Are You Ready to Lose Weight and Never Gain it Back?

Who wants to lose 10, maybe 25, 50 pounds or more and never gain in back again? Everybody right? I have people ask me all the time, “what do you do to stay in good shape? What do you do to stay thin?”

Well, my answer is always that I follow a balanced nutrition plan. I started following this plan over 16 years ago, and I lost 25 pounds of the excess weight that I had gained from poor eating habits and stress. I recently had some tell me that they had just started doing Dr. Barry Sears’s Zone Diet and wanted to know if this was a good diet to follow?  Dr. Sears’s Zone Diet is really not a diet at all. It’s more of a nutrition plan. As a matter of fact, the nutrition plan that I have been following for years is based on Dr. Sears Zone Diet. The plan I follow is also very similar to the Paleo diet. I know what a difference losing 25 pounds has made in my health and my life, and I’m so thankful that I was able to lose that weight and am now enjoying life so much more. I believe anyone else can do the same thing by learning to follow a balanced nutrition plan and eating that way the majority of the time. This is something I teach people in a 7 week, 49-day course that I call Fit in 49. In this course I teach people how to live a more balanced, healthy, and vibrant life everyday, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. We all have a body, soul, and spirit; we are 3 part beings and for optimal health, all 3 must be in balance but in this week’s blog post I want to focus on the physical and in particular the nutrition aspect of our physical health.

Why Do I Do It?

As I mentioned the plan that I follow is based on the 40-30-30 and paleo diets. It is not exactly like those but very similar, and I call it a balanced nutrition plan. This is what I have been doing, teaching, and promoting to people for years, but why does it matter? Why do we want to lose excess body weight and live healthier? Well avoiding diabetes is one of the top reasons for me. Diabetes is an epidemic and we have so many people in this country and all over the world that are being diagnosed with this disease every day. Look at the cancer rates that keep going up. Cancer is an epidemic as well. I know people who are much younger than I am (and I’m 55 years old) that are dying everyday in their 30s and 40s because they have health issues related to their weight. The increase in heart disease is another, and there are so many young people dying of heart attacks everyday. If that’s not enough whys, then I don’t know what else I can say. When we aren’t carrying around the extra 30,40 or 50 pounds of extra weight, then we are going have a better quality of life. We will be able to enjoy life more and do more. We will be able to exercise and not pass out when we do. We will be able to get out in the yard and play with our kids or grandkids without having to put on oxygen afterwards to recover. But how?

Clean Eating

I teach people what I call cleaner eating, eating less processed foods and eating more fresh and frozen foods. Stay away from things that come out of a box. There are a lot of highly processed foods that contain all kinds of toxins and chemicals. Read the labels and avoid these things. If you have access to local vegetables or farm raised foods, buy them and eat them. That’s the best thing you can do to eat cleaner. One of the things that I teach and recommend is eating more clean and lean protein. Fish is my favorite! I always look for the wild caught ocean fish and not the farm raised. Same thing goes for your other protein sources like chicken and eggs. Stay away from those that have been fed hormones and pesticides and chemicals. Look for free range or organic eggs and chicken products. These are going to contain a lot less toxins that can have an adverse affect on our health. Learning to find and eat these fresh and healthy foods can make a tremendous difference. But the most important thing I teach people with these foods is how to balance them properly to control your blood sugar. To do that I use what’s called a plate method. For example, you have a 3 section plate and each section you’re going to put some type of food. I always recommend that you start out with the protein source. The amount you want to put on your plate is basically the size of the palm of your hand (And I’m just talking about the palm, not including the fingers!) For most people this is 4 to 6 ounces, and that is where you start. Then you are going to add your fruit and vegetables, but primarily your vegetables. Leafy greens and fresh vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, and brussel sprouts are greats ones that are cancer protective. You are going to fill both of these sections with vegetables or fruit. The amount you want in these two sections is fist sized. All you have to do is make a fist, and this is the amount you want on your plate. Then you are going to add one other nutrient or food component, and this is fat (good fat!) Be conscious of the type of fat that you are eating and make sure you are choosing good fats, such as olive oil, coconut oil, or real butter, but in moderation. Another good fat source is nuts. Walnuts, in my opinion are the best, then almonds, and pecans in that order. I’m talking about raw nuts, and not the ones that are coated in sugar or roasted and toasted and made with all these different types of flavors. Another good fat source is real peanut butter. Not the artificial peanut butter made with margarine and peanut flavoring and sugar. I’m talking about real peanut butter that has one or two ingredients, which are peanuts and salt. 

As you can see my plan is pretty simple. It is as simple as getting the correct balance of  proteins, carbohydrates and good fat every time you eat. It is really not that hard to follow, and I know if I can do it you can too. What I have shared with you here is just a few of the basics. So if you want to learn more, check out my Fit in 49 course or contact me at [email protected] for a consultation appointment.

Healthy Blessings, 

Dr. Phil