- May 8, 2022
- 5 min read

WEIGHT LOSS - 6 most sustainable steps about weight loss nobody told you?

"The greatest wealth is health." - Virgil

Start…..

Are you sick of your trainer saying, “No pain no gain” and all preachy crap to the point that you want to kick him in the butt?
Are you frustrated with this to-and-fro (weight loss and subsequent gain) Karma cycle?
Do you end up overindulging almost always when trying to restrict yourself?
Have you tried losing weight and ended up gaining some of it back or perhaps even more in the long term?
Has your weight and the innumerable associated issues & failures led to a diminished self-esteem and confidence?

If the answer to any of the questions above is a YES, just sit back and take a deep breath, you are not alone.

Following are 6 steps to follow in weight loss journey:

#1. Let Go Off Your Past

Whether you’ve succeeded in the past or failed, I would recommend to let go off the pressure right here right now. Since we need to change fundamentally and learn a new sustainable weight-management method, we need a wiped out shiny clean slate for that. Let go off all the past burden, beliefs and biases and set yourself free. Just remember that everything from now on is ‘Unwritten’ (it’s time to move on).

#2. Take Charge

Accepting responsibility for our problems is the first step to solving them. Taking responsibility for our problems is important because that’s where real learning comes from. Also, instead of blaming the dietician or your trainer, taking charge is also essential because passively following someone else’s advice invokes the inbuilt rebellious response in you, thus putting you at a greater risk of wavering from your path. Our love for Autonomy is inherent. (Remember a kid always does what he is not allowed to do)

#3. Avoid or Manage Stress

Stress is the feeling of being overwhelmed or unable to cope with mental or emotional pressure. This is the most common and silent killer of modern human beings. Ninety percent of all diseases comes from this reason. We are surrounded by the people or environment which slowly eating us and we never realized that.

“Uncertainty, not outcome, is the root of stress.” - Naval Ravikant

“Its not stress that kills us, it is our reaction to it.” - Hans Selye

“Before you diagnose yourself with depression or low self esteem, first make sure you are not, in fact surrounded by assholes.” - Sigmund Freud

#4. Never compromise on Sleep

The secret of health is hidden in perfect sleep. Due to modern age and requirements of society we are continuously depriving our sleep. The primary signs and symptoms of sleep deprivation include excessive daytime sleepiness and daytime impairment such as reduced concentration, slower thinking, and mood changes. Feeling extremely tired during the day is one of the hallmark signs of sleep deprivation.

“The modern mental illness is anxiety. The symptom is inability to fall asleep. The evidence is pills, meditation apps, opioids and sleep trackers. The causes are oversocialization and overstimulation.” - Naval Ravikant

“Sleep is the single most effective thing you can do for your brain and body.” - Mathew Walker

#5. Consistent Daily Walk

Since walking is less vigorous than running, you'll have to walk longer or more often to get the same benefits. Running is more efficient, but has a higher risk of injuries, and you'll need more time to heal if you get injured.

“There is no habit you will value so much as that of walking far without fatigue.” -Thomas Jefferson

#6. Balance your Diet

Isn’t it paradoxical that in a world where everybody recommends calorie restriction and following crazy diets as the only means for weight loss, I’m asking you to not diet Well, The Research shows that 9 out of 10 people end up gaining back the lost weight and usually become fatter than they originally were. There are two primary reasons why these issues are rarely addressed:

The Diet industry is concerned about the cash in flow and not about your health. So they invariably bring up lucrative weight loss offers and plans which are useful for nothing but their bank vaults. (Result of Mass Industrialization)
Our bodies have evolved to conserve food and the more we restrict it, the harder it fights back. No matter how much will power or Motivation you have, you can’t fight back the natural mechanism which evolved over billions of years.
Many of the so-called diet foods are just marketing fads with added sugars. They may contain some healthy ingredients, but that is usually in addition to a plethora of unhealthy ones. (Fixing Symptoms not Root Cause)

Image by Author - Health Hedgehog

Rules of Balanced Diet

a. Satiety and Sustainability-The Secret Mantras

What happens when you semi-starve yourself and try out the green juices and weight loss drinks? Well, most often than not you end up eating more and breaking the diet.

Do you know the reason behind this? Carbohydrates and Fats have been known to humanity since times immemorial, so why the obesity epidemic is sky-rocketing despite introduction of so many diets and diet plans in a seemingly conscious society? The answer is really simple-These diets are either unfulfilling or unsustainable. They keep us hungry all the time. Till the time you are satisfied, there is little chance that you are going to stick with it in the long term. Moreover, it decreases your concentration and makes you all the more grumpy (a hungry man is an angry man)

“The three most harmful addictions are heroin, carbohydrates, and a monthly salary.” - Nicholas Nassim Taleb

b. Artificial Sweeteners

This one sounds a bit tricky but search the internet and you’ll find sufficient data in support of the above mentioned statement. First let’s talk about artificial sweeteners; Our food is naturally rewarded at two levels:

At the sensory level, food is rewarded via the taste sensors in the mouth(ahh!! sweet).Of course the sight, texture etc also play a major role. (Increase Dopamine)
But the 2nd reward is at the nutritive level in the gut, and here lies the problem with artificial sweeteners. Not only they fool the body at the sensory level by possessing similar texture and taste, they also try to trick the body at the gut level. But when we leave the body empty handed and no nutrient/energy extraction happens at the gut level, it fights back strongly with even more craving.

c. No skimmed milk

In recent years, the recommendation of eating low fat dairy products has been called into question. High Fat Dairy was once considered due to it’s saturated fat content but the recent research does not support this recommendation .Drinking whole milk may actually help you manage your weight because whole Milk is very satiating, not to mention the vital nutrients it possesses, most importantly Omega-3 Fatty acids, which aid in weight loss. Skimming skims not only fat, but vital nutrients too.

d. Stop counting calories

Ever wondered how can a billion years long complex process be explained by mere numbers? Calorie counting is a very superficial way of finding the right foods for yourself. A 100 gram of processed chocolate cookies with added sugar has around 550 calories whereas the same quantity of almonds contain 700.Does this mean that chocolate cookies are better than almonds? Hell no !!

High Fat Foods such as almonds, peanuts and avocados actually aid in weight loss.

Good or Bad Calories matter more than calorie count.

e. Avoid processed foods

The food industry, as previously mentioned has only one top priority- PROFIT. Your health is not even on their priority list. They make food hyper-palatable by adding a number of artificial flavours, sugars, salt and fat. Even if the calorie content matches that of whole foods, the processed food are known to generate inflammatory responses in the gut which further leads to leptin (hormone responsible for making us feel full or satiated) resistance.

Weight loss journey must be subtle for it to be sustainable. Try a quick-fix and you’ll fail almost invariably.

Thanks for reading and before you go…

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