Habit Hack #5: My Two Best Weight Loss Hacks
As we approach New Year’s resolution season, I’m sharing five hacks that might help you create and stick with new habits in 2022. Below is habit hack number five…
#5: My two best weight loss hacks
Since nearly 50% of people set weight loss as their New Years Resolution, I thought I would share my two best weight loss hacks - they work, have science behind them, are healthy and sustainable.
I wrestled in junior high and high school and rowed lightweight crew in college. For nearly a decade, I was cutting weight and needed to weigh in regularly. During this time, I read countless books and articles, got advice from coaches, and generally experimented on myself. I have literally tried everything - from Adkins to Paleo to wrapping myself in garbage bags and sweating while I cycled (which I highly recommend not doing).
The biggest thing I learned is that if you’re on a temporary “diet” which severely restricts calories, you’ve already lost. Any weight loss associated with one of these highly restrictive diets is typically temporary and reverses when the diet ends.
From the day I first cut weight at the age of 13 to today at 49, I found two simple hacks that can become a permanent part of your lifestyle and are not terribly restrictive. They are also simple, healthy, and easy to follow.
Hack 1: Focus on increasing volume of foods, not reducing calories
Several studies have shown that the average person consumes somewhere between three and five pounds of food each day. This is a simple yet profound finding. Compare two foods that most people would consider healthy, low-fat Graham Crackers and apples. Four pounds of Graham Crackers contain 7,646 calories, roughly three times the 2,500 calories required daily for the average male. By contrast four pounds of apples contain only 947 calories or 80% fewer calories than the Graham Crackers.
The magic is in the relative calorie density of each food. If you are looking to lose or maintain weight, you should be solving for foods that have low calorie density per gram.
Examples of low calorie dense foods that have 0-0.5 calories / gram include: vegetables, fruit, skim milk, many soups, and nonfat yogurt.
Examples of high calorie dense foods that have 4.0-9.0 calories / graham include: chips, pretzels, croissants, and Graham Crackers.
Pretzels and Graham Crackers might be fat free, but because of their caloric density, they won’t send signals to tell your brain you’re full until you have consumed them in a volume which has significant calories. Conversely, soup or yogurt have high weight per calorie and will satiate you much more quickly.
Another benefit of choosing high volume based foods is that they tend to be less processed and more vitamin rich. And finally, eating low calorically dense foods doesn’t leave you feeling unsatisfied like many weight loss diets. There are many great foods that have low caloric density. Here’s a link to some of them https://www.facebook.com/theshreddedvegan/photos/calorie-density-is-a-measure-of-the-calorie-content-of-food-relative-to-its-weig/240510374003542/
Hack 2: Eat protein with every meal
During business school, a friend of mine seemingly ate whatever he wanted and yet had the most shredded abs I’d ever seen. When I once asked him for his secret he replied simply, “I eat protein with every meal.”
That sounded a little simplistic, but I have come to realize that not only does it work(!), but there is also science behind why it works.
Studies show that protein:
Is the more filling of carbohydrates, fat https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15466943/
Reduces the level of your hunger hormone ghrelin https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16469977/
Reduces the total number of calories you need to feel full https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16002798/
Protein also keeps your blood sugar stable and, combined with resistance training and/or exercise, will help you more quickly build muscle which will increase your metabolism.
How much protein do you need? That really depends on a lot of factors, but a good rule of thumb is to try to have at least one serving per meal. A serving could be three ounces of chicken, two eggs, or a garden burger.
Summary
I’m typically not a fan of diets and I hesitate to write an article about losing weight. But since roughly half of all Americans set losing weight as a New Year’s resolution, I wanted to provide two simple, scientifically proven, and healthy tips that might help you.
Good luck and have a Happy New Year! !
This is part five in my five-part series on habits. Read the posts here.