How to Lose Weight
You’re on a fast-moving train, comfortable on the plush seat, gazing out the window, embarking on an adventure. You have your ticket, your itinerary, and are confident in your destination. You’re excited and eager to see what this day on the journey will bring you.
But what if your destination shifts to something you hadn’t intended? What if, somewhere along the way, the train goes off the track and you’re speeding off in the wrong direction? You feel incapable of stopping the train or of disembarking—it’s now going too fast. Passively you start to watch yourself heading off towards disaster because you’re out of control. Something else now controls you. Emotions and old habits are the engineer manning the switches.
Luckily, this train is only a metaphor and you can change your behavior at any time. Attitude is key here. To get back on track, headed to where you want to go, you need to feel excited about all the stops along the way, the small stations where you affirm your direction, knowing that what you’re doing is working.
You look at the scale and see the number dropping while your muscle mass is increasing. You’re able to lift heavier weights and touch your toes when you bend over. Now you don’t feel good when you don’t exercise and you prefer eating vegetables and lean proteins instead of fatty and caloric foods. These are all signs that you’re coming closer and closer to achieving your Happy Body.
Here are the most important traveling principles to keep in mind as you embark or continue on this adventure:
First, remember the key steps to increase your metabolic rate.
- Eat every 3 hours to stabilize blood sugar levels. By the third hour, your body will start utilizing fat.
- Keep meal volume small to avoid stretching the stomach while supporting fat utilization.
- Eat nutritionally complete & high-quality foods to build muscle and avoid toxins.
Second, it’s not enough to exercise. It must be the right kind, which is a resistance workout to achieve denser bones and greater muscle mass. Stronger bodies have a higher resting metabolic rate. This is why running marathons or any kind of endurance workout is counter-productive, as it breaks down muscle and exhausts you, often driving you to overeat. If you like running, shift to sprinting instead.
Third, accumulating physical or psychological stress raises your cortisol level, pushing you into the sympathetic nervous system, which leads to weight gain. A daily stress release practice is a necessity—not a luxury—to promote calmness. To have a Happy Body you must have a happy mind.
