WEIGHT

Weight is my thing. This is what most people come to me for, to lose weight. It's what I am really good at. It's what many of my colleagues often say they "hate" to do, and what I say "Send my way!". In my opinion, it is the easiest-hardest thing to do, to lose weight. It is also probably the one thing that can have the biggest impact on our health. I say that with confidence (not to downgrade the importance of exercise and even a healthy diet), but losing weight is the one thing that can be achieved the quickest, with the least amount of "effort", and have the biggest direct effect on your health.

I didn't choose it, weight chose me. For the first 9 years of my profession, I lived and worked in a tropical country where people's main goal was to lose weight, always, no matter how many chronic conditions they had. And you know what? They were right! As soon as the weight came down, the conditions vanished. Infertility? Impotence? Diabetes? Hypertension? Acne? GONE.

In the first week you can lose as much as 6-7 lbs, depending on your metabolism and diet. In one month you could lose 20 lbs (or more). In one year, you could lose 100+ lbs. The impact that this could have on your overall health is HUMONGOUS . Having said that, I recommend a healthy loss of 2 lbs per week, 8-10 lbs per month, and yes, 100 lbs per year, why not? Back to health. Losing 5-10 lbs, which we have already established can happen in as little as 1 month, can significantly reduce your BMI (Body Mass Index), Waist-to-Hip ratio (you can shrink about 1/2 inch per 2 lbs lost), lower blood sugar levels, normalize blood pressure, improve sleep, fertility, respiratory and heart rate, and can have a huge impact on your self-esteem and self-image (this alone is HUGE). On the other hand, excess weight is a risk factor for Cardiovascular disease and Hypertension, Diabetes, Cancer, Sleep Apnea, Liver Disease, Depression, Infertility, Insomnia...I don't want to get redundant here.

So why do I say losing weight is the easiest-hardest thing to do? Basically, anyone can do it! If they "can" do it and if they want to do it. Any "diet" can help you lose weight. Any dietary restriction, I should say. If you cut carbs, you can lose weight. If you reduce portions, you can lose weight. If you eliminate snacks, you can lose weight. There are so many ways to lose weight. So what's the problem? Most people have attempted some kind of a diet, and most, at least at first, have succeeded. The difficult part is maintained a diet and keeping the weight off. Why is this so challenging? Well, for the most part, "life" gets in the way: social events; no time to cook; money; spouse; kids; work; emotional issues; cravings; PMS, etc. The actual diet chosen can also be an obstacle. Some diets are too low in calories, people literally starve, and then consequently their metabolism compensates and slows down to reserve energy. When the dieter actually gives up, he/she gains even more weight. Other times, the diet is just not practical and too restrictive. Unless you make every single meal, every time you eat out, you end up "cheating". Lastly, some diets have a limit: the 7-day diet; the 30-day "so-and-so diet"...when those days are up, what do you do?

A very important thing about dieting, is that you actually UNDERSTAND the diet and know how to make SUBSTITUTIONS when necessary. So I guess this is the right time to start telling you why I think my plans are effective. I will remind you that I have already admitted that the LCHF diet wasn't always my diet of choice (mostly because I didn't know about it, but also because I was adamant that in order for a diet to be "healthy", it had to be "light"). Even in the beginning, my diets always followed a few basic rules. 1. The diet has to be practical: you can both cook-in or eat-out. 2. People have to be EDUCATED: you have to UNDERSTAND a diet in order to be able to follow it. 3. You eat according to your hunger: you can't go hungry but you can't overdo it either. 4. Snacks are optional: you snack if you are hungry and you don't snack if you're not. 5. In order to lose weight, you have to avoid certain things at night (even things that are allowed in the diet). 6. Lastly, Policing: my weight-loss patients always pay less for their visits because I expect them to come see me more often (the online support groups are a new thing and it was the best and worst thing I ever implemented in my practice- best thing for my patients, because they get daily support from me and the other members, worst thing for me because I'm addicted to it and can't put my phone down).

I believe these are essential in order for a diet to be effective and sustainable long term. I could now go into why the LCHF diet is the best diet for losing weight, for your health, for long-term weight-loss, for keeping weight off; how it is the most satisfying, filling and flavorful; etc. But I won't. I've talked enough about that, I will keep talking about it, but not here. Here, I just want to tell you that anyone can lose weight, if you have the right diet, the essential rules and the right amount of support!