Do you have trouble losing weight? Or would you like to lose faster?

You’ve finally come to exactly the right place.

The sad truth is that conventional ideas – eat less, run more – do not

work long term. Counting calories, exercising for hours every day and

trying to ignore your hunger? That’s needless suffering and it wastes

your time and precious willpower. It’s weight loss for masochists.

Eventually almost everyone gives up. That’s why we have an obesity

epidemic.

Fortunately there’s a better way. Get ready for effortless weight

loss.

The bottom line? Your weight is hormonally regulated. All that’s

necessary is reducing your fat-storing hormone, insulin, and you’ll

effortlessly lose excess weight.

Below is a practical step-by-step guide to do exactly that.

Free and Fantastic

This guide is free. There are no magic pills or potions involved. You’ll

only need to eat delicious food. And no, we’re not selling that either.

The advice below is not only free, it’s insanely effective. Just how

effective? See for yourself.

The 18 Best Weight-Loss Tips Are you ready? Here we go.

Start at the top of the list (most important) and go down as far as you

need. Klick on any tip to read all about it. Perhaps you only need the

first piece of advice?

Choose a low-carb diet

Eat when hungry

Eat real food

Eat only when hungry

Measure your progress wisely

Be persistent

Women: Avoid fruit

Men: Avoid beer

Avoid artificial sweeteners

Review any medications

Stress less, sleep more

Eat less dairy products and nuts

Supplement vitamins and minerals

Use intermittent fasting

Exercise smart

Achieve optimal ketosis

Get your hormones checked

Consider weight loss pills / drugs (if desperate)

1. Choose a Low-Carb Diet If you want to lose weight you should start by avoiding sugar and

starch (like bread). This is an old idea: For 150 years or more there

have been an infinite number of weight-loss diets based on eating less

carbs. What’s new is that dozens of modern scientific studies have

proven that, yes, low carb is the most effective way to lose weight.

Obviously it’s still possible to lose weight on any diet – just eat less

calories than you burn, right? The problem with this simplistic advice is

that it ignores the elephant in the room: Hunger. Most people don’t

like to “just eat less”, i.e. being hungry forever. That’s dieting for

masochists. Sooner or later a normal person will give up and eat,

hence the prevalence of “yo-yo dieting”.

The main advantage of low carb diets is that they cause you to want to

eat less. Even without counting calories most overweight people eat

far fewer calories on low carb. Sugar and starch may increase your

hunger, avoiding it may decrease your appetite to an adequate level.

If your body wants to eat an appropriate number of calories you don’t

need to bother counting them. Thus: Calories count, but you don’t

need to count them.

A 2012 study also showed that people on a low carb diet burned 300

more calories a day – while resting! According to one of the Harvard

professors behind the study this advantage “would equal the number

of calories typically burned in an hour of moderate-intensity physical

activity”. Imagine that: an entire bonus hour of exercise every day,

without actually doing it.

Bottom line: A low carb diet reduces your hunger and makes it easier

to eat less. And it might even increase your fat burning at rest. Study

after study show that low carb is the smart way to lose weight and

that it improves important health markers.

2. Eat When Hungry Don’t be hungry. The most common mistake when starting a low carb

diet: Reducing carb intake while still being afraid of fat. The problem is

that carbs and fat are the body’s two main energy sources. It needs at

least one.

Low carb AND low fat = starvation

Avoiding both carbs and fat results in hunger, cravings and fatigue.

Sooner or later people can’t stand it and give up. The solution is to eat

more natural fat until you feel satisfied. For example:

Butter

Full-fat cream

Olive oil

Meat (including the fat)

Fatty fish

Bacon

Eggs

Coconut oil, etc.

Always eat enough, so that you feel satisfied, especially in the

beginning of the weight-loss process. Doing this on a low carb diet

means that the fat you eat will be burned as fuel by your body, as

your levels of the fat storing hormone insulin will be lowered. You’ll

become a fat burning machine. You’ll lose excess weight without

hunger.

Do you still fear saturated fat? Don’t. The fear of saturated fat is based

on obsolete theories that have been proven incorrect by modern

science. Butter is a fine food. However, feel free to eat mostly

unsaturated fat (e.g. olive oil, avocado, fatty fish) if you prefer. This

could be called a Mediterranean low carb diet and works great too.

Eating when hungry also implies something else: If you’re not

hungry you probably don’t need to eat yet. When on a LCHF diet

you can trust your feelings of hunger and satiety again. Feel free to

eat as many times per day that works best for you.

Some people eat three times a day and occasionally snack in between

(note that frequent snacking could mean that you’d benefit from

adding fat to your meals, to increase satiety). Some people only eat

once or twice a day and never snack. Whatever works for you. Just eat

when you’re hungry.

Read More about Why Eating When Hungry is Smarter than Counting

Calories

3. Eat Real Food Another common mistake when eating a low-carb diet is getting fooled

by the creative marketing of special “low carb” products.

Remember: An effective low carb diet for weight loss should be based

on real food, like this:

Real food is what humans have been eating for thousands or (even

better) millions of years, e.g. meat, fish, vegetables, eggs, butter,

olive oil, nuts etc.

If you want to lose weight you’d better avoid special “low carb”

products that are full of carbs. This should be obvious but creative

marketers are doing all they can to fool you (and get your money).

They will tell you that you can eat cookies, pasta, ice cream, bread and

plenty of chocolate on a low carb diet, as long as you buy their brand.

They’re full of carbohydrates. Don’t be fooled.

How about low-carb bread? Be careful: if it’s baked with grains it’s

certainly not low carb. But some companies still try to sell it to you as

a low-carb option.

Low-carb chocolate is usually full of sugar alcohols, which the

manufacturer does not count as carbs. But roughly half of these carbs

may be absorbed, raising blood sugar and insulin. The rest of the carbs

ends up in the colon, potentially causing gas and diarrhea.

Furthermore, any sweeteners can maintain sugar cravings.

Here are three fine examples of what to avoid:

1. Atkins’ Fairy Tale Cookies

2. Julian Bakery’s High Carb Low Carb Bread

3. The Dreamfields Pasta Fraud (that finally resulted in an 8 million dollar

fine!)

