Weight loss

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text woodmart_inline=”no” text_larger=”no”]Weight loss, in the context of medicine, health, or physical fitness, refers to a reduction of the total body mass, by a mean loss of fluid, body fat (adipose tissue), or lean mass (namely bone mineral deposits, muscle, tendon, and other connective tissue). Weight loss can either occur unintentionally because of malnourishment or an underlying disease, or from a conscious effort to improve an actual or perceived overweight or obese state. “Unexplained” weight loss that is not caused by reduction in calorific intake or exercise is called cachexia and may be a symptom of a serious medical condition. Intentional weight loss is commonly referred to as slimming.

It’s natural for anyone trying to lose weight to want to lose it very quickly. But people who lose weight gradually and steadily (about 1 to 2 pounds per week) are more successful at keeping weight off. Healthy weight loss isn’t just about a “diet” or “program”. It’s about an ongoing lifestyle that includes long-term changes in daily eating and exercise habits.

Once you’ve achieved a healthy weight, rely on healthy eating and physical activity to help you keep the weight off over the long term.

Losing weight is not easy, and it takes commitment. But if you’re ready to get started, we’ve got a step-by-step guide to help get you on the road to weight loss and better health.

Causes of weight loss

Remember, not all weight loss is serious. It can happen after a life-changing or stressful event. However, unintentional weight loss may be a sign of one of these medical conditions.

Muscle wasting

Muscle loss, or muscle wasting, can lead to unexpected weight loss. The major symptom is muscle weakness. One of your limbs may even look smaller than the other.

Your body is made of fat mass and fat-free mass, which includes muscle, bone, and water. If you lose muscle, you’ll lose weight.

This can happen if you don’t use muscles for a while. It’s most common in people who don’t exercise, work desk jobs, or are bedridden. Generally, exercise and proper nutrition will reverse muscle loss.

Other possible causes of muscle loss include:

• osteoarthritis
• rheumatoid arthritis
• osteoporosis
• multiple sclerosis
• injuries, such as broken bones
• aging
• burns
• stroke
• nerve damage

Hyperthyroidism

Hyperthyroidism, or overactive thyroid, develops when your thyroid gland makes too much thyroid hormone. These hormones control many functions in the body, including metabolism.

If your thyroid is overactive, you’ll quickly burn calories even if you have a good appetite. The result can be unintentional weight loss.

Other symptoms include:

• fatigue
• heat intolerance
• sleep troubles
• hand tremors
• fast, irregular heart rate
• anxiety
• light periods in women

Possible causes of hyperthyroidism include:

• Graves’ disease
• thyroiditis
• eating too much iodine
• taking too much thyroid medicine

Treatment of hyperthyroidism depends on your age and severity of your case. Generally, it’s treated with anti-thyroid medications, radioactive iodine, beta-blockers, or surgery.

Rheumatoid arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease that makes your immune system attack the lining of your joints, leading to inflammation. Chronic inflammation can speed up metabolism and reduce overall weight.

Symptoms of RA include joint swelling and pain. It usually affects the same joints on both sides of your body. If you have RA, your joints might feel stiff if you don’t move for an hour or more.

The exact cause of RA is unknown. It may be linked to:

• age
• genes
• hormonal changes
• smoking
• secondhand smoking
• obesity

Treatment of RA typically begins with medication. Medications include disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs, corticosteroids, biologics, and Janus associated kinase inhibitors.

Depression

Weight loss may be a side effect of depression, which is defined as feeling sad, lost, or empty for at least two weeks. These emotions interfere with daily activities, such as going to work or school.

Depression affects the same parts of the brain that control appetite. This can lead to poor appetite, and eventually, weight loss.

In some people, depression may increase appetite. The symptoms vary from person to person. Other symptoms of depression include:

• constant sadness
• loss of interest in hobbies
• low energy
• poor concentration
• sleeping too little or too much
• thoughts of death or suicide
• irritability

Behavioral therapy, psychotherapy, and antidepressants are used to treat depression.

Diabetes

Another cause of unwanted weight loss is type 1 diabetes. If you have type 1 diabetes, your immune system attacks cells in your pancreas that make insulin. Without insulin, your body can’t use glucose for energy. This causes high blood glucose.

Your kidneys remove unused glucose through urine. As sugar leaves your body, so do calories.

