Tips for People Who Have Big Weight-Loss Goals

On the face of it, losing weight can seem both easy and daunting. Easy because we all know that, in principle, if we eat less and move more we'll lose weight; daunting because it requires sustained motivation and the ability to resist crash dieting.

By the same token, losing five pounds in time for bikini season isn't the same as losing 100 pounds for your health.

The techniques for shedding a few extra pounds should never be the same as the ones for losing large amounts of weight. That's why I have devised a list of 10 tips specifically for people who have more than 25 pounds to shed:

1. Set a specific goal. Decide on your healthy weight and how much you need to lose to reach it. Overall and in the long run, you shouldn't lose more than two pounds per week, although the weight might drop off way faster at first.

Here is a formula for figuring out your timeframe, based on empirical evidence from my clients: Divide the number of pounds you need to lose by two. This will give you the number of weeks you'll need to shed the weight. If you've followed many diets before (more than eight), add 25 percent to this number. So, if your result was 20 weeks, you need to add five more weeks to reach your goal.

If you have more than 100 pounds to lose, you need to add another 50 percent to that total because you will need to give your body time to adjust to new weight levels along the way, stabilize and then restart losing weight.

2.Be patient. You need to accept that if it took you years to pack on the pounds, it will be unrealistic to expect to lose it all in two months. Don't just think it: Write down your goal and time frame and share it on your social networks. It will strengthen your resolve to take the time you need, not the time your social agenda might dictate.

3.Get support. Don't put this off. Don't wait. Support for long-term, massive  weight loss is key. It can be your neighbour, your significant other, your coach, a parent, a good friend or simply a like-minded person who has the same goal and shares the same values.

4.Plan ahead. Create menus up to four weeks in advance with healthy fast-food backup plans. Share those menus with your supporters. Carve out time to cook in advance and freeze or preserve healthy meals for the coming weeks so you'll never be caught short without a healthy option at home.

5. Share your results on social media. You can even create a specific account for this. You will be surprised by how much support you receive. Tweet your results, successes and failures.

6.Challenge yourself. After three or four weeks, the dieting honeymoon usually ends, so give yourself a challenge to meet each week, for example:

* A week without bread
* A gluten-free, dairy-free week
* A meat-free week
* A vegan week
* A smoothie and one buckwheat crepe every morning for breakfast for one week

Create your own challenges. Stimulating your creativity and constantly keeping yourself focused on new ways to lose weight will keep you at the top of your game.

7.Don't slack off. Being active might not have been your cup of tea before you started on this journey, so you may have started in overactive mode -- like long daily workouts at your new gym -- but now you're not feeling the same incentive to go every day, even if the results are coming.

To break this pattern, shake things up: Try one new group class each week and invite your supporters to join you, or change where and when you work out.

8.Go shopping. Buy a new gym outfit -- one size down. Keep it somewhere you see it every day so your mind will get used to this new possible size for you and it will motivate you to kick yourself in the butt and keep going.

9.Don't use food as a reward. I know you know this one, but let's reinforce it: Never ever reward yourself with food unless you cook it. Food is a pleasure that you should not deny yourself, but the method to success is to prepare it yourself from scratch.

10.Make yourself accountable. Be accountable, publicly and personally: Write a weight-loss blog, share it with your coach and your friends. Wake up and fall asleep repeating your mantra, "Yes, I will make it happen this time." In the end, it is the accumulation of all those little steps, daily battles, weekly successes and sometimes small setbacks that will help you reach your goal.

--Valerie

This post was expertly written by Valerie Orsoni. Connect with Valerie on her website, Facebook and Twitter.

The Role of Aerobic Exercise and Diet in Weight Loss

When it comes to losing weight, there is often a difference between what clients expect and what a trainer wants them to do. Many clients believe you need more exercise, whereas coaches often believe diet yields the greatest improvements. In a recent study published in PLoS ONE, researchers reviewed the literature to find the truth.


What the research says:

• Aerobic exercise alone caused significant weight loss.
• A combination of diet and exercise had best results for weight loss and related health factors.

Study Design

The research team examined past literature on the effects of diet and exercise on long-term weight loss. The studies they looked at had to be peer-reviewed. The research was also required to cover either an active weight-loss period of six months (although many were a year long) or a shorter weight-loss period with a longer follow up (most lasting two years in total).

Results

There were twenty studies total that fit the requirements noted above. Here's a summary of some of the important findings:

• Exercise and Weight Loss: The researchers found that clinically significant weight loss can be achieved through aerobic exercise alone. However, there was a greater amount of weight lost in the programs that used diet alone. Not surprisingly, diet and exercise together were the best option.

• Health Factors: One of the reviewed studies compared diet to exercise in terms of disease risk factors, and there were no apparent differences between the two plans. Similar to the weight-loss results, there was a greater magnitude of good health outcomes, such as better cholesterol scores and blood pressure, when diet and exercise were combined.

• Weight Maintenance: None of the plans resulted in great maintenance of the new bodyweight once the weight-loss period was over. When the participants stopped dieting, they couldn’t keep the weight off.

Considerations

The advice from this study is to promote diet over exercise for weight loss and to do both together for optimal results. As the researchers noted, the combination of diet and exercise has more benefit, both for weight loss and other related health effects:

The present systematic review found limited evidence to suggest better long-term weight loss and more favorable long-term changes in body composition and chronic disease risk factors when diet is combined with aerobic exercise compared with either diet or aerobic exercise alone.

