Lose Weight and Get Fit With No Diet - No Gym: Be Healthier, Stronger, and Live Longer

Table of contents :
Introduction
Chapter 1: Why People Try To Lose Weight
Weight Gain or Loss
Health Risks
Diabetes
Cardiovascular Health
Joint Pain
Abdominal Fat
How Excess Fat Puts You in Danger
How Much Is Too Much?
Brain Health
How Weight Affects Brain Function
Losing Weight Improved Cognition
Better Health
More Energy
Immunity
Feel Better and Stronger
What About Being Underweight?
The No Diet, No Gym, Weight Management Steps
Chapter 2: The Hidden Causes Of Excess Weight
Your Diet
What You Drink
Portion Sizes
Quality of Food
Why You Eat
Food for Comfort
Food Addiction
Lifestyle Influences
Being Sedentary
Low Energy
Poor Sleep
Friends and Family
Stressors
The No Diet, No Gym, Weight Management Steps
Chapter 3: Lose Weight Without Dieting
Your Eating Habits
Enjoy Your Meals
Combat Compulsive Eating
No-Diet Approach to Weight Loss
Watch Your Carbs
Plant-Based Approach
Stay Hydrated
The No Diet, No Gym, Weight Management Steps
Chapter 4: Exercise Without Punishing Yourself
Calories In, Calories Out
Counting Calories
Tracking Calories
Embracing Fitness
Get Moving
Endurance Zone
Walk Your Way to Weight Loss
Can You Lose Weight Just by Walking?
Steps per Day
Every Step Counts
The No Diet, No Gym Weight Management Steps
Chapter 5: Burn More Calories, Even With A Slow Metabolism
Understanding Metabolism
Metabolic Rate
Why Your Metabolism Might Be Slower
Adrenal Fatigue
Thyroid Conditions
Give Your Metabolism a Boost
Strength Training
Interval Training
Resistance Training
Foods That Increase Metabolism
The No Diet, No Gym, Weight Management Steps
Chapter 6: Binge Eating And Weight Gain, Plus 10 Binge Eating Food To Avoid
Emotional Overeating
Consequences of Binge Eating
Overloads Your System
Digestive Discomfort
Emotional Effects
Confronting Binge Eating
Be Aware of Eating Habits
What to Do After Binge Eating
Foods to Avoid
Chapter 7: Gut Bacteria And Weight
How Your Gut Impacts Weight Loss
Gut Microbiome
What Can Affect Gut Bacteria?
Improving Gut Health
High-Fiber Foods
Prebiotics
Probiotics
The No Diet, No Gym, Weight Management Steps
Chapter 8: Fat Burn And Foods To Eat
How the Body Burns Fat
Hard Fat
Soft Fat
Signs Your Burning Fat
Fat Burn Through Exercise
Fat Burn Through Diet
Foods to Increase Fat Burn
Daily Low-Calorie Foods
Daily Protein
Daily Fats
The No Diet, No Gym, Weight Management Steps
Chapter 9: Let’s Talk About Stress
Negative Effects of Stress
Instant Stress Relievers
Affirmations
Anger Management
Breathing Exercises
Additional Stress Reduction Activities
Long-Term Stress Management
Yoga
Progressive Muscle Relaxation
Gratitude
Journal
Time Management
Guided Visualizations
The No Diet, No Gym, Weight Management Steps
Conclusion
References
Photography References

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Lose Weight and Get Fit With No Diet/No Gym

Be Healthier, Stronger, and Live Longer

Shoba

© Copyright 2021 - All rights reserved. The content contained within this book may not be reproduced, duplicated or transmitted without direct written permission from the author or the publisher. Under no circumstances will any blame or legal responsibility be held against the publisher, or author, for any damages, reparation, or monetary loss due to the information contained within this book, either directly or indirectly.

Legal Notice: This book is copyright protected. It is only for personal use. You cannot amend, distribute, sell, use, quote or paraphrase any part, or the content within this book, without the consent of the author or publisher.

Disclaimer Notice: Please note the information contained within this document is for educational and entertainment purposes only. All effort has been executed to present accurate, up to date, reliable, complete information. No warranties of any kind are declared or implied. Readers acknowledge that the author is not engaged in the rendering of legal, financial, medical or professional advice. The content within this book has been derived from various sources. Please consult a licensed professional before attempting any techniques outlined in this book. By reading this document, the reader agrees that under no circumstances is the author responsible for any losses, direct or indirect, that are incurred as a result of the use of the information contained within this document, including, but not limited to, errors, omissions, or inaccuracies.

Table Of Contents Introduction Chapter 1: Why People Try To Lose Weight Weight Gain or Loss Health Risks Diabetes Cardiovascular Health Joint Pain Abdominal Fat How Excess Fat Puts You in Danger How Much Is Too Much? Brain Health How Weight Affects Brain Function Losing Weight Improved Cognition Better Health More Energy Immunity Feel Better and Stronger What About Being Underweight? The No Diet, No Gym, Weight Management Steps Chapter 2: The Hidden Causes Of Excess Weight Your Diet

What You Drink Portion Sizes Quality of Food Why You Eat Food for Comfort Food Addiction Lifestyle Influences Being Sedentary Low Energy Poor Sleep Friends and Family Stressors The No Diet, No Gym, Weight Management Steps Chapter 3: Lose Weight Without Dieting Your Eating Habits Enjoy Your Meals Combat Compulsive Eating No-Diet Approach to Weight Loss Watch Your Carbs Plant-Based Approach Stay Hydrated The No Diet, No Gym, Weight Management Steps Chapter 4: Exercise Without Punishing Yourself Calories In, Calories Out Counting Calories Tracking Calories Embracing Fitness Get Moving

Endurance Zone Walk Your Way to Weight Loss Can You Lose Weight Just by Walking? Steps per Day Every Step Counts The No Diet, No Gym Weight Management Steps Chapter 5: Burn More Calories, Even With A Slow Metabolism Understanding Metabolism Metabolic Rate Why Your Metabolism Might Be Slower Adrenal Fatigue Thyroid Conditions Give Your Metabolism a Boost Strength Training Interval Training Resistance Training Foods That Increase Metabolism The No Diet, No Gym, Weight Management Steps Chapter 6: Binge Eating And Weight Gain, Plus 10 Binge Eating Food To Avoid Emotional Overeating Consequences of Binge Eating Overloads Your System Digestive Discomfort Emotional Effects Confronting Binge Eating Be Aware of Eating Habits What to Do After Binge Eating