Type 1 diabetes also causes:

• frequent urination
• dehydration
• fatigue
• blurry vision
• excessive thirst
• excessive hunger

Treatment of type 1 diabetes includes insulin, blood sugar monitoring, diet modifications, and exercise.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a progressive lung disease. This includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis. Many people with COPD have both.

Emphysema slowly damages the air sacs in your lungs, making it hard to breathe. Chronic bronchitis causes inflammation of the airways that bring air to your lungs. This produces mucus, coughing, and breathing issues.

Early COPD is mild. Some people may not show symptoms but those that may appear include:

• shortness of breath
• wheezing
• chest tightness
• mild coughing, with or without mucus

In later stages, COPD can cause weight loss. Labored breathing burns a lot of calories. According to Cleveland Clinic, a person with COPD may need 10 more times more calories to breathe than a person without COPD. It can also feel uncomfortable to eat and breathe at the same time.

Symptoms of severe COPD also include:

• swelling of legs, ankles, or feet
• low muscle endurance
• fatigue

The main cause of COPD is cigarette smoking. Long-term exposure to irritants such as air pollution and dust can also lead to COPD. Treatment includes medications, such as bronchodilators, and lung therapies, like oxygen therapy.

Inflammatory bowel disease

Unexpected weight loss may be a symptom of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). IBD is a term that encompasses several chronic inflammatory disorders of the digestive tract. The two most common types are Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.

The chronic inflammation of IBD puts your body in a catabolic state, which means that it’s constantly using up energy.

IBD also disrupts ghrelin, the hunger hormone, and leptin, the satiety hormone. This results in decreased appetite and weight loss.

Additional symptoms include:

• diarrhea
• stomach pain
• bloating
• bloody stools
• fatigue

These symptoms are triggered by certain foods. If you have IBD, you might be hesitant to eat. Treatment of IBD usually consists of nutritional support, medication, and in some cases, surgery.

Endocarditis

Endocarditis causes inflammation of your heart’s inner lining, or endocardium. It develops when germs usually bacteria enter the bloodstream and collect in your heart. Most people with endocarditis have a fever. This may come along with a poor appetite. Elevated body temperature also increases metabolism and burns fat, causing weight loss.

Other symptoms include:

• difficulty breathing
• chest pain
• headache
• night sweats
• back pain heart murmur
• coughing, with or without blood
• abdominal pain
• red or purple spots on the skin

Endocarditis is rare in healthy hearts. It’s more likely to affect people with damaged heart valves, artificial heart valves, or congenital heart defects. Treatment of endocarditis includes antibiotics and surgery.

Tuberculosis

Another cause of unexplained weight loss is tuberculosis (TB), a contagious condition that usually affects the lungs. It’s caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria. Weight loss and decreased appetite are major symptoms of TB, but the reasons aren’t fully understood. TB spreads through the air. You can catch TB without getting sick. If your immune system can fight it, the bacteria will become inactive. This is called latent TB.

Over time, it can turn into active TB. Symptoms include:

• bad cough that lasts 3 weeks or more
• chest pain
• coughing up blood or phlegm
• fatigue
• night sweats
• chills
• fever

Some people are at risk for active TB. This includes people with weak immune systems, especially those who have:

• low body weight
• substance use disorder
• diabetes
• silicosis
• leukemia
• Hodgkin’s disease
• HIV
• organ transplant

TB is typically treated with a course of antibiotics for six to nine months.

Cancer

Cancer is the general term for diseases that cause abnormal cells to quickly divide and spread. According to the American Cancer Society, one of the first signs may be unexplained weight loss of 10 pounds or more. This is common with cancers of the pancreas, lung, stomach, and esophagus.

Cancer increases inflammation. This promotes muscle wasting and disrupts appetite-regulating hormones. A growing tumor may also increase your resting energy expenditure (REE), or how much energy your body burns at rest.

Early symptoms of cancer also include:

• fever
• fatigue
• pain
• skin changes

Many conditions can cause these symptoms. Sometimes, cancer doesn’t cause any symptoms.

Treatment depends on the type of cancer. Typical treatments include, surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy.

Addison’s disease

Addison’s disease develops when the immune system attacks the adrenal glands. In turn, the adrenal glands can’t make enough hormones like cortisol and aldosterone. Cortisol regulates many functions, including metabolism and appetite. Low levels of cortisol may lead to poor appetite and weight loss.

