Welcome

*This is written with the overweight and significantly overweight person in mind which 

comprises roughly 70% of the US population. 

The first prerequisite to any successful dieting or lifestyle changes is consistency. It is easy to start a new discipline, but how long can you stay disciplined and consistent? A month? A quarter? A year? The answer must be ‘as long as is necessary’. This does not mean changing everything and doing your best to keep up with it. It means figuring out what changes both quantitative and qualitative will enable you to comfortably remain disciplined and consistent for as long as is necessary. Keep in mind for successful long term weight loss you must keep the weight off for at least 2 years, but in reality you should be able to keep it off permanently. This means devising an evolving plan of action that you are both comfortable with and familiar with.

The second thing to dieting and lifestyle changes is the quality of your information. This is actually the more difficult aspect, due in part to everyone and their mother believing they have some expert opinion after reading a few articles online, and also in part to the differing and sometimes contradicting advice being thrown around. While this article will not attempt to be an authoritative voice on the matter it will provide clear and concise advice that is not hyperbolic and not conjecture or a one size fits all solution. Anyone who attempts to sell you on a one size fits all dietary solution should be listened to with great caution and skepticism. You should source your information from peer reviewed scientific literature. Or at the very least be certain that your source of information is citing such literature. 

Now down to business.

The harsh reality is that weight loss requires people to accept responsibility and take control of themselves and stop the victimhood blame game. Weight loss is not a physical thing, it is a state of mind, of being, that results in physical weight loss. Once you have accepted this harsh reality you can begin to discover the path forwards.

The argument of calories in vs calories out has come under attack in the last decade or so from the scientific side of dietetics. Recently people have begun to make arguments such as a calorie is not just a calorie, or more simply put, not all calories are created equally. While this is true technically, most average people who are obese or significantly overweight need to cut calories. For every extra lb of body weight (usually fat) there is an extra mile (roughly) of blood vessels. Your heart has to pump blood through that extra mile, causing it to work harder that it should have to. For most people in most situations, reducing caloric intake daily over time will result in weight loss. The trouble is that your body will acclimate to this reduced caloric intake, causing you to either increase your physical activity or increase the quality of the calories you are eating in order to continue the reduction in weight. This is the key issue of weight loss, the consistent need to adapt your diet and lifestyle due to your body’s ability to adapt to new stimuli or lack thereof. This is why utilizing both caloric restriction and caloric quality methods are imperative to understand. Do not be mistaken by definition losing weight means you are in a caloric deficit. If you are not losing weight then you are not in a caloric deficit. There are some exceptions to this rule for instance long dosages of prednisone (cortisol) or if you are taking anabolic steroids. For everyone else… calorie in vs calorie out is king.

Once you have done your research and consulted experts who are up to date on the latest research and don’t have an axe to grind or a horse in the race of any one particular one size fits all approach then you can begin to venture into the amazing realm of the human body. The human body is arguably one of evolution's finest creations, the ability to adapt to a seemingly endless number of internal and external variables allows us to withstand some of nature’s greatest pressures such as disease, famine, drought, storms, floods, and excess. It is this last variable that is most concerning. Some say it is due to the historic famines and droughts that caused us to be evolutionarily equipped for caloric retainment, aka why it is so easy for us to get fat. Leaving aside this view, because it is irrelevant, we must focus on how we get unfat. Once we have the discipline element we need the information element. This information should always begin with a quick overview of the human body.

 Here is a general overview.

The human body is marvelously adaptable which is both boon and burden. The burden is the concerning aspect. Our ability to adapt means that as we begin our weight loss journey the body will constantly be trying to re-acclimatize and formulate a new homeostatic set point. This means if you lose 10 lbs and keep it off for 6 months but you want to lose another 10 lbs your body will make this more difficult than losing the first 10 lbs. Obviously there are outliers, for instance if you are 150 lbs overweight then the first 50 lbs or so may readily just fall off, then the arduous process of losing the remaining 100 lbs begins. For a period of unspecified time (everyone's body is different) your body will want to put the weight back on. This is called the bounce back effect. For example, if you lose 30 lbs in 8 months over the next 6 months or so your body will want to get back to its normal homeostatic set point, meaning it will want to gain the 30 lbs back. This is normal, albeit frustrating. After enough time has passed this bounce back effect will ebb and you will have achieved a new homeostatic set point, a new normal. Then the process starts all over again losing weight, keeping it off, fighting the bounce back until it subsides. This is weight loss, this is life.  Please keep in mind I have chosen relatively arbitrary numbers for the sake of example. Remember everyone’s body is different. Some people have an easy time of it, others toil fruitlessly. Life isn’t fair, you’ll have to fight for the body you want. You’ll also have to set realistic expectations which should be arrived at with the help of an expert.

