Simple Diet Plan to Lose Weight Fast

How to lose weight

1. Diet
2. When to eat
3. Real food
4. When not to eat
5. Measure
6. Persistence
7. Fruit
8. Beer
9. Non-caloric sweeteners
10. Medications
11. Stress & sleep
12. Dairy & nuts
13. Supplements
14. Intermittent fasting
15. Exercise
16. Ketosis
17. Hormones
18. Weight-loss pills

Do you have trouble losing weight? Or would you like to lose faster? You've come to the right place. Get ready for weight loss without hunger.

Our conventional ideas about weight loss – eat less, move more – require a lot of willpower. Counting calories, exercising for hours every day and trying to ignore your hunger? At DietDoctor, we believe that's needless suffering, and likely a waste of your time and precious energy.

Eventually people often give up. An excessive focus on counting calories has certainly not done much to reverse our current obesity epidemic.¹ Fortunately there may be a better way.

The bottom line? Calories are not the only things that count in weight loss. Your weight is also hormonally regulated. If you reduce your hunger and the levels of your fat-storing hormone, insulin, you'll likely have an easier time losing excess weight.²

Top 18 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. Click on any tip to read all about it. Perhaps you only need the first piece of advice?

1. Choose a low-carb diet
2. Eat when hungry
3. Eat real food
4. Eat only when hungry
5. Measure your progress wisely
6. Be persistent
7. Avoid overeating fruit
8. Avoid beer
9. Avoid non-caloric sweeteners
10. Review any medications
11. Stress less, sleep more
12. Eat less dairy products and nuts
13. Supplement vitamins and minerals
14. Use intermittent fasting
15. Exercise wisely
16. Achieve higher ketone levels
17. Get your hormones checked
18. Consider weight-loss pills

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Disclaimer: In this weight-loss guide, we recommend a low-carb diet, as it has repeatedly been shown to be equivalent to or better than other diets.³ We believe it is a more sustainable diet, however, as it typically leads to caloric restriction without hunger or counting calories. While a low-carb diet has many proven benefits, it's still controversial. The main potential danger regards medications, especially for diabetes, where doses may need to be adapted. Discuss any changes in medication and relevant lifestyle changes with your doctor. Full disclaimer

This guide is written for adults with health issues, including obesity, that could benefit from losing weight.

We don't recommend counting calories, which is controversial. To learn more about the rationale for this, see our guide on restricting calories for weight loss.

Controversial topics related to a low-carb diet, and our take on them, include saturated fats, cholesterol, whole grains, red meat and whether the brain needs carbohydrates.

1. Choose a low-carb diet

If you want to lose weight, consider starting by avoiding sugar and starch (like bread, pasta and potatoes). This is an old idea: for 150 years or more there have been a huge number of weight-loss diets based on eating fewer carbs. What's new is that reviews of modern scientific studies have repeatedly shown that low carb is at least as good, if not better, than other approaches to diet.⁴

Obviously, it's still possible to lose weight on any diet – just eat fewer 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," as it may result in having to go hungry forever. Sooner or later, many will likely give up and eat without restriction, hence the prevalence of "yo-yo dieting."⁵ While it should be possible to lose weight on any diet, some appear to make it easier and some to make it much harder.

The main advantage of the low-carb diet is that it may cause you to want to eat less.⁶ Even without counting calories, overweight people tend to eat fewer calories on low carb.⁷ Thus, calories count, but you don't need to count them.

A 2012 study also showed that people who had lost weight  experienced far less reduction in total energy expenditure (the number of calories burned within a 24-hour period) when they followed a low-carb diet compared to a low-fat diet during weight maintenance — a 300-calorie difference, in fact.⁸

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 exercising.

Recently, an even larger and more carefully conducted study confirmed this metabolism-sparing effect, with different groups of people who had lost weight burning an average of between 200 and almost 500 extra calories per day on a low-carb maintenance diet compared to a high-carb or moderate-carb diet.⁹

Bottom line: A low-carb diet can reduce your hunger, making it easier to eat less. And it might even increase your fat burning at rest. Study after study shows that low carb works for weight loss and that on average it improves important health markers.¹⁰

Why low carb can help you lose weight

How to lose weight with a low-carb diet

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Learn more about keto and low-carb

Do you want to know more about exactly what to eat on low carb, how to do it, potential problems and solutions — and find lots of great recipes? Check out our keto for beginners guide. Alternatively, you can make low carb even simpler by signing up for our free two-week keto challenge.

2. Eat when hungry

Eating when hungry sounds simple:if you're not hungry, you probably don't need to eat yet.

When on a low-carb or keto diet you can trust your feelings of hunger and satiety again — something many people following a low-fat or standard American diet cannot do.¹¹ Feel free to eat as many — or as few — times per day as you feel is right 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 protein, fibrous veggies, or extra fat calories to your meals, to increase satiety). However, there's some evidence that frequent snacking may not be wise when trying to lose weight.¹² Some people only eat once or twice a day and never snack. Whatever works for you. Just eat when you're hungry, and don't eat when you aren't.

It also helps that low-carb diets and higher protein diets tend to reduce hunger.

