Of course we would all like to lose weight without dieting?
But is it really possible?
I think at some point we all asked this question and searched and waited for the magic answer.
First, let me tell you that the answer is not magic.
And second, let me share my definitions of “diet” and “diet.”
I think when we ask “is it possible to lose weight without dieting?”, What we are really asking is “how can I lose weight without denying myself the pleasure of the foods that I really love?”
In this sense, “diet” refers to a specific food format with dietary restrictions. With the Atkins diet, the amount of carbohydrates you eat is restricted. With Weight Watchers, the number of calories in a day is restricted. With the “HCG Diet”, calories and overall nutrition are restricted!
So that’s a definition of “diet”. But the other way the term “diet” is used is to generally describe how we eat. On “Superbowl Weekend, I’m on a strict diet of pizza, chicken wings, and beer”! Another example, in my personal case, would be “I follow a well balanced diet rich in nutrients.” There is no restricted food on Superbowl weekend (okay, maybe no tofu or Brussels sprouts …) and similarly, no food is absolutely taboo in the way I eat (again with! the exception of tofu and Brussels sprouts!)
In my case, I have learned to eat in a way that allows me to replace meals that matter very little to me (mainly breakfast and lunch) with an easy-to-prepare, inexpensive, high-nutrition alternative. This leaves me free to enjoy some pizza, pastry and hamburger and those rich and tasty dinners that I love so much! By doing this, I am on a “diet” that allows me to lose weight without dieting.
I know we have all fallen partially in love, or at least wanted to believe, that there is a “secret trick” to weight loss:
“This simple exercise will give you 6 packs of abs, in just 2 minutes per day!”
“The Herbal Weight Loss Secret Your Doctor Won’t Tell You!”
“Eat this simple meal and never go on a diet again!”
The truth of the matter is that your body is a complicated machine and no mechanism within it works in a vacuum. With the human body, it’s more like: “most of the time” if you do THIS, THAT will happen. But THAT can’t happen if you did “that other thing” too.
Most of today’s diets are based on the premise that if you simply burn more calories than you consume, you will lose weight. On the surface, that makes perfect sense, and that’s why most of us accept that logic. But if that were true, and calories in and calories out are the only factors in weight loss, why do 80-95% of diets fail in a year?
Here is an interesting story from my own experience. When I was in my early 20s, I volunteered for 3 months in Guyana, South America. During 5 of those weeks we were in the jungle and the only food we had was: a big bag of rice, a big bag of flour and a big bag of chickpeas. We also had some yeast, salt, and a couple of other small items. But the bottom line was that we basically only had carbohydrates with no protein, fat, vitamins, or minerals. By the end of those 5 weeks, all the men in our group had become emaciated figures while all the women had gained weight and got fat!
We all ate the same. We all did the same job. We all sleep the same. The only difference was our sex. Because we have different hormones working within us, each of the sexes responded to this form of nutritional (non-caloric) starvation differently.
Let me explain what I have learned about nutrition and our body’s responses and how I now use that information to lose weight without dieting.
First of all, calories coming in and calories going out cannot be ruled out. It is an integral part of the formula. Calories play a direct role in providing us with energy. But indirectly, calories are also often accompanied by nutrition in the form of vitamins, minerals, and trace elements. So generally speaking, when you lower your calories, you also decrease the nutrition that goes with them. We have to be very careful with that.
Equally important to calorie volume is the ratio of calories to protein, fat, and carbohydrates. I’m sure you can imagine that a 2000 calorie per day person will have a different physique consuming 15% of their calories in the form of protein compared to someone consuming only 5% protein.
A very important factor that is generally overlooked is the production of hormones. Human Growth Hormone (HGH) will burn fat, build muscle, and strengthen bones. Insulin will block HGH. And cortisol is the arch enemy of HGH, creating fat, burning muscle, and depleting nutrients from bones.
What you eat. The times you eat it. The amount of fat you already have. Your sleep patterns. Your daily stressors. And the toxic load on your body are all factors in how your body produces these hormones. What are you doing to maximize your HGH potential and minimize your cortisol production?
Then of course there is the level and type of exercise you do and your body’s basic metabolic rate. ALL of these things play a role in your weight loss or gain.
Think about this “weight loss fact”: there are 3,500 calories in a pound of fat. So if you have been maintaining your weight and then decreased your daily calorie intake by 500 calories, then in 1 week (7 days x 500 calories = 3,500 calories) you will have burned a pound of stored fat.
That makes perfect sense and seems easy enough.
But what if you replace a nutrient-dense, high-protein, 600-calorie breakfast with a 100-calorie can of soda? What would happen to your insulin level? your HGH production? your base metabolic rate for the day ???
Do you still think you will lose 5 pounds in the week ??? I bet you can really put on weight!
Stay tuned. In the next few articles, I’ll go over each of these weight loss / gain factors one by one. In the end you should have the knowledge to know how to lose weight without dieting!