Losing weight and keeping it off is not a very complex process once we understand how the body works, however it can be challenging at times when we find ourselves craving unhealthy food. So here are the ways that will ensure success when it comes to weight loss, I will not hold anything back I’m just going to tell it like it is. Here are my weight loss tips:

1. How to Lose Weight: Stop drinking ALL sugary drinks; I do not care if the bottle says that the product is all-natural or that you think tea can be healthy for you. If it has processed sugar or sugar in general cut it out of your diet. Sugary drinks will cause insulin levels to skyrocket and can cause you to pack on extra weight even beyond just the calories. The bloodstream can only tolerate a very small amount of sugar in the blood at a time, so when your organs and bloodstream become overburdened with fast digesting processed sugar you will store all of this extra sugar as fat so the body can survive. If you drink soda this is even worse due to the highly toxic nature of soda in general, which often contains GMO corn by-products and other dangerous chemicals. Stop harming your body and do not drink any sugary drinks to see an improvement in weight that will be noticeable within a few weeks.

2. How to lose 5-10lbs in 1 month: ELIMINATE ALL PROCESSED FOODS IN GENERAL; THIS WOULD INCLUDE:

• PROCESSED FLOUR

• PROCESSED SUGAR

• CORN AND SOY GMO PRODUCTS

• MOST MASS PRODUCED VEGETABLE OILS

• AND DAIRY

ELIMINATE FOR AT LEAST 1 MONTH TO NOTICE THE DIFFERENCE, AND THEN KEEP AVOIDING PROCESSED FOOD FOR LIFE!!! There is no way to sugarcoat this. If you want to see real results in your bodyweight and get to a place where you can keep the weight off, you need to detoxify the body by eliminating every poisonous food that can overburden the detoxification and digestion system.   The body needs to be given a chance to heal and most of us that are overweight or obese, have toxic fat. The only way the organs and immune system can recover and heal completely is if we give our body a full 30 days to return to normal function. This also serves to eliminate food cravings and compulsive eating.

After a full month of not eating processed flour for example you can go out and eat a slice of pizza and I guarantee that you get noticeably sick and ill. This sickness is the contrast that most people lack, because most people feel sick all of the time! We have become conditioned to believe that low energy and brain fog is normal. If we eliminate these processed foods for a full 30 days and then eat them we can actually notice just how shitty they are for our bodies. If you are serious about losing weight, than you MUST have the discipline and motivation to eliminate all processed food for 30 days. You will 100% lose weight during these 30 days. I bet the majority of people who regularly eat processed junk will lose at least 5-10lbs just from allowing the body a break from constantly overburdening the organs and detox systems. 

* I included dairy in this list, which is not to say that I think all dairy is bad, I do believe that high quality cheeses, milk, kefir, yogurt, butter, and ghee, that are organic, grass-fed, and preferably raw, can be good in moderation. However, for true elimination diet purposes where the goal is to find out what we are sensitive to one should cut out all dairy for 30 days as well and then reintroduce different forms in small doses one at a time and watch for a negative reaction.   Many people who eat processed dairy heavily can have an excess amount of mucous that needs to be allowed to detox and cleansed from the body, if you ever workout and notice that your nose tends to run this can be a symptom of a body that is mucous-ridden from too much dairy.

3. Weight loss tip: Hydrate properly. Drink plenty of high quality mineral water, people who are not hydrated are much more likely to reach for unhealthy foods for a surge of energy when their body is truly just craving water. Many of us walk around chronically dehydrated simply because the habit of carrying around or always having access to enough clean water is not maintained. Some people who drink a lot of soft drinks almost never have a liquid touch their mouth that does not contain sugar; this can lead to a lacking of appreciation for the thirst quenching properties of water.  If you are having trouble quitting sugary drinks start by switching to a flavored seltzer water, or try lemon water, which is beneficial in its own right.  Also try drinking coffee and tea in moderation.  Try tea with lemon and some raw honey if you really need something a bit sweet.    Drink about half your bodyweight in ounces of water every single day, but also take into account when you are stressed or exercising a lot as hydration demands can increase.  Replacing all processed and sugary drinks with mineral water is a surefire way to lose weight and keep the body running optimally, which will be essential during the detox process of an elimination diet.

