There are so many websites that are focused on weight loss that it's difficult for me to compete here at Weight Lifting Complete.
Well, if you know me very well, I'm going to give it my best shot.
The goal of this page is to give you the absolute best weight loss guide in existence.
If you think I've done that on this page, please let me know.
I truly hope this helps you to reach your weight loss goals.
Weight Loss Table of Contents
Since this page is like an encyclopedia on weight loss, use the table of contents below to quickly navigate your way through this page.
- Weight Loss Plan
- Quick Weight Loss
- Weight Loss Programs
- Weight Loss Tips
- Weight Loss Diet
- Weight Loss Supplements
- Healthy Weight Loss
- Fat Loss
The sections you see listed above are discussed throughout this page on weight lifting and in the order you see above.
Weight Loss Plan
If you've decided that losing weight is your goal, I would first like to shift that goal slightly.
You will agree after you hear this:
If you really need to lose weight, the actual substance you need to lose from your body is fat.
You don't want or need to lose muscle mass. Right now, you may be so desperate to lose weight that you might be thinking: “I don't care about muscle. I just want to lose weight!!! Tell me how.”
I was there once: obese and overweight. When I looked at myself in the mirror, I was totally disgusted.
You Probably Have the Same Goal of Quick Weight Loss Just As I Had Many Years Ago
And that's what I did. I lost about 60 pounds in 6 months, but I wasn't too happy with the result.
People that knew me well said that I didn't look well. I was skinny, but I was still fat.
I starved myself and exercised. This didn't work so well because I lost a lot of muscle mass. I probably lost more muscle than I did body fat, and that's why I didn't look so great.
It Took Me Years to Correct The Damage I Did Due to My Fast Weight Loss Efforts
It took me years to reverse what I did over that 6-month period of total madness. Once I set the right goal, I was able to improve my appearance and my health greatly.
For that reason, I don't want you to have to go through the same thing. I dug a big hole for myself that was very difficult to climb out of for many years.
If you're here looking for weight loss, I would wager that you may be in that same situation too: trying to dig yourself out of a hole from all the weight loss diets and programs that you have tried over the years.
With that said, I hope I have convinced you that fat loss should be your goal and not weight loss. This means you need to make sure you are losing body fat and not lean muscle.
Every Weight Loss Plan Should Have These 3 Components For the Best Results Possible
A weight loss plan should be comprised of 3 main components:
- Weight Lifting
- Diet and Nutrition
- Cardiovascular Exercise
If a weight loss plan you have used or are planning to use doesn't have these 3 main components, I am telling you that you have made mistakes or you're going to make a mistake.
Others I know make excuses that they have bad joints, shoulders, hips, or other issues.
I have worked with people of all types here at Weight Lifting Complete. Some have been dying from cancer and yet, they get their butts up and they workout hard. They fought cancer and beat it!
Some people have had major shoulder surgeries, major knee surgeries, and more. And still, they get their butts to the gym and lift weights. These people have what it takes.
If you don't have that right now, you're going to get it too.
You can lift weights. You can workout regularly. As you do, you'll see what it does for your motivation, your energy levels, your appearance, and your weight loss. You will be hooked the moment you begin just as I was when I started in the year 2000.
Change Your Body Composition More Than Your Body Weight
The goal of weight lifting is to increase strength and build muscle. Do not use weight lifting for weight loss. Weight lifting will allow you to keep all of your precious muscle mass while losing weight.
As a result, this allows you to totally change your body composition to one with a higher percentage of lean muscle and a lower percentage of body fat.
Changing your body composition is what makes you look and feel amazing. Muscle loss does not help you look or feel better.
If you attempt to lose weight without weight lifting, you're digging yourself into a hole.
Diet is also a huge part of healthy weight loss too.
Stop With all of the Fad Diets and Weight Loss Programs
There are so many horrible weight loss plans out there because they only consist of some fad diet or some gimmick diet that is supposed to make things “easier” for you.
These diet plans don't make things easier for you AT ALL.
As an example, there are some diet programs that “allow” you to count points and if you save enough points during the week, then you can have some horrible refined foods like doughnuts and cake.
You starve yourself during the week so you can have some cake on the weekend. This is an absolutely horrible way to lose weight.
