Real Advice from Odom’s Weight Loss Doctors
Scroll down for the weight loss tips or start here to read the logic behind this post. There are several pieces of advice I received during my education and training that have stuck with me. One statement from a nationally recognized professor has influenced my approach to counseling weight loss (I’d rather call it body composition optimization but that is a mouthful.) in a way that influences how I approach each “program” I create:
“In weight loss counseling, there are science-based protocols, there are small behavior changes that add up and then there are the ideas and words you “package up” that actually work.”
We know that the weight loss industry, fitness industry and supplement industry are multi-billion-dollar enterprises. We hear success stories. We try this and then that. We can’t make it stick. We get motivated and inspired. We jump to the next plausible solution that Dr. Oz mentions. How do you know what will actually work for you?
Best Reasons to Lose Weight
There are hundreds of reasons you want to lose weight: trying to lose the baby weight from your 25-year-old son, running your first 10K this year, waist increase from the stress of your new business. You who have been healthy and active most of your life, ask yourself this:
- What are your words and ideas about weight loss?
- What science-based strategies you have tried?
- What are the eating and exercise behaviors that you struggle with?
- What has worked for you and what hasn’t?
We would likely receive countless different answers from the over 1,000 people that read this newsletter each week. The fact is weight loss is tricky and individual. Your logistics of life can make the experience frustrating or exhilarating. There’s no one-size-fits-all answer.
Weight Loss Solutions Designed for The Individual
You hear tons of self-proclaimed “nutritionists,” dietitians, weight loss centers, food manufacturers, fitness chains, doctors, celebrities and “programs” tell you they have your solution.
The reality is only you can help us figure out what combination is YOUR solution. There isn’t necessarily harm in looking at the latest tips and tricks and lists thrown at you, but you’ll only achieve real success by packaging those tips up into a plan with attainable goals.
So, when you read this list, decide which of these action items you actually want to do and then set your goal. If you’re looking for an additional boost, our team is always available to customize the research-based strategies, experience-based tips and meal plans that can optimize you success. We’ll devise an individual plan based on your health history, your lifestyle and your goals.
10 Weight Loss Tips You Haven’t Heard Before
- Fiber. Take 1 teaspoon to 1 Tablespoon of fiber (no sweetener added) in the morning and in the evening. Remember to increase your water intake with the fiber.
- Fasted Incline Walking. It’s true. Walking at an incline in the morning before eating breakfast can push you into fat burning quickly and effectively. You should be able to talk or hum while slightly out of breath. But you don’t want to be able to sing and you don’t want to be panting out of breath.
- Bulk vegetables. Stock up on vegetables you like and know how to prepare and do NOT let them go to waste. Rotate your stock so nothing goes bad and continue to eat several helpings daily.
- Progress Pictures. Take weekly progress pictures in the same location, same background, same lighting and same angles.
- Pause, don’t break. We know about SMART goals but sometimes we delay or put off the goal for vacation, birthday parties, the holidays or stressful seasons of life. Set your goals and stick with them. When something comes up, set time for a pause. Example: take a two hour pause for anniversary dinner; 15 minute pause during happy hour; 1 hour pause per day on vacation.
- Inches and percent body fat. Measure your progress in inches and your percent body fat instead of the scale. The scale doesn’t tell the whole picture. (We do monthly measurements at the Minnetonka clinic for people all the time.)
- Limit beverages. Only drink water, green tea and black coffee. That’s it.
- Food prep. Food prep is part of your job as a productive, upstanding human being. Schedule it in just like you would a meeting for work.
- Brown bag lunch. Bring your lunch to work. No exceptions. Pack your lunch the night before or in the morning. And only eat the food you prepare and bring with you. If you have business lunches or entertain clients, eat before or after the meeting. Order food with everyone else, take only a few bites and bring the rest home for later.
- Manage appetite. Eat when you are truly hungry and stop right when you are full. Simple but it works!
Create Your Custom Plan and Start Losing Weight Today
Easy weight loss tips and tricks only work if you adapt them to your unique needs. Your health history and your body type are different than anyone else’s. With clearly defined goals to motivate you, you can lose weight under a medically supervised program. Schedule a weight loss appointment with Odom today and let’s construct a plan that finally works for you.