I once read an article about weight loss written by an MD. In it she mentioned that about 72 percent of Americans want to lose weight, and the average goal was 40 pounds.
The challenge, she stated, is that only 14 percent of people who have lost weight have been able to keep it off for more than five years.
But then the rest of the article suggests cutting calories to lose weight.
Sorry, but if cutting calories truly was the answer to weight loss, we’d know it by now and we’d all be slender… but obviously that’s not the case.
Let’s take a look at why we’re so heavy, why cutting calories doesn’t work, and most importantly, what DOES work for losing weight and keeping it off.
How we’ve gotten so heavy
Over the past 50 years or so, we have been masters at creating overweightness and obesity.
The belief that high-carb, low-fat diets are “healthy” and saturated fat is the devil has created a population of people whose bodies are brimming with glucose, suffering from insulin resistance, storing massive amounts of fat and living their days in cycles of sugar spikes and crashes.
In addition, since sugar stirs up inflammation, inflammatory conditions such as heart disease, cancer and arthritis continue to increase and affect us at younger and younger ages.
The chemicals in processed, refined foods play a significant role too. Chemicals increase food cravings, lead to water retention and cause weight gain (besides making you toxic).
At the same time, our bodies have lacked the fats that they so desperately need, which impairs our brain and nervous system function, weakens our cell walls, creates hormonal imbalances and leads to nutritional deficiencies, especially in the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K.
And of course, during all of this, the drug industry has happily offered an array of products to mask your pain, reduce your blood pressure or blood sugar, control your cholesterol, lull you to sleep, perk you up, stop your heartburn, make you poop, or create false happiness.
So, we have become a society of sick, over-medicated, overweight, undernourished individuals.
Why cutting calories doesn’t work
When you reduce calories, at first you will most assuredly lose weight.
But then the game changes.
Your body is smart, and eventually it slows your metabolism, thinking that food supplies are limited. At that point you’d practically need a chisel to get more fat off your body.
Now when this happens, what do most people do?
Cut even MORE calories, that’s what!
But that merely perpetuates this cycle and makes things even WORSE.
Now you can see why I’m not impressed with this doctor’s weight loss advice.
4 Reasons you can’t lose weight (or gain back what you lose)
Your past efforts to lose weight failed because you set yourself up for failure in these 4 ways:
- You went on a diet
- You paid no attention to your digestion
- You didn’t exercise
- You didn’t look at any factors that might impede your weight loss
Here’s the scoop on each of those.
Diet-schmiet
Diets are doomed to fail because sooner or later you’re going to get tired of starving yourself; counting calories, points or grams; going through different phases (Phases 1, 2 and 3 or A, B and C); taking out a second mortgage on your home to buy the diet plan’s “special” meals; or drinking shakes and eating meal replacement bars.
When that happens, you’ll go back to your “old way” of eating.
And the tide will roll in.
From one end to the other
It astounds me that virtually NONE of the major diet plans give a hoot about a person’s digestion.
Digestion is crucial! When you have efficient digestion, your body can absorb nutrients, eliminate wastes and attain a healthy balance—including a normal bodyweight.
On the other hand, if your digestion is poor, you are not absorbing nutrients properly to provide for your body’s needs, nor are you eliminating wastes like you should.
You and the couch are BFFs
Like it or not, exercise is crucial to losing weight and maintaining a healthy bodyweight for life, and anyone that tells you otherwise is a liar or snake oil salesman.
Saboteurs all around you
Although the primary issue with losing weight lies in what you are eating, there are also many other factors at play that you might not even be aware of, but they may be quietly and effectively sabotaging your weight loss efforts.
What DOES work for weight loss?
When it comes to weight loss, healthy lifestyle habits are the key!
When you stop “dieting” and instead maintain healthy habits 365 days a year, dieting becomes a non-issue.
Because you’ll naturally lose excess weight smartly and healthfully…and keep it off!
And these healthy habits are are the basis for my book, Want to Lose Weight? Stop Dieting!
The formula is key
Want to Lose Weight? Stop Dieting! lays out a health-supporting “formula” that can help you achieve your ideal body weight, as well as stay disease- and medication-free for life!
These are the same principles by which I live my life. And the fact I’m 62 years old, easily maintain my 120-pound bodyweight, have no health problems and take no medications isn’t a coincidence.
I call it the REAL weight loss formula because that’s what it is—real life 12 months a year and not a restrictive diet.
Here are the 4 components:
Eating REAL food
Eating real (not processed) food is vital to weight loss! If your body is not nourished, you will be more likely to snack and/or binge, which leads to weight GAIN—not loss.
I’ll guide you on what to eat (and what to avoid!), plus you’ll get a book of 170 luscious recipes that you and your family will love!
Supporting EFFICIENT digestion
In Want to Lose Weight? Stop Dieting! I’ll show you what foods to pair foods together in your meals to support efficient digestion, more regular BMs and less gas, bloating and heartburn.
Many people don’t realize this, but it makes a difference what foods you eat together—because certain combinations are easier for your stomach to tackle, while others cause digestive disaster.
ADOPTING an exercise routine that is right for you
Many people dread exercise, but when you choose an activity that you can enjoy, exercise can actually be fun!
I’ll guide you on how to pick what’s best for you, give you tips to ensure your success, and provide strategies to help you stay motivated.
Counteracting LIMITING factors that hinder weight loss
There are many sneaky factors that you might not be aware of that could be secretly hindering your weight loss success, and unless you address them, you simply won’t be as successful in losing weight as you should!
These can include medications, environmental toxins, stress, food additives and much more.
I will enlighten you on what to watch for and how to overcome those barriers to your success.
Additional weight loss support
Here are 3 other helpful suggestions to support your weight loss goals:
Support your microbiome
If you’ve been a carb and sugar fan for a while, or if gas, bloating and constipation are your companions, chances are excellent you’ve got imbalances in your gut microbiome.
Since the friendly microbes in your gut help with digestion and nutrient absorption, supporting these intestinal good guys with a full-spectrum probiotic like Super Shield Multi-Strain Probiotic Formula is crucial for weight loss success.
Acupuncture
Acupuncture helps balance your hormones (including hunger hormones), it helps increase endorphins (your body’s feel-good chemicals), it helps reduce stress (the stress hormone cortisol causes stress eating and binging), and it improves digestion.
Chiropractic
When there are misalignments along the nerves in your spinal column, nerve communication is hampered and the signals controlling hunger and eating can be affected. In addition, people with back pain often have trouble exercising, which contributes to weight gain.
Now you are armed with the information you need to finally achieve your weight loss goals!
To your health,
Sherry Brescia
