Using coconut for weight loss is a popular diet plan. But, does it really work. Coconuts are the seeds of the Cocos nucifera (coconut palms). The trees grow in tropical climates. The fruit has a brown, fibrous outer covering with white meat inside. It also has water inside the fruits. The oil and milk derived from the fruit have several benefits. The oil is rich in saturates, which boosts metabolism. It happens because of the presence of medium-chain fatty triglycerides, instead of the long-chain triglycerides present in other oils. So, it burns fat more quickly. If you are looking for a weight loss product, then coconut is best when you include it in a low-carb diet.
Coconut products offer several benefits to your body, skin, and hair. You need to include it in your diet plan. With exercise and a good diet plan, coconut will help you reach the weight loss goal. But, what to include with the diet? How does it work? IF you want answers to the question, then read ahead to know more about it.
How To Use Coconut For Weight Loss
Coconuts are rich in medium-chain fatty acids that aid weight loss by enhancing your metabolic rate. A diet containing different coconut parts like flesh, virgin oil, and water can offer great benefits. Here you get the four-week diet plan to lose weight gradually. Stable weight loss will amaze you. But, stick to the diet plan and include exercises to ensure great results. Become fit with the diet plan suggested below:
Using Coconut For Weight Loss: Diet Suggestion Week 1
You need to consume one cup of overnight soaked fenugreek water early in the morning from 7:30 a.m. to 7:45 a.m. Make sure you take the breakfast by 8:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. in the morning. You have the following options:
- You can eat oatmeal along with one cup of black coffee with one teaspoon of coconut oil.
- Eat one multigrain toast with one boiled egg and one cup of black coffee with one teaspoon of coconut oil.
Try to eat your lunch by 12:00 to 12:30 p.m. You can include the following for your lunch:
- You can eat shrimp zoodles. Zoodles or zucchini noodles are healthy and gluten-free.
- Including grilled broccoli, asparagus, and spinach also offers necessary nutrients.
Post lunch, you can drink one cup of coconut water around three p.m. You can drink one cup of green tea and eat one multi-grain biscuit as an evening snack at 5:00 p.m. Make sure you eat your dinner at 7:30 p.m. You can include the following in your dinner:
- Chicken breast cooked in coconut milk
- Two wheat flatbread along with kidney bean chili
How The Suggested Plan With Coconut For Weight Loss Works?
Drinking fenugreek water early in the morning boosts your metabolism. It also flushes out the toxins from the colon. Drinking coffee with coconut oil offers your body the right amount of fat to keep you energized and active. Eating a fiber-rich breakfast prevents the absorption of fat. If you opt for eggs, it offers protein. Eating a light yet nutritious lunch offers the necessary vitamins and minerals needed for your body. Drinking coconut water keeps you hydrated. The evening snack with green tea will aid in weight loss. Green tea rich in catechins will help you with it. Ending the day with a protein-rich dinner will repair and rejuvenate your muscles.
If you are allergic to any of the food items mentioned, try its low-calorie alternatives. Eating well alone may not help lose weight. You need to burn fat by exercising. It aids in utilizing the calories you consume.
How Will You Feel At The End Of Week 1 With Coconut For Weight Loss?
When you follow this diet plan for a week, you can start seeing the changes. You feel less bloated while your bowel movements become regular. It is normal to feel fatigued after the workout, but you need to go on. Never give up as the aches and soreness will ease once you start working out regularly.
Using Coconut For Weight Loss: Diet Suggestion Week 2
You have to drink green tea early in the morning. You can include honey and cinnamon in your green tea for fat loss effect. Try to take this drink by 7:30 a.m. to 7:45 a.m. Eat your breakfast between 8:00 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. For breakfast, you can include the following:
- One cup of coconut water with Quinoa and four almonds.
- You can drink one cup of coconut water with scrambled eggs and four almonds
By 12:00 to 12:30 p.m., you need to eat your lunch. The foods you can include in your lunch are as follows:
- Grilled Brussels sprouts salad
- Mushroom/chicken clear soup
Post-lunch, you can drink one cup of buttermilk by 3:00 p.m. You can eat an evening snack by five p.m. Eat a one-sixth cup of coconut as an evening snack. You can eat dinner by 7:30 p.m. Here are some of the suggestion of food you can eat for dinner:
- Kale and black bean wraps
- Grilled chicken with vegetables
How The Suggested Plan With Coconut For Weight Loss Works?
Green tea, honey, and cinnamon are an excellent combination to mobilize fat in the body. It boosts your immunity and keeps you fit. Make sure you eat breakfast by the specified time to begin your day. The simple lunch will not make you feel lethargic. When you consume buttermilk, it supports your digestive system by providing good gut bacteria. Eating coconut as an evening snack will keep your taste buds alive while providing necessary nutrients to your body. Ending your day with a protein-rich dinner will help muscle recovery after suffering from daily wear and tear.
