Right Way to Lose Weight Fast and Burn Belly Fat in Nigeria

Trying to lose weight fast in Nigeria is not that easy because naturally our culture, food, diet, environment, and orientation have somehow helped to complicate the whole situation.

It’s quite frustrating, especially when you try to eat right, become more active, yet your body and legs aren’t fitting into your jeans.

Since the internet is filled with lots of misinformation, this article will give you the step-by-step method to lose weight and get rid of stubborn fats in your belly and other body areas in weeks to come.

Before I get into the core of this post, I’d like to tell you to grab some coffee or tea.

This is quite a long educative post and if you’re really serious about getting your beautiful shape back in weeks to come, you’ll definitely read to the end.

Also, you might as well share with your friends and loved ones if you find it interesting.

Are you set? Let’s go!

What You Need to Know about Weight

Weight measures the mass of a body under gravitational force.

Everything on earth has its weight, likewise man, and it’s an essential parameter in HEALTH.

An unhealthy weight – also referred to as obesity – is caused by excess fat in any part of the body, and has an adverse negative effect on an individual.

Anyone can have an unhealthy weight, either:

• Man
• Woman
• Children

And this excess fat put an individual at risk of:

• Obesity
• Diabetes (Type 1 and 2)
• High Cholesterol
• Hypertension
• Heart Attack
• Infertility
• Stroke
• Metabolic Syndrome
• High Blood Pressure
• Heart Diseases
• Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
• Osteoarthritis
• Mental Health Conditions
• Low self-love, image esteem and confidence

When you pay attention to your weight and make conscious efforts to keep it within the healthy range, it would help slow down the progression of such health conditions or even prevent their development.

What is Weight Loss?

Weight loss in medicine, health or physical fitness refers to the total reduction of body mass through loss of fluid, body fat (adipose tissues), or lean mass (namely bone mineral deposits, muscle, tendon, and other connective tissues).

Weight loss can occur unintentionally because of malnourishment or an underlying disease.

Intentional weight loss is also known as SLIMMING.

Slimming is the action taken to lose weight or make oneself thinner, especially by dieting.

We all can agree that the primary treatment of overweight or obesity is weight loss.

When you lose weight the right way in weeks from now…

• You will fit into those clothes you’ve kept in your wardrobe awaiting the day that your body will fit into them.
• “You are looking sexier”. Those would be the EXACT words your spouse/partner will say to you when they see your body transformation.
• Your fear of losing your spouse to that younger, slimmer, sexy, attractive man/woman will be gone forever!
• You will wear those short sleeve tops that draw attention to you and make you feel like a show stopper!
• You will wear any “body hug” dress without worrying if your belly is protruding or not!
• Your complaints about your fat thighs, big tummy, Christian mother arms will be gone forever and become a thing of the past!
• You won’t be at risk of high cholesterol, hypertension, heart attack, infertility, stroke and excess body sweating.
• ​When next you attend a function, your friends, colleagues, extended families will be overtaken by surprise at your sudden body transformation and ask you… “How did you do it?”
• ​You will never ever have to shop for a bigger or plus size dress ever again!
• You will look a lot younger and fitter and have a super attractive, perfect hour-glass figure that will make everyone who walks past you to turn around for a second look.

Having known some facts about weight, let’s look at some common factors that influences weight gain in men and women.

12 Bad Causes of Weight Gain and Body Fats You Should Know

These factors aid weight gain and stubborn fats that keep you overweight despite how hard you try.

When you know the causes of weight gain, you’ll try your best to avoid some of them.

1. Genetics

There is some scientific evidence that points towards a role played by genetics in obesity.

Some genes can affect basic behaviour, metabolic patterns and the predisposition to lifestyle diseases.

Children of an obese parent are much likely to become obese than children of those who are not.

It’s a natural fact, though it doesn’t mean that every obese parent must produce an obese child.

They’re some people that can never gain weight no matter what they eat in this life.

And there are also some individuals that once the see money and small chops, 2 seconds everywhere burst… fat everywhere!

So, body (individual metabolic rate) also plays a significant role in weight gain.

2. Hormonal Imbalance

Since puberty, women’s hormones direct fat to be stored around the buttocks, inner/outer thighs, and around the pelvis, majorly to reserve energy and help prepare the body for pregnancy, after delivery, and breastfeeding.

