Robert Costa, to everyone’s surprise, recently made public appearances in a somewhat slimmer, fitter, and youthful frame.

In early 2018, Robert Costa appeared trim and young, having lost significant weight.

When asked in an interview, how he lost weight, Robert said he had depended entirely on a diet and had not used much exercise or physical activities for his weight loss program.

Although you wouldn’t describe his look as ultra-fit, Mr. Costa looks a lot more attractive now than he ever looked in the past.

What happened? How did Robert Costa lose weight? How has he managed to keep the weight away for almost two years now?

Let’s explore the answers.

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Robert Costa’s Diet and Weight Loss Journey

According to Robert Costa, he’s been on a “campaign diet.” Most journalists are known to eat lots of junk foods during presidential campaigns as they have very little time to think proactively about their meals.

The need for a change finally dawned on Mr. Costa when he started noticing that he often felt too tired to do most of his regular activities.

Realizing the harm that eating hamburgers was doing to his body, Robert Costa decided to switch to dieting to help him lose weight in a reasonable time.

Thankfully, Mr. Costa’s methods were pretty simple. So you can replicate his success.

• Robert Costa didn’t ignore his body’s signals: the feeling of tiredness
• He drank black tea
• Reduced eating hamburgers
• Eliminated cream and sugar from his diet
• Committed to taking daily walks
• Gave his simple program time to work

Let’s explore how these elements helped Robert Costa lose weight.

Could The Frequent Feeling of Tiredness Be Sufficient Reason?

Robert Costa saw his frequent feeling of tiredness as sufficient reason to become healthier.

Being overweight or obese increases a person’s risk of fatigue.

Feeling fatigued due to body weight can happen for many reasons.

These reasons include:

• Having to carry more body mass
• Pains in the joints and muscles
• Sleep apnea
• Obesity

More so, feeling tired makes you less likely to exercise.

This was probably why Mr. Costa relied more on a diet than physical activity, as that’s more practical in his situation.

Of course, you want to check with your physician to know the cause of your fatigue or tiredness.

Don’t just assume.

Other conditions can cause fatigue, like

• Hypothyroidism
• Sleeplessness caused by excessive use of technology
• Poor diet or eating junk food
• Food allergies
• Anemia
• Heart disease
• Depression
• Caffeine overload
• Work induced sleep disorders
• Urinary Tract Infection (UTI)
• Fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS)

As you can see, the reasons for fatigue abound. So, you want to consult with your doctor or physician to make sure that losing weight will help you get your health in order.

Whether your cause of tiredness comes from being overweight or not, you want to lose weight all the same to reduce your health risks.

You want to be cautious. Good things, like weight loss, take time to materialize.

So you want to commit to the long haul.

That’s precisely what Robert Costa did — he committed to his weight loss program for years.

Great Weight Loss Programs Take Time

According to Robert Costa’s interview with the news outlet, Deadline Hollywood, he had been on this diet and followed through until he lost weight for good.

This level of commitment is rare in a space where people want to see overnight results.

However, it’s perfectly in line with recommendations from dietitians.

Leading dietitians agree that weight loss programs are better done for longer time periods than done suddenly.

It’s more sustainable to go slowly on a weight loss program because the body won’t have to deal with the crisis that follows a sudden change in a person’s body weight.

The NHS reported that the healthy amount of weight a person should lose a week is one to two pounds, which is 0.5kg to 1.0kg.

More so, the NHS warns that losing weight too fast will cause you to gain the weight back quickly.

According to WebMD, 80% of the people who successfully lose 10% or more of their body weight gain back equal or more body weight than they lost.

Similarly, statistics from the

University of Michigan puts that number at 90% of people who lose weight fast.

You also gain your weight right back when you crash-diet because what you lose in that time isn’t fat.

It’s mostly water.

Losing weight too fast will cause you to have health issues. Let’s explore these sudden weight loss issues.

Nutritional Deficiencies

According to Rhiannon Lambert, author of Re-Nourish: A Simple Way To Eat Well, reducing your calorie intake also means reducing your mineral and vitamin intake.

Hence, you’re going to consume less vitamin D and calcium for bone development; phosphorus is for building energy.

Nutrients like iron and vitamin B12 would be absent too.

These deficiencies would result in more health issues like anemia, brittle and weak bones, fatigue, and other health imbalances.

Loss Of Muscle Mass

Most people plan to lose fat when they sign up for a weight loss program.

But with a crash-diet, they simply lose muscle mass and water, but not the fat they had aimed to remove from their bodies.

The proper weight loss program will aim to reduce your body’s fat while adding muscle mass to your body.

However, research has shown again and again that low-calorie diets cause more muscle loss than diets with higher calories.