How Will You Feel At The End Of Week 2 With Coconut For Weight Loss?
By the end of week two, you can see the changes in your body. You will look slimmer while feeling more energetic. But, you need to continue the diet for another two weeks to see the desired results. Never forget to include exercise with the diet.
Using Coconut For Weight Loss: Diet Suggestion Week 3
Start your day with one cup of warm water mixed with one teaspoon of apple cider vinegar by 7:30 a.m. in the morning. Eat your breakfast by 8:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. You can include the following for your breakfast:
- Vegetable semolina with one cup of black coffee mixed with one teaspoon coconut oil.
- Wheat pancake with one cup of black coffee containing one teaspoon coconut oil.
For lunch, you can eat a chicken sandwich and one cup of coconut water or you can eat couscous salad with one cup of coconut water. Post-lunch you can eat an apple or an orange. As an evening snack, you can consume one cup of green tea along with half a cup of popcorn. Have your dinner by 7:30 p.m. You have the option to eat pita bread with Baba ganoush or eat baked salmon combined with broccoli, spinach, and grated coconut.
Why The Suggested Plan With Coconut For Weight Loss Works?
Drinking apple cider vinegar early in the morning is effective to achieve weight loss goals. When you consume semolina with vegetables, it supplies complex carbs along with essential vitamins and minerals. Keeping your lunch light by eating a sandwich containing chicken will provide the necessary proteins. Eat the sandwich without adding the mayonnaise. Couscous salad is another light, nutritious, and flavorful lunch. Drinking a cup of coconut water will flush the toxins away.
For people who feel hungry after lunch, eating one orange or apple provides vitamin C. It boosts your immunity. For evening snacks, you can include a little zing with unsalted popcorn. Drink green tea to feel full for a long time. A light dinner at the end of the day will help metabolize food.
How Will You Feel By The End Of Week 3?
At the end of week three, you can observe drastic changes in your body and mind. When you see your efforts yielding results, you feel encouraged to continue the diet plan.
Using Coconut For Weight Loss: Diet Suggestion Week 4
During week four, you are closer to your goal. So, never give up. Like the past weeks, you need to start your day with a fat-burning drink. You can take one cup of warm water with honey and mix lime juice to it. Try to eat your breakfast by 8:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. You have different options for your breakfast. Here are two of them:
- Take one cup of black coffee with one teaspoon of virgin coconut oil. You can eat one wheat pancake along with it.
- You can take two boiled eggs with one cup of black coffee mixed with one teaspoon of coconut oil.
Have your lunch by 12:00 to 12:30 p.m. For your lunch you have the following options:
- One cup of coconut water with green papaya salad
- Fruit salad with one cup of coconut water.
You can have one cup of yogurt post-lunch by three p.m. As an evening snack, you can drink one cup of green tea at five p.m. Eat your dinner by seven to seven-thirty p.m. You have the following options to include in your diet:
- Include sesame chicken with vegetables and drink one cup of warm milk.
- You can also eat vegetable ravioli with one cup of warm milk.
Why The Suggested Plan With Coconut For Weight Loss Works?
When you start your day with lime juice and honey mixed in warm water, it will support a good bowel movement. This drink also boosts your immune system. Having a wheat breakfast ensures you get enough fiber in your diet. Fiber prevents the absorption of fat. Eating boiled eggs provides you with the necessary protein. Adding fruit salad to your diet offers low-calorie nutrients to your body. Yogurt helps better digestion as it contains good gut bacteria. Drinking green tea will suppress your craving for snacks. It is also effective in scavenging free oxygen radicals. Ending your day with a dinner rich in complex carbs, fiber, and protein will help you feel full. Warm milk will help you sleep at night and avoid midnight snacking.
If you are bored with the same foods, substitute them with healthy alternatives. After you complete the four week period, you can see a striking difference. Including exercise will help you reach your weight loss goal faster.
Foods To Avoid When Including Coconut For Weight Loss
When you are taking coconut for weight loss, you need to avoid certain food items. Here are the food items you need to refrain from including:
Vegetables And Fruits
You need to stay away from the potato when you follow a coconut diet. Also, avoid consumption of mango and jackfruit.
Avoid Fats And Oils While Using Coconut For Weight Loss
Try to avoid the following fats and oils from your four-week diet plan as they have high calories:
- Animal fat
- Butter
- Margarine
- Mayonnaise
- Cream cheese
- Full-fat cream
Beverages
Aerated or carbonated drinks contain empty calories. So, it is better to avoid it. Similarly, you have to avoid alcohol, artificially sweetened drinks, and packaged fruit juices from your diet.
