How to Lose Weight Guide: 5 Universal Truths About Weight Loss

Excess weight has always been a struggle for me. Ever since I remember myself, I’ve always loved to eat. Like many of us, I loved to eat sweet, salty, fat and unhealthy in general. Basically anything that tastes good I would eat. To make things even worse, I have always had an addictive personality. Whenever something pleasant would come my way, I would seek ways to experience it over and over, and in large quantities. Long story short, my love for food and the disability to make realistic judgments about my lifestyle led me to develop a binge eating habit. You can read about how I overcame binge eating here: How to Stop Binge Eating Today – 3 Basic Steps!

To those of you who don’t know, binge eating is when a person consumes a large amount of food in a short period of time, and then, most-likely, feels “sad” and depressed about it. That’s exactly what I felt like. Often it got to the point where I would make myself vomit to get rid of all the food and to feel better again. None of this however stopped me from making the same mistake the same day. It is, after all, a disorder. It’s hard to stop doing it because it has already become a habit. I still recall the day when I ate a watermelon (or two), and I was full to the point where, lying on my back, I almost cried because of the pain my stomach was going through. I literally thought I was going to explode. It was a baaaad day.

My passion for food finally took its toll on me – I gained a lot of weight. I was young and overweight. I wasn’t happy with how I looked, girls didn’t think I was too “sexy” either, and I couldn’t do anything about it. I knew that I had to do sports, but that was about it. Well I also knew that to lose weight I would need to eat less. I attempted to go a day at a time without food, but failed miserably. I got so pissed off during the day of starvation that when I finally got to eat again, I attacked the fridge and ate all that I could.

2001

Years later I finally managed to drop of all the excess weight. I got very slim, and I did it in a very unhealthy way. I basically starved myself for a whole summer. It was a torture, but hey, it worked. Of course as time had passed I got into fitness, began eating healthy, became a vegetarian. I educated myself on the topic of various diets, and came to the conclusion that all the pain related to losing excess weight could be easily avoided. At the time, however, I knew nothing of eating right.

The Internet is packed with miraculous diets. Weight loss is a multimillion dollar industry that attracts millions of people annually and attempts to solve one problem for them – help them lose weight. There are now thousands of different diets, exercises, fat burners, books and many other that guarantee weight loss. Some of the diets work for some more and for others less, but the general trend is that all of them help to an extent.

The reason why most diets work is because there exists a number of universal truths that, if taken into consideration, can guarantee weight loss.

1. Calorie intake

The first truth on the way to successfully losing weight concerns calorie intake. This is the first and the most important truth. Already by knowing and following this truth alone you have solved the mystery, and will be able to become fit if you only wish. The truth states: burn more calories than what you consume. It doesn’t matter whether you run a marathon or lie on the couch watching the TV whole day long. In both cases, if the person is able to spend more calories than what he or she consumes, the arrow on the scales will begin to drop. You can do sports to speed up the process, but the ultimate goal is to eat less than what you did before. Keep in mind, however, that calories might be different. You may be getting calories that your body needs, for example, for muscle growth (proteins), or you may be getting a dose of unhealthy trans fats together with those tasty French fries…mmm… French fries…

2. Lose weight – say NO to carbs!

The second most common approach to losing weight is by limiting carbohydrate intake. Carbohydrates are extremely tasty and extremely popular in the fast-food industry. Carbohydrates include bread, macaroni, rice, all sugars, most types of porridges, etc. Imagine eating burgers without bread, sushi without rice, and mac and cheese without mac. In the case of French fries, it would mean an empty plate. Here you can probably already feel that you are missing something. However, the beauty of this truth is that by limiting carbohydrate intake, you are actually not limiting yourself from anything else. You are free to to eat proteins and fats, and you still will get great results (obviously if you don’t go overboard with fats and proteins). A very famous diet called the Ketone Diet is exactly about that – no or minimum carbs, but all the proteins and fats. Of course eating no carbs is rather extreme, but Keto Diet (in short form) is nevertheless one of the most popular diets out there.

P.S. Minimising carbs is better than minimising fats or proteins because health issues are less-likely to occur. However, being for too long without carbs can make you feel exhausted quickly even from basic exercise, and will make your thinking process also a little slow. This is common for bodybuilders that are getting ready for a competition.

3. No food before sleep

This truth has been tested millions of times by millions of people. The truth implies that your last meal should be from 3 to 5 hours before going to bed.

