Sustainable, long-term weight loss is rarely about quick fixes – it is about building habits you can actually stick to. While most diet plans revolve around creating a calorie deficit, anyone who has tried it knows the hardest part is dealing with constant, gnawing hunger. Cutting portions and eating less might work briefly, but it is tough to maintain. The good news? There is a smarter hack that can help you stay in a calorie deficit without feeling perpetually deprived.
Chennai-based fitness trainer with 18 years of experience, Raj Ganpath, founder of the Slow Burn Method, co-founder and head coach at Quad Fitness, and author of Simple, Not Easy, has revealed what he calls one of the most sustainable weight-loss hacks – a practical approach designed to keep you consistent, manage hunger effectively and make fat loss easier to maintain in the long run.
In an Instagram video shared on February 20, the fitness trainer highlights, “This might surprise you, but if you’re trying to lose weight, you need to eat more food and not less food. And this is one of the best hacks for sustainable weight loss. Let me explain.”
The biggest challenge of losing weight
According to Raj, most people attempting to lose weight go for a calorie-deficit approach – cutting portions or eating significantly less than usual. But this strategy often turns into a battle against hunger, which is arguably the hardest part to sustain. While some manage to power through the discomfort for a few days, many eventually find the constant hunger overwhelming and end up abandoning the plan altogether.
He explains, “Being in a calorie deficit means dealing with hunger and managing hunger is one of the greatest challenges people face when it comes to weight loss.Because most people when they’re trying to lose weight either simply cut calories, they just eat less of what they’re already eating, or they go on a very low calorie diet. Now both these things result in spiking up hunger for a few days. People are able to do the work. They push through it. But it’s simply a matter of time when it becomes too much and people give up.”
How to eat more food without adding too many calories?
Raj highlights that the most sustainable hack for weight loss is learning to eat a lot of food, without adding too many calories to your body. He outlines two ways:
1. Change what you’re eating
The fitness trainer suggests shifting your focus from calorie-dense, nutrient-poor foods to options that are rich in nutrients but relatively lower in calories. This involves building meals around protein, fibre and high-volume foods with plenty of water content – which help you feel fuller for longer – while cutting back on heavily processed, fatty, starchy and sugary items that pack in excess calories without much nutritional value.
Raj explains, “You need to switch from eating foods that are dense in calories and sparse in nutrients to eating foods that are dense in nutrients and sparse in calories. Now, most of us generally end up eating foods that are dense in calories because we’re focusing on taste. But when you’re focusing on nutrition, you need to switch it up. You need to eat foods that are rich in air, water, fibre, and protein, and foods that are low in fat, sugar, and starch.”
2. Change cooking methods
According to Raj, much of our everyday cooking revolves around frying – whether it is shallow frying, deep frying or sauteing – all of which require generous amounts of oil that quietly drive up calorie intake. He recommends swapping these methods for lighter alternatives such as steaming, pressure cooking, microwaving, air-frying or baking, which preserve flavour and texture while significantly reducing unnecessary added fats.
He elaborates, “As far as cooking techniques are concerned, most of us fry our food, deep fry our food, pan fry our food, or saute our food. What we need to do is to switch from that to steaming, pressure cooking, microwaving, air frying, and baking. Now, this removes the additional oil that goes into your food, thereby reducing the total amount of calories that you’re consuming. Now, if you can do this, you’ll be able to eat a lot more food and manage your hunger well while consuming fewer calories, which will help you get into a calorie deficit and help you lose weight sustainably.”
Note to readers: This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice. It is based on user-generated content from social media. HT.com has not independently verified the claims and does not endorse them.
