Seemingly taboo tips for losing the weight and keeping it off for good

It seems like every time I flip through a magazine these days I’m bombarded with the newest and latest and (usually) celebrity-endorsed diet craze. Yet despite all of the information out there about diet and fat loss plans, four in ten Americans will become obese in the next five years. So what does that tell you? Diet crazes and workout fads simply do not work. It’s time to try something smarter, not harder, when it comes to your fat loss plan. So, here are some seemingly taboo tips for losing weight and keeping it off for good.


1. Get off Your Low Fat Diet. Diets don’t work. If you really want to lose fat, it comes down to calories in, calories out and getting enough of the right kind of exercise. Many people wrongly believe that eating fat (even healthy sources) leads to weight gain; however, quite the opposite is true. When you eliminate fat from your diet you actually encourage your body to store fat for survival. In Debra Waterhouse’s book “Outsmarting the Female Fat Cell” she shows that upon dieting, a female’s lipogenic (fat storing) enzymes actually increase and her lipolytic (fat releasing) enzymes decrease, making it increasingly harder to lose weight. Regardless of gender, for the average person, trying to eat normally after dieting leads to weight gain (often more pounds than they tried to drop in the first place). So instead of trying that low-fat diet to lean down this summer, convince your body that you aren’t starving by eating meals that are balanced and healthy AND do the right kind of workouts. Which leads me to…

2. Stop attending aerobics class… Studies prove that people who strength-train have a dramatically faster metabolism and burn calories much more efficiently than people who do only aerobic exercise. The reason is simple. When you continually do aerobic workouts, you train your body to be more and more calorie efficient. But when you want to lose weight, you actually want to be calorie inefficient (think SUV, not Prius). If you want to see proof of too much aerobics making people hold onto body fat, just take a look at some aerobics instructors out there. According to a recent study conducted by the IDEA Health and Fitness Association, the average aerobics instructor has a body fat count of more than 20%, a very high percentage for an athlete. So, if you really want to get lean, ditch the aerobics classes and start an intelligent strength-training program. It will encourage your body to create muscle, which in turn burns through calories even when you are at rest, which is kinda as fun as making money in your sleep.

3. Be less frugal. Well, at least when it comes to your food. Being an exercise and nutrition coach, I’ve met many people who drive around in expensive cars but claim they can’t afford organic foods. I always tell these people the same thing: Drive an expensive body, not an expensive car! It’s my belief that eating high quality, organic foods is a form of health insurance. Regardless of your budget, it’s important to keep organic, high quality whole foods in your diet as much as possible. Remember, although cheaper foods might seem like a good idea at the time, there are hidden costs to buying cheap foods: overeating (because the food is devoid of nutrients), environmental damage to our lovely planet and increased risk of disease to name a few. If you’re really worried about saving, be resourceful and find ways to cut back without having to eliminate good foods from your diet (such as becoming a member of a local co-op natural foods store).

4. Focus first on Health, then Aesthetics: To me this tip is truly the most important. Yes, having a fit, toned body is a great thing. In fact, it’s why most of us go to the gym in the first place. But the number one mistake most people who want to lose weight make is focusing too much on what they look like and not enough on how they feel. How we feel throughout the day, whether it’s energetic, clear-headed and happy or depressed, groggy and sluggish, truly dictates our quality of life and the choices we make (especially when it comes to food). If you start to see working out as a means of improving your overall quality of life rather than a means to tone your biceps, you will be much more motivated to head to the gym and stick to your workout and nutrition routines. Why? Because you can’t lose weight to get healthy, you have to get healthy to lose weight. And once the number on the scale matters less to you than how you feel day to day, you will be much more motivated to get back to the gym…regardless of your biceps or abs look that day.

And remember, the best way to actually stick to your health and fitness goals is to get very clear on what it is that you want…whether your goal is to get a flat stomach or to climb a mountain, start writing down your goals each morning when you wake up and see how much easier it becomes to make changes in your daily life once you’ve set your intention.