It seems like:
Everyone wants to look good these days.
Everyone wants to lose weight.
Hopefully, everyone wants to be healthy and live a disease free life too. (I def try to focus on this part, above the other two points, but I know others want to know how to lose weight, so here it goes :)
But......
everyone wants to eat their cake and lose weight too....
so, I am here to tell you the science behind losing weight. This is something I learned in my classes at BYU during my journey of becoming a personal trainer and health coach and getting my Bachelor Degree in Exercise and Wellness.
I seriously wish that everyone trying to lose weight understood this concept. This is so important to understand why you "can't lose the baby weight." or you are "heavier than your sister, but have the same genetics" or --i hear this one all the time-- "I am working out, but not losing any weight."
Also, we need to realize why you can't just say "oh, she's just naturally skinny, its easy for her," or "I'm just built this way." Because guess what!!!! Only 2% of people are overweight because of genetics! Seriously. Now that they can do genetic testing, they have proven that only 2% of people can blame weight on genetics....so, the other 98% of us are just heavy because we eat too many calories and we exercise too little. So, your friend is actually skinny because she eats less calories than you do, or works out more. Its.that.simple.
To start off, I want to have you think deep. What is the farthest you have ever run? Could you run 10 miles tomorrow if you wanted to? Why or why not? (if you have never run very far, then just try and imagine :) )
Can you not do it because its not in your genetics?
Because you are just not a runner?
NOPE
I promise you, anyone can run 10 miles! I used to be a sprinter and thought I couldn't run far, but I started training and did! and actually ran a full marathon back in 2011!! If I can do it, anyone can do it! and anyone can be at a healthy weight! I always thought I was just "larger"...but it was just that I ate too much bad food. If I can do it, anyone can do it!
So the reason you can't run that far is because you havent gotten into shape. That is the same reason you can't lose the weight. It's not because of genetics, or because you are just built that way. Its because you are not doing what you need to, to stay at a healthy weight.
Everyone knows that it makes no sense that just because I ran 10 miles once, a year or two later I could just run that far again because I did the training once before. I must keep doing what I did to get to that level to maintain that level!!!!
Here is an insert from the scriptures I find motivating:
We see this in the scriptures many times. One that stands out to me is Alma and the sons of Mosiah. In Alma 17:1-3 it states: "And now it came to pass that as Alma was journeying from the land of Gideon...to his astonishment, he met with the sons of Mosiah...Alma did rejoice exceedingly to see his brethren; and what added more to his joy, they were still his brethren in the Lord; yea, and they had waxed strong in the knowledge of the truth; for they were men of a sound understanding and they had searched the scriptures diligently, that they might know the word of God. But this is not all; they had given themselves to much prayer, and fasting; therefore they had the spirit of prophecy, and the spirit of revelation, and when they taught, they taught with power and authority of God." What did they have to do to "stay spiritually in shape?" They kept doing what they did to get to the level of spirituality. They kept getting to know their Savior. Did you notice it took work? They searched diligently, and given themselves to much prayer and fasting. The results are astounding! Something I strive for!
Ok, so back to the questions most people ask.
"How do we lose weight and keep it off?"
Here is a quick science lesson and then we'll tie it all together. (this is very simple, and there are variations that occur, especially when percent muscle mass levels change, but this holds true for most of us.)
If I weigh 200 lbs when I eat 3500 cals and no exercise, then when I eat 3500 cals/day on average, then I will stay about 200 lbs.
Now, if I go on a crazy diet and lose 50 lbs and then go back to my normal eating habits of 3500 cals/day....guess what will happen? I will go right back to the 200 lbs.
Now, can you see how the running analogy comes in here? If I want to be able to run 10 miles a year later or even once a year for 20 years, I have to keep up my training, so if I want to keep the weight off: I must keep doing what I did to get to that level to maintain that level.
So what is the answer? How do we keep weight off? Well, if you have a target weight, it will keep work to keep it off. Whatever "diet" you go on, you have to be willing to continue that diet, or sustain that change or the weight will come back. I recommend just making healthy lifestyle changes that are sustainable, because a grapefruit diet for life sounds horrible, and you will give up after your tongue falls off...haha.