These three companies are not unique. There are thousands of similar

companies trying to trick you into buying their “low carb” junk food,

full of starch, sugar alcohols, flour, sweeteners and strange additives.

Two simple rules to avoid this junk:

Don’t eat “low carb” versions of high carb stuff, like cookies, bars,

chocolate, bread, pasta or ice cream – unless you are SURE of the

ingredients (perhaps from making it yourself).

Avoid products with the words “net carbs” on them. That’s usually just

a way to fool you.

Focus on eating good quality, minimally processed real food. Ideally

the food you buy shouldn’t even have a list of ingredients (or it should

be very short).

4. Eat Only When Hungry On an low-carb diet you should aim to eat when hungry (see tip

#2 above). And if you’re not hungry? Don’t eat. Nothing slows down

weight loss more than frequently eating a lot of food that you do not

need. This, in fact, is so important that it’s worth this section of it’s

own.

Reduce unnecessary snacking

Unnecessary snacking can be a problem on LCHF too. Some things are

easy to eat just because they’re tasty and easily available. Here are

three common traps to watch out for on LCHF:

1. Dairy products such as cream and cheeses. – It works well in

cooking as it satisfies. The problem is if you’re munching a lot of

cheese in front of the TV in the evening… without being hungry. Be

careful with that. Or lots of cream with dessert, when you’re actually

already full and just keep eating because it tastes good. Or another

common culprit: loads of cream in the coffee, many times per day.

2. Nuts. It’s very easy to eat until the nuts are gone, regardless of how

full you are. A tip: According to science, salted nuts are harder to stop

eating than unsalted nuts. Salted nuts tempt you to more overeating.

Good to know. Another tip: Avoid bringing the entire bag to the couch,

preferably choose a small bowl instead. At least I often eat all the nuts

in front of me, whether I’m hungry or not.

3. LCHF baking. Even if you’re only using almond flour and sweeteners

snacking on baked goods and cookies usually provides extra eating

when you’re not hungry… and yes, this will slow down weight loss.

Feel Free to Skip Meals

Do you have to

eat breakfast? No, of course not. Don’t eat if you’re not hungry. And

this goes for any meal.

On a strict LCHF diet the hunger and urge to eat tends to decrease a

lot, especially if you have excess weight to lose. Your body may

be happily burning your fat stores, reducing the need to eat.

If this happens, be happy! Don’t fight it by eating food you don’t want.

Instead wait for the hunger to return before you eat again. This will

save you both time and money, while speeding up your weight loss.

Some people fear that they will lose control if they don’t eat every

three hours, thus making them eat thousands of calories and blowing

their diets completely. So they obsessively snack all the time.

This obsessive snacking may be necessary on a diet high in

sugar/processed carbs to control hunger cravings, but it’s usually

completely unnecessary on an LCHF diet. Hunger will only slowly

return and you’ll have plenty of time to prepare food or grab a snack.

Summary

To lose weight quickly and sustainably: Eat when you’re hungry – but

only when you’re hungry. Forget the clock and listen to your body

instead.

5. Measure Your Progress Wisely Tracking successful weight loss is sometimes trickier than you’d think.

Focusing only on weight and stepping on the scale every day might be

misleading, cause unnecessary anxiety and undermine your motivation

for no good reason.

The scale is not necessarily your friend. You may want to lose fat – but

the scale measures muscles, bone and internal organs as well. Gaining

muscle is a good thing. Thus weight or BMI are imperfect ways to

measure your progress. This is especially true if you’re just coming

off a long period of semi-starvation (calorie counting), as your

body may want to restore lost muscles etc. Starting weight training

and gaining muscle can also hide your fat loss.

Losing fat and gaining muscles is great progress, but you may miss

this if you only measure your weight. Thus it’s smart to also track the

disappearance of your belly fat, by measuring your waist

circumference.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Put the measuring tape around your middle, like in the picture above,

slightly above your belly button (to be exact: at the midpoint between

your lowest rib and the top of your hipbone, at your side).

2. Exhale and relax (don’t suck in your stomach).

3. Make sure the measuring tape is snug, without compressing your skin.

4. Measure

Compare your result to these recommendations:

I recommend aiming for “excellent” but it’s not always realistic. Young

people can usually achieve this, but for some middle-aged or older

women it may be a major victory to get all the way to “decent”.

Measuring progress

I suggest measuring your waist circumference and weight before

starting and then perhaps once a week or once a month. Write the

results down so that you can track your progress. If you want you can

measure more areas: around the buttocks, the chest, the arms, legs,

etc.

Note that your weight can fluctuate up and down several pounds from

day to day, depending on fluid balance and stomach contents: Don’t

worry about short term changes, instead follow the long-term trend.

If you can, try to check other important health markers when

starting out, like these:

Blood pressure

Blood sugar (fasting blood glucose and/or HbA1c)

Cholesterol profile (including HDL, triglycerides)

These markers are almost universally improved on a low carb diet,

even before major weight loss. Re-checking these health markers after

a few months can be great for your motivation as they’ll usually

show that you’re not just losing weight, you’re gaining health too.

PS: Don’t have a measuring tape at home? Try these options:

Use any piece of string. Wrap the string around your waist and cut the

string to fit your waist on day one. This string could magically appear

to become longer and longer every week you wrap it around your

waist.

Comparing how an old pair of jeans fits is also a good option.

6. Be Persistent

It usually takes years or decades to gain a lot of weight. Trying to lose

it all as quickly as possible by starving yourself rarely works well long-

term, that’s just the recipe for “yo-yo dieting”. To succeed you need

something that works long term.

What to aim for

It’s common to lose 2-6 pounds (1-3 kg) within the first week on

a strict low carb diet, and then on average about one pound (0.5 kg)

per week as long as you have a lot of weight remaining to lose. This

translates into about 50 pounds (25 kilos) per year.

Every 5 pounds of fat loss roughly equals 1 inch lost around the waist

(1 kilo = 1 cm).

