes of Health defines a healthy weight loss as one to two pounds per week for up to six months, meaning Kardashians 16-pound drop should have happened over eight weeks (not three) to be considered healthy.

Kim is participating in the glamorization of starvation, Atkinson says. Shes perpetuating an idea that weight loss is something to celebrate, and that people whose bodies are larger than a certain size should be trying to change them, Atkinson says. It supports anti-fat bias and the ongoing oppression of people based on body shape.

There's evidence that extreme dieting or constant dieting is problematic, Sauceda says. It's unsustainable and can lead to weight cycling (repeatedly losing and gaining weight).In a review published in December 2017 in the Journal of Obesity & Metabolic Syndrome, authors looked at existing research and concluded that weight cycling is associated with increased risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and premature death.

Fad diets can also lead to nutrient deficiencies and other negative physical health impacts. A study published in September 2019 in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research found that low-calorie diets can lead to bone loss and increased risk of osteoporosis, and that the risk is even greater for people who exercise while restricting calories.

And they can be really harmful to emotional health, Atkinson says. Research published in Cureus in September 2020 found that dieting led to an increased risk of eating disorders, food obsession, binge eating, and depression. We know that dieting (of all kinds, but specifically this type of extreme restriction) is trauma to the body and the brain, Atkinson says. It can lead to years of food obsession, body hatred, feeling out of control with food, and other sometimes lifelong consequences.

Both Sauceda and Atkinson regularly see clients who have been harmed by diet culture and oppressive body standards, and they have some advice for how to feel less affected by it.

Crash diets, or any diet promising quick weight loss, do not [deal with] the harder and more important issue of sustainability, Sauceda says. People are never able to keep up with restrictive diets, which can lead us into a vicious cycle of weight cycling, which is extremely detrimental to the body and mind.

Research supports this. In ameta-analysis published in April 2020 in the BMJ, researchers looked at data from several popular diet patterns (low-carb, Mediterranean, low calorie, low fat, macronutrient counting, and more), and found that while most people lost weight in the first six months of all the diets, practically all of them had regained most or all of that weight within the year.

Constant access and exposure to celebrities is almost unavoidable these days, Atkinson says. But we have some choice of who we follow, and who and what we allow into our consciousness. While it can be hard to avoid every Kardashian headline that hits the media, you can choose not to follow along with celebrities who make you feel like your body, your life, or your food choices arent good enough.

Sauceda agrees. Start following people on social media who talk about creating a healthy relationship with food or take a weight-neutral approach to health, she says.

We all know that Instagram is a highlight reel, not the full story. The same is true for celebrity culture in general. We see celebrities in their most glamorous moments, but we have no idea what goes on in their everyday lives, or how theyre feeling.

Atkinson often reminds her clients that many celebrities struggle with severe body image issues. Some, like Reinhart, talk openly about them, while others dont share their suffering publicly. The next time you hear a celebritys weight loss being celebrated, remember that there could be some not-so-great stuff happening behind the scenes.

I recognize that it's difficult to extricate oneself from diet culture, from the beliefs society holds about body shape and food choices, Atkinson says. But freedom from the entire scam is far more fulfilling and far less fleeting than fitting into any dress.

Atkinson recommends aiming for body neutrality, which means separating your self-worth and your happiness from how your body looks. This approach is more sustainable and ultimately more freeing than trying to love how your body looks all the time.

Original post:
Lili Reinhart Speaks Out on Toxic Diet Culture, Impossible Body Standards - Everyday Health