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brightlynested · 6 years ago

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At 41 weeks + 3 days and 4 membrane sweeps later…

I woke up Saturday morning, August 11th with mild contractions that were 20 minutes apart. They weren’t painful but I was pretty sure they were contractions because they were 20 mins on the dot for a few hours. So that morning Chris made breakfast for Kinley & I and then we headed to the grocery store to get a couple things we needed.

Towards the end of my pregnancy my midwife said we should have sex two times a day until the baby came to continue to ripen my cervix, so at 11:00 AM we put Kinley down for a nap and decided to “do it” (sorry if you’re reading this Mom & Dad! Lol!). We knew that if this was the real thing, it would kick start/speed up labor. Plus we figured, “doctor’s orders!” Haha

That immediately threw me into labor. Right off the bat, contractions were 3 mins apart. I was in shock. Could this really (and finally) be the real thing?! After an hour of contractions 3 mins apart, I called my midwife to talk it over with her. She had said sometimes sex can bring on contractions like that and then slow down a few hours later. She said I could come in if I wanted to, or stay home to labor as long as I felt comfortable doing so. Even though they were 3 minutes apart, I still felt like I had time on my side and felt comfortable staying home. The contractions eventually slowed to 5-6 mins apart, but they were definitely getting more intense. This was definitely the real thing!

Around 1:00 PM I called my bestie to come over to help us with Kinley while I continued to labor at home. I walked, and walked, and walked around my house ALL DAY. It was a hot summer day so instead of going on a walk outside we opted to stay in in the air conditioning. I wanted to stay as active as possible to keep things moving and also bring the baby down with gravity. When my legs got tired I sat on my birth ball and bounced and rolled my hips. The contractions were completely manageable all afternoon.

Around 7:00 PM (8 hours into labor) I knew it was time to head to the birth center. I started to get the “shaky labor legs” and the contractions were intensifying so I knew it was time to go. We still had a 45 minute drive ahead of us so I figured we needed to hit the road before things got too much more intense. When we arrived, my midwife checked me. I was 4 cm dilated, fully effaced, with a bulging bag of water. I was happy I was at least that far along.

For the next hour and a half I walked around the room continuously as I breathed through contractions. When I needed a break from walking, I would sit on the birth ball to bounce and roll around as much as I could. I would usually walk for 5 minutes and then sit on the ball for 5 minutes. I knew staying active would help move things along and I had prayed specifically for a fast labor. At 10 PM my contractions were 2 minutes apart and my midwife checked me again. I was only 4.5 cms dilated. She asked if I wanted her to break my water and I immediately said, “YES!” After she broke my water I got into the birthing tub to continue laboring.

Things picked up QUICK! Within about 30-45 minutes of laboring in the tub I asked my husband & midwife to grab the trashcan because I needed to throw up. I knew I was entering into transition which was 7 cm. Feeling nauseous and throwing up is usually a sign that you’re entering into transition.

I couldn’t believe that I was already 7 cms in such a short amount of time, but I could also feel the contractions intensifying. Up until that point the pain was totally manageable. I had told my husband right after I threw up, “Wow, I’m surprised because the contractions only really hurt for about 15-20 seconds (at its peak) and the rest of the contraction is totally manageable.” But it seemed like it was only 1 minute later that I was grueling in pain for 2 minutes straight through each contraction. I knew I had passed 7 cm and was now somewhere between 8-10 cms.

Each contraction hit me like a massive wave and I was doing my best to stay relaxed and breathe through them. Staying relaxed is one of the most important things you can do in labor. If you are tense, your cervix can also tense up and it can stall or even stop labor, so I was trying my best to hold on and stay calm.

Before I knew it, I heard myself REALLY vocalizing through each contraction. I had to because it was the only way to keep from screaming although eventually there was some screaming— and that was okay! I knew not to resist the sounds my body was making because as I screeched trough the pain I knew my body was doing everything it needed to do.

I finally reached the point where I felt like I couldn’t take the pain. Panic set in for a moment as I wondered how much longer I had to hold on. But in that moment I remembered reading several birth stories where other women got to this same point and the very next moment the baby was born. This gave me hope she was about to be born.

My midwife began reassuring me that I was SO CLOSE. I wanted to believe her, but I was wondering if she was just telling me that to comfort me or if she was serious. The date was August 11th and my sister’s birthday is August 12th. My sister was praying hard that Harlie would be born on her birthday. I remember glancing at the clock at 11:30 PM as my midwife said, “Your baby girl doesn’t want to share birthdays with your sister, she’s going to be born before before midnight.” “Really?! I thought. Was she being serious?! I pray to Jesus she is being serious!”

Immediately after I remember thinking, “the pain of these contractions are so intense, I can’t IMAGINE pushing during a contraction to get her out!”

But then suddenly, I pooped.

You might be wondering why I included this, but it’s actually a fascinating part of the story! When your baby is about to be born, the baby descends deep into your pelvis and your colon literally gets flattened, therefore you poop! No need to feel embarrassed, it’s 100% normal and something that just happens in childbirth. The cool thing was, my husband said the moment after I pooped, he saw my big, huge belly all of a sudden drop and almost flatten. The baby dropped deep into the birth canal and she was ready to make her debut.

The next moment I screamed, “HERE SHE COMES!!!”

I knew it was time to push, no one had to tell me. I very much wanted and prayed for this feeling. I told my midwife prior to birth that I did not want to be managed in the pushing phase and that I wanted a physiological birth, meaning I would follow my body’s lead on what to do because it knows exactly what to do on its own.

I began pushing and it was completely instinctual. I never told my midwife I was going to push and she didn’t say a word other than “GREAT JOB! GREAT PUSH!!” After 4 minutes of pushing, she was born! I was in complete shock!

Within 1 hour and 45 minutes of my midwife breaking my water, I progressed from 4.5 cm dilated to my sweet baby girl being born!

She weighed 9 lbs 6 oz and was 22” long!

Prior to birth, I prayed specifically for a few things: no tearing, no hemorrhoids, and a fast labor. Low and behold with a 9 lb 6 oz baby, I didn’t tear, I had no hemorrhoids, and my birth could not have been any faster. My mind was blown, and still is, how God answered each and every one of my prayers specifically and intentionally!

Delivering the Placenta

Did you know that after you deliver your baby, you have to deliver your placenta too?

After Harlie’s birth, I had to then deliver the placenta about 20 minutes later. After a few pushes it was out. After I delivered it, my midwife brought it over to show me how fascinating it was.

Previously I thought placentas were gross, but she really opened my eyes and showed me how amazing they are! (Seriously google how amazing placentas are, its fascinating!!)

As she was explaining how amazing placentas are to me, she told me she was particularly amazed by mine for several reasons. She took it over to the scale to weighed it and said that it was two times the size of a normal placenta. The average placenta size is around 1 lb and mine was over 2 lbs! She also could not get over the “health” of my placenta and said, “this does not look like a 41 week placenta! This looks like a 37-38 week, thriving placenta!” She said typically a 41-42 week placenta tends to not be as healthy because its losing its ability to nourish, but that was not the case for mine! She then went on to say that the health of my placenta is why my gestational age is past 41 weeks, and I should expect to go that long every pregnancy! I thought that was a really awesome fact and is a good reminder to eat healthy during pregnancy because you are nourishing your baby and your own body!

