Is it really practical to think you can lose weight forever?

Have you ever asked the question, “Can I lose weight forever?”. The answer is yes you can with the right plan! The complete and utter trick to this is having a long term plan and a way to keep accountability. If you want to retire, buy a home, open a business . . .what do most of us do?  We come up with a plan. Oh, how I love a good strategy!

I love breaking down weight into these five components. I choose these five because they all play a part.

• Budget – how much do you burn?
• Goals – what should you weigh?
• Timing  – how long do you want to take to lose it
• Plan to Succeed – how will you do it?
• Plan to Sustain – keep your mojo!

I can tell you with certainty the patients that succeed have a plan. So let’s jump into each of these five components.

Budget:

Your Budget is your Basal Metabolic Rate.  We calculate this in the office for patients based on your muscle mass which is a more accurate way of doing it than an online calculator.  

Here is a BMI calculation: Divide weight in pounds ( lbs) by height in inches (in) squared and multiply this by a conversion factor of 703. To find your BMI, multiply your weight in pounds by 705, then divide the result by your height in inches. You can then divide this again by your height.

BMI calculator online link back here.
https://www.verywellfit.com/how-many-calories-to-lose-weight-3495659

Once you know how much you burn you can figure out what you should eat to lose weight. One pound of fat = 3500 calories.  If you want to lose a pound you have to restrict it or earn it aka “button your mouth or exercise your butt off”.

Goals:

Your  target weight should be based on your percentage ( %)  of body fat. If you are a female bodybuilder and weigh 165 lbs, but are 8% body fat – Mainstream thinking would be that your BMI would say you are obese.  I’m not sure how that works, any chick that is 8% body fat is definitely going on my girl fight team! Sometimes I see people that look slim, but they are 35% body fat. Essentially a skinny fat person.  Get a body fat analysis done. That will accurately tell you how much you can lose to be appropriate for your body. Your percentage of body fat for men is 10-20% and women is 18-30%. I think the target for men should be 15% and women 22% to have a fit looking body. Anything below that takes great genetics and or a lot of exercise and restriction.  

Timing:

Timing is everything right? So, how long do you want it to take you to lose the weight? Your goals should be based on something realistic. Normal weight loss with some caloric restriction is generally 1 lb per week. If you want to lose 10lbs in 3 weeks – expect to do something more extreme.  

Planning to succeed:

This is one of the most important parts of weight loss. If you don’t know how you are going to do it, likely you won’t. If you say things to yourself like,“ I am just going to eat healthy!”. That’s great, but likely not going to move the scale in  numbers that you’re hoping to see. Know how many calories you are eating, know what is right for you and implement it.

Planning to sustain:

Thisis the most important to keep your weight off.  One of the first things I recommend to sustain that you make some rules for yourself.  Here are some of my rules that I live by to keep successful in keeping my weight off.

1. Don’t eat things you are intolerant too.  If you don’t know to get a test!
2. Drink enough water.  (1/2 your body weight in ounces)
3. If you can’t tell what it was when it was picked or killed don’t eat it.
4. Eat 2 meals a week for pleasure “Weekends and Wednesdays Once”
5. If you aren’t hungry, don’t finish your plate.
6. Buy smaller plates or use your salad plate for meals.  
7. Change your habits with friends.  If you have friends that like to go out eat ice cream and complain about life DON’T JOIN THEM!  Invite those friends to go for a walk with you or to do something other than eat with you. Drug addicts and overeaters do the same thing – indulge with friends even when they weren’t planning on it.
8. Monday and Thursday – have a low-calorie day; this will help to sandwich what do on the weekend)
9. Weigh yourself daily. What you don’t know will hurt you.  
10. Keep up on checking your hormones – make sure your chemistry isn’t fighting with you.

The Lesson here? Well, it’s to stick to the plan and you will succeed. Stop following the rules and you will have to pay! If you have seen me in my office you know I am very transparent about the fact that I am subject to the same temptations that you are.  And on MANY occasions I have had to pay for my mistakes. I simply did not follow my own plan. There is NO reason to feel bad about it. Pick yourself up, pull it together and get your plan to get back on track. You don’t have to do it alone.

At our clinic, we regularly help patients identify underlying causes of excess weight and develop long term plans to keep their weight off. Losing weight isn’t the hard part – understanding how to keep it off is! If you are looking for a PERSONALIZED plan, let our team help you.   

Just click the link below to set up your complimentary consultation with our patient care concierge, and they will direct you on how to proceed further for getting help from one of our wonderful doctors.

I would love to see you at the clinic soon. Till then, be well.