Young males sometimes lose weight quicker than this, perhaps twice

as fast. Post-menopausal women may lose at a slightly slower pace.

People on a very strict low carb diet may lose weight quicker, as well

as those who exercise a lot (a bonus). And if you have an enormous

amount of excess weight to lose you could start out much faster.

As you get closer to your ideal weight the loss slows, until you stabilize

at a weight that your body feels is right. Hardly anyone gets

underweight on a low carb diet – as long as they eat when hungry.

Initial stalls

Are you coming off a period of semi-starvation (calorie counting)?

Focus on your waist circumference and health markers (see advice #4)

at first as it sometimes takes several weeks before weight loss is

apparent.

Weight loss plateaus

Expect weight loss plateaus: Days or weeks where nothing seems to

happen on the scale. Everybody hits them. Stay calm. Keep doing

what you’re doing and eventually things will start happening again (if

not, check the other 16 tips).

How to lose weight forever

Losing a lot of weight long-term and keeping it off forever won’t

happen unless you change your habits forever. If you lose weight

and then return to living exactly the way did when you gained weight,

don’t be surprised when the excess weight returns. It will.

Maintaining weight loss requires long-term change and patience. If this

doesn’t seem possible for you, then you’re perhaps more interested

in one of these magical diet scams.

Forget quick fixes: If you lose some weight every month, eventually

you’ll get rid of all your excess weight. That’s inevitable progress.

That’s what you want.

PS: Long-term change is only hard in the beginning, especially during

the first couple of weeks. It’s like quitting smoking. Once you develop

new habits it becomes easier and easier every week. Eventually it

comes naturally.

7. Women: Avoid Eating Fruit This is a tip that goes for men as well, of course, but eating fruit is a

more common obstacle for women trying to lose weight.

This advice is controversial as fruit has an almost magical health aura

today. People may believe that fruit is nutritious

but unfortunately fruit contains a lot of sugar – around 10% by

weight (the rest is mostly water). Just taste an orange or a grape.

Sweet, right?

Five servings of fruit per day is equivalent to the amount of sugar in

16 ounces of soda (500 ml). Contrary to what many people believe the

sugar is more or less identical (about 50% glucose, 50% fructose).

Sugar from fruit can shut down fat burning. This can increase

your hunger and slow your weight loss. For best results avoid fruit – or

enjoy it occasionally as a treat.

8. Men: Avoid Drinking Beer

This applies to women too, but men drink more beer on average. Beer

contains rapidly digested carbs that shut down fat burning.

That’s why beer is sometimes referred to as “liquid bread”. There’s a

good reason for the term “beer belly.”

Here are smarter alcoholic options for losing weight:

Wine (red or dry white)

Dry champagne

Pure spirits like whiskey, cognac, vodka (avoid sweetened cocktails –

try vodka, soda, lime instead)

These drinks hardly contain any sugar/carbohydrates so they’re better

than beer. However, large amounts of alcohol might slow weight loss

somewhat, so moderation is still a good idea.

9. Avoid Artificial Sweeteners Many people replace sugar with artificial sweeteners in the belief that

this will reduce their calorie intake and cause weight loss. It sounds

plausible. Several studies, however, have failed to show any positive

effect on weight loss by consuming artificial sweeteners instead of

plain sugar.

Instead, according to scientific studies, artificial sweeteners

can increase appetite and maintain cravings for sweet food.

This could be because the body increases insulin secretion in

anticipation that the sugar will appear in the blood. When this doesn’t

happen, blood sugar drops and hunger increases. Whether this chain

of events regularly take place is somewhat unclear. Something odd

happenedwhen I tested Pepsi Max though, and there are well-designed

studies showing increased insulin when using artificial sweeteners.

Furthermore, artificial sweeteners can maintain an addiction to sweets

and lead to snack cravings. And the long term effects of consuming

artificial sweeteners are unknown.

By the way, Stevia is marketed as a natural alternative to artificial

sweeteners. That’s marketing talk. There is nothing natural about a

processed super-sweet white powder like Stevia.

If you’re having trouble losing weight I suggest that you completely

avoid sweeteners. As a bonus you’ll soon start to enjoy the natural

sweetness of real food, once you’re no longer adapted to the

overpowering artificial sweetness of junk food and “diet” sodas.

10. Review Any Medications Many prescription drugs can stall your weight loss. Discuss any change

in treatment with your doctor. Here are the worst three:

Insulin injections, especially at higher doses, are probably the worst

obstacle for weight loss. There are three ways to reduce your need for

insulin:

A. Eat less carbs, which makes it a easier to lose weight. The less

carbs you eat the less insulin you need. Remember to lower your

doses if you can.

B. If this isn’t enough, treatment with Metformin tablets (at a dose of

2 grams – 3 grams/day) can decrease the need for insulin (at least for

type 2 diabetics).

C. If this is not enough to get off insulin (again, for type 2 diabetics)

you could try newer promising drugs like Victoza or Byetta. These

reduce the need for insulin and cause weight loss.

Other diabetes

medications. Insulin-releasing tablets (e.g. sulphonylureas) often

lead to weight gain. These include: Minodiab, Euglucon, Daonil, and

Glibenclamide. Tablets like Avandia, Actos, Starlix and NovoNorm also

encourage weight gain. But not Metformin. The newer drugs Victoza

and Byetta (injectable) often lead to weight loss, but possible long-

term side effects are still unknown. More on diabetes

Cortisone as an oral drug is another common culprit

(e.g. Prednisolone). Cortisone often causes weight gain in the long

run, especially at higher doses (e.g. more than 5 mg Prednisolone per

day). Unfortunately cortisone is often an essential medicine for those

who are prescribed it, but the dose should be adjusted frequently so

you don’t take more than you need.Asthma inhalers and other local

cortisone treatments, like creams or nose sprays, hardly affect weight.

These other medications can also cause problems:

Neuroleptics/antipsychotic drugs, can often encourage weight

gain. Especially newer drugs like Zyprexa (Olanzapine).