Funny side story:

About an hour or two after the baby was born, the nurse walked me to the bathroom (attached to the birthing room) to go pee and take a shower. After I went pee, the nurse stood me up to help me get into the shower. All of a sudden I got really dizzy and my arms and legs began to shake so I told her I needed to sit back down on the toilet to rest for a minute. Next thing I knew the strong scent of ammonia was hovering under my nose and I woke up to my midwife saying, “Welcome back!!” with a huge smile on her face.

“What? Did I pass out!?” “Yep you did, so we are going to postpone that shower until later!” We all had a good chuckle as the nurse helped me back to the bed. They said that my body did such a tremendous amount of work that I was just very depleted of nutrients. They told me I needed protein, carbs, and water - so good thing my bestie packed me a bagel, protein bar, and smart water in my labor bag just before we left the house. Mama straight HOUSED that food as soon as I laid down on the bed :)

Anyway! I hope you enjoyed the read! Harlie’s birth is sooo special to me and I pray I have another one just like it! Yes, labor is painful but it’s the best type of pain— the pain of bringing a child into the world! Birth doesn’t have to be a horror story, it can actually be a dream come true.

XO,

Christi

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just-keep-breathinggxx · 5 years ago

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ayyo whats up

I haven’t been feeling like posting daily recently soz. this past week has been a bit crazy for me. i’ve been logging on mfp of course tho. convenience in just logging weight and calories rather than my day’s events and emotions. the point of this is to see trends in my emotions and eating habits bc duh emotional eater here. ig starting where i left off. Monday my parents left for a 5-day hike, so i was left to my own devices for a while. Tues June 4 I was pre-occupied with trying to schedule my weekend and somehow still go to a twenty one pilots concert. I hit the 1200 cal limit (just over actually) mostly bc I had potato salad for dinner and chocolate chip cookie from wawa left over from the day before. Again, its all about convenience... maybe i should start meal prepping so its “grab n go” convenience all week. Anyway Wed June 5 I was able to snag top pit ticket for about $50 which is hella cheap (face value was $100) and sold my tix for the AC show (for below face value, but enough to pay for my other ticket). I was able to fast til the afternoon. Went to Sorrentino’s for a high fat Porkroll and Cheese sandwhich and got half a turkey and cheese sub for later. Also drank a sugar-free 8oz redbull on the way to newark and a bud light tall boy when i got there. Only ate half of my half sub so what that’s like 3 inch sub? quarter of a whole sub? Anyway my calories for Wed was under 1000. Thurs June 6 I woke up starving so ate the other half of my turkey sub for breakfast. I didnt eat again all day til like 7 pm. I really gotta stop going to wawa bc I always end up getting a milkshake and cookie with my sandwich (chicken bbq strip hoagie = 520 cal) which always sends me over 1200 cal. Didn’t eat the cookie though bc 16 oz milkshake is a struggle enough to finish on its own. all in all 1400 cal. Fri June 7 i did okay. Sometimes I dont feel hungry in the morning, and sometimes i’m ravenous when I wake up. Luckily it was the latter. I just had some coffee and did barn chores all morning. I ate the cookie for lunch though (convenience). I knew I had a busy day coming up on Saturday, so I went to Walmart last minute for a few things. Walked down the frozen dinners aisle cuz i knew I wouldnt have the time or energy for making dinner that night. Got one of those one serving Fit Bowls (Stouffer’s Beef with Brocolli). I hate how high in sodium they are though. I got Tollhouse cookie dough while I was there so I had cookies to bring to Jessie’s party the next day. ngl I had like a spoonful or two which is essentially a cookie or two in itself... Without the cookie dough Friday was 862 cal according to mfp. Sat June 8 I started out the day strong but mostly bc I knew I was gonna party moderately hard that night lol. Parents came home around 2am, which I had to let them in for. I had coffee when I got up later around 7 and went to Joe’s walkathon at Allaire. They had all kinds of snack foods spread out for the walkers. Sometime before we started, I had a small generic granola bar. After the walkathon I had to rush to get to Jessie’s new place for the housewarming party. Ya know, I never thought about how many calories are in beer let alone an IPA, otherwise I wouldve stuck to something lighter. Picked up a 6 pack of Dogfish Head cuz I couldnt find any Long Trails. Idk If I had the whole thing or not (blacked out around 4/5 beers lol). Hey, dont judge I literally only ate a tiny granola bar and a hotdog when I got there and im already a light-weight. I also couldnt pass up the cookies I made when I walked past them from the bathroom lol. I remember having two and mentally telling myself no more. Yesterday Sun June 9, I woke up kinda hungover. Dad asked if I wanted something from Sorrentino’s and i knew a Porkroll and cheese would help my hangover. Mom ditched to flipflop the longtrail again. I felt like shit from what I’d been putting in my body this past week and sorta fell down an *d rabbit hole on youtube and was sorta influenced to fast. So, yesterday, that was all I had. Lots of coffee and a breakfast sandwich. 637 cal. Today Mon June 10, Dad asked if I wanted to go to Sorrentino’s for breakfast. Tbh I woke up simultaneously straving and nauseous (hmm wonder why lol). So I agreed but instead of something heavy and carb loaded, I did the “no carb” platter. Scrambled eggs and bacon, hold the homefries and toast. I think if I do get hungry later today, I’d just have some tea and be good. Hopefully my dad won’t invite me to dinner with him and Susan later. My weight has been fluctuating around 145-147. Also forgot how much clothing can weigh ( about 2 lbs) bc I weighed myself in just my bra and underwear at 144.3 lbs after breakfast. Problem is, its my parents scale in their bathroom so normally when they’re not in I just dash in there (no shoes of course, but still clothed) and weigh myself. So, I put my clothes back on and weighed in at 146.3 lbs. Week average of 145.8 lbs. Honestly not complaining too much cuz that’s still down 3.2 lbs since I started two weeks ago. If i keep fasting and maybe doing omad I can get below 140 a few weeks.

#daily #food mention #long post #more like weekly lol

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reelscollectorsassociation · 7 years ago

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PENN Battalion Inshore Spinning Rods Rating: 4.7/5 Power Weight Action Price PROS - They are great rods for inshore and near show fishing - They are inexpensive CONS - The rod breaks if excess pressure is applied >> CLICK HERE FOR BEST PRICE

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americanfishingassociation · 7 years ago

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http://reelchase.blogspot.com/2017/06/penn-battalion-inshore-spinning-rods.html

#https://www.reelchase.com #www.reelchase.com #https://reelchase.com #reelchase.com #Fishing Reels #F

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reelchase · 7 years ago

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PENN Battalion Inshore Spinning Rods Review

PENN Battalion Inshore Spinning Rods

Rating: 4.7/5

Power

Weight

Action

Price

PROS

- They are great rods for inshore and near show fishing

- They are inexpensive

CONS

- The rod breaks if excess pressure is applied

>> CLICK HERE FOR BEST PRICE <<

Intro

PENN Battalion Inshore Spinning Rods are constructed with a 30-ton graphite blank. There are twenty models of this line giving anglers wide spectra from which to choose. Thus, anglers will not miss finding one that will help them enjoy doing what they like most whether it is nearshore or inshore fishing.