Studies demonstrate that people eating a very low-carb, ketogenic diet reduce their feelings of hunger and the amount of food they eat.¹³

Multiple other studies demonstrate that adding protein to your diet markedly reduces hunger and food intake.¹⁴

Our suggestion? Try a low-carb, higher protein approach and see what happens to your hunger levels.¹⁵

Read more about why eating when hungry is smarter than counting calories

3. Eat real, minimally processed 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 primarily on whole food.

Prioritize what humans have been eating for thousands or likely millions of years, e.g. meat, fish, vegetables, eggs, butter, olives, nuts etc.¹⁶

If you want to lose weight, 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 often full of carbohydrates. Don't be fooled.

How about low-carb bread? Be careful: if it's baked with grains it's certainlynot low carb. But some companies still try to sell it to you as a low-carb option.

Low-carb chocolate is usually full of a kind of sugar alcohol — maltitol — that may actually be partially absorbed by the body, but which the manufacturer does not count as carbs. If the maltitol is absorbed, it is likely to raise blood sugar and insulin levels.¹⁷ The remaining carbs end up in the colon, potentially causing gas and diarrhea.

While low-carb chocolate made with erythritol or stevia is likely to be okay, you still have to consider that any sweeteners can maintain sugar cravings.¹⁸

Two simple rules to avoid being tricked into purchasing unhealthy "low carb" products:

• Don't buy "low carb" versions of high carb stuff, like cookies, bars, chocolate, bread, pasta or ice cream – unless you are sure of the ingredients (ideally, by making it yourself).
• Avoid products with the words "net carbs" on them. That may be a way to deceive 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).

Read more about fake low-carb products

Read more about sweeteners

Less moderation, more quality

Finally — you may want to forget about the old "everything in moderation" diet motto. It isn't necessarily helpful advice for people who struggle with weight — in fact, it may be exactly the opposite.¹⁹

Don't eat everything in moderation. Eat as much healthy food as you can, whenever you are hungry. Eat as little unhealthy food as you can – if possible, none at all.

4. Eat only when hungry

On a low-carb diet you should aim to eat when hungry (see tip #2 above). And if you're not hungry? Don't eat. Frequently eating more food than you need to stay satisfied will slow down weight loss.²⁰ This, in fact, is so important that it's worth a section of its own.

Limit unnecessary snacking

Unnecessary snacking can be a problem on a low-carb diet too. Some things are easy to eat just because they're tasty and readily available. Here are three common traps to watch out for on a low-carb or keto diet:²¹

1. Dairy products such as cream and cheeses. They work well in cooking, as they satisfy. But problems arise when you're munching a lot of cheese in front of the TV in the evening — without being hungry. Be careful with that. Another problem might be having lots of cream with dessert, when you're actually already full and just keep eating because it tastes good. Another common culprit is loads of heavy 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.²² Salted nuts tempt you to more overeating. Good to know. Another tip: Avoid bringing the entire bag to the couch – choose a small bowl instead. Personally, I often eat all the nuts in front of me, whether I'm hungry or not.
3. Low-carb baking. Even if you're only using almond flour and sweeteners, snacking on baked goods and cookies usually represents additional 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? Research has confirmed that the answer is no.²³ Don't eat if you're not hungry. And this goes for any meal.

On a strict low-carb diet the hunger and urge to eat tend to decrease significantly.²⁴ 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. The concern that this "urge to binge" will blow their diets completely leads them to obsessively snack all the time.

This constant snacking may be necessary in order to control the hunger and craving that may arise during a diet high in sugar and starchy carbs, but it's usually unnecessary on a low-carb diet. Hunger will only slowly return and you should have plenty of time to prepare food or grab a snack.

Bottom line: To lose weight in a sustainable way, eat when you're hungry – but only when you're hungry. Forget the clock and listen to your body instead.

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5. Measure your progress wisely

Tracking successful weight loss is sometimes trickier than you'd think. Focusing primarily 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 (which may accompany calorie-counting), as your body may want to restore lost muscle. Starting weight training and gaining muscle can also hide your fat loss.

Losing fat and gaining muscle means great progress, but you may miss this if you only measure your weight. Thus it's best to quantify body composition as you lose weight. You can do this with a DEXA scan, hydrostatic weights, plethysmography scales and others. But if these are not available, it is smart to also track the disappearance of your belly fat, by measuring yourwaist circumference.

Here's how to do it:

1. Put the measuring tape around your middle, 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 fits snugly, without compressing your skin
4. Measure

Compare your result to these recommendations:

I recommend aiming for "good" but it's not always realistic. Young people can usually achieve this, but for some middle-aged or older people, it may be a major victory to get all the way to "decent".²⁵

Measuring progress

I suggest measuring your waist circumference and weight before starting your weight-loss journey 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.

Please note that your weight can fluctuate up and down several pounds from day to day, depending on fluid balance and digestive system contents. Don't worry about short-term changes, follow the long-term trend instead.

If you can, 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 frequently improved on a low-carb diet, even before major weight loss.²⁶ 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 does not necessarily work well in the long term; instead it may be a recipe for "yo-yo dieting".²⁷

In addition, you need to set realistic expectations for health and weight loss goals. You can read more in our detailed guide on realistic expectations.

