Before you read anything else please let me clarify a few things.  Everything contained in these pages is free, no strings attached.  I’ve been giving this free advice for years now and I am more interested in helping you achieve your goals than my own personal monetary gains.

I also know that things don’t always work for everyone the same way, so if these ideas don’t fit with your goals and objectives I understand, no hard feelings. 

Lastly the main disclaimer.  I am not a doctor and cannot make any promises or guarantees of the safety or effectiveness of any advice given within these pages.  Always consult with your personal physician before engaging in any health or fitness lifestyle changes.

 

Let me ask you a question-

Have you ever thought to yourself “I wish I could just lose 10 – 20 lbs”?

Have you ever felt like if you could just lose a few pounds, you would look and feel better, have more confidence in yourself, feel like your clothes fit better?

Have you ever just wanted to get back to the weight you were when you were younger like when graduated high school or college or even the weight you were before having children?

These are all common thoughts shared by most of us.  Naturally we all want to look and feel great and be the best that we can be.

What happened?

There are many reasons why we put on a few pounds.  Work, stress, family, lack of time to exercise and eat right.  Not to mention that we are all aging and as we age, our metabolism slows down.  Many times we put weight on over a period of months or even years.  Sometimes it happens so gradually that it creeps up on us, making it difficult to detect until we see our waist size increasing when we go to buy new clothes, or when your doctor gives you the speech at your annual physical.

What’s the big deal?  Why do we feel pressured to be thin?

For women it might be the anxiety of knowing a friend is having a pool party and knowing your body will be exposed to people you feel embarrassed around.  For men it might be looking in the mirror and realizing you are not the Adonis you once were.

The bottom line is that at one point or another the thought crosses our minds that we wish we could tilt the scales in the opposite direction and get back to a lower weight and a feeling of healthiness and having a positive image of our bodies and our lifestyle habits. 

So, where do we start?

Well, if you haven’t noticed this question has spawned a multi-billion dollar industry of gimmicks and gizmos, fads and trends, all of which seem to be anything but effective or permanent.

 

I once heard a saying that” If having a good body was easy, everyone would have one”.

Does it really need to be difficult?  Do we really need to spend a lot of money or time going to the gym, following strict regimens and subscribing to meal plans?  Although that may work for some, it doesn’t mean it is the right fit for all of us.

Chances are, you didn’t get to your current weight overnight.  So why would we think that we can get back to the weight where we started in under 30 days?  Our society is wired for instant gratification.  Cell phones, tablets, Instagram, Facebook, Amazon…..We are overloaded with outlets that allow us to instantly tap into whatever we want delivered to our doorstep overnight at the click of a mouse.  While being connected could end up helping us achieve our goals, the mere habit of being connected may actually do more harm than good both physically and emotionally?

 

So, how do we do this and where do we begin?

Well, I like to begin with my story.  Growing up I was an average kid.  Midwestern family with a meat and potatoes diet.  Growing up in the 70’s and 80’s we spent more time outside playing just because we didn’t have very many TV channels or video games.  Parents were generally strict with sweets and goodies and fast foods and processed foods were only just becoming widely available.

 

In my teens I was an athlete, played sports, worked out and generally lived a fairly healthy lifestyle.  As I got older and finished school I settled down, got married and started raising a family.  The focus in life was work and raising a family.  A few years flew buy and one day I looked in the mirror and said to myself ”What happened to that athletic figure I used to have and where did this gut come from?”

The next week I signed up at a local gym and began the road to recovery.  This wasn’t a typical diet and exercise program.  I actually took it to the extreme.  Living a bodybuilder lifestyle training 6-7 days per week and sometimes working out twice per day.  I was taking supplements and aggressively trying to grow as much muscle as possible with the lowest body fat.  This continued for the better part of 20 years.  I felt great, I looked great and I was a workout maniac.  Then my life changed.  I moved, started a new job and a new life.  I realized that although I wanted to be this extremely fit person the bodybuilding lifestyle did not align anymore with what I wanted out of my work and family life balance.

 

I did what I could to stay in shape but my condition gradually deteriorated.  10 years later, I found myself at the same crossroads.  I’m standing in front of the mirror and saying to myself  ”What happened to that athletic figure I used to have and where did this gut come from?”

 

This time things were different.  I was older (hopefully wiser), with other goals in life and products and resources had changed in the 30 years since my youth.  I told myself that although I knew how to replicate the results from my bodybuilding years, it was time for me to start working smarter, not harder. 

Anyway, this weight gain and deteriorating physic did not happen overnight, so why should I set the unrealistic expectation of it reverting back overnight?

 

Time to come up with a plan.