The rod is well built and feels balanced in the angler’s hands. It may feel good or bad on the first usage, but once you get used to it, it feels good and allow you to fish for many hours.

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READ REVIEWS

Main Usage

PENN Battalion Inshore Spinning Rods comes with a durable rubber gimbal that offers the same function as the traditional gimbal. Rubber is soft and eliminates the pain associated with the traditional metal gimbals. It means that you will be able to fight the turban fish without experiencing blisters even if you are a new angler.

The rod is constructed using a 30-ton graphite blank and is lined with Fuji® SS frame which ensures that the rod is well balanced and durable. Also, the pole features an aluminum oxide insert which performs superbly well with braided lines.

Note that the rode comes with a premium grade cork grip that gives anglers an upper hand when fighting it out with a hard fighting fish. Indeed, the rod has taken inshore fishing to the next level, and it is a must buy rod if you want to scale up your fishing escaped.

Product Features

Power :

PENN Battalion Inshore Spinning Rods come in a variety of models. Anglers have the medium heavy, and the heavy rod to choose from. All the rods have the power and can control the presentation of the bait and help the angler feel the fish when it is approaching the bite.

They can handle line weights of 8- 25 lb comfortably and allow the angler to choose a lure of between 3/16 and 1 oz depending on the targeted fish. About flexing, the rod allows maximum flexing along its length. This is critical because it is sometimes difficult for the angler to determine beforehand the size of fish that will bite the lure once the rod has been cast.

Action:

PENN Battalion Inshore Spinning Rods come in heavy and a medium heavy models that bend and flexes in the first half of their length. This allows an angler to target a wide range of fish. The rods can target both the small and the large species of fish.

Also, the rods give the angler good control and allow them to set the hook and push it into the fish’s mouth with ease. Coupled with the fact that the rod is well balanced and durable gives anglers the confidence they need to face the fiercest and the hardest fighting fish.

READ REVIEWS

Weight:

The weight of a rod is an important factor that determines the type of fish the angler can target. It also determines the amount of pressure the angler applies on the rod without risking breaking it.

The PENN Battalion Inshore Spinning Rods come in both light, medium and medium heavy models. They allow the angler to choose a line of 4-25 lb. The rods are resilient and can accommodate different size of the lure depending on the job the angler wants to be done.

Also, the rods are ideal for all fishing conditions. Thus, choosing a model that is best suited for your fishing conditions guarantees great returns from your adventures.

Balance:

Whether you want to engage in nearshore or inshore fishing, you need a rod that is designed to offer the right action and balance that allow you to win most of the battles. The PENN Battalion Inshore Spinning Rods are designed for both inshore and near shore fishing.

They are balanced, durable and will give you the desired results. The rods feature EVA and cork grips and come with aluminum oxide inserts which are lightweight and ensures that the angler is always in control no matter what. They are ideal if you are working with the braided lines.

Conclusion:

If you are an experienced or a novice angler, you need rods that are sensitive and designed with the superior backbone to horse large fish. The rod must be light weight and should come with great specs.

You need quality rods that are intended to handle the red drum and sea trout. One of the rods you can rely on for this job is the PENN Battalion Inshore Spinning Rod. It is a great stiff rod designed for heavy lures and live baits.

READ REVIEWS

Fly Fishing

Okuma NOMAD Travel Spinning Rod (30 -60 Lbs, 7-Feet, Medium-Heavy) Review

TFO Mangrove Series Fly Fishing Rods Review

How to Choose The Best Baitcasting Rods

Saltwater Fishing Rods Reviewed and Compared

Okuma NOMAD Travel Casting Rod (15- 40 Lbs, 7-Feet, Medium-Light) Review

Daiwa SA-B66HF-DD Saltiga Dendoh Style Deep Drop Rod, 6’6 Review

St. Croix Triumph Travel Spinning Rods Review

St.Croix Tidemaster Inshore Spinning Travel Rod Review

The post PENN Battalion Inshore Spinning Rods Review appeared first on Reel Chase.

from Reel Chase https://www.reelchase.com/penn-battalion-inshore-spinning-rods/ via IFTTT

#IFTTT #Reel Chase

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boricuagoddess79 · 8 years ago

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For those of you who have been hiding under a rock or simply turned off the news this past Saturday there was a movement in this country. A call to action, a unification of people from all walks of life to come together for Equality, for human rights for social justice and for change. It was amazing. It was empowering and eye opening. I turn on the news and hear people say that we were dumb, that marching didn’t solve anything, that we were a bunch of whiny people upset over the election. That women who were born here in the US had nothing to complain about compared to third world countries. And so, to the people not understanding why “privileged women born in the USA would protest” I offer my story.

I was 25 years old when I gave birth to my son. It was a Monday in September and I six days past my due date went to the hospital to be induced. I had a pretty easy pregnancy, only complaint was I couldn’t fit my shoes and my legs were literally trunkles. No lie. I ended up laboring for 24 hours, pushing for two and a half and when my son and I were in distress, labor was not progressing and we were prepared for an emergency Cesarean Section. He was born on the most beautiful Tuesday in the history of the world, weighing in at 9 lbs 10 oz and 22 inches long. Yes, apparently I make demi-gods.

Up until his birth I worked hard at my hotel and tried to save every penny. I had saved up my vacation to supplement the lost wages during my recovery and hoped for the best. I planned on pumping my breast milk to save on money. Of course as all mothers will tell you, sometimes our birth-plan doesn’t go the way we imagined.

Having an emergency c-section meant that it would take up to 12 weeks for my body to heal from having my abdomen sliced open and a human body pulled from it. I soon learned that my vacation that I had saved up was swallowed up to pay for my insurance premiums and that I did not have the little cushion that I thought I had saved for. At around 5 1/2 weeks I had to convince my OBGYN to allow me to return to work and beg my managers to put me on the schedule because we just couldn’t afford it. At 5 1/2 weeks I resumed my hotel desk job-a half a week before a vaginal birth is allowed and several weeks before a Cesarean is cleared. But I had to put food on the table and bills to pay and doctors visits and co-pays to pay for, I had applied for WIC to help and also for government assistance and I made 10 cents more than I was allowed to make at the time to qualify for any additional temporary welfare assistance. So off to work I went with an open wound. And Guess what happened? My stomach opened up. Literally opened up. Blood, liquids, stuff that should have never come out did (and I had a desk job so it’s not like I was doing strenuous work) being that it opened up I also had an infection that could have killed me. My sons father had to learn in the doctor’s office how to pack the gaping 2 inch hole and change my dressings so it would not get worse, but even through that I would wake up get dressed , partially take my pain medications (If it wasn’t higher than an 8 on a 10 point scale I would go without because I found out that it made me loopy and thus unsafe to drive) and I went to work, occasionally going home on my lunch break so I could change the dressing and re-pack the wounds.