What to aim for

It's common to lose2-6 pounds (1-3 kg) within the first week on a strict low-carb diet, and then on average aboutone pound (0.5 kg) per week as long as you have a lot of weight remaining to lose.²⁸ This translates into about 50 pounds (23 kilos) per year. However, weight loss doesn't occur at this rate in everyone.

Every 5 pounds of fat loss roughly equals 1 inch lost around the waist (1 kilo = 1 cm).

Young males sometimes lose weight faster than this, perhaps twice as fast.²⁹ Post-menopausal women may lose at a slower pace.³⁰ People on a very strict low-carb diet may lose weight quicker, as well as those who exercise a lot (a bonus).³¹ And if you have an enormous amount of excess weight to lose, you could start out much faster — although initially, some of the weight you lose will be due to water loss.

As you get closer to your ideal weight, the loss may slow down until you stabilize at a weight that your body feels is right. Very few people become underweight on a low-carb diet as long as they eat when hungry.

Read other peoples' stories

Initial stalls

Are you coming off a period of semi-starvation (which can occur with calorie-counting)? Focus on your waist circumference and health markers (see tip #4) at first, as it sometimes takes several weeks before weight loss is apparent.³²

Weight-loss plateaus

Expect weight-loss plateaus: months where nothing seems to happen on the scale. Everybody hits them.³³ Stay calm. Keep doing what you're doing and eventually things should start happening again (if not, check out the other 17 tips).

More: Top 10 tips top break a weight loss stall

How to keep the weight off long term

Losing a lot of weight long term and keeping it off will likely not happen unless youchange your habits forever. If you lose weight and then return to living exactly the way you did when you gained weight, don't be surprised when the excess weight returns. It normally will.

Maintaining weight loss usually requires long-term change and patience. As tempting as it may be, don't fall for one of these magical diet scams.

Forget quick fixes: If you lose some weight every month, eventually you may get rid of all your excess weight. That's inevitable progress. That's what you want.

PS: Long-term change is hardest 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 may come naturally.

For inspiration and tips, check out some of our long-term weight maintenance success stories:

• Karen: Maintaining a 70-pound weight loss for five years
• How Melissa lost 100 pounds with a keto diet, and kept it off for 15 years
• Brian: Maintaining a 100-pound weight loss for seven years

How to lose weight faster

Keep reading!

7. Avoid overeating fruit

This piece of advice is controversial, as fruit has an almost magical health aura today. While fruit does contain fiber, antioxidants, and important vitamins, it also contains a fair amount of sugar – around 10% by weight (the rest is mostly water).³⁴ Just taste an orange or a grape. Sweet, right?

Eating whole fruits in moderation – especially ones that are low in sugar, like berries – can absolutely be part of a healthy diet. The soluble fiber in fruit can help with short-term satiety; it also reacts with water in your gut to form a thick gel that helps delay and reduce the amount of sugar absorbed from that fruit. In fact, up to 30% of the sugar from fruit may not be absorbed. ³⁵

Larger quantities of fruit, however, will deliver a significant sugar load to your intestines. Even if only 70% of that sugar is absorbed, 70% of a big number is still a big number. For example, five servings of fruit per day can be equivalent to the amount of sugar in 16 ounces (500 ml) of soda – 52 grams of sugar!³⁶

Isn't fruit natural?

Most people believe that fruit is natural, but today's fruits in the grocery store have very little in common with what fruits looked like before they were cultured. Modern domesticated fruits are larger, less bitter, and have thinner peels and smaller seeds. This makes them tastier and easier to eat – and because of their increased size, they may provide more sugar per piece of fruit than their earlier counterparts.

What fruits and vegetables looked like before

Bottom line: Fruit is candy from nature. Enjoy responsibly.

8. Avoid drinking beer

Beer contains rapidly digested carbs that shut down fat burning. That may be why beer is sometimes referred to as "liquid bread." There's a good reason for the term "beer belly."³⁷

Here are smarter (lower-carb) alcoholic options when trying to lose weight:

• Wine (red or dry white)
• Dry champagne
• Hard liquor like whisky, cognac, vodka (avoid sweetened cocktails – try vodka, soda water, lime instead)

These drinks hardly contain any sugar or digestible carbohydrates so they're better than beer. However, large amounts of alcohol might slow weight loss, so moderation is still a good idea. ³⁸

Low‑carb alcohol –
the best and the worst

9. Avoid non-caloric sweeteners

Many people replace sugar with non-caloric 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 obvious positive effect on weight loss by consuming non-caloric sweeteners instead of plain sugar.³⁹

According to scientific studies, non-caloric sweeteners may increase appetite and maintain cravings for sweet food.⁴⁰ And one recent independent study showed that switching drinks with non-caloric sweeteners to water helped women lose weight.⁴¹

Study: Avoiding diet beverages helps women lose weight

This may be related to the increased insulin secretion seen with some non-caloric sweeteners.⁴² Maybe that is why something odd happened when I tested Pepsi Max.

If you're having trouble losing weight, I suggest that you avoid sweeteners. As a bonus, you'll likely find it easier to enjoy the natural sweetness of real food, once you're no longer adapted to the overpowering sweetness of processed low-carb food products and "diet" sodas.

