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Marissa Mayborg

Prof. Kretzer

English 1201

18 April 2020

What Is The Most Effective Way to Lose Weight?

Throughout history men and women have been changing themselves to look their best in

any way they can. For many, an ideal body weight is a key factor in their appearance goals.

Appearance and weight specifically is a common reason for depression that can lead to things

such as body dysmorphia and anorexia. It is a big deal so we need to know how to get that ideal

number in a healthy way. There are so many different plans out there to achieve the goal of

losing weight but which one is the best? What is the most effective way to lose weight? There

have been many attempts to pinpoint an exact diet or workout plan to help lose weight such as

the Keto Diet and the Grapefruit Diet. What is the best way to get people happy with their weight

without physically harming themselves? The biggest goal is for everyone to love themselves in

their ideal bodies. The most effective way to lose weight is to eat a well balanced diet and

exercise daily.

As I said before, the Ketogenic diet is very common. It originated in the early 1920-30’s

as a form of therapy for people with epilepsy. Dr. Gianfranco Cappello from Rome, Italy made

the diet. It is a high-fat, low carb, adequate protein diet. This is a popular diet which persuades

people to try it but the reality is that it does not work for everyone. All bodies are different and

require different things in meals. There has also been the grapefruit diet. This is a diet created by

Maureen Callahan that was also called the “Hollywood Diet”. This is a fad diet that argues

grapefruit has a fat burning enzyme in it. Grapefruit is the only fruit you can eat along with high
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protein meats and healthy vegetables. As I said before, this only works for some people. Many

other diets have been introduced but none are fullproof on losing weight for everyone. Studies

show that too much of anything can be bad for your health, but so can eliminating different

elements from your diet.

In most weight loss texts it describes how the guidelines for a balanced diet includes

protein, dairy, fruit, vegetables, and grain. Those are the common 5 food groups, but some argue

that one may be more important than the other. For example, Matthew Noll in “Ketogenic Diet

Do’s and Don’ts For Beginners: How to Lose Weight and Feel Amazing” argues that a “high-fat,

adequate-protein, low-carbohydrate” diet is the best way for your body. The diet's purpose and

goal is to force the body to burn fats rather than carbs. Another source disagrees with eliminating

or reducing those key elements in a diet. This may not be the most reliable source of information

as no backup is given for his claims.

Author Anna Pointer argues that you don’t have to be throwing out your favorite foods

and restricting components in foods to lose weight. She believes in fasting. Her method is that if

you regularly follow her 16:8 diet that you will see results. It is 16 hours of fasting, or not eating

anything, and 8 hours of eating portioned meals. Her article mentions medics and scientists are

backing up her weight loss plan and agreeing it to be safe and effective. She even says, “The

idea is that you eat normally during the eight-hour period each day –although this doesn’t mean

pigging out on as many chocolate bars and packets of crisps as you can stuff in your face in that

time. As with most diets, moderation is key – but nothing is banned on the 16:8. This means that

carbs, fats and even booze are all OK. Just not during the fasting time.”(Forget the 5:2 Diet, It's

All About The 16:8 Diet Now).

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(Fda regulated food pyramid. http://www.mypyramid.gov)

All of the sources agree that high sugar, starches and calories is never going to help you

reach your weight loss goal. Eliminating sugary drinks such as your artificial sweet tea, soda, and

energy drinks can benefit your health in a major way. Most sugars are simple sugars meaning it

is easy for them to break down in your body. This leads to less exertion which leads to less

energy your body is using. Not all sugars are bad and we do need some natural sugars. Starches

are similar in that way. The easier it is for your body to break down the less energy you are using

which results in a harder way to lose weight. This is why complex carbohydrates are a common
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food component people try to include in their diet. It is hard to break down meaning more energy

being used. A. De La Hunty from the Nutrition Bulletin says in his article, “A Review of the

Affectiveness of Aspartame In Helping With Weight Control”, that using Aspartame instead of

these sugars can cut down your weight. Aspartame is a very sweet substance with a low calorie

count. You substitute this in your drink and you'll end up using less sweetener while also having

fewer calories. The article seems to be proven by scientific evidence through testing. This is one

possibility you could try to cut down your sugar intake.

Authors Navneet Kumar Kaushik, Anup Aggarwal, Mohita Singh, Shelja Deswal, and

Priyanka Kaushik agree that sugars and starches are not something to take in lightly. In their

view, a vegetarian diet is most effective. Their purpose is to eliminate the bad vegetables and

include many more of the better ones. Some of the better vegetables are the green leafy ones;

kale, spinach, cabbage, lettuce, cucumber, broccoli etc. They believe most vegetables are

beneficial for a healthy lifestyle. (“Vegetarian Diets: Health Benefits and Associated Risks”).