It would have been nice to have paid maternity leave. It would have been a great help, it would have allowed me time to not only heal but bond with my newborn son. As a first time mother it would have allowed me time to learn the things I needed to learn, to just keep a child alive. I sadly had to stop breast-feeding/pumping because of the infection and medication and it was all so overwhelming. Looking back I know now that I wasn’t educated or confident or coherent enough to ask for help and support for myself a breastfeeding mom, so I had to put him on formula Which you guessed it cost a lot of money and additional stress. However I was lucky to have a job, I am well aware of that.

I do remember something that will stay with me forever, I was asked to help train a gentleman (who to this day is a near and dear friend). He was an older man who had no hotel experience and I was the one who was lucky enough to get to show him the ropes. One day, I had to go talk to our accounting department and happened to see the pay sheets pulled up on the computer and noticed it listed everyone’s wages. To add insult to injury, literally, I realized was training a co-worker, a man, and guess who was getting paid $1 more an hour with no experience? Yep the man. My guts were falling out, I was a great employee (I am now a Director with the same company, so no, I’m not just saying that) and I was training him with 5 years of experience and I was still getting paid a dollar less. So this friends is why I marched. And even though my baby factory is most likely to be closed forever, I did it for my sisters out there who may or may not have it worse than I did. I do it in solidarity for women’s rights, for equality, for human rights. For dignity. I marched for my Black brothers and sisters, for my LGTBQ friends, for the disabled for the voiceless. I wanted the world to know that until my dying breath, in me you will always have an ally. And I won’t stop here, you will see me in letter writing campaigns signing petitions, calling my local representatives and standing in line in November and every election my body will allow me to attend after that. Because you matter to me and together we are stronger than alone.

For a fun video of the Atlanta March please click here :

https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fdenisejruiz%2Fvideos%2F10207902167049206%2F&show_text=1&width=560

EDITED TO ADD: *For the record I believe in paid parental leave for the birth of a child. I feel that a father’s place in the home is just as important and that it is not fair for men in the USA to be punished for wanting to be fathers. I believe both roles are important in the upbringing of a child.

Go out and be awesome, not matter where your walk in life leads you! <3

Why I March For those of you who have been hiding under a rock or simply turned off the news this past Saturday there was a movement in this country.

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lindafrancois · 4 years ago

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How to Lose Weight (Without Dieting): 5 Rules of Weight Loss

Ugh, it’s time for yet another attempt at losing weight.

For some, losing weight is as simple as just looking at a vegetable.

For the rest of us mere mortals, it feels like running through quicksand.

Fortunately, helping people lose weight in a way that doesn’t suck is what we do!

And gosh darnit, we’re really good at it: we have thousands of success stories and 1 million+ people tune in each month for advice on this stuff.

We help our Online Coaching Clients lose weight without dieting, and these are the exact tactics we use.

Want to lose weight WITHOUT hating life? Learn how we can help:

I’m going to cover EVERYTHING you need to know about losing weight quickly, sustainably, and without hating everything. Click below for more help:

Why diets don’t work!

Rule #1) Lose Weight Without Dieting.

Rule #2) Prioritize Protein and Veggies.

Rule #3) Know Your Carbs and Fats.

Rule #4) Exercise for Weight Loss.

Rule #5) Strength Training For Weight Loss.

25 tips to supercharge your weight loss.

How fast can I lose weight?

The best way to lose weight.

Why Diets Don’t Work

If you’re reading this guide, you probably:

Have gone on a diet in the past.

Are on a diet right now.

From popular ideas like the Paleo Diet to Keto, or Plant-Based (no prob) to Intermittent fasting (I do it), to terrible ideas like the Military Diet, juice cleanses, or the Cabbage Soup Diet, we’re all looking for that master key that unlocks effortless weight loss.

Some of these diets are certainly more effective/healthy than others, but they all come down to two truths for losing weight:

Truth #1: Nearly every diet works in the short term.

Truth #2: Nearly every diet fails in the long term.

So why does every diet work in the short term?

Every diet you have ever tried has a clever way of restricting calories which leads to weight loss[1]:

Paleo Diet: Eliminate everything but veggies, meat, fruit, and nuts.

Keto Diet: Remove an entire macronutrient from your diet (carbs).

Plant-based Diet: Only eat vegetables and foods from plants.

Carnivore Diet: Only eat meat! Eliminate everything else.

Intermittent Fasting: Skip an entire meal, or don’t eat for 24 hours.

99% of the reason why these diets result in short term weight loss is that they get us to eat fewer calories.

The problems arise when we get to Truth 2:

“Nearly every diet fails in the long term.”

Put another way: “Temporary changes create temporary results.”

If somebody “goes Keto” for 60 days, they’ll probably lose weight, and might even feel healthier.

This is cool.

HOWEVER.

If they spend those 60 days dreaming of carbs, counting down the days until they can “go back to eating like normal,” they will put all of the weight back as soon as they stop their diet.

This is why I hate the term “diet” or “going on a diet”: In order for a diet to create permanent results, the diet needs to be adopted PERMANENTLY!

You’ll achieve weight loss in the short term with pretty much any diet you pick, as long as it gets you to eat significantly fewer calories.

However, today we’re going to focus on weight loss with 2 important conditions:

Permanently: No more yo-yo dieting. No more rollercoaster on the bathroom scale.

Enjoyably: We’re not miserable and hating our lives while making these changes.

So, as you read about the 5 rules of weight loss below, I want you to be honest with yourself. You need to make changes you can stick with for at least a year.

If a change seems too drastic, or giving up a food seems too scary, make the “win scenario” smaller.

Here’s how we help our coaching clients: we work with them to pick ONE change per week that we can implement: one less soda, try one new vegetable, etc.

In other words, we STOP thinking about “How many pounds can I lose in a month?” and instead “What can I do today that isn’t scary, but will make me better off a year from now:“

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Dieting sucks. Let us help you fix your nutrition and lose weight without being miserable:

Rule #1: Lose Weight Without Dieting

There’s only ONE big-ass rule you need to follow when it comes to weight loss:

Eat fewer calories than you burn.

(Yes, I realize this article has 5 RULES, but the other 4 all build on this one.)

Study[2] after study[3] after study[4] shows that our bodies obey the laws of thermodynamics and that in order to lose weight, we need to burn more calories than we consume regularly.

Every day, our body needs a certain number of calories to carry out its daily functions: making your heart beat, your brain function, getting your body to move, and all sorts of other stuff.

This is called your total daily energy expenditure, and you can calculate your TDEE here.

When you consume more calories than you burn, your body tends to store those extra calories as fat (weight gain).

When you burn more calories than you consume, your body will pull from fat stores for energy (weight loss).

So, in order for us to lose weight, we need to find a way to tip the energy balance in favor of “burn fat, sucka!”

Simplifying this really complex topic, we need to eat less and/or move more to get our bodies to start using our fat stores for energy.

