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How to lose weight by eating junk food

While there are hundreds of different fad diets, losing weight is the result of a simple fact: In order to lose weight, you must burn more calories than you eat. This makes weight-loss possible even when eating junk food. Dr. Mark Haub at Kansas State University lost 27 pounds by eating a carefully proportioned diet of snack cakes, chips, and cookies. He ate a daily diet of 1800 calories and managed to increase his good cholesterol (HDL) and to lower both his bad cholesterol (LDL) and his triglycerides level. Dr. Haub's diet proved that calorie counting is one way to lose weight. However, losing weight is not the same as maintaining optimal health. What you consume is as important to your long-term health as how much you consume. While it is technically possible to lose weight while eating junk food, there are detrimental long-term effects of high sugar consumption and of not getting adequate nutrition and fiber through a balanced diet.

Things You'll Need

  • Pencil and Paper
  • Calculator
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Instructions

  1. Calorie Counting

    • 1

      List your favorite foods, including junk food.

    • 2

      List the suggested serving size and calorie count of these foods beside each item. You can find this information on the back or side of the packaging.

    • 3

      Add up all the calories you would consume if you ate one serving size of each of these foods every day. Compare this to the calories you would consume if you ate your usual serving size each day.

    • 4

      Adjust your list so that your caloric intake is less than 1800 calories. Alternatively, adjust your list so that your junk food calories are limited to another percentage of your daily caloric intake. 600 calories or 33% would allow for 3 to 5 suggested servings of many kinds of junk food like snack cakes, cookies and chips.

    • 5

      Rotate your junk food choices to best suit your daily preference.

    Dieting

    • 6

      List other, perhaps healthier, foods that you would enjoy eating. Calculate their caloric impact and adjust your list. Remember, a diet of only cookies could become just as onerous as a diet of only kale. Also remember that nutrition isn't just about calories. Fiber, vitamins and minerals are all essential to your health. These can only be found in certain foods, including vegetables and fruits.

    • 7

      Supplement your diet with a daily multivitamin, servings of vegetables and other low calorie healthy foods. Dr. Haub regularly added whole milk and coffee to his diet. While daily vitamins will provide you with basic nutrition, they do not provide you with a healthy source of fiber.

    • 8

      Fight hunger by eating small meals more often and drinking plain water. Staying hydrated plays an important role in losing weight. Not only does it help your body flush out toxins, but it also helps you regulate hunger cravings.

    • 9

      Use this diet in moderation. While Dr. Haub's experiment proved a point about calorie counting and weight-loss, it does not necessarily offer a healthy lifestyle choice. Proper nutrition is about more than calories and getting a wide variety of nutrients can only be done by consuming a well-balanced diet of whole foods, including lean proteins, whole grains, vegetables and fruit.

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