Eight Strategies for Weight Loss Success

Most popular diets get results so long as you follow them to the letter. As long as you’re consistent, you’ll likely lose weight. Why? If you look carefully, every program ultimately reverts to the same fundamental basics once their initial induction phases, waves, hazing periods, or whatever you want to call them, are over. Stop looking for new answers, and accept that this is all you will ever have to work with…

To succeed all you need to know are the following principles:

1. Eat between 5-6 mini-meals every day. In other words, eat every few hours, no matter what.
2. Pair lean protein with complex carbs at each mini-meal*. 20-25% of your energy intake should come from healthy fats (such as flaxseed oil, salmon, and nut butters).
3. Pack healthy snacks. Making a bad choice because you’re busy is no excuse. We’re all busy.
4. Stop drinking calories (sorry, but say goodbye to lattes and juice). The best choices are water, seltzer, green or white tea, the occasional diet soda, and your morning cup of coffee (black or with skim).
5. Eat mostly unprocessed foods. That includes bars or other healthy packaged snacks.
6. Don’t skip breakfast. Your metabolism will grind to a halt. If your excuse is that you’re not hungry, I’m afraid it has already happened.
7. Move. You don’t need to go to a gym, just be active. Take the stairs. Walk to lunch.
8. Sleep. The metabolism of those who get 8 hrs a night is 23% higher than those who get 5-6 hrs. Undoubtedly this is linked to cortisol levels in the blood. If 8 hrs isn’t realistic, just try to get 1 hr more than you currently do, on a regular basis.