Are you tired of trying every fad diet and exercise routine under the sun, only to see minimal results? Perhaps it’s time to join Silicon Valley techies in biohacking weight loss.
This new buzzword in the health and wellness world is more than just another trend. Biohacking methods have been proven to optimize your physical and mental performance. Even better, it can also help you shed those pesky extra pounds.
Most importantly, biohacking works best when you approach it as a fascinating experiment with your unique body to find ways of biohacking it in a holistic way.
What is biohacking?
Imagine if you could consciously control your external environment to enrich your physical and mental health. This is, in essence, what biohacking is.
Dave Asprey, the world’s leading biohacking expert and trainer of Mindvalley’s Smarter Not Harder Quest, defines it as “the art and science of changing the environment around you and inside you so you have full control of your own biology.”
Most importantly, it affects the biology of your physical body holistically, treating it as a whole system—the mind, the body, and the spirit.
Learn more: The Ultimate Biohacking Guide: 24 Ways to Hack Your Biological Age From Ancient Wisdom & Modern Science
15 biohacking tips for weight loss
This holistic approach brings your whole system into balance, and a side effect of doing so is losing weight. Here are some scientifically proven biohacking tips for getting healthier and leaner:
1. Intermittent fasting
With intermittent fasting, you only eat during a set window of time and fast the rest of the time. It’s one of the most researched and scientifically proven ways to do all kinds of wonders for your body and mind, not just lose weight.
When you regularly fast for more than 14 hours, you enhance your levels of growth hormone, improve insulin sensitivity, accelerate cellular repair, and foster the brain’s anti-aging.
How you can do it: You can try fasting this way, according to Dave:
- Skip breakfast
- Break your fast and have your first meal at noon
- Eat dinner between 6 and 8 p.m. Maybe treat yourself to your favorite dessert
- Stop eating by 8 p.m.
- Repeat the next day, with your first meal at noon
This is just one way to fast. The great thing is, there are so many intermittent fasting protocols that can fit any lifestyle and work schedule.
Learn more: Intermittent Fasting: A Basic Guide for the Perfect Fast
2. Cut out processed foods
Processed foods are utterly detrimental to your physical and mental health, as they cause inflammation in the body.
Yes, they taste better because of sugar, sodium, and unhealthy fats. But what tastes good today can lead to obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes tomorrow.
On top of that, they mess up leptin, insulin, and ghrelin levels, your top hormones to look after when it comes to losing weight.
If you are looking to live smarter and longer, you should cut out processed foods as much as possible.
How you can do it: Stick to whole and homemade foods. Snack on fruit, vegetables, or nuts instead of chips or crackers. Drink water or green juice instead of soft drinks.
3. Sleep better
Good sleep regulates the levels of ghrelin and leptin, two hormones responsible for your appetite and sense of fullness. This is why not getting enough sleep makes you feel extremely hungry in the morning and overeat during the day.
How you can do it: Dave recommends getting seven to nine hours of high-quality sleep per night. So create a sleep-friendly environment, such as by keeping your bedroom cool and dark, avoiding electronics before bed, and establishing a consistent sleep schedule.
4. Exercise smarter
Are you still big on cardio? If you are, you should know that cardiovascular exercises are only good for making your heart stronger. More importantly, too much of it may be adverse to your holistic well-being and have zero impact on weight loss.
Dave explains that traditional cardio can skyrocket your cortisol levels, make you susceptible to inflammation, and mess up your muscles and joints. In contrast, brief spurts of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and resistance training are more effective measures for shedding excess body weight and promoting optimal health.
How you can do it: Dave recommends combining HIIT, weight training, and a modest amount of exercise in your workout routine.
5. Supplement wisely
While 77% of Americans take at least one supplement nowadays, many people assume that our ancestors didn’t take any supplements. But, according to Ben Greenfield, another biohacking expert and trainer of Mindvalley’s The Longevity Blueprint, this isn’t true.
