How To Lose Weight ? The Complete Seientific Guide
Hello, friends!This is one of the most searched
questions on the internet.
How to lose weight?
And this is probably the most popular
New Year's resolution in the world.
Weight loss.
On this one question,
millions of YouTube videos have been made,
thousands of articles have been written,
and so many rumours have been spread.
Some tell you to eat Maggi for a muscular body,
some tell you to go on a low-carb diet,
some tell you to go on a low-fat diet,
some try to sell their fake products.
A entire industry has been built on
weight loss.
In today's Blog, let's understand this concept
in a scientific way.
What's true and what's myth?
To lose weight, what should you eat and
what should you not eat?
And which diet is the best?
Let's find out.
"The Wonder 10-day diet!"
"Burn away fat, while you sleep!"
"A diet that can work when nothing else will."
"The popular Paleo diet."
"Ketogenic or Keto."
"Brand new South East diet."
"Promising new weight loss drug."
"Another groundbreaking weight loss drug.
could soon be available in pill form."
The logic behind weight loss is quite simple.
Imagine that you have a bank account.
All the money you earn gets accumulated in
your bank account.
All the money you spend
is deducted from your bank account.
So if you want to increase your bank balance,
you either have to increase your earnings
or reduce your expenses.
Similarly, our body has a calorie bank.
The calories you consume, accumulate here.
And the more you spend,
it is deducted from the stored calories.
This calorie bank is our body.
To store calories, they are converted into
fat and stored by the body,
which increases our weight.
So if you want to lose weight,
either reduce your calorie intake or
spend more calories.
To spend calories is known as Burning Calories.
Let's talk about how calories burn later,
before that, let's know
where do calories come from?
The food you eat,
whatever you drink, except water,
all of them have energy
in the form of calories.
In nutritional science, the definition of
calories is that "it is a unit of energy."
So, the food and water you are consuming,
that is where the calories are coming from.
Since calories are a form of energy,
everything for which the body uses energy,
calories are burned for those.
The most obvious thing that comes to people's
mind to burn calories is exercising.
This is true,
our body needs energy is needed for every process,
so calories are burned for everything.
To make your heart beat,
for your lungs to breathe,
to digest food in your stomach,
energy is needed for all.
For this reason, even while sleeping at night,
your calories are burned.
You heard it right.
On average, a normal person burns 400 calories
during 8 hours of sleep.
And these calories are burned
merely to keep the body alive,
this is known as
Basal Metabolic Rate or BMR.
Every person has a different
Basal Metabolic Rate.
It depends on your height, weight, muscle
mass and many other factors.
There is an online calculator through which
you can calculate your BMR.
For example, I am 28 years old
and my height is 186 cm
and weight is 80 kg.
So my BMR is 1828 calories per day.
So I will burn this many calories every day
without doing anything.
Now, apart from this, I told you that eating
provides calories to the body.
But do you know, depending on what food
you are eating, your food can burn calories too?
Here comes the concept of the
Thermic Effect of Food, in short TEF.
The logic is very simple,
when you eat food,
your body has to digest the food,
absorb nutrients from the food
and store the food.
In all these processes, the body uses
energy and burns calories.
So some things have a low thermal effect.
Like fats, oil, flour, and butter.
Our body digests these things very easily.
There is almost no need to burn any calories.
On the other hand, whole grains or protein
rich foods,
Dairy, eggs, high-fibre vegetables and fruits,
spinach, broccoli,
these have a high Thermic Effect.
Our body has to burn a lot of calories to
digest these foods.
That is why it becomes difficult to gain weight
by eating this type of food.
Now you will wonder, if this means that
some types of food may provide negative calories.
The calories available in that food, the body
is burning more calories to consume that food.
This is a myth, friends.
To achieve this, the thermic effect of any
food should be more than 100%,
which is impossible.
This can't happen.
The highest thermic effect possible is around 30%,
usually found in proteins.
This means that if you are eating 100 calories of protein,
you are spending 30 calories to digest that protein
and your body is actually
gaining only 70 calories.
Now, there is no need to go into the math too much.
I am not asking you to find out the
thermic effect of every food before eating.
I just wanted to give you a basic idea
so that you know that this kind of concept exists.
Now, let's talk about weight loss.
After listening to what I said till now,
people might wonder why should we exercise at all.
If you consume fewer calories than your
body's basal metabolic rate,
you will lose weight automatically.
Theoretically, this is true, but practically,
it is very dangerous.
Eating fewer calories than your BMR
without exercising means that
your body's hormonal balance can deteriorate.