When health and fitness is such a big part of your life it ends of overflowing into conversations with friends and family, even total strangers.  During the periods of my life where I have been in top physical condition I have been approached by total strangers and asked for advice on how to get and stay in shape.  Sometimes this was someone in the gym, other times someone on the seat next to me in the airplane.  I gladly and eagerly shared what tips and techniques I personally used to keep myself motivated and on track.  Every time I would get done talking to someone they would always say “You should really write a book and share this with others”.

 

 So, I sat down and started to write down all of the little tricks and techniques I had used over the last thirty years to help myself and others get healthy and stay healthy.  After reading and trying all of the popular fad diets on the market I realized there were several things that contribute to the lack of long term results with the traditional approaches and fad diets.

 

First, most of them involve some kind of deprivation from what you are currently used to, or the things you enjoy.  Yes, I love food.  I really love food that isn’t the healthiest, so giving all of that up cold turkey isn’t a realistic long term strategy.

 

Others programs involve complex combinations of food, specialty foods or supplements.  Having to weigh everything you eat or drive 10 miles out of the way just to buy some overpriced food and supplements at a specialty store, just ends up being a pain.  You need a way to achieve your goals with the products you already have access to at the stores and prices that are already within your budget.  No subscriptions, deliveries or scales and measuring cups.

 

Most diet plans promise big results in a short period of time and some even deliver.  Only to yo-yo back to where you started (or worse) because the program isn’t sustainable.

Back again to-“You didn’t get in this predicament overnight, so why do you have the expectation that you can lose weight and get in shape in just a matter of days?”

 

That is why I chose the title “30 Day DIET for LIFE”

If someone says the word “DIET”, what is the first thing that comes to mind?  Probably losing weight and some kind of restrictions on the foods you enjoy.  Cutting back on carbs, sweets, chips and drinks loaded with calories.  In other words “going on a DIET”

Much of this started with the fact that the word DIET has taken on a meaning that it probably was never intended to have.  DIET at one time stood for ”food and drink regularly provided or consumed for the sustenance of life” (Miraim Webster). 

The definition we more likely associate it with today is “a regimen of eating and drinking sparingly so as to reduce one's weight” (Miraim Webster)

 

Both meanings are correct, but let me ask you this. If you want to have a positive and optimistic healthy relationship with food, do you want to look at the consumption of food as a punishment and something full of restrictions?

Or, would you like to look at food as something you use to fuel your body to stay energized, providing you with an uplifted mood and positive self-image, confidence and a sense of well-being?

I choose the later and for this reason-

 I am asking you to change the way you think about the word DIET.  If anything, it means you are in control of how you fuel your body for optimum performance and satisfaction.  Diet and lifestyle impact our mood, energy levels and overall health.  It’s time we have a positive outlook and embrace our consumption of nutrients as a means to achieve the best possible life we can live.

Where do we begin?

Let me explain the concept behind the 30 Day Diet for Life.

The 30 Day Diet for Life is a combination of tips, techniques, facts and information that is all common sense and readily available in the public domain.  All I have done is organized it in a fashion that allows you to absorb one thing at a time, each day at your convenience and at your own pace.  The goal is not to engage in memory exercises or have you taking notes.  You simply read a small paragraph each day that contains the day’s technique and try to apply it to your life.  If you do this for thirty days, you will ultimately incorporate some of the strategies into your life.  The following month you can repeat the same process or skip the days you have already mastered and fast forward to some of the techniques you might have forgotten.  It’s literally only takes a few seconds per day.

 

Remember, this isn’t something you do for 30 days and then you’re done.  This is about adopting new habits and making decisions that will impact the way you manage you relationship with food and exercise for the rest of your life.  You didn’t gain the weight overnight, so give yourself time to lose the weight in a manner that will ensure the weight stays off and the good habits you have formed stick with you.

Depending on your current body weight and level of health, a general rule of thumb that losing 1-2 lbs. per week is a rate that is appropriate for long term weight loss.  I admit, losing 10 lbs. in one week before your 20 year class reunion is very satisfying and fits in with our needs for instant gratification, however this rapid weight gain is usually a large percentage of water weight and you tend to gain that weight (+ more) back in a short period of time.  Thus the term Yo-Yo Diet was coined.

I’ve found it more effective to take the “One day at a time” approach.  Slow and steady with goal of PERMANANET weight loss.

Be realistic.  If you want to lose 20 lbs. this may take you anywhere form 15-20 weeks.  That’s almost a half year.  I know that may not be what you want to hear, but be patient and you will thank yourself in the long run.

If you want to get on a scale to see where you are at please be my guest, however let’s make it the last time for a while.  Muscle weighs more than fat.  Scales (if using different ones) don’t always read the same.  Bodies weigh differently based on the time of day.  So let’s agree to pick a starting point and although we will weigh ourselves at some point in the journey, let’s focus more on how we feel, and how our clothes fit.  Those two things won’t lie.