The High Performance Journal - February 13th, 2024

The other day I was having a conversation with a client who signed onto our practice around 3 years ago.

Neil had lost and gained back the same 30 lbs over 5 years. He would lose the weight, feel great, then slowly gain back the weight feeling defeated.

He did this 3x over the past 5 years and he was about to give up before working with us.

He hoped we'd be the final solution but when we first met I had some sobering news for him:

Around ​80% of people who shed a significant portion of body fat will regain it back after 12 months​. One meta-analysis showed that ​dieters gain, on average, more than half of what they lost in 2 years​.

These are not great odds but Neil was determined and he had help on his side (aka. the team at High Performance Founder).

Fast forward a few years later and Neil has dropped 33 lbs and kept it off for the past 2.5 years:

I'm proud to say that Neil is a completely different man now. 

3 Reasons People Gain Weight After Losing It

1. Hormones: When you lose weight your body fights back by manipulating your hormones. Ghrelin is your hunger hormone and it increases making you hungrier. Leptin is your appetite hormone and it decreases making you less full when you eat.
    
2. Unsustainable methods: When the average person tries to drop pounds they do it through a variety of methods that don't work with their lifestyle. Examples include eliminating entire macronutrients (aka. keto) or simply not eating (aka. fasting). They may lose the weight fast but they put it back on even faster.
   
   
3. Weight loss over lifestyle: People are so desperate to lose weight they obsess about the number on the scale over the person they're becoming.
   
   

The good news is there is a solution if you know the right things to do.

So in today's article, I'm going to reveal to you the 5 secrets we use in our coaching practice to help our clients keep the weight off.

So if you're down for that let's go!
 

5 Secrets To Losing Weight And Keeping It Off Forever

Secret #1 - Restrain The Brain

In a world of food abundance, there needs to be some level of restraint. This could be in the form of calorie counting, low-carb, fasting, etc...

When working with Neil we chose to use Time Restricted Feeding, which means eating meals within specific times.

We matched his eating times to his circadian rhythms​ and this worked for his lifestyle.

Initially, we counted calories to gain an awareness of the foods he put into his body but after 12 weeks we eliminated that and had him follow his meal schedule.

Key lesson: To keep the weight off you must choose the form of restriction that feels the LEAST restrictive for you. This will vary from person to person.

Secret #2 - Keep Yourself Honest

The people who lose weight and keep it off in the long term have a habit of self-monitoring. This could be weighing themselves, measuring themselves, or something else.

For Neil, we got him into a habit of weighing himself every day. He was anxious at first as he usually avoided the scale but over time he got used to doing it. He eventually saw the number data much like the numbers he sees in his business.

To take this a step further, we got him to take measurements while doing DEXA scans and blood work every 6 months.

When it was all said and done he had a set of numbers he could track to make sure he was on the right path.

Key lesson: You need a set of KPI's (key performance indicators) for your body to ensure you're on the right track and staying honest to the process.

Secret #3 - Daily Activity

Exercise doesn't work that well for people trying to lose weight initially but it's ​amazing at helping people keep it off​.

The reason is that exercise helps improve satiety by sensitizing your brain to your body's hunger signals and hormones.

For Neil, he loved playing tennis so we had him do 2-3 sessions a week and it became an enjoyable way to get movement in.

We also had him lift weights and he fell in love with the process of getting stronger in the gym.

We found a form of exercise that worked for him that he could see himself doing and that helped in a big way to get him to keep the weight off.

Key lesson: Find some form of exercise you can see yourself doing for the rest of your life. This will evolve but it's a good rule to follow when it comes to exercise.

Secret #4 - Make It Sustainable

If the ways you use to lose weight are unsustainable, you won't keep your results.

The big secret to helping Neil keep the weight off was slowly evolving his food choices but also adding flexibility.

This meant that he was getting 80-90% of his foods from ​single-ingredient nutrient-dense sources​ while still having his favorite foods and the odd alcoholic drink with his family.

The truth is, you're not going to stick to a way of eating if you hate it. Willpower can only take you so far.

Many people spend so much time thinking about what the ‘best’ diet for weight loss is that they never stop to ask themselves what type of diet they enjoy most.

Note: One caveat to this is the fact that most times we need to do some unsustainable things (ex.. tracking foods) to get to sustainability.

Key lesson: Long-term results are better amongst those who allow for more personal preference. Find a way of keeping the weight off that works for you and your lifestyle.

Secret #5 - Evolve Yourself

Regardless of how much weight you have to lose you can't be the same person if you want to keep it off.

Before working with us Neil had an identity of being the "fat guy".

Over time, he changed his self-image to become a healthier version of himself.

In a recent review of successful weight loss maintainers​, the researchers identified that successful weight loss subjects spoke about having to "form a new identity".

You can't take your old you into your new body.

Key lesson: To keep the weight off you need to evolve who you are as a person.

This Is How You Lose Weight & Keep It Off

One thing I need to add is that we gave ourselves a long time horizon to make these changes.

It takes 21 days to start a habit, 90 days to start a lifestyle, and anywhere between 1-2 years of consistent effort to become a different person.

Change takes time.

If this is something you've been struggling with then I suggest giving yourself the time you need to make the changes necessary.

Print out this article and use it as guidelines for losing weight for the rest of your life and if you're an entrepreneur or busy professional who needs help in this part of your life then read on.

Onwards and upwards 🚀

- Dan

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