The Ten Commandments of Weight Loss
Ten Commandments of Weight Loss
By: Bill Schuchman
It seems like everyone is looking for the Holy Grail of Weight Loss. Some diet, pill, or exercises that will magically help you lose weight. If you’re up late at night you may have even seen some of these products being sold on an infomercial.
We here at QA Weight Loss aren’t believers, we know better. If you want to believe in something when it comes to weight loss, believe in this, The Ten Commandments of Weight Loss:
1) If you fail to plan, plan on failing.
There is no perfect weight-loss plan that will work for everyone. But even the worst plan is more likely to succeed than no plan at all. If you’re looking to put a plan together, make sure you include: meals and snacks based on lean protein; fish, eggs, dairy, meat. More meals are better than fewer.
Instead of one big meal, think five or six small ones. Low-fat and high-fat diets can both work. But no fat, is not an option. Nobody ever became fat from eating good carbohydrates; fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Nobody ever died from skipping potatoes, pasta, rice, and bread.
2) If you want to lose weight, you must cut calories.
The low-fat/low-carbohydrate diets all eventually come down to calories. You still have to eat fewer calories than you burn if you want to lose weight. Every study we’ve looked at shows this. The perfect weight-loss diet for you is the one you can live with, whether you cut fat, carbs, or some combination in between.
3) The power of protein.
Protein-rich foods put more distance between hunger pangs. And the fuller you feel between meals, the easier it is to avoid binges. The best food for appetite control; whey protein. Here’s a great tasting shake you can make to help with your protein intake: Take two scoops of whey protein, fruit (fresh or frozen berries or a banana), and water or crushed ice and mix in a blender. You can buy whey protein at any good health-food store.
4) Meat in moderation is good.
When you eat, your body has to burn calories to digest the food. Protein causes this inner fire to burn the hottest, followed by carbohydrates, followed by fat. Animal proteins increase thermo genesis more than vegetable proteins, so the best calorie-burning foods are lean meats. So eat some protein at each meal. Include some in your dinner that way, you’re burning the most calories through digestion at the end of the day, when your metabolism is slower.
5) It’s all about the ABCs of amino acids.
Amino acids are the building blocks of protein, and the branched-chain amino acids; leucine, isoleucine, and valine are the best of the bunch. BCAAs are as close to magic foods as we’ll ever get.
They help you recover from hard workouts by reducing the protein breakdown within your muscles and they have their most profound effect when you’re following commandment number 2 and cutting calories in order to lose weight. For starters, try to get at least 10 grams (g) of BCAAs a day.
Since they’re most abundant in meat and dairy products, you can get the better part of that by following commandments 3 and 4. (Two scoops of whey protein and 3 ounces of beef contains 10g of BCAAs.) You can also buy BCAA supplements (which, you should be aware, are expensive).
Look for supplements that are 50 percent leucine, 25 percent isoleucine, and 25 percent valine. Start off with 10 g per day, and wait a month before bumping up the dose. The maximum useful intake is probably 60 g a day from food and supplements.
6) You know better than to eat that.
One thing that every weight-loss researcher and diet-plan author can agree on: Highly refined carbohydrates, such as fructose-sweetened beverages and low-fiber breads, are a terrible idea. Soda and junk-food cause your blood sugar to spike so soon after eating.
What goes up fast comes down fast, and you end up feeling tired and hungry much sooner than you should. Goodbye diet, hello diabetes. We’ve now discovered a way to make refined carbohydrates even worse, fry them.
Maybe that’s why Kentucky Fried Chicken has started calling themselves KFC. Researchers have found a suspected carcinogen called acrylamide in products like potato chips and french fries. A “suspected” carcinogen isn’t the same as a proven carcinogen, such as tobacco smoke. But anytime we get a chance to talk you out of eating worthless junk foods, we’ll do it.
7) Fiber, the anti junk-food.
Fiber’s effect is the opposite of junk-foods. When you have fiber in your stomach, food takes longer to enter the bloodstream, and your blood-sugar level stays steady. The benefits, you’ll have a more consistent energy supply and less between-meal hunger.
Skim milk, it does a body good.
Recently, nutrition researchers discovered that dairy and other calcium-rich foods help you stay lean, prevent osteoporosis, and possibly prevent colon cancer. The recommendation is to take in 1,000 to 1,200 milligrams (mg) of calcium a day. (A cup of milk contains 300.)
9) Omega-3 fats.
Each year, we learn more about the health benefits of omega-3 polyunsaturated fats, which are found in fish, nuts, seeds, and flaxseed and fish oils. These health benefits, less risk of heart disease and diabetes are great on their own.
But omega-3 fats contribute to a better physique as well. Omega-3s reduce inflammation throughout your body. That not only prevents heart attacks (inflammation in the tissues surrounding blood vessels is a major cause) but also helps your muscles recover faster from workouts.
Bigger, less-inflamed muscles mean a faster metabolism, and speeding up your metabolism is crucial when you’re trying to get lean. If you don’t eat fish twice a week and can’t stomach fish-oil supplements, try eggs high in omega-3s, which are found in the dairy case, next to the regular eggs. You can eat four of them a day without any negative effect on your cholesterol levels.
10) Just Do It.
Next time you read a weight-loss story in a newspaper or magazine, count the number of disparaging references to popular diets. Based on the way diet gurus trash their competitors, you’d think there was no plan on earth that actually works.
But the truth is that you can’t lose weight without a diet. You must have a plan. The more sophisticated it is, and the more tailored to your likes and dislikes, the better. You can’t wing it and expect to see results. Of course, once you’re done planning, it’s time to get off the sofa and start doing.
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About the Author of “The Ten Commandments of Weight Loss”
Bill Schuchman, A.C.H., EFT-ADV Bill Schuchman is the founder of Personal Mastery Inc specializing in personal growth products. He is a Certified Advanced Clinical Hypnotherapist and he has earned the Emotional Freedom Techniques EFT-ADV CC. Bill is a Subconscious Motivational Therapist and a Law of Attraction coach..
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