How to start losing weight

Maintaining a healthy weight is often easier said than done. With hard work and dedication, many of us are able to shift the pounds but find they come bouncing right back in just a matter of weeks.

It can sometimes seem impossible to stick to your fitness goals whilst still enjoying the lifestyle you currently lead.

But, here are some top tips to help you get in shape and stay trim – and the solutions might be more simple than you think. 

How to start losing weight

To start with the absolute basics: you need to be in a calorie deficit, or eating fewer calories than your body is burning, to lose weight. A simple statement – but even here, the arguments start. One view that’s gained popularity in recent years, for instance, suggests that if your body’s insulin levels are too high, you’ll effectively lock up your fat stores, making them impossible for your body to access for energy. So while fat loss still comes down to calories in vs calories out, the argument goes, eating the wrong foods makes the “calories out” bit much more difficult – even if you exercise and watch your food intake, your body will secretly skimp on energy expenditure elsewhere, down-regulating your metabolism or forcing you to subconsciously fidget less. Complex stuff.

The evidence seems to be mounting against this view but the opposite idea, that nothing but numbers matters (calories in vs calories out), doesn’t seem to paint the whole picture either.

Obesity is a multi-faceted issue, and evidence suggests that everything from genetics and childhood food intake to pollution is a factor. Some people, through no fault of their own, are likely to find weight loss much more difficult than others.

So what about the stuff that’s actually under your control?

How to keep the weight off 

It’s easy to overeat processed foods

Consider the humble broccoli floret. Agriculturally tweaked to be a bit more palatable than its prehistoric predecessors, sure, but mostly unprocessed – and, at 170 calories a head, basically impossible to overeat. Compare that with Custard Creams – at 58 calories each, you’ve probably eaten three while you read this article – and you get a sense of the problem: processed foods are often extremely calorie dense, engineered to be deliciously moreish, and all too easy to overeat.

Sugar, for instance, can feel addictive enough in its own right, but combined with salt or fat, it’s almost inhumanly addictive. Make sure the bulk of your diet is whole, unprocessed foods – meat, eggs, and veg all fit the bill – and you’ll find it tough to accidentally overindulge. 

Exercise helps, but so does other activity

Yes, you can lose weight without exercise, but moving your body has so many positive effects – many of which, like stress relief and psychological well-being, dovetail perfectly with dieting – that it’s only sensible to find a sport or session you like, and do it regularly.

In the grand scheme of things, though, exercise might not be a huge factor in fat loss – you’d be pedalling hard to burn off 500 calories in 40 minutes of exercise biking – and so increasing Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis, fashionably known as NEAT, can be a welcome boost. The simplest option is to get steps in wherever you can – walking as you talk on the phone, going for a stroll in your lunch hour, and always taking the stairs.  

For more advice, read our guide on how to lose weight and keep it off for good