The trick to weight loss

It is easy to be frustrated by your weight, and even easier to be frustrated by weight loss attempts — most are unsuccessful. Losing a few pounds is one of the most challenging things for a person to do because weight loss goes against your nature. In order to lose weight, a person must be in calorie deprivation — eating fewer calories each day, week or month than are used by the body. Voluntary weight loss requires a degree of self-starvation. Your survival instinct, which serves you well in many ways, makes weight loss very hard.Healthy weight loss is slow and steady. To lose one or two pounds a week requires a calorie deprivation of 600 to 1,200 calories each day. Burning 600 calories is a lot of work. For a 150-pound person to burn 600 calories, he or she would have to jog for 75 minutes, hike for 90 minutes or bicycle leisurely for more than two hours. Obviously, it would require a lot of time and exercise to depend on exercise alone for weight loss. Many people don’t have enough free time to exercise that much, anyway, and those who do have a larger appetite that can easily undermine weight loss goals.Believe it or not, avoiding 600 calories is much easier. Five tablespoons (a little more than 1/4 cup) of oil; five ounces (six slices) of cheese; three ounces of mayonnaise; a small fast-food hamburger with medium french fries; or one cup of rich ice cream all have about 600 calories. If you consistently replace these calorie-dense foods with healthier choices, you will be well on your way to losing weight.Healthy options include fruit like apples, pears, bananas or frozen berries; vegetables like carrots, broccoli, tomatoes or cucumbers; and lean meats like fat-free skinless chicken or turkey breast, or 96 percent lean ground round.Medical research indicates it is easier for most Americans to achieve healthy weight loss through dietary changes than through exercise alone. It takes planning, forethought, determination and time, but with diligent and consistent dietary change, weight loss is possible.So, this is what I consider to be the first and most important step in weight loss: eating healthy foods with low calorie density. Replacing high calorie density foods that have lots of refined sugars, simple carbohydrates, or fats with low calorie density foods like vegetables, fruits, berries and lean sources of protein is key for making sure you get the most out of your weight loss efforts. Without this first step, most people end up spinning their wheels.However, for many of us, weight loss is not that simple and it requires a multi-faceted approach. Exercise may be the second most important factor in weight loss. I prefer to recommend sustained moderate cardiovascular exercise like walking or hiking for 45 to 90 minutes on most days of the week. This approach increases the calories burned in a day without causing a dramatic drop in blood sugar which can stimulate your appetite. Our bodies are made for this type of activity and it is sustainable for most people, and you’re less likely to be just too sore to exercise the next day or hurt yourself and have to take a week or two off.Sleep is important, too. Our bodies produce more hormones that increase hunger when we are sleep deprived. You know you are getting enough sleep for your body when you are able to wake up without an alarm. Unfortunately, our culture does not make this easy. Just do the best that you can.I acknowledge that hunger, food and weight are very emotional matters for most people. Even the thought of changing the diet can be emotionally distressing. I have a couple of small hints that can be helpful here. First, it is important to enjoy food. Finding low calorie density meals, snacks and beverages that please the palate and satiate the appetite is important. It may take some time, trial and error, and ingenuity, but with persistence you will find foods you truly enjoy eating and weight loss won’t be tortuous. Second, it helps to become friends with hunger — not best friends, but good friends. Hunger is a sign from your body telling you that you are eating fewer calories than you have burned. You are losing weight. Your hunger lets you know you are on the right track, but if you let yourself get too hungry you may feel ravenous, and, in that moment, it may be difficult to stick with your diet plan.Good luck. With a good plan and self-compassion for mistakes you make along the way you are likely to get great results. Richard Malik is a naturopathic doctor with a practice in Lakeville offering comprehensive health care for the entire family.