As ageing progresses (usually after the age of 30), there is a tendency for an increase in the body fat and lean muscle typically decreases.

This can be attributed partially to hormonal changes which cause a decrease in metabolic rate (i.e., fewer burned calories per day).

The drastic drop in women’s estrogen levels during this period causes more fat to be stored in the tummy, rather than on the hips and thighs.

While in men, inadequate testosterone levels direct muscle cells to differentiate into fat.

3. Poor and Imbalanced Diet

Have you ever experienced losing weight today and gaining weight tomorrow?

Then this is one cause.

Some people experience strong cravings or addiction to food, especially sugar sweetened, cakes and carbonated soft drinks, which are a significant cause of subcutaneous fat.

Heavily processed foods are often refined and mixed with addictive that contain lots of added sugar.

They are cheap, last long on the shelf and taste so fantastic that they are very tempting and so hard to resist.

Foods containing few or no proteins also lead to the formation of fat since they encourage more frequent feeding.

4. Excess Sugar Intake

I keep emphasizing on sugar because added sugar is one of the worst things to consume and is to be avoided in your Nigerian diet for flat stomach.

Sugar is one of the major causes of weight gain, type 2 diabetes and heart diseases.

Please note that added sugar differs from natural sugar.

Added sugar are those sugar added by food manufacturers or processing companies.

Natural sugar is gotten from natural food e.g., sugar in banana, carrot and other whole food.

5. Medications

Certain medications you might not be aware causes weight gain as a side effect.

For example, anti-depressants have been proven to cause weight gain.

Some medications promote weight gain by reducing the number of calories burned or increasing the appetite.

6. Excessive Alcohol Intake

It’s a well-established fact that too much drinking of alcohol can cause an increase in belly fat, especially in males.

The most well-known effects of alcohol include liver problems and inflammation.

Some lesser-known ones include weight gain and obesity.

If you drink often, just cutting down on alcohol can lead to a significant decrease in your stomach fat.

7. Malnutrition and Illness

Poor nutrition and malnutrition can cause serious belly fat.

For example, an extreme deficiency in dietary protein leads to Kwashiorkor (an illness that causes the stomach to swell abnormally).

Also, other health issues like fibroid causes swelling of the stomach.

8. Lack of Activity (Inactivity)

There is also a tendency to become less active as you grow older, which in the long run creates a significant increase in the amount of body fat accumulated.

Because of this inactivity and poor eating habits, fat will start accumulating, which will further affect the strength and function of the muscle.

Another factor that causes fat accumulation is sitting too much every day.

If you spend a lot of time sitting behind a desk at work, or spend most of your time daily sitting on a sofa watching TV, you might find out that you will gain weight easily.

Studies show that when we sit for a long time, hundreds of bad genes are turned on, including ones that stimulate muscle atrophy.

This lifestyle will slow down the rate at which your body burn calories and the enzymes responsible for breaking down fat will start switching off.

So, if you want to lose weight, you need to engage in an exercise that will help your body burn more calories off.

While standing isn’t actually an exercise, it can definitely make a lot of difference.

You may stand to talk on the phone or to fill a form.

Just make sure you are using those legs.

9. Poor Blood Circulation

Experts believe that poor blood circulation can cause swelling of the connective tissues.

When this swelling occurs, it stretches the connective tissue apart, allowing the fat to bulge through.

10. Stress

There is a big connection between hormone levels and belly fat.

For example, an increase in levels of the stress hormone, cortisol, leads to an increase in fat storage in the belly.

Exercise is important to those who resort to food as a solution for stress.

11. Smoking

While smoking may not be a direct cause of obesity, scientists have found that smokers have more visceral fat than nonsmokers.

This makes smoking a risk factor.

12. Inadequate Sleep

Studies have shown that lack of good quality sleep can harm a person’s health.

Short durations of sleep have a direct impact on weight gain and the formation of excess body fat.

Sleep deprivation can also encourage excessive eating, which causes rapid development of visceral and subcutaneous fat.

Once you have understood these weight gain causes, the next thing to do is to identify healthy steps that will allow you to achieve your fitness goals.

Things You Shouldn’t Do to Lose Weight

The quest to lose weight fast has led many people to take extreme measures and even indulge in some harmful weight loss practices.