 

The researchers also emphasized that there are variations for each individual. For example, if you already eat well and want to reduce fat just a little, it might actually be that more exercise, rather than fewer calories, is the way to go. If you struggle with weight maintenance, the only answer is consistency. Weight regain is a fact of life if you don’t stick to your plan.

The research team called for further studies to investigate the role of additional factors such as resistance training and supervised exercise programs.

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Don't Count Calories to Lose Weight: The Body Fat Set Point Theory

We have all been told that 3,500 calories equals a pound of fat. This idea is taught widely in schools and published in many nutrition textbooks. We know if we follow this rule, then we can lose a total of one pound per week by cutting approximately 500 calories per day. We take this as a fact and apply without ever questioning it.

 

The Research on Calories and Fat

But can anyone reading this article tell me where this research came from? I could not, so I took to PubMed. I searched for “3500 calories equals one pound of fat” and got a message telling me, “No items found.” I narrowed my search to “3500 calories and fat” and received six results, none of which were related to the research in determining this magic number.

 

 

So, why do we keep promoting unsuccessful weight loss ideals that are not even backed up by science? Most of us will use calorie counters found on the Internet to help us establish our daily caloric needs. The most popular equation is the Harris Benedict equation. This equation was established in 1918 after looking at extremely small control groups of 136 men, 103 women, and 94 newborn infants. This research is almost one hundred years old. 

 

Really? Science hasn’t made any new discoveries since then to alter this equation and help us fight the obesity epidemic?

 

The Body Fat Set Point Theory

Fortunately, there is good research out there to help us. But for some unknown reason it’s not as well known as the whole 3,500-calories-equals-a-pound-of-fat thing. What we need to look to instead is the body fat set point theory. This theory explains that we have a group of hormones that regulates appetite and body fat storage. These hormones communicate with one another and need to be in balance in order for us to achieve and maintain a healthy weight.

 

 

"All of these hormones must be doing their jobs and working in sync in order for us to achieve an optimal weight."

The important hormones are leptin, insulin, glucagon, ghrelin, and adrenaline:

 

• Leptin was discovered in 1992 and has been found to control how much body fat we store, as well as when we are satiated. 
• Insulin is our main fat storage hormone. 
• Glucagon is the opposite of insulin. It stimulates the liver to release stored glycogen and works with adrenaline to free up our stored fats to use as energy. 
• Ghrelin tells us when we are hungry. 

 

All of these hormones must be doing their jobs and working in sync in order for us to achieve an optimal weight. Other important factors include other peptides and even certain brain regions. 

 

Leptin, Ghrelin, and Insulin

Leptin may just be the ringleader of this circus, though. Leptin is primarily secreted by our fat cells, and when levels are high, then our hunger is decreased. Ghrelin was discovered almost a decade after leptin and it controls our short-term hunger response. Ghrelin is released from the stomach lining, and when levels are high, we increase our hunger response. Both of these hormones are found to be in dysregulation during obesity.

 

LEARN MORE: Leptin: The Secret Key to Getting Shredded

 

 

Insulin has been a big focus of obesity research for quite some time. It is one reason why some people swear low-carbohydrate diets are the way to go. Insulin has a direct effect on leptin. As insulin levels rise, so do leptin levels. In fact, leptin receptors have been found on the beta cells of the pancreas, where insulin is produced. The problem is we can develop resistance to these hormones and this can cause a number of issues for us. 

 

RELATED: 60 Minutes of Exercise Can Improve Insulin Resistance 25%

 

Developing Resistance to the Hunger Hormones

When we develop resistance to these hunger-controlling hormones, it is like our body is making a phone call, but we’re not picking up on the other end. As a result, our body needs to yell louder. It does this by releasing more and more of the hormones in question. 

 

Let’s look at this scenario in terms of letpin. If we develop leptin resistance, it means more fat being stored and more food being eaten. Due to the relationship with insulin, if we have leptin resistance, then we have insulin resistance, too.

 

So, we get ourselves into this mess and then decide we need to get our weight in check. We count out our calories and subtract 500 calories per day, just as we have been taught. But in response to this low-calorie eating our body causes our leptin levels to fall. This, again, will increase our eating and fat storage. 

 

 "Due to the relationship with insulin, if we have leptin resistance, then we have insulin resistance, too."

On top of that, calorie counting does not take into effect how certain foods react with these hormones. We are told to approach everything in moderation, including our eating, but does this strategy work? Highly palatable foods have been shown to blunt both leptin and ghrelin. This is why it is easy to overeat foods such as ice cream and pizza. This can cause you to take in more calories than you even realize.

 

 

 

What We Can Do to Lose Weight

So what can we do to lose weight if low-calorie eating does not work? We can eat a diet high in nutrient-rich fruits, vegetables, and quality protein, such as grass-fed meat, fish, and eggs. Making sure that protein makes up at least 30% of your daily calories can decrease caloric intake and may increase systemic leptin sensitivity. 

 

I recommend nine to twelve servings of fruits and vegetables per day. If you are attempting to lose weight, then limit your fruits to one to three servings per day. Vegetables are high in nutrients and low in calories. They are almost impossible to overeat. Just be careful how much added sugar, salt, and fat there is in your diet, as these increase the palatability of foods and can lead to overeating.