The Simple Way to Lose Weight

Me, prior to weight loss. Still have more to go, so new headshot must wait.

I’ve lost 50 pounds with this method, which is the first time in over 20 years my weight has gone down instead of up. And, I didn’t change my diet, because it was already clean and, during the largest of the largess years, quite minimal. So, my diet was not the reason for the weight gain. Others have figured out the trick, too, but between fear and overcomplicating, most end up avoiding the very thing that could potentially save them. So, let's un-complicate it, shall we?

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Neat freaks know that staying on top of things (while requiring self-discipline) is worth it because it means never suffering the shame of cleaning up a mess that has been around for too long. This analogy is something worth remembering when it comes to losing weight the easy way: It requires up-front self-discipline, but not of the kind you might think.

It's About The When

"Overnight fasting triggers cell-renewal mechanisms that maintain function, including the brain's sensitivity to its main fuel." Fasting is a loaded word today, so let us remove fasting from the vocabulary and focus on what's important: Helping our body complete the full, daily digestion cycle, which includes clean-up and maintenance, and helps one to stay both trimmer and healthier. There are only four rules that are needed to help make that happen, easily and naturally:

Rule 1

Never, ever forget to put when you eat way, way, way before what you eat. Not that what you eat isn’t important, it is, depending on what kind of life and health you want to enjoy, but when it comes to keeping our girth at a diameter that allows for shopping in the “normal” stores, learning to seriously discipline when you eat matters more than anything else, always – with those very rare disease exceptions that need not be elucidated here.

Rule 2

Focus on when you can eat instead of when you can’t; the math is much easier, and it’s more gratifying, psychologically. 

Rule 3

Decide to have 1-3 real, scheduled (as in put thought into it, aforehand) meal “times” each day with zero between-meal snacking. Cows graze, not people. Notice how big cows are. And with zero snacking, think of the money you’ll save not buying junk food, and then think of the space you’ll have in your kitchen cupboards! So much space, now, to artfully display what you do have, making your neighbors jealous of more than just your thinning waistline.

Rule 4

Whether you are into regularity or you like to live spontaneously, do not eat anything solid or drink anything with calories a minimum of 2 hours (preferably 4 hours) before and after* sleeping. Speaking of which: There should always be 8 hours of sleep time each day, whether you are asleep or not.

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That's it, folks!

You can make the above as complicated as you want, but if your life is already complicated, then why bother? Here’s one example out of many that follows the above rules and answers a few more questions:

7 AM

Yawn. Wow. I didn’t sleep well last night, but I feel okay. I’m a little hungry this morning which is unusual, but that will pass. I’ll have a glass of water to help my body wake up and flush anything that needs flushing, plus it always seems to help me have regular, morning bowel movements, just like my kitty does each morning. I’ll put on some music, catch up on the news, and jot down or go over my schedule for things I want to get accomplished today (I always feel so much better when I get something, anything, accomplished!), and then toss in a little improvisational dance-stretch routine on the MELT roller. According to my schedule, I should have no problem making dinner around five, and I’m definitely liking this one-meal-a-day schedule. My cold-brewed, diluted dark roast coffee with coconut oil, a drop of raw honey, and a pinch of unrefined sea salt (max three mugs) does wonders at keeping me happily working without any hunger pains, which never last longer than fifteen minutes, anyway, unless my blood sugar is acting up, which it rarely does anymore since I switched to this new lifestyle. Thankfully, adding fat doesn’t make you fat, and it seems to help those blood sugar swings. I’m doing so well, I may even be able to drop the drop of honey soon. Maybe I’ll even reduce or drop the coffee and just stick to water, but I’m not ready for that change, just yet.

5 PM

Meow, meow, meow, my kitty says, and I look up at the clock to realize, “Wow! You’re right! It’s dinner time already. Where did the day go?” Let’s go make dinner. I’m loving this new Paleo meal option from SunBasket.com. I love all those meal prep companies because I have executive function disorders that make planning and shopping for meals weirdly impossible, so I ended up making the same foods over and over again, which makes my food sensitivities even worse. The best part is that I actually budget less for groceries now! I wish I could go vegetarian, but unfortunately, my body gets sick if I don’t have meat protein, but at least my meat protein needs are much lower since switching to this new eating lifestyle. 