You will be more tired.
You will become more irritable.
It will be very difficult for you to focus
on your studies and work.
Do you know which body part consumes
the most calories in the human body?
Our brain.
Almost 20% of the energy usage of the
human body is consumed by the brain.
It becomes difficult to self-control for the body.
Many people have this problem
where once they start eating less,
they become weak,
their mood is disrupted terribly,
they will go on a diet for some time,
but after that, they will start binging
and their diet will fail.
That's why our goal should not be weight loss,
but healthy weight loss.
And for healthy weight loss, exercise is very
important.
In fact, four main things are very important.
Diet control, exercise, proper sleep, and
keeping yourself stress-free.
The last two points are quite obvious,
but if you struggle with them,
keeping yourself stress-free
and getting 8 hours of sleep daily,
then it means that you are not
managing your time properly.
And in such a situation, you need the right
time management in your life.
Have you ever had a feeling that even
though you have eaten a whole chocolate bar
but still you are feeling hungry?
After eating certain things,
you still don't feel full.
The reason behind this is the Satiety Index.
The thing is that there are some types of food
after eating which you feel full
and some types of food aren't like that.
In 1995, some researchers
tested 240-calorie servings of 38 types of food.
They found that boiled potatoes had the highest
satiety index among all potato dishes.
Potatoes were given a score of 323.
There are some other things like pulses,
high-fibre foods, low-fat dairy products, eggs, and nuts.
These things also have a very high index.
This means that for the same amount of calories,
if you eat high-satiety food items,
you will comparatively feel more full.
You will feel less hungry, even though the
number of calories is the same.
Now, some people will say that
they would eat boiled potatoes throughout
the day for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
So they consume the least amount of calories in the day
while feeling full,
They'll go on a potato-only diet.
But again, this is a wrong approach.
It is alright to tweak a few things here and there,
but overall, the body needs a nutritious diet.
Your goal here is healthy weight loss.
Meaning, you don't want to lose muscle,
you don't want to lose your health,
you just want to lose weight.
There are 6 different essential nutrients
that the body needs for optimal function.
Proteins, carbohydrates, fats,
vitamins, minerals, and water.
So when you are on a healthy weight loss diet,
you will definitely need proteins, vitamins,
minerals, and water.
Now the question is about
fats and carbohydrates.
What about them?
Many people suggest different types
of low-fat, low-carb diets.
So let's talk about carbohydrates first.
Carbohydrates, in short carbs, what is their
relation with weight loss?
The sugar that comes out of carbs is an important
source of energy for the body.
If our body does not use
that energy immediately,
the energy from the carbs is converted
into glycogen and stored
in the liver and muscles.
If a person eats more carbs than his body needs,
the body converts those carbs into
fat cells and stores it as fat.
If this energy is not used later, it remains
in the form of fat cells
and you gain weight.
You might think that carbohydrates should be avoided
but this is the wrong conclusion.
I apologize in advance for disappointing
the fans of keto or low-carb diet.
In 2017, a meta-analysis was done
of 32 controlled feeding studies.
Keeping the level of protein and calories the same,
they found out whether high-carb
diet is better or a low-carb diet.
This research found that there is no benefit in weight loss
whether you follow a high-carb
or a low-carb diet.
Weight loss, ultimately, works only due to Calorie Deficit.
The same calorie bank balance that
I explained in the beginning.
In 2012, another study was conducted in a Swedish University
to compare whether a low-fat diet is better
or a low-carb diet.
This study monitored people for 2 years and
ended with the same conclusion.
Weight loss has nothing to do with these things.
Only calories are important here.
Now, some people go on a high-protein diet
to lose weight.
Because some people have a perception that
if they eat fats or carbs, they will convert
into fat cells leading to weight gain.
But if they eat protein only, their muscles will grow bigger.
It is true that protein is usually used for
muscle building and muscle repairing.
So if you do weight training,
exercise more, wrestle or such,
then naturally you will need more protein.
But if you sit on the sofa all day,
don't move, don't exercise,
then the excess protein
you are eating also converts into fat.
Now some people will say
after watching this Blog that
they went on a low-carb diet and lost weight,
thinking that it works for them.
But here I would like to say that
if your body is suddenly deprived of carbs,
then your body loses water weight.
Glycogen stores help in retaining water in
our body.
So if you go on a keto diet for a week, you
will lose 1-2 kgs of weight for sure.
And that will be because your body has lost
its water weight.
As soon as you start eating carbs again, that
water weight will come back.