Some antidepressant medications can cause weight gain,

especially the older tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) such as Tryptizol,

Saroten, and Clomipramine; as well as newer drugs such as Remeron

(Mirtazapine). Lithium (for manic-depressive disorder) often leads to

weight gain. The most common antidepressants known as SSRI’s (for

example Citalopram and Sertraline) usually don’t impact weight

significantly. More on depression

Some contraceptives often contribute to slight weight gain,

especially those that contain only progesterone and no estrogen, for

example the mini-pill, the contraceptive injection, or a contraceptive

implant. More on fertility

Blood pressure medicine, in the form of beta blockers can cause

weight gain. These drugs include: Seloken, Metoprolol and

Atenolol. More on high blood pressure

Epilepsy drugs may cause weight gain (e.g. Carbamazepine and

Valproate).

Allergy medicines called antihistamines can cause weight gain,

especially at high doses. Cortisone is even worse (see above). More on

allergies

Antibiotics can possibly lead to a temporary weight gain by disturbing

the gut microbiota and increasing the amount of energy we absorb

from food. This is still speculative for humans but it’s another reason

not to use antibiotics unless you truly need it.

11. Stress Less, Sleep More

Have you ever wished for more hours of sleep, and a less stressful life

in general? Most people have – and that can be bad news for their

weight.

Chronic stress may increase levels of stress hormones such as cortisol

in your body. This can cause increased hunger and result in weight

gain. If you’re looking to lose weight, you should review possible

ways to decrease or better handle excessive stress in your life.

Although this often demands substantial changes, even altering small

things – such as posture – may immediately affect your stress

hormone levels, and perhaps your weight.

You should also make an effort to get enough good sleep,

preferably every night. Strive to wake up refreshed of your own

accord, independently of the alarm clock. If you’re the kind of person

who always gets brutally woken up by the alarm ringing, you might

never be giving your body adequate rest.

One way to combat this is to go to bed early enough for your body to

wake up autonomously before the alarm clock goes off. Letting

yourself get a good night’s sleep is another way of reducing stress

hormone levels.

Sleep deprivation, on the other hand, comes hand in hand with sugar

cravings. It also has an adverse effect on self-discipline and makes it

painfully easy to give in to temptation (it’s no coincidence that induced

sleep deprivation is a common interrogation technique). Similarly,

sleep deprivation weakens your resolve to work out.

Sleep issues?

Do you have trouble sleeping even if there’s ample time for it? Here

are five tips from an expert:

1. Stick to a certain bedtime every evening. In the long term, this

will help the body prepare for sleep at that time.

2. No coffee after 2 pm. Just don’t – and remember that it takes time

for caffeine to leave the body.

3. Limit your alcohol intake three hours before bedtime. While

booze might make you woozy, it worsens the quality of sleep.

4. Limit exercise in the four hours before bedtime. Physical activity

can perk you up and make it difficult to get to sleep for several hours

afterwards.

5. Get 15 minutes of sunlight every day. This is good for your

circadian rhythm (your “body clock”).

Finally, make sure that your bedroom is dark enough, and stays at a

pleasant temperature. Sleep well!

Difficult, but worthwhile

Many may find the above guidelines difficult to follow, perhaps

because of a lack of time (or the equivalent – small children!). But

stressing less and sleeping more doesn’t just feel good. It can also

play a part in helping you get thinner.

12. Eat Less of Dairy Products and Nuts

Can you eat as much as you like, and still lose weight? Yes, it tends to

work just fine with a low-carbohydrate diet, as appetite regulation

happens effortlessly.

However, despite the fact that a low-carbohydrate diet generally

makes it easy to eat just enough, there are foods classified as low carb

which become a problem in larger quantities. If you find yourself

having a hard time losing weight on a low carb diet, you could try to

be more careful with:

Dairy products (yoghurt, cream, cheese)

Nuts

Dairy products contain varying amounts of lactose (the milk sugar),

which slows down weight loss. What’s more, part of the protein in milk

generates a significant insulin response, which can have the same

effect. Consequently, cutting back on dairy products may accelerate

weight loss. This applies especially to dairy products typically lacking

in fat, such as regular milk and various yoghurts, but be careful with

full-fat dairy such as cream and cheese all the same. And don’t forget

whey protein powder, which is pure milk protein.

Exempt from all these dairy-product warnings is butter, which is

almost pure fat. Butter may be consumed liberally as desired.

Nuts, the second food to watch, contain a fair amount of carbohydrate,

and it’s very easy to unwittingly scarf down large quantities. Cashew

nuts are among the worst carb-wise – you’ll find that they contain

around 20% carbohydrate by weight. For someone following a strict

LCHF diet with a 20 grams of carbs per day allowance, this means that

consuming 100 grams (which happens in a flash!) will have filled their

daily quota. Peanuts tend to be around 10-15% carbohydrate – not

putting them in the clear either.

So, for those of you having trouble losing weight: use nuts sparingly.

When in a situation where nuts are an absolute must, know that the

most harmless ones carb-wise are macadamia nuts (usually around

5% carbs), or Brazil nuts (around 3%).

13. Supplement Vitamins and Minerals

Your body needs a certain amount of essential vitamins and minerals

to function properly. What happens when you don’t get enough of

them? What happens when you eat too little food, or when the food

you eat isn’t sufficiently nutritious? Perhaps our bodies catch on and

reply by increasing hunger levels. After all – if we eat more, we

increase the chances of consuming enough of whatever nutrient we

are lacking.

On the other hand, reliable access to vitamins and minerals could

perhaps mean decreased hunger levels and decreased cravings,

thereby promoting weight loss.

The above is, of course, speculation. But now there are well-performed

studies which suggest it might not be far from the truth.

Vitamin D

A lack of vitamin D is probably the most common deficiency in

northern countries such as Canada, or most of the US. Three recent

studies indicate that, when compared to a placebo, a vitamin D

supplement can decrease your fat weight or waist measurement

[1 2 3].

In one of the studies, 77 overweight or obese women received either a

supplement of 1000 units of vitamin D, or a placebo, every day for 3

months. Those who took the vitamin D supplement decreased their

body fat by 2,7 kg (6 pounds) – significantly more than the placebo

group, who hardly decreased their fat weight at all.

