In the food and diet industries, there are many long-held secrets that make the game of losing weight, and keeping it off, one that is extremely difficult to win. Only with an accurate understanding of the weight loss process can individuals avoid the seemingly endless number of deceptive promises made by professionals in these fields and finally reach their ideal weight. While a snack company may promote a ‘healthier’ option with half the calories, a book may promise a plan to lose 30 pounds in 30 days, and industry ‘experts’ promote fad diets as being the best strategies for getting in shape, the truth is that there is only one surefire way to lose weight.
Regardless of if you are only hoping to lose a few extra pounds or have been advised to lose upwards of 20, your success will solely come down to one thing. To turn into the person you want to be physically and enjoy the immense benefits that come with it, you’ll have to heed the advice of celebrated behavioral scientist Steve Maraboli:
The healthy life: It’s not just about losing the weight: it’s about losing the lifestyle and mindset that got you there.”
What Statistics Tell Us About Weight Loss:
With the sheer number of dieters and the amount of money being spent, one would assume that there would be some inevitable weight loss success. This, however, isn’t the case and it is estimated that 90-95% of people who lose weight will regain their lost pounds within 1-5 years.
It is sad to think that many important health secrets remain out of plain sight only because statistics such as these keep over $60 billion annually flowing through the diet and weight loss industries. Unfortunately, it seems as though the leaders in these fields care very little about the immensely negative effects that their lack of nutritional transparency and their unwillingness to change food choice ingredients plays on our society’s collective well-being.
Lifestyle Changes & Neuroplasticity is The Only Way:
The truth is that in order to lose weight and keep it off, individuals will not only have to create dietary and behavioral changes but also focus their attention on rewiring neurological circuits in their brains. The only surefire way to lose weight is by changing an individual’s underlying beliefs about, and attitudes towards, food and physical fitness. Fortunately, it is now widely known that humans have the ability to replace outdated habits with more beneficial ones through the process of neuroplasticity.
Just as it is important to understand that in order to permanently lose weight, individuals will have to create changes in conditioned neurological circuits in their brains, it is equally important to know that these shifts only occur gradually over time. The notion that within 30 days individuals can lose 30 pounds, and keep it off, is nonsensical because it isn’t possible to undo years of conditioning in such a short period of time.
With this being said, it should now be clear to see that if true weight loss is what you are after, then you’ll have to commit yourself to gradually changing your lifestyle at the dietary and behavioral levels while transforming your attitudes and beliefs about nutrition and health at the neurological level.
Prioritize Dietary Changes Over Physical Fitness:
An analysis of more than 700 weight loss studies found that people see the biggest short-term results when they eat smart… It’s much easier to cut calories than to burn them off. For example, if you eat a fast-food steak quesadilla, which can pack 500-plus calories, you need to run more than four miles to ‘undo’ it!”
While cutting back on calories, especially the ones with no nutritional benefit will be key for your weight loss plan, a physical fitness strategy shouldn’t be abandoned. When we add regularly scheduled exercise to a health-conscious diet, you will raise your metabolic rate and lose weight faster. Moreover, regular physical fitness will provide you with increased levels of energy, heighten cognitive abilities, and a more sculpted figure.
Let’s now look at some dietary and fitness guidelines that you should take into account when constructing a weight loss plan:
Diet:
- Reduce and limit your intake of foods with added sugar. Aim to consume no more than 30 grams per day.
- Reduce your total fat consumption to no more than 30% of your energy intake each day. Shift away from both saturated fats (fatty meats, butter, cheese, milk) and trans fats (deserts, friend foods, chips, ice-cream), instead favoring the unsaturated kind (nuts, seeds, olives, oils).
- Reduce sodium consumption to no more than 1,500 mg per day.
- Consume the daily recommended amount of fruits and vegetables (5-9 servings).
- Increase your intake of legumes (lentils, beans) and whole grains (wheat, brown rice, oats).
- Replace drinks high in calories with water.
Physical Fitness:
- Aim for at least 30 minutes of physical activity each day.
- Find creative ways to build physical fitness into your daily routine.
- Search for fitness activities that you find enjoyable.
- Reduce the amount of time you spend sitting each day.
While these recommendations and guidelines may seem unattainable, depending upon your current lifestyle and goals, it’s important to keep in mind that these targets are long-term objectives that should be gradually worked towards. The most important thing for the majority of individuals who want to lose weight is to just get on the path toward permanent weight loss.
Useful Strategies & Tools for Permanent Lose Weight:
There are seemingly endless numbers of weight loss strategies that we can use, however, many of them fail to address the changes that must take place at the neurological level. Here, we will review five surefire tools that will put you on the path towards losing weight and keeping it off, but before we do, it is important to point out that the process of change, regardless of the behavior or habit, is one that is often lengthy and typically filled with setbacks. As you are working to permanently lose weight, be prepared for resistance and the inevitable missteps. In situations when you are unable to follow your plan, it will be vital to offer yourself forgiveness and acceptance before quickly refocusing your energy so that you don’t allow one or two bad days to spin out of control. Now, let’s explore five of the most potent weight lose strategies and tools:
Self-Monitoring & Planning:
Stimulus Control:
Increase Your Understanding of Food:
Use the Power of Intention & Attention to Change Your Diet:
Find Enjoyable Fitness Activities:
It should now be clear to see that the weight loss process is one that is greatly misunderstood. If you want to lose weight, it’ll be vital to not only change your lifestyle and habits but also the deeply conditioned beliefs underneath these things. By using the tools and strategies provided here, you will not only be on your way towards transforming your lifestyle and beliefs but also towards a more healthy and permanent weight.
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