It’s amazing how fast the New Year approaches each year and each year a little faster as we age. With the coming of the New Year, at least 70% of Americans are thinking about their New Years Resolutions, one of which will be to lose weight or get in better shape. This is the typical mindset that the diet industry depends on for its yearly financial windfall!
Nothing about obesity has improved in the past 3 decades. America is still the fattest and sickest of all modern industrialized nations. It’s getting worse. According to the CDC, obesity has increased by 13% since 2010.
Even with all of the awareness and education being provided. Stop! Oops, my mistake, very little education about the cause of obesity and how to reverse it is happening from the mainstream medical community! There are plenty of people talking about the epidemic of obesity and it’s related diseases and illness such as heart disease and diabetes. However, few are providing education that will make a long-term difference.
Please don’t misunderstand; there are a number of great Doctors dedicating their time to educating the public. Most of them do not get the support of the traditional medical community in their efforts. They put themselves at risk to teach you how to be healthy without the need for drugs! Thank you Dr. Hyman, Dr. Fuhrman, Dr. Mercola, Dr. Greger and Dr. Katz and many others for your dedication to educating the public about living healthy lifestyles.
There are a gazillion diets and diet programs on the Internet hoping to snare you for hundreds and maybe even thousands of dollars. Some of these programs are very expensive. Sadly, most of them teach you little about keeping the weight off or how to prevent weight gain in the first place. They count on you becoming a repeat customer.
To prevent and reverse obesity takes knowledge not a diet.
It’s seems around the beginning of March something happens. The wellness warrior becomes the wellness whiner. I notice that the gym has fewer people, my classes get thinner and clients and friends begin to avoid me because they don’t want me to know they are off of the new plan. I am glad they feel a sense of accountability to someone.
This year make part of your New Years Resolution resolve “ I am sticking to the goals I have set”. Really, doesn’t this make sense? Why put all of this effort into your goals for two or three months and then give up.
I am going to tell you how to keep your weight loss goal going forever. I want you to have what I have. I want you to lose all the extra weight you have gained and keep it off forever.
Most goals are never reached because the goal is not important enough, the goal is unrealistic and there was not enough planning.
1) Set your date to begin your change. Get rid of bad foods in your house. Buy healthy foods for meals and snacks.
2) Tell your friends and family what you are doing. This sets up a level of accountability for you. Ask your friends to urge you or even join you in this new lifestyle.
3) Be realistic about your diet and weight loss goals. Set goals for weight loss in 10 pound increments. The first goals is 10 pounds, the second is 10 pounds. Do you get it? This makes the goal very achievable and builds confidence.
4) Lean to read food labels and the ingredient list on foods you buy. Be very particular about what you put in your body. Healthy foods have very few ingredients. Avoid foods with added sugars, hydrogenated oils, corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, preservatives, artificial sweeteners and food colorings.
5) You must understand your energy requirements. If you eat to many calories or under consume your calories you will not lose weight. Try to eat 500 to 1000 calories less than you actually need. However never eat less than 1200 calories per day. Eating less than 1200 calories per day on a consistent basis will lower your metabolic engine greatly resulting in weight gain. I highly recommend using an online food journal system. They help you monitor your calorie, sugar, carbohydrate, fat and protein intake every day. People that keep food journals keep the weight off. I recommend these online food journal systems, www.myfitnesspal.com Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. www.nutritiondata.com. There are many others that are also very easy to use.
6) Understand that to lose weight you must exercise. If you have not exercised in a long time start slowly and consult with your doctor. If you can only walk for 10 minutes, then walk for 10 minutes and work your way up to at least 1 hour. You can even break up the walking and exercising into 20 or 30-minute sections and do them multiple times per day. This actually keeps your metabolism burning fat at a higher rate for more hours in the day. This translates to faster weight loss.
7) Never deprive yourself of any food. If you must have that brownie eat just 1 and be happy. The next time you eat, it should be healthy. If you eat healthy 80% of the time it will allow you to indulge or splurge 20% of the time. This will keep you happy and help you lose weight by not binging.
8) Never beat yourself up for having an unscheduled indulgence. Look at it as a treat because you have done so well. The next time you eat make healthy choices. Turn a cheat into a treat!
8) Eat a lot of plant foods like vegetables, fruits, beans and nuts and seeds. Make your plate at least 80% plant based! Most plant foods are very low in calories and very high in nutrient content. They also have a lot of fiber, which is satiating and filling. However limit your fruits to 2 servings per day. They have a lot of sugar in the form of fructose that can interfere with your weight loss. Avoid refined and processed foods. They are full of unhealthy ingredients, low in nutrition and very high in calories.
9) Avoid grains or Limit your grains to whole grains and then even limit those to no more than 2 to 4 servings per day. Grains cause cravings and can raise blood sugar levels. The best are wild rice, amaranth, buckwheat, quinoa, and oats. The grains you see today are not like the grains from 100 or more years ago. They have been hybridized to a highly inflammatory species of plants. Check out Dr. David Perlmutter’s book “Brain Grain”.
10) Make sure you drink plenty of water. Water is necessary to breakdown fat and create cellular energy. The general rule is to consume ½ your weight in fluid ounces of water per day. If you weigh 150 pounds you would need 75 ounces of fluid per day. If you exercise, are ill or sweat a lot you may need more fluid.
There are two items I use everyday that make this easy for me. First is a product called Vive (rhymes with liv) it is a whole food drink mix that I use twice per day. It is the best tasting shake mix out there and is highly nutritious. The next is my NutriBullet blender. It is engineered to make the nutrients easier to absorb from the blended foods. It makes great smoothies when using the Vive shake mix.
If you want to have great success and do not want weight loss to be on next years list, start planning now. Get excited about the new body you are going to have, the new health you are going to enjoy, the new clothes you get to buy!
It’s simple; plan, execute, do it, lose it, and keep it off by continuing to live a lifestyle of wellness and health.
Healthy Wishes for a new year!
Wally Bishop C.N.C.
The contents of this blog is not and should not be considered medical advice. This blog is for informational purposes only. Always consult with your doctor before making any dietary or lifestyle changes. Never quit taking prescription medications unless advised to do so by your doctor.