3 Ways to Lose Weight - Happiness is Balance

By Mark Kaplan / June 10, 2020

In ancient times, being heavy was a sign of wealth and privilege. Now it could create vulnerabilities to being infected and make the infection more lethal. For the first time in modern times, being healthy and fit becomes more important.

Being over weight is statistically responsible for 50% of non-accident deaths as it leads to most of the top five diseases that kill. For many people it also alters the pleasures of their lifestyle because it becomes a hindrance to many activities

Three Ways to Lose Weight

As an Ace Certified Health Coach and Personal Trainer, I find that most all efforts in health and fitness cause weight loss. Very few people want to gain weight. Putting on muscle creates a weight gain as it replaces the lighter than muscle body fat. In this case, weight gain usually is accompanied by a leaner body.

Three ways to lose weight are nutritional control, vigorous exercise, or a planned diet. Balancing calories so that intake is less than calories burned is the most subscribed formula for weight loss.

Exercising vigorously can cause weight loss, but this requires fitness to the third level wherein the athlete is exercising over 7 hours a week and engages in interval training. Utilizing muscles converts fat to muscle for fuel and recovery. It can make the body leaner and lighter.

A planned diet can also cause weight loss. The best diet I have found is described in the book The Plan by Lynn Generet-Recitas. It prescribes the foods with the lowest inflammatory properties so that the dieter loses a half pound a day.

I have engaged in all three forms of weight loss. Over a four year period many years ago, I changed my diet and lost 50 pounds. At another time, I was in a track club and running 60 miles a week, I lost 14 pounds from an already fit body. I followed the diet in the Plan and lost 17 pounds in three weeks.

How to Get Started

Choosing calorie control, I would look at the specific foods that you find addicting that are loaded with calories. When I lost 50 pounds, I was addicted to ice cream after dinner. I started by eating Snickers bars instead and then switched to granola bars. The main idea is to break the addiction in two steps.

Over time, I substituted healthy foods for fattening foods. The first items to eliminate are sugar, white flour, grease, and restaurant food. The best items to add are fruits, vegetables, chicken, rice, beans, and nuts. It is also important to drink at least 5 glasses of water a day. Start slowly with one item at a time. After a while it is easy to stay on track.

Exercise often begins with walking. Aim for 30 minutes a day and 150 minutes a week. Then set a goal of 300 minutes a week. Exercising an hour five days a week will have amazing results. What happens in the process is your mind and attitude change toward health and fitness and you become addicted.

The diet in The Plan is easy to follow. You start the first 3 days on a very limited diet of low inflammatory foods and drinking lots of water. After that you can add one food a day and see if you gain or lose weight. If you gain weight, that food is inflammatory for you. We are all different. The goal is to lose a half pound a day. I often lost a few pounds in a day.

Make losing weight a long term goal and build gradually. Over time, your mind becomes accustomed to your routine and stops trying to sabotage your efforts.

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