There are many ways to lose a lot of weight in a
short amount of time.
However, most of them require you to be hungry
and unsatisfied.
If you don’t have iron willpower, then hunger will
cause you to give up on these plans quickly.
The 3-step plan outlined here will:
Kill your appetite.
Make you lose weight fast, without being hungry.
Improve your health at the same time.
Step 1 – Eliminate Sugars and Starches
The most important part is to remove sugars and
starches (carbs) from your diet.
These are the foods that stimulate secretion of
insulin the most. If you didn’t know already, insulin
is the main fat storage hormone in the body.
When insulin goes down, fat has an easier time
getting out of the fat stores and the body starts
burning fats instead of carbs.
Another benefit of lowering insulin is that your
kidneys shed excess sodium and water out of your
body, which reduces bloat and unnecessary water
weight (1 , 2 ).
It is not uncommon to lose up to 10 pounds
(sometimes more) in the first week of eating this
way, both body fat and water weight.
Step 2 – Eat Protein, Fat and Vegetables
Each one of your meals should include a protein
source, a fat source and low-carb vegetables.
Constructing your meals in this way will
automatically bring your carb intake into the
recommended range of 20-50 grams per day.
Protein Sources:
Meat – Beef, chicken, pork, lamb, bacon, etc.
Fish and Seafood – Salmon, trout, shrimps,
lobsters, etc.
Eggs – Omega-3 enriched or pastured eggs are
best.
The importance of eating plenty of protein can not
be overstated.
This has been shown to boost metabolism by 80 to
100 calories per day ( 5, 6 , 7 ).
High protein diets can also reduce obsessive
thoughts about food by 60%, reduce desire for late-
night snacking by half, and make you so full that
you automatically eat 441 fewer calories per day…
just by adding protein to your diet (8 , 9).
When it comes to losing weight, protein is the king
of nutrients. Period.
Low-Carb Vegetables:
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Spinach
Kale
Brussels Sprouts
Cabbage
Swiss Chard
Lettuce
Cucumber
Celery
Full list here.
Don’t be afraid to load your plate with these low-
carb vegetables. You can eat massive amounts of
them without going over 20-50 net carbs per day.
A diet based on meat and vegetables contains all
the fiber, vitamins and minerals you need to be
healthy. There is no physiological need for grains in
the diet.
Fat Sources:
Coconut Oil
Butter
Olive Oil
Lard
Tallow
Eat 2-3 meals per day . If you find yourself hungry
in the afternoon, add a 4th meal.
Don’t be afraid of eating fat, trying to do both low-
carb AND low-fat at the same time is a recipe for
failure. It will make you feel miserable and abandon
the plan.
The best cooking fat to use is coconut oil . It is rich
in fats called Medium Chain Triglycerides (MCTs ).
These fats are more fulfilling than others and can
boost metabolism slightly (10, 11).
There is no reason to fear these natural fats, new
studies show that saturated fat doesn’t raise your
heart disease risk at all (12, 13).
To see how you can assemble your meals, check
out this low carb meal plan and this list of low carb
recipes .
Bottom Line: Assemble each meal out of a
protein source, a fat source and a low-carb
vegetable. This will put you into the 20-50
gram carb range and drastically lower your
insulin levels.
Step 3 (Optional) – Exercise 3-4 Times Per Week
You don’t need to exercise to lose weight on this
plan, but it is recommended.
The best option is to go to the gym 3-4 times a
week. Do a warm up, lift weights, then stretch.
If you’re new to the gym, ask a trainer for some
advice.
By lifting weights, you will burn a few calories and
prevent your metabolism from slowing down, which
is a common side effect of losing weight ( 14, 15).
Studies on low-carb diets show that you can even
gain a bit of muscle while losing significant amounts
of body fat (16 ).
If lifting weights is not an option for you, then doing
some easier cardio workouts like running, jogging,
swimming or walking will suffice.
Bottom Line: It is best to do some sort of
resistance training like weight lifting. If that is
not an option, cardio workouts work too.
Optional – Do a “Carb Re-feed” Once Per Week
You can take one day “off” per week where you eat
more carbs. Many people prefer Saturday.
It is important to try to stick to healthier carb
sources like oats, rice, quinoa, potatoes, sweet
potatoes, fruits, etc.
But only this one higher carb day, if you start doing
it more often than once per week then you’re not
going to see much success on this plan.
If you must have a cheat meal and eat something
unhealthy, then do it on this day.