Read more about non-caloric sweeteners

10. Review any medications

Many prescription drugs can stall your weight loss. Discuss any change in treatment with your doctor. Here are the three most common offenders:

• Insulin injections, especially at higher doses, are probably the worst obstacle for weight loss for many people.⁴³ There are three ways to reduce your need for insulin:

  A.  Eat fewer carbs, which makes it easier to lose weight. The fewer carbs you eat the less insulin you need.⁴⁴ Remember to work closely with your healthcare provider to ensure you safely lower your doses.

  B.  If this isn't enough, treatment with metformin (an insulin sensitizing drug) can decrease the need for insulin (at least for people with type 2 diabetes).⁴⁵

  C.  If this is not enough to get off insulin (again, for people with type 2 diabetes), discuss with your doctor if it is appropriate to try a drug in one of the newer classes like the GLP-1 analogues or DPP-4 inhibitors. There are many different options within these two categories; what you need to know is the drugs in these classes reduce the need for insulin and may also cause weight loss by other mechanisms — beyond just the effect of using less insulin.

  You can learn more in our guide on starting low-carb or keto with diabetes medications.

• Other diabetes medications, like drugs that stimulate the secretion of insulin by the pancreas (e.g. sulfonylureas), often lead to weight gain.⁴⁶ These include: Amaryl (glimepiride), Glucotrol/Minodiab (glipizide), Euglucon (glibenclamide), and Daonil (glyburide). Additional diabetes medications like Actos (pioglitazone), Starlix (nateglinide) and Prandin/NovoNorm (repaglinide) also encourage weight gain. But not metformin. More on diabetes
• Cortisone and other glucocorticoids (e.g. prednisone, prednisolone, dexamethasone) are also common offenders. These drugs may cause weight gain in the long run, especially at higher doses (e.g. more than 5 mg prednisolone per day).⁴⁷ Unfortunately, a medication like cortisone is often essential for those who are prescribed it, but the dose should be adjusted frequently in concert with your healthcare provider so you don't take more than you need.

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 Elavil/Tryptizol/Saroten (amitriptyline), and Anafranil (clomipramine); as well as newer drugs such as Remeron (mirtazapine).⁴⁸ Lithium (for bipolar disorder) often causes weight gain. The most commonly prescribed antidepressants, in a class known as SSRI's, generally have less of an impact on weight.⁴⁹ More on depression
• Some contraceptives may contribute to a slight weight gain, primarily those that contain only progesterone and no estrogen, for example the mini-pill, the contraceptive injection, or a contraceptive implant.⁵⁰ More on fertility
• Blood pressure medication in the form of beta blockers may lead to weight gain in some individuals. This class includes: Seloken/Lopressor (metoprolol), Tenormin (atenolol), and many others. More on high blood pressure
• Epilepsy drugs may cause weight gain (e.g. carbamazepine and valproate).
• Allergy medications and antihistamines can interfere with weight loss, especially at high doses. Cortisone is even worse (see above).More on allergies
• Antibiotics may possibly lead to a temporary weight gain by disturbing the gut microbiota and increasing the amount of energy we absorb from food.⁵¹ This is still speculative for humans but it's a reason to not use antibiotics unless you truly need them.

11. Stress less, sleep more

Have you ever wished for more hours of sleep and a less stressful life in general? Most people have – stress and lack of sleep can be bad news for weight.

Chronic stress and inadequate sleep may increase levels of stress hormones such as cortisol in your body. This can cause increased hunger, resulting in overeating highly palatable foods and therefore weight gain.⁵² 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, it 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 completely 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, goes hand in hand with sugar cravings.⁵³ 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 the same bedtime every evening. In the long run, this will help your 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 your body.
3. Limit your alcohol intake to three hours before bedtime. While booze might make you woozy, it worsens quality of sleep.
4. Limit exercise in the four hours before bedtime. Physical activity can wind you up and make it difficult to go 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 leaner.

Read more about the benefits of sleep

12. Eat less dairy products and nuts

Can you eat as much as you like and still lose weight? This often works well with a low-carbohydrate diet, as appetite regulation often improves.⁵⁴

However, despite the fact that a low-carbohydrate diet generally makes it easier 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 (yogurt, cream, cheese)
• Nuts

Dairy products contain varying amounts of lactose (milk sugar), which could slow down weight loss when over-consumed. Consequently, cutting back on dairy products may help accelerate weight loss.

This applies especially to dairy products typically lacking in fat, such as regular milk and various yogurts.

However, if you're struggling to lose weight, you should avoid large amounts of full-fat dairy, such as cream and cheese. Remember that, gram for gram, fat has twice the calories of carbs or protein; therefore, high-fat, highly palatable foods can deliver a huge calorie load before you know it.⁵⁵

When it comes to butter, you don't need to worry about extra carbs, as butter is almost pure fat. But, like any other source of fat, if butter is over-consumed, your dietary fat will be burned for fuel instead of body fat.

Low-carb and dairy-free recipes

Nuts, the second food to watch, contain a fair amount of carbohydrate in addition to a significant amount of fat, and it's very easy to unwittingly scarf down large quantities.⁵⁶

Obviously, the high calorie load delivered by handfuls of nuts can thwart weight loss. If you are trying to follow a strict ketogenic diet, with a 20 grams of carbs per day allowance, you should also note that cashew nuts are among the worst carb-wise – you'll find that they contain around 20% carbohydrate by weight.

