The confusion, frustration, and disappointment that people experience every time they try a new diet is heartbreaking to me.  Part of the reason diets don't work is that the so-called weight loss experts and gurus try to oversimplify a very complex problem by producing a plan for everyone. But let’s face it, weight loss is not a one-size-fits-all endeavour. You aren't guaranteed success with Weight Watchers or other common plans just because it worked for your neighbour. Walking on the treadmill for an hour each day may have helped your sister drop 50 pounds in four months, but it doesn’t mean that it’s going to work for you. 

One thing that I’ve learned in my practice helping people re-shape their bodies is to respect each individual's specific 'make up', which includes their history, biological and physiological traits and more.  The way we react to foods (digestion, hormonal response, etc.) varies greatly from one individual to the next, so we have to tailor our approach to diet and nutrition rather than following a generic plan that likely won't achieve anything but make it's author wealthy. Despite the logic to the contrary, everyone seems to be looking for a generic, systematic solution to weight loss, but no such thing exists.  This is why spend billions of dollars each year on weight loss efforts, but only very few are successful in the long term. 

That said, I do have general guidelines for you to follow that will get you on the right track to losing weight.  These guidelines form the foundation of your eating habits, and you should be following these protocols before attempting to individualize your nutrition.

Whole Foods
To begin, I’m always going to tell you to eat whole foods instead of processed foods. Processed foods are the foods that come with bar codes on them; you know, the ones you scan at the cash. For example, instead of having your breads, cereals, pastas, etc., start eating more natural starches such as potatoes, yams, oats, rice, etc.  Making this simple change is a step in the right direction.  Not only will you eliminate all the man-made poison entering your body, you’ll also provide yourself with some nutrients that may be missing from your current diet. And by the way, this whole foods approach applies to all foods not just the carbs.

 
This picture was taken from Paul Chek's Web Site www.chekinstitute.com

Carbs
Only 25% of the world's population is gifted to handle carbs well.  Think of your skinny friend who eats everything and doesn’t gain a pound while you seem to gain weight just by watching her eat.  Well, learn to accept the truth and live with it: if you’re not ‘carb tolerant’, you're going to have to be smart when it comes to eating carbs.  For example, consume your carbs after a training session, when your body is best able to utilize them rather than at dinner time.   By doing this, you can enjoy the variety of having non-processed starches in your diet, without sacrificing your weight loss efforts.

Essential Fats
Another very important component of all successful diets, and one that 99.9% of the population neglects, is essential fats (EFA).  You may know them better as Omega-3. I cannot tell you how important it is to include these nutrients in your diet.  Not only are they essential to our survival, they work like magic when it comes to improving body composition and more.  I’ve witnessed severe skin conditions heal within just a couple of weeks, and I’ve witnessed some impressive fat loss change in all of my clients' bodies once the essential fats were included in their diets. I’ve even seen people lessen depression by adding essential fats to their diet. 

Natural sources of essential fats include nuts, seeds, fish, and other whole foods. You can also supplement with oils such as krill oil, salmon oil, etc. but I find that most people who supplement use far to small of dosage to be effective. I’m actually a little confused by the fact many people say they worry that increasing their dosage will be harmful to their health. We have a real problem when people worry about having too much essential fats, but think nothing of eating ketchup everyday.

To start you off on the healing process with essential fats, find out what your body fat percentage is and take that amount in grams of essential fats daily. Make sure to spread out the EFAs equally throughout the day.

Protein
Quality protein is another thing that most people are missing in their diets.  If you warm your protein up in a plastic container that you got from your local supermarket, chances are it’s not quality.  Remember that protein is the only nutrient that can help you physically reshape your body, so it's important to choose well.  Start prepping and cooking your own foods, and try to include as much variety as you can, especially with your proteins. 

 

I like to have my clients include protein with each meal for many reasons.  To name a few, it helps to sustain your blood sugars, creates an efficient fat-burning metabolism, and provides and puts your body in a position to live and thrive rather than starve and die.

Keep in mind that I don’t like to supplement with protein shakes, and I will rarely recommend shakes.  I want you to learn and adapt necessary habits that will allow you to be successful long term.  You can’t live on shakes for the rest of your life and liquid meals are only good enough post workout – even then you should get a sold meal in shortly after the shake.  Having a protein shake for breakfast or lunch doesn’t teach you the importance of what we’ve discussed above: whole foods and quality proteins.

Veggies
Veggies. You know what, if you can’t have them without dip, have them with dip.  Let's get you eating them before we worry about perfecting them. Try to include some form of veggies with every meal, along with your protein and EFAs.

Eliminate Alcohol Consumption
Alcohol consumption is a major obstacle to fat loss. I don’t know how much diet and exercise effort goes to waste every weekend when you have that wine or beer.  If you’re serious about your health and body composition goals, then you need to eliminate your drinking until you get to your goals.  Once you’re there, you can afford to play around with how much you can have and monitor yourself so that you don’t end up gaining all your weight back.  The biggest mistake that I see people make is allowing themselves to drink on the weekends.  That's like a smoker who is trying to quit while allowing himself a night of smoking every week. That's not how you quit. It just doesn't work, and  drinking every Saturday is not how you lose fat.  I don’t mind if you have an alcoholic drink on special occasions, but I do mind it if it happens to be every weekend. 

Wrap up
Don’t get caught up in the latest diet trends, or even worry about finding your optimal  diet. If you have been eating processed foods and drinking on the weekends, switching to a whole food diet that includes protein, EFAs, and veggies with every meal is optimal enough for you right now.  Once you’ve mastered these protocols you can worry about individualizing your approach and progressing forward. 

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