Two big steps to weight loss are at the end of this Post, but I want to start with a client email.

Most important lesson I have learned is I now have a more balanced life w/ exercise and eating. Always needed to have both diet and exercise to feel good.

Now, if I don’t make the gym, I don’t feel guilty, just make sure I am eating good food. And the scale is not topsy curvy on me. So used to gaining extra weight over the weekends. Now eating mostly at home, the scale is my friend on a Monday morning. Might be up very slightly, but due to maybe eating bigger portions on Sat and Sunday nights vs weeknights. Between hearing it from you, and also reading it in more than one article, I was able to put it into practice.

Beautiful weather yesterday, skipped the gym, we went for long walk around the neighborhood, then cooked burgers and hot dogs on the grill, w/ salad and tons of veggies. A nice relaxing night before another busy weekend.

Alan’s still amazed at all the good food we are eating, not hungry and he no longer has his sugar cravings.

So glad we decided to do this w/ you, and not doing it on our own. Well worth every penny. You make it so easy.

I’m a recovered Chronic Dieter-Weekend Binger-Punishment Exerciser; that whole “so used to gaining weight on the weekends/ balancing my eating and exercising”, spoke to me.

Can you relate?  Maybe you have a touch of my old diagnosis, here’s some clues:  The scale goes up and down, a lot.  You convince yourself you “need” a treat because you’ve been so “good”/you have major craving/ or after all, it’s the weekend.

You wake up mornings determined to (1) barely consume a thing, and (2) burn thousands of calories via workouts.  You believe this will burn butt or belly fat.

You LIVE by the 80-20, rule, which only makes sense because since calories rule, and weight is a math issue; a 20% indulgence can easily be nullified by starving/excessive cardio.

I could go on and on, but you get it, right? It’s a miserable way to live, it’s ineffective – especially long term – and consuming.  Who wants to be consumed with their weight or their body?  Not me!  Thank goodness for wake up calls, of which I had many.

One of them was when Mark gave me Dr. Perricone’s book, The Wrinkle Cure, for my 40th birthday. (Don’t judge – that’s my kind of book and Mark knows it.) The book preached eating fats for good skin. That was a conundrum for me as I thought fat was the devil.  At 40, I was deep, deep into chronic dieting and excessive exercise. It seemed to be working, except for the constant bloat, stomach problems, asthma, blood clots, varicose veins, and total disgust I had with myself after the weekend binges.

Dr. Perricone had a lot of science in his book, and the whole “eat fat” message was being preached more and more.  It was getting hard to ignore.

Next wake-up: The “eat fat” paradigm was joined by the “eat Real Whole Food” paradigm.  Another shocker! And scary. I loved my Diet Foods.  I couldn’t imagine life without Diet Ice Cream, Diet Dr. Pepper, Diet Crackers, Diet Pizza, Diet Cereal, Diet Wraps, or Diet Desserts. (They’ve been gone for years now and I could care a less. Shows how wrong our thoughts can be.)

Further fueling my fire: I was a devout reader of all books and magazines Diet, like Oxygen/Muscle&Fitness Hers/Shape. All those women exercised like crazy, starved themselves for days, and had a cheat day.  They looked amazing and were definitely my role models.

I was brain washed.

I dropped all my subscriptions a few years ago. (Another thing I don’t miss – at all.)

Thank you God!

Thank You for the multiple wake up calls, because I’m someone who apparently only learns the hard way.

If you’re stuck in this vicious pattern, here’s a wake up call: Dieting doesn’t work.  Science and studies show that almost 99% of everyone who Diets gains their weight back.  99%!

Exercise – which is WONDERFUL – doesn’t take weight off.  Sucks, but true.  If it did, I’d weigh 50 pounds instead of 130.

Want to lose weight? Or at least get off the Roller Coaster of weight up and weight down?

Stop dieting, and stop the punishment exercise.  Eat Real Whole Foods, exercise smarter (not more), prioritize sleep, and put effort into managing your stress. Really.  But I said I’d give you 2 specific steps to weight loss.

1) Drop the grains.  White, whole wheat, quinoa, whatever.  If you have weight issues (and health issues) stop eating them.  You’ll live without your sandwich, your cereal, or your pasta.  Honest. I thought I’d die without those foods, but they’re not even a blip on my memory radar.  Try it for 3 weeks and see how you feel; watch your stomach flatten; access your energy levels/skin condition/immune function.

2) Quit the excessive exercise.  Studies have shown that it’s counter-productive for weight loss as excessive exercise (and punishment exercise) raises cortisol, and cortisol makes belly fat and prevents fat loss from fat cells. Besides, it’s impossible to out exercise a bad diet, impossible.

Lift, practice yoga, limit HITT workouts to a few a week, walk with a friend/dog/sister, or compete in your favorite sport because you love it.

Punishment exercise doesn’t work.

Two more tips:   Drop the unrealistic images -that we all hold- of what we should look like.  Magazines are photoshopped.  Actresses and models go through herculean efforts to be skinny because their living depends on it.  It’s not natural nor healthy.

Let’s be natural and healthy!

Finally, Action and Effort are necessary.  We’ve got to Plan, and then Stick To Our Plans.  Plan our shopping, cooking, packing, and workouts.

Got kids? Got a job?  Got a commute? Hormonal Issues?  Those are just details to be factored into your Plan, not excuses. They’re like the zombies on Walking Dead: we have to work around them.

That’s all for now.  If you want help, get in touch with me.  I LOVE this stuff!  You’re not doomed. You’re not destined to be overweight, or sick, or tired.  If you are, it’s just where you are right now, now where you have to be in a few months.

You could be a whole new you by Christmas!