How do you lose a lot of body fat fast

Skyvoid4600

I am overweight and I want to lose at least half my body fat which is around 40% I really want to lose a lot of it and kinda fast any tips?

TracyL963

Fast weight loss is not generally healthy weight loss. If you need to drop weight quickly for medical reasons, please consult your doctor for help. Your doctor can steer you to a prescribed program (dietician) to help you meet nutritional needs on low calories, while monitoring your health.

In the Discussions menu there is a category for Getting Started. The Most Helpful Posts sticky provides lots of helpful information for reasonable weight loss help.

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10300331/most-helpful-posts-getting-started-must-reads#latest

For me, I didn't become overweight overnight. So I shouldn't expect to lose weight that way. I've picked up lots of bad habits along the way and need to find permanent changes to keep the weight off. Losing weight is just the first step. Really aggressive weight loss is dangerous and doesn't promote healthy lifestyle changes.

RoadToFeelingGreat

I recommend to start by tracking your food and your activity, then start by limiting your liquid calories. Make sure to fix your sleep hygiene and then go to a nutricionist. These changes alone are a good healthy guide and by themselves you will see weight loss. Also, avoid the elevator, use stairs every chance you get. This is efficient because it's adding small changes to your every day life.
A good measure is to aim for a maximum of 1 kg per week though it is hard to do this in a healthy way without some support. Also make sure to limit your diet to 8 to 12 weeks. Then enter a maintenance period of at least 4 weeks. So your metabolism doesn't slow down and you avoid rebound. Also... make sure to at least do some strength training.

And be very mindfully of all the good things that come in the process, not just the numbers. So it is also healthy in a mental level.

Good luck!

mtaratoot

I wrote this on another similar thread. It fits as a response to your question as well:

If your only goal is dropping your fat and you don't care about other health implications (hair loss, brittle nails, your body digesting your muscles including your heart for fuel), then the fastest way is to stop eating food for a couple months.

Please note: This could result in some negative side effects, like muscle loss, hair loss, organ failure, and death.

If you value life and health, perhaps a better choice might be to take it slow and find a reasonable way to lose fat while maintaining muscle. It will almost surely take longer than you want. The best time to start is a year ago, then you might be close to done by now. The second best time to start is RIGHT NOW. Then stick to it. Take the long view. Be aware that ASAP is an undetermined time frame, so even if it's longer than you want, the soonest would require that you stick to whatever program you opt for.

PAV8888

Glad to hear that you are considering making changes in your current life!

When you are ready to change the things you do and the way you currently live... then you will start making the changes that will lead to a modified version of your current life.

As you explore these changes, you will discover new options and you will grow and expand and discover that things that used to be important to you aren't quite as important. And that things that didn't use to be important to you have become more so.

This discovery process can be a time you hate--which means you will discover nothing because you will be resistant to anything but a direct path to what you perceive to be your destination.

Or it can become a time when you embrace the exploration and discover new ways of living life including new hobbies, desires, and activities that entice you to spend your time in certain ways.

And if the things that used to be important to you promoted a 40% fat level and the things that have now become more important to you promote a 20% body fat level... you will find yourself at that 20% fat level after a considerable length of time closer to a year or two as opposed to a month or two.

First of all I question your current estimate of 40% body fat. And I question your end goal of 20%.

Your post as written don't inspire me as being written by someone who TODAY, at this time, knows enough about what they are discussing to be able to adequately evaluate the numbers you are throwing.

All you really know today is that you have more body fat than you want. And probably you are showing less muscle than you want to show. Or are feeling less strong than you want to. But that's about it in terms of what you really know when it comes to exact numbers.

Since we are discussing numbers, most people can tolerate a weight loss of between 0.5% and 1% of body weight per week--and the low end is where most of us tend to do better at.

Initially you will lose body fat preferentially to non fat mass, so most of the body weight will be fat loss. As you get closer to normal weight levels, or if you lose faster, you will start losing at lower fat to lean mass ratios, especially if you don't engage in considerable strength training.

The "widely accepted" value is that you will be doing good (long term) to lose 75% fat to 25% lean mass. The figure is up for debate these days: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3970209/, and it will, in part, depend on how much effort you put into preserving your non fat mass.

That preservation does not really involve doing things "fast". Sustainably? Yes. Consistently? Yes.

Best wishes in finding a good path forward.