Other symptoms of Addison’s disease include:

• low blood pressure
• chronic fatigue
• muscle weakness
• salt cravings
• hyperpigmentation

Addison’s disease is rare, affecting roughly 1 in 100,000 people in the United States. Treatment includes medications that’ll regulate your adrenal gland.

Congestive heart failure

Weight loss is a complication of congestive heart failure (CHF). CHF develops when the heart can’t fill up with enough blood, the heart can’t pump blood with enough force, or both. It may affect one or both sides of the heart.

If you have CHF, your digestive system can’t receive enough blood. This can lead to nausea and early fullness. Additionally, it might be hard to breathe while eating.

The inflammation in damaged heart tissue also speeds up metabolism, causing unintentional weight loss.

CHF symptoms also include:

• shortness of breath
• persistent coughing
• swelling
• fatigue
• fast heart rate

There are several medications used to treat CHF, including angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, beta-blockers, and diuretics. In some cases, surgery might be necessary.

HIV

HIV attacks immune cells called T cells. This makes it difficult to fight infections. If left untreated, HIV can lead to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Advanced forms of these conditions often cause weight loss.

Symptoms like sore throat, mouth sores, and fatigue can make eating uncomfortable. HIV also increase the risk of secondary infections, which increase REE.

Other symptoms of HIV include:

• fever
• chills
• rashes
• night sweats
• swollen lymph nodes
• muscle aches

Symptoms of HIV depend on the person and stage of infection. Antiretroviral therapy is used to treat HIV and stop the spread of the virus and may improve weight loss.

Benefits of weight loss

Even a modest weight loss of 5 to 10 percent of your total body weight is likely to produce health benefits, such as improvements in blood pressure, blood cholesterol, and blood sugars.¹

For example, if you weigh 200 pounds, a 5 percent weight loss equals 10 pounds, bringing your weight down to 190 pounds. While this weight may still be in the “overweight” or “obese” range, this modest weight loss can decrease your risk factors for chronic diseases related to obesity.

So even if the overall goal seems large, see it as a journey rather than just a final destination. You’ll learn new eating and physical activity habits that will help you live a healthier lifestyle. These habits may help you maintain your weight loss over time.

For example, the National Weight Control Registry external icon noted that study participants who maintained a significant weight loss reported improvements in physical health as well as energy levels, physical mobility, general mood, and self-confidence.

How to lose weight in healthy manner

Consume less sugar

One way to lose weight quickly is to cut back on sugars and starches, or carbohydrates. This could be with a low carb eating plan or by reducing refined carbs and replacing them with whole grains. When you do that, your hunger levels go down, and you generally end up eating fewer calories.With a low carb eating plan, you’ll utilize burning stored fat for energy instead of carbs.

If you choose to eat more complex carbs like whole grains along with a calorie deficit, you’ll benefit from higher fiber and digest them more slowly. This makes them more filling to keep you satisfied. A 2020 study confirmed that a very low carbohydrate diet was beneficial for losing weight in older populations

Research also suggests that a low carb diet can reduce appetite, which may lead to eating fewer calories without thinking about it or feeling hungry. Note that the long-term effects of a low carb diet are still being researched. It can also be difficult to adhere to a low carb diet, which may lead to yo-yo dieting and less success in maintaining a healthy weight.

There are potential downsides to a low carb diet that may lead you to a different method. Reduced calorie diets can also lead to weight loss and be easier to maintain for longer periods of time. If you opt for a diet focusing instead on whole grains over refined carbs, a 2019 study correlated high whole grain with lower body mass index (BMI). To determine the best way for you to lose weight, consult your doctor for recommendations.