Dr Sara Seidelmann and her team of researchers
did a study on 15,400 people for 6 years.
It was published in the famous Lancet Public
Health Journal.
And it studied people who are on a low-carb diet
but are eating more animal protein.
This study found that this diet can actually
reduce the lifespan.
When a low-carb diet is replaced by plant protein and fat,
then it will be beneficial.
I have talked about this in the Blog of World's Oldest Human
what are the things that can be done to extend our lifespan.
Now, if we have to go low-carb,
then how low should we go?
This study found that if less than 40% of
total energy is coming from carbs
or more than 70% of total energy comes from carbs.
Both pose a higher risk to our health.
It means that what we were taught in school
is very important here.
A balanced diet.
While doing a healthy weight loss, you don't
need to completely remove carbs from your diet.
Rather, you need to eat healthy carbs.
" Carbohydrates is the food for the brain.
If you stop eating carbs,
your brain health may start declining.
Aggression, depression, nervousness, anxiety,
trepidation, all these are part of it."
What are healthy carbs?
Carbs that are absorbed by the body slowly.
These don't raise or lower the blood sugar level.
And give the body a steady source of energy.
Examples of these are whole grains, fruits,
and starchy vegetables.
And now, let's talk about fats.
When you hear the word fat,
you might think that they make you fat.
But this fat nutrient
is also an essential nutrient
and the body needs it too.
Many vitamins like vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin
E, vitamin K are fat-soluble vitamins,
so the body needs fats to absorb them.
Apart from this, fats are needed for hormonal balance,
energy storage and to protect our vital organs.
Human brains are made up of 60% fat.
And this advice was given by the popular nutritionist
Pooja Makhija.
This trend of eating a low-fat diet,
she was against it.
She said that fats don't make you fat.
Rather, eating more fat and eating the wrong
kind of fat makes you fat.
So, a healthy weight loss diet is a balanced diet
in which carbohydrates, proteins and
fats are present.
The next question is, what is the
optimum percentage of each of them?
What is the healthy proportion?
There is a range called Acceptable Macronutrient
Distribution Ranges (AMDR).
According to this, 45-65% of your daily calories
should be from carbohydrates.
20-35% of calories should be from fats.
10-35% of calories should be from protein.
The percentage you should be in this range
depends on your personal lifestyle choices.
Your age,
how much muscle you want to gain,
are you diabetic, what kind of food you prefer.
For these you can consult a professional dietician,
and it will be a good idea,
to get a diet plan customized for you.
If you do not want to consult a dietitian,
then for an average person who is
not facing any health problems,
it would be better to stay within this range.
So, the next question you will ask is, how
can you stay within this range?
What to eat and what not to eat?
Let's clear this point by point.
What should you eat?
You should eat whole grains.
Complex Carbohydrates.
Other than wheat and rice,
you should eat different types of grains like
corn, oats, barley, ragi, buckwheat (kuttu),
amaranth, which is also called chaulai,
or pearl millet (bajra).
Eat them as flatbreads (roti) or porridge.
Apart from this, you should eat legumes like
grams (chana)
or different types of lentils.
These are good sources of complex carbohydrates.
And they also have fiber and protein.
Then you focus on other healthy foods like
fruits and vegetables.
Kidney beans (rajma), chickpeas (chole),
soy protein (soya chunks),
gram powdered (sattu), fruits, berries,
dry fruits, peanuts, walnuts,
pumpkin seeds, chia seeds,
flax seeds, spices, eggs.
Dairy items like milk, curd, and cottage cheese (paneer)
contain healthy fats.
They should be eaten in controlled amounts.
It is important to mention that many people
think that they are eating a balanced diet.
But in reality, their diet is not balanced.
In North India, you must have seen many people
eating 3-4 rotis with half a bowl of vegetables.
This is not the right proportion.
Unknowingly, in their home-cooked meals, many people
eat more rotis in a higher proportion of carbs.
They should increase the amount of vegetables.
"Other than water, what else should one eat?
Drink water, eat green vegetables,
green is very good for the body.
It contains antioxidants,
it is good for the skin.
I eat a lot of vegetables."
Don't be stingy in buying vegetables.
And second, don't bargain with the vegetable vendor.
Even if you save ₹5-₹10 by paying less to a poor person,
you won't be able to build a palace.
If you want to save money,
don't spend a, 150 on burgers,
don't spend a‚ 400 on pizza.
The online food delivery apps that you use,
on which you spend thousands every month,
save money there.