Some of the harmful things you shouldn’t do to lose weight include:

• Taking unsafe supplements, pills or products that don’t have proven safety or effectiveness against weight gain
• Different purging which can cause excess loss of fluid
• Extreme exercising
• Smoking and use of illegal drugs

While some of these practices would seem like they yield weight loss results, they pose great harm to health.

So, the question many people ask is, “how can I lose weight in a fast, natural and safe manner?”

Steps to Losing Weight in Nigeria Fast

Here are the steps to lose unwanted weight, burn stubborn belly and body fats in Nigeria:

1. Calculate Your Calories Intake and Body Mass Index   

The first important thing to do when starting your weight loss journey is to calculate how many calories you need in a day.

Losing weight has to do with the number of calories you consume.

Everything you eat and drink contains calories, and everything you do burns calories.

A calorie is a unit of energy.

In nutrition, calories refer to the energy people get from the food and drink they consume.

It is also the energy we use in physical activity.

The rate your body burns calories (energy) for these activities is called a Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR).

Here is the Basic Principle of Weight Loss

You gain fat in your body by eating more calories than your body uses or needs.

It’s very important for you to know your BMI (Body Mass Index) to find out if you’re underweight, overweight or perfectly healthy.

BMI is your body’s mass index that is used to gauge your weight status.

It is calculated by using your weight and your height and a lot of factors come to play when determining the accuracy of your result.

BODY MASS INDEX	WEIGHT STATUS
Below 18.5	Underweight
18.5 – 24.9	Healthy Weight
25.0 – 29.9	Overweight
30.0 and Above	Obese

Calculate your BMI below.

You realize that the average person (depending on their size, age, and gender) requires somewhere between 1200 to 2600 kilocalories (kcal) daily to maintain their weight.

To lose weight, you may need to consume about 1200 calories daily.

Most people think it’s not possible to lose weight eating Nigerian foods, but this is false.

You can lose weight while still enjoying local meals like egusi soup, jollof rice, amala, dodo and every other Nigerian food as far as you eat LESS than your daily calorie maintenance level.

To know the number of calories you need to consume to lose weight, you must know the exact calories your body needs daily (i.e., calorie maintenance level), then eat less than maintenance level.

Your calorie maintenance level depends on different factors like your height, weight, age, level of activity, metabolic rate.

There are Nigerian foods calorie counter and calculators that can give you a good estimate based on your age, height, amount of activity you do.

Calculate your Calorie Maintenance Level below.

After knowing your calorie maintenance level, then your consumption should be 20% less than your daily calorie maintenance level.

For instance, if you found your calorie maintenance level to be around 2500 calories, then you’ll calculate 20% of 2500, which is equal to 500.

So, to ideally lose weight, consume around 2000 calories daily (i.e., 2500 – 500 = 2000).

From this, it showed that 500-calorie-a-day cutback is a good start.

You can read more on Nigerian foods with low and high calories.

So, calculate your BMI and know if this journey is for you.

2. Set Realistic Weight Loss Goals

The second step is to be realistic about your eating and exercise habits and set your milestones.

Are you a late-night snacker?

Do you taste food while cooking?

Do you finish the kid’s leftovers?

What do you eat on a typical day and throughout the week?

How much are you eating?

How often are you exercising?

What workouts are you doing?

What’s your stress level and primary forces behind your stress?

How’s your rest and sleep schedule?

How many kg would you like to lose?

How many inches would you like to drop to?

When would you want to achieve it?

You should answer these questions and set a fitness goal as you set out on your weight loss journey.

Goals keep you on your toes, motivate you and sets you up for success.

However, it makes no sense to set unrealistic goals.

First, know that weight loss takes time. It is a gradual process; so if you are choosing a diet plan or workout routine, choose the sustainable ones.

Go with the right options that work for you.

A Keto diet might work for someone else, but might not work for you.

You should set ‘SMART’ fitness goals. SMART stand for; Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-specific.

Your weight loss goal could be to fit into one of your best clothes before the end of next month.

If you are currently 100kg and you want to go down to 80kg in 2 months, then you know you need to get rid of 20 kg of fat over 8 weeks. That means you need to get rid of at least 2.5kg per week.

When you create a plan for yourself, it helps you break down your big goal into smaller goals that you can work towards and achieve in measurable steps.

So, honestly analyze your current lifestyle, decide what needs to change, include an action plan and make sure you stick to it.

