If you want to know how to lose weight for a big event, cut fat or because you want to drop a few extra pounds to feel better, there a lot of things you can do to help. You don’t just lose weight in the gym; all 24 hours a day have an effect-from what you eat, how much water you drink, and how many hours of sleep you get. Don’t just focus on hours of steady state cardio at the gym to lose weight or cut back on food to create a calorie deficit in order to burn stored body fat. Stay hydrated to lose a pound or two of water weight, and make sure you’re getting 8 hours of sleep a night. Studies show that people who drink more water, lose more weight faster than those who aren’t as well hydrated. Increase hydration with water-heavy fruits and vegetables, or add fruits (like berries) to your water bottle to add taste and more hydrating properties.

Add some tweaks to your routine like moving as much as possible, even if it means fidgeting at your desk to burn a few more calories. You can also add a leisurely walk to your day after lunch to keep your metabolism up and help burn off some of the calories from one of your larger daily meals. Enlist a buddy if it helps keep you motivated and stick to a strict diet and workout plan together, sharing your progress with each other if competition gets you going. A weight loss buddy can make a huge difference in reminding you why you’re working so hard to reach your weight loss goals.

During fat cutting periods it’s important to provide the body with enough calories and (especially from protein) to maintain the muscle tissue you’ve worked so hard for, while still cutting enough calories to create a deficit that will promote weight loss. You need to make sure you’re getting plenty of protein during a cutting period, but it might help to cut back on calories if you go meatless temporarily and fuel up entirely on plant-based protein sources and protein shakes. Little things like cutting out alcohol temporarily can also make a huge difference. Just remember that the secret to losing weight fast isn’t spending more time in the gym, it’s mostly about what and how much you’re eating. Read on to implement these 8 tips into your daily routine and lose the fat now.

Increase Fiber Intake

Fiber-heavy carbohydrates take much longer to digest than nonfibrous (or starchy) carbohydrates like potatoes and white rice. Fiber keeps you fuller longer and promotes weight loss so when you’re trying to lose weight fast you should load up on high-fiber carbs in the form of whole grains, non-starchy vegetables, and low-sugar fruits. For whole grains stick to oats, brown rice, sweet potatoes, and wheat bran. Your nonstarchy vegetable intake should consist of broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage. Starchy vegetables like potatoes (excluding sweet potatoes), corn, and peas are lower in fiber but higher in calories so they should be avoided when you are trying to reach specific weight loss goals. For high-fiber fruits stick to low-sugar berries like raspberries (highest fiber fruit) and blueberries.

Harder Workouts Burn More Fat

Easier workouts are less effective because they don’t require as much energy output from your body which results in less calorie burning. For fat burning, you should switch up your workouts, especially when it comes to cardio. Try a new steady state routine like running instead of biking, or jump roping instead of running. HIIT workouts are also highly effective fat burning cardio workouts when you include tortuous exercises like burpees. The intense bursts of effort during HIIT workouts stimulate fat burning to make for a much more effective cardio workout than steady-state exercise like running on a treadmill. However, both forms of exercise are still important, just try to incorporate intense cardio more times a week than steady state and stick to easy steady-state cardio for active rest or recovery periods after a day of intense exercise. HIIT increases the body’s ability to cut body fat but it requires longer recovery periods so it’s still a good idea to do low-intensity sessions in between to keep burning calories.

Load Up On Protein

Protein helps your body hold onto muscle weight during cutting periods. When you lose weight, you don’t just lose fat, you lose muscle too. Eating protein causes protein synthesis which is the body’s process of creating muscle tissue. If you’re trying to lose a few pounds quickly, you should be consuming 25 grams of protein every 3-4 hours to maximize protein synthesis response. Protein intake is especially important pre and post workout so consume a small snack that includes protein before the gym to give you the energy to push through then drink a protein shake within a half hour of finishing your workout to stimulate protein synthesis for muscle building directly following exercise. Carbs are beneficial pre-workout to give your muscles the fuel they need to get through a tough workout and replace glycogen levels in the muscles but they aren’t required to help your muscles grow; that’s what protein is for. Keep your carbs centered around training in order to maximize performance and recovery by reducing muscle breakdown.

Change Weight Training Strategy

You shouldn’t always be lifting your maximum weight or focusing on high-rep sets. Switch up your usual workout by lifting lighter weights for higher reps if you normally lift heavy weights at low reps, or vice versa. Try varying between the two methods for optimum cutting and toning. Varying your weight load makes the body work more efficiently, similar to switching up your cardio routine. You have to train the body to adjust to new stimuli in the gym or you will start allowing your muscles to train using less effort and your body will no longer hold onto muscle mass.

Add Fat Burner to Intensify Workout

There is a wide range of fat burning supplements on the market so choose one with ingredients that work best for your body. Some of the most common fat burner ingredients include caffeine, synephrine, green tea extract, and capsaicin. Trial and error is the best approach to figuring out what supplements work best for you, but at the beginning keep in mind that caffeine is one of the most effective ingredients available. It might not work for people who consume caffeine regularly, but just because you don’t feel that caffeine “buzz” doesn’t mean the fat burning effects aren’t working. That can happen with any fat burning ingredient so just remember that your response likely won't remain the same forever so just because you don’t feel that kick it doesn’t mean the supplements have stopped working for you. Our bodies are intelligent and they adapt to certain ingredients after a while, delaying the usual effects of stimulants. Also, keep in mind that fat burners can’t replace a bad diet so stick with your high-protein, low-carb clean eating plan for the best weight loss results.

Lower Room Temperature

Colder temperatures can increase brown fat activity, a beneficial body fat uses up burns energy and glucose to create heat. Setting your thermostat to 60 can cause a slight increase in your metabolic heart rate and promote weight loss long term. Instead of layering up to keep warm in the winter, try doing short bursts of exercise like 90 seconds of burpees. It will warm you up, encourage the body to burn more fat, and save on the electric bill.

Eat Foods High in Volume and Low in Calories

One advantage of increasing food volume on a low carb diet is that you can eat just as much food as before while taking in fewer calories. Lack of volume can lead to hunger that quickly kills a healthy diet and weight loss plan. The stomach wants to be filled; it counters hunger by volume, not calories. When you’re trying to lose weight it is best to choose high-fiber foods and drink a lot of water to help you feel full more quickly. When these low-calorie foods cause the stomach to expand it sends a satiety signal to the brain telling it that it’s time to put the fork down. For low-calorie foods try replacing steel cut oats for oatmeal packets and spaghetti squash instead of pasta.

Add Hot Spices to Your Diet to Burn More Calories

This surprising fact is a secret for successful weight loss. Spices like cayenne pepper and hot peppers like ghost peppers and jalapenos increase thermogenesis, the production of heat in the body which is manifested by an increase in energy (or calorie) expenditure, particularly for increased fat usage. It might sound contradictory, but consuming food is actually thermogenic in itself because digestion and absorption require energy in the form of burning calories, known as the thermic effect of food (TEF). Protein has a higher TEF than carbs and fat, giving you another reason to increase your protein intake.