Of course we would all like to lose weight without dieting?
But is it really possible?
I think that at some point we have all asked ourselves this question and searched and waited for the magic answer.
First, let me say that the answer is not magic.
And second, let me share my definitions of “diet” and “dieting.”
I think when we ask “is it possible to lose weight without dieting?” what we are really asking is “how can I lose weight without denying myself the pleasure of foods that I really love?”
In this sense, “diet” refers to a specific food format with dietary restrictions. With the Atkins diet, the amount of carbohydrates you eat is restricted. With Weight Watchers, the number of calories in a day is restricted. With the “HCG Diet”, calories and general nutrition are restricted!
So that’s one definition of “diet.” But the other way the term “diet” is used is to generally describe how we eat. On “Superbowl weekend, I’m on a strict diet of pizza, chicken wings, and beer”! Another example, in my personal case, would be “I eat a well-balanced diet rich in nutrients.” No foods are restricted on Superbowl weekend (well, maybe not tofu or Brussels sprouts…) and similarly, no foods are absolutely taboo in the way I eat (again with the exception! of tofu and Brussels sprouts!).
In my case, I have learned to eat in a way that allows me to replace meals that I care very little about (mainly breakfast and lunch) with an alternative that is easy to prepare, economical and high in nutrition. This leaves me free to enjoy the occasional pizza, pastry and hamburger and those rich and tasty dinners that I love so much! By doing this, I am on a “diet” that allows me to lose weight without dieting.
I know we’ve all partially fallen in love with, or at least wanted to believe, that there is a “secret trick” to losing weight:
“This simple exercise will give you perfect abs in just 2 minutes a day!”
“The Herbal Weight Loss Secret Your Doctor Won’t Tell You!”
“Eat this simple food and never diet again!”
The truth of the matter is that your body is a complicated machine and no mechanism within it works in a vacuum. With the human body, it’s more like: “most of the time” if you do THIS, then THAT will happen. But THAT can’t happen if you also did “that other thing”.
Most diets today are based on the premise that if you simply burn more calories than you consume, you will lose weight. On the surface, that makes perfect sense, and that’s why most of us accept that logic. But if that were true, and calories in and calories out were the only factors in weight loss, then why do 80-95% of diets fail within a year?
Here is an interesting story from my own experience. When I was in my early 20s, I volunteered for 3 months in Guyana, South America. For 5 of those weeks we were in the jungle and the only food we had was: a large bag of rice, a large bag of flour and a large bag of chick peas. We also had some yeast, salt, and a couple of other small items. But the bottom line was that we basically just had carbohydrates with no protein, fat, vitamins or minerals. By the end of those 5 weeks, all of the men in our group had turned into emaciated stick figures, while all of the women had gained weight and gotten fatter.
We all ate the same. We all did the same job. We all sleep the same. The only difference was our gender. Because we have different hormones working within us, each of the sexes responded to this form of nutritional (non-caloric) starvation differently.
So let me explain what I’ve learned about nutrition and our body’s responses and how I now use that information to lose weight without dieting.
First of all, you can’t discount calories in and calories out. It is an integral part of the formula. Calories play a direct role in supplying energy. But indirectly, calories are also often accompanied by nutrition in the form of vitamins, minerals, and trace elements. So, generally speaking, when you decrease your calories, you also decrease the nutrition that goes with them. We have to be very careful with that.
Equally important to calorie volume is the ratio of calories to protein, fat, and carbohydrates. I’m sure you can imagine that a 2000 calorie per day person will have a different physique consuming 15% of their calories in the form of protein compared to someone who only consumes 5% protein.
One super important factor that is often overlooked is hormone production. Human Growth Hormone (HGH) will burn fat, build muscle, and strengthen bones. Insulin will block HGH. And cortisol is the archenemy of HGH, building fat, burning muscle, and depleting nutrients from bone.
What you eat. The times you eat it. The amount of fat you already carry. Your sleep patterns. Your daily stressors. And the toxic load on your body are all factors in how your body produces these hormones. What are you doing to maximize your HGH potential and minimize your cortisol production?
Then, of course, there is the level and type of exercise you do and your body’s basic metabolic rate. ALL of these things play a role in your weight loss or gain.
Think about this “weight loss fact”: There are 3,500 calories in a pound of fat. So if you have been maintaining your weight and then decrease your daily calorie intake by 500 calories, then in 1 week (7 days x 500 calories = 3500 calories) you will have burned 1 pound of stored fat.
That makes a lot of sense and seems pretty easy.
But what happens if you replace a 600-calorie, high-protein, nutrient-dense breakfast with a 100-calorie can of soda? What would happen to his insulin level? your HGH production? your base metabolic rate for the day???
Do you still think you will lose 5 pounds in the week? I’d bet you can actually gain weight!
Stay tuned. In future articles I will go over each of these weight loss/gain factors one by one. At the end you should have the knowledge to know how to lose weight without dieting!