Slower Metabolism

The speed of your metabolism is influenced by your age, genes, and gender.

It’s your metabolism that determines the number of calories that you burn in a day.

f you try to lose weight too quickly, you might slow down your metabolism.

Hence, you’d burn fewer calories daily.

This slowing of your metabolism may have resulted from a drop in your thyroid hormone and losing your muscle mass.

In short, when it comes to weight loss, slow and steady fat-loss wins the game.

This method may not make news headlines, but that’s what works if you want to lose weight and keep the weight off for good.

Robert Costa relied heavily on black tea to help him shed weight. But why the dependence on black tea?

Let’s find out.

Health Benefits Of Black Tea

Black tea has a ton of health benefits. No wonder Robert Costa relied on it for his health and weight loss goals.

These benefits include:

1. It has antioxidant properties
2. Reduces bad cholesterol in the body
3. Improves gut health
4. Lowers blood pressure
5. Lowers the risk of stroke
6. Reduces the risk of cancer

Let’s examine each of these benefits and how they may have helped Robert Costa lose weight safely and sustainably.

Black Tea Has Antioxidant Properties

When you consume black tea, you also consume antioxidants like polyphenols and flavonoids.

Polyphenols help reduce cell damage and enabled your body to remove free radicals.

Consequently, your body is less prone to chronic diseases as you consume black tea.

Polyphenols like thearubigins, catechins, and theaflavins help deliver these benefits from black tea.

Studies published by the NCBI have shown that theaflavins help reduce blood sugar levels and cholesterols.

In another study, people who consumed a bottle containing 690mg of catechins extracted from tea, every day for 12 weeks reduced their body fat.

More so, research has found that antioxidants are best consumed in beverages and not as supplements.

If consumed directly as supplements, antioxidants may harm your health.

Flavonoids help fight off obesity and high triglyceride levels in the body.

The chances of developing heart disease fell by 11% in people who consumed black tea often.

How this benefited Robert Costa:

Given the weight loss effect of catechins, Robert Costa’s focus on consuming black tea helped him burn fat and not lose muscle mass.

 

Reduces Bad Cholesterol In The Body

Consuming black tea reduces the amount of low-density lipoproteins (LDL) in the body.

Moreover, it might even reduce the cholesterol in LDL itself.

By lowering the body’s LDL content, black tea improved the cholesterol levels of people who are at risk of heart disease or obesity.

Why is LDL considered bad cholesterol?

Let’s answer that question by explaining the nature of lipoproteins in the body.

Two types of lipoproteins transport cholesterol throughout the body.

The HDL and LDL, that is high-density lipoproteins and low-density lipoproteins, respectively.

HDL is a good lipoprotein because it helps transport cholesterol away from your body cells to your liver for excretion.

Whereas, LDL transports cholesterol to the cells and is understood to be the bad lipoprotein.

LDL’s transportation of cholesterol is bad because it can cause clogging of the arteries and a build-up of plaque.

This situation could eventually deteriorate to stroke or heart failure.

Researchers studied people with a mild elevation in their cholesterol levels.

One group consumed black tea on a regular basis, like five servings daily.

Meanwhile, another group took the placebo.

Those with mild elevation of cholesterol levels who consumed black tea experienced reduced LDL cholesterol by 11%.

Whereas participants with high cholesterol levels showed an even higher reduction in their LDL cholesterol levels.

How this benefited Robert Costa:

Due to his black tea consumption, Robert Costa further lowered his exposure to obesity as the LDL cholesterol in his bloodstream decreased, and HDL increased to optimal levels.

 

Improves Gut Health

Your gut makes up about 70% of your immune system.

It also houses about 80% of your body’s plasma cells — mostly made up of immunoglobulin A (IgA)-bearing cells.

The gut has trillions of bacteria in there. Some of these microorganisms are helpful to you and others unhelpful.

The helpful ones can be quite beneficial in many ways.

Good gut microorganisms can lower your risk exposure to lots of health conditions.

Common health conditions here would include type 2 diabetes, obesity, cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, and cardiovascular diseases.

Black tea contains polyphenols that promote the growth of helpful bacteria and inhibits the growth of harmful ones.

Additionally, black tea has other antimicrobial properties.

These properties help in

• Fixing your digestive tract lining
• Killing off any harmful substances in your guts
• Boosting your body’s immunity
• Improving the quality of your gut bacteria

Albeit researchers haven’t done extensive work on the immune functions of black tea, yet.

How this benefited Robert Costa:

Black tea creates the appropriate conditions for your body to fight off microbes that support obesity, type-2 diabetes, and other conditions that support weight gain and impede weight loss.

Robert Costa benefited from the helpful antimicrobial properties of black tea.