4. How to lose weight with good food: Eat foods that contain healthy proteins and GOOD FAT and limit your carbohydrates to vegetables, light fruit intake, and healthy starches in moderation. Try only eating your carbohydrates during a meal with fat and a protein, such as a sweet potato with a piece of chicken and an avocado for example. This changes how the carbohydrates are absorbed and digested and will not cause a spike in the blood sugar. Especially take the time to EAT MORE HEALTHY FAT. For people that got suckered into one of the most gimmicky marketing campaigns of all time, the low-fat craze, this may sound crazy and counter intuitive, but healthy fats are some of the most satiating and filling foods that we can eat. Eating healthy oils like: coconut oil, olive oil, red palm oil, ghee, butter, etc. Can allow us to absorb many vitamins more effectively. Fattier cuts of certain meats like dark chicken meat can actually contain important nutrients that the body needs. Most foods that are truly healthy for the human body contain SOME fat to aid in the absorption of the fat-soluble vitamins A, E, D and K, which are amongst the most important nutrients for optimal function of the human body. Organ meats exemplify this as they are extremely potent in nutrition and contain a healthy amount of natural fat.

Some examples of foods that contain a healthy amount of fat that can be very filling are:

• Coconut oil
• Hemp seeds
• Chia seeds
• Egg yolks
• Organ meat
• fattier cuts of meat
• avocados
• olive oil
• certain minimally processed organic vegetable oils
• nuts and seeds in moderation
• and full fat dairy products like yogurt and kefir along with some high quality cheeses

Fat contains the highest amount of calories per gram of food, it is natural to load up on fat to stay full for longer periods of time in nature, and eating a good portion of healthy fat, say 20-40% of our diet (just an example parameter), can help to limit carb cravings later on in the day and sustain fullness for longer. So forget about all the low-fat garbage you’ve ever been told and stop getting your fat from processed junk foods or trans fat from fast food and switch to healthy minimally processed fats from whole-foods for enhanced satiation.

5. Lose weight and adopt a vegan diet for a few weeks. This measure is a bit more extreme and I would not advise it for someone who is under a lot of stress or exercising heavily causing a lot of tissue to break down, however it is an extremely effective way to boost the immune system and organs by getting plant nutrition levels very high. Here are the do’s and don’ts of going vegan for weight loss and detoxification purposes:

Do’s:

Do go vegan consciously and eat lots of healthy vegetables and fruits along with healthy nuts and seeds.

Do eat hemp and chia seeds liberally, which contain a lot of fat, protein, fiber and other minerals.  The fiber in these seeds will help to eliminate toxins during the detox process.

Do drink plenty of green shakes containing: baby spinach or young leafy greens, do some research to see which greens may not be best to consume heavily raw as they can contain certain anti-nutrients that can be harmful in excess.  The best way to ensure you do not overload on oxalic acid for example, is to rotate your greens regularly.  One of my favorite shakes is Lacinto Kale, two bananas, coconut oil, and chia seeds and ice water.  This is a great shake for cleansing purposes.

Do eat plenty of fiber; going vegan if you eat a lot of processed foods or are trying to lose weight could mean a lot of your body’s extra energy is now going towards detoxification and heavy metals and all sorts of crap could be getting processed from your stored fat, fiber helps to attract and absorb these toxins and escort them from the body.  This is why a juice fast is not ideal when trying to lose weight.

Do make sure to eat enough calories.  Going vegan for the purposes of weight lose means you need to really make it a priority to learn new food combinations and make sure you get enough calories.  My advice is to go to nutiva.com and buy coconut oil, hemp seeds and chia seeds and use them liberally in shakes with a vegan protein powder, this will ensure you can get calories quickly whenever you need to.  Otherwise enjoy simply eating whatever you begin to crave and go buy food consciously.

DO buy organic high quality local produce for the purpose of this cleanse.

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DONTS:

DO NOT stay vegan for longer than 30 days at first, going vegan for the long term is never ideal, as it WILL lead to nutritional deficiencies and is not effective for the long term.

DO NOT BE SUPER STRICT, the purpose is to just eat mostly plant-based and living foods for a few weeks to raise your base plant nutrition levels and allow the body to detox, if you begin to crave an egg or two for example, or wish to include seafood during this entire period GO AHEAD.  Do not get caught up in the hype and egoism of the vegan fad, I am simply using this word as a label for eating nearly all plant based foods for a few weeks. 

DO NOT eat too little; make sure you are getting enough calories daily.

DO NOT go on a juice cleanse or some other silly cleanse.  Eating whole foods and getting fiber is extremely important for getting harmful toxins out of the system and healthy elimination.