Continuing on with the adaptation, you must understand that you can adapt to different foods and different macronutrients (carbs, fats, and proteins). Your body can process some of these more efficiently than the others, sometimes it’s an even split. Once again everyone’s body is different. This is the area where you will see people calling for keto, paleo, carnivore, and vegan diets. You must be wary of this, what has worked wonders for some or even many may not be best for you. We can also adapt to caloric restriction. Here is where people call for intermittent fasting, timed interval eating, 1 meal a day, 2 meals a day, fasting for 3 days every month and so on. Once again the same principle of wariness should be employed. There are benefits to each of these different approaches and diets, you need to first understand your goals in a realistic sense, then ask yourself what you are capable of adhering to completely and then finding which protocol suits your body. If you can meld these goals and understanding together you can successfully create a lifestyle change both mental and physical which is adaptable enough to navigate the bounce back effect as well as other adversities that may befall you. It is then that the real test begins, that of remaining vigilant and disciplined in the face of adversity. This adversity comes in many forms: cake, birthdays, holidays, celebration, alcohol, late night snacking, bargaining with yourself after a long run. You must stay vigilant, you must be disciplined.

Just when you began to think I wasn't going to mention exercise... for shame! Exercise is of course vitally important to weight loss. It helps us balance the calorie in vs calorie out equation for one, and it also serves to alleviate many physiological factors that have plagued us while we were overweight: high blood pressure, high cholesterol, lack of sleep, stress, anxiety, reduce depression, reduce likelihood of type 2 diabetes, lowering your risk for certain forms of cancer, and even living longer (taken from the cdc). For weight loss any plan that does not include some form of exercise is doing you a disservice. You don't even have to run 10 miles everyday either, walking outside provides almost the same amount of caloric expenditure and health benefits and is much easier on the joints. Swimming, biking, and rowing are all great forms of cardiovascular exercise because they have a lower impact on your joints. While cardiovascular exercise is great, resistance training is also excellent. Strengthening your muscles will help you burn more calories regularly even while you are not exercising, it will also help to stabilize your joints, help prevent falling as you grow older, and make your bones stronger and more dense. Recently a study coming out of Harvard revealed that the cardiovascular effect of resistance training rivaled that of cardiovascular exercise, so if you're someone who doesn't like to walk or bike or jog, that's ok just include some resistance circuit training. At the end of the day the rule of thumb with exercise is to push yourself, exert energy, burn calories. You should hopefully consult an expert in the field and find a good benchmark to aim for. A good exercise regimen can add a multitude of health benefits on top of aiding weight loss!

In conclusion:

-          You must make yourself ready mentally and emotionally to make serious changes

• Most people never get past this first point

-          You must do your research and consult with experts who are impartial to the various protocols

• Don’t let yourself become indoctrinated by the paleo, vegan, and herbal life people

-          You must understand what your body is attempting to do while you are making your approach to weight loss

• Bounce back effect
• Homeostatic set points
• For 99% of people calories in vs calories out is paramount
• Adapting to the food

-          You must stay vigilant and disciplined

• Cheating once may not hurt your body, but it will weaken your resolve not to do so again in the future

Lastly, and most importantly, please remember that weight loss is not only a physical thing. It is both mental and emotional as well, the less you need food mentally and emotionally the less difficulty you should have sticking to your dietary and lifestyle changes. Food should not be sought after because it is tasty and delectable. It should be sought after like shelter in the face of an approaching storm, and like gasoline for a car. Food is our fuel, we do not over fuel our cars. We do not fuel our cars with tasty gasoline, simply because it tastes good. Do not let your tongue ruin your health. Food should not have to taste good. It is nice when it does taste good and there are plenty of tasty and healthy options, but it should simply be enjoyed because it is fueling our bodies. Weight loss and health are attainable, but we must be steadfast!