Unfortunately, that’s where the problems start.

We humans are REALLY good at:

UNDERestimating how much we eat.

OVERestimating how much we burn.

When we accidentally eat more calories than we realize, and then burn fewer calories from exercise than we assume, we think we “can’t lose weight” because of our metabolism or genetics.

Nope.

It’s because we are eating too much.

And as we lay out in our MASSIVE Healthy Eating Guide, the most important factor in nutrition is eating fewer calories than you burn on a regular basis.

The best way to do that is to focus on the right kind of food:

Protein: meat and legumes.

Fresh fruits and high fiber vegetables.

Healthy carbohydrates: rice, quinoa.

Healthy fats like almonds and olive oil.

Occasional cheese and dairy.

These foods tend to be lower in calories than processed foods that have been designed to be overeaten[6].

They fill us up but aren’t overly calorie-dense.

Which means we feel full and yet consume fewer calories than we used to.

If we can do this consistently and sustainably, we will lose weight.

To drive the point home, here are two foods, both in 200 calorie increments (courtesy of wiseGEEK):

200 calories worth of a bagel:

…and 200 calories worth of broccoli:

Which one do you think you’ll be more likely to accidentally overeat?

The bagel, duh. Who eats only 2/3rds of a bagel? Literally zero people.

So here’s how we’re going to lose weight: eat fewer calories without realizing it, and then burn extra calories without being miserable:

Prioritize protein and vegetables on your plate: target 2 fist-sized servings of vegetables, and 1-2 palm-sized portions of protein on the plate.

Learn portion sizes of fat and carbs: If you aren’t losing weight, these are the culprits. Cut back on the one you’re eating more of.

Exercise for weight loss: Strength training is the most efficient way to lose fat. Strength train 3x per week, and then mix in fun cardio and move as much as possible.

Let’s dig into these 3 things next:

Rule #2: Prioritize Protein and Vegetables

If our plan is weight loss that doesn’t suck, we’re gonna build better meals full of foods that fill us up and make us feel good.

PART A) PRIORITIZE PROTEIN FIRST: Protein is fuel for our bodies to rebuild muscle. It’s also delicious and nutritious and can satiate us with an efficient number of calories.

How much protein should you eat? As we cover in our Protein Guide, aim for 1g per lb of bodyweight (2g per kg) every day (with an upper limit of 250g).

Protein can come from any number of sources, including:

Meat (steak, bison, pork).

Fowl (chicken, turkey, duck).

Eggs![7]

Fish and shellfish (salmon, tuna, shrimp).

Legumes (black beans, chickpeas).

Not a meat-eater? Read our massive plant-based guide!

A serving of protein is about the size and thickness of your palm.

*The 4 oz serving is for an uncooked piece of meat. Cooking reduces about 25% of the weight, bringing it down to about 3 oz.

When building a plate, aim for the following amount of protein:

Dudes: 1-2 servings (6-8 oz or about 170-228 g): two palms

Dudettes: 1 serving (3-4 oz or about 85-114 g): 1 palm.

PART B) HALF OF YOUR PLATE SHOULD BE VEGETABLES: Veggies can be the difference between weight loss success and failure.

Vegetables are nutrient-dense but calorie-light, which means you can eat lots of them, you’ll feel full, but you’re unlikely to over-consume calories (remember that mountain of broccoli was only 200 calories!).

A serving of veggies is about the size of your fist, and 2 servings of veggies should take up ½ the plate!

Here’s a quick, non-complete list of veggies that can fill your plate:

Broccoli

Broccolini

Cauliflower

Spinach

Kale

Spaghetti squash[8]

Brussels sprouts

Zucchini

Cucumber

Carrots

Onion

Asparagus

“But Steve, I don’t like vegetables…yet!”

That’s cool, I didn’t eat vegetables until I was 22. Now, they’re a main staple of every meal I eat.

If this is you, read our guide on “how to make vegetables taste good.”

RECAP: In our quest for weight loss that doesn’t suck, we need to focus on foods that have lower amounts of calories but still make us feel full and satiated and happy.

Always start with protein and vegetables, and then the rest of your plate can have fats and carbs.

Speaking of which…

Rule #3: Know Your Carbs and Fat Portion Sizes.

If 3/4ths of our healthy plate is occupied by protein and vegetables, where do fats and carbs fit in?

You can still lose weight by consuming fat and carbohydrates, when consumed in the right quantities.

Remember how I said earlier “we UNDERestimate how many calories we eat every day?”

Fat and/or carbs are almost ALWAYS the culprit.

Let’s discuss.

PART C) HEALTHY CARBOHYDRATES FOR THE WIN. Everybody loves carbs, but most people overeat this macronutrient without realizing it.

Here are some examples of healthy carbohydrates that are less likely to be overconsumed:

Fruit, fresh or frozen.

Rice, Brown or white.

Legumes, lentils.

Quinoa.

Potatoes.

Sweet potatoes.

Yams.

Whole grain bread.

Whole grain pasta.

This is a list of REAL foods, minimally processed, that also have plenty of fiber[9].

This then puts them in the “healthy carbs” category: when consumed in proper proportion, these are great foods that can help you feel full and give you energy and all that jazz.

Just make sure you know your portion sizes!

EVERYBODY accidentally overeats carbohydrate-heavy foods, even healthy ones, and then wonders why they aren’t losing weight.

To help you get better at eyeballing carb serving sizes:

1 serving of a starchy carbohydrate is 1 cupped hand (uncooked), or two hands forming a cup (cooked).

Here are some images to help you learn proper portion sizes (thanks to SafeFood):

PART D) DON’T FORGET ABOUT FAT!

Fat used to be vilified, but now it’s considered a superfood by many.

Here’s the truth: fat is neither a superfood nor evil.

It’s just a macronutrient that we can eat that can help us lose weight when consumed in the right quantity, or keep us from our goals if we eat too many calories of it.

Healthy fat can be found in foods like:

Avocado

Almonds

Walnuts

Macadamia nuts

Olive oil

Almond butter

Peanut butter

Saturated fats – consumed in moderate quantities[10] – can come from things like:

Whole milk

Full fat dairy

Coconut oil

Grass-fed butter

Lard

Fatty cuts of meat

To help you gauge: a serving size of fat is roughly the size of your thumb!

THIS is a single serving of almonds (162 calories):

THIS is a serving of olive oil (119 calories, taken from Runtastic):

What about cheese? Cheese is fine, provided you consume a proper sized portion of it!

This is a portion of cheddar cheese (116 calories):

So bringing them all together, here’s the healthy plate for weight loss (from our Healthy Eating Guide):

If you can prioritize protein, fruit, and vegetables, and keep your carb and fat intake under control, you are going to lose weight.

“But Steve, what about low-fat diets? Low-carb diets? No-carb diets?”

Low carb diets like Keto and Paleo are all the rage right now, but are they healthy and will they help you lose weight?

Maybe!

It depends on how your body regulates glucose (blood sugar)[11]:

Studies show that people who follow EITHER a low-fat OR a low-carb diet will lose weight, as long as they are in caloric restriction and can adhere to the diet for at least a year[12].

