3 Simple Fat Loss Hacks that Take 10 Minutes (and Actually Work)

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I get a lot of questions about hacking weight loss. What’s the best way to lose weight quickly? How much does exercise matter? How do you deal with hunger?

First off, there’s no escaping the basics. Food matters more than anything else, so if you’re starting your weight loss journey today, begin with the Bulletproof Diet. You’ll see fast results—I lost 50 pounds in three months and more than 100 pounds in a year, and I’ve been maintaining my weight ever since.

If you want even faster results, there are a few extra changes you can make.

Here are three simple weight loss hacks you can add to your daily routine. Each one takes under 10 minutes and will measurably speed up your fat loss.

Upgraded HIIT

To lose weight faster, you want to boost two main hormones: testosterone and human growth hormone (HGH). Testosterone helps you build muscle and increases your metabolism, both short-term and long-term[*], and research shows that you’ll lose 60% more fat if you keep your HGH levels high while dieting[*].

This is where high-intensity interval training (HIIT) comes in. HIIT combines resistance training and cardio, and it condenses them down into an intense workout that only lasts a few minutes. With HIIT, you alternate between brief periods of maximum exertion and brief periods of rest.

Consistent HIIT training increases testosterone[*], and a single 15-minute HIIT workout boosts your HGH by 2000%[*] (for reference, an hour of heavy lifting only increases your HGH by 400%[*]).

HIIT is almost unbelievably efficient, and when it comes to boosting your fat loss, it works far better than any other type of exercise.

If you want to get the most out of HIIT, I suggest the CAROL bike. It takes all the planning and injury risk out of interval training, and it uses artificial intelligence to optimize your exertion, which means it pushes you harder than you can push yourself. A workout lasts about 9 minutes and CAROL decides when you rest and when you work, so you don’t have to think about anything. You just press a couple buttons, work out for 8 minutes and 40 seconds, and then go on with your day.

AI-powered exercise takes things to the next level. That said, you can also find a basic HIIT workout routine online. It won’t be quite as efficient and you’ll have to plan out the exercises and rest periods yourself, but as long as you’re working hard, you’ll still see a rapid increase in fat loss.

Cryotherapy

Cryotherapy is another way to speed up fat loss.

Brief, intense cold exposure activates something called cold-induced thermogenesis—basically, your body ramps up your metabolism for a few hours, causing you to burn more calories at rest[*][*].

Basically, getting cold for a few minutes a day can help you lose weight faster.

The most efficient option is a cryochamber. It surrounds you with liquid nitrogen for about 3 minutes, rapidly decreasing your body temperature and turning on thermogenesis.

In a 2020 study, women did 3 minutes in a cryochamber every day for 20 days, without changing anything else in their routine. They saw a steady and significant decrease in body fat[*].

And as an added benefit, cryotherapy enhances your muscle recovery[*]. That means you can add an extra HIIT session or two each week and lose weight even faster.

If you’re in or near a city, there’s probably a cryotherapy studio near you. Most places offer a monthly unlimited membership so you can do a session every day.

You can also do an ice bath. Just fill your bathtub with cold water, dump in a couple bags of ice, grit your teeth, and stay in for 10 minutes. While an ice bath is more difficult than a cryochamber, you’ll get the same results from it.

Whichever method you choose, there’s a good chance you’ll be exhausted after your first couple cryo sessions. Think of cryotherapy like a workout—it’s taxing on your system, but your body will adapt within a few days.

A Deep Sleep Stack

Deep sleep is a fundamental part of high performance, and it’s twice as important if you want to lose weight.

In fact, sleep quality is one of the best predictors of successful weight loss. A 2012 study found that dieting women who slept well at night had 33% more weight loss[*]. Another 2012 study found similar results in both men and women[*].

There are a few reasons deep sleep helps you lose weight.

For one thing, you release a large amount of human growth hormone—the hormone that speeds up fat loss—at night, while your body is recovering and repairing cells. About 70% of your total nighttime HGH secretion happens during the two deepest stages of sleep[*]. If you don’t get deep sleep, you don’t release as much HGH, which can stall weight loss[*][*].

Research shows that poor quality sleep also activates the part of your brain associated with food cravings[*] and leads you to eat more junk food[*], which can sabotage your weight loss progress.

If you want to lose weight faster, it’s worth your time to optimize your sleep. I recommend a simple sleep stack that combines melatonin and magnesium.

Both melatonin[*] and magnesium[*][*] increase deep sleep and improve overall sleep quality. I recommend taking the following an hour before bed:

You’ll see an immediate improvement in your sleep and faster weight loss over time.

Final Thoughts

If you want to lose weight, your diet matters more than anything else. To avoid hunger and decrease your food cravings while still losing body fat every week, I recommend a high-fat, low-carb diet.

For even faster weight loss, you can add bonus biohacks that take under 10 minutes a day and actually work:

Add these simple weight loss hacks to your daily routine and check the scale every week. You should see a measurable increase in fat loss, and with all the other benefits they provide—improved hormone profile, lower inflammation, better sleep, and more—you can expect to feel amazing too. Happy biohacking.

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If you want to lose weight, increase your energy, or sharpen your mind, there are shelves of books offering myriad styles of advice. If you want to build up your strength and cardio fitness, there are plenty of gyms and trainers ready to offer you their guidance. What all of these resources have in common is they offer you a bad deal: a lot of effort for a little payoff. Dave Asprey has found a better way.
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