3. Get Rid of the Scale

Stop checking your weight on the scale every day.

It’s okay for you to weigh yourself before you embark on your weight loss journey, but obsessing over what your scale readings are daily will demotivate you.

Check your weight before you get started, then weigh yourself at the end of every week.

That will give you a better accurate reading of how much you’ve lost over a 7-day period.

4. Identify and Eat Healthy Protein, Fat and Vegetables

You actually need a BALANCED DIET to be healthy and stay fit.

When making a meal plan to lose belly fat in Nigeria, ensure a good proportion of your meal contains all the six classes of food.

Here are the 6 Classes of Food:

• Carbohydrate
• Protein
• Minerals
• Fats (Healthy Ones)
• Vitamins
• Water

If you don’t eat food that contains all these, then you’ll struggle so hard to lose weight.

Plan your meals by including a protein source, a fat source, and low-carb vegetables.

High-Quality Protein Foods

Protein is very essential for losing weight.

They have been shown to boost metabolism by 80 to 100 calories per day.

Increasing protein intake aids in muscle building, proper body functioning and weight loss because it’s proven that a high protein diet can suppress your appetite and reduce obsessive thought and desire for snacking by up to 55%.

This is the list of some rich-protein foods in Nigeria.

• Almonds
• Bean Cake (Akara)
• Beans
• Beef
• Broccoli
• Chicken Breast
• Chickpea
• Corned Beef
• Cottage Cheese
• Crayfish
• Egg
• Egusi (Melon Seed)
• Ewedu and Gbegiri
• Fresh Fish/Dry Fish
• Greek (Strained) Yoghurt
• Green Pea
• Groundnut 
• Lentils
• Locust Beans 
• Milk
• Millet
• Moi Moi
• Oats
• Okra
• Peanuts/Peanut Butter
• Pumpkin Seeds
• Sardine
• Shrimp
• Snail
• Turkey Breast
• Whey Protein Powder Supplement

Low-Carb Vegetables

• Broccoli Spinach
• Cabbage
• Cucumber
• Lettuce
• Tomatoes

These fibers slow down digestions and improve absorption of nutrients, which can help keep you full longer and reduce your cravings.

These fibers can also be effective in cutting down harmful belly fat.

A meal plan based mostly on meat and vegetables contains all the fiber, vitamins and minerals you need to be healthy.

Fat Sources

• Avocado oil
• Butter
• Coconut oil
• Olive oil
• Palm oil

Use only a small amount of these good oils in your meal preparation.

5. Start Your Day with Breakfast

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, because your body has been at rest all night and needs fuel to start its metabolism to give you energy to start your day and also make you less hungry at the next meal.

When you actually skip meals (especially breakfast) or deliberately refuse to eat when you are hungry, you may feel tired, experience headaches, and poor concentration in the late mornings, which can affect your performance.

Also, after skipping breakfast, you get hungrier later in the day and may resort to consuming unhealthy snacks and drinks, which defeats the entire purpose of restricting excess calories.

So, don’t deprive your body of food, if not, your body will take energy from your muscles, which is not good; as you need your muscle to lose weight.

And don’t lie down immediately after eating any meal; be it breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

Either sit down, stand up or walk around; it helps the food to digest easily, which helps increase your metabolism.

6. Eat Less Carbohydrate

When trying to lose weight, it is extremely important to watch carbohydrate intake.

Sometimes, for you to burn off excess tummy and body fat from your body, eliminate fat storing meals out of your diet.

Examples of fat storing foods are:

• Akpu (Fufu)
• Bread
• Buns
• Cake
• Chin Chin
• Chocolate
• Cocoyam
• Coke
• Cornflakes
• Fanta
• Gala
• Garri or Eba
• Noodles
• Pepsi
• Pizza
• Pounded yam
• Puff Puff
• Rice
• Semovita
• Spaghetti
• Starch with banga soup
• Sugar
• Yam

These are some Nigerian food to avoid when losing weight.

When you eat carbohydrate-based food, your body automatically releases a hormone called “Insulin”.

This insulin controls the level of sugar in the body by transporting the excess sugar from the carbohydrate foods into the major organs like the muscles, liver and then stores the rest of it in your body fat cells.

When your body fat cells store the excess sugar from the food you eat, it increases in size.