I would say, stop relying on food delivery apps.
Use that money to buy nuts, seeds, fruits,
and other healthy food.
If you don't want to cook food, hire someone.
Someone will get employment and you
will be able to eat healthy and tasty food.
Now let's talk about what you should not eat
in a healthy weight loss diet.
First of all, refined flour.
Refined carbohydrates like refined flour
get digested very quickly in your body.
You can see unhealthy spikes in your blood
sugar levels because of this.
And if you eat many things made of refined flour
then after 1-2 hours of eating
you will start feeling hungry again.
Because shortly after eating these,
your blood sugar levels drop rapidly.
The second problem with refined flour is that
it has bad cholesterol,
known as LDL cholesterol,
which causes arteries to clog, increase in blood pressure,
increases hunger, increases craving for sweets.
Second, stop eating sugar.
This is the same problem with refined sugar,
which is also called added sugar. I explained this in the Blog on cold drinks.
This added sugar is not only found in cold
drinks, but also in ice creams, candies, biscuits, etc.
Third, stop eating bad fats.
As I told you earlier,
there are two types of fats.
Good fats and bad fats.
Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats
are beneficial for us.
We get these good fats from plant sources.
Like peanuts, olive oil,
pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds,
almonds, pistachios,
walnuts, sunflower oil, flaxseed oil.
On the other hand, we need very little saturated fats.
But most people eat a lot of saturated fats.
They are found in butter, raw coconut oil
or clarified butter (desi ghee).
If you eat a lot of saturated fats for many
years, it increases the risk of heart attack.
Palm oil also has saturated fats, which is
found in most packaged foods in India.
And then comes trans fats,
which are the most harmful.
These trans fats are found in refined oil,
which is usually in everything that you eat out.
Fried food, fried chicken,
fried momos, fried doughnuts, french fries,
Indian street food, golgappas, samosas,
all of these have high value of trans fats
because they are deep fried.
Deep-fried foods should be avoided.
Some people watch this and say
that I am fear-mongering.
There's a channel called Foodpharmer,
they make good health-related videos.
But people accuse him of fear-mongering
since he points out things that one shouldn't eat.
Fear-mongering means spreading fear about
something unnecessary.
But the thing here is that these things
are they are, actually, very dangerous.
Avoid eating as much packaged food as possible.
These are ultra-processed food items made in factories.
They are made of everything that's harmful to us.
Refined flour, added sugar,
artificial sweeteners, palm oil,
artificial food colours, harmful preservatives.
First, let's look at the things made of refined flour.
Biscuits, Rusk, Mathri, Chakli,
Namakpare, Fanpuffs, Samosa, Kachodi,
Pav Bhaji, Vada Pav, Aloo Patty,
Hot Dog, Bhature, Kulcha,
Tandoori Roti, Naan, Malabar Paratha,
Pizza, Donuts, Chowmein,
Spring Rolls, Momos, Jalebi,
Ghevar, Gulab Jamun, Pancakes,
Muffins, Cakes, Sandwiches, Phew!
In fact, even your favourite Tandoori Masala
Chhaap has 40% refined flour.
And what are the other harmful things
in these food items?
Bad oil, the deep-fried things,
like Bhature, Samosas, Kachori, Momos,
the examples I just listed out,
Added sugar, apart from this, cold drinks,
ice cream, candies, chocolates, biscuits,
cereals, packaged juice, and even the expensive biscuits
which are sold as high-fiber, multigrain digestive
contain refined flour, sugar, palm oil,
raising agents, artificial flavouring substances.
Most people consume these on a daily basis.
I would like to give you a 30-day challenge
stop eating these which contain these 4 things.
Maida, added sugar, bad oil or trans fats, and packaged food.
Don't eat these things for 30 days
and you'll see a transformation in yourself.
After these 30 days, you'll feel
much more healthy.
You'll have more energy.
You'll be able to concentrate more on work and studies.
You might be thinking
that I haven't left out any ingredients.
What can one eat if not these things?
Don't be disheartened.
Because there're so many things to eat other than these.
You can eat roti-sabzi with very little ghee or butter.
Idli, Upma, Poha, Dhokla,
Omelette, Moong Dal Cheela, Dosa,
Uttapam, which is made with very little butter,
Milk, Curd, Lassi,
Boiled Eggs, Natural Fruit Juice, Cheekushake,
Anjeershake, Misi Roti, Tawa Paratha,
Raita, Butter Milk, Jeera Rice, Biryani,
Hara Bhara Kebab, Mushroom Tikka, Paneer Tikka,
You can eat these if they are made in desi ghee, butter, or olive oil.
