Eight Weight Loss Truths To Help You Succeed

By Anne Baker, CN, LE

If one of your goals for the coming year is to improve your health and drop a few unwanted pounds – you need to read this post! And if you’re sick and tired of trying the same weight reduction advice like I am without getting the results you want you will be pleasantly surprised after you read this. Best of all, I think you’ll find you can easily implement many of these practical and most of all proven techniques right away. Some of what your about to read may actually contradict what you thought was true about successful weight loss! I know it surprised me. However, one thing I have realized over the years is if you want to lose weight you have to move outside the box of conventional weight loss dogma and look at what hard science proves actually works. I’ve provided source information for what I have included here so you can read for yourself and judge.

Eight weight loss truths that can increase your chances of success this year

1. There is a right and a wrong way to hydrate! Water: drink 12 oz. upon waking – before morning coffee or eating anything. This helps re-hydrate your body from sleeping and also fills your tummy up so you eat a bit less. Drinking 8 oz. of water before each meal also helps decrease appetite and helps you eat less. Only sip water with meals because water can dilute digestive enzymes. Adding green tea has been proven to increase the body’s metabolic rate. No juice – too many calories and too much natural sugar. No soda – not even diet. No alcohol while trying to reduce – not even red wine.

2. Exercise is absolutely essential – every day! Burst training works better than lengthy cardio or circuit training every other day. Despite what you may believe, the new research shows that burst training for just 20 minutes every other day helps people lose weight faster because it revs up your metabolism for hours after you finish exercising. In burst training you do intense exercise for :30 – 60 then rest for twice as long. Repeat and work up to 8 reps of this. There are many exercises you can do that work for burst training. The main thing to remember is that building lean muscle is what you want – not just aerobic exercise. So if you can eventually work with small hand weights or resistance training you will be building muscle and burning calories longer and more efficiently. Remember you many not be able to do even :30 at first and you may need to begin with easier exercises at first. Eventually you can do burst training every day. Here is a video that shows you how. There are many examples on You Tube you can look at beside this one. Wearing a pedometer also works because it helps people remember to move throughout the day in addition to doing their burst training exercises for 20 minutes each day. Remember the human body was designed to walk and stand not to sit and lay for 8+ hours a day as most Americans do! If you work at a desk job like most people these days set an alarm or reminder to get up and move every :30-:45 minutes during the day. This really helps your body use energy better and this means it helps you lose weight.

3. Quick weight loss works better to motivate and keep you losing. This was quite a surprise to me but apparently statistics show that people who lost weight quicker, kept losing and lost more weight overall. So getting started it is important to see results fast because this helps keep you motivated – and losing weight. Average fast weight loss is 2lbs. a week for women and 3-4lbs a week for men. Once you are within 5lbs. of desired weight you can begin adjusting your intake to maintain weight. So don’t cheat and you will see results!

4. You must watch and limit portion size to lose weight. Note: each person’s specific portion and servings allowed will depend upon their BMR and activity level so what I have provided are ranges. To lose weight you will need to reduce the amount of calories you consume each day by 300 – 500 calories from your BMR. Here are a few general guidelines on portions – At least ½ your plate should consist of vegetables. Eat unlimited green, red and yellow non-starchy vegetables every day. Protein; usually 2- 4 servings (3-6 oz. sized) per day Limit healthy fat because this is a very concentrated form of calories. Most adults require between 4-6 tsp. a day. Healthy oils are olive, coconut, flax seed and avocado oils Skip eating grains as much as possible & opt for 1 – 2 ½ cup servings per day of starchy veg instead. Remember fruits and vegetables are sources of healthy carbohydrates. The human body can do just fine without grains. Adding 1- 3 ½ cup serving of beans and legumes helps provide healthy fiber, just be sure not to overdo because these do contain a high amount of carbohydrates and when trying to lose weight you want to restrict carbohydrates form grains and legumes. Eat only low GI fruits and limit to 2-3 servings (approx.. 80 calories) a day. Good choices are berries (the darker the better) and apples. No bananas! No Pineapple! These are too high in natural sugar when you trying to reduce. And no dried fruits either. Limit nuts and seeds while reducing calories. Treat these as a condiment along with cheese unless intolerant. Be sure to get enough fiber every day. Eat at least 50 grams per day from plant sources. You can also try this visual trick – instead of using dinner size plates switch to serving yourself on salad plates. You will be surprised how using a smaller plate helps you keep portion sizes down!

5. Studies show that replacing one to two meals per day with a meal replacement product actually helps improve weight loss success. Most people find a meal replacement helps them get their day started on the right foot because it is easy to use andfills them up. Using a high quality meal replacement product for breakfast improves people’s success rate. I suggest using a dairy free and soy free meal replacement product with added vitamins, minerals, greens, probiotics and enzymes and it must be very low net carbs – under 6 grams. Most over the counter brands are very high in carbohydrates and this is why I only use professional meal replacement products. And be sure to get a meal replacement product, not just protein powder because you will be getting a complete nutritional profile with the meal product.

6. Don’t snack! Eat every 5-6 hours and follow the five rules of the Leptin Diet Link:the_five_rules_of_the_leptin_diet 

7. Get your digestive system working so you can use the food you eat to fuel your body and stay healthy. This means removinghidden food intolerance and getting yeast overgrowth under control. If you’re just beginning to seriously work on your weight this is a great time to take advantage of my Digestive Restoration Program. Working with a coach really helps most people reach their health goals! Click here for details:Digestive Restoration Package Special

8. Get checked by your physician for overall health bio-markers. CBC blood panel Be sure your thyroid is in healthy workingorder Check hormone levels Check blood sugar and be sure cholesterol is in healthy ranges. Vitamin D, Magnesium, B12 and folate levels Losing weight is only possible if you are in good health first.

So making the changes you need to get in good health should be your first priority. And remember that losing just 7% of your body weight will help reduce your risk of developing many chronic health conditions! .. Coming soon! I’ll be announcing a program that actually screens for pre-diabetes and cardiovascular risk as well as several other bio-markers. Look for details in the coming weeks. Give these a try and let me know what you think!

Sources: JJ. Virgin: thevirgindiet.com Dr. Byron Richards: 1933927283 Metagenics – First Line Therapy: firstline-therapy-program CDC National Diabetes Prevention Program: website: about.htm 50 Plus: benefits-of-walking.html