Foods to Avoid Chapter 7: Gut Bacteria And Weight How Your Gut Impacts Weight Loss Gut Microbiome What Can Affect Gut Bacteria? Improving Gut Health High-Fiber Foods Prebiotics Probiotics The No Diet, No Gym, Weight Management Steps Chapter 8: Fat Burn And Foods To Eat How the Body Burns Fat Hard Fat Soft Fat Signs Your Burning Fat Fat Burn Through Exercise Fat Burn Through Diet Foods to Increase Fat Burn Daily Low-Calorie Foods Daily Protein Daily Fats The No Diet, No Gym, Weight Management Steps Chapter 9: Let’s Talk About Stress Negative Effects of Stress Instant Stress Relievers Affirmations Anger Management

Breathing Exercises Additional Stress Reduction Activities Long-Term Stress Management Yoga Progressive Muscle Relaxation Gratitude Journal Time Management Guided Visualizations The No Diet, No Gym, Weight Management Steps Conclusion References Photography References

Introduction

all wish we could eat whatever we wanted without having to worry W eabout where it would show up on our body. We wish we could just go to sleep and wake up with a new fit and slim body. Instead, we have to pass on dessert because we are “on a diet.” We spend countless hours sweating at the gym, doing everything the latest crazed diet plan tells us to do to drop weight quickly. Yet, nothing seems to be working, Our confidence has declined along with our health. We convince ourselves that it is just our genes. That we have always been big boned and try to just accept our fate. Struggling to be satisfied with a number you see on the scale only accounts for a small fraction of your worries. You look in the mirror and cannot seem to recognize the person looking back at you. Or, maybe you do and are fed up with seeing the overweight person who keeps trying to get rid of the excess fat, but it does not want to leave. Even these do not address all your weight concerns. Your health, the effort it takes to get moving, how easily winded you get, and the mental turmoil itself are the issues that are consuming you. I know the immense shame, guilt, and constant worry that your weight is causing you because I have been there. Before my children, I was already immersing myself in various research and studies to help me lose the stubborn weight I had been carrying around since childhood. I had tried one fad diet after another with little to no success. When the weight came back, I simply told myself I would restrict what I eat even more and stuck to a very bland diet that was never delicious or satisfying. Needless to say, I fell off the healthy eating wagon and went straight back to the eating habits I have been accustomed to. This is what led to first beginning studying diet and nutrition as a career path. I received degrees from three different universities, each a testament that I finally knew

how to take control of my own weight. After having my children, I got the wake-up call I needed to start taking my health and weight more seriously. Many women quickly bounce back to a healthy weight after having kids—I was not one of them. In fact, I had always struggled with my weight, and only after I had my children did it spiral completely out of my control. I continued to look for a solution and was growing hopeless. I turned to everything I learned at university for something that I was missing. I had stuck with the diets, and I stopped eating sugar and carbs, most of the time. However, the weight always came back. I began hearing stories from other women about how they too were struggling to gain control over their weight. How they also were feeling hopeless and at a loss. This only fueled my passion to find a solution. To not only help myself but to help others who were struggling and as frustrated as I was. I was a prison to my weight, and food was the jail keeper. The more I tried to fight against what I ate, the stronger the hold it had on me. After having my second child, I decided there had to be another way. That simply eating the right foods was not my solution. For over 10 years, I have dedicated myself to find effective weight-loss solutions that do not require dieting, spending money, or spending countless hours at the gym. Once I learned what was keeping me stuck in my weight struggles, I knew I had to share this with others. I have been studying and researching the effects that weight has on the body for over 10 years. It is a topic I am constantly learning and expanding my knowledge on because of my own weight struggles. I know how frustrating and isolating it can be when you keep trying to lose the weight and it keeps coming back or never leaves to begin with. This is why I have dedicated the last five years to sharing my experience and what has helped me finally reach an ideal weight. I was able to not only get fit but improve my health, so I now have the energy and stamina to participate in my kids’ lives. I know millions of you are at a point where you just want to finally find something that works. You are tired of following strict guidelines and wasting your time at the gym. You want answers and you want results. There are many reasons why people gain weight, and it is normal and

necessary to have some fat stored up in the body. But, if you are pushing the higher end of your recommended weight range or have already crossed it, you are not just concerned about a few extra pounds—the weight is beginning to take a serious toll on your health. Do not wait until you have a serious health scare to get started. You can take control of your weight and improve your health. Is it not time that you free yourself from your weight struggles? What you will find throughout this book is a compilation of over 10 years of research and science-backed information that will help you identify what your weight gain issues are. You will find various techniques and suggestions to overcome the most common and some not as common causes for weight gain. This book outlines all the issues you may have been having with your weight gain. It starts out addressing weight gain concerns. The first chapter is to make you more aware of the health risks that arise from being overweight as well as enlighten you on how these health concerns further contribute to gaining more weight. The second chapter unveils many factors to cause you to add more inches to your waist and pounds on the scale. In this chapter, you will begin to understand why any attempts you have made in the past to lose weight and keep it off have been ineffective. This will allow you to begin to address hidden reasons for your weight gain and start creating a plan to counter their effects. The next chapter begins to outline strategies to help you gain control of your weight through simple changes to your eating habits. Adopting a new way of eating will lead you to not only making more nutritious choices with diet but allow you to enjoy delicious foods. You will not feel deprived or guilty about what you choose to eat most of the time or some of the time. Here, you will learn effective ways to combat compulsive eating and why you do not need to restrict what you eat, only be more educated about your options. After that, we dive into why physical activity should be a part of your weight management plan. You will not only understand why it is more beneficial to incorporate exercise but how it can help combat many health issues in the long term. This chapter provides you with a no-gym approach to exercise that you will be able to quickly implement with no gear.

Next, you will understand how to keep your energy levels in check as you cut back on your calories. Then, we will address how to combat feeling deprived as you change your eating habits so you do not sabotage all your efforts by binging the second you get a chance to. Then you will learn how the food you eat is not causing you to gain weight but is altering the way your body is meant to function. This chapter provides you with an understanding of the gut bacteria—an often overlooked culprit to weight gain. You will learn how to improve your gut health to regulate your metabolism and encourage weight loss. In chapter eight, you will gain a full understanding of how your body burns fat. This chapter helps you solidify your weight-loss plan to maximize fat burn from the most crucial areas of the body. You will find additional exercises that will boost your weight loss along with a food list that you can incorporate into your daily meals. The last chapter narrows in on stress. As you will learn throughout this book, stress influences your weight in many ways. This chapter is important because it does not just cover how to combat stress for weight loss but how to combat it so you stay positive and on track with your healthy lifestyle goals. At the end of each chapter, you will find a section titled “The No Diet, No Gym, Weight Management Steps.” In this section, it will include all the information you have gained throughout the chapter in easy, actionable steps. You can use this to ensure that you are not only on the right track to reaching a healthier weight, but that you are also using the information to live a healthier lifestyle. This will benefit you in the short and long term. Check back into this end of the chapter sections when you feel as though you are not seeing the progress you wish to see, or if you have hit a plateau where your weight loss has slowed down. Here, you will find additional tips that promote a healthy lifestyle, not just temporary and quick fixes. If you are ready to take control of your health, weight, and happiness, you can begin to do so today. You can live a life full of energy, feel stronger, and worry less about what your health will be like down the road. It is time to start your weight-loss journey and your transformation to a healthier lifestyle.