He explains that ancient supplements included various roots, leaf teas, and medicinal powders, which our ancestors would take to support optimal health.
How you can do it: If your goal is to shed unwanted weight, Ben recommends taking these biohacking supplements for weight loss:
- Essential amino acids to boost energy, build lean muscle, and enhance athletic recovery;
- Omega fish oil to protect your joints and enhance the brain;
- Probiotics to keep your gut microbiome healthy and ensure absorption of nutrients;
- Colostrum to protect your gut and stomach, especially when you do hard exercise routines; and
- Vitamin D to boost metabolism and regulate appetite.
It’s important to emphasize that Vitamin D is absolutely essential for your optimal health as it supports your immune function. While supplementing is an option, exposing your bare skin to sunlight as much as possible (with some precautions) is a must.
6. Try cold therapy
Cold showers, ice baths, ice packs, cryotherapy—you name it, cold therapy includes them all. This practice of exposing your body to extremely low temperatures boosts your metabolism and burns fat.
Dave explains that the magic of cold therapy is that it makes you more receptive to dopamine.
Three or five minutes of being cold equal ‘I’m happy all the time,’ ‘I have more energy,’ ‘I have more things done.’
— Dave Asprey, trainer of Mindvalley’s Smarter Not Harder Quest
How you can do it: The easiest way to get yourself ready for a full-body immersion is to go in face first. By doing so, you will adjust to the cold temperature.
7. Get rid of toxins
If you are an average American, you are exposed to over a hundred toxins every day. And that includes mold, one of the most dangerous and insidious of all.
It can make you gain weight, experience brain fog, and even be the cause of depression. And as Dave shares in his Smarter Not Harder Quest, “Mold was one of the reasons why I was obese when I was in my 20s.”
Sweating them all out is one way you can release toxins from your body. Studies show that a 20-minute session in the sauna can accelerate your metabolism and promote weight loss. Here are a few other benefits:
- Reduce pain and muscle tension,
- Reduce stress and improve overall mental well-being,
- Improve skin, and
- Increase immune system function.
How you can do it: The best choice for the toxins’ release is a full-spectrum infrared sauna. If you pair it with breathwork, such as SOMA Breath®, you can maximize the benefits, according to Niraj Naik, the creator of SOMA Breath® creator and the trainer of Mindvalley’s Breathwork for Life Quest.
8. Breathe deeper
Did you know that the majority of weight loss happens via… breathing? You can biohack your breath by combining breathing exercises with a proper diet and training.
How you can do it: One of the most effective breathing techniques that produces a high concentration of carbon dioxide alongside a high level of oxygen in your system is called Buteyko breathing.
It involves slow, shallow breathing through the nose with a focus on exhaling fully and minimizing the intake of air. And it greatly helps reduce stress levels, improve your sleep, and maximize your exercise performance.
9. Reduce stress
Stress can completely sabotage your efforts to reach your ideal weight and optimize your overall performance. Unless you live in the pristine Himalayan mountains as a monk, you have to cope with significant amounts of stress coming at you from all directions on a daily basis.
So it contributes not only to the extra fat storage but also makes you extremely susceptible to chronic diseases, mental health issues, and even substance abuse.
How you can do it: To reduce stress, here are some ways you can start off with:
- Deep breathing
- Grounding
- Yoga
- Mindfulness meditation
- Exercising
10. Bulletproof Diet
Does eating fat make you fatter? It depends on the type. Adding more healthy foods to your diet can help melt the stored fat away, as well as make you smarter and more energized.
High-performing people know that getting their food right is the number one human upgrade.
— Dave Asprey, trainer of Mindvalley’s Smarter Not Harder Quest
The Bulletproof Diet is rich in healthy fats. On top of that, it improves brain function, balances hormones, stabilizes blood sugar, and boosts your energy.