Yes, you lose weight but that weight is muscle mass. This is digging yourself into a hole.
When You Eat Only The Best Foods, You Don't Have to Starve Yourself to Lose Weight
Instead, you can eat a good amount of the healthiest foods and never be hungry or starving. You will feel amazing and look amazing when you eat whole foods from the best sources.
Refined foods, processed foods, diet foods, and junk food is never allowed when using the WLC System. You simply won't want it any more and you simply don't need it.
If you are allowed to have it, you'll want more because those foods are “designed” and “engineered” to make you want more.
I haven't had one tiny sliver of junk food in months, and I don't miss any of them at all. I don't even want doughnuts or cake. They make me feel like trash.
You can be the same way too. Fat will disappear from your body quickly when you lift weights and eat only the best foods.
Here's a Secret to Burning Body Fat for Healthy Weight Loss
One of the secrets to burning body fat is doing cardiovascular exercise the right way in combination with a good weight loss plan that includes weight lifting and a good diet plan.
Moving often throughout each and every day is a secret to having low body fat levels.
If you have a high body weight, you may feel sluggish and want to rest more often. You have to get out of that mindset and get to moving all throughout the day.
One of the recommendations I make to people for moving is to get a Fit Bit or a step tracker of any type. Make sure you set a goal for steps and start reaching it each day.
Cardiovascular exercise is a requirement when using the WLC System.
For weight loss, you might start with 3 cardio workouts a week that burn body fat and increase to 10 cardio workouts a week over the course of 3 months (as an example).
Make Pure Fat Loss Your Goal Versus Weight Loss
By the end of the weight loss plan, you will have burned many pounds of pure body fat with those cardio sessions.
This works well for burning fat because you are lifting weights progressively, eating only the best foods, and doing cardio progressively.
A good weight loss plan of any type must include these 3 components of weight lifting, diet, and cardio.
If you haven't tried a plan like this before, you are going to be in for an amazing surprise once you get it all going. You'll be like a runaway train of fat loss and lean muscle.
You will be amazing. Jaw dropping results is what I like to call it because jaws will drop when people see you.
Go Back to the Weight Loss Table of Contents
Quick Weight Loss
Quick weight loss is what most people want, and there are ways to lose weight fast.
I'll even tell you about some quick weight loss methods, but I don't recommend these at all because you lose muscle mass quickly:
- Starve yourself throughout the day
- Eat 1 or 2 meals per day
- Exercise on an empty stomach often
- Do endless amounts of cardio
- Don't lift weights
- Don't eat carbohydrates
- Stay hyped up on coffee all day
Did you know that weight lifting will cause you to gain a few pounds because your body stores more nutrients for muscle repair?
If you want quick weight loss, that means you wouldn't lift weights or exercise.
Some people almost have a fit if the number on the scale increases by a single pound. Yes, I have watched my wife do this before. Me? I am happy if my body weight increases because I know it's muscle mass and healthy body weight (because I don't eat junk and exercise using WLC System guidelines).
Think About This: Why Do You Want Quick Weight Loss?
But why would you want quick weight loss? It doesn't make you look better. Maybe you're a boxer and you need to reach a certain weight class quickly for your upcoming fight? No.
If not, quick weight loss is NOT what you want. Trust me.
What you want is slow and steady fat loss that is consistent over the months. Yes, it takes some time to get where you truly want to be, but I will tell you this is the absolute fastest way to achieve the goals you really want.
There's no yo-yo with your body weight any more. You'll lose fat, and you'll keep it off once and for all. Wouldn't that be a relief? Now you can do that because you have the perfect source of information to guide you in the right direction: Weight Lifting Complete.
Quick Weight Loss Happens When You Lose Muscle Mass
Fast weight loss happens when you lose muscle mass.
Muscle mass is active tissue that works for you. Strength and power comes from muscle mass. Your body movements are accomplished with muscle.
Imagine losing muscle mass and keeping all the excess body fat. What do you think that will do to your body? Now you have less muscle and the same amount of fat.
That's what happens when most people attempt to lose weight fast.
Remember, slow and steady fat loss is the goal to strive for and not quick weight loss.
Go Back to the Weight Loss Table of Contents
Weight Loss Programs
If you're going to attempt to lose weight, you need to choose between all of the different weight loss programs.