Chapter 1 Why People Try to Lose Weight weight is the number one reason people try to lose excessive L osing weight. Weight gain occurs when we take in more calories than we burn. We can easily consume over 500 in less than 15 minutes, but burning off that many calories will take well over an hour of effort. We do not even need to consume that much in excess to see significant weight gain. Eating a surplus of just 50 calories a day will equal at least 100 pounds of weight gain in 20 years. This is why many people struggle to maintain their weight. The idea that 50 extra calories can add up over the years does not concern many. You think you will just work out a little more to work it off, but then you skip your workouts. Eventually, you are looking at yourself, and you are 100 pounds heavier, yet you have no idea how it happened.

Weight Gain or Loss There are many factors that contribute to weight gain. The easiest and most common explanation is that we consume more calories than we burn off. Calories are taken in by the food and drinks we indulge in daily; our body uses these calories for energy. Any excess calories that cannot be immediately used by the body gets stored away as fat. This stored fat is supposed to be accessed later by the body when it needs a surge of energy again. The problem is that many of us are constantly replenishing immediate energy instead of allowing the body to use up the stored energy. This is what leads to weight gain. We do not tend to become concerned with a few extra pounds, until those few extra pounds add up to a high number. The quickest solution to rid this

extra weight is to diet and maybe increase our physical activity. When the weight comes off, most revert to their old eating habits, and suddenly the weight is back, plus some. This dropping and gaining of weight continues until the quick fixes do not seem to work anymore. The issue with trying to lose weight is not in the process of having to diet and get moving. The problem arises when we do not address the real reasons that we keep gaining weight. Yo-yo dieting, or putting yourself on a restrictive diet every time you want to lose weight, does more damage to your health. This continuous dieting also makes it more difficult to lose weight again, and over time, the body begins to store even more fat, which is why so many see additional pounds add on once they stop dieting. Most fad diets recommend restricting calories and/or eliminating certain food groups, which are essential for your health. There are aspects about dieting that are misunderstood and result in individuals either having no success with their weight loss or only see temporary results. Caloric intake is one such example. We will go in-depth about calories and their purpose in chapter four. While calories cause weight gain, it is not just the number of calories you consume that contribute to this gain. Eating more calories than you burn off, no matter what source they come from, will get stored as fat. The main issue is that we treat all calories the same. Consuming 200 calories from a salad and 200 calories from a bowl of ice cream are going to impact the body differently. It is also the source that these calories come from that contribute to health issues that are also connected with weight gain.

Health Risks Health conditions and diagnosis are some of the biggest motivational factors that push individuals to begin taking their weight more seriously. Weight can put you at a higher risk for many serious health conditions, many of which you are already well aware of. What makes health conditions associated with being overweight more complex is that once they develop, they tend to further encourage weight gain. This is where weight management becomes difficult.

Diabetes Those diagnosed with diabetes know that weight management is vital for

proper treatment and management of their symptoms. Being overweight or obese are common factors that increase the risk of diabetes. One of the most common symptoms of having diabetes is an increase in appetite, which only increases weight gain. This is due to the high levels of glucose in the system. When there is a higher level of glucose, the body needs more fat to remove it from the bloodstream. Both the amount of food and the type of food you eat needs to be adjusted for proper weight loss when you have diabetes. What you drink can also have an impact on the management of this condition. Those with diabetes are more likely to become dehydrated. Drinking plenty of water throughout the day and cutting back on sugary beverages can help you with your weight-loss efforts. This is also a common sign of diabetes—excessive thirst as well as an increase in urination. Medication for diabetes treatment also makes it more difficult to lose weight when you have type 2 diabetes. Insulin treatment and other diabetic medication come with the side effect of weight gain. If you are finding it hard to lose weight with diabetes or are still gaining weight, you will want to speak to your doctor. Even those who have made the required adjustments to their diet and have increased their physical activity may find it hard to manage their weight due to medications. You need to bring these concerns up to your doctor and discuss if alternative treatments are an option. Diabetes can also hide other underlying conditions that can contribute to weight gain. Thyroid issues, nutrient deficiencies, and inflammatory conditions can be overshadowed by diabetic symptoms. Creating an effective weight management plan when you have diabetes will require patience and is a process of trial and error, but it is possible to gain control.

Cardiovascular Health Cardiovascular disease is one of the leading causes of death in the United States (Akil et al., 2011). Many lifestyle factors can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, but weight is one of the biggest culprits. Cardiovascular disease is a group of conditions that affect the heart or blood vessels. These include: High blood pressure Angina

Heart attack Stroke Arrhythmia Heart valve complication Heart failure These conditions are directly impacted by the blood pressure of the body. You have gotten your blood pressure checked quite often, but very few people understand what these numbers mean. Blood pressure is determined by systolic and diastolic pressure. Systolic blood pressure is the first number that you see on your blood pressure reading. This lets you tell you how much pressure the blood is exerting on the artery walls each time the heart beats. Diastolic blood pressure is the second number and is often the lower of the two. This pressure lets you know how much pressure is being applied to the artery walls when your heart is at rest or not beating. When either of these numbers increases, this can cause concern. As we age, our blood pressure will gradually rise as the arteries of the heart will naturally begin to stiffen. Excess plaque buildup around the arteries will also contribute to rises in blood pressure. High blood pressure is connected to several health conditions including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and degenerative brain disorder. Those who are overweight or obese are at greater risk of all these conditions. Normal blood pressure is considered 120/80mm Hg or below. Elevated blood pressure occurs when the systolic pressure rises to between 120 and 130. Diastolic pressure may drop below 80 mm Hg. High blood pressure also referred to as stage 1 hypertension is when the systolic pressure reaches between 130 and 139 and diastolic pressure has increased to between 30 and 89 mm Hg. When blood pressure raises to this level, red flags begin to fly. Individuals are wanted and recommended to make necessary lifestyle changes to lower blood pressure and lower their risk of cardiovascular disease. Stage 2 hypertension blood pressure results when blood pressure reaches 140/90 mm Hg or above. If blood pressure remains at this consistent level, there is a greater concern for serious health complications. Along with needing to make lifestyle changes, individuals are often also prescribed blood