Multivitamins

A study from 2010 involved around a hundred women with weight

issues, separating them into three groups. One group received a daily

multivitamin supplement, the other a daily calcium supplement, and

the last group only a placebo. The study carried on for half a year.

Unsurprisingly, the results showed that nothing had happened to the

weight of the women receiving calcium or the placebo. However, the

group which took the multivitamin lost more weight – about 3 kg more

– and improved their health markers. Among other things, their basal

metabolic rate (the rate at which the body burns calories when at rest)

increased.

Furthermore, another earlier study found that subjects decreased

hunger levels by taking multivitamin supplements during starvation

diets, compared to a placebo.

Conclusion

Nutrient-dense, good food is certainly the foundation of weight loss.

But an adequate amount of vitamin D can be difficult to ingest via

food. In the case of a lack of sun (such as during the darker months of

autumn and winter), it’s wise to supplement for multiple health

reasons – and perhaps even for your weight.

If you’re overweight and not entirely sure that your diet provides

enough nutrients, it may be worthwhile to take a multivitamin pill.

Unfortunately, they still contain only minimal doses of vitamin D, so

you need both for the full effect.

14. Use Intermittent Fasting

There are many things to consider before moving on to this tip #14,

but don’t let that fool you. This is one of the most effective weapons

available to lose weight. It’s perfect if you are stuck at a weight-loss

plateau despite “doing everything right” – or to speed up your weight

loss.

This super weapon is called intermittent fasting. It means exactly what

it sounds like… not eating, during a specified time interval.

Recommended First Option – 16:8

Probably the most popular option is fasting for 16 hours (including

sleep), which is usually easy to do on an LCHF diet. It only requires

trading breakfast for a cup of coffee (or some other non-caloric fluid)

and having lunch as the first meal of the day. Fasting from 8 pm to 12

noon – for example – equals 16 hours of fasting.

Of course there are many other variants of intermittent fasting, but

this 16:8 method (16 hours of not eating, 8 hours of eating during a

day) is the one I recommend as a first option. It’s effective, easy to do

and does not require counting calories.

You can do a 16:8 fast as often as you like. For example twice a week,

or on weekdays only… or every single day. The more often you do it,

the more effective it is.

In fact on an LCHF diet some people spontaneously fall into this habit,

as their appetite is reduced (see weight loss tip #4, eat only when

hungry).

Other Kinds of Intermittent Fasting

There are many other options. Basically the longer periods are harder

to do but more effective. Here are two more common options:

Fasting for 24 hours (often dinner – dinner) once or twice a week.

Effective and can be surprisingly easy to do, especially on an LCHF

diet.

The 5:2 diet. Eat as much as you need to feel satisfied 5 days of the

week and then eat calorie-restricted on two days (500 calories per day

for women, 600 calories for men). I don’t recommend this as it

requires calorie counting and extra planning, but some people still find

they enjoy it.

What About Eating when Hungry?

Doesn’t advice on intermittent fasting contradict the advice to eat

when hungry? Yes it does, somewhat.

I recommend eating when hungry as a first option, and I recommend

always eating until you feel satisfied at meals. But if this is not

effective enough then intermittent fasting is a very effective addition.

Remember – and this is crucial – that between fasting periods you’re

still supposed to eat until satisfied.

Intermittent fasting is not the same thing as obsessively counting

calories and starving yourself 24-7, i.e. “caloric restriction as primary”

(CRaP) diets. Starving yourself is a recipe for misery and failure.

Intermittent fasting is about eating all that your body needs… while

still allowing it to sometimes briefly rest from constant feeding.

What’s Acceptable to Drink During Fasts?

During a fast you can’t eat, but you should definitely drink. Water is

the drink of choice, but coffee and tea are also great options. During

longer fasts it can be wise to add a little salt too, or drink bouillon.

Anything you drink should ideally be zero calories. But it may be

acceptable to cheat by adding a small amount of milk in your coffee or

tea – if you absolutely need it to enjoy your drink.

What to Eat Between Fasts

So what should you eat when you are not fasting? Well, if your goal is

to lose weight I suggest following all the tips above, including eating

an LCHF diet. Combining this with intermittent fasting is a great

combination.

On a LCHF diet your hunger is reduced and it’s much easier to do a

period of fasting. Also, your fat burning is already very good – so when

fasting you’ll easily burn lots of fat.

So, while on an LCHF diet the fasting periods become both easier to

do and more effective. 1 + 1 equals 3.

Who Should Not Do Intermittent Fasting

Intermittent fasting can be a great idea, but not everyone should do it:

If you are addicted to food or sugar then intermittent fasting will

increase food cravings and increases the risk of a relapse… so be very

careful. I recommend always eating when hungry.

If you are totally stressed out or sleep deprived then take care or

that problem first (see weight loss tip #11) or fasting may be too

stressful for your body.

If you are on any medication – especially insulin – the doses may

need to be adjusted when fasting. Discuss it with your doctor first.

Growing children, pregnant women and breastfeeding

women should not do longer fasting periods, as they have an

increased need of nutrients. I recommend eating when hungry and

using the 14 tips above if you need to lose weight.

15. Exercise Smart

Do you wonder why this weight-loss tip doesn’t show up until number

15 on the list? It’s because few things are so overrated for weight loss

as exercise is.

Have you ever watched “The Biggest Loser”? The participants take

leave from their jobs (and family) for months. They are allowed only

small portions of food, and work out as though it was their full-time

job – 40 hours a week, sometimes more. This method is clearly

unsustainable for your average person in the long run.

Just taking the stairs instead of the elevator, or getting off the bus one

stop earlier, isn’t going to change the numbers on your bathroom

scales. It’s a myth. Sorry about that. Studies show that if you just

start exercising, you’re going to need at least one hour of tough

workouts every single day to noticeably lose weight.

Basically, the effect of exercise on our weight is vastly overrated.

