--- title: What’s the Best Diet or Exercise to Lose Weight Fast? description: If you’re hoping to lose weight, the key is diet, not exercise. Here's what you need to know about calories and the best diet for weight loss canonical: https://time.com/4194462/how-to-lose-weight-fast/ author: Markham Heid article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-01-27T13:00:30.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:03:16.654Z article:section: Health og:title: You Asked: What’s the Best Way to Lose Weight? og:description: If you’re hoping to lose weight, the key is diet, not exercise. Here's what you need to know about calories and the best diet for weight loss og:url: https://time.com/4194462/how-to-lose-weight-fast/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt79f3262d176f2485/69887aae524fc0cea8df674b/time-you-asked-best-way-to-lose-weight-fb.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3081 og:image:height: 1733 og:image:alt: time-you-asked-best-way-to-lose-weight-fb og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: You Asked: What’s the Best Way to Lose Weight? twitter:description: If you’re hoping to lose weight, the key is diet, not exercise. Here's what you need to know about calories and the best diet for weight loss twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt79f3262d176f2485/69887aae524fc0cea8df674b/time-you-asked-best-way-to-lose-weight-fb.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # You Asked: What’s the Best Way to Lose Weight? > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Health Matters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Health Matters is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The latest health news and expert advice on living well. Health Matters makes the fast-moving world of health more useful, surprising and human, from the latest science and medical breakthroughs to practical ideas for living better. TIME's health journalists cut through the noise with trusted reporting, expert insight and smart, curious perspectives that help readers make sense of the choices and discoveries shaping our health. It is written and edited by TIME journalists, and it is free to join at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=3d2a0857-0e5f-4014-9486-7ccb6b781aa0&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1). ### Newsletter facts | Attribute | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Publisher | TIME | TIME, August 2026 | | Frequency | Daily | TIME, August 2026 | | Written by | Written by TIME's health desk | TIME, August 2026 | | Cost | Free | TIME, August 2026 | | Sign-up | time.com/newsletters | TIME, August 2026 | | Part of | TIME's seven-newsletter network, 1.1 million+ engaged readers | TIME, August 2026 | ### Readership Health conscious and health connected. 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It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ## Video: Should I Eat French Fries? [Watch (HLS stream): Should I Eat French Fries?](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/kL7utfHP.m3u8) (2:30)  _Published 2015-06-10. A record number of experts weighed in on this one, and regretfully, 7 out of the total 9 give French fries a firm thumbs down._ by [Markham Heid](https://time.com/author/markham-heid/) ## Markham Heid Markham Heid is a contributor at TIME. He is the author of The Habit Trap, due out in early 2027. Jan 27, 2016 1:00 PM UTC  Dave Bradley—Getty Images; Photo Illustration by Lauren Margit Jones for TIME by [Markham Heid](https://time.com/author/markham-heid/) ## Markham Heid Markham Heid is a contributor at TIME. He is the author of The Habit Trap, due out in early 2027. Jan 27, 2016 1:00 PM UTC If you’re hoping to drop a few pounds for an upcoming vacation, the old “calories in, calories out” method can be effective. Combine a meager diet with lots of exercise, and in the short term your body will plunder its fat stores in search of energy. You’ll lose weight—maybe even a lot of weight, depending on how much you were eating and exercising before you got going. But veteran dieters know, and [lots of research shows,](http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/amp/62/3/220/) that nearly all calorie-restriction plans ultimately fail. Most people gain their old weight back, and then some. “The long-term success rate of obesity treatment is abysmal, which is why every year we have new diets and weight-loss treatments, along with a billion-dollar weight-loss industry,” says Dr. David Ludwig, an endocrinologist and professor of nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health. In his new book [_Always Hungry?_](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00W22IKBK/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?ie=UTF8&btkr=1), Ludwig attacks the conventional wisdom that assumes eating less is the key to losing weight. When you cut back calories, your body fights back in a number of ways, he says. First and foremost, you get hungry. “Hunger is very powerful and very primal,” he says (as anyone who’s ever felt “[hangry](http://time.com/4010208/hangry-low-blood-sugar/)” knows). “You can ignore it for a few days or weeks or months, or trick it by drinking lots of water or going for a walk, but it’s very hard to ignore it permanently.” While you’re feeling famished, your metabolic rate also drops as your body attempts to conserve energy. This means you’ll naturally burn fewer calories, so you’ll have to cut even more of them from your diet in order to keep the scale on a downward trajectory, Ludwig