So, it comes down to: “which strategy are you more likely to stick with for a year or longer?”

If you think you can go Paleo or Keto or follow another low carb/low fat strategy for over a year, go for it.

Otherwise, make small changes!

MY ADVICE: Stick with changes that aren’t too scary. Work on reducing portion sizes or adding a new vegetable each week, and don’t get dogmatic, all-or-nothing about your diet!

If you can find a way to reduce your total calorie intake without being miserable, you WILL lose weight over time, AND keep it off.

There’s one other piece of the puzzle I HAVE to address.

Rule #4: Exercise for weight loss (Strength training and cardio)

Although exercise isn’t necessary for weight loss (nutrition being the most important part), I would HIGHLY recommend you exercise.

There are three forms of exercise that I’ll cover when it comes to weight loss, and ALL three of them are important:

Fun cardio: movement of any kind that gets your heart pumping (good).

Interval training: variable rate training: “run, jog, run, jog” (better).

Strength training: challenging your muscles to get stronger (best).

#1) Fun cardio is doing any sort of exercise that gets you off your butt and moving.

It makes our heart healthier, AND it can serve as a reminder that we’re doing things differently now, and that we need to eat better so we don’t ruin our efforts!

(Whatever you do, DON’T say: “Welp, I exercised – and thus I earned this donut and Coca-Cola” – you’d have been better off NOT exercising and skipping the donut and Coca-cola).

Here are 40 fun ways to exercise without realizing it. Feel free to do a fun activity as often as you can!

#2) High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) burns more calories per hour than steady cardio, so you get more “bang for your buck” when it comes to efficiency.

If you’re limited on time and trying to burn more calories, 20 minutes of HIIT burns more calories than 20 minutes of steady jogging.

Here are 3 HIIT workouts you can do today, no gym required!

Both of these activities can help tip the energy balance in favor of “weight loss” when combined with calorie restriction.

When you’re in a “caloric deficit” for weight loss, the hope is that your body will mostly pull from fat stores, though depending on how you are exercising it will also break down muscle too.[13]

Said again: when you are eating a caloric deficit, your body will pull from both its fat stores AND existing muscle for energy.

From a physique and health standpoint, obviously we’d prefer that we don’t break down muscle when in a caloric deficit, and instead get our body to use ONLY fat stores.[14]

Your goal in fitness shouldn’t only be “weight loss,” despite the common vernacular used.

The goal instead is to reduce body fat while also keeping the muscle you have (or even building more muscle).

Which brings me to the most important form of exercise for weight loss:

Rule #5: Strength Training For Weight Loss

#3) Strength training is the prizefighting champion when it comes to weight loss.

You can find study[15] after study[16] after study[17] that shows you the benefits of strength training for weight management when combined with “calorie restriction.”

Let me explain it here quickly, borrowing from Harry Potter:

(You know, the wizard.)

At the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, when each student arrives they put on the “Sorting Hat,” an actual hat that determines which House (group) that child will join for his/her time at Hogwarts.

The hat acts like a traffic director:

“Harry, you will go to Gryffindor! Draco, you will go to Slytherin!”

Your body operates in a VERY similar fashion: every day, it receives new calories (when you eat), and it needs to decide what to do with them!

It’ll sort those calories into one of three Houses:

A: Burn for Fuel.

B: Rebuild Muscle.

C: Store as Fat.

There’s a number of calories your body burns each day just existing: to keep your liver functioning, your heart pumping, your brain operating, and so on – it burns a good chunk of calories just keeping the lights on.

Here are two quick examples (from our TDEE calculator!):

A 6’, 34-year old male weighing 250 pounds burns 2,300 calories a day just by existing.

A 5’5”, 40-year old female weighing 140 pounds burns 1,350 calories a day just by existing.

When you start strength training, actual wizardry starts to happen.

When you do push-ups and pull-ups or do a strength training workout, your muscles are “broken down” during the exercise itself, and then they rebuild themselves stronger over the next 24-48 hours.

Guess what happens during those 24-48 hours?

Your body diverts as many calories as possible to “Rebuild Muscle!”

It also diverts additional calories to “Burn as Fuel” to handle this increased “muscle rebuilding” activity.

Which means two amazing things:

Rebuilding muscle is a calorie taxing activity!

Your metabolism is revved up for this period of time, burning more calories than normal.

There are significantly fewer calories available for “Store as Fat.”

AND THEN IT GETS BETTER.

When you consume fewer calories than your body burns each day, strength training will cause your body to get even more efficient.

Your body can pull from “Store as Fat” to make sure all the work still gets done, including your daily functions as a human, and rebuilding the muscle.

This is the Tri-wizard cup[18] of physical transformation victory:

You get stronger and keep the muscle you have.

You burn through the fat you’re trying to get rid of.

You’re decreasing your body fat percent and keeping your muscle = look good naked.

This would be a “win-win-win” according to Michael Scott, Regional Manager, Dunder Mifflin Scranton.

So NO, you don’t need to lose weight first before you start strength training.

You will lose weight BY strength training (and keep the muscle you have).

Here’s how to start with Strength Training:

No gym? Try our 20-minute Beginner Bodyweight Workout Routine.

Pick one of our 5 Beginner Strength Training Workouts.

Gym newbie? Try our 6-level Gym Strength Training Routine.

BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER: Doing a strength training workout 3 times per week is the most efficient way to lose the right kind of weight and look better naked.

Adding in intervals or fun exercise on your off days is a fantastic supplemental activity to strength training.

Want help learning how to strength train? You can absolutely build your own workout, or you can work with one of our coaches who can create a custom program that’s specific to your goals and lifestyle.

We’ll even make sure you’re doing the movements correctly via video, because we’re nice like that 🙂

Start strength training safely with our Coaching program! Learn more:

25 Tips to Supercharge Weight Loss

The 5 Rules Above give you the best chance to lose weight in a way that doesn’t suck.

Changing your nutrition is like playing a video game: if you attack too many high-level bad guys at once, you’re going to lose.

Instead, you’re better off picking 1-2 smaller bad guys (changes) that you know you can win, and level up slowly.

THAT’S how you make changes that stick.

No more temporary dieting for temporary results!

Permanent changes create permanent results.

Here are 25 other quick tips that are supplementary to the above important ones!

1) Consider low-carb OR low-fat diets. Studies show BOTH low-carb and low-fat diets will result in weight loss, IF you can stick with it.[19]

Many people tend to have more success faster on low carb, but they’re also more likely to abandon the diet. You don’t need to do Keto or Paleo if you don’t want to, and instead, just work on reducing carbs overall.

2) Consider intermittent fasting. Fasting helps you keep your caloric intake under control by eliminating or narrowing your eating window – it simply means skipping a meal or occasionally doing 24-hour fasts.

It affects men and women differently, but has tons of benefits and is backed by science. Read our Guide on Intermittent Fasting. I’ve been skipping breakfast since 2014!

3) Minimize liquid calories. Beverages with calories in them are probably sabotaging your weight loss efforts.