That’s why it’s only number 15 on this list. There are other things you

need to take care of first. It’s not a good idea to eat bad food, drink

sugar water (so-called “sports drinks”) or be on medications which

force you to train for hours daily just to compensate. Metaphorically

that’s like digging a hole, into which you put your ladder, on which you

stand and paint the ground level windows of your house.

Exercise cannot compensate for other issues in your life. Those must

be addressed first.

The good news

If, on the other hand, you’ve already taken care of steps 1-12, you

should have a rested and recharged body which is already happily

burning fat. In this case, increased activity will accelerate your weight

loss, and act as an nice bonus. You’ll be burning even more fat from

the very first step.

For example, you could take long walks (golf), cycle, dance, or play

any sport you’re happy and comfortable with.

Exercise also burns the body’s glycogen stores, which are essentially

carbohydrate. This means that after a workout, you can eat a little

more carbs than you otherwise can permit yourself, without negative

effects on insulin or fat storage. Also, don’t forget that the non-weight-

related health effects of exercise are quite impressive.

Hormonal effects

For even more impressive effects on body composition: aim for

exercise forms which elicit a positive hormonal response. This means

lifting really heavy things (strength training), or interval training. Such

exercise increases body levels of the sex hormone testosterone

(primarily in men) as well as growth hormone. Not only do greater

levels of these hormones increase your muscle mass, but they also

decrease your visceral fat (belly fat) in the long term.

As a final bonus, exercise can both make you feel and look better.

What kind of activity suits you?

16. Achieve Optimal Ketosis Warning: Not recommended for type 1 diabetics, see below.

We’ve now arrived at tip number 16. If you’re still having trouble

losing weight, despite following the 15 pieces of advice listed above, it

might be a good idea to bring out the heavy artillery: optimal

ketosis. Many people stalling at weight plateaus while on a low carb

diet have found optimal ketosis helpful. It’s what can melt the fat off

once again.

So how does this work? A quick run-through: The first tip was to eat

low carb. This is because a low-carb diet lowers your levels of the fat-

storing hormone insulin, allowing your fat deposits to shrink and

release their stored energy. This tends to cause you to want to

consume less calories than you expend – without hunger – and lose

weight. Several of the tips mentioned above are about fine-tuning your

diet to better this effect.

How do you know you’re getting the maximum hormonal impact from

your low-carb diet? You do that by achieving what’s known as “optimal

ketosis”.

Ketosis

Ketosis is a state at which the body has an extremely high fat-burning

rate. Even the brain runs on fat, via ketone bodies. These are energy

molecules in the blood (like blood sugar) which become fuel for our

brains after being converted from fat by the liver.

To encourage ketone production, the amount of insulin in your

bloodstream must be low. The lower your insulin, the higher your

ketone production. And when you have a well-controlled, sufficiently

large amount of ketones in your blood, it’s basically proof that your

insulin is very low – and therefore, that you’re enjoying the maximum

effect of your low-carbohydrate diet. That’s what’s called optimal

ketosis.

Measuring Ketones

Today, there are reasonably-priced gadgets available for measuring

ketone levels at home. One needle prick of the finger, and in just a few

seconds you’ll know your blood ketone level.

Blood ketones are best measured on a fasted stomach in the morning

(before breakfast, that is). Here are a few pointers on how to interpret

the result:

Below 0.5 mmol/L is not considered “ketosis”. At this level, you’re far

away from maximum fat-burning.

Between 0.5-1.5 mmol/L is light nutritional ketosis. You’ll be getting a

good effect on your weight, but not optimal.

Around 1.5 – 3 mmol/L is what’s called optimal ketosis and is

recommended for maximum weight loss.

Values of over 3 mmol/L aren’t neccessary. That is, they will achieve

neither better nor worse results than being at the 1.5-3 level. Higher

values can also sometimes mean that you’re not getting enough food.

For type 1 diabetics, it can be caused by a severe lack of insulin, see

below.

Ketones in Urine

Ketone levels can also be measured in a more old-fashioned way, with

urine test sticks (sold prescription-free in pharmacies or on Amazon).

Ketone sticks give less reliable results for several reasons, and the

above recommendations can’t be straightforwardly applied to them.

They are, however, much cheaper.

My Personal Experience

Feel free to read my accounts of a two-month personal trial:

1. Experiment: Optimal ketosis for weight loss and increased

performance

2. Four weeks of strict LCHF and ketone monitoring

3. Final report: Two months of strict LCHF and ketone monitoring

Although I was quite happy with my weight before these trials, they

resulted in a further loss of 4.5kgs (10 pounds) and 7cm (3 inches)

around my waist – without additional exercise or even the slightest

resemblance of hunger.

How to achieve optimal ketosis

Many who firmly believe they are eating a strict low-carb diet are

surprised when they measure their blood ketones. They may be at

around only 0.2 or 0.5 – quite far off from the sweet spot! Why?

The trick here is not only to avoid all obvious sourced of carbohydrate

(sweets, bread, spaghetti, rice, potatoes), but also to be careful with

your protein intake. If you eat large amounts of meat, eggs and the

like, the excess protein will converted into glucose in the body. Large

amounts of protein can also raise your insulin levels somewhat. This

compromises optimal ketosis.

The secret to getting around this is usually to eat your fill with more

fat. For example, if you have a bigger helping of herb butter to your

steak, you might not feel like having a second steak, and instead feel

satisfied after the first one.

A popular trick people use to ingest more fat is “fat coffee” (sometimes

called “Magic Bullet Coffee” or MBC). It involves adding one tablespoon

of butter and one tablespoon of coconut oil to your (morning) coffee,

and requires a food blender for the right texture.

More fat in your food will fill you up more. This will ensure you eat less

protein, and even less carbohydrate. Your insulin will drop and,

hopefully, you’ll be able to reach optimal ketosis. And that’s when

many a stubborn weight plateau is overcome.

If It Doesn’t Work

Being in optimal ketosis for a prolonged period of time (say, a month)

will ensure that you experience the maximal hormonal effect from

eating a low-carb diet. If this doesn’t result in noticeable weight loss,

you can be certain that too many carbs are NOT part of your weight

issue and not the obstacle to your weight loss. There are, in fact, other

causes of obesity and being overweight. The next three tips in this

series might help you.