pressure medication to keep blood pressure down. If blood pressure reaches 180/120 mm Hg, there is a severe risk of damage to the organs. When blood pressure is this high, individuals will have difficulty breathing, chest pain, weakness of the limbs, and back pain. Issues with vision and trouble speaking are also quite common when blood pressure reaches this high. These are warning signs of serious heart complications and need immediate medical attention. Another issue to be aware of is that undetected heart conditions can cause one to suddenly gain weight. This can lead to a negative cycle. The heart condition causes you to store excess fat; the excess fat raises your risk for other health problems like diabetes. This then increases your risk for heart disease. The vicious cycle continues until something interferes with this pattern. It is first recommended that individuals who are at greater risk of cardiovascular disease or have high blood pressure make adjustments to their diet. Diet is one of the most common factors that contribute to excess fat and consuming foods that cause blood pressure to rise. When you address your dietary issues, you can ultimately lower your risk for cardiovascular disease. Cardiovascular disease is considered one of the top preventable diseases. It is preventable because if we make the necessary changes to our diet and physical activity, we will significantly reduce our risk for these health issues. Losing just 10 pounds can lower blood pressure and keep you in better health.

Joint Pain The joints in the body go through daily wear and tear. As we age, it is not uncommon for the joints to become stiff and painful. Being overweight speeds up this wear and tear. Weight gain can damage the joints in the body in two critical ways. Chronic joint pain can affect the knees, feet, and back, making it uncomfortable and painful to walk. The most common cause of chronic joint pain is excess weight (“How rapid weight gain affects your joints,” 2018). The amount of force that gets applied to the weight-bearing joints when we walk is almost two times your body weight. So, if your current weight is 200 pounds you are putting over 300 pounds of pressure on the joints (“How rapid weight gain affects your joints,” 2018). Excess weight exerts more pressure not just on the joints but also on the bones and ligament.

The more pressure that the joints are exposed to, the greater chance of arthritis developing. Joint pain in non-weight-bearing joints is often due to inflammation in the body. This, along with the excess pressure, puts you at greater risk of developing arthritis. One of the biggest contributors to widespread inflammation in the body is our diet. What you eat can increase inflammation in several ways. More inflammation-causing chemicals are being released, issues with the digestive system trigger an inflammatory response, and more free radicals or toxins are flowing through the body. Those who are overweight have a much higher chance of developing osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis is one of the most common types of arthritis that tends to develop later in life. Those who are overweight can suffer from this condition much earlier. This arthritis develops when the cartilage between the bones begins to break down. This then causes the bones to grind against one another once this soft cushion has deteriorated. Cartilage cannot regrow on its own. The most common areas this condition occurs include: Hips Knees Fingers Feet When the bone begins to rub against one another, this causes the shape of the bone to change. The bones may harden together, become uneven, or bumpy. Osteoarthritis causes severe pain in the joint areas and can cause uncomfortable swelling in the damaged areas. Like many other conditions that arise from weight can, suffering from arthritis can also lead to more weight gain. If one suffers from arthritis in the hips, knees, or feet it can be unbearable to put pressure on these areas. This puts a limitation on the physical activity one can do. The decreases in daily movement will lead to more weight gain. Weight loss is an effective way to help slow down the progression of arthritis and prevent damage to the joints. Losing just one pound of weight reduces four times the pressure forced on the joint (Arthritis Foundation, 2020).

Abdominal Fat Having excess fat around the waistline is not just a hindrance to how your clothes fit. The fat stored in the abdominal region can be even more damaging to your health than fat stored elsewhere in the body. Here, we have a layer of fat that is subcutaneous—this fat sits right below the skin. This fat, though not wanted, is not our biggest concern. The visceral fat that gets stored deeper in the body and surrounds the organs is what contributes to our health risks.

How Excess Fat Puts You in Danger Abdominal fat or visceral fat is especially concerning for those who are overweight. This type of fat does not just accumulate in the body; it wraps itself around the nearest organs. Considering the many organs located near the abdomen, this fat can contribute to a wide range of health conditions. Visceral fat in the midsection has been linked to developing insulin resistance, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and fatty liver damage (Howard, 2019). Research has also shown that the more visceral fat you accumulate, the higher your risk of developing certain cancers, like breast and colorectal cancer (Howard, 2019).

When this fat surrounds the organs, it puts excess strain on them. Fat in the abdomen that hangs over the waist is really hanging off the intestines and other organs located in this region. This pulling of the organs causes them to not function properly. Another alarming fact about these fat cells is that they do not just sit around waiting to be used as energy. Visceral fat produces various chemicals that get released and travel through the bloodstream. The liver is often in the closest proximity to visceral fat and often the first affected by the chemical it releases. Cholesterol levels will rise and put you at greater risk of other conditions. Subcutaneous fat, which is often found near the muscles in the body like the thigh and arms is not as harmful as visceral fat, unless this fat is stored in other areas of the body. Upper subcutaneous fats that are noticeable around the upper torso of the body, and have been shown to increase body mass index. This higher BMI causes higher blood pressure, irregularities in fasting blood glucose levels, triglycerides, and lowers HDL cholesterol. Upper subcutaneous fat that appears around the torso is considered a dangerous blood fat (Howard, 2019).

How Much Is Too Much? Taking measurements of your waist can help you identify if there is a substantial excess of visceral fat that needs to be burned off. A good rule of thumb is that women’s waistlines should measure at not more than 35 inches; for men, it should be no more than 40 inches (Brusie, 2019). You can take your own measurements using a fabric tape measure. Locate your hip bones and move up about two inches, then wrap the tape measure around your waist to get your circumference. Body shape plays a factor in how much visceral fat you deposit in the midsection. As you get older, your body also tends to begin to store more fat in the abdomen. Women who are approaching perimenopausal or menopausal age may see an increase in fat stored in the midsection. Women at this age are already considered to be at a higher risk of certain health conditions; this excess visceral fat accumulation increases the risk even more. Keep in mind you can be at a normal weight and still have an excess of visceral fat stored in the abdomen.

Brain Health Weight gain can also result in poor brain health. The brain requires a substantial number of vitamins, nutrients, proper blood flow, and oxygen. Excess fat in the body can make it harder for the brain to receive what it needs to function optimally. Poor brain function can cause issues with focus, memory, and your ability to perform daily tasks.