During sleep the processes within our body slow down and so does metabolism. Eating long enough before bed makes sure that you stomach will be at least half empty during sleep, and that the body can be “free” of excessive work during sleep. This is healthy for the body, and this rule should eventually become a habit. I practiced this for a long time, and I lost weight even though that was not my intention. By having dinner early enough I simply had less time to eat throughout the day.

2016

P.S. Don’t worry if you might be feeling too hungry to fall asleep at first. It takes only a week or two of practice, after which you will have no problems sleeping. I also noticed that if I followed this rule, I needed less hours for sleep; I woke up earlier and more fresh than usual. I guess this has something to do with the body actually spending time in the night resting instead of digesting the food in the stomach.

4. No sugar

All carbohydrates are sugars, but because this carb alone causes so many problems, it deserves to be a truth category of its own.

If you eat bread or rice, or any other carb, the body will eventually break that food down into simple sugars and use it as energy. The excess amount of sugars will turn into fat. It has been revealed that the more complex the carbohydrate is, the slower it will digest, and the more chances that it will be used as energy, instead of being stored as fat. Sugar, including that of fruits, is a simple carbohydrate that most-likely will be stored immediately as fat, unless you are using an immense amount of energy at the moment of consumption, such as when running a marathon. Are you running a marathon?

Therefore, when I drink a soda, I usually drink diet soda (I know it’s unhealthy, ok). I always say to people that drinking a soda with sugar is probably the most senseless way to ingest carbs. You get a load of them, and they make your belt smaller. 🙂

5. Less fats

Last but not least in my list is the truth concerning fats. The reason why I say less fats instead of no fats is because our body needs fats to function properly. For example, women that decide to go on a hardcore fats-less diet may miss a menstrual period. Therefore, you have to be careful with how little fats you are consuming.

Nevertheless, if you love to eat cookies, pies, cakes, brownies, and see yourself in the McDonalds line a little too often, then it is probably safe to go ahead and to stop eating all those fats. Once again, educate yourself on what type of fats are “good”, and what type of fats are “bad”. Most of the bad fats you don’t need.

Mindset

I have seen so many cases where people lose weight and then put all that weight back on. I know that there are thousands of people that complain about a certain diet not working. The truth is that ALL diets work. Most diets follow at least one of the truths mentioned in the post. The question is not in whether it is an effective diet or not, but in you. Will YOU be able to strictly follow the diet, or will you be sneaking around from others to eat a piece of pie?

You have to understand that so many diets exist because people are willing to believe and pay for something that’s new and guarantees them that they will lose weight. As long as it won’t be too painful and too difficult, we are willing to spend a lot of money on it. Just free us from the misery of not eating! The truth is that you will have to go through some work to lose weight, but by applying the truths that I have mentioned above you can greatly simplify the process and even enjoy it. The key is the mindset.

When you decide to make restrictions concerning eating habits and to lose weight, do it with 100% confidence. Only 100% confidence and optimism will guarantee success. If you feel like it, post a comment to this blog post and talk to us, let us know how you feel. I, and many others, would be more than happy to hear you out and to talk things over with you. My purpose is to help people develop, to help people grow together. In a team we can accomplish a lot more.

A positive mindset means that you are optimistic and are willing to do all it takes to succeed. A positive mindset will help you understand that weight loss is actually an amazing process that feels really good. Instead of feeling sad and empty, know that you are on the way to success. You are undergoing major changes that will make you lose weight and be more happy about yourself. You have decided to take action and are going beyond yourself. Pushing through your own barriers is one of the best feelings you can have, so enjoy it.

Conclusion

I hope it is clear that to be able to lose weight you don’t have to have a super complex scheme and have a thousand nutritionists telling you the same things in different ways. In the long run, it all boils down to the truths given in this blog post.

If you have already lost a lot of weight, great, keep it that way. Have a healthy lifestyle, engage in sports, eat healthy. I have seen people lose weight, and then I see them in the grocery store buying really unhealthy food and various sugar-based sodas. Common sense is screaming at them, telling them they don’t need that stuff, but they do it anyway, because they haven’t changed on the inside. Therefore, the goal is to be constantly mindful of your eating habits, to be in control of your desires. Be aware, and the world will smile at you.

If you have an experience to share, an interesting diet, or simply want to talk to someone, you are welcome to do it here. I would be more than happy to see your thoughts below.

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