How many weight loss programs are there out there?
Surprise! Thousands upon thousands upon thousands of programs for losing weight are out there.
You'll even find signs out around your home town saying: “Free Weight Loss Program” or “Weight Loss Pills” or some other sign selling weight loss.
Here's a list of some of the most popular weight loss programs:
- Nutrisystem
- Jenny Craig
- Weight Watchers
- HMR Weight Management
- Atkins
- South Beach Diet
- MediFast
- Mayo Clinic
I will admit that I don't know everything about all of the above weight loss programs because I don't believe in these types of plans.
Most Weight Loss Programs are Just the Same Old Trash In a Different Trash Can
For example, all of these programs want to “baby” people and act like you can't stop eating bad foods. You shouldn't be eating any junk food at any time because it hurts you.
Let's all start acting like “WE” are in control of our bodies because “WE” are. Let's do this.
Something else that I see these weight loss programs doing is selling you nasty and junky food that is not helping you at all.
For example, you'll see meal bars that are processed junk. You'll see pre-packaged junk food. None of this stuff is good for you AT ALL. It doesn't help you in any way.
If Any Weight Loss Program Attempts to Sell You Their Branded Supplements or Food, Run Like a Grenade Was Just Thrown
When you eat processed junk, your body will store it as body fat. You don't need that junk. It's hurting your body.
When I see this kind of trash being sold by these weight loss programs, I don't trust anything else they do either.
This is why I don't recommend any of those popular weight loss programs.
Do they really help you to lose weight? Yes, but you won't look better. You'll look worse and feel worse.
Instead, you need a weight loss system like the WLC System that teaches you how to do things the right way. This way you're always moving forward and never taking any steps backward into that big hole I talked about.
Popular weight loss programs dig you into an even deeper hole.
Go Back to the Weight Loss Table of Contents
Weight Loss Tips
Some weight loss tips are good and others are not so good.
Here are some tips to lose weight, and my opinion of them:
1. Drink Water Before Meals
This tip tells you to drink water before meals because it makes you more full, and you won't eat as much.
Drinking water is a great tip because we need plenty of water.
Filling up on water so you won't eat as much is a horrible “trick.” If you can't control how much food you eat, then you have bigger issues.
You have 2 arms that place food into your mouth. If you have to trick your body into eating less by filling your tummy with water, you are going to have all kinds of trouble getting the body you want.
2. Eat Eggs for Breakfast
This is a great weight loss tip because whole eggs from good sources are amazing for you.
They include healthy fats too so you feel full between snacks and meals. This means they are a very satisfying food with a great nutritional profile.
I approve of this weight loss tip.
3. Drink Black Coffee
This is one of the worst weight loss tips in existence.
I am not a fan of coffee every day all day long as most people have it. My wife is one of those people addicted to coffee.
I also think coffee is not great because most people add all types of trash to the coffee such as junk creamer, sugar, and even sweeteners.
None of that stuff is good for you. Real coffee on its own before a workout can help, but that's it.
4. Drink Green Tea
I think this is a good weight loss tip and one that I recommend.
Anything that provides you with antioxidants is a great choice.
I just don't want you to become addicted to caffeine with coffee and green tea usually has lower amounts of caffeine.
And don't add other junk substances to the green tea. Local honey is a good choice to add.
These are just a few of the weight loss tips I will analyze here at Weight Lifting Complete.
Go Back to the Weight Loss Table of Contents
Weight Loss Diet
A bad weight loss diet will allow you to eat junk food or unhealthy foods.
For instance, Weight Watchers tells you to save your “PointsPlus” weekly allowance so you have a cushion to eat whatever you want for a special dinner.
These weight loss diet plans pretty much starve you to death and have you eating pretty much next to nothing.
I would guess a big handful of pistachios might cost you many points for the day. In reality, you should be able to eat plenty of pistachios on a good weight loss diet because these healthy nuts are nutrient dense and only ADD good things to your body.
You Don't Need Points But You Do Need Nutrient Dense Foods All The Time
Your goal with ANY weight loss diet is to add only good things to your body.
If you add bad things to your body, you will slow fat loss to a crawl and may even reverse it to fat gain. This doesn't help you look better or feel better.