Lowers Blood Pressure

Using black tea with other stress management techniques can improve your health and lower blood pressure significantly.

About a billion people across the globe suffer from high blood pressure.

Among other health conditions, high blood pressure can cause a stroke — the second-highest cause of death worldwide.

How this benefited Robert Costa

By lowering his risk of high blood pressure, Robert Costa gave himself the opportunity to lose weight in time without inducing other unpleasant health conditions.

Lowers The Risk Of Stroke

A study followed the lifestyle of nearly 75,000 people over the course of 10 years.

In the end, it showed that those who drank four or more cups of black tea every day lowered their risk of having a stroke by 32% relative to those who didn’t drink tea.

Another study reviewed nine studies of nearly 19,500 people.

In that study, researchers examined data from people who drank more than three cups of tea daily — green or black tea.

The results?

People who drank more than three cups of tea daily were at 21% less risk of having a stroke compared to those who drank less than a cup of tea a day.

A stroke happens when a blood vessel in the brain is either clogged or ruptures.

Although WHO says stroke is the second-highest cause of death across the world, we can prevent 80% of strokes.

You can prevent most strokes from happening in the first place, by improving your lifestyle choices, and that includes drinking a lot of black tea.

How this benefited Robert Costa:

Clogging the brain vessels can cause significant stress and then lead to a stroke.

Hence, drinking black tea helped Robert Costa lower his risk levels and to stay healthy beyond the weight loss program.

Reduces The Risk Of Cancer

We have more than 100 types of cancers. Some of them are not preventable.

However, the presence of polyphenols in black tea can help stop cancer cells from surviving — test-tube studies on the effect of polyphenols from black tea support this position.

Researchers found similar results when studying the effect of black tea on breast cancer.

The results showed that polyphenols from black tea helped impede the spread of breast tumors that are hormone-dependent.

How this benefited Robert Costa:

Although black tea won’t cure cancer, it gives the sufferer a better opportunity to heal and fight off cancer cell development.

Robert Costa didn’t have any reported cases of cancer, but he enjoyed this health benefit of ensuring that cancerous cells didn’t have a chance in his body.

Taking Daily Walks Can Help You Lose Weight And Stay Fit

As you might notice, diet is a key aspect of Robert Costa’s healthy weight loss plan.

But you don’t want to ignore physical activities here.

Taking a short 30 minutes walks a day can help you lose 150 more calories daily.

It also helps you develop the habit of exercising every day as you will need the exercise when the weight loss program is over to keep fit.

Robert Costa’s Photos

Let’s look at some of Robert Costa’s photos from when he used to be overweight and when he lost weight.

You’ll notice that photos of him from 2017 or earlier had him looking overweight. However, that changed from 2018 upwards; he became slimmer.

2019 Photos Of Robert Costa

On November 22, 2019. Robert Costa with Jane Fonda and Diane Lane.

On October 26, 2019. Robert Costa with his sister, Ellen Duncan, attending the wedding of their longtime friend, Matt Higgins.

On July 18, 2019. Robert Costa with Senator Cory Booker at the Washington Post.

On March 14, 2019. Robert Costa with Carl Bernstein.

2018 Photos Of Robert Costa

On October 16, 2018. Robert Costa with Allen Packwood from the University of Cambridge and Georgianna Ziegler.

On September 30, 2018. Robert Costa at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum.

On February 16, 2018. Robert Costa catching up with Brendan Bayliss, singer, and guitarist for Umphrey’s McGee.

2017 Photos Of Robert Costa

On June 23, 2017. Robert Costa with Jake Sherman of NBC News/MSNBC and Politico.

On January 31, 2017. Robert Costa catching up with White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer.

On January 17, 2017. Robert Costa with NBC’s Katy Tur.

2016 Photos Of Robert Costa

On September 28, 2016. Robert Costa, One on one with Chris Matthews on MSNBC, just minutes before the presidential debate.

Sometime in July 2016. Robert Costa reading a book about caterpillars to his little goddaughter Dillon, all the while finishing a story on the special congressional election.

Who Is Robert Costa?

Robert Costa is a renowned political analyst on The Washington Post, CNBC, MSNBC, and other news outlets across North America.

He was born to Thomas E. Costa and Anne-Dillon D. Costa, in Richmond, Virginia, the USA on October 14, 1985.

Mr. Costa graduated from Notre Dame University in 2008, with a Bachelor of Arts diploma majoring in American Studies.

In 2009, Robert Costa earned a Master of Politics degree from the University of Cambridge.

Final Thoughts On Robert Costa

From this Robert Costa’s weight loss story and his photos, you’d notice how a diet with simple commitment can help you lose weight.

If you have kept to an exercise routine during your weight loss program, you will find it easy to maintain after you’ve shed the weight.