There are thousands of diet books, hundreds of types of diet, many quick fixes or “fad” diets. All that everyone wants to know is how to lose weight fast, and easily.
The answer is not always as easy as move more and eat less. It all depends on what type of movement are you doing and how much intensity you are applying. And not all food sources will give the same results that we want, even if the calories may be the same.
Now you may be thinking that no-one has the perfect answer. On the other hand, ironically, everyone actually knows what they need to do to lose weight. The hurdle may be only that they do not know how to modify their behavior and change their lifestyle in the long term. Staying at a healthy weight for your age and height will make a huge difference for healthy aging and for your quality of living. No one wants to be dependent on someone else when we get older. However, we don’t seem to understand the importance and give this the real attention that is needed to make it happen.
I actually just learned a new phrase, “Hyperbolic discounting”. According to BehaviorLab.org it “refers to the tendency for people to increasingly choose a smaller-sooner reward over a larger-later reward as the delay occurs sooner rather than later in time. When offered a larger reward in exchange for waiting a set amount of time, people act less impulsively (i.e., choose to wait) as the rewards happen further in the future.”
Everything that you do for improving your health can eventually lead you to become stronger, more healthy, and help you age better. You may not see your reward now, but you will be thankful in the future for sure.
I know now that you may be thinking “where to begin”, and it can seem very complicated, especially when we’re told that on average we make over 220 food related decisions every day. Although we still can make many of these decisions consciously, so it ultimately all comes down to mindful living. However, I completely understand how challenging it can be to practice mindful living and at the same time be surrounded with many distractions.
Here are some easy steps to start changing your lifestyle and to keep the changes that you make in the long term:
• Each morning, start your day with some type of movement, even just a few minutes — stretching, walking, yoga or intense cardio.
• Make your first meal of the day a low carbohydrate and high protein meal.
• Don’t reward yourself with food.
• Consume protein with every meal, ideally animal protein.
• Once or twice a week try 18 to 24 hours fasting.
• Weigh yourself twice a week and keep a record of your weight.
• Don’t say you “can’t” eat something that you may be craving, instead say “I don’t want to eat this.” Words have tremendous power.
• Educate yourself on the subject. Read, listen to podcasts, and do your research.
• If you want to see quick results then you must approach it strategically. Remember the story of the turtle and the rabbit? Running towards quick results without understanding and observing the journey could easily lead to failure.
• I am a big believer too in prolonged fasting for healing purposes and for quitting addictions such as sugar and coffee.
As I have mention many times all of these suggestions are for healthy individuals, so if you have any specific health problems or if you are using medications then of course please ask your health care practitioner before making changes. Everyone has biological differences and different health histories too. But wherever you are in your health journey you can still make positive changes for the better. For most people being overweight is a choice that can increase the risk of many chronic diseases. The good news is that you can still make big changes.
Resources:
• http://behaviorlab.org/Papers/Hyperbolic.pdf
• https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2006/12/mindless-autopilot-drives-people-underestimate-food-decisions
• https://www.researchgate.net/publication/227344004_Mindless_Eating_The_200_Daily_Food_Decisions_We_Overlook
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Ayda Ersoy, nutritionist (Dip.C.N., Dip.S.N.), master trainer (CPT ACE, NCSF, CanfitPro), registered yoga teacher, founder, Health Angel Nutrition, Fitness and Wellness, founder, SMS (Stability, Mobility Strength) Intuitive Training System.
Great content.