How Weight Affects Brain Function Just as fat can damage the arteries that lead to the heart, it can damage the arteries that lead to the brain. This means less blood is flowing to the brain and it is not receiving the oxygen it needs to keep brain cells healthy and functional. This causes areas of the brain to begin to slow down. The more weight you gain, the slower brain activity becomes. Blood flow to the brain has been specifically studied as a concerning factor that links weight gain with a higher risk of cognitive brain disorders. When the brain is not supplied with the proper amount of blood, the brain matter shrinks. It also promotes the development of Alzheimer’s disease. Excess fat also lowers gray matter density in the brain. This matter is responsible for transmitting signals throughout the brain and processes information received from the sensory organs. Gray matter is vital for proper muscle function. Those who are overweight have a significant reduction in gray matter, and instead of having a buildup of fatty plaque, this interferes with the brain's ability to process information and receive signals from the sensory systems. Fatty plaque has also been linked to the development of Alzheimer’s disease. Excess weight also affects the structure of the brain, Those diagnosed as obese in the 30s to 40s are at greater risk of dementia. This is because the hippocampus area of the brain becomes much smaller in size. The hippocampus plays an integral role in the organization and storage of memories and information to create new memories. It also aids in our executive function which is what allows us to perform complex tasks, thought processing, and reasoning (Soleymani, 2017).

Losing Weight Improved Cognition Brain health can be improved when we adopt brain-healthy habits (IOS Press, 2020). Diet and exercise should be two important factors that should

be adjusted. Foods we eat can contribute to malfunctioning in the brain which is why it is just as important to address poor eating habits while losing weight. The brain ages naturally just as the rest of our body. When we are overweight, there are various factors that speed up the aging process of the brain. This not only impairs brain function at a much early stage in life, but it also promotes the formation of different types of dementia. Dementia develops more quickly in a decaying brain, one that has lower gray matter and higher fat cells. Poor working memory is common in those who are considered obese. This is our ability to store information for short periods that can be necessary to complete various tasks. We rely on our working memory to store direction from one place to another, steps in a process, and simply where we placed our keys. A reduction of blood flow, as well as excess information, contributes to this. Losing excess fat can help reduce the inflammation in the body and in turn show improvements to working memory. Losing weight can help counter these negative effects, but this is not the only way we can keep our brain functioning optimally into old age. We need to be mindful of what we eat, not just to lose weight but to take in essential minerals and vitamins that will promote healthy brain function. Regular exercise, both physical and mental, will keep the brain sharp.

Better Health Maintaining a healthy weight reduces the risk of many serious health conditions. It is also necessary for better overall health and happiness. When we are not carrying around excess fat, we will feel free and in control of our lives. Some improvements you will see when you begin to lose weight are discussed in this section.

More Energy Weight gain increases fatigue. This is because the body has to work hard to perform its daily function. When you have to get moving, the amount of energy required is even greater, so much so, that there may not be enough molecules in the body to deliver the energy your muscles and tissues need to get moving. Your weight can have negative or positive effects on your metabolism. This is what will make you feel sluggish or energized

throughout the day. Individuals who maintain a healthy weight tend to see an increase in their energy levels.

Immunity The immune system allows us to fight off infections and viruses. It is what helps our bodies heal on the inside and out. One of the main ways the body does this is by triggering an inflammatory response. White blood cells travel to an infected area and release cytokines, which cause inflammation around the area. Once the infected area is neutralized, the inflammation subsides. This is how your immune system is supposed to function. Stored fat cells also release cytokines. This is just one of the various hormones fat cells naturally release. While cytokines that are produced from white cells and are necessary to keep the body safe and healthy, cytokines released from fat cells create a serious imbalance in the body. The more fat you have stored, the more cytokines flood the body, keeping it in a constant state of stress. It also means your body is constantly causing inflammation throughout the body. Most individuals who are considered obese are also typically diagnosed with chronic inflammation. When the body is in a constant state of inflammation, the immune system becomes severely compromised. A compromised immune system results in a higher risk of major and minor health conditions and infections. This is not something that those who are obese or considered overweight need to be concerned about. When the body has a higher amount of excess stored fat, whether overweight or not, your immune system is at risk. To combat this burning fat is not enough. You need to also be building lean muscle to ensure additional fat gets used appropriately and does not remain stored for extended periods of time.

Feel Better and Stronger Losing weight can help boost your confidence, but this confidence must be gained through the weight-loss process and not just as a result of shedding extra pounds. When you are embarking on a weight-loss journey, you may doubt your abilities to lose the weight you want. Putting on extra pounds, for many, leads to a negative self-image and not

being body positive. When you keep gaining weight, there are many negative views you may develop about yourself. Addressing these negative views about how you look and feel about yourself is essential for both your shortterm weight-loss goals and your long-term outlook on a healthy lifestyle. When you begin to lose weight, you will discover what your body is capable of. Aside from liking the way you look, you will feel physically and mentally stronger. You will maintain the motivation and willpower to follow through on your dietary needs and physical activity, which will boost your confidence. As you continue to lose weight and make progress with your workouts, you will feel stronger.

What About Being Underweight? It is important to note that while you are trying to lose weight, you want to reach a healthy weight. This is going to be different for each person. Obsessing over how many calories you consume and trying to constantly be at a deficit may lead to other health issues caused by being underweight. The body needs a sufficient supply of calories to function. It relies on the energy every second of the day to do normal functions such as keeping your heart pumping and your lungs working properly. While being overweight puts you at risk for many health problems, being underweight also comes with concerning risks. Those who are underweight are often not consuming enough calories throughout the day, and they do not have enough fat stored to provide the body with the fuel it needs. Not eating enough also means you are not getting the vital nutrients and vitamins your body needs to function properly. When you are underweight, your immune system becomes severely compromised. When you do not supply it with enough energy or proper vitamins, it cannot operate. This leads to you getting sick more often, and you may have more difficulty fighting off infections or healing from injuries. This also contributes to feeling overly tired throughout the day. We simply do not have the energy to function. This can lead to limited physical activity The lack of movement plus not getting essential nutrients, means the bones begin to weaken. Maintaining a healthy weight is important for both those over or underweight. In both cases, it will require effort and patience. With the right

understanding of what your body needs, you can reach an ideal weight that allows you to live a healthier and longer life.

The No Diet, No Gym, Weight Management Steps In this chapter, we covered a lot of concerning facts that come with being overweight. Many people tend to ignore or confront the truth that their weight is causing multiple health issues. The first step to weight management is acknowledging these health concerns. Talking to your doctor to get a better idea of where you are with your physical health will help you properly create an effective weight management plan. You need to have a clear understanding of where you are starting from. When you visit your doctor: Have questions ready to ask. While you are there, be sure to take note of your weight and blood pressure. Express your concerns about your weight gain. Your doctor may help you uncover hidden factors that can cause weight gain. Discuss medical conditions that you may be at higher risk for and learn about the signs and symptoms. If you feel you exhibit any

number of these symptoms, bring it up to your doctor. Talk to your doctor about natural weight loss options and what the best and safest approaches are that you should take. Your physical health is not the only thing you want to address. If you are concerned about your mental health such as struggling with depression or stress, you will want to bring these up to your doctor as well. Your doctor will play a key role in your weight management plan. If you are not comfortable discussing your concerns with them, you might want to consider finding a doctor you are more comfortable with.