5:45 PM

Yum! This salmon with Mediterranean style veggies is good and rocking with flavors, but I feel like I need something a bit more. Dessert, without sugar … popcorn! If I make it right away, I can get it into my meal “time” before it’s too late, because I have learned the hard way that eating too close to bedtime really does pack on the pounds. I used to think I needed to eat before bed in order to sleep because I have life-long insomnia, but since switching to this new lifestyle, … I weirdly sleep better! And even when I don’t sleep well, it’s okay. I just read or play solitaire or just lie quietly and meditate on something peaceful. Oh my, I almost forgot the other "rule"! My kitty has taught me that moving around, play-like after each meal is also key to staying slim. And my kitty is a food guzzler who stays slim, so I believe him. I suspect it has to do with movement acting as a gentle, internal push-like motivator of the digestive system. Churn, baby, churn!

10 PM

Wow. It’s ten, already? I’m already sleepy and I feel content, somehow. There’s just something about living this way that soothes the soul and promotes restful sleep, as if … as if … our body is thanking us for being consistent and not overdoing. Ooh. I forgot I have a luncheon meeting tomorrow. Should I have two meals tomorrow and call it a feasting day, or let the luncheon be my only meal? Feast it is! It’s nice to have that option once in a while, otherwise, life becomes dull. And, the body seems to do better when there are periods of feast and famine - as if the orchestrated stress keeps it fit and healthy. Besides, when Tuesday rolls around, I’m thinking of drinking plain water all day with a dash of apple cider vinegar instead of coffee. I’ve noticed that if I water-fast one day a week or a couple of times a month (and fast from my supplements at the same time, but not my one meal), I feel even better, even though I’m not sure why, yet. All I know is that it seems like our bodies need more time to rest, digest, and clean-up than our modern way of living allows, so no wonder the digestive system sweeps all the leftovers into our adipose just like what we have to do when company arrives and we’re not done sweeping the floors … oops … under the rug it goes for later! I think this idea of mine that our digestive system sweeps the debris into our superficial fascia under the skin is true, too, because I can actually feel the quality of my fascia below the skin and it is much smoother and less painful now than before. Before it felt congested, hard in spots, and inflamed in others, causing all kinds of lethargy and pain. I swear, never again will I listen to the “experts” who told me that I was anemic and needed to eat many small meals a day, etc. Terrible advice! I followed advice like this, and more, for decades, yet despite doing everything “right”, I put on 5 pounds a year, every year, for well over 20 years. I even started to hate the doctors who looked at my growing girth and then accused me, albeit indirectly, of lying to them about my diet. I don’t lie! It’s one of my worst traits! Too often I have been accused of being “honest to a fault” by just about everyone but my doctors, and it really hurts. Well, I don’t need those doctors anymore. And, with the MELT roller, I can finally fix my own back and balance problems, and now getting up and dancing a bit in the morning is a joy. I have got to talk to the inventor about using her MELT Method to help people like me with vestibular disorders; I’ll jot that down to put on my schedule for tomorrow. When I write things down before going to sleep, I sleep better. Sleeping early and rising early really does make you feel better. I was a night owl but no more, finally!

Timing Really Is Everything

Timing ... and self-discipline.
The End

*Update: New research suggests that an even earlier, narrower window is beneficial, especially for those (men) who are pre-diabetic and/or have insulin sensitivity and blood pressure problems. At some point, I may test this on myself, but it will be difficult, for I have never wanted food in the morning. In lieu of, or until I feel ready to test it, I will continue to test earlier dinner times, instead.  Some day, I hope researchers start including more women, especially neurologically sensitive women, in their trials. 

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Tremendous gratitude to Dr. Jason Fung, MD, nephrologist, for seeing the true problem, going against the grain, and blatantly speaking up in his smart-alecky way. New gratitude is blossoming for Sue Hitzmann and her MELT Method which, like my own healing system, is deceptively deep and subtle healing, and is restoring my vestibular imbalance, like magic!
 
Contraindications: If you have diabetes or other significant, organ-related health problems, speak to a physician who understands intermittent fasting rules to help you through the program, safely. If your physician is ignorant, give them a copy of Dr. Jason Fung’s, The Obesity Code, and tell him/her to read it. In general, this program is not for children unless they are getting three meals a day and omit the morning fast on school days.