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6. Lose weight by developing a relationship with your body. After cutting out all processed foods for 30 days or maybe even adopting a mostly vegetarian or vegan diet for a few weeks, you will be feeling great. Your skin will have a better glow to it, your organs and hormones will be in balance with the rest of the body, and your energy levels will be high. This is a great time to develop a better relationship with your body. Now the true growth can begin. It is time to slowly start reintroducing dairy in small amounts, or having a cheat snack once in a while, because it is important that you begin to take notice of how these foods make you feel. Once the body is functioning well and you have detoxified then we can begin to notice how certain foods affect our performance and us. This involves EATING CONSCIOUSLY AND NEVER OVER-EATING.

This is a skill and a balancing act that takes time to develop, as you will need to cultivate a better relationship with your own body. A personal example is that sometimes I am vegan for a few days, and other weeks when I am highly physically active I will consume more meat.  I try to always eat in moderation and only until I am full.  I try to always be hydrated as much as my body needs.  This takes time to develop but make sure to never OVEREAT or eat foods that will overburden your system heavily, and if you do, no biggie, do not worry about it, just focus more on how you FEEL, and strive for that optimal function that you experienced after cutting out all of the crap for 30 days.

7. Lose weight by eliminating alcohol consumption.  Alcohol is one of those double whammies because alcohol instantly breaks down into sugar in the body, is a completely nutrient devoid source of calories, and stresses the internal organs. Alcohol can do major damage to the intestinal balance and flora that we have in our guts and cause the detox systems to go into overdrive.  Alcohol is by definition poison and if you find that you drink alcohol heavily on the weekends or even lightly during the week you will want to REPLACE it with water or some of the healthy drink alternatives I described above.  Alcohol is poison and oftentimes when people get drunk they crave the fattiest most processed foods they can get their hands on, this sends the body into overload and burdens the body sometimes for the entire next week after a heavy weekend of drinking.  CUT OUT THE ALCOHOL A.K.A. POISON!! It is your health!  If you do not have a problem with alcohol and only drink a few drinks to a mild buzz once in a while on the weekend or when out with friends, do not worry about it, but if you know you could be stricter or even have to consider, just cut it out completely, it is not worth the burden to your organs.   Be the person out socializing sipping on some lemon water who gets to feel BETTER from their beverage, not crappier.

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HOW TO EXERCISE TO LOSE WEIGHT

How to lose weight by exercising for beginners:

There is one simple tip to lose weight if you are not currently following a daily exercise regimen and are wondering how to improve metabolism, cardiovascular strength, and muscular endurance; and the answer is walking.

1. Walking for 3.5miles a day or about an hour to an hour and a half, EVERY SINGLE DAY, will result in a completely improved body mass index. This means that you will not only burn fat but you will build BONE DENSITY AND PUT ON MUSCLE MASS. If there were one thing to adopt from this article it would be the 30-day elimination diet and also WALKING every single day.  This will mean that you may lose only ten lbs., however you could have converted what could be measured as an ADDITIONAL 5 lbs. in bone density and muscle mass.  Walking promotes blood flow, bone density, and muscular endurance because it is a weight bearing exercise and is actually cardiovascular in nature because you must maintain a rhythm through physical movement for the entire duration of the walk.

Stop stressing about all these ridiculous programs on TV and things that people tell you to do for exercise, just focus on getting your diet clean and WALKING EVERY SINGLE DAY. No excuses; just do it.  Walking could be vigorous in the form of a hike or a fast paced walk through the park, or with your dog, but when you need rest it can also be very meditative and help you work through stress, so there is no reason not to WALK EVERY SINGLE DAY.  Exercise for weight loss if you are wondering what to do is as simple as just walking every day.  Do not over-think it, just get walking, all you need is a pair of shoes and your legs!

2. INTERMEDIATE TO ADVANCED EXERCISE FOR WEIGHT LOSS.

High Intensity Interval Training. HIIT is training that aims to push your heart and lungs to their max (Vo2 Max) for a short burst, and then train at a steady state for a longer duration.  I like to think of HIIT as revving your heart like an engine.  It does not need to take a long period of time, have you ever seen people doing steady state cardio at the gym who never seem to lose weight?  This is because these people do not ever push their body to the limit and strengthen themselves further than what they are used to, more is not always smarter or better. [readolog_alert type=”alert-success” ]

An example of a HIIT routine would be:

Walk or jog for half a mile

Sprint at 70% of your max for 100yds.

