“Weight” Sells!

Weight is the topic of any number of expensive magazines that are sold in the check-out line at most retail stores. I bought those magazines for years before I found David’s Way. At one time, they were reasonably priced. Now the price ranges from $3-$20. Strangely enough, they still sell enough of them to keep rehashing the same old theme. They promise quick, easy and radical weight loss if you will only buy that book!

Without fail, there will be a type of “magic” involved in the promises found on these pages. There will be a special formula that no one has EVER thought of before. Belly fat is quite often the focus of many of these articles, although we know that the only way to lose belly fat is to lose overall. There is no such thing as “spot reducing”. If we are spared the empty promises of getting rid of belly fat alone, we are usually bombarded with exceptionally fast weight loss “tricks”. There are no “tricks”. Lose excess fat and it will come off of your belly AND everywhere else that is home to extra fat cells. If you lose too fast, you will almost surely have loose skin. Take your time and care for your skin while you are losing to keep that to a minimum.

Too Good To Be True!

There’s an old saying, “If it’s too good to be true, it probably is.” NOWHERE is this more obvious than in the weight loss and media businesses. While we at David’s Way are FREE, weight loss is BIG business. Many major businesses are raking in the cash on the pretense of trying to help you lose weight.

As I was moving through the above-mentioned check-out line, the words, “The Fat Just Disappears” caught my eye. That is exactly what I hoped for most of my life. It didn’t happen. I bought all the books and followed every quirky, miracle method of voodoo that was supposed to make the fat fall off of my body. Unfortunately, I did not do the most important thing. I did not quit eating sugar. I stopped for a little while but went back to it. As soon as I did, the pounds piled back on to my body. I felt like there was no way out.

As a result of the torture of those years, it bothers me to an extreme when I see those supermarket tabloids that spew empty promises only to get your hard-earned cash. As I perused this recent issue, I noticed a few items of interest.

It touted “drop 11 pounds a week”. Seriously? Even if you can lose 11 pounds a week, which is not likely to happen, it’s not a good idea for most people. There are medically supervised programs that allow for such drastic losses in extreme cases but the phrase to remember here is “medically supervised”. PLEASE do not try this without your doctor watching your every move. He will probably want to do frequent lab work and other things. Trying to lose weight that fast can destroy your health.

Weight Will Change!

One step mentioned in this article is to eat an average of about 1300 calories per day by alternating extremely low calorie days with more moderate days of eating. While there’s supposed to be something special about this alternating of calories, or “confusing” the body… if you average too few calories throughout the week, the weight will come off. Unfortunately, it will come off too fast in most cases and you will be malnourished. We advise losing no more than 1 pound per week. Otherwise, you will have more loose skin and be very hungry a lot of the time and just want to “get this over with” because you will be miserable. That is a “diet”, not a healthy lifestyle. Your doctor can recommend the number of calories that you need to eat. We also have the Calorie Counter Pro here that can give you an idea about how much to eat.

Nothing New

This article did address intermittent fasting which is healthy for most people IF IT IS APPROVED BY YOUR DOCTOR! Only he knows what is best for you. If you are diabetic, this could possibly be dangerous. We do agree with intermittent fasting for some people. It’s simply eating the way we ate before we had food available 24 hours a day.

After supper, we didn’t eat again until breakfast which was about 12 hours. It lowers insulin levels and insulin can signal your body to eat more and hold onto fat. Both David and I live like this most of the time. Before you try intermittent fasting, get your doctor’s approval. If you have underlying health problems, you could be headed for trouble otherwise. A supermarket magazine is not a substitute for medical care.

This article recommended eating mostly plant based meals. While this can be a healthy lifestyle, it’s hard for the average person to get enough protein doing this. I said HARD, NOT IMPOSSIBLE. Don’t confuse the two. If you are diligent to address your protein needs and you can be satisfied with mostly plant-based meals then by all means, do it. When I try to eat like that, I’m NEVER satisfied and I just keep eating until I have eaten too many carbs AND calories. It brings to mind the “Granola Hippies” that thought that they could live on nuts and seeds. Some of my fattest hippie friends never ate meat, fish or poultry. High quality protein satisfies you and stokes your metabolism. It also helps increase your lean muscle mass which is imperative for your metabolism to be healthy.

Weight Loss Ground Rules

This article also said to stay hydrated. Of course it did, right? That was presented as part of “The Magic”. Folks, if you don’t stay hydrated, you will die. Yes, stay hydrated. David has an excellent article here that can help you navigate those waters.

It also said to eat whole foods rather than processed foods. Yes, do that. Again, no “magic”, just common sense. If you do that, you will avoid added sugars and get plenty of satisfying fiber which will help you avoid over eating. We always tell you to eat plenty of whole, healthy foods and avoid processed foods and added sugars.

Part of “The Program” is to “Move every day.” Yes, I certainly hope you move every day. Do one better. See your medical doctor for a recommendation for exercise that he approves and YOU WILL DO.

An interesting item in this article was the instruction to be kind to yourself. It addressed the issue of “slipping up” on your diet. When you are progressively creating a healthier lifestyle, there is no “slipping up”. You constantly evaluate your habits and adjust accordingly.  You should never give yourself license to eat unhealthy food. If you find yourself doing that, stop. Figure out why it happened.

If it’s the people that you allow into your life influencing you in a negative way, remember one of our tenets, “Make Your World Small”. Remove negative influences from your life. If people do not support your healthy lifestyle, they do not have your best interest in mind. If it’s family that you must be around, educate them to your new habits and refuse to budge. Who knows, they might even get healthy too.

Hold onto your money in the check-out line. It doesn’t cost a penny to lose weight after you talk to your doctor.