Hey there NAC Warrior! Today’s topic is about losing weight fast and keeping it off in the long run. To be clear, I am not in favor of losing weight quickly unless you have a medical condition. In this case, you should seek medical advice. If you still want to lose weight quickly, regardless if I am against it, four different ideas will help you on your adventure. The four ideas are:

1-Would you rather

2-Fast & Slow Cycles

3-The Why?..Why?..Why? Game

4-The fundamentals

Idea #1 Would You Rather

My family likes to play a game called would you rather. It’s a game where you must decide which of two bad scenarios you would choose. For example, would you rather eat 10 rotten moldy eggs or drink half a gallon of expired milk? It usually brings up a good laugh, and we learn a lot about each other. So, I would like to play this game with you…

Would you rather take 6 months to a year to lose weight and guarantee a life of weight control, or prefer to lose 15 pounds in 30 days or less and gain it all back in 120 days? I am hoping you pick the first scenario. There are several reasons for this, but let me share one.

Most individuals who jump into a quick weight loss program have to do things that are unrealistic and sometimes even more harmful to the body. When individuals go on such an extreme diet, the body will most likely have a temper tantrum and try to get them to stop. This will create a massive tug-of-war that does not make the journey fun. In fact, it creates a vacuum.  

By changing comfortable habits, which you have probably created for months (possibly a year or more), your body goes into protection mode. It’s been happy doing things one way, and suddenly, you shock your body. Because it is in shock, our body starts trying to find what’s wrong in the situation. The mind begins anchoring (attaching) a bunch of destructive emotions to “good habits” (assuming you chose a good program). You can see how this is a bad tactic in the long run.

At the same time, the body is acting like a vacuum, trying to get things back to normal. That is why, once you are finished, you return to how you were. Your body will see that old bad habit and start to scream, “I want that, I need it, it will taste so good and feel so good!” Eventually, you cave and restart your yo-yo dieting journey.

If you can resist losing weight quickly, I highly recommend you do that. However, if you are still going to ignore me and answer the would you rather game with, “I prefer to lose 15 pounds in 30 days or less and gain it all back in 120 days,”. Let me do what I can to help you succeed with a few more ideas, starting with Idea number 2.

Idea #2 Fast & Slow Cycles

Idea number two is all about fast and slow cycles. In my career, I received my certification in LEAN systems. Essentially, I look for ways to continuously help people do their tasks better. The goal is to find how well they do things currently. I would then set a new performance level and help them figure out how to reach it. The cycle goes on indefinitely. We can apply a similar strategy with our losing weight scenario.

I won’t go too deep into this as I already wrote an article called “Want To Lose Weight? (Then STOP Sprinting)”. The article explains that you need two plans, a long-term weight loss plan and a quick weight loss program. You would cycle through each weight loss plan as necessary while working on creating habits to fit your long-term goal. Over time you keep improving slowly by gaining new, better habits. The sprint plan is just there to keep you in check while you keep improving. While the long-term allows you to catch your breath after each sprint. Again you can read the strategy in full detail in the article I wrote. Which leads to the question? Which habits should you start with?

Idea #3 The Why?…Why?…Why? Game

If you have kids, you are probably familiar with the game why/how, or you may remember playing it when you were little. In this never-ending game, a kid usually starts by asking a harmless question, like “What is the sun?” Then you would respond, “It’s a star in our solar system that helps keep everything alive .”Then they may ask, “How does it do that?” You may reply, “Because the light does something inside plants that gives them the energy to grow.” A follow-up question, maybe then, “Why does a tree die when the sun is out and giving it energy?”…you get the point.

This same curiosity needs to be with you when you start any program. You need to learn about your body and the mental relationship you have with health & fitness. You need to understand what you like about a program and what you don’t like. What your body reacts to and what it does not. You also need to know how long it takes for your body to respond to changes. It would help to become that little kid again and ask many questions.

By asking questions like a kid again, you will know what habits will be easy to replace and which won’t. You will understand which habits you can easily do in a program, which habits you want but will require work, or are simply a no-go. The only way to do that is to ask questions about the program. Try different habits, watch what happens, decide which ones to keep, modify, or remove, and ask more questions.

Once you truly understand your body, quick weight loss becomes much easier because you can start picking plans you know will work. However, I bet you will “close your eyes” when choosing a program and hope it works to your high expectations. But I ask, why wish? Why not know by learning about yourself first and asking excellent questions. Bonus tip for you, the only honest answer to all these questions you will have will be to try it out and see what happens.

Idea #4 The Fundamentals

Are you familiar with the names John Wooden and Vince Lombardi? They were famous coaches in their profession, winning many championships. I won’t bore you with stats, but what is essential to know is that these coaches drilled the fundamentals into their players. You would think these high-performing athletes could brush over the fundamentals and practice more “advanced” techniques, but for these coaches, that was not the case. I cannot say this was the only reason for their success, but it was a big part. And it needs to play a significant role in your weight loss journey.

Going back to idea number 3, you are an amateur if you don’t know your body. Most people think they know their bodies, but they don’t because they would not be trying to lose weight quickly if they did. It would be best if you were not trying all those advanced weight loss programs. Most are money-grabbing schemes playing with the fundamentals, throwing a different dress on it, and calling it something different. Everyone is trying to play like Sarina Williams and Labron James. Yet, they have never played the sport beyond their backyard.

When it comes to our health and fitness, there are six fundamental habits that we need to master and understand how we relate to them. That’s why I created the NAC Warrior Roadmaps to help do that. I won’t go into each one in depth in this article, but they are:

1. Air Quality
2. Hydration
3. Sleep
4. Nutrition (Proteins, Carbs, and Fats, aka Macros)
5. Motion (Exercise)
6. Mental Health

Can you tell me EXACTLY how much sleep you need to be at your peak performance day in and day out? How much water do you need to drink daily (not the recommended, but your specific number)? Do you know the air quality index of where you live? Is it good or bad? What is good, and what is bad? What is your body’s ideal weight (hint: it’s probably not the one you want)? Do you know how many calories you need to consume a day? I’m proving my point to most of you. Once you master the fundamentals, then you can start playing with more advanced stuff. 

There is one habit I want to point out, though, if you’re trying to lose weight quickly. I am told by dietitians that you should be cautious when choosing any plan that RESTRICTS your calories at or below 1,300 to 1,200. If you go below this number, you can mess up your metabolism. I am not a doctor, but I would consult one before going on any restrictive diet. They should be your coach, helping you master the fundamentals. 

Those are the four ideas I would consider before you decide to take on a quick weight-loss diet. Please comment below, and let me know what you choose to do and how it goes. Also, please share if someone will benefit from this article. Till next time!