The No Frills, No BS,
 No Sales Gimmick Way
to Lose Weight
 and Feel Better

This document is based on scientific fact, not sales pitches.  It is so basic, reliable, and safe, I can’t give it a name since it is the established steps for weight loss.  The intention of this document is to lead you to the right decisions, to give you guidelines for a starting point.  I will make a few suggestions and give you a few examples on each subject, but it is up to you and your doctor, a Nutrition Specialist and/or a Personal Trainer for the actual program creation.

Let me lay the ground rules and then you can decide if you are ready for weight loss.

This might sound funny, but not everyone is ready for a weight loss program. 

Rule Number 1 – Don’t depend on a weight loss program to give you fast results such as those promised on “paid advertisements” with testimonials from people you don’t know, with names such as “John”, or “Mary”…who?  The safe way to lose weight is about a pound a week.  Any more than that could cause bad results, such as illness or additional weight gain.  Yes, that’s right, additional; weight gain.  Your body will think you are starving so it will decide for you to store extra energy in the form of fat.  This is a mechanism from our past when food was not as readily available so our body would store this fat so we could live through the lean times.  Pardon the pun.

If you understand you didn’t get over your goal weight in a couple of weeks and understand it will obviously take longer than the couple of  weeks usually promised my these paid ads or fad diets, then you are ready to proceed.

Rule Number Two – You will lose a major amount of weight when you first start out on any correct nutritional plan.  This is called water weight.  Everybody loses it.  All fad diets claim they caused it.  In reality, your body starts to ease up on the storage defenses at first.  Ever notice how fast this weight shows up again?  How about showing up more than when you started! It’s that defense mechanism in force again.  This time, your body thinks you are starving more than before.  What you just did was reverse everything you just “dieted” for.  Bummer.  After the initial water weight loss, the pounds will not fall off as easy.  Knowing that this fast weight loss will eventually slow down is very important the further you get into your weight loss program. 

Rule Number Three – Know your Daily Caloric Intake number.  Included in the back of this document is a rough formula to estimate this number.  This will represent a general idea of how many calories you must consume per day to live.  Since this figure is based on an average, cutting back a certain amount of calories per day, coupled with exercise (mention in the next rule), is the safest way for weight reduction.  This figure is best calculated by a Nutritionist, who will also design a nutrition program based on nutrients your body needs   Chances are you might omit a few of these in designing your own program.  The Nutritionist is a major player in any weight loss program.

Rule Number Four – Do something to relieve stress.  This is easier said than done but is essential in both weight loss and personal wellness.  This is the shortest rule because I am reliving my stress now by not figuring out more to write on this rule.

Rule Number Five – I left this one for last because this is the most hated rule of them all.

If this wasn’t my job, I would probably hate this rule the most too.  OK, I admit, I hate this rule the most, by far.  Problem is, this rule is not only necessary, but also self-rewarding as well in the long run.  We are in this for the long run, right?  I know you answered yes or you would have never read down this far!

The bad boy is Exercise.  Exercise with a capital E.  Now before you throw this document away, exercise doesn’t necessarily involve everything bad you are thinking about.  Small things, such as walking for five minutes, are considered exercise.  Now that is a really small example but you would be surprised that you don’t need to bench press 450 to get exercise.  This document includes examples of some easy methods as well as ways for you to free up time to do these exercises.  How did he know I was going to say, “I don’t have time for exercise” you say?  Let’s just say I’ve got FWNS.  I know that doesn’t spell ESP but it does spell Fitness, Wellness, Nutrition, and Self-Confidence!

If you agree with these ground rules, then read on!

Although the four points to Weight Loss on the front page picture show Wellness and Self-Confidence, Fitness and Nutrition will actually produce those results. Let’s start with the later categories first since they are the two areas to work on first.

Nutrition

I know I sound like a broken record stating that a Nutritionist is the recommendation for creating a balanced menu.  A Nutritionist will cover all bases in making sure you are consuming the proper nutrients along with the correct caloric intake.  That makes three things you don’t have to think about!  A three-in-one solution.  That’s a deal.

