The Best Way to Lose Weight

Some people take better care of their car than they do of their body. Are you treating your physical vehicle as if it is divine? Neale Donald Walsh

My Wake Up Call

Nearly 10 years ago I experienced an extraordinary life change. I was about 100 pounds overweight when I went to see my doctor for a non-weight related medical problem. After he diagnosed my problem, he told me he wanted me to go to the lab to have blood work done. When I returned a week later for the results, he told me I was a couple of years away from diabetes and five years away from a stroke or heart attack.

My doctor said, “Laura, you’d better change the way you eat, and start some form of activity.” I really didn’t know what to do, but I knew it couldn’t just be diet. I remembered a friend I’d just talked with was diagnosed a borderline diabetic, so I asked her what the dietician said she should eat. I wrote down everything she told me. When I got home that night, I threw a lot of food away.

I have since lost nearly all of the weight, included healthy carbohydrates and created healthy versions of a variety of recipes so I have a well-rounded and doable regime.

Change the Way You Do Things

An interesting fact; did you know that the practice of making resolutions on New Year’s eve began with the ancient Babylonians about 4,000 years ago? Did you also know that most of them do not make it past February?

The number one resolution each year for those of us who want to have a lean, healthy body is to lose weight. If setting a resolution doesn’t work, how can you lose weight and keep it off forever?
After years of trial and error, I found that the best ways for anyone to succeed in losing weight is to make a healthy lifestyle change and change your thoughts. One of the secrets is learning to be present or conscious when you’re eating. You will not only lose weight, you will keep it off.
Unfortunately, unconscious eating has become a way of life in modern society. Between emotional eating, the ease of packaged meals, fast food and habits such as wolfing down a burger and fries in your car, it is easy to eat without noticing that you've eaten or even what you’ve eaten.

Instead of living your life in a vicious circle that leads to weight loss then weight gain, it is time to put on the brakes and dedicate yourself to making a lifestyle change.
When you are determined that you’re going to consciously live a healthy lifestyle, buy only healthy food and enjoy a fun and natural activity, you will naturally be ready to reach for the good health you strive for.

What Not To Do

Don’t diet, they just don’t work. Instead, develop a healthy eating plan that is practical and easy to live with. The last thing you want is to be hungry for things you love or eat foods that are boring, food will be your constant focus. You don’t want to end up so frustrated that as soon as there is an event like a birthday or a holiday, your new plan and activity program goes right out the window.

Don’t lose weight too fast. For some reason, everyone wants to lose weight as quickly as possible, even though the weight has been gained over a period of time. Your body is not designed to lose weight quickly. Ideal weight loss should be from one to two pounds per week. When you eat very little your body will switch to famine mode. Your metabolism slows down and your body burns fewer calories. It can be harmful to your body’s natural functions.

Our Culture and Memories

What you eat and the activity surrounding your meal is related to recollections and feelings that are created from your cultural philosophies and the past. Habits and thoughts must change in order to become healthy permanently. This does not mean that you forego your culture or traditions.

Instead, you will learn to shift from eating large amounts and change the way the food is cooked to improve your quality of life.

With Change Comes Enlightenment

There is hope for you even if you are very overweight or don’t like to exercise. You have to have faith in yourself and know that you can change. You have to be determined to change your lifestyle because only you are in charge of your health and fitness.

Start Moderately

Be gentle with yourself. I encourage you to start by educating yourself. The internet is a great way to research and learn what is in the food that you eat now and what is in the food that you want to include in your new eating plan. Armed with this information, you can create customized healthy menus.

Begin by taking “baby steps” eliminate one unhealthy food item or beverage each day. Make it a practice to read food labels. You would be surprised at the number of items that have more artificial ingredients, fat, sugar and salt than you thought.

Tip: a food item’s fat level should be less than %10 and the percentage of sugar should be less than 15 grams.