How you can do it: To make the Bulletproof Diet work, modify what you eat:
- Eat more Green Zone foods, such as grass-fed meats, wild-caught seafood, organic vegetables, low-sugar fruits, avocado and coconut oil, raw nuts, and seeds.
- Eat Yellow Zone foods in moderation, such as berries, grass-fed butter, and ghee, and gluten-free grains like quinoa and rice.
- Avoid Red Zone foods whenever possible, such as processed foods, sugar, grains with gluten, vegetable oils, and most legumes.
11. Stay hydrated
You’ve probably heard of drinking eight glasses per day to meet your daily hydration needs. But according to a poll by CivicScience, 47% of American adults aren’t drinking enough water.
When it comes to proper hydration, according to Dave, there is no magic number. But there is a magic thing called thirst.
“Your thirst will guide you,” he says. “Most importantly, drinking more water doesn’t mean more hydration. What matters is how much water you absorb.”
How you can do it: Adding a pinch of Himalayan salt to your water will do the trick.
12. Drink Danger Coffee
Created by Dave, Danger Coffee is a great biohacking tip for weight loss. The combination of caffeine and more than 50 trace minerals and electrolytes will leave you feeling energized, engaged, and powerful. Dave explains that Danger Coffee puts minerals back into your cells where they belong and gives you access to the minerals you already have.
Learn more: Does Weight Loss Coffee Work? (The Truth About Coffee and Weight Loss)
13. Drink apple cider vinegar
Apple cider vinegar is another effective biohack for weight loss. According to studies, it suppresses your appetite and helps control your food intake.
Its effects are called adiponectin. Scientists explain that its main component, acetic acid, does the trick when it comes to losing weight.
In this study, obese Japanese regularly drank apple cider vinegar for twelve weeks. As a result, they significantly lowered their body weight and melted stubborn belly fat away.
How you can do it: You can add a few tablespoons of it to your water and drink it before meals to suppress your appetite and reduce insulin levels.
14. Practice mindfulness
Mindfulness promotes a more conscious and intentional approach to eating and physical activity. It helps you cultivate:
- Greater awareness of hunger and fullness,
- Emotional awareness to recognize unwanted emotions and feelings you tend to cope with through overeating and develop emotional regulation, and
- Better self-control to make healthy food choices.
Most importantly, mindfulness practices are proven to reduce stress and cortisol levels—the two biggest contributors to excessive weight gain.
How you can do it:
- Find a quiet and comfortable place.
- Become aware of the act of breathing. Notice the natural flow of air streaming in and out of your body.
- Feel your belly rise and fall. Feel the air enter your nostrils and leave your nostrils.
- Watch every thought come and go without trying to ignore or suppress it. Simply observe them as clouds.
- If you find yourself getting carried away in your thoughts, notice it and simply return to your breathing.
- As the time comes to a close, sit for a minute or two, becoming aware of where you are. Then get up gradually.
15. Stay consistent
Maintaining consistency is crucial for any form of metamorphosis, including body weight transformation.
According to a 2017 study, when you gradually and consistently reduce weight each week, you can sustain your ideal weight long-term, as opposed to drastically shedding pounds. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither is a healthy body.
How you can do it: First, forget about traditional diets. Instead, develop a stable schedule of healthy eating and exercise, and stick to it.
Becoming smarter, healthier, and leaner
Shedding unwanted pounds is a side effect of improving your health. And one way to do that is through biohacking.
Implementing small, easy changes to your lifestyle can increase your energy levels and help you experience quick success on your weight loss journey. Just like María Eugenia Del Campo Velasco from Dave’s Mindvalley Quest: “I know exactly what to do in each important area of my life to grow strong and healthy every day.“
If you’re curious about biohacking or simply want to take steps to feel better in your body, join the 14-day Smarter Not Harder challenge with Dave Asprey. You’ll unlock the best version of yourself and learn powerful biohacking techniques to support your weight loss and health goals.
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