The interesting thing is that when you
start eating more of these things
and less of the unhealthy things,
you will notice a transformation,
your taste buds will start changing.
You will stop craving for that unhealthy food.
This happens a lot to me.
I never feel like eating packaged food.
You will crave fresh fruits and fresh vegetables.
If you are not used to eating all this fresh food,
you can start with your favourite fruit or vegetables.
Also, learn to control your portions while eating.
Always drink a glass of water before eating
so that you don't need to eat much.
Eat on small plates, with small spoons,
and eat slowly.
Don't eat so much that your stomach is 100% full.
Eat till it is 80% full.
I had talked about this in the
Blog on the World's Oldest Human.
How, in Japan, people have a philosophy of
eating only till they are 80% full.
When you eat more vegetables,
which have more fibre and more volume,
you'll feel less hungry,
you'll have less space in your stomach,
and you'll consume fewer calories.
Now, this was all about food.
Apart from this, the most important thing is exercise.
There are three different types of exercises.
First, stamina or cardio exercises,
which are important for your cardiovascular fitness.
Like swimming, running, or playing any other sport. The exercises that increase your heart rate.
Second, stretching exercises,
they are very important for your flexibility.
These include exercises like Surya Namaskar and Yoga.
And third, strength training,
which is important for your muscle strength and muscle endurance.
These include lifting heavy weights,
going to the gym, doing push-ups,
squats, planks, or lifting dumbbells.
So ideally, all these 3 types of exercises
should be balanced in a healthy lifestyle.
But for weight loss, it doesn't matter
what type of exercises you do
as long as these exercises are helping to burn calories.
Some exercises obviously burn more calories than others.
Like running, rope skipping, playing
badminton, football, and squash.
Some exercises burn fewer calories.
like playing cricket, doing yoga or stretching.
So, broadly speaking, you have to keep in mind that
you should burn more calories
if you want to lose more weight.
But you should do the exercises in the form you like.
Whether you do Zumba for 30 minutes
or run for 30 minutes, it's up to you.
Apart from this, movement should be
included in your day-to-day life,
like walking or cycling as much as possible.
The extra calories that are burned by these activities,
adds up throughout the day.
Always remember, doing something
is much better than doing nothing.
Some people search for
"best exercises" to lose belly fat.
Or the "best exercises" to lose facial fat.
Friends, these are only myths.
To some extent, particular muscles can be toned,
but spot reduction is more or less not possible.
Most of the research and studies that have been done,
do not support this.
The areas where our body stores fat
and the areas where the fat is burned by burning calories,
depends entirely on the body.
Your job is to exercise,
your body will decide for itself
from where the fat should be burned.
When you do this consistently,
then overall, one day your body
will get into a good shape.
This depends on genetics
the areas where your body will lose fat.
I would like to mention a final point here,
stress.
There is a significant link between weight gain and stress.
When you feel stressed,
your body's cortisol levels increase.
This reduces your metabolism
and increases your craving for fat and sugar.
So if you want to lose weight,
it is important to manage stress as well.
For this, you can do meditation, play sports,
or spend time with friends and family in real life.
I have told you a lot of things in this Blog,
but I have summarized all the useful
information on weight loss for you.
Let's do a small rewind
so that you remember everything.
The simple principle behind weight loss
is Calorie Deficit.
Control the calories you are eating
and increase the calories you are burning.
The calories you are eating should come
from your nutritious, balanced diet.
Eat more whole grains, fibrous fruits,
vegetables, and proteins
so that your stomach feels fuller.
So that you feel less hungry.
Avoid eating refined flour, white sugar,
bad oils and packaged food
so that your food cravings can be reduced
and you can focus on healthy nutrients.
Move your body daily in some way or the other
and include exercises in your regular routine.
Cardio exercises, strength training, and stretching exercises.
Make sure to sleep for 7-9 hours daily
and keep stress away from your life.
And also remember that spot reduction doesn't work
and being healthy
doesn't mean you have to fit some beauty standard.
These things make a perfect plan
for healthy weight loss.
If you want to follow this plan,
then write your goal in the comments below.
And after a month,
after completing this 30-day challenge,
give us an update in the comments
how the transformation was for you.
If you liked this Blog,
then you will definitely like this one.
In this, I have talked about Blue Zones.
The zones all over the world
where people live the longest.
What is the secret behind their health?
It's all in the Blog.
Thank you very much!