Chapter 2 The Hidden Causes of Excess Weight weight when we eat more than we burn, but if it were that simple, W ewegainwould be able to lose weight with much less effort. There are many factors that impact our weight. We have already addressed many of the medical conditions that can promote weight gain. There are also other lifestyle factors and hidden influences that may be adding inches to your waistline and pounds to the number you see on the scale.

Your Diet Diet is the number one culprit for excess weight gain. Consuming too many calories, by even a small margin, will add up to substantial weight gain. This is especially true when we are consuming more empty calories over nutrient-dense calories. Empty calories provide us with significant sugars or fats which convert to glucose and then are stored as fat. The biggest issue is that it does not provide the body with any additional nutrients.

What You Drink Food is often the first and only issue addressed when one starts to focus on weight loss. Changing eating habits will have a substantial impact on weight, but you cannot neglect what you drink. Foods and beverages will both supply the body with calories. What you drink can contain hundreds of empty calories. This goes for the pops or soda you drink as well as any alcoholic beverages you consume. You may stick to a healthy diet, but if your drink of choice is filled with higher amounts of added sugar, you are still inclined to put on weight.

Portion Sizes If you eat more than you burn, the excess calories are stored as fat, which results in weight gain. Portion sizes have gotten significantly larger over the years. Most dishes have increased by over 20%, with others, especially snack foods and soft drinks, increasing well over 50% in size (Food Insights, 2020). When added to the fact that the quality of food we eat has also significantly declined, it is no wonder that millions struggle with weight management. These larger portion sizes cause us to overeat. Not just because we have more food in front of us, but because the serving size recommendation has not changed. We rarely pay attention to how much of a food item we should eat at one time, and this is what causes us to consume more calories in one sitting. Though many may argue that larger portions have contributed to the uptake in obesity and diabetes diagnosis, it does not take multiple research studies to understand how portions can impact weight. When we have more food in front of us, our natural instinct is to eat. There are many reasons why we feel we need to eat everything on our plates when served a large meal. If you ever heard your parents tell you to “clean your plate,” “there are starving children in other countries,” or “a little bit more won’t hurt you,” you have most likely developed a belief system that encourages you to overeat. We ignore our body cues that tell us we are full and force ourselves to finish what is in front of us, even if it makes us uncomfortable. Overeating has been a norm and is even applauded and rewarded. How many food challenges have you heard of that focus on consuming an absurdly oversized burger, pizza, or sundae? If you finish in a set amount of time, you do not have to pay for it, you get a fun shirt that says you conquered the challenge, and your picture gets hung on the establishment's wall of fame. The more we consume a larger portion, the more our body begins to adapt and expect these larger meals. Over time, what appears to be a ridiculous amount of food is soon not enough to make you feel satiated.

Quality of Food Convenient foods have reigned over meals and snack time. When instant meals that could be set in the oven and forgotten about, millions of people jump on the prepackaged, ready-made meal train. Less time was spent in the

kitchen prepping, cooking, and cleaning up after a meal. These made it easier to decide on what to eat because whatever could be consumed with the least amount of effort—you did not have to wait for it to cook or just grab and go —was what you chose. Convenience came with a hefty disadvantage that was usually overlooked or ignored. Though these satisfied an instant need, they contributed to longterm problems, specifically poor health. In all these prepackaged and convenient foods, various preservatives have been added, and multiple processing systems have been implemented to lengthen the shelf life of foods. A majority of these foods have been stripped of their nutritional value and injected with man-made chemicals that have adverse effects on our health and weight. Additionally, many of the processed foods we consume have a higher amount of refined foods—white flour, white rice, sugars, and fats. Individuals that consume a diet high in processed foods like these are shown to weigh more than individuals who eat a balance of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains (“The best diet: Quality counts,” n.d.).

Why You Eat Food is necessary for our survival, but instead of using it to fuel our body and gain vital nutrients and vitamins, many of us turn to it as a coping mechanism. Unhealthy relationships with food, such as comfort eating, binge eating, emotional eating among others, contribute to unhealthy weight management strategies.

Food for Comfort Many people use food to self-medicate, and they are often not nutrientdense foods. Comfort foods create strong reactions in the brain. These foods are often linked to special memories or pleasing feelings. We turn to comfort foods for instant gratification. We rely on food to help us feel safe and secure though, in reality, it is only causing us to feel more out of control. Even worse, we allow food to control our lives. Emotional eating is more than just reaching for something sweet or salty when we are dealing with unpleasant emotions. It is directly connected to our brain’s reward system; the more we rely on this coping mechanism, the stronger the behavior becomes, and over time, it becomes a habit. The foods we eat in moments of intense emotional distress cause dopamine levels to increase. This is a neurotransmitter that regulates pleasure receptors. When it is released, our brain creates a pathway to what triggered its release—in this instance, it is the food we are eating. The more this trigger occurs, meaning the more you are stressed and turn to food for comfort, the stronger this connection becomes. Depending on how frequently this occurs, our emotional eating can become habitual. If you feel unpleasant emotions and reach for them automatically without any thought, this has become a habit. We now need to find a replacement behavior that will create a new connection in the brain to override the food consumption pathway. The main problem with eating for comfort is that we rarely address the underlying cause. We do not confront our emotions but instead put a delicious bandage over them. Failing to recognize emotional eating patterns will only cause you more struggle with your weight loss. This tendency contributes to lower self-esteem, and a vicious cycle begins. We eat to combat emotions, feel guilty for eating so much, look negatively at ourselves as a result, and turn to food to deal with this negativity.

This negative cycle can cause episodes of binge eating. If left unaddressed, food addiction can develop.