Cut out the sodas and lattes and high-calorie smoothies (unless you account for them in your calorie goal!). Stick to sparkling water, black coffee or tea, or other zero-calorie beverages.

4) Cut back on alcohol. Yes, you can still drink alcohol and lose weight, but you still need to account for the calories, of which there might be many!

And if you make poor food choices while drunk, it’s going to be tough to lose weight. Read our guide on alcohol and stick to low calorie beer, whiskey neat, or vodka with club sodas.

5) Know your condiments and cooking oils. Just because you’re eating grilled chicken and vegetables doesn’t mean you’re guaranteed to lose weight!

If those foods are smothered in sauces or covered in 1000 calories of healthy olive oil, the calories still count! Keep an eye on the sauces and oils you use to cook with.

6) Know your next meal. Most of our coaching success stories plan in advance what their next meal is.

Because it’s a pre-made decision, it removes emotion and makes them less likely to make a bad choice while hungry, sad, or angry.

Think of it this way: you can still eat unhealthy foods with this strategy because you plan ahead and can eat a healthy meal before and after. No harm done!

Want help implementing these tactics to lose weight? Learn more about our Online Coaching:

7) Look at restaurant menus before going. Restaurants give out notoriously large portions of food, often with hundreds of hidden calories.

Give yourself the best chance to succeed by looking up the menu online before going and decide BEFORE you get there.

Also, consider taking HALF the entree and boxing it up for an additional meal (A tip we mention in our Guide to Portion Control).

8) Eat the same foods over and over. The healthiest, most successful coaching clients we have tend to eat the same handful of meals over and over.

Once you learn portion sizes and calorie counts of your favorite meals, you’re much more likely to eat within your goals for the day.

9) Learn to batch cook. Read our guide on batch cooking! If you can prepare all your healthy meals ONCE at the beginning of the week, you are setting yourself up for success.

Why? Because now your default, easiest, laziest option is to simply reheat and eat the food you have at home – much less work than ordering takeout or driving to fast food! Win-Win-Win.

Here’s how I batch cook chicken for the week:

youtube

10) Employ the “Never 2 in a Row” rule. If you ever eat an unhealthy meal, simply make the next one healthy.

One bad meal doesn’t ruin a day, so letting an unhealthy breakfast derail you for the rest of the day isn’t smart.

Simply eat a healthy lunch and get right back on track.

11) Ask “What would Batman do?” If you’re not sure what you should eat, ask what would Batman do.

A study showed that children were more likely to pick an apple instead of candy when instructed to ask this question.[20]

And we’re all kids at heart, right?

12) Track your calories. If you can’t lose weight, it’s most likely because you’re accidentally eating more calories than you realize. Use an app or spreadsheet and track your food for a week.

I bet your intake is 20-40% higher than you realize! You can calculate how many calories you burn every day too.

13) Weigh your food (advanced): STILL not losing weight? It’s time to get your portion sizes fixed too.

Get a cheap food scale and weigh your food for 2-3 days. Doing this, I discovered I was eating an extra 400 calories without realizing it.

Struggling to lose weight? Let us help. Learn more about our Online Coaching:

14) Eat more slowly!

If we’re not careful, we can eat more than we realize because we eat too quickly for our body to understand it’s full!

Tactics to help with this include consciously working on chewing your food more frequently before swallowing.

Studies show eating slowly led to decreases in energy intake within meals in healthy women.[21]

15) Use smaller plates and forks! If we have big plates and big utensils, we’re more likely to pile more food on our plate AND consume it more quickly.

Throw out your big plates and get smaller ones. Get smaller utensils, and you’ll trick yourself into eating smaller portions without realizing it.[22]

16) Don’t “Eat AND [activity].” Just “eat.” We eat more food if we’re eating while doing something else (watching TV, scrolling through our phones, etc.).[23]

Why don’t you try JUST eating? Enjoy each bite. Savor the food. Make it an experience. You’ll tend to eat less.

17) Stop snacking. All calories count. Instead of snacking throughout the day, why not eat 3 regular sized meals that you truly enjoy?

As we cover in our Guide to Intermittent Fasting, it doesn’t matter WHEN you eat, it only matters HOW MUCH you eat. Not snacking between meals gives you more leeway during your actual meals!

18) Seek professional help! If you have an emotional relationship with food, consider speaking about it with a therapist or doctor.

We believe mental health is really important here at Nerd Fitness, and we know food can be an emotional trigger for lots of people that struggle with their weight. You don’t have to do this journey alone!

19) Fidget more! From tapping your toes to getting up frequently, fidgeting (small micromovements) can account for up to 350 additional calories burned per day.[24] It all counts. So get wiggling!

20) Move more. From parking farther away at the grocery store to taking the stairs instead of the elevator, do whatever you can to MOVE MORE!

Get a cheap fitness tracker and try to get more steps than you normally do.

Don’t rely on the tracker for calories burned (they’re all notoriously inaccurate), but it’s a great ‘trend tracker.’ Do more than you did before and you WILL get results.

21) Find ways to exercise in a fun way! ANY sort of movement helps, so check out our 40 ways to exercise without realizing it.

Dance, yoga, wrestling with your kids, rock climbing, hiking, it all counts! Just like your parents told you when you were a kid, “Go outside and play!”

Exercise doesn’t have to suck. Let us build a workout you’ll ACTUALLY do:

22) Get strong as hell. Pick up heavy weights.

Our bodies have to burn tons of calories to recover from a heavy strength training session.

Plus, you get to keep the muscle you have and burn the fat on top of those muscles. That’s how you lose weight AND gain muscle at the same time!

23) Hack your Batcave: We are creatures of our environment, so use that to your advantage! Stop relying on willpower, and instead get smarter.

Increase the steps between you and the activity you’re trying to avoid (eat junk food), and decrease the number of steps between you and the NEW activity you want to do more of (eat healthy):

Throw out your junk food so you don’t need to waste willpower not eating it.

Put a bowl of fruit on the counter so your default activity becomes “eat fruit!”

24) Surround yourself with people who are healthier than you. We’re the average of the 5 people we associate most with.

Join a running club. Eat lunch with healthier people than you at the office.

We subconsciously adopt the traits of the people around us, so use that to your advantage!

25) Forgive yourself. We are all flawed. If you eat a bad meal or have a rough weekend, who cares?!

The month is not ruined. Make the next decision a healthy one and get right back on track. Remember “never two in a row.”

I know this is a lot to absorb, so don’t beat yourself up if you’re totally overwhelmed!

If you want help implementing these tactics and supercharge your weight loss journey, that’s what we do best. Click below to learn more!

Losing weight doesn’t need to suck. Let us help you on your journey! Learn more:

How fast can I lose weight?

There are MANY factors that are involved in how quickly you can lose weight, but here are the big ones:

How much weight do you need to lose? Somebody who needs to lose 250 pounds will be able to lose more weight than somebody who needs to lose 10 pounds, simply because there is more weight to lose.