Try It

Order a ketone meter online and start measuring. There are a few

different models, take a look at this one and this one.

A word of warning If you have type 1 diabetes, you should not follow the above advice

on optimal ketosis – it may be risky. If you have ketones in your blood

at all, you must be sure that your blood sugar levels are normal. If

they are, you’re in normal ketosis – just like the ketosis of healthy

people who stick to a strict low carb diet.

High blood sugar levels coupled with high blood ketones, on the other

hand, will mean that you have a pathologically low level of insulin –

something non-diabetics do not suffer from. This can lead to

ketoacidosis – a potentially life-threatening condition. If this happens,

you’ll need to inject more insulin; if you’re at all unsure of what to do,

contact a medical professional. Coveting really high blood ketones for

weight control is not worth the risk for type 1 diabetics.

17. Get Your Hormones Checked

So you’ve followed the previous tips, implemented major lifestyle

changes and established that neither medication nor vitamin deficiency

is an issue. You’ve even tried being in optimal ketosis for a while

(ensuring low insulin levels). And you still can’t hit the normal weight

mark?

If this applies to you, it’s high time to consider the possibility that

hormonal imbalances are the cause of your troubles. There are three

common problem areas:

1. Thyroid hormone

2. Sex hormones

3. Stress hormones

Thyroid Hormone

Some people, especially women, suffer decreased metabolism as a

result of thyroid hormone deficiency – hypothyroidism. Common

symptoms are:

Fatigue

Cold intolerance

Constipation

Dry skin

Weight gain

In these cases, weight gain resulting from decreased metabolism

usually do not exceed fifteen pounds.

Your doctor can easily arrange for you to take a blood test to measure

the concentration of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH). If the test

comes back and everything looks good, your thyroid gland is probably

fine. For a more exact diagnosis, you can ask them to measure the

actual levels of thyroid hormone in the blood (T3 and T4).

Two ways to avoid becoming deficient in thyroid hormone:

1. Make sure you consume enough iodine, which is a building block of

thyroid hormone. Good sources are fish, shellfish and iodised salt (or

sea salt).

2. Very low levels of thyroid hormone usually indicate an autoimmune

reaction to the thyroid gland itself. This means you’ll have to take

thyroid hormone supplements orally, usually the stable form T4

(Levaxin), which your doctor can prescribe for you. Your body will

transform this into the active T3 hormone when necessary. The

supplement dose should be adjusted so that you reach normal

hormone levels (TSH, T3, T4) and sufficiently alleviate symptoms –

though a few people feel best when keeping TSH slightly below

normal.

Some people feel better supplementing the already active T3

(sometimes prepared from pig thyroid glands), as it can give a

stronger effect than the T4 hormone, but its effect is often harder to

control. Swedish healthcare rarely prescribes or offers such T3

treatment, as it often lacks advantages and may pose a risk when

doses are high for an extended period of time.

“Hypothyroidism Type 2”

Some alternative health coaches will diagnose you with the condition

“hypothyroidism type 2” if you’re experiencing symptoms of fatigue

etc., despite normal blood levels of thyroid hormones, and will

recommend supplementation anyway. Be skeptical of this. You’ll likely

end up trying to mask other health issues (i.e. the real causes of your

symptoms) by slathering your system with overdoses of thyroid

hormone.

Of course, some people will certainly feel more lively and alert (at least

in the short term) running on an overdose of thyroid hormone. On the

other hand, many people feel more lively and energetic when using

amphetamine, too. That doesn’t mean their fatigue was caused by a

lack of amphetamine!

Sex Hormones

Sex hormones also affect your weight:

Women: Women can suffer from the endocrine disorder PCOS –

polycystic ovarian syndrome – which elevates testosterone and insulin

levels. This can mean weight gain and menstrual disorders (very

common), infertility, acne and male pattern hair growth (such as facial

hair). A low-carbohydrate diet is a good treatment for this. More on

PCOS.

During menopause, a woman’s level of the female sex hormone

estrogen drops. This often causes some weight gain, especially around

the gut (so-called central obesity). Any excess weight gained after

menopause will tend to be less femininely proportioned, less curvy.

Men: From middle age and onwards, men experience gradually

declining levels of the male sex hormone testosterone. This leads to

slight weight gain, also typically around the gut, and decreased muscle

mass.

What can you do about sex hormones?

Testosterone deficiency can be at least partially treated naturally by

engaging in smart exercise routines, conscious body

language and supplementing vitamin D.

Of course, you can also affect testosterone levels by getting your

doctor to prescribe a testosterone supplement (a blood test will

confirm any deficiency). Women can use estrogen supplementation for

climacteric problems.

It’s important you take into account, however, that supplementation of

testosterone or estrogen for years on end, in doses that are

abnormally large for your age, will increase the risk of prostate cancer

(in men) and breast cancer (in women).

It may be wise to accept that you don’t (and shouldn’t!) have the body

of a 20-year-old when you’re several times that age. A better option

might be to try and focus on a healthy lifestyle instead, and to be as

happy and grateful as you can for the body you have.

Stress Hormone

The final possible culprit behind stubborn weight issues may be the

stress hormone, cortisol. Too much cortisol will increase hunger levels,

bringing along subsequent weight gain. The most common cause of

elevated cortisol is chronic stress and lack of sleep (see tip #10),

or cortisone medication (tip #9). It’s a good idea to try your utmost to

do something about this.

In rare and extreme cases, you could be dealing with a specific kind of

tumour that drives cortisol production. The condition is

called Cushing’s syndrome. If you suspect you’re suffering from this,

consult your doctor and they will run the appropriate tests.

18. Consider Weight Loss Pills / Drugs (if Desperate)

It sounds like a dream. Keep living like you already do, take a pill a

day, and effortlessly lose your excess weight. This is why weight loss

pills is a billion dollar industry.

So does it work? Yes. But it’s not very effective.

There are many drugs that result in a modest weight loss (a few

pounds on average) at the expense of significant side effects. In my

opinion there’s only one drug that you may want to consider using.

