The “Magic” Behind Weight Loss
Cut out all sugar, alcohol, and processed food
Workout 6-7 days a week
Eat only in a 4-hour window
Just kidding...I didn’t do any of those things throughout my 90 lb weight loss and you don’t have to either.
Everyone has an opinion on how to best lose weight these days. Try this diet or cut out this food group or try this new product. It can get extremely confusing so we're going to simplify things. In this article, you’ll learn exactly what you need to focus on to lose weight and keep it off for good!
Rather than making mistakes, as I did, wasting time, money, and effort, I’m going to share with you the 3 things that helped me the most. Don’t worry there will be no crazy diet protocols or ridiculous exercise regimens. Just practical advice you can start applying right away.
When you look at the list above, it doesn't look like terrible advice. It’s all pretty legit and actually if you did those things you would most likely lose weight. The problem is 99% of people out there would have a hell of a time sticking to that list for any substantial amount of time. Who wants to live in the gym all day and never eat another dessert again?
Not me and probably not you either… When it comes to losing weight there is so much misinformation out there. Some people tell you that you must cut out carbs or only eat within a 4-hour window or do a detox every couple of weeks. Wrong, wrong, and wrong again.
It’s not that all the information out there is inaccurate. It’s more so a matter of understanding why certain things work for weight loss and other things don't. Then figuring out what will work best for you. Not just what will work best to lose weight, but to sustain it! There’s a big difference between losing weight and losing weight and keeping it off. Often something people forget to consider when it comes to weight loss!
So How Does Weight Loss Work?
To lose weight, you need one thing, a calorie deficit. What this means is that during a certain amount of time, like a day or a week, you must expend more calories than you take in through food and drink.
For example, let's say you are expending 2500 calories in a single day through daily movement, natural body functions like breathing and digestion, and daily exercise. To be in a calorie deficit, you need to take in less than 2500 calories.
Expending more calories than you consume = weight loss (move more, eat less)
Expending fewer calories than you consume = weight gain (move less, eat more)
Since your body needs a certain amount of energy to perform its daily duties, it must find this energy somewhere else while in a calorie deficit since it's not getting all the energy it needs through food and drink. Often this form of energy will come from stored body fat. This ultimately leads to weight loss.
This is the key to losing weight. It's not crazy diets or weight loss pills or exercising 3 hours a day. It’s basic science and there’s plenty of research to back it up. At the root of all diets and weight loss programs is a calorie deficit. It’s the only way to lose weight.
Once you understand that single principle everything else becomes much easier. You can finally cut through all the crap!
Calorie Deficits In Real Life
Here are a couple of examples to give you a better understanding. Someone claiming that only eating in a 4-hour window (intermittent fasting) or doing a juice cleanse will help you lose weight may be correct, but it’s solely based on the principle of being in a calorie deficit.
Eating in a 4-window or only drinking fruit and vegetable juices all day will most likely cause you to consume fewer calories throughout the day. Once again, causing you to take in fewer calories than you expend which you now understand will cause you to lose weight. That's the "big secret" to weight loss.
So you can still eat carbs or fats or sugar and or whatever else and lose weight. It's a matter of controlling your caloric intake. No more crazy unrealistic diets.
With this concept in mind, you can now pick a plan that is more enjoyable, sustainable, and suited to your personal preferences and lifestyle. All important things if you want to be successful in losing weight and keeping it off for good!
Top 3 Tips For Weight Loss
Now that you understand all the “magic” behind weight loss let’s get into some helpful tips!
#1 Commit For The Long Haul
If you are interested in losing weight for good then understand it is a forever thing. Sustainable weight loss is not a 90-day program. Your current lifestyle, fitness, and nutrition choices have gotten you to this point you are currently at today.
The same will be true when you look in the mirror one year from now or five years from now. Good health happens over the long term, by making healthy choices day after day. Not just for 90 days.
This is the sole reason you see so many people lose weight, but then struggle to actually keep it off! You can't go at this with a short-term mindset.
If you want to live a healthier lifestyle then it must be a long-term commitment. Sure quick fixes and super fast weight loss sounds appealing. The problem is that it does not last. Anyone or anything promising fast weight loss is misleading you.
Think about this, in most cases people put on weight over the course of several years. Why would you think that you could lose it all in just a few months?
Once you commit to the long haul it actually makes the whole process much easier. You will realize there's no need to rush it. People often do a lot of stupid things when they feel rushed to lose all their weight so quickly. Cutting out all carbs, insane exercise routines, never enjoying treats, never going out to eat with friends and family, cutting out entire types of foods, and on and on. It’s a vicious cycle that will wear you down and lead to nothing besides poor results.
By truly committing to a healthier lifestyle over the long-term it takes the pressure off every single little detail each day. You don’t need to feel bad about eating too much during family pizza night or eating an extra piece of cake at a friend's birthday party because one day is not going to make or break you.
You can't make all your progress in one day nor can you lose it in one day. Instead, focus on making solid choices most of the time, and your health will dramatically improve over time!
#2 Start Small
The second tip is to start small. How many times have you heard someone say "I’m starting a new diet and fitness routine on Monday", then a few weeks pass and they have quit? Probably quite a few because it happens all the time.
A big reason for that is because people try to take on too much too soon. Changing habits takes time. Probably more time than most of us would like to be honest. Understand though that small changes performed over time will lead to big-time progress.
Trying to take everything on all once just doesn't work well. As humans, that is not how we learn best or improve.
Imagine this scenario. You are back in school. On the first day of school your math teacher says “alright throughout this year you will learn all the concepts of geometry, there are 15 chapters, and we will have a test about every 3 weeks."
