let's take a look at three common myths that can hold you back and make weight loss a lot
more complicated than it needs to be. most people focus on their end goal. I want to lose 20 pounds,
I want to lose 100 pounds. by August. by the wedding. the problem with that is that any weight
loss that I achieve but is short of that goal can seem like a failure. and these large weight
losses, these large numbers, are popular because they're thrown in our faces all the time. on TV,
in commercials, on the internet. so most of us are now unimpressed with a weight loss
that's more modest, but the reality is, even a small weight loss can deliver a lot of health
benefits. for example, losing just 2.5 percent of our body weight, which for a man of 200 pounds
would amount to five pounds, is already enough to improve our glucose metabolism and significantly
lower our triglyceride levels. if we lose five percent of our body weight, which for that same
man of the example would be 10 pounds, we often see improvements in mood, Mobility,
sexual function and Pain Relief, especially for people with osteoarthritis of the knees,
for example. at 10 percent of body weight lost we see improvements in sleep apnea and fatty liver,
and at 16% we see reductions in risk of death. so even a modest weight loss that we can achieve in a
few weeks even can deliver very important health benefits, so it makes sense to be excited about
those initial changes and not just obsess over the end result and minimize our progress as we
so often do and say things like "only five pounds, this was nothing, I'm so far away from my goal,
I failed, it's not working, Etc". instead, we should get pumped about that initial change
and use it as a stepping stone to keep going. a very striking example is when we talked to
Professor Roy Taylor about his clinical trials with diabetic patients on weight loss diets,
and he often sees their blood glucose levels, of diabetics, normalize after eight days, a week,
so yeah, there's plenty to look forward to and to accomplish even in that early stage of weight
loss, it's not all about the Biggest Loser range of numbers, the hundreds of pounds lost.
the second myth is this idea that, if only I can lose this weight, then everything will be easier,
so I'll do anything, crazy diets, things that jeopardize my long-term Health, as long as I can
shed this weight, then I'll be done. the reality is that losing the weight is the easiest part. the
hard part is keeping it off. it's super common to see weight loss in clinical trials with a number
of different interventions. low-fat diets, low carb diets, Mediterranean diets, any way
that you can help people cut back a little on the ultra processed foods, the pizzas, the soda, the
ice cream, the weight usually does come down. so that's common to see and it happens pretty quick,
but what's also common is that after that initial drop the weight loss stalls or even bounces back,
and we all know people who yo-yo, lost some weight, put it back on and on and on and on,
so that's the real problem. when we lose weight our body starts using less energy
to maintain its physiological functions, it's called resting metabolic rate, basically the
energy needed to keep the body running at rest without accounting for physical activity on top,
right? so that goes down with weight loss, but even the physical activity now requires less
energy, because you're moving less weight around, so less energy required to get up from a chair,
less energy required to walk somewhere. this can create a lot of confusion, because people
often say "well, I kept eating the same and I stopped losing weight, or even gained weight,
so obviously calories don't matter". in reality it's actually an example of calories mattering,
because your body is actually burning less of them. of course it's possible to overcome these
hurdles, they're not insurmountable, of course it can be done, and the secret is to find sustainable
habits that support your long-term health, so basically focusing Less on the weight loss
and the numbers and the end result and more on instituting the habits that are going to do the
work for you. once that's in place, the rest kind of takes care of itself. okay, the last myth is
the idea of the set point, that each one of us is programmed genetically for a specific weight and
we can't change it. definitely not true. now, there is a level of physiological resistance,
your body kind of works against you when it comes to losing weight and then it helps you regain it,
so regaining is much easier, we all know that, but it's not true that we are stuck to a specific
set point, we can totally change it. okay, so what are some of the key habits that help us
overcome this resistance? obviously, finding a diet that is satiating for you without going
overboard on the calories is absolutely crucial. now, you'll hear all kinds of ideas online,
weight loss is about the carbs, it's about the fat, it's about the animal Foods. let's be honest,
nobody is getting morbidly obese because they ate too many eggs or too much oatmeal. what
packs on the pounds is what people put on top of those Foods or on the side, it's the ultra
processed foods in excess, on a regular basis. the pizzas, the soda, the Pop-Tarts, the ice cream,