Before we get to that one drug we’ll very briefly summarise the other

options and why they are not great.

Prescription-Free Supplements

The internet is full of claims of magic supplements that can make you

thin. Unfortunately the only thing they’ll make thin is your wallet. This

is true even if they were once mentioned on Dr. Oz – you know that’s

an entertainment show, right?

Any prescription-free supplements for sale that are not dangerous or

illegal (like steroids) are likely to have a small or negligible effect on

your weight.

This is true even for the vitamin supplements mentioned in advice

#13 – the effect is definitely small, but in that case it’s also safe –

maybe even healthy – and also dirt cheap, making it a potentially

smart bonus (note that we sell no supplements whatsoever and make

no money from this piece of advice).

Older Appetite Suppressants

In the US it’s still possible to get

amphetamin-like appetite suppressants prescribed for short term use

(weeks). As they are only for short term use they are no use for long

term weight control. In the European Union these drugs are not

allowed at all.

These drugs have side effects like insomnia, heart palpitations and

raised blood pressure. It’s also possible to become addicted to them

and thus they require a special controlled substance

prescription. Examples include:

Adipex-P or Suprenza (Phentermine)

Bondril (Phendiametrazine)

Didrex (Benzphetamine)

The effect of these drugs is decidedly modest and short term, hardly

outweighing their risks. I do not recommend them.

The “Oily Discharge” Pill

Let’s move on to another older drug, Xenical, lately for sale

prescription-free as “Alli” and with a falling popularity.

This drug stops the body from digesting fat in the intestines. Instead it

just passes through you and end up in the toilet… or in your pants.

Side effects include stomach cramping, gas, leaking oily stool and

being unable to control bowel movements. And finally the “oily

discharge” that often results when people think they are just passing

some gas.

This pill is not compatible with wearing white pants and it’s not

compatible with eating fat. Thus it’s not compatible with a low-carb

diet. This does not mean you have to a wear white pants on a low-carb

diet, you just need to eat fat (you understood that already, right?).

Just forget this drug. Most doctors already have.

The Stupid Pill

Is there a worse option

than Xenical/Alli? Why, yes. It’s called Qsymia.

Qsymia is available in the US, but it got rejected in Europe (where the

side effects were sensibly judged worse than the benefits). I prefer to

label this drug the “stupid pill”.

Qsymia combines a tiny amount of the old Phentermine (see Appetite

Suppressants above) with a small dose of Topiramate, an anti-seizure

drug.

The real problem? Common side effects of topiramate include

somnolence, fatigue, depression, attention disturbance, memory

impairment, cognitive disorder, impaired psychomotor skills (i.e.

becoming clumsy), lethargy, balance disorder, sedation, gait

disturbance (i.e. walking like you’re drunk).

Basically this drug slows down your brain, like alcohol or sedatives.

Are you really going to do that to lose a few pounds, that you’ll regain

once you stop taking the drug?

The “Meh” Pills

Two more weight control drugs were approved in the US in 2012 and

are now available, Belviq andContrave.

Belvic has been rejected in Europe because of safety concerns.

Contrave was recently approved (under the name Mysimba) but is not

for sale yet as I write this (September 2015).

These two drugs work on different receptors in the brain to control

appetite. The effect is modest – 6 to 8 pounds lost in a year, with

partial regain after that. There are ongoing safety concerns with both

drugs and a definite risk of side effects like (for Contrave) nausea,

constipation, headache, risk of suicidal thoughts and seizures.

To me these modest benefits do not outweigh the risk of side effects.

The Reigning Champion And then there is only one more approved weight loss drug left.

Fortunately this one actually show a lot of promise and can speed up

weight loss quite significantly.

This drug is an injected variant of a satiety hormone called GLP-1. It

slows down the stomach from emptying and tells the brain that you

don’t need to eat yet – a great idea for losing weight. As a bonus this

drug works fine while on LCHF diet and it can make it even easier to

combine it with intermittent fasting – for a rapid weight loss with no

hunger.

This drug was initially used to control blood sugar in type 2 diabetes –

under the brand name Victoza – where it has the nice side effect

of significant weight loss.

Testing on people with obesity (without diabetes) show that at higher

doses it’s quite effective as a pure weight loss treatment, with patients

losing on average 12.3 pounds (5.6 kilos) more than a placebo group

after one year.

This drug has recently been approved in both the US and in Europe for

weight loss, under the nameSaxenda. There are many other similar

GLP-1 drugs for treating diabetes type 2, but none of them are

carefully tested or approved for treating obesity yet.

Saxenda already available in the US at the fantastic cost of $1,000 per

month. It will probably be available in Europe towards the end of

2015.

In both the US and in Europe another option is Victoza, which is the

exact same drug at half the dose and half the price. At this lower dose

the resulting weight loss is about 75% of the weight loss on Saxenda.

Victoza is only approved for treating type 2 diabetes.

The main side effect if Saxenda / Victoza is what happens if the satiety

effect get too strong: nausea and vomiting. This is quite common

when starting out and it’s necessary to start with a low dose and then

slowly increase it as the body adapts to the medication.

The Bottom Line There is no pill that easily makes people thin. These drugs are all

pretty bad or at least not very effective.

The only exception in my mind is Saxenda – and this is a daily

injection, not a pill.

The downside to Saxenda is the very high price – insurance may only

cover part of it – and the nausea that people often experience on it.

It’s also clear from my own and other people’s experience treating

patients with it that it does not work great for everyone. Some people

experience only minimal weight loss. Other people get a lot more than

the extra 12 pounds lost in a recent study – this is only an average.

Finally Saxenda only works as long as you use it. Once you stop the

weight tends to return. So is losing about 12 pounds worth $1000 per

month and the risk of nausea? Only you can decide.

Most people who want to lose weight have a more than 12 pounds to

lose. That’s why even the best weight loss drug in the world can only

be an optional complement to other treatment. That’s why this piece

of advice is number 18 out of 18. It may be a helpful addition for some

people, but the advice higher on the list is what can make the biggest

difference, by far.

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