How to Lose 100lbs the Boring Way

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That’s right, you’re about to see another ‘extreme’ weight loss makeover.
As a culture, we’re fascinated by these transformations. We’re eager to watch as people suffer through arguably inhumane training conditions on national television programs in order to see those astonishing ‘after’ pictures everyone in the office talks about the next day. It’s sensational. It’s dramatic. And—truth be told—the fitness professionals that have such a story on their resume are proud to have guided someone to such an incredible feat, regardless of the path taken to get there.

I’m one of those professionals; but my client’s story is different. It’s not sensational; it’s boring. Watch to understand why:


Inspirational? Sure. Amazing? Yup. Boring? I’d say so. Why? Because there’s no magic pill, no miracle supplement and no celebrity diet fad attached to this success story. Where’s the marketability and profits to be made? David’s path is one of common sense. It goes something like this: Prioritize long-term health in your life and the short-term aesthetic goals soon follow. It’s just good ol’ fashioned healthy living focused on the six Healthy Lifestyle Principles: Real Food, Movement, Rest & Relaxation, Lifelong Learning, Community and Love.

Truth be told, I’m not completely innocent though. There was certainly a marketing purpose operating behind-the-scenes during the time I worked with David. He was a case study for my book to show that a total Lifestyle Transformation—focused on the six principles mentioned above—precedes a body transformation. Sure, I may have been trying to prove something that can be considered common sense, but common sense is rarely common practice. And when you actually focus on the basics of healthy living—without all the bells, whistles, smoke and mirrors—the real issues that impede a person’s progress towards health begin to surface. And that has everything to do with behaviors and habits.

Allow me to explain.

Most people know what healthy living looks like. Fruits, vegetables and hikes through nature? Healthy. Candy bars, soda and sitting on the couch all day? Unhealthy. When people fail with their health and wellness goals, it has nothing to do with knowledge. We have all the knowledge we ever need. And if we don’t have it, Google does. What we lack are tools and the ability to practically and sustainably apply what we already know about healthy living. This is what my time with David and all my other clients really brought to light. It’s also why my experience with David completely changed the structure of the book he was a guinea pig for.

David’s Lifestyle Transformation started as a program with specific protocols and programs. But very soon the program transformed from a boxed cookie-cutter approach to one focused on identifying bad habits specific to David’s life that were causing the unhealthy choices to begin with. David had lost significant weight before using different methods, but unfortunately it all came back; plus some. So even though some would argue that his program ‘worked’, in the long-term it actually didn’t since the solutions were short-lived and obviously not sustainable. The program may have provided nutritional and exercise guidance, but it failed to address the underlying cause of his unhealthy behavioral patterns. Once we substituted some bad habits for good ones, healthy choices were on auto-pilot rather than forced and energy-draining. After all, healthy living shouldn’t require excessive amounts of willpower; it should be the norm.

Instead of worrying about diet plans, David developed healthy eating habits like slowing down and stopping when he felt satisfied rather than full. He made movement a habitual part of his daily life rather than focusing on specific exercise programs. He made his most significant progress in times of rest, when he allowed his body recover from the cumulative stresses of his everyday life. And the glue that held his healthy lifestyle together was his focus on mental and emotional techniques that helped keep emotional eating and binge behaviors at bay. It was the entire lifestyle that mattered; with the whole surely be greater than the sum of the individual parts.

In the health and wellness world, real problems arise when weight loss is prioritized over health. You have to forget magic bullet solutions and focus on the foundation of what builds a healthy life, the six Healthy Lifestyle Principles. The search for shortcuts may result in short-term progress, but it’s usually at the expense of long-term health. The human body—and how to keep it healthy—may be complex subject matter, but as my mentor Lenny Parracino engrained into my psyche, something complex isn’t necessarily complicated. Sometimes simply addressing just a few seemingly small bad habits can create a lifestyle—and body—transformation.

Luke Sniewski, Lifestyle Coach, speaker and author of Million Ways to Live. He is currently traveling around the world to show how people in different cultures live by the six Healthy Lifestyle Principles: Real Food, Movement, Rest & Relaxation, Lifelong Learning, Community and Love. His aim is to empower people to take responsibility for their own health and become their own wellness guru. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

www.lukesniewski.com

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