Eat protein and  fat rich meal

Each one of your meals should include:

• a protein source
• fat source
• vegetables
• a small portion of complex carbohydrates, such as whole grains

To see how you can assemble your meals, check out:

• this low carb meal plan
• this lower calorie meal plan
• these lists of 101 healthy low carb recipes and low calorie foods

Protein

Eating a recommended amount of protein is essential to help preserve your health and muscle mass while losing weight. Evidence suggests that eating adequate protein may improve cardiometabolic risk factors, appetite, and body weight,

Here’s how to determine how much you need to eat without eating too much. Many factors determine your specific needs, but generally, an average person needs

• 56–91 grams per day for the average male
• 46–75 grams per day for the average female

Diets with adequate protein can also help:

• reduce cravings and obsessive thoughts about food by 60%
• reduce the desire to snack late at night by half
• make you feel full

In one study, people on a higher protein diet ate 441 fewer calories per day

Healthy protein sources include:

• meat: beef, chicken, pork, and lamb
• fish and seafood: salmon, trout, and shrimp
• eggs: whole eggs with the yolk
• plant-based proteins: beans, legumes, quinoa, tempeh, and tofu

Low carb and leafy green vegetables

Don’t be afraid to load your plate with leafy green vegetables. They’re packed with nutrients, and you can eat very large amounts without greatly increasing calories and carbs.

Vegetables to include for low carb or low calorie eating plans:

• broccoli
• cauliflower
• spinach
• tomatoes
• kale
• Brussels sprouts
• cabbage
• Swiss chard
• lettuce
• cucumber

Healthy fats

Don’t be afraid of eating fats. Your body still requires healthy fats no matter what eating plan you choose. Olive oil and avocado oil are great choices for including in your eating plan. Other fats such as butter and coconut oil should be used only in moderation due to their higher saturated fat content

Exercise regularly

Exercise, while not required to lose weight, can help you lose weight more quickly. Lifting weights has particularly good benefits. By lifting weights, you’ll burn lots of calories and prevent your metabolism from slowing down, which is a common side effect of losing weight. Try going to the gym three to four times a week to lift weights. If you’re new to the gym, ask a trainer for some advice. Make sure your doctor is also aware of any new exercise plans. If lifting weights is not an option for you, doing some cardio workouts such as walking, jogging, running, cycling, or swimming is very beneficial for weight loss and general health. Both cardio and weightlifting can help with weight loss.

Meal ideas for weight loss

These sample meal plans are low carb, which limits carbs to 20–50 carbs per day. Each meal should have protein, healthy fats, and veggies.

If you’d prefer to lose weight while still eating complex carbs, add in some healthy whole grains such as:

• quinoa
• whole oats
• whole wheat
• bran
• rye
• barley

For Breakfast

• unsweetened Greek yogurt with berries and almonds
• green smoothie with spinach, avocado, and nut milk and a side of cottage cheese
• poached egg with sliced avocado and a side of berries
• spinach, mushroom, and feta crustless quiche

For Lunch

• lettuce wrap with grilled chicken, black beans, red pepper, and salsa
• kale and spinach salad with grilled tofu, chickpeas, and guacamole
• BLT wrap with celery sticks and peanut butter
• smoked salmon with avocado and a side of asparagus

For Dinner ideas

• roasted cauliflower with tempeh, Brussels sprouts, and pine nuts
• enchilada salad with chicken, peppers, mango, avocado, and spices
• ground turkey bake with mushrooms, onions, peppers, and cheese
• antipasto salad with white beans, asparagus, cucumbers, olive oil, and Parmesan
• salmon baked with ginger, sesame oil, and roasted zucchini

More ideas

• cauliflower hummus and veggies
• healthy homemade trail mix with nuts and dried fruit
• kale chips
• cottage cheese with cinnamon and flaxseeds
• spicy roasted chickpeas
• roasted pumpkin seeds
• tuna pouches
• steamed edamame
• strawberries and brie

Tips for weight loss

Choose weight-loss-friendly foods. Some foods are better for weight loss than others. Here is a list of healthy weight-loss-friendly foods.

Eat soluble fiber. Studies show that soluble fibers may promote weight loss. Fiber supplements like glucomannan can also help

Drink coffee or tea. Caffeine consumption can boost your metabolism

Base your diet on whole foods. They’re healthier, more filling, and much less likely to cause overeating than processed foods.

Eat slowly. Eating quickly can lead to weight gain over time, while eating slowly makes you feel more full and boosts weight-reducing hormones.

Drink water before meals. One study showed that drinking water before meals reduced calorie intake and may be effective in weight management

Get good quality sleep. Sleep is important for many reasons, and poor sleep is one of the biggest risk factors for weight gain

Eat a high protein breakfast. Eating a high protein breakfast could help reduce cravings and calorie intake throughout the day

Avoid sugary drinks and fruit juice. Empty calories from sugar aren’t useful to your body and can hinder weight loss[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]