It seems every health and weight loss company is promoting their weight loss product as the best way to lose weight fast. And I’m sure they’ve got some trials and testimonials to backup their claims - but even so, talking from experience, these weight loss pills and potions don’t work for all people all of the time. And the other problem is that say with some amazing stroke of luck that you did find one of these weight loss supplements that actually worked for you, once you stop taking them, chances are the weight will come piling back on again. In my book, the best way to lose weight quickly (and lose fat specifically) is one that teaches you how to keep it off permanently too.

Weight loss is effectively a three edged sword - you need to eat healthy foods, get plenty of aerobic exercise (like walking, running, an aerobics exercise class, swimming etc) and include some weight training where possible.

One of the biggest problems we face today is the bad press and misleading information regarding low fat and low carb diets. When you follow a low fat diet, most diets offer replacement foods that are very high in carbs. And when you follow a low carb diet, a lot of suggested replacement foods are very high in saturated fats. We need carbs and fats every day - but in the right balance. Too many carbs trigger excess production of insulin, which inhibits growth hormone and adversely affects your body’s ability to convert fats (even stored fat) for energy. So the best way to lose weight fast and permanently is to follow a balanced diet with about 50% healthy carbs (vegetables, brown rice, wholegrains), 25 % lean protein (fish, eggs, chicken, turkey or soy based protein like tofu etc) and 25% fats (look for foods low in saturated and trans fats - includes oily fish, nuts, grains etc).

The other elements of the best way to lose weight quickly are aerobic exercise and weight training. Aerobic exercise (like walking, running, cycling etc) are great ways to burn off extra fat for energy as they require your body to use up a lot of oxygen. This process helps your body utilize stored fat reserves for the extra energy it needs to perform the exercises. Aerobic exercises also strengthens your heart and lungs

I know that weight training isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, and if you don’t fancy the idea that’s fine, but if you do have the inclination, it’s well worth the extra effort. In order for your body to maintain its muscle mass and tone it needs to burn extra calories, so the more muscle tone you have, the more calories your body needs just to maintain its current weight. The act of weight training itself does not burn fat, but it obviously does burn energy. Your body burns the energy and fat all day long in maintaining it’s existing (and new) muscle mass.

Going on restrictive diets is definitely not the best way to lose weight quickly because when you reduce your food intake, your body naturally reduces its basal metabolic rate (it slows your metabolism down) and starts to store fat reserves (because it thinks food is scarce so it had better store it). The absolute best way to lose weight fast is to make sure you’re eating enough healthy food to keep your metabolism up, and get plenty of exercise to help burn off extra calories and fat.