When you're eating a weight loss meal, think about the foods you are putting into your body.
Ask yourself these questions:
- Where did this food come from?
- Was it produced in a factory or manufacturing facility?
- Who made this food? What company?
- Is this is a refined or processed food?
- Is this food genetically modified or engineered?
- Does this food have preservatives?
- Are there nasty chemicals in the ingredients?
Some foods that are very unhealthy but marketed at diet foods for weight loss diets are foods like protein bars, meal replacement powders, pre-packaged meals, grocery store yogurt, cereal bars, sugar packed oatmeal, frozen “healthy” meals, and pretty much any food you'll find in a colorful package.
Always Check to See What You're Eating
An easy check for a top-notch healthy food is to look at the ingredients list.
For example, the ingredients list for raw almonds will be: almonds.
Do you think almond milk (a so-called health food) is truly healthy? Let's take a look at the ingredients list. Some might think it must be good because “organic” is the first ingredient.
Almond Milk Ingredients: Organic Almond Milk, organic evaporated cane juice, tricalcium phosphate, natural flavors, sea salt, xantham gum, potassium citrate, sunflower lecithin, organic vanilla extract, vitamin a palmitate, ergocalciferol, DL-Alpha tocopherol acetate.
Does that ingredients list look healthy to you?
No, it does not because it is not. If you want almond milk, make it yourself out of almonds. Most of those ingredients were engineered is the food processing facility and are 100% bad for your body.
“Health” Foods Aren't Healthy At All
This is just one TINY example of a “health” food that isn't healthy at all.
“Health” foods don't need to be a part of your weight loss diet any more. You'll be much better off, save money, and lose weight faster. Health foods have been sabotaging your results for years. It's time to get rid of them.
The perfect weight loss diet will consist of all natural and whole foods like: grass fed beef, pasture raised chicken, whole eggs from pasture raised chickens, vegetables from local farms that haven't been sprayed with nasty chemicals, sweet potatoes from your garden, and tomatoes from your garden (as an example).
Local small farms are gaining popularity so start spending your grocery budget with the small farms who are producing real food.
Take That Grocery Budget To Your Nearest Small Farm
For example, see if you can purchase a quarter cow from a local grass fed farm for your beef. Put it in your freezer.
Start your own garden for the absolute best vegetables.
You can grow a carrot in your own garden, and it won't even taste like the bland carrots you'll find in big chain grocery stores.
Grow your own herbs in a small herb garden.
Do the best you can to get all of your food from the absolute best food sources.
Don't Trust Any Foods From a Big Chain Grocery Store: Check The Ingredients
I cannot eat any canned tomatoes or any tomato products that aren't fresh because they give me very bad acid reflux.
Most “experts” will tell you that the tomatoes are causing the acid reflux and to stop eating them immediately. This is a lie.
Most tomato products in stores have tons of preservatives and other nasty chemicals added to them. They do this to not only preserve them, but to make them “look” better in the store so you'll buy their tomatoes.
The preservatives and chemicals are the substances causing the bad acid reflux. My body doesn't want that trash, and it's not shy about letting me know.
When I eat unhealthy foods with chemicals and preservatives, I know that I can forget about weight loss, fat loss, and building muscle.
My body is in a fighting mood now. It's main goal is to get rid of those nasty substances from my body. All fat loss will be halted and a fat gain switch may even be activated.
Go Back to the Weight Loss Table of Contents
Weight Loss Supplements
Weight loss supplements are an absolutely amazing topic to me.
I want to give you the absolute truth here:
99.99% of weight loss supplements are worthless and do absolutely nothing for you except cost you money and add health issues for you.
Before you try any supplement, I want you to make sure you have everything else in your weight loss program set up perfectly.
For example, are you lifting weights progressively with the best weight lifting exercises?
Another question to ask: Are you eating only the healthiest of foods all the time?
Are You Doing This Before You Start Spending Money on Supplements?
If you aren't following a good weight lifting program and you aren't eating the absolute best foods all the time, then you don't need any weight loss supplements.
Supplements are meant to “assist” you in your weight loss efforts and not replace or substitute a bad diet. Supplements are not meant to be band-aids. First, you need to make sure everything else is correct.