If you decide to venture on your own, you should at least prepare yourself with the basics:

Ø      The USDA in the United States, as well as other government organizations that deal with nutrition, have put together guidelines that assist you in making the daily proper food choices with the recommended amounts of nutrients.  In the US the guideline is the Food Pyramid:

Ø      Know your Daily Caloric Intake.  Remember this simple rule – a pound of fat is 3500 KCals, or calories. If you reduce your Daily Caloric Intake by this much in a week, you will lose one pound.  Any more than one pound a week can be unhealthy. The following formula will get you into a target area, but for an accurate number, see a Nutrition Specialist!

Please don’t forget this is a rough idea and not an exact number.  Please use this as a general guideline only.

Ø      Understand the Food Label.  This can be really difficult since the standards are by food type only.  What I mean by this is all cans of peas must be measured the same way; all bags of popcorn must be measured the same way, all frozen packages of peas, etc.  The measurement is “Amount Per Serving”.  This is the key to reading the label.  One can of peas may have only 3 grams of fat on the label while another can of peas may have 5 grams.  The one with 3 grams may have a serving of 1, while the other can of peas may have a serving of 2, making the can with 5 grams  containing less fat than the first.  “Amount Per Serving” should be the first number you find on the label.  Below is the Recommended Daily Amounts established by the USDA:

Ø      Eat in moderation.  Don’t Super-Size.  That simple.

Ø      Be aware of excessive carbohydrate intake.  This is the candy and snack machine food we all are tempted, and in cases succumb to, usually between breakfast and lunch and between lunch and dinner. Don’t Eat Carbohydrates within 3 hours of bedtime.  This rule stinks but you won’t regret it. You don’t use up the energy these sugar-based snacks create while sleeping so insulin, whose job it is to remove excess sugar, converts the sugar to fat for storage.  This isn’t fair, but that’s the facts!

Ø      Don’t diet. A Nutrition Specialist I admire, Ginger Patterson, PhD, once said “What word is in the word diet?  DIE”.  You don’t know how truthful this statement is until you know the facts of dieting.  As mentioned in Ground Rule Number Two, your body actually decides since you are starving yourself by dieting, you must be on a losing streak as a hunter so storing the fat, when ingested, will be necessary.  Counter-productive, isn’t it?

These are a few general points to consider.  See that Nutrition Specialist for more useful information!

Fitness

Here’s that E-word.  Exercise.  The most hated word of them all!  The deal here is, this is a necessity.  Exercise will not only assist you in losing weight, but will also build self-confidence and wellness.  When you look better, you feel better.  The calories you burn exercising reduce the Daily Caloric Intake number, which is how you lose the weight. Exercise has also been proven to reduce the odds against you for certain diseases.  Exercise doesn’t have to be difficult. Here are a few examples:

Ø       Walk when you can.  Walking for 5 minutes a day burns about 500 calories a year.  I’m just talking walking here!  No special fitness program here.  10 minutes a day?  You do the math!

Ø       Take the stairs.  A nice little rule you should develop is 2 flights up, 3 flights down.  You may start off huffing and puffing at first but after a couple of weeks you will notice a big difference!

Ø       Join a Health Club.  Cardio exercises are important.  These are the Stairmaster  type devices and treadmills.  Most health clubs offer aerobics classes.  I highly recommend these classes.

Ø       Health Clubs not your style?  Try simple equipment such as elastic banding.  You can purchase a good band at any sporting goods store.  Also stop by the book store and find an instruction book on Elastic Banding.  Find one that is easy to read.  Some instruction books can be designed for advanced users and are difficult to follow.  This will lose your interest quickly!

Ø       Find a Personal Trainer.  Obviously the most expensive route but it is also the most productive route.  A personal trainer will instruct you in the correct procedures of exercise which also prevents injury.  

Ø       Flexibility or stretching.  This could actually be the enjoyable part of exercising.  Again, a Personal Trainer or a good instruction book will be a good start.

Self-Confidence

Weight loss causes self-confidence.  Eating right causes self-confidence.  Exercising causes self-confidence.   Self-confidence causes…

Wellness!

Other things to consider are:

Ø       Stress-Management.  Everyone has stress.  A good adult education class on stress or a yoga class can really help.

Ø       Make sure you know your blood pressure and cholesterol count.  If either of these are high, you need to work on lowering them to acceptable levels. Both of these can be caused by a not so healthy diet or heredity.  You can usually correct the nutritional aspect.  Heredity induced problems may be corrected or contained by seeing your doctor.