AnnPT77

Yeah, I have a tip: Don't focus on losing fat fast. Focus on losing fat permanently. Find sustainable new routine habits you can keep up long term to first lose fat then keep it off forever almost on autopilot. Fast loss is a trap.

neanderthin

Most people (95%) just gain the weight back over time and it's generally associated to consuming the same foods that made them obese to begin with. Maybe think about your food choices and a diet that might be something you can get behind, like a Mediterranean diet for example, it's basically a whole food diet and most other similar strategies or diets will be based on whole foods simply because it's healthier and satiation is actually a big factor of success.

Exercise is also a key component of permanent weight loss and a lifestyle built for longevity and just a better quality of life. Weight training and proper protein intake will pretty much put muscle loss in very low percentages of total weight loss and many studies show muscle preservation in the 95% area, so you might want to think about that going fwd. Personally I don't see the point of just counting calories without these two interventions simply because most, like I said just go back eating the foods that put them in the situation they find themselves in.

PAV8888

neanderthin wrote: »

Most people (95%) just gain the weight back over time and it's generally associated to consuming the same foods that made them obese to begin with.

I would almost be happy with "gaining weight back over time". Most regain almost immediately on the interruption of the diet intervention... i.e. in less than a year. I would be happy if it was JUST the type of food. Then the weight re-gain would be gradual. Lose fast in one year regain over 5 years... many years in a weight reduced state compared to today during the cycle. But that's not the cycle one sees. It is a much quicker loss and regain curve for most people.

It is not just the type of food. Not just the lifestyle. It is also the general over-eating that ensues post diet intervention. And the "I don't care fugue-like state" during regain. Now type of food CAN influence the degree of over-eating. And satiating whole foods won't make things worse for sure as compared to candy bars. But even satiating whole foods are not the complete picture.

Some understanding. Lots of management. Making incremental changes... there is a bit of work to be done to get to and maintain the end result of halving one's fat content regardless of the exact number of grams of fat or percentages one has.

Not just "iron willpower" and not just "heroic effort". But pedestrian setting up of changes and incremental roadblocks to backsliding. including the types of food one prefers to eat most of the time.

neanderthin

PAV8888 wrote: »

neanderthin wrote: »

Most people (95%) just gain the weight back over time and it's generally associated to consuming the same foods that made them obese to begin with.

I would almost be happy with "gaining weight back over time". Most regain almost immediately on the interruption of the diet intervention... i.e. in less than a year. I would be happy if it was JUST the type of food. Then the weight re-gain would be gradual. Lose fast in one year regain over 5 years... many years in a weight reduced state compared to today during the cycle. But that's not the cycle one sees. It is a much quicker loss and regain curve for most people.

It is not just the type of food. Not just the lifestyle. It is also the general over-eating that ensues post diet intervention. And the "I don't care fugue-like state" during regain. Now type of food CAN influence the degree of over-eating. And satiating whole foods won't make things worse for sure as compared to candy bars. But even satiating whole foods are not the complete picture.

Some understanding. Lots of management. Making incremental changes... there is a bit of work to be done to get to and maintain the end result of halving one's fat content regardless of the exact number of grams of fat or percentages one has.

Not just "iron willpower" and not just "heroic effort". But pedestrian setting up of changes and incremental roadblocks to backsliding. including the types of food one prefers to eat most of the time.

Yeah, the effect of refined carbohydrates, sugar and refine seed oils are well understood and their effect on rapid blood sugar pikes, insulin resistance, hormonal dysregulation, mostly leptin and ghrelin and inflammation that further disrupts hormones with weight gain that's almost a given, obesity etc, this isn't disputed. Considering most people consume mostly these types of foods it's really not surprising that almost 80% of the population is overweight or obese and with Insulin Resistance climbing to almost 50% of the population isn't a coincidence and climbing, kids are now getting fatty liver at 9 years old. We can't even convince people to eat more fruit and vegetables and that consumption has and is pretty much flatlined for over 50 years, tasty food is tasty while babies have been spitting out vegetables from the beginning of time, lol, just kidding.

elisa123gal

Good for you for taking the first step to losing weight and getting healthy. I understand how you want the fat off and fast. Truth is.. if you simply start eating healthy and track your food here.. you're going to lose pretty fast and in a healthy way.
When a person is large.. they lose more easily as their calorie goal is pretty generous at first. The less one weighs.. the lower the calorie restriction. and it gets more difficult to diet. But, by then.. many lessons are learned and doing the work is a welcome .
You are starting a journey... the best thing to do is simply start..and come here to read through the forums.. you will learn so much and see many examples of someone just like you who made it to their goal weight.

Skyvoid4600

Thank you guys for everything!😁