The problem with this is the lack of protein you would be receiving by doing an all vegetarian

diet. Again, cutting out a major food group that your body uses to survive. Yes, you can

supplement things for protein but chicken is an example of a healthy protein that our body craves

to grow and continue working.

Incorporating your major food groups may seem difficult but you should eat 3 square

meals a day and you can find a way to put a little bit in each one. Studies show that eating your

breakfast early will start your metabolism and boost your body to start functioning. This is not

just drinking your coffee, this means trying your oatmeal with some fruit and a glass of milk or

yogurt for your dairy intake. High fiber foods are easily digestible and good for you. This comes

in oats, oranges, avocados and many more. Eating early will also help with an energy boost as
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long as you're eating the right things. High sugar products like your cereal or pop tarts will boost

your energy at first but your body will break it down quickly and you will drag until your next

meal.

(BLS.gov, “Average daily exercise of people 15 years and older”, figure07.gif)

Exercise is one crucial part of your weight loss goal. Many people don’t get the amount

of exercise they need daily or convince themselves that going to work is part of their exercise.

Lack of physical exertion will also cause lack of energy, this is why many start their day off with

a workout. If your day starts out productive then you tend to continue it that way. Anna Pointer

in, “Forget the 5:2 Diet, It's All About The 16:8 Diet Now” mentions that just 3 minutes a day
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will start you on the right track but doing more will always make results more effective. Using

your well balanced diet with the appropriate amount of exercise should give you a higher chance

of actually seeing results.

Food is one of your major sources of energy. Putting the wrong things in your body will

not make you function well. Using your 5 food groups rules you should feel awake and

productive, not tired and just barely hanging on. It is easy to let yourself eat the easy thing that is

already available or going through a drive thru but trying to make your own food is important. Of

course you can be unproductive one day and pay for the pre-made meal but you should not make

this a habit. Planning your weekly meals can help with this. Taking the time one day a week to

cook/prepare meals for later in the week will save you a ton of hassle when trying to eat right.

Eating out is one of the many eating habits that need to be avoided when trying to lose

weight. Other eating habits include skipping breakfast, eating late at night, proportioning your

food incorrectly, starving yourself all day to splurge later, etc. As mentioned before, these are

very difficult to break whether it is the wrong influences in your environment or your

work/school schedule gives you limited time. These eating habits can set you back immensely

from your goal. One food binge and all your hard work from the last two weeks has disappeared.

In conclusion, there are so many better ways to lose weight than harming yourself. Eating

a balanced diet and exercising daily is the most effective way to lose weight. Eating habits are

hard to break but can be extremely beneficial in a weight loss goal. Hopefully by following this

we can end the different depressions on weight and problems with our bodies. Everyone should

be happy with themselves and the number on their scale. Having your major food groups in your

daily diet and good exercise should make a big difference on how you feel physically.
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Culpepper, Patricia. “Three Components of a Weight Loss Program.”

Healthfully, December 24, 2019. https://healthfully.com/330567-three-
components-of-a-weight-loss-program.html..

De La Hunty A, Gibson S, Ashwell M. A review of the effectiveness of

aspartame in helping with weight control. Nutrition Bulletin. 2006;31(2):115-128.
doi:10.1111/j.1467-3010.2006.00564.x. Accessed April 15, 2020

Forget the 5:2 diet - it’s time for the 16:8; Restricting mealtimes to a brief
eating window could be the most effective way to lose weight, says Victoria
Lambert. Sunday Telegraph (London, England), [s. l.], 2019. Disponível em:
https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=edsgin&AN=edsgcl.591507389&site=eds-live. Acesso em: 15
abr. 2020.
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Kumar Kaushik N, Aggarwal A, Singh M, Deswal S, Kaushik P. Vegetarian

Diets: Health Benefits and Associated Risks. International Archives of Integrated
Medicine. 2015;2(3):206. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=edb&AN=101808556&site=eds-live. Accessed April 15, 2020

NOLL, M. Ketogenic diet do’s and don’ts for beginners : how to lose weight
and feel amazing. [s. l.]: Smashwords Edition, 2016. ISBN 9781311656414.
Disponível em: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=cat01128a&AN=scc.b1842582&site=eds-live. Acesso em: 15
abr. 2020.