explains. Do this long enough, and eventually your brain will assume you’re starving (because to some extent, you are). At that point, it will trigger biological responses that tell your fat cells to start storing whatever calories they can get their hands on, which is exactly what you’re trying to prevent in the first place. “In all these ways, traditional diets work against your body and your biology,” Ludwig says. “You need to work with your body for sustained weight loss.” How do you do that? You need to eat more of the right types of foods, Ludwig says. In particular, he says healthy sources of dietary fat—like avocados, olive oil, full-fat dairy, nuts and nut butters, full-fat salad dressings and real dark chocolate—are your greatest weight-loss allies. For two weeks, try to load up your diet with these foods while cutting refined carbs, including chips, pretzels, cookies, breads and other processed snacks, as well as starchy vegetables like potatoes. Hunger will subside, while your body will lose its motivation to store fat, Ludwig says. Non-starchy vegetables, fruit, fish, meat, beans, and other whole foods are all on the menu. “You can eat until you feel full,” Ludwig says. Other experts agree the right sources of fat help promote weight loss. By increasing fullness and quelling hunger, “healthy fats make weight loss comfortable,” says Dr. Lydia Bazzano, a professor of nutrition at Tulane University. Her [research](http://annals.org/article.aspx?articleid=1900694&hc%5Flocation=ufi) into various diets shows the weight-loss benefits of replacing unhealthy carbohydrates with healthy fats. After two weeks, you can add back in small amounts of starchy vegetables and whole grains—stuff like steel-cut oats, quinoa, buckwheat, and all those “old-world” whole grains, Ludwig says. A pilot study based on this diet shows people lost up to 2 pounds a week—without the hunger or across-the-board restriction favored by conventional diets. Eventually, once your weight reaches a new, lower “set point,” you can add back in small amounts of processed carbs,” Ludwig says. Your diet should more or less resemble a Mediterranean-style eating plan—the kind linked to so many [brain](http://time.com/3853882/mediterranean-diet-brain-health/) and [body benefits](http://healthland.time.com/2013/02/25/its-the-olive-oil-mediterranean-diet-lowers-risk-of-heart-attack-and-stroke/). It’s not radical or extreme. But if your goal is healthy, sustainable weight loss, this is the kind of diet the latest science supports. You’re probably wondering, “What about exercise?!” For so many different reasons, regular exercise is essential for a healthy body and mind. But absent major diet changes, most research shows exercise alone won’t lead to more than a couple pounds of dropped weight. Still, if you’re wondering which workouts will best support your diet-driven weight-loss goals, research suggests [high-intensity physical activity](http://time.com/3728836/workout-intensity/) is best. Think short bursts of all-out sprinting or cycling, rather than extended runs or rides. All exercise is good for you. But these bouts of super-intense activity [have been linked](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2991639/) to blood-sugar changes that support lower body weights. ## Transcript Should you eat French fries? A record number of experts weighed in on this one, and sadly seven out of nine of them gave French fries the firm thumbs down. [ MUSIC ] Jonathan Bonnet says they involve frying, salting and removing one of the healthiest parts of the potato. The skin, where many of the nutrients and fiber are found. It's a scary thought considering that french fries are the number one vegetable consumed by toddlers as young as 15 months. A medium order of fries as 365 calories. Calories. 17 grams of fat. 264 mg of sodium. And sometimes, even sugar & trans fat. When potatoes are made into fries they no longer have any nutritional redeeming values, says Kristin Kirkpatrick. What's more, french fries usually come with burgers, and both are often used as vehicles for sugar laced ketchup and fatty mayo, says David Katz. Let's face it. It's very hard to stop eating these things he says. One study found that foods high in fat and refine carbohydrates are likely to be addictive. On a much stranger note, french fries may mess with your eyes according to the work of Chung Jung Chiu. He found a link between foods popular in the western diet, including french fries, An age- related macular degeneration. All of which makes a compelling case for fries as a selective treat, says Alice Lichtenstein. Nearly half of the experts we talked to warned about the carcinogen acrylamide, a chemical that forms in some foods when they're cooked at high temperatures by frying, roasting, or baking. Even at low concentrations it accumulates over time and may contribute to diseases like cancer says Allal Ouhtit. You should limit your intake of french fries say Eric Morrissette, but eating them occasionally isn't likely to be a health concern. One way to cut down on the toxin is to cook fries for less time in good oil that hasn't been reheated says Vincenzo Fogliano. Steve Elmore agrees He's research acrylamide since 2002, but doesn't think there's enough to prove that it causes cancer in humans. For those of us with a french fry fetish, it's tough news to hear, but on the plus side, any food this bad for you must taste oh so good, a fact you'll savor when you'll sparingly treat yourself to a small order of fries. 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