Be aware that cheat meals or carb refeeds are NOT
necessary, but they can up-regulate some fat
burning hormones like leptin and thyroid hormones
(17 , 18 ).
You will gain some weight during your re-feed day,
but most of it will be water weight and you will lose
it again in the next 1-2 days.
Bottom Line: Having one day of the week
where you eat more carbs is perfectly
acceptable, although not necessary.
What About Calories and Portion Control?
It is NOT necessary to count calories as long as
you keep the carbs very low and stick to protein, fat
and low-carb vegetables.
There are many calorie counters you can use to
track the amount of calories you are eating. I like
Cron-O-Meter – it is free and easy to use.
The main goal is to keep carbs under 20-50 grams
per day and get the rest of your calories from
protein and fat.
Bottom Line: It is not necessary to count
calories to lose weight on this plan. It is most
important to strictly keep your carbs in the
20-50 gram range.
Other Weight Loss Tips to Make Things Easier (and
Faster)
Pretty much all you have to do is the 3 steps:
Eliminate high-carb foods.
Eat Protein, Fat and Veggies.
Exercise 3-4 times per week (optional, but
recommended).
However, there are a few other tips that you may
find useful if you want to speed things up even
further.
None of these are old wives’ tales, they all have
scientific evidence to back them up.
Drink Water: One study shows that drinking water
half an hour before meals helps you eat fewer
calories and lose 44% more weight. It can also
boost metabolism slightly (19, 20).
Drink Coffee or Tea: If you’re a coffee or a tea
drinker, then by all means drink as much as you
want as both can raise your metabolism ( 21, 22).
Eat Eggs For Breakfast: Studies show that people
who replace a grain-based breakfast with eggs feel
more full for the next 36 hours, and lose up to 65%
more weight (23 , 24).
Eat Viscous Fiber: Viscous fiber supplements like
glucomannan can help you lose weight, especially
around the belly area ( 25).
Choose Weight Loss Friendly Foods: Certain foods
are particularly useful for losing fat. Here is a list of
the 20 most weight loss friendly foods on earth .
Use Smaller Plates: Studies show that people
automatically eat less when they use smaller
plates. Strange, but it works (26 ).
Sleep Like a Baby: Poor sleep is one of the
strongest risk factors for weight gain and obesity,
taking care of your sleep is important (27 , 28 ).
Over the years, scientists have come up a number
of weight loss methods that are effective.
This article lists 26 weight loss tips that are actually
evidence-based .
Bottom Line: It is most important to stick to
the three rules, but there are a few other
things you can do to speed things up.
You Will Become a “Fat Burning Beast”
You can expect to lose 5-10 pounds of weight
(sometimes more) in the first week, then consistent
weight loss after that.
I can personally lose 3-4 lbs per week for a few
weeks when I do this strictly.
If you’re new to dieting, then things will probably
happen quickly. The more weight you have to lose,
the faster you will lose it.
For the first few days, you might feel a bit strange.
Your body has been burning carbs for all these
years, it can take time for it to get used to burning
fat instead.
It is called the “low carb flu” and is usually over
within a few days. For me it takes 3. Adding some
sodium to your diet can help with this, such as
dissolving a bouillon cube in a cup of hot water and
drinking it.
After that, most people report feeling very good,
positive and energetic. At this point you will
officially have become a “fat burning beast.”
Despite the decades of anti-fat hysteria, the low-
carb diet also improves your health in many other
ways:
Blood Sugar tends to go way down on low-carb
diets ( 29, 30 ).
Triglycerides tend to go down ( 31, 32 ).
Small, dense LDL (the bad) Cholesterol goes
down ( 33, 34).
HDL (the good) cholesterol goes up ( 35).
Blood pressure improves significantly (36, 37).
To top it all of, low-carb diets appear to be
easier to follow than low-fat diets.
Bottom Line: You can expect to lose a lot of
weight, but it depends on the person how
quickly it will happen. Low-carb diets also
improve your health in many other ways.
You Don’t Need to Starve Yourself to Lose Weight
If you have a medical condition then talk to your
doctor before making changes because this plan
can reduce your need for medication.
By reducing carbs and lowering insulin levels, you
change the hormonal environment and make your
body and brain “want” to lose weight.
This leads to drastically reduced appetite and
hunger, eliminating the main reason that most
people fail with conventional weight loss methods.
This is proven to make you lose about 2-3 times as
much weight as a typical low-fat, calorie restricted
diet ( 38, 39, 40 ).
Another great benefit for the impatient folks is that
the initial drop in water weight can lead to a big
difference on the scale as early as the next
morning.