If you’re having trouble losing weight on your current diet, it can be understandably frustrating. But don’t give up just yet, I’ve helped thousands of clients achieve their ideal body weight and optimal health using the following 6 golden rules for weight loss. When you follow these rules which I’ve outlined below, even the most stubborn fat will melt away.
Rule #1: Consume a Whole Foods, Plant-Based Diet (WFPB)
Large-scale research shows a wholefoods, plant-based (WFPB) diet is the most effective way of eating for lasting weight loss, chronic disease prevention, and life extension! The WFPB diet is based on eating unprocessed plant foods in their natural form. And fruits, vegetables, beans, legumes, nuts and seeds are the dietary staples. It's much more difficult to be in an energy surplus on this diet, as whole foods are filling and most contain far fewer calories than processed foods.
Rule #2: Create a Calorie Deficit
If you’re having trouble losing weight you are likely in a calorie surplus. In order to lose weight, you need to follow the law of thermodynamics and create an energy deficit by consuming less energy than you burn. This can be accomplished by reducing your input of energy through your diet or by increasing your output through exercise; or ideally both.
Worth noting, all calories are not created equally and calories from a carrot are going to have less impact on your weight than calories from carrot cake. There a few reasons for this. Firstly, the carrot has it's fiber intact, making it harder to digest and you burn more calories in the digestion of it than you would in the digestion of processed foods such as carrot cake. Secondly, the carrot cake is going to spike your blood sugar levels, causing insulin to be released, and insulin encourages your body to store the extra sugar as fat. And thirdly calories from highly processed foods, vegetable oils, and predigested foods like smoothies, dips, and applesauce, are absorbed much more easily than calories in unprocessed whole foods.
Rule #3: Avoid Vegan Junk Foods
Many people make the mistake of going vegan and assuming that their diet is healthy and the pounds should melt away. But a vegan diet does not necessarily equate to healthy and if you consume vegan-friendly junk foods (many of which use clever marketing to disguise themselves as ‘healthful’), it can quickly lead to a calorie surplus and weight gain. Processed foods are far more calorie-dense and far less satiating than unprocessed whole foods and you may need to take in 1,600 calories worth of potato chips in order to feel as satiated as you do from a 200 calorie potato.
Rule #4: Eliminate Vegetable Oils
It upsets me to see how vegetable oils such as olive oil and coconut oil have been marketed as health foods. The truth is all vegetable oils are terrible for your heart, your health, and your waistline. Moreover, when you strip fat from its original source, you lose the fiber and other nutrients that help satiate you, and you can easily double the caloric intake of any given whole food meal by adding oils to it.
It's best to get your fats from whole food sources with fiber intact, such as avocados, coconuts, olives, nuts, and seeds. If you’re already consuming a WFPB diet and still not losing weight, make sure to be mindful of your portion sizes of the aforementioned foods. Although healthy, they are calorie-dense, and eating too much of them can easily tip the scales from energy deficit to energy surplus.
Rule #5: Manage Your Estrogen Levels
If you tend to store fat in the belly, hips, and chest area; and you also have acne, fatigue, mood swings, loss of sex drive, fibroids, or abnormal menstruation then you may be suffering from estrogen dominance. This common health condition is caused by a surplus of estrogen or too much estrogen in relation to progesterone. It affects both males and females, it’s rarely diagnosed, and it can make weight loss extremely difficult, if not impossible.
If any of the above symptoms are familiar to you, I recommend you take action to reduce harmful estrogens in your body. Regular saunas and exercise are a good start. You should also reduce your exposure to environmental estrogens (xenoestrogens) by using organic personal care and cleaning products as well as a water filter. For a more pronounced and rapid clearing of estrogens, get a bottle of EstroBlock Pro. This world-renowned supplement contains clinical doses of two powerful estrogen-clearing compounds called DIM and I3C.
Rule #6: Be Patient
If you’re significantly overweight, when you first make the transition to a WFPB diet, the pounds will fall off quite quickly. That is because there is a large deficit compared to your former diet. However, as you start approaching your ideal body weight, it will become progressively more difficult to lose weight, as your body will require fewer calories to sustain itself. When you shrink, your energy requirements shrink as well. So the exact same meal plan that once had you in a calorie deficit, may now have you in a calorie surplus. Your best bet for losing those last ten pounds is to be patient and know it will take some time, cut out alcohol, and make your diet as clean and unprocessed as possible. Also, be sure to partake in strength training exercises at least 3 times a week; this will help to increase your muscle mass and rev up your metabolism.
Considerations
If you follow the 6 golden rules and are still struggling to achieve your ideal body weight there may be an underlying health condition such as hypothyroidism, PCOS, or hormonal imbalances at play. Book an appointment with one of our certified health coaches, and they will identify the root cause of your weight gain, and provide a comprehensive, individualized protocol to optimize your body weight and help you achieve all your health goals.