Nuts
While nuts like pumpkin seeds, almonds, and Chia seeds are good for weight loss, cashews are a big no.
Benefits Of Using Coconut For Weight Loss And Other Health Issues
There are several reasons why including coconut in your diet is beneficial. You can include coconut for weight loss and other health benefits. Here are some of them:
Increase In Metabolism
Coconuts are healthy as they are rich in medium-chain fatty acids. It helps boost your body’s metabolism. So, your body burns calories faster. It also targets fat reserves. Therefore, instead of storing it as fat deposits, the coconut digested converts it into energy. It also helps your body burn more calories.
Enhance Nutrients Absorption
Coconut is easily digested by the body. It requires only a few enzymes to digest break down, and enhance the absorption of vital nutrients like vitamins and minerals. Do you know that essential vitamins like Vitamin A, Vitamin D, and Vitamin E are water-soluble? They are not easily assimilated by the human body. It requires a sufficient amount of fat in the diet to assimilate the vitamins. Consuming coconut ensures the necessary fat needed for easy vitamin absorption. Due to such properties, coconut is ideal for people battling digestive issues.
Regulates Thyroid
Including coconut in your diet can trigger thyroid activities. With active thyroid, your body’s metabolism increases. It also boosts your energy.
Makes You Feel Full
It is a common misconception that coconut can make you fat or increase cholesterol levels. It is not true. Coconut contains easily digested fats. So, unlike other diets, a coconut-rich diet will not make you feel deprived. You will not crave food during midday. So, it eliminates your urge for midday snacking. You can follow the diet with ease without straying away from it.
Keep Heart Problems At Bay
In normal cases, the consumption of oil-rich trans-fat can increase your risk of developing heart disease. It also increases cholesterol levels and triggers other health conditions. But, coconut oil is different. Coconut oil metabolizes fats present in your liver. So, it makes fuel for your brain and proper muscle functioning. It results in the fat consumed not accumulating in the body. Coconut oil is also good for your physical and mental health. It addresses a wide array of problems like heart problems, depression, and other complications.
Coconut For Weight Loss Controls Abdominal Obesity
Many people are concerned about their expanding tummy. If you are concerned about abdominal obesity, taking coconut oil can help manage the problem. Coconut oil regulates weight fluctuations. It also offers protection to your body from insulin resistance.
Eases Constipation
People suffering from constipation can get relief when they consume coconut oil. It is a miracle cure as the fatty acids in it have anti-microbial properties. So, it soothes the bacteria and parasites inhibiting in your gut. It results in proper digestion. Individuals suffering from issues like irritable bowel syndrome or other digestive problems can ease them when they include a bigger portion of coconut in their daily diet.
Fights Infection
Coconut is rich in lauric acid, Caprylic acid, and Capric acid that contain antifungal, antibacterial, and antiviral properties that keep you healthy and help your body build a strong immune system. In the past, coconut oil was used to treat and act as a preventive measure against infections like Candida, herpes, and influenza.
Stop Craving Sweets
If you have a sweet tooth and eat calorie-loaded sweets, including coconut oil can make you stay away from such sweet foods. Sweet foods have high calories, which can result in excess weight gain. Consuming a spoonful of virgin coconut oil when you crave sweets will make you stay away from it. It makes you feel full and help your temptation to take a bite of the sweet or chocolate bar.
No Fear Of Oxidizing
Most cooking oils oxidize at high cooking temperatures, which is not good for your body. But, coconut oil contains medium-chain fatty acids. It does not oxidize at high temperatures. So, you can try out dishes requiring high temperatures with coconut oil.
Excellent For Skin
Coconut oil is a good addition to your skincare regime. Applying it to your skin and hair offers you excellent results. Try virgin coconut oil on your skin. It will combat issues like wrinkles, fine lines, and blemishes. Applying it to your skin regularly will offer hydration and softness. Your skin looks supple, luxuriant, and glowing.
Diuretic Properties
Do you know that coconut water has diuretic properties? It means coconut water can flush out the toxins and excess fluid accumulated in your body. It helps cleanse your body by removing waste and unwanted drugs. The same applies to coconut oil. Consuming coconut oil will clear out the waste from your body. So, it helps shed excess pounds without sweating a lot.
Including Exercise Along With Consumption Of Coconut For Weight Loss
Apart from including coconut in your diet for weight loss, you need to exercise. Combining exercise along with your diet offers effective weight loss. Calorie restriction or including fat burning foods in your site alone may not offer the desired weight loss results. Therefore, with the four-week diet, you have to include physical activities. Combining physical work with a good diet helps you reach the weight loss goal with ease. Calorie restriction is possible with a good diet, while exercise helps you burn fat accumulated. So, to get more energy, you burn the fat stored beneath the skin. Exercise increases metabolism or the total number of calories you burn in one day. So, you can maintain and boost lean body mass.