How big of a caloric deficit below your TDEE are you doing? If somebody normally eats 5000 calories per day and switches to 1500 calories per day, they’ll lose weight faster than if they switched to 4500 calories per day. Now, reducing calories significantly can create all sorts of “I’m miserable and hate everything” feelings as our body learns to stop expecting a ready supply of food and has to start burning fat instead.

Are you going low-carb like Paleo or Keto? As you’ll see below, cutting out carbs can create significant weight loss in the first weeks due to a reduction of ‘water weight and bloat.’ But cutting out carbs might also make you miserable!

First Week Weight Loss Expectations: Depending on how poorly you eat now, if you swap out unhealthy food for protein and veggies – reducing your calorie intake significantly – you might lose upwards of 5-10 pounds (5kg) in your first week.

It’s awesome to see the scale drop by that much in the first week, but it’s important to note that this type of weight loss won’t be typical week to week.

If you normally eat a lot of carbs and sodium, your body is carrying a lot of extra bloat and water weight. When you switch to mostly protein and veggies, you’ll lose TONS of water weight and some fat initially.

We’ve seen many Coaching Clients lose 5-10 pounds in their first week, again mostly due to the reduction of water weight with SOME fat loss.

First Month Weight Loss Expectations: Depending on how strict you are with your nutrition – you can lose 1% of your body fat, or 1-3 pounds per week after that (heavily dependent on how much weight you have to lose).

We have seen people (who have a lot of weight to lose) lose 20 pounds in their first month, mostly due to large water weight reduction in the first week, with a steady consistent drop after that.

(Curious how quickly you can lose weight? Use our Total Daily Energy Expenditure TDEE Calculator.)

There’s nothing wrong with losing weight quickly, provided you’re doing it in a healthy, SUSTAINABLE way – like following the rules and strategies laid out in this article.

Quick weight loss doesn’t guarantee long term success.

It comes down to making PERMANENT changes!

If somebody reduces their calorie intake by 1000+ calories a day, they might be so damn hungry and angry all the time that they abandon their journey after a week or two.

This is bad news bears.

They would have been better off reducing their calories by 200 calories a day for 6 weeks, and then by another 200 6 weeks later, and so on.

We want sustainable changes, and sustainable weight loss, creating permanent progress.

So it doesn’t really matter how much weight you lose in your first week or first month, but rather how much weight you have lost after 1 year, and how you feel after that year.

As we cover in our “Why can’t I lose weight?” guide, this is a lifelong journey, and one you should be thinking about as a lifestyle adjustment and not a temporary diet change.

Put your focus on building the habits and fixing your environment. Focus on the changes you can make on a day to day basis, and with each meal.

And over time, your weight WILL drop in a way that’s sustainable and healthy.

How to Lose Weight Quickly

“STEVE JUST TELL ME EXACTLY WHAT TO DO TO LOSE WEIGHT QUICKLY.”

Fine! But you don’t need to yell at me like that!

Here’s what I would do if I needed to lose weight quickly but ALSO didn’t want to hate life:

Focus MOST of my effort on building a healthy plate.

Cut out all snacks between meals. Focus on making better meals.

Cut way back on booze and only drink zero-calorie beverages (black coffee, sparkling water).

Learn to cook a veggie or two and prioritize protein.

Strength train 3 days per week, probably following THIS gym routine.

Move as much as possible, tracking my steps with a Fitbit.

If the scale doesn’t go down, start tracking calories and measuring food.

I’ll leave you with some final words of wisdom: this is NOT all or nothing.

If you can implement just ONE change and stick with it, that’s a victory. That’s better than doing 10 things and giving up after a month.

I realize I threw a LOT of information at you, but I hope you can implement this stuff in your day-to-day decisions, because these rules WILL change the scale, and they WILL change your life.

If you are looking for more guidance, support, and instruction, we have 3 options for you to level up:

#1) JOIN OUR COACHING PROGRAM: We provide nutritional guidance, constant feedback and support, customized workouts for your goals, and keep you accountable wherever you are.

We are really good at this stuff and would love to help you reach your goals.

Our Coaching program changes lives. Learn more here!

2) Exercising at home and need a plan to follow? Have questions you need answered? Join Nerd Fitness Prime!

Nerd Fitness Prime is our premium membership program that contains at-home exercise routines, live-streamed workouts with NF Coaches, a supportive online community, group challenges, and much more!

Learn more about Nerd Fitness Prime!

#3) Join The Rebellion (it’s free)! Sign up for our biweekly newsletter and join the Nerd Fitness Rebellion!

I’ll send you tons of free nutritional guides and bonuses to help you get started on your journey today.

Download our free weight loss guide

THE NERD FITNESS DIET: 10 Levels to Change Your Life

Follow our 10-level nutrition system at your own pace

What you need to know about weight loss and healthy eating

3 Simple rules we follow every day to stay on target

If you were just trying to start building healthier habits and lose weight sustainably, instead here’s what I would do:

Make 1 change per week.

Change ONE meal a week, or cut back on ONE soda. Make a change that’s so small that it doesn’t make you sad or scared.

And then repeat.

What’s the ONE change you’re going to make this week to make your weight loss journey SLIGHTLY easier?

-Steve

PS: Make sure you check out the rest of our Sustainable Weight Loss Content:

Why Can’t I Lose Weight?

How to Start Eating Healthy (Without Giving up the Food You Love)

How to Lose Weight and Build Muscle at the Same Time.

How to Portion Control (Without Counting Calories)

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Photo Source:[25]

Footnotes ( returns to text)

This report highlights that portion control and calorie restriction are central to weight management.

Like this study on sustainable weight loss

Or this one on an energy deficit and weight loss.

Or this one on weight loss predictions based on calorie intake and patient lifestyle.

(The term is “hyperpalatability,” and it means the food has been designed to overcome our body’s natural inclination to stop eating when we’re full).

Dietary cholesterol doesn’t influence blood cholesterol levels as much as conventional wisdom once thought. Go ahead and eat eggs!

Read our article on how to prepare “paleo spaghetti!”

Fiber is a carbohydrate that can’t be broken down by the body, so it travels through you relatively intact. However along the way it can do all sorts of good stuff! For example, increased fiber intake can help reduce blood glucose levels.

In case you’re worried about saturated fat, here’s a systematic review that found no link between saturated fat intake and a greater risk of all-cause mortality.

Low-Fat or Low Carb for Weight Loss? It Depends on Your Glucose Metabolism: Pubmed

You can see the Pubmed extract for more information.

Check out this study on energy deficits and fat loss and read a study on calorie deficits causing muscle loss right here and here.

Here’s a study on the importance of lean muscle right here.

Like this one.

Or this one.

And this one.

With a happier ending.

You can scope out one such study here.

You can check out this article from Cornell University on the topic.

You can see the study here.

This landmark 2012 paper correlated plate size and portion control, although it has since been called into question.

This study looked at kids watching TV and the risk of obesity.

As pointed out here by the New York Times

LEGO Shop, Newbie photographer, Laughing Budda, almond serving size, olive oil, raisins, Cheddar Cheese, Are you ready for some football, Happy Monday, Speed, Run,

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