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| Focus on the fundamentals....Food, Food, Food! |
- Food, Food, Food! - I was inspired to use this quote from one of my favorite movies and one of my favorite actors. In the movie "Hoosiers", Gene Hackman plays the head basketball coach in a small basketball crazed town in Hickory, Indiana. Hackman is always driving home the point about "focusing on the fundamentals". Focusing on the fundamentals got them to have a successful season and win the championship. For anyone to lose weight the "fundamentals" of their weight loss program has got to be built around eating properly. That means cutting out the complex carbohydrates, processed foods, and sugars from their diets. Replace these foods with more protein (i.e. meat, vegetables, and limited fruit) and the weight will come come off. Protein is easier to digest and burn in your body, ultimately leaving you with lean muscle.
- Losing Weight is not a Sprint, it's a Marathon - This is directed at anyone that thinks taking a pill or losing weight rapidly, while maintaining the same poor eating habits, will solve your weight loss issue. Unfortunately it won't and the weight will find its way back. You have to approach weight loss with a long term mindset and tell yourself it's a Marathon, not a Sprint. Using myself as an example two years ago I was taking 20 units of insulin, working out, and weighed 178 pounds. Now I am off the insulin (taking no medication), working out, and weigh 146 pounds. I don't tell anyone I'm on a diet, I tell them I changed my eating habits and this is a "new way of life" for me, not a quick fix solution.
- Do not look at the Scale - This is a point I bring up with our weight loss patients when they start one of our Weight Loss Programs at RejuvenateYou. The last thing I want them doing is worrying about the number that the scale says. People put more emphasis on the scale and lose their focus. The focus should be on the "fundamentals" of eating properly and incorporating fitness into their life. We had a patient recently who came in weighing 173 pounds, and when she followed-up in two weeks she dropped 10 pounds and was elated. She then stayed on the diet and followed-up in two weeks, and she dropped an additional 7 pounds. She was happy and slightly dismayed. I asked her what was wrong and, and she was she was hoping she lost an additional 10 more pounds again. I told her losing 17 pounds in a one month period was fantastic, and she only needed to lose around 17 to 20 pounds total. Don't focus on the scale when you are trying to lose weight. Instead focus on eating properly and you will get confirmation from your clothes feeling looser and people will notice that you look "different". Moreover, eventually when you incorporate fitness into your "fundamentals" you will see that muscle is denser. So if I gain 5 pounds of muscle but my waist size stays the same, I have no problem with the added weight.
- Get rid of Bad Habits - When you are changing your lifestyle that means you have to rid yourself of habits that aren't in sync with your new way of life. For myself that meant giving up alcohol. For someone dealing with diabetes drinking alcohol just becomes sugar in my body, which means I have to take insulin. If drinking alcohol is such a mainstay in my life, it would mean I have to take insulin for the rest of my life and deal with health complications down the road. Instead I made a choice to cut out alcohol from my life along with following a Paleo Diet. Two years later I am off insulin and taking no medication, my blood sugar levels have normalized, and I feel much better health wise overall. I used to enjoy going to the bar and relaxing with my friends over drinks on a nice day, then regretting it the next morning and asking myself why did I do that. Now I choose to go to the gym or gravitate to individuals who prefer to eat healthy or do things involving physical exercise. It's just a matter of forming good habits and not regressing towards the bad habits.
- Incorporate Fitness into your Life - The benefits of strength training are vast such as protecting bone structure, builds muscle, makes you tone, burns more calories, plays a role in disease prevention, and improves your mood. Being physically fit and active is much better than being sedentary on the couch, which leads to watching TV and snacking on junk food. How long does a person need to train? The answer depends on each individual person. A good rule of thumb is to workout until you are pretty beat up, but not thoroughly exhausted. Muscle & Fitness has an article titled "12 Laws of Fat Burning" which states, "Serious fat loss requires you to retain muscle mass, the body's primary metabolic driver. If you go overboard in the gym, testosterone and growth hormone go into free fall, and your metabolism follows suit". Limited for time? You can always do interval training if you need a quick effective workout. This is all about forming better habits and focusing on the "fundamentals", fitness and exercise work perfectly when you want to live a healthier life.
If you were to ask me which is the most important, I would say eating properly is fundamental. As my friend Tony DiLiegro at Crossfit Strength used to say, "Abs are made in the kitchen". So if people want to lose weight, it begins with what they are eating. Utilizing all of these points mentioned in this blog will lead you to your ultimate goal of losing weight and keeping the weight off your body.
I welcome any comments or tips from individuals who have dealt with weight loss and have kept the weight off your body, or anyone who has tried to lose weight in the past and hasn't had the success they have wanted. Would love to hear your comments and share them with our readers.
Rucker Integrative Medicine helps get out patients healthy and transform their lives. For more information about our All-Natural Weight Loss Program or any of our alternative medical services feel free to call our Bradenton Office (941) 448-1199. You can also reach us on our website at www.ruckerintegrative.com or email info@ruckerozonedoc.com