Food Addiction Food addiction is a complex topic. Many food addictions begin as emotional eating. Over time, the continuous need to eat to find comfort becomes an ingrained habit. Each time you experience a negative emotion you need food to find release from it. Signs of food addiction include: Consuming larger quantities of food for a longer period of time Needing to recover from overeating or binge episodes Trying to stop overeating, but without success Understanding the negative consequences of overeating but still doing it Eating habits begin to interfere with daily life—skipping events or social gatherings to eat instead Just as with any other addiction, one can build up a tolerance with their food addiction. This means that the cravings become more intense and you will need to consume more to satisfy them. When avoiding food, individuals may experience withdrawal symptoms, become depressed, feel anxious, or stressed when they do not eat. Certain foods, like sugar, contribute even further to food addictions. Sugar causes a unique reaction in the brain's reward systems. Studies have indicated that this reaction is stronger than the one created from using narcotics like heroin or cocaine (Schaefer & Yasin, 2020). When we consume sugar, the compounds in it release opioids and dopamine in the body. Dopamine is connected to the reward response systems. It creates a strong neural pathway in the brain that links sugar with pleasurable seeking sensors. When released, our brain takes note of what causes the release of dopamine and stores this information to encourage further encounters with it. Dopamine is what creates a “high” feeling when sugar is consumed or the overall feelgood sensation we experience when we eat something sweet (Schaefer & Yasin, 2020). The more we consume sugar, the less dopamine that gets released. Only if we increase how much sugar we consume will we be able to

experience the pleasurable sensation that causes us to take in more sugar regularly. The opiate receptors that become active when we consume sugar are what makes eating excess sugar a compulsive behavior (Schaefer & Yasin, 2020). Despite us knowing the consequences of eating too much sugar, whether these be immediate in the form of headaches or stomach pains or long term in the form of weight gain or medical conditions, we will still consume it. Each time we enjoy a sugar-filled treat or drink, we continue to strengthen the neural pathways in the brain that make this consumption rewarding. Food addition provides temporary solutions to emotional distress, but it does not help confront what is causing the negative emotions.

Lifestyle Influences Being Sedentary Being inactive not only causes us to put on a few extra pounds, but it also makes it more difficult to engage in physical activity. Most people, whether overweight or not, do not get the recommended amount of physical activity needed to maintain a healthy weight. Recent studies and research have found that just 10% of individuals in the U.S. who say they get enough physical activity are actually getting the exercise they need (Wanjek, 2014). Individuals who spend most of their day sitting are more likely to become overweight. This is because those who gain weight become less active with the more weight they put on. This of course only causes a faster accumulation of fat in the body. Studies have indicated that people who fall into the obese category get less than a minute of vigorous activity a day (Wanjek, 2014). Many things contribute to a more sedentary lifestyle. Many of the things we do require us to sit much more. We drive everywhere we go, which requires us to sit. Most jobs and even school requires us to sit for hours each day. When at home, we are engaging in activities like watching television or playing video games, where we sit again for hours at a time. Then, after all this sitting, we lay down and sleep. This sedentary lifestyle leads us to a place where being physically active requires too much energy and effort, so we choose to sit more. Being overweight simply makes it hard to get our bodies moving, and doing light to

moderate exercise is a challenge. Considering that those who are overweight need to participate in regular vigorous exercise to burn the necessary fat, this becomes an impossible feat.

Low Energy When you constantly feel low on energy, it is not uncommon to see more weight gain. Fatigue can contribute to weight gain in a few ways. Not only does this result in not being able to get more physical activity in, but it also contributes to poor food choices. Many of the food choices we are making only increase our fatigue. Fatigue can be an indication that there is another serious medical condition that needs to be addressed. If you are experiencing more fatigue than usual, it is best to consult with your doctor. Medical conditions, like thyroid disease, can result in extreme fatigue. Gaining weight, however, also makes us feel lower on energy. If our body is not burning the right type of stored fat and is constantly only using immediate calories for energy—those we consumed via sugars and carbohydrates—will cause us to feel a substantial decrease in energy levels.

Poor Sleep Poor sleep can secretly cause you to gain weight for a few reasons. Not enough sleep can alter brain function, change metabolism, cause irregularities in appetite, and throw off hormone production. Poor sleep hygiene not only causes weight gain, but those who are overweight tend to have more struggles with getting proper sleep. During sleep, our metabolism slows down to conserve energy for the next day. When we wake in the mornings, our metabolism remains at a slightly lower level then begins to increase throughout the day. When we spend more time awake and not getting enough sleep, our body is using up more energy than it would if we were sleeping. This causes the body to naturally slow down the metabolism during the day. We end up burning fewer calories than we should while we are awake. Additionally, these changes in metabolism cause the body to turn to muscle mass to burn as energy, not stored fat. Even if you are following a well-balanced diet and getting in regular exercise, you will lose muscle when you are sleep deprived.

Our brain activity shifts when we are not getting enough sleep, and this affects how much food we eat and the kinds of foods we eat. Our brains become highly alert when we are sleep deprived, but this does not mean we are more focused or functional. Instead, the brain is highly activated and its reward system kicks into high gear. This causes us to crave more high-calorie foods, sugars, saturated fats, and carbohydrates. What makes this even worse is that our ability to control our eating impulses is defective. We are more likely to overeat and make poor food choices when we are tired, adding to the higher calories and more fat storage. When we are awake for more hours, we simply have more hours to eat. Many people who stay up later in the evening, instead of getting to bed to get adequate sleep, will snack later at night (Prince, 2021). These late-night snacking sessions then makes it even harder for us to fall asleep. On top of this, we are less motivated to work out when we are not wellrested. Individuals that have a packed schedule are more likely to not get proper sleep. This means they tend to not have the time to incorporate working out or planning healthy meals into their schedule. It is important to make sleep a priority when you are trying to lose weight. If you get less than six hours of sleep most nights, you will have issues with your weight. Studies have also shown that when you get less than the recommended hours of sleep, you increase your risk of developing diabetes by over 25% (Prince, 2021). There are many reasons why you may struggle with sleep; being overweight can cause sleep disturbances that make it hard for you to fall asleep or stay asleep through the night. If sleep is a struggle for you, there are a few things you can do to promote better sleep. First, create a bedtime routine. Your evening should be filled with sleepinducing activities. Yoga, meditation, journaling, and reading are all things you can do just before you get into bed to help you fall asleep faster. Next, have the right sleep environment. You want the temperature of your room to be around 68 °F. Wear comfortable clothes that will keep your body temperature regulated through the night. Turn off all electronics, and keep your room as dark as possible. Light will stop the production of melatonin, our body’s natural sleep-enhancing hormone. Finally, take extra steps to ensure you stay asleep through the night. A sound machine can help block

out external noises, a sleep mask can help shield our eyes from unexpected nights that get turned on in the middle of the night, and essential oils like lavender can keep our mind and body relaxed so we stay asleep. Diet and exercise will also have an impact on your sleep. Exercise, especially when done in the early hours of your day, can help promote longer quality sleep. Also, if you are concerned about your sleep patterns, it can be best to talk to your doctor. There may be underlying medical issues that are preventing you from getting a good night's sleep.

