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Be Patient
It
usually takes years or decades to gain a lot of weight. Trying to lose
it all as quickly as possible by starving yourself rarely works well
long-term, that’s just the recipe for “yo-yo dieting”. To succeed you
need something that works long term.
What to aim for
It’s common to lose 2-6 pounds (1-3 kg) within the first week on a strict low carb diet, and then on average about one pound (0.5 kg) per week as long as you have a lot of weight remaining to lose. This translates into about 50 pounds (25 kilos) per year.
Every 5 pounds of fat loss roughly equals 1 inch lost around the waist (1 kilo = 1 cm).
Young
males sometimes lose weight quicker than this, perhaps twice as fast.
Post-menopausal women may lose it at a slightly slower pace. People
eating a very strict low carb diet may lose weight quicker, as well as
those who exercise a lot (a bonus). And if you have an enormous amount
of excess weight to lose you could start out much faster.
As you
get closer to your ideal weight the loss slows, until you stabilize at a
weight that your body feels is right. Hardly anyone gets underweight on
a low carb diet – as long as they eat when hungry.
Examples: Weight loss stories.
Initial stalls
Are
you coming off a period of semi-starvation (calorie counting)? Focus on
your waist circumference and health markers (see advice #4) at first as
it sometimes takes several weeks before weight loss is apparent.
Weight loss plateaus
Expect
weight loss plateaus: Days or weeks where nothing seems to happen on
the scale. Everybody gets them. Stay calm. Keep doing what you’re doing
and eventually things will start happening again (if not, check the
other 16 tips).
How to lose weight forever
Losing a lot of weight long-term and keeping it off forever won’t happen unless you change your habits forever.
If you lose weight and then return to living exactly the way did when
you gained weight, don’t be surprised when the excess weight returns. It
will.
Maintaining weight loss requires long-term change and
patience. If this doesn’t seem possible for you, then you’re perhaps
more interested in one of these magical diet scams.
Forget
quick fixes: If you lose some weight every month, eventually you’ll get
rid of all your excess weight. That’s inevitable progress. That’s what
you want.
PS: Long-term change is only hard in the beginning, especially during the first couple of weeks. It’s like quitting smoking. Once you develop new habits it becomes easier and easier every week. Eventually it comes naturally.
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