How to Lose Weight and Keep it Off

Why Diets Fail

Many people diet but aren’t successful.  Either they don’t lose the weight, or they DO lose the weight but after they go off the diet, the weight comes back.  Usually it comes back, plus some.  The problem with most diets is that they just don’t work.  In order to lose weight and keep it off, you need to change your lifestyle.
Most diets restrict calories or fat, or both.  In some cases, the diet is too restrictive and the person’s body goes into starvation mode and starts to store all consumed calories as fat.  As soon as the person stops the diet, the weight lost comes back, plus some.  The main reason diets don’t work is that they don’t teach you how to change your lifestyle.   A diet provides a temporary set of rules to follow, but doesn’t follow through with instructions for the rest of your life.  If you need to diet, you obviously need to make some lifestyle changes, or you will return to the physical shape you were in before the diet.
How to Be Successful at Losing Weight - FOOD

First off, to lose weight, you have to know what you were doing wrong that made you overweight in the first place. Do you overeat? Do you eat too much processed foods? Do you always eat out? Do you eat too many sweets? Do you drink all your calories?

One way to determine what you’ve been doing wrong is to keep a food journal. Write down everything that passes your lips, be it food or drink, every day. Keep track of how much water you drink, and every single item you eat. If you have a tic tac, write it down. One great resource that is offered online is SparkPeople.com. They have an online nutrition tracker that is free for members. Membership is free, and there are tons of other benefits to joining, like forums and groups for support. Once you’ve discovered how many calories per day you’ve been eating, you need to figure out how many calories you SHOULD be consuming. There is an easy formula (called the Harris Benedict formula, read more about it in the link shown below) that you can use that considers your activity level and height, weight, etc. Once you know how many calories your body needs, you can start to change your eating habits.


Next, go to your cupboards and fridge. What’s in there? Get rid of all the processed crap. That stuff is full of garbage: preservatives, artificial flavours, artificial colours, MSG, sweeteners, high-fructose corn syrup (glucose-fructose), and way too much salt. Empty calories, for the most part – they make you fat but don’t give you any nutrition. Focus on fresh fruits and vegetables, healthy snacks, and lean meats and fish. Nuts are perfectly fine, in moderation.

Speaking of nuts, let’s discuss the fat myth for a moment. Fat does not make you fat. BAD fats make you fat. Fats that are found IN NATURAL FORM are perfectly healthy and good for you. Avocado, nuts, and moderate amounts of animal fat (butter, full-fat dairy products, whole milk) are all perfectly acceptable. Seriously. That whole "animal fat/high cholesterol" theory is just that-a theory. And it’s wrong. Studies are being shown now that prove that eating animal fat doesn’t make you fat, and it doesn’t raise your cholesterol. Other factors do that. Factors such as highly processed vegetable oils, processed foods, and high-fructose corn syrup all contribute to weight gain, heart problems, high cholesterol, and death. If you don’t believe me, do some research.

Eat Fat to Lose Fat - Health and Fitness with Berry

Reduce your intake of breads, white rice, and pasta. It’s bad for you, and basically becomes sugar. Most breads are full of high-fructose corn syrup (makes you fat), processed white flour (makes you fat), and highly processed vegetable oils (makes you fat). So avoid it. Brown rice is fine. If you must eat pasta, find some rice pasta.


Another lifestyle change you need to make centres on water.  You need water to live, and you probably drink it, but are you drinking enough?  You should be drinking at least 3 Litres a day.  That’s sixteen 8oz glasses a day.  Minimum.  Not only will this flush all the toxins out of your body, but it will stop you from confusing thirst with hunger.  Most of the time when you feel hungry, you’re really just thirsty.  So next time you’re hungry, drink some water.  You’ll probably feel better.


Let’s talk about portion sizes. The average person has no idea what the proper portion size is. Generally, a serving of meat is about the size of the palm of your hand, or a deck of cards. Most restaurant servings are two to three times this size. A pasta or rice serving is half a cup. That’s about half the size of a softball. Vegetables – well, you can eat as much of those as you want. Eat a lot of fruit, too. Just make sure that’s not all you eat.

Next up: beverages. Do you drink all of your calories? Soda is bad. Besides being chock-full of high-fructose corn syrup, it has acids in it that destroy your health. And don’t think that diet soda is any better. Artificial sweeteners are poison. Worse yet, the sweet flavour of the soda tricks your body into thinking it’s getting sugar, so your body makes fat anyway. You lose, all ‘round.

Instead of drinking juice and soda, drink water. Avoid artificially sweetened drinks and learn to enjoy water. For a refreshing summer drink, fill a pitcher with cold water and some sliced/quartered limes and lemons. Add ice and you have a great cold drink that is good for you and also helps suppress your appetite. Coffee is fine in moderation, but be aware of your sugar intake. Don’t drink too much caffeine as it disrupts your adrenal glands. If you join SparkPeople, you will learn so much more about healthy food habits than I can teach you here. Go and check them out.

NOTE:  If you have reduced your caloric intake, you're exercising and you're doing everything right but you're not losing any weight even after a couple weeks...then maybe you're not eating ENOUGH.  Try increasing your daily caloric intake by about by 100-150 calories for a couple to three days and see what happens.  Also try to remember that you won't see an immediate loss, so always give it at least a week or two before you start to panic.

How to Lose Weight - EXERCISE

You might think that exercise is a huge part of losing weight. Well, it is important, but not as important as you think. Losing weight and keeping it off involves 80% food choice and 20% exercise. That’s right. So if you’ve started following the rules above, you’re already 80% of the way there! Doesn’t that feel good?

Moderation is the key when starting any exercise program. Don’t start off trying to do too much. If you’re completely sedentary, try walking 3 times a week. If you’re really overweight, go around the block. Go for longer and longer walks as you’re able to tolerate it. If you’re more active and are able to up the intensity, fine. Try to get in an hour’s worth of moderate to heavy exercise 5 times a week. I’ve been reading studies that show that short periods of intense exercise are actually more beneficial than long periods of moderate exercise. I’ll get back to you on that one once I’ve finished my research. Incorporate exercise into all parts of your life, so you will burn more calories all day long. Park your car at the back of the parking lot, so you have to walk farther. Use the stairs instead of the elevator. Go for a short walk on your lunch break. If you’re able, ride a bike or walk to work. All that exercise adds up.

Join a gym or buy/download some exercise videos. One person I completely love as a personal trainer (besides me, of course) is Jillian Michaels. She has a few videos available, all at a reasonable price. The videos are called, "30-Day Shred," "Banish Fat, Boost Metabolism," and "No More Trouble Zones." If you need a good workout, and don’t have a lot of time, the 30-Day shred series is for you. Each workout is less than 20 minutes, warm up and cool down included. The Banish Fat, Boost Metabolism and No More Trouble Zones videos are an hour long each. If you make a program involving all three, you’re sure to be lean and mean in no time.