This means that consuming 100 grams of cashews (which happens in a flash!) will fill your 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. And for those of you on a strict keto diet, know that the most harmless ones carb-wise are macadamia nuts (usually around 5% carbs), or Brazil nuts (4%).

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? It is possible that 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 speculation without strong supporting evidence. But there are a few studies which suggest it might not be far from the truth.

Vitamin D

A lack of vitamin D could be the most common deficiency in northern countries such as Canada and some of the US. Overall, the research on the relationship between vitamin D and weight is conflicting, and it cannot be concluded that taking vitamin D will cause weight loss.⁵⁷ Nonetheless, there are studies indicating that, when compared to a placebo, a vitamin D supplement could help decrease your fat mass or waist measurement, even in the absence of weight loss.⁵⁸

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. Although the total weight loss was similar, those who took the vitamin D supplement decreased their body fat by 2.7 kg (6 pounds), on average. This was significantly more than the placebo group, whose average fat loss was only 0.4 kg (less than 1 pound).⁵⁹

Multivitamins

The data regarding vitamin and mineral supplementation for weight loss is sparse and of very low quality overall.

However, there is a clinical trial from 2010 involving 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 went on for six months.

Unsurprisingly, the results showed that nothing had happened to the weight of the women receiving calcium or the placebo. However, the group that took the multivitamin lost more weight – an average of 3.6 kg (8 pounds) more – and improved several health markers. Among other things, their basal metabolic rate (the rate at which the body burns calories when at rest) increased.⁶⁰ Although the differences were small, they were statistically significant.

Conclusion

Nutrient-dense, whole food is certainly the foundation of weight loss. But an adequate amount of vitamin D can be difficult to ingest via food, especially for those who are vegetarian or don't eat fatty fish (the main dietary source of vitamin D) on a regular basis. In the case of a lack of sun (such as during the darker months of fall and winter), it may be wise to supplement for other health reasons – and perhaps for your body composition.

In addition, if you're overweight and not entirely sure that your diet provides enough nutrients, it may be worthwhile to take a multivitamin pill.

While the evidence is weak that either of these interventions will help with weight loss, there is likely little downside and you may see a small benefit.

14. Use intermittent fasting

There are many things to consider before moving on to tip #14, but don't let this deter you. Intermittent fasting can be a powerful tool when trying to lose weight. It may be perfect if you are stuck at a weight-loss plateau despite "doing everything right" – or to speed up your weight loss.⁶¹

Intermittent fasting 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 a low-carb or keto diet. It 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. Another option is to skip dinner: eat breakfast and lunch within 8 hours — for instance, 8 am to 2 pm — and then don't eat again until 8 am the next morning.

There are many other versions of intermittent fasting, but this 16:8 method (16 hours of not eating with an 8-hour eating window) is the one we recommend as a first option. It's often effective, generally 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, on weekdays only, or every single day. In fact, on a low-carb or keto diet, some people spontaneously fall into this habit, as their appetite is reduced (see weight loss tip #4, eat only when hungry).

Although it's possible that doing it more frequently may improve your results, long-term studies are lacking.⁶² Therefore, we simply don't know if frequent fasting will decrease resting metabolic rate in a similar manner to continuous caloric restriction, making weight loss and maintenance more difficult in the long run.

Other kinds of intermittent fasting

There are many other options. Basically, the longer periods may be harder to do, but they can certainly be effective. Here are two more common options:

• Fasting for 24 hours (often dinner to dinner) once or twice a week. This can be effective and easy to do for some people, especially on a keto diet, which usually reduces appetite.
• 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). This requires calorie counting and more 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.

We recommend eating when hungry as a first option, and we recommend always eating until you feel satisfied at meals. But if this is not effective enough, then intermittent fasting can be a useful tool in your tool kit. 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. Starving yourself may be 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 some salt too, or drink bouillon.⁶³

Anything you drink should ideally be zero calories. But it may be acceptable to modify this by adding a small amount of milk or cream 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, we suggest following all the tips above, including eating a low-carb diet. Pairing this with intermittent fasting is a great combination.

On a low-carb diet, hunger is typically reduced, making it much easier to fast. Also, glycogen stores in the liver should be lower while eating low carb, meaning that fasting may flip the metabolic switch to fat burning mode earlier than if not on a carb-restricted diet. This may be one of the mechanisms that enhances weight loss.⁶⁴

So, while on a low-carb diet the fasting periods may 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 have a history of disordered eating then intermittent fasting may not be right for you. We recommend consulting with your physician before trying intermittent fasting.
• If you are stressed out or sleep deprived, then take care of 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 this with your doctor first.
• Growing children, pregnant women and breastfeeding women should not do longer fasting periods, as they have increased nutrient needs. We recommend eating when hungry and using the other tips in this guide if weight loss is needed.

