I need to lose a sizeable amount of weight- about 35 pounds. My problem is that my many years in the military left me with compromised knees and lower back, meaning I can't run long distances like I used to. What would be the safest, fastest way to lose those pounds?

..................................................................................

 

Eugene Thong: Bar none, the safest, fastest way for you to reduce your body fat would be to follow our basic pillars of nutrition and to strength train. 

 

Mike and I have discussed this process ad nauseum all throughout the site, but it bears repeating because of two simple reasons:  it works, and it’s the last thing most people would expect to work (because they believe that you have to do cardio to lose weight).

 

Here’s the truth: Doing cardio is actually a highly inefficient method of reducing body fat.  Not to mention that it’s off the table based upon the injuries you’ve sustained over the years. 

Strength training delivers the double-pronged benefit of improved metabolism, so you can burn fat faster, and muscle retention, so your body doesn’t burn muscle tissue for energy.  Focus on the big muscles in your back, chest, and legs, and work them using multi-joint exercises (such as the leg press, squat, overhead press, chinups. Rows, etc.).  Of course, you may need to substitute exercises or adapt certain movements in order to work around your existing injuries.

 

As far as nutrition goes, eat real foods: Meat, leaves, berries, nuts, seeds.  Grains, starches, sugars, processed foods; relegate all of those to the garbage bin.  Drink tons of water.  

 

That’s our advice in a nutshell.  For more specifics, I highly recommend you read the following articles:

 

Foundations of Fat Loss – Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3

Weight Training 101

 

You’ll also find advanced fat burning routines in our Black Book of Secrets.