Sounds pretty standard right?
But then your teacher says “We are going to do things a little different this year though. I need you to learn all the material, read and understand each of the 15 chapters, take all the tests, and do all the homework assignments in the next 3 weeks."
We all know how that would turn out. Complete failure.
Unfortunately, this is how most people approach their health goals. I’m going to work out 7 times a week, cut out all sugar and sweets, and start intermittent fasting. Great plan, except for the fact that you won't be able to sustain it for probably more than a week or two.
Don't attempt to do a year's worth of work in just a couple of weeks. It never works! Rather than taking on way too much and inevitably giving up, start small. Even smaller than you think you should.
Rather than focusing on having the perfect diet for every meal and perfect exercise routine for every workout. Pick one thing you want to improve on in the next few weeks. Focus on that and only that.
Here are a few examples to give you an idea:
Eating protein at each meal
Drinking half your body weight in ounces of water
Eating 1-2 pieces of fruit each day
Having vegetables at least twice a day
Going for a 10-minute walk each day
Strength training 2-3 times per week
Getting 5k-10k steps throughout your day
Getting 7-8 hours of sleep each night
All of these things are completely doable and not overly complicated. That’s the whole point! You don't want a goal that’s too hard to stick with because you will likely end up quitting or giving up before you really even have a chance to get started!
As humans, we are creatures of habit. For long-term results, the goal should be focused on creating better ones. This is done by practicing positive behaviors over and over until it becomes a habit. When you create a bunch of healthy habits, living a healthy lifestyle becomes so much simpler.
After you have created a new habit you can then move on to the next one. Maybe your first goal was to start eating a piece of fruit every single day. After a week or two, you realize it’s become part of your normal routine and you no longer have to think about it. That means you can move on to the next thing.
Now you decide you want to start adding in some exercise. You write down the goal of going on at least a 10-minute walk each day. Now you may be thinking what’s 10 minutes going to do for me?
Well for one, you are creating a healthy habit that will influence you to make other healthy choices throughout the day. And two, 10 minutes a day over weeks and months adds up to a lot of quality exercise.
Don’t underestimate the effects of starting small. Remember this all about creating sustainable results that you can maintain for a long time.
Don't Take On Too Much
While it’s probably pretty tempting to take on much bigger goals, be careful about doing that. You want to choose a goal that you can do even when you are feeling unmotivated.
If you tell yourself you are going to exercise for 1-hour every day of the week after not doing anything for the last several months, how likely is it that you stick with it? You might be motivated the first week with the new routine, but as soon as that motivation fades so does the exercise routine.
Compare that to a 10-minute walk. That's something you can do every single day whether you feel good or not. Whether you are motivated or not. You can still manage to get 10 minutes in every day. Some days you may get out there and feel great and end up doing 45 minutes and other days you may just get the 10 minutes in and call it a day. Both are perfectly fine!
This is how you build better habits. Start small, focus on one thing, be consistent, and continue to get your reps in day after day.
#3 Focus on Consistency
You’ve probably at some time or another heard a quote about the importance of consistency. Maybe something like “consistency is what transforms average into excellence” or “long term consistency trumps short term intensity”. While it may sound sort of cliche it couldn’t be more true.
The people who see the best results, make the most money, live the happiest lives, create the best relationships, all have one thing in common. They put consistent effort into these areas day in and day out. From the outside looking in, these things sometimes look like they just fall into place. They don’t. It takes consistent action day after day. Great things are built from consistency. Good health, weight loss, and any other fitness goals are no different.
While consistency is important, it doesn’t necessarily mean you need to be spot on with everything single choice every single day. Being consistent even 60-70% of the time will bring solid progress.
If you are a bit more dialed in and looking to make a little faster progress with your goals then 80% seems to be a great number to shoot for. You may ask why not focus on being 100% consistent? Well because life happens.
Things come up, you go out to eat with friends, you have a bad day and end up overeating, you eat way too much at the work party, maybe you miss a few workouts… There are always going to be things that come up that you don’t plan for so shooting for 100% just isn't very realistic for most people.
80% however, allows you to make great progress while still enjoying your day-to-day life. This provides a good balance between making steady improvements while not feeling like your whole life revolves around health and fitness.
It’s not about being perfect, it’s about being consistent most of the time.
As with anything in life, there will be ebbs and flows. Sometimes you will feel like you are completely crushing it and other times you feel like you are barely hanging on. Life moves in seasons and you won't always be spot on with everything. Understanding this will give you peace of mind and allow you some room to relax from time to time.
Bonus Tip
When it comes to consistency, a great method to get the best results is to find some way to physically track your progress. Whether in a calendar or notebook or even an app on your phone. Set a goal and track it. Track the days you hit your mark and the days you don't.
For example, if my goal is to eat protein at each meal. I would keep track of each day I hit that goal and the days I didn't. At the end of a week or month, it’s easy to look back and get an objective view of whether you are on the right track or not.
If I only hit my goal of eating protein at each meal 40% of the time, then I can't expect to see stellar progress. This gives you the data you need to tweak things as needed and direct your focus in the right way.
Using data will help you stay on track, provide accountability, and allow you to make the right adjustments when needed.
Sustainability = Key To Long Term Success
There’s no secret sauce when it comes to weight loss, health goals, or fitness goals. It takes the right plan, commitment, and consistent action to get to your goals. When you have those things and the fortitude to keep going then you will definitely make progress. No doubt about it. It’s just a matter of time.
Last thing I'll leave you with, if all else fails just remember this one thing “If the methods are unsustainable, then the results will be unsustainable.” If you can keep that in mind you’ll save yourself a lot of wasted time and effort throughout your journey.
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