{Free Article} Weight Loss

How to make lasting lifestyle changes and drop the weight for good.

Everyone wants that quick fix, lose 20 pounds in a month, easy way to lose weight and the reality is…it doesn’t work that way.

Weight loss (true weight loss) happens through consistent healthy lifestyle changes, made over a long period of time. In today’s article, i’ll lay out the three most important areas to address to reduce weight at a sustainable and maintainable pace, for good!

Nutrition

I often tell my patients, weight loss is 80% diet and 20% everything else. Yes, other aspects are important BUT if you’re going to focus on 1 thing, make it your diet. You can’t out exercise, supplement, or medicate a poor diet. It just doesn’t work.

So - how do you eat to lose weight? First and foremost, clean up your diet. Highly processed, sugary, and carb forward foods are one of the biggest contributors to holding onto extra weight. Remove the following foods/drinks completely from your diet, and for most people weight will start to fall off: processed sugar, gluten (wheat), dairy, corn, alcohol, and soy. All of them are highly inflammatory, tax the liver, gut, and can affect hormones negatively. Focus on whole foods like: animal protein, vegetables, fruits, and healthy fats. If you haven’t already, check out my first ever free substack article ‘Food as Medicine’ that goes into GREAT depth on how to make diet changes for good.

Stabilize your blood sugar. Big spikes and falls in blood sugar put the body into a stress response, causing stress hormones to rise, which also cause us to hold onto weight. Eating high protein meals and snacks help a ton here and also help us feel more full - causing us to eat and snack less in the long run.

I recommend women eat breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a couple of snacks. Some women tolerate fasting well, but I typically only recommend it once women have gone through menopause, as fasting can negatively impact the hormones of menstruating women. For men, I find intermittent fasting tends to work very well for weight loss! Skipping breakfast and eating the first meal later in the day can really help weight reduction for men. To learn more about balancing your blood sugar, check out my free article on the topic, here.

Exercise

Movement is essential to longevity, and also plays a role in maintaining a healthy body weight. A regular workout routine can also help build up muscle, which increases our metabolic rate and helps us process sugars and calories! I don’t believe there is any one way to exercise, rather the challenge is to find a form of movement you enjoy and will do on a consistent basis. If eating a clean and balanced diet, I believe most people should be able to maintain a very healthy weight, with a formal ‘workout’ 3-4 times per week. Most people do best with a combination of strength training (weights, boot camp type classes, etc) and cardio (walking, jogging, swimming, cycling). Gaining muscle and strength and having cardiovascular endurance are both very important!

Stress reduction

Stress is a HUGE roadblock to weight reduction for many! Not only does stress cause many of us to eat the wrong foods, it also negatively impacts our sleep, mood, and even hormones. Just like how it is essential for us to work on a healthy diet and exercise regimen…think about what you are doing to care for your mental health!

Come up with activities you will do on a daily and weekly basis to help regulate stress better. Small daily activities can be things like: a 5 minute meditation, getting outside during your lunch break, journaling, or prioritizing a relaxing nighttime routine. Larger weekly or monthly stress reduction practices might be things like: a massage/spa day, a night away with your loved ones, a mental health day off of work, or even a pajama day binging Netflix (yes - this can be self care too!) Sit down with your calendar for the next month, and decide what works for you. There is no wrong way to recharge your batteries!

Some of my favorite tools for stress reduction:

• insight timer app (free meditation app)

• 5 minute journal

• a daily affirmation card deck (this is one of my favorites)

• find a neuro emotional technique provider (NET is one of my favorite techniques to help with chronic stress)

With a culture full of quick fixes and promises, I hope this gives you some level headed guidance and tools to start making positive changes towards weight reduction today. For a more in depth article, you can upgrade your subscription to a paid subscriber today!