More

Intermittent fasting for beginners

Guide to time restricted eating

15. Exercise wisely

Do you wonder why this weight-loss tip doesn't show up until number 15 on the list? It's because exercise is greatly overrated as a single intervention for weight loss.⁶⁵

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 were their full-time job – 40 hours a week, sometimes more. This method is clearly unsustainable for the average person in the long run.⁶⁶

Just taking the stairs instead of the elevator, or getting off the bus one stop earlier, is probably not going to change the numbers on your bathroom scale. It's a myth. Studies show that if you just start exercising, you're likely going to need at least 30-60 minutes of workouts per day to noticeably lose weight.⁶⁷ Part of the reason is that exercise makes people hungrier, and eating more reduces its beneficial effect on weight.⁶⁸

While the effect of exercise on our weight is overrated, exercise can still provide meaningful health improvements, even without weight loss. You can learn more in our guide on exercise. But it's not a good idea to eat unhealthy processed food and drink sugar water (so-called "sports drinks"), and then exercise 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 basement-level windows of your house.

Exercise cannot compensate for other behaviors or issues in your life. Those must be addressed first.

The good news

If, on the other hand, you've already taken care of steps 1-14, you should have a rested and recharged body which is already happily burning fat. In this case, increased activity can accelerate your weight loss, fat mass loss and reduction of insulin levels.⁶⁹ 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 levels of the hormone testosterone (primarily in men) as well as growth hormone.⁷⁰ 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 fits you?

16. Achieve higher ketone levels

Warning: Not recommended for people with type 1 diabetes, 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 a controversial option: higher ketone levels. Why is it controversial? For most people, "low" or "higher" ketone levels don't make a difference for health and weight loss, and in general we do not recommend shooting for a specific ketone level.⁷¹ However, for some people stalling at weight plateaus while on a low carb diet, trying to raise ketone levels may be of benefit.

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 release their stored energy and shrink.⁷²

This tends to cause you to want to consume fewer calories than you expend – without hunger – and lose weight.⁷³ Several of the tips mentioned earlier are about fine-tuning your diet to better this effect.

Ketosis

Ketosis is a state in which the body is efficiently burning fat. Even the brain runs on fat, in the form of 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.⁷⁴

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.⁷⁵

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.

Here are a few pointers on how to interpret blood ketone results:

• Below 0.5 mmol/L is not considered "ketosis". At this level, you're likely not at maximum fat-burning. However, some controversy exists for this cut off level as few head-to-head trials exist comparing low levels of ketone production. Some studies have shown benefit of a ketogenic diet with ketone levels as low as 0.3mmol/L.⁷⁶
• Between 0.5-3.0 mmol/L is nutritional ketosis. This is where you are likely to see the beneficial effects on weight and metabolic health. For most people, it won't matter where in this range you fall.
• Around 1.5 – 3 mmol/L is the higher end of nutritional ketosis. If you are following a ketogenic diet to treat a neurological or mental health issue, you may be better off at this higher ketone range. However, solid data to support this is lacking. Always consult with your healthcare provider before making changes related to your medical treatments.
• Numbers over 3 mmol/L aren't necessary. That is, they will achieve neither better nor worse results than being at the 0.5-3 mmol/L level.⁷⁷ Higher numbers can also sometimes mean that you're not getting enough food. And, for people with type 1 diabetes, high ketone levels 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 Amazon⁷⁸). 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.

Breath ketone meters

Breath meters provide another method for measuring ketone levels. Some breath meters give a range of ketosis — mild, moderate, or high — while others give a quantitative result. The up-front cost to breath meters is usually higher than blood meters, but the long-term cost may be lower for those who test frequently, as there are no recurring expenses as there are with blood ketone testing strips.

Which method is best? That depends on your goals and how often you want to test. Diet Doctor's own Jenni Callihan tested numerous products and her guide describes the benefits and drawbacks to each device.

My personal experience

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

1. Experiment: Higher ketone levels for weight loss and increased performance
2. Four weeks of strict keto and ketone monitoring
3. Final report: Two months of strict keto and ketone monitoring

Although I was quite happy with my weight before these trials, they resulted in a further loss of 4.5 kg (10 pounds) and 7 cm (3 inches) around my waist – without additional exercise or even the slightest increase in hunger.

How to achieve higher ketone levels

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 0.4. Why?

First, you should make sure you are avoiding all obvious sources of carbohydrate (sweets, bread, spaghetti, rice, potatoes). Next, check for "hidden carbs" in salad dressings, dips, and from other sources like alcohol.

In an effort to improve fat-burning, thereby increasing ketone levels, you may consider adding intermittent fasting or exercise to your routine (see tips #14 and #15 above).

Finally, make sure you are eating adequate amounts of protein. A keto diet for weight loss should be at least a moderate protein diet. We recommend 1.2 to 2.0 grams per kg of reference body weight per day.⁷⁹ Check out our target protein ranges to find out how much protein you should be aiming for each day.

If it doesn't work

Having higher ketone levels most of the day for a prolonged period of time (say, a month) will ensure that you experience the maximal hormonal effect from eating a low-carb diet.⁸⁰ If this doesn't result in noticeable weight loss, you can be fairly certain that too many carbs are not part of your weight issue and are not the obstacle to your weight loss. There are, in fact, other causes of obesity and being overweight. The next two tips in this series might help you.

Try it

Order a ketone meter online and start measuring. There are a few different models.⁸¹ Unfortunately these meters can be quite expensive to use, depending on how often you test. Fortunately, with more competition, the price of test strips has come down to about $1 per strip.

