The Other Weight Loss Equation

There seems to be a simple equation that a lot of people are using as the staple their dieting regime: A Good Diet + Increased Exercise = Weight Loss. For others, it’s not as simple as it may seem. While the idea is good in concept, we often just need a little bit of a boost for us to be able to get us to where we need to be. It’s just knowing about what they are and being able to act on them which will set you on the path.

Ketosis

Ketosis is a state that your body gets into after a major calorie deficit, included with a lack of carbohydrates; after your body realises that it has no calories to get its fuel from, it goes straight to your fat reserves. Diets such as the Cambridge Weight Plan have used this to their advantage and offer products to help you get into ketosis on their sole source plan. The benefits of ketosis don’t just stop at increased weight loss (you have to be consuming under 800 calories with little to no carbohydrates for this to work), but apparently offer an increased focus and concentration with what you are doing. It’s not widely spoken about in the dieting community as it is hard to go through – you are essentially going cold turkey from the things that your body is used to and unknowingly craves, and the sense of initial hunger is something that puts a lot of people off.

Supplements

It is important to remember that weight loss supplements are to be used in addition to a healthy, balanced diet in order for them to work. There is no supplement that can truly take over your whole lifestyle – you need to be able to put the work and the effort in elsewhere to see the results. They are an aid to what you are doing rather than the be all and end all. A lot of them contain much needed amino acids to help boost your metabolism and curb unnecessary hunger that you may be feeling.

Water

A lot of the time, you’re not even hungry – it’s your brain getting confused with the signals that it’s sending out. Hunger and thirst are two very similar reactions which both require something being put in the mouth to stimulate the senses, so try and choose thirst over hunger and see where that gets you. It is recommended that you drink at least eight glasses of water per day, but a lot of us don’t hit that target. The more water you drink, the more energised and focused you will feel.

Types of Exercise

We don’t necessarily do the right exercise for what we want to achieve. If we want to lose weight, we should be raising our heart rate to cardio level – above 110 beats per minute – to be able to really take advantage of the fat burn that is on offer to us. Core exercises and weightlifting won’t do this for you; you need to look at something like crossfit, running, swimming or rowing instead.