Regular exercise can also prevent or reverse certain diseases. It is effective in controlling your sugar levels, lowering cholesterol, and blood pressure. Exercises also lower your risk of developing life-threatening cancers like breast and colon cancer. It also improves your mental health. You deal with stress better and enhance your self-confidence. You face a lower risk of developing anxiety and depression. So, exercising will reduce your weight and keep you fit. You can safeguard your physical and mental health with the workouts.
Exercise Plan To Follow While Including Coconut For Weight Loss
If you are wondering what exercise to follow while you eat coconut for weight loss, you can try some workout options suggested below. You need to complete the suggested reps to get the desired results. It is one of the exercise plans you can try. You can include variations to keep the workout interesting.
Neck Rotations
You need to complete one set of exercise by completing ten repetitions in the clockwise and anti-clockwise direction.
Shoulder Rotations
Complete one set of shoulder rotations in the clockwise and anti-clockwise direction with ten repetitions.
Arm Circles
You need to complete arm circles in clockwise and anti-clockwise directions. Include two sets of ten repetitions of the exercise for better results.
Side Crunches
Complete side crunches on your left and right sides. You need to complete two sets of the exercise with ten repetitions each.
Upper Body Twists
The exercise is designed to tone your physique and improve balance. So, you can complete one set of exercises to allow the working of your entire core. Complete one set of twenty repetitions to get benefits.
Ankle Rotations
Ankle rotations are stretches you can practice daily. It will help your ligaments, tendons, and muscles in the foot to become stronger. You get optimum support for the foot when you perform the exercise. You need to complete one set of ten repetitions of the exercise in the clockwise and anti-clockwise direction.
Explosive Forward Lunges
You need to complete one set of explosive forward lunges containing ten repetitions.
Full Squats
Complete two sets of full squats with each set containing ten reps.
Scissor Kicks
Include one set of scissor kicks in your exercise routine containing ten reps.
Horizontal Out Kicks
You need to include horizontal out kicks of one set containing ten repetitions.
Crunches
Include two sets of crunches in your routine with each set containing ten repetitions.
Push-ups
You need to complete two sets of push-ups with each set containing five repetitions.
Plank
Stay in plank position for at least twenty seconds. You can complete two sets of planks with twenty seconds hold.
Stretch
Once you complete the suggested exercise, stretch. Stretching is important to cool off your body and reduce the possibility of injury to the muscles.
Tips To Remember While Using Coconut For Weight Loss
While following the diet containing coconut for weight loss, you need to remember a few things. They are important to ensure success. Weight loss goal is achieved when you follow the tips suggested below:
High-Quality Coconut Oil
Always purchase high-quality coconut oil for including in your diet. Among the different types, extra virgin coconut oil can offer effective results. It is because it does not contain saturated fats. Saturated fats are responsible for the spike in your cholesterol levels and are linked to weight gain.
Opt For Tender Coconut Water
To reduce weight, you need to drink coconut water. Choose tender coconut water as it has low calories. It is also easy on your stomach, which aids digestion. Tender coconut water is packed with bio-active enzymes. So, it boosts metabolism. A higher metabolic rate means you burn fat more.
Include A Cheat Day Using Coconut For Weight Loss
When you are following a coconut diet, you can have a cheat day. It means you can consume 500 calories more than what you eat on your diet days. But, stick to the suggested calories and never overindulge as you can stray away from the diet. You can include one or two of your favorite foods that never exceed the total calorie count on the cheat days.
Keep Hydrated
When you are following the diet, never forget hydration. Drink plenty of water to maintain balance in your body. Drink six to eight glasses of water to maintain water balance in your body.
Sleep Early
Sleeping early gives your body a chance to rest. With good sleep, you can drain away stress and tension that can trigger excess eating. Also, sleeping early will help you avoid midnight snacking. Try not to eat anything three hours before your bedtime.
Conclusion
You can include coconut for weight loss. There are different forms of coconut you can include in your diet to get the desired results. The diet plan suggested here can work wonders when you want to transform your body. It aids in shedding fat and improving your skin health. Coconut in any form is also beneficial for your hair health. So, including a diet with coconut will make you look appealing with glowing skin and beautiful hair. It enhances your overall appearance. Therefore, try this workable weight loss program as it offers effective results. Get started immediately to see the results by the end of a month.
References
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/can-coconut-oil-help-you-lose-weight
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/coconut-meat#:~:text=May%20support%20weight%20loss,11%20%2C%2012%20%2C%2013%20).
https://doctor.ndtv.com/living-healthy/4-reasons-why-coconut-is-the-ultimate-fruit-for-weight-loss-1832116