Ok, so here are some logistics:
- Your body weight is a product of how many calories you eat on average (yes, those weekend calories count!)
- Exercise changes the caloric intake. If I need to eat 1800 cals to maintain my goal weight, and if my exercise burns 300 cals/day, then I can eat 2100 cals to maintain my goal weight.
- You can heavily cut the calories to get to the goal weight, but you have to eat the right amount of calories to maintain your goal weight...you CANNOT go back to your old habits/calorie consumption. (i.e. eat 1200 cals/day until you are at the target weight, then calculate what you need to maintain that weight) But the changes you make to cut calories is the big deal, its a lifestyle change!!! You cannot just go on a crazy diet and keep the weight off. You have to live a lifestyle of healthiness to keep it off.
- Don't make dramatic changes to lose the weight that you can't sustain for years and years. Change only what you are willing to live with. So, if you exercise heavily and cut out all sweets and chips out of your diet, then you must realize that to maintain the weight, you will have to continue cutting out the same things and doing the same amount of exercise to keep it off.
- Obviously, if you stop eating cookies to keep it off, cookies are not the magical item. Its the calorie cut, so if you stop eating cookies to lose weight and want to eat cookies again, you have to cut something else out to keep your average calorie count down.....ADVICE: make a change that is lasting like increasing fruit and vegetable intake to 8/day and cut out chips and cookies.
- If this seems really difficult, no stress! Refer to my "Making Lasting Changes" Post for ideas of lifestyle changes. And if change seems too hard, refer to my "The Ultimate Pattern Pattern" post for motivation. (I wrote these posts like 3 years ago, so the blogging is different, but i still whole heartedly believe in the message!) Refer to my more recent post about how to make changes in your surroundings that will help you Effortlessly Eat Less here!
And here are some REALLY cool websites to help!
This first one has taken decades of research (by others obviously)...and made a simulator where you can put in
-how much you weigh
-how much you want to weigh
-how long you want to take to lose the weight
-how much you are willing to exercise.
Then it will tell you:
- how many calories you should consume
-how much to exercise to lose the weight
-how many calories/exercise to maintain it...for life!!!!
Ok, that sounded confusing, but its easy! (It is the second "picture" and it works good on mozilla firefox. It gives a good explanation of how to use it, but if you have questions just click the help button at the right or email me :)
This next one is the National Weight Control Registry. The statistics come from people who have lost 30 lbs or more and kept it off. They keep getting more volunteers who put their info on here throughout the years. Check out the page for what they have done to keep the weight off! Its pretty neat, but very attainable!
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By now, i hope you know that I feel like the healthiest diet is a whole food, plant based diet. (referring back to my researching I've done) I have done tons and tons of research on this. If you combine all the research done in the past 50 years, it all points to this. Really. Some might say "more protein, cut carbs" and some might say "juice it"....but these are just little studies. They might help a few people lose weight, and most of the time, you can lose weight, but it will come back.... All the research I've done and all my health teachers and most people that have low blood pressure, cholesterol, low weight, and healthy hearts are on a whole food, plant based diet!! So this is def what I recommend!
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I hope this made sense! I hope this motivates you to live a healthier life! I know I feel so much better when I eat healthy, get my fruits/veggies/whole grains in and cut out processed foods/sugars/fatty foods. I know I feel wonderful, wonderful, wonderful when I exercise! Also, I know when I do these things I can maintain a healthy weight! I changed my lifestyle about 5 years ago and lost 40 lbs, and have been able to keep it off easily because I changed my lifestyle. (you can read more of that story here) I lost all my baby weight last time really fast because I went back to my healthy lifestyle, and my body went down to the weight equal to the calories I was eating minus the amount I was exercising (and yes, to stay at a healthy weight I have to keep up the exercise and healthy diet).
I know you can do it!
If you have any other questions, just let me know! I am glad to help!
Facebook pm me or email me at jessica.hawkes21@gmail.com
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