Here's a complete package⁸² with everything you need to check your blood ketone levels.

More

Learn much more about ketogenic diets and ketosis:

A quick guide to ketogenic diets

Watch my video interview with the American doctor Peter Attia, on a strictly ketogenic low-carb diet: Very Low Carb Performance

A word of warning

If you have type 1 diabetes, you should not purposefully try to increase your ketone levels – it may be risky. If you have ketones in your blood at all, you must be sure that your blood sugar levels are normal and you are getting adequate insulin. If they are, you're in normal, nutritional ketosis – just like the ketosis of non-diabetic 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 contact your healthcare provider immediately or have someone take you to the hospital to be checked out. Coveting really high blood ketones for weight control is not worth the risk for people with type 1 diabetes.

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 increasing your ketone levels for a while (ensuring low insulin levels). And you still can't hit the normal weight mark?

If this applies to you, it may be 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, most often women, can suffer decreased metabolism as a result of thyroid hormone deficiency. Common symptoms of hypothyroidism are:

• Fatigue
• Cold intolerance
• Constipation
• Dry skin
• Weight gain

In these cases, weight gain resulting from decreased metabolism usually does not exceed 15 pounds.⁸³

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. However, it is possible to have mild hypothyroidism, even though the TSH is within the normal range.

If your TSH is in the upper portion of the normal range, yet you suspect you may have hypothyroidism, it is worth measuring a free T4 (thyroid hormone level) and thyroperoxidase (TPO) antibodies. If the free T4 is frankly low or the TPO antibody test returns high, it is possible – but not definite – that you will benefit from thyroid hormone treatment.⁸⁴

Is it possible to avoid becoming deficient in thyroid hormone? Maybe. Although there aren't any interventions known to stop an autoimmune attack on the thyroid, normal thyroid function requires adequate vitamins and minerals, including iodine, selenium, and iron.⁸⁵

What if you have optimized your vitamin and mineral intake, but you still suffer from low levels of thyroid hormone? The most common cause of hypothyroidism is an autoimmune reaction against the thyroid gland. This is typically treated with supplemental T4 in the form of levothyroxine, which the body converts into the active form of thyroid hormone, called T3. Some people with hypothyroidism will also benefit from the addition of T3 (liothyronine) to their T4 therapy.

Still other people will prefer desiccated pig thyroid (contains T4 and T3), though this treatment remains controversial and is not embraced by all healthcare providers.⁸⁶

Regardless of what form of thyroid hormone replacement you choose, the key is making sure you follow your levels and symptoms to make sure you aren't over- or under-replacing thyroid hormones.

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 may help treat this condition.⁸⁷ More on PCOS.

During menopause, estrogen levels can fluctuate widely, eventually dropping to low levels as the ovaries lose their ability to make it. This time of life is often associated with a drop in metabolic rate and some weight gain, especially around the gut (so-called central obesity). Current evidence suggests that hormone replacement therapy with estrogen may help achieve a more favorable body composition, though its effect on weight is minimal at best.⁸⁸

Learn more:

Top 10 tips to lose weight on low carb for women 40+

Top 8 tips to lose weight during menopause

Men: From middle-age onward, testosterone levels gradually decline, which is considered normal. Sometimes, the decline is larger than what would be considered normal. This can be associated with some weight gain, typically around the gut, as well as decreased muscle mass.⁸⁹

Mild testosterone deficiency may be partially addressed by engaging in smart exercise routines and supplementing vitamin D.⁹⁰

A more significant deficiency, confirmed by blood testing, is typically treated with testosterone replacement therapy.

Both men and women should take into account, however, that supplementation of testosterone or estrogen for years on end carries numerous risks, some larger and more serious than others.⁹¹

It may be wise to accept that you don't (and shouldn't!) have the body of a 20-year-old when you're at least twice that age. A better option might be to focus on a healthy lifestyle instead, and be as happy and grateful as you can for the body you have.

Stress hormones

The final possible issue behind stubborn weight issues may be the main stress hormone, cortisol. Too much cortisol can increase hunger, bringing subsequent weight gain, especially around the midsection.⁹²

The most common causes of elevated cortisol are chronic stress and lack of sleep (see tip #11), or cortisone medication (tip #10). It is very important to realize that it's the underlying stress and sleep that need to be addressed; supplements that promise to lower cortisol levels will not help you lose weight.⁹³

In extremely rare cases, you could be dealing with a specific kind of tumor that drives cortisol production. The condition is called Cushing's syndrome. If you suspect you're suffering from this, consult your doctor, who will run appropriate tests or refer you to an Endocrinologist.

18. Consider weight-loss pills

It sounds like a dream. Keep living like you already do, take a daily pill, and effortlessly lose your excess weight. This is why weight-loss pills are a billion dollar industry.

So do they work? Yes, somewhat. But the majority are not as effective as you might think.

Most available drugs result in modest weight loss (about 5% of body weight on average), sometimes at the expense of bothersome side effects. Most important, though, is an open secret which isn't discussed nearly enough: in order to maintain any weight-loss benefit you receive, you must continue the drug indefinitely.⁹⁴ That's right – if you stop the drug, you will likely regain the weight you lost, plus extra if your weight was already on an upward trajectory before starting the drug.