The more food you take from simple and refined carbohydrates, the more insulin your body produces, and the more insulin your body produces, the more fat your body will end up storing.

Finally, these fats get stored in your arms, your belly, your hips, your neck.

Try noting these carbohydrates and their calories and plan your Nigerian food timetable for fast weight loss well.

7. Reduce the Salt

When we cook with packaged seasoning mixtures, we introduce lots of salt into our diet.

Typical seasoning contains a high amount of salt in them, so adding extra table salt to dishes that already contain these seasonings means salt overload.

Although salt has no direct relationship with fat gain or fat loss, but over-consumption of salt leads to temporary weight gain as it causes the body to keep water.

8. Cut Back on Sugars

Drinks are equally important in weight loss.

Soft drinks are packed with liquid fructose (sugar), which can easily cause belly fat.

Soft drinks are said to be even worse than high-sugar foods because they are quicker to digest and easier to consume more at a goal.

Also, drinking fruit juice is not the same as eating fruits.

Fruit juices are just disguised sugary drinks; they also fall under processed carbs.

Frequent drinking of fruit juice can also lead to an increase in belly fat.

Eat your fruit instead. And if you must drink your fruit, make a smoothie.

Also, cut down the amount of high calorie snacks you eat like gala, chin-chin, cakes, chocolate, biscuits, buns, puff-puff, and so on.

9. Choose Meat Wisely

The recommended red meat option for dieting is goat meat.

Goat meat is comparable to beef in protein but contains 50% fewer calories and significantly less fat.

10. Avoid Deep Frying

When trying to lose weight, try avoiding fried foods because it introduces high amounts of oil, calories and fat into our diet, which makes it more difficult to lose weight.

11. Slowly Eat Small Meal Portions

Fill your plate with the correct portion, and eat at the table and focus on enjoying your meal.

It is advisable to take 4-6 smaller meals instead of 3 enormous meals per day.

This allows the body to recognize food intake and burn calories faster than when you eat large meals throughout the day.

Also, slow down when you eat; sip water in between each bite.

Make sure all food is chewed thoroughly as this helps your brain get signals from your stomach that you are full.

Eating more slowly is a good weight-loss strategy, and making food spicier is an easy way to do it.

12. Drink Water Regularly

Daily consumption of as much water as possible has been recommended for healthy living.

A glass of lukewarm water, especially early in the morning, prepares the digestive system.

People often confuse thirst with hunger and end up consuming extra calories when what the body needs is water.

Drink 8-10 glasses of water daily.

Drink a full glass of water 10 to 15 minutes before eating your meals.

When you drink water before your meal, it fills your stomach up and kick starts the process that sends the “stop eating” signal to the brain.

So, when you eat, you feel full sooner, therefore you don’t overeat.

If you dislike the taste of plain water, try sparkling water or add a slice of lemon or lime.

Don’t also try consuming too much water while eating as it dilutes your stomach acid and may cause digestion problem.

13. Avoid Late Night Meals

Avoid late night food if you want to lose weight fast.

Yes, at midnight, you might feel hungry; it’s normal.

Eating after-dinner piles up calories and mostly the food choices may not be healthy.

So, resist the urge to eat after dinner.

Have a glass of water if you are tempted or go for fruits such as watermelon, cucumber, cabbage, cashew nut, avocado pear.

For the ladies, this will help reduce belly fat after delivery (child birth).

14. Always Shop when Satiated

Never shop for groceries when hungry because you’re likely to buy less healthy foods on impulse.

Preferably make a shopping list and stick to it.

15. Exercise

Weight loss cannot be achieved with food alone.

Avoiding exercise is a huge weight loss mistake you might be making.

To lose weight, you must expense more energy than you consume and an easy way to expense energy is to exercise.

Although you might be very busy, you could start with simple exercises that you can easily do at home easily without needing to visit the Gym.

You can:

• Do some house chores like ironing and plates washing by yourself
• Play with your kids
• Have more sex (for married couples)
• Take the stairs instead of the escalator or elevator
• Engage in swimming, running/jogging or cycling round your neighborhood
• Try home workout DVDs
• Walk for at least 50 minutes every day to boost your metabolism and refresh your mind.

16. Get Good Sleep

Ensure to get quality sleep every day.

Don’t be too carried away with work that you deny yourself quality sleep.