I will make this promise to you:
“If you lift weights properly, eat only the best foods, and do cardiovascular exercise, you will be so happy with the results that you won't even think about purchasing weight loss supplements.”
If you want to do everything as perfectly as possible, use the WLC System. I'll show you how to find the best weight loss program for you by making adjustments to your program as needed on a regular basis.
Weight Loss Supplements Should NEVER Be a Requirement for Any Weight Loss Program
Many people have been led to believe that supplements MUST be a part of every weight loss program.
You simply are wasting money if you are depending on supplements to get results. Weight lifting, proper diet, and cardio will out perform any supplement by 1000 fold.
Save your money.
This is THE truth: You do not need any weight loss supplements to lose weight. They will not make weight loss easier for you.
Here's an example of how I think so you'll understand what I mean:
Fish oil is one of the better supplements out there, but you don't need a ton of it every day. Why not just eat some fish? Then you'll get the fish oil with the fish just as you were intended to receive it.
Supplements Are Just Some Extraction From Some REAL Food: Have the Real Food Instead
Why not just east that food?
That's the entire point of food.
Food wasn't given to us to extract huge amounts of certain substances so we can take tablespoons of the substance.
Creatine is another weight lifting supplement people use to gain strength. And some people think it makes the muscle larger too.
This substance is found in red meat, pork, poultry, and fish. You can also find it in dairy, eggs, and shellfish.
You're already getting creatine from the foods above. Why do you want to add a huge amount of this substance to your body? You truly do not need a huge amount of creatine. You will do just fine without it.
I've taken loads and loads of creatine before for years. I stopped taking it, and guess what? I haven't noticed anything except better health, less body fat, and more muscle.
Adding so many of these substances to your body is not going to help you at all. Eat healthy foods, drink water, and your body will be very happy!
I hope you now understand my stance on weight loss supplements.
Go Back to the Weight Loss Table of Contents
Healthy Weight Loss
I don't agree with anything that is unhealthy or bad for you because you'll end up trying to dig yourself out of a bigger hole.
This happens so often with people looking to lose weight.
All of these popular weight loss programs send people in the absolute wrong direction (180 degrees away from the right direction).
Typical Programs Send You In The Wrong Direction Every Time
This is why so many people continue looking for weight loss programs. If they all worked as expected, people would stop looking for weight loss programs, and I wouldn't be writing this page because it wouldn't be helpful to anyone (because no one would be searching for it).
Instead, all of the popular weight loss programs lead to unhealthy weight loss.
I consider unhealthy weight loss to be weight loss due to starvation and lack of nutrients in your body. You will feel worse and look worse. Unhealthy weight loss is when you lose a large amount of weight loss.
If you aren't lifting weights and exercising while attempting to lose weight, you will lose lean muscle mass.
Healthy weight loss is when you lose body fat.
When you lose only body fat, your weight loss results shown on the scale will be slower. This is because you aren't losing muscle and fat. You are only losing body fat and keeping lean muscle.
So please keep in mind, healthy weight loss is slower than unhealthy weight loss.
Fat Loss
The two goals of weight loss and fat loss are not even close in terms of the correct goal to set for yourself.
Weight loss can and will include muscle loss, and that's the opposite of what you want.
What you truly want (even if you don't know what you want) is fat loss. Muscle loss leads to many bad things. You don't want bad things, right?
Food Lovers Fat Loss
Many people who “love” food or call themselves food lovers don't believe they can make it without eating certain foods.
These foods are different for food lovers. Yours might be chocolate cake while mine might be a hot ham and cheese sandwich from my favorite fast food restaurant.
Food lovers fat loss, if the foods you don't think you can live without are unhealthy, is going to be much slower and much more difficult compared to someone who makes lifestyle changes.
For instance, I don't have ANY unhealthy foods any more and I feel amazing. If I go back to eating any junk food (such as unhealthy chocolate cake), my energy crashes and I feel like trash. This makes me NOT want to eat any junk food any more because I don't want to feel like that.
Unhealthy Foods Lead to Fat Gain and Make You Feel Bad
Some people get accustomed to those feelings of lethargy, headaches, low energy levels, laziness, and many other feelings from eating unhealthy foods all the time.
The 100% truth is that I don't miss any of those foods AT ALL any more.