A Healthy Lifestyle is Easier Than A Diet

When it comes to choosing which foods you eat:

1.Portion Control - A small portion of meat, a larger portion of vegetables and fruits (raw, cooked or a salad) and a small portion of healthy carbohydrates (i.e. whole wheat or gluten free pasta, sweet or brown rice and sweet potatoes) and a small portion of dairy.

2.Healthy Fats - Your body does need fat, but it should be “healthy” fat. Use either olive oil, grape seed oil or coconut oil to cook with and put on your salads.

3.Food Pyramid - Take advantage of the new food “pyramid” as a guideline to will help you determine portion sizes. It's called MyPlate, and it is a four segmented plate that represents fruits, vegetables, grains and proteins. Next to the plate is a smaller circle representing dairy products.

Tips to Improve Your Chances For Success

• Revise Recipes - Change the ingredients to create wholesome versions of your favorite dishes.
• Snacking - When you are hungry between meals, eat a small healthy snack; suggestion: a handful of nuts, celery sticks or apple chunks with humus or try a WASA cracker with a thin layer of natural peanut butter and some honey both choices taste great.

• Stay Hydrated - Drink lots of water. It has been shown that people who drank two glasses of water 20 to 30 minutes before every meal lost weight more quickly initially and lost significantly more weight than those who didn't.

• More Water - Be sure to eat lots of water-based foods like soups, vegetables and some dairy, which are equally important for weight loss.

• Love Yourself - If you do overeat, don’t starve or punish yourself just resume your healthy eating right away and add a bit more activity for a few days.

• You don’t have to like cooking or be a 5 star chef to make a quick healthy meal, purchase a 30-minute meal cookbook that uses fresh ingredients.

• Decrease eating & Dining Out - Whether you go to your favorite fast food drive through or frequent restaurants, the amount of calories that you eat will sabotage all of the work that you’re doing. (example: a Cuban Panini at Panera is 860 calories, 36 grams of fat and 1720 grams of sodium)

• Light Foods - Avoid using low fat, lite/light or low carb or no sugar products, most have more salt, sugar, preservatives and artificial ingredients or sweeteners added to improve taste. Instead, use whole natural food products in small amounts.

• Eat Consciously - This step is going to take some effort because you are breaking a subconscious habit of eating until your plate is empty. When you eat, pay attention to how you feel as you consume your meal. When you’re not hungry any more, (notice I didn’t say full) stop eating. Your body has what it needs until you eat next.

• Be Good To Yourself - When you feel the urge to eat because your stressed, bored or upset, take a walk or get up and find something else to interest you. If that isn’t possible, either take a deep breath where you are and get quiet or if you can get up go into the bathroom, take a long deep breath and take a moment to regain yourself. Emotional eating is one of the most common subconscious habits that causes weight gain.

Give Yourself an Amnesty Day

A great weight loss secret is to create an amnesty or a exoneration day every week. This is a day where you eat things that are excluded from your healthy eating plan. Having a day set aside to enjoy the things that you love but no longer eat is the best way to stop binging. I‘ve had more success losing weight doing this than when I stuck strictly to a weight loss plan.

Keeping Fit Should be Fun

Instead of forcing yourself to go to a gym or exercise, create an activity plan that is fun. You want to do something that flows with your character and feels natural. Whatever activity you choose, it should be enjoyable and something that you won’t dread doing. Riding a bike, dancing, walking or jumping rope are some ways for you to start moving and grooving. Do more than one, you might dance one day and walk another. Have fun with it.

Being active not only controls your weight, it:

• Reduces your risk of cardiovascular disease

• Reduces your risk for type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome

• Reduces your risk of some cancers

• Strengthens your bones and muscles

• Improves your mental health and mood

• Improves your ability to do daily activities and prevent falls if you're an older adult

• Increases your chances of living longer

The foods that I use can be bought in your local grocery store or produce market. If you need encouragement, help with your food choices, menus or have questions, please contact me at laura@yourethebest-us.com