Sleep deprivation affects your ability to judge what is right for your body, causing you to succumb to fatty and sugary cravings and making you binge on food.

Enough sleep can prevent hunger and cravings for junk food.

Sleeping early cuts down snacking time during the day.

Also, sleeping in dark rooms is more advisable as it helps your body produce melatonin (a sleep-promoting hormone) that influences body metabolism and especially helps in converting brown fat to white fat.

17. Be Positive

Your mindset is mostly shaped by the people (your friends and family) you choose to associate with.

If you start any diet with the wrong mindset, or beliefs about your body and foods, the result won’t be good.

Destructive energy should stay far away.

Love your body while improving it.

Permanent weight-loss is not about losing weight but more about ending that lifestyle that got you there.

If you’ve got people who laugh at your weight loss goals and telling you’ll never achieve them, you may have a tougher time in getting your desired shape, especially when you take these side remarks and comments to heart.

Some of these people don’t want you to succeed with your plans because they’ve had so many past failures in their own fat loss goals that they’ve given up.

So, evaluate the people you spend most of your time with.

Check if they are really helping or hurting your efforts for lifelong fitness and health.

Then try limiting these negative influences or people.

Always keep friends that inspire, motivate and encourage you daily.

This is a choice you should really make if you’re serious about living a peaceful and healthy life.

18. Get an Experienced Fitness Coach or Mentor

Lot of people opt out of their weight loss plans early when they don’t see excellent result after different programs and routines.

It will be easier and faster getting your fitness goals and desired body weight (shape) if you have someone with experience who has gone through what you are going through and has been successful in it to help you.

Try getting yourself a coach/mentor with genuine experience and proven results you can look to for guidance and support whenever you have questions or problems during your weight loss journey.

Obesity Prevention for Children

There has been so much discussion about obesity and weight loss for adults, but what about children?

Obesity poses health risks, not just for adults, but for children as well.

One way to avoid obesity or excessive weight gain in adulthood is to start right from childhood.

You must help your kids maintain a normal weight as this helps to ensure a fit state of general health and wellbeing.

How to Avoid Obesity or Excessive Weight Gain in Children

• Pay attention to what your children eat. You must start feeding your children healthy diets right from the early years. Feed them with nutritious meals containing enough vegetables, fruits, and proteins. In this way, they maintain normal body weight and get the required food nutrient for growth. It would also help shape their eating habits even when they become adults.
• Don’t overfeed your children. Feed your kids with the portion sizes of food. When the excess food is not burnt as fuel for energy, it gets stored as body fat.
• Avoid stocking up the house with unhealthy foods. Keep junk foods away from children; they are not good for health and can cause weight gain.
• Introduce fun physical activities to the kids. Come up with games, sporting activities, gym classes, or outdoor chores that the kids would be excited about.
• Children need enough sleep. Help your children form healthy sleeping habits. Healthy sleeping habits include having a bedtime ritual, a sleep schedule, and sleeping on a comfortable mattress and pillow.

Does Overweight Cause Infertility in Men?

Did you know that the more your male partner weighs, the more likely he is to have a problem with low testosterone levels, poorer sperm quality and reduced fertility as compared to men who are not obese or overweight?

Yes, being overweight can affect how fertile men are too.

Work out, take walks and eat healthy with your partner, especially if you’re trying for a baby. It will do both of you lots of good. 

You as a woman aren’t always the cause of infertility issues in a relationship.

There are many times where men are responsible.

Why is it harder for women to lose weight?

The weight loss journey is never an easy one, irrespective of gender.

But it is still not just a myth; surely, you must have noticed that it is indeed harder for women to lose weight than males.

Some factors contribute to this.

While some differences result from biological factors, some stem from behavioral factors.

Also, some health experts have said genes should be blamed.

Factors that cause weight gain and make weight loss harder for women

Here are some factors that predispose women to weight gain and makes it harder for them to lose weight.

• Exercise, nutrition and metabolism
• Pregnancy and its effects
• Menstrual cycle and menopause
• Emotion and mental blocks
• Hormonal disorders like Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS)
• Sedentary lifestyle

Excessive weight is a worrisome condition.

Asides from it not appealing to a larger percent of the population, it has several health conditions associated with it, such as diabetes, arthritis, cardiovascular diseases.