the cookies. we know this because cutting carbs or cutting fat is about equally effective for weight
loss calorie for calorie, and vegan diets and high animal food keto diets can all work for weight
loss, whereas a diet rich in Ultra processed foods has been shown to induce overeating,
and it doesn't matter if it's low carb junk or low fat junk, if it's calorically concentrated
it's probably going to push you to over consume. the exception to that rule is low calorie stuff,
like artificially sweetened sodas for example, those have been shown to help with weight loss
when compared to Sugar sweetened beverages, we covered that recently. most Whole Foods,
unprocessed or lightly processed, in general will be more satiating, so they help us get around
those physiological traps including the hormones that can also work against us, when we lose weight
our body produces less satiety hormones and more hunger hormones so the net result is that
we're hungrier. when we hear people fighting on the Internet, "it's all about the calories. no,
it's all about the hormones". this is an internet thing. of course hormones play a role,
and of course calories matter. in fact, they influence each other, it's not mutually
exclusive. if we eat less, we lose weight, hormone balance changes, we might get hungrier, eat more,
put on weight, hormones change again, so it's like a crosstalk. so one key is going to be
finding healthier meals and healthier snacks that fill us up and satisfy us with less calories. for
some people that's going to be fruit or nuts or an egg or yogurt, maybe unsweetened yogurt,
or a carrot or an avocado. it can be different for different people, probably will be,
but the commonality is that they'll be foods that make your body work a little harder to get to the
nutrients than soda or a cookie. now, some people like elimination diets like low fat or low carb,
they are simple and they can help, lots of people do well on them. personally I don't
think about macronutrients much, how much fat, how much carb I'm eating, I just think in terms
of food quality. I don't limit quality fats or quality carbs, but I do try to minimize Ultra
processed foods like cookies or frozen pizza. by the way, minimize doesn't necessarily mean
avoid like the plague, if I feel like eating something less healthy once in a while, I do it,
I'm not worried about it as long as it's not a regular thing. for some people it can be a
slippery slope and they can't control themselves and are better off not even dipping their toes,
so you have to know yourself. and by the way, this isn't just a willpower thing, Imaging studies show
our brains react differently to repetitive stimuli like pictures of food and people with more intense
responses in the dopamine circuits, our "pleasure centers" are the ones at higher risk of weight
gain. this suggests resisting temptation may be a much more uphill battle for some of us
than others. in martial arts it's often said the only fight you win is the one you avoid.
it's much easier not to succumb to Temptation if you're not exposed to it in the first place.
so avoiding Temptation may be a more effective strategy than trying to fight it. changing your
environment can be critical, controlling what foods you have at home and where you spend most
of your time. another habit that is crucial but totally underestimated is sleep. studies show
people can gain two pounds after only five days of sleep deprivation, mainly by eating more and more
caloric foods. and of course exercise can play an important role by raising energy expenditure
and improving your outlook and overall mood. and for people who have more difficulty and need them,
pharmacological tools and even surgery can be indicated and can be transformative in the right
cases. you know what I found works really well for me and it's almost silly? drinking more water.
sometimes we wander into the kitchen almost on autopilot and we're trying to nibble on something,
I drink one of these and I'm good for like an hour. I'm probably cutting 100, 200 calories a
day by drinking a bunch of these. not fancy, not a sexy life hack, but you know what, sometimes the
simplest stuff is also the most powerful. another one, really silly, we make a big pan of soup,
time for a meal, I get a bowl, fill it with soup, and whatever I was going to eat I just throw in
there, so I eat a lot of lentils for example, I'll throw the lentils in a soup, but it works
with anything, slices of an egg, piece of fish, I end up eating less than I would on a plate,
the water fills me up and the base of the soup is vegetables so I'm getting those in as well.
so I'm killing like four birds with one stone. if I'm not satisfied, I'll have another bowl.
and I'll throw more stuff in there, I don't stay hungry, I'm never thinking about food,
this works great for me because I love soup, for those who don't, just use the logic and try
to apply to something that works for your taste. and if you've lost a lot of weight successfully,
please share below what strategies work for you so we can all learn. and here's more information
on weight loss and the role of carbohydrates and fat, and here more on intermittent fasting
for those who want to explore that route. totally valid. take care, see you next week