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 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).

There are also prescription free "carb blockers" out there, that are supposed to stop the body from absorbing carbs we eat. The effects tend to be relatively tiny though, even in studies funded by the companies selling the products.⁹⁵ It's definitely more effective to not eat the carbs in the first place (it's also free).

Older appetite suppressants

In the US, it's still possible to get amphetamine-like appetite suppressants that are FDA-approved for less than 12 weeks of continuous use. These drugs are not approved in the EU. Examples include:

• Phentermine
• Phendimetrazine
• Benzphetamine

In the US, phentermine is relatively inexpensive, generally well-tolerated, and modestly effective for many people. Because it is only FDA-approved for short-term use, many doctors specializing in weight management will continue to prescribe it "off-label" as a long-term strategy, if the person is doing well on the drug, as long as that person is willing to accept the risks. To date, there have not been any studies documenting negative consequences of this strategy.

Nonetheless, these drugs have the potential side effects of insomnia, heart palpitations, headache, and elevated blood pressure.⁹⁶ It is therefore important to be monitored closely, at least in the first few months of treatment, to make sure that blood pressure and heart rate aren't rising too much. Also note that these drugs are controlled substances, requiring a special prescription.

The "fat blocker" pill

Let's move on to another older drug, Xenical (orlistat), also for sale prescription-free in a lower dose as Alli.

This drug prevents the body from digesting fat in the intestines. Instead it just passes through you and ends up in the toilet — or (worst case) in your pants.

Side effects – mostly seen if consuming a meal with a significant amount of dietary fat – include stomach cramping, gas, leaking oily stool, and being unable to control bowel movements.

Because the negative reinforcement of these side effects encourages the user to avoid dietary fat, this medication is generally incompatible with a low-carb diet, which tends to be higher in fat.

However, if your version of low carb tends to be very high in protein and low in fat, this pill might give you that extra boost you need; otherwise, you may want to forget about orlistat. Many doctors already have.

Combination therapy

Qsymia combines a small dose of phentermine (see "Older appetite suppressants," above) with a small dose of topiramate, an old anti-seizure drug. This is available in the US, but it got rejected in Europe (where the risks were judged worse than the benefits).

Qsymia, like most other weight loss pills, can be modestly effective if pricey. But the side effects are sometimes intolerable: drowsiness, fatigue, depression, attention disturbance, memory impairment, and impaired psychomotor skills (i.e. becoming clumsy).

Contrave (US) or Mysimba (EU) is a combination of bupropion (an old antidepressant) and naltrexone (an old opioid receptor blocker). This is another modestly effective, pricey drug that works on brain receptors to control appetite. Side effects include: nausea, constipation, headache, risk of suicidal thoughts and seizures.

The reigning champion

And then there is only one more approved weight loss drug left: Saxenda (liraglutide). Fortunately this one actually shows some promise and can speed up weight loss significantly.

This drug is an injected variant of a satiety hormone called GLP-1. It slows down how quickly the stomach empties and tells the brain that you don't need to eat yet – not a bad idea for losing weight.

Liraglutide 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.⁹⁷

Testing on people with obesity (without diabetes) shows that at higher doses the drug is fairly 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.⁹⁸

Unfortunately, Saxenda can cost upwards of $1000 per month. In both the US and Europe, Victoza (the same drug at half the dose) may be significantly less expensive. At this lower dose, the resulting weight loss is about 75% of the weight loss seen with Saxenda. Victoza is currently approved only for treating type 2 diabetes.⁹⁹

The main side effect of Saxenda/Victoza is what happens if the satiety effect becomes too strong: nausea and vomiting. This is quite common when starting out, so it's necessary to start with a low dose and then slowly increase it as the body adapts to the medication.

The challenger

Semaglutide, another GLP-1 analogue (similar to liraglutide), has been used to control blood sugar in type 2 diabetes since 2017. Recently, it has been found to promote substantial weight loss – likely better than any drug currently available – in a trial of overweight people without diabetes.¹⁰⁰ The drug has been submitted for FDA-approval at the higher dose used for weight management in clinical trials.

The bonus

If you have type 2 diabetes, there is another class of diabetes drug that can result in noticeable weight loss: the SGLT 2 inhibitors. Examples include: Farxiga (dapagliflozin), Invokana (canagliflozin), Jardiance (empagliflozin), and Steglatro (ertugliflozin).

Unfortunately, these drugs carry an increased risk of ketoacidosis in both type 1 and type 2 diabetes; this risk may be accentuated by a strict low-carb or keto diet. Therefore, it's not recommended to take a medication in this class while on a strict low-carb diet.¹⁰¹

The bottom line

There is no weight-loss drug that easily makes people thin. These medications all have potential side effects and most are not very effective.

While GLP-1 analogues like liraglutide and semaglutide show promise, they are incredibly expensive and, like all weight-loss drugs, they only work for as long as you take them.

Many people who want to lose weight have more than 5-10% to lose. That's why even the best weight loss drug can only be an optional complement to dietary and lifestyle interventions. 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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Source: https://www.dietdoctor.com/weight-loss/how-to-lose-weight

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