Thus, weight loss poses an enormous challenge for women, particularly.

The tips shared in this article will help you get back in shape after giving birth.

How fast should you lose weight?

What does ‘fast weight loss’ mean?

When discussing fast weight loss, you might wonder if there is a way of measuring the pace at which it occurs.

Almost everyone would want to see fast results in weight loss.

However, in reality, weight loss doesn’t always come fast.

How fast you lose weight will depend on different factors, such as genetics, how your body burns calories.

You need consistency, patience and determination with your weight loss journey.

While weight loss comes fast for some people, it poses a significant challenge for others.

However, it is safe to lose about 1 to 2 pounds per week.

Be careful on how you go about your weight loss journey.

Too quick results might be harmful to your health and can even cause weight rebound at the end of the weight loss program.

While it is technically possible to lose up to 5kg (11 pounds) in a week, it is not advisable.

Most times, when people lose weight rapidly, what they are actually losing is ‘water weight’ and not really body fat.

Losing weight at the pace of 0.45kg (1 pound) per week might seem like a slow pace, but it would more likely help you maintain your weight loss strategy for a long time.

While seeking a fast weight loss plan, it is important to know that there is a difference between losing water weight and body fat. The former happens faster and within a few days, while the latter takes longer.

When you lose weight, where does the lost body fat go?

Most of us really don’t think about where fat goes when we lose it.

In all honesty, we’re just happy that the scale says it’s gone and our clothes fit better.

But the fat doesn’t magically disappear when your body burns fat.

If you probably want to join a weight loss program, you may wonder how fat leaves the body once you lose weight.

Weight loss is achieved through a combination of a healthy exercise and healthy diet plan that focuses on lean protein, healthy fats, and carbohydrates from fruits and vegetables.

This combination aids the body in burning stored fat for fuel and energy and preventing the body from storing excess fat that you continue to consume.

Fat is basically stored energy, and your body uses energy in more ways than you’d think.

Your body converts fat to usable energy for your muscles and other tissues through a series of complex metabolic processes and this causes your fat cells to shrink.

These metabolic activities also generate heat, which helps maintain your body temperature, and waste products.

These waste products — water and carbon dioxide — are excreted in your urine and sweat or exhaled from your lungs.

So…

84%, or 8.4 of every 10 pounds of fat burned (lost) turns into carbon dioxide and leaves the body through the lungs.

The lungs are the primary excretory organ for weight loss.

The remaining 16 percent leaves the body as water through urine, sweat, tears, breath, and other bodily fluids, and is readily replenished.

And no, before you ask, you can’t lose weight simply by breathing more.

9 Good Signs to Know You’re Losing Weight

• You’re not hungry all the time
• Your sense of well-being improves
• Your clothes fit differently
• Your body measurement will start changing
• Your chronic pain improves
• Your blood pressure comes down
• You’re noticing muscle definition
• You now snore less
• Your mood improves

If you notice most of these signs in your body, congratulations because you’re losing weight.

Final Words

Being overweight comes with different side effects.

Apart from the unhealthy side effects on the physical body, it may affect how you perceive yourself and how people perceive you.

Losing weight is good for your health.

Weight loss lessens the risk of many internal diseases like diabetes and arthritis.

You can eat healthy and lose weight using a Nigerian diet and little exercise even while breastfeeding or after childbirth.

Healthy weight loss or weight maintenance starts from what you put in your mouth.

Your eating habits and lifestyle amounts for 60% of your weight loss, while exercises share the remaining percentage.

“Do you eat because you are hungry or you eat because you just want to eat or you eat because you haven’t eaten and you must eat?”

Correct answers to these questions give you insight on how to deal with the whole situation.

People don’t understand that, sometime the body needs to go through sobriety from food.

Sometime, all what your body need is liquid (water or apple juice), but my African brothers and sisters will not listen to the cry of their body. 

The rules for weight loss are not complicated.

However, often, people find it difficult to follow through with the rules.

Weight loss entails discipline, commitment, patience, and consistency. 

By being consistent with a sustainable dietary plan, lifestyle changes, and physical activity, you can attain a safe and fast weight loss.

The key is to find what works for you and stick to it so you don’t go back to being overweight.

Stay healthy and be safe. I wish you the best. 

Please share this post with your friends and loved ones to see this.

It’s very important we all get educated on this.