Walk or jog for half a mile

Sprint at 80% max for 100 yds.

Walk or jog for half a mile

Sprint at 90% for 100 yds.

Walk or jog for half a mile

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Sprint at 100% and keep switching between walking and sprints for desired intervals (Start with just a few and build up as your endurance increases)

A good duration should be about a half hour 3 times per week.  Interval training is very draining as it requires you to push to your absolute max in terms of cardiovascular and muscular conditioning, and even in short bursts this can be very tough on the body.  However HIIT has been shown to dramatically reduce weight and improve the health of your heart and lungs in a shorter period of time and can elevate the metabolism for up to 48 hours after exercising! Make sure to consult your Dr. before beginning a new training program, especially one as intense as HIIT.

3. Start weight training to build muscle and lose weight. Weight training means using your bodyweight or the assistance of free-weights (no machines!) to improve body mass by increasing muscle tone and bone density. Proper and safe weight training should never cause harm to the body and will provide a pumping effect that is very beneficial to the organs and hormonal systems. Weight training will not only improve body mass, but if done in circuit fashion, it can be very cardiovascular. Think of combining the benefits of HIIT with targeted weight training and conditioning this is what circuit weight training can do for the body.

Weight training does not need to be complicated either, bodyweight training is very effective and can be done easily enough, try this workout routine.

Weight training is even more beneficial if you hire an experienced trainer to make sure you perform the movements properly and to minimize the chance of injury. Make sure to take some time to study proper form and movement mechanics when adopting a weight training routine.

AND LASTLY MAKE SURE TO MANAGE YOUR STRESS.

Emotional stress or anxiety related to your job or even too much exercise can cause excess weight gain by stressing the bodily systems. From my own experience I have learned that the root cause of most people’s unhealthy food habits comes from stress.  This is where writing down the food you eat or just being conscious of how you FEEL when you eat is so important, because you can begin to notice that you are eating because you are stressed out!  Always strive to better yourself psychologically or else all the discipline in the world may not help.  Look at the stress you are under and make a plan to start managing it and this will greatly improve your diet and the function of your body.  This will result in weight loss.

The last tip I have on how to lose weight and for sustaining your weight loss results is to have a dream or ultimate goal that is also somewhat realistic. Learn to accept the frame you have, some of us are naturally skinnier or a bit wide-set, but this does not mean that we can all not be HEALTHY AND WELL FUNCTIONING INDIVIDUALS.

My dream for my body, which I believe I have reached when I am balanced, looks like this:

Have a body that functions well, digests and assimilates nutrition well, eliminates properly, and supports me in living the life I desire and the physical and emotional stressors I will face throughout life. I want to have a healthy glow and sustained vitality at all times.  I want to have good flexibility and great muscle tone.

Notice that I do not wish to look like Arnold Schwarzenegger; I am just a skinny and lean dude naturally, so for me to wish to attain something and kill myself trying to achieve results that are not truly aligned with my body would be foolish.

So if you are a 50-year-old women who had 3 kids don’t beat yourself up over some small love handles. Stop looking at photo-shopped pictures of fake people who do not exist and focus on the glow of your skin, and how toned your butt is, because these are things we can improve that make us all feel more confident and better about ourselves.  Having a dream, a feeling, or an ultimate goal that is in line with your heart is necessary because sometimes we will self sabotage ourselves when we start to lose weight or eat right.

You need to ask yourself these questions:

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Are you ready to take responsibility?

Are you ready to be disciplined?

Are you ready for friends and family to treat you differently?

Are you ready to look and feel better and treat YOURSELF differently?

Are you ready to act and behave differently?

Are you ready to make a commitment that is physical and spiritual?

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Losing weight is about more than just the weight for a lot of people, but I believe that every single one of us has the right to achieve the peak body that we are capable of achieving. So I have given you nearly all of the information you need to start in this article, so now all you need to do is this:

Have a dream and a clear vision and take responsibility. It is no longer the time to think, it is the time to decide. Decide to lose weight and become a healthier you, you will love yourself for it.  A corny spiel on excuses would go here normally, but I just want you to simply DECIDE that you will lose weight and become a healthier person, have a clear vision and do it for the right reasons, let your heart guide you.   Here’s to good health and functional and long-term weight loss that lasts.