This is because I eat plenty of awesome foods that are very healthy and taste absolutely delicious. You could say that I am a food lover, but I love a huge variety of the healthiest foods and this leads to increased fat loss all the time.
If you eat like I do, you will lose body fat fast and your body will reach the condition you were “supposed” to be in. Unhealthy foods have turned many of us into “morphed” versions of who we were designed to be.
Fat Loss is Easy When You Love Healthy Foods
Fat loss is easy when you eat the foods you are supposed to be eating. These foods include things like wild-caught fish (not farmed fish), pasture-raised chicken, grass fed beef steak, raw milk, raw cheese, garden raised fresh vegetables, whole grains, fresh fruits, nuts, and seeds.
When you have the right fat loss recipes to combine these amazing foods, your fat loss will literally sky rocket and you will love the taste of your meals. If I can do this, I know you can do this.
To tell you the 100% truth, I can't imagine going back to the way I was eating before. Always stopping through a drive thru and trying to find the restaurant that would make me the happiest. I became very unhealthy doing this. Never again will I do that. I haven't had fast food or junk food in a long time now, and I am so much healthier now.
Fat Loss Pills
Fat loss pills are a subject that many people search for throughout this world.
Many people just want to purchase some pills, pop them in their mouth, swallow, and hope for the best fat loss possible.
I am here to tell you, no matter what the slick marketers tell you on the commercials, websites, or pill bottles, that fat loss pills do not work.
This is 100% the truth. I will say it again: “Fat loss pills do not work.” This is especially the truth if you aren't exercising correctly and eating the right foods.
You can't continue eating unhealthy foods and not exercising properly and lose fat. It's not going to happen. Weight loss and fat loss just doesn't work that way. Pills will not help you.
The best thing to do is change your lifestyle completely. Start weight lifting workouts, cardio workouts, eating ONLY the healthiest foods all the time, sleeping better, and moving more often throughout the day. This fat loss plan works. Fat loss pills do not.
Fat Loss Diet
This is not good. Who wants to live miserably throughout each day? Your body sends those signals because it's not good for your body! Your body is intelligently designed to let you know things.
When you restrict calories and food intake on a weight loss diet, you are losing muscle mass quickly. Not good. You will lose weight fast, for sure, but you won't look better and you won't feel better. Your body composition will be worse, and you won't like what you see in the mirror.
Instead, a good fat loss diet will have you eating plenty of healthy foods all throughout the day. You will have more meals and never go hungry. In fact, when using the WLC System, you should never be hungry.
Your metabolism will be on fire and your body will turn into a fat burning furnace. Bye, bye, body fat. When you eat only the healthiest foods, cardio turns into your secret fat burning exercise. Simply find your fat burning zone (heart rate) and hit the cardio machine for a workout. When you get off that machine, you'll have less body fat than before.
That is what a good fat loss diet will do for you.
Permanent Fat Loss
“I am going to do this weight loss plan for the next 3 months and then I will be at the body weight I want. I can then go back to eating how I want.”
If you think this is how permanent fat loss works, you would be 100% wrong.
You can never go back to eating junk foods and unhealthy foods and expect NOT to gain weight and body fat. You will begin to gain body fat once again.
This is very sad because the typical weight loss programs you find out there also cause you to lose muscle mass very fast. When you lose muscle mass, you must eat even fewer calories to lose fat. Then, when you go back to eating normal again, the body fat comes back twice as fast.
The Days of Yo-Yo Weight Loss Are Now Over
Everyone goes through this when they go on a weight loss diet and then go back to eating normal. These weight loss goals send you into a big hole that is hard to dig yourself back out of due to muscle loss.
Permanent fat loss will occur if you make permanent changes to your lifestyle.
This new lifestyle needs to include weight lifting, cardiovascular exercise, and a new diet consisting of only the healthiest foods. And the best part is: you will never starve yourself ever again! And the fat loss will continue.
It's really that simple. Permanent fat loss means you must change your lifestyle.
Go Back to the Weight Loss Table of Contents
Conclusion to Weight Loss
I hope you have enjoyed all the weight loss information on this page.
For instance, make sure you visit each of the additional links you find above for further information here at Weight Lifting Complete.
I am always available to answer any questions you might have about weight loss. Just let me know.