Friends and Family Who you surround yourself with, especially those you are closest with, will have a negative or positive influence on your weight. Chances are if you are struggling with your weight, your spouse, close family members, or beloved friends also struggle with their weight. If your friends and family consume larger portions, you will eat more when you are with them. Even when you are trying to transition to a healthier lifestyle, friends and family can undermine your efforts, sometimes unintentionally. While they may be trying to show support, they often encourage poor behaviors by justifying unhealthy habits. “You have been doing so well on your diet, having one piece of cake will not hurt you.” While there is truth in this statement, it also causes a negative thought process that can have a domino effect. You do not want to deprive yourself of eating foods you love; you also need to be aware of how statements like this can throw you off course. Eating habits are not the only way your friend and family can undermine your efforts. They may also be more encouraging of inactivity. They may try to sway you to sit around and watch more television instead of going out for a walk. They may encourage relaxing on the couch after a stressful day instead of getting moving to reduce stress. Your friends and family may be supportive of your healthy lifestyle efforts, but they may be showing this support ineffectively. Instead of waiting for their approval, so to speak, have them join you. Invite them to help cook a nutritious meal, go for a walk after dinner, or join an exercise class with you. Instead of allowing them to be a negative influence, you can help guide them to being a more positive influence. You can also be a more positive influence on them.

Stressors Dealing with constant stress has a negative impact on one's health for many reasons. When it comes to our weight, stress can cause one to gain weight and make it more difficult to lose weight. When stressed, the body releases cortisol, epinephrine, and norepinephrine. These all correlate to the fight-or-flight response that becomes active when the body or brain receives a threatening situation. While normal stress does not have a long-lasting effect when the three are released, this is not the case when one is under chronic stress. Epinephrine and norepinephrine levels return to normal after the threat has been identified as no longer threatening. Cortisol levels remain high for a prolonged period of time. When cortisol levels remain high frequently, this is when one can begin to see weight gain. The purpose of cortisol is to preserve energy, which it does by triggering the metabolism of carbohydrates and fat for an instant boost of energy. When this is stimulated, insulin is released, and one begins to feel hungry. When our hunger is stimulated when stressed the body sends signals that it needs more carbohydrates and fats. We eat to curb our appetite even though we are not eating because the body needs additional energy or nutrients. What we choose to eat tends to be high in sugar and greasy foods. We are eating to combat the stress response, and this often means we are not eating nutrient-dense foods. Unfortunately, there are many things we encounter throughout the day that can cause our stress levels to rise and trigger the release of cortisol. If we do not address the constant stressors in our lives and participate in stressreducing activities, there will be weight gain. Another way stress impacts our weight is where fat is deposited in the body. High levels or cortisol and chronic stress promote fat accumulation in the abdominal area. This is because this fat is accessed first when one needs a surge of energy in stressful situations. Since many stressful situations are not life-threatening, our body never actually uses the stored fat when encountering stress. It is just put on high alert to access this fat if necessary. What results is an increase in caloric intake, excess fat storage, and no more fat being burned than if you were not under stress. Since every individual body reacts differently to stress, there is no clear

indication that your body is storing more fat when you encounter stress. There is also no certain level of cortisol that will result in additional fat storage. Some people may release very little cortisol when they are under stress; others may release an absurdly high level of cortisol when even under the smallest amount of stress. In either case, stress management should also be included in your weight loss and your weight management plan. We will cover some effective strategies for stress management in the last chapter. Luckily, many of the things you are doing to manage your weight also double as stress reduction methods. Exercise for example is crucial for weight management and also helps reduce stress levels in the body.

The No Diet, No Gym, Weight Management Steps Weight gain is often primarily associated with consuming too much food. While this is the main reason for weight gain, there are many factors that can cause you to overeat. To move forward with your weight-loss goals and successfully manage your weight, you need to be aware of your eating habits. Begin to take notice not just of what you eat but how much you eat. Identify triggers like emotions or people that may cause you to overeat. Keep in mind that your other lifestyle choices can cause you to gain weight by overeating. When tracking your eating habits, you also want to begin to track how much you are moving throughout your day. Do you have a

job that primarily involves you sitting behind a desk? Do you spend most of your free time sitting around and relaxing? These are all things that you can make small adjustments to so that you can begin to lose the extra weight you carry around. Finally, track your sleep patterns. Do you have a hard time falling asleep? Do you wake up frequently throughout the night? How many hours of sleep are you actually getting? One of the things you can begin to do now for better weight management is resolving your sleep issues by sticking to a bedtime routine.

Chapter 3 Lose Weight Without Dieting ne of the first things people do when they are trying to lose weight is to go on a diet. They find one that offers the best and fastest results and dive in. After a few weeks, they have reverted back to their old eating habits and are not any lighter. There are many problems that come from dieting. Even if you do have success losing weight, most people gain it back plus some within a year. Dieting causes us to focus on the wrong things when we want to lose weight. When you diet, you are restricting what you can eat, you categorize foods as bad or good, and feel guilty for eating the bad stuff. This sets you up for failure. When we are too strict with what we eat, we are more likely to binge and gain more weight. We do not want to put ourselves on a diet. Instead, we want to develop eating habits that support our weight-loss goals and better long-term health.

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Your Eating Habits Do you tend to skip breakfast or snack late at night? Are you always grabbing whatever is easiest to take with you to eat when you do not have the time to cook? These eating habits, along with many others, can cause you to put on and keep on extra weight. Losing weight is not just about changing what you eat; you also have to take into consideration how you eat. Build a better relationship with food, and look at it as a nourishing way to take care of your health.

Enjoy Your Meals It is easy to rush through most meals or skip them altogether. With so many of us living a constant on the go life, we neglect the importance of enjoying what we eat. Meals should be a time that we sit, relax, and stay in the moment. This will allow us to fully immerse ourselves in the process of eating which as a result will shift us from worrying about what we should and should not be eating to eating what is nutritious and delicious. Mindfulness eating or intuitive eating are two eating styles that can

benefit your weight-loss journey. Both are fairly similar, and the main focus with each is to improve your relationship with food. This is done by focusing on being present while you eat. Before eating, you quickly touch base with your thoughts and emotions to ensure they are not driving you to eat when you are not hungry. As you eat, you tune in with your senses and rely on your body cues to tell you when to stop eating. This way of eating will lead you to eat more foods that not only taste good but make you feel good, physically and mentally. It will also lead you to eat only when you are hungry. When we sit down and slow down to enjoy our meals, especially breakfast and lunch, we reduce the risk of overeating later in the day. These approaches to eating also remind you to focus on nourishing the body. It encourages you to love your body the way it is and to show it love by fueling it with nutritious foods. This also shows self-respect and can help you build confidence to maintain a healthier lifestyle. When you sit down to eat your meals, do not rush through the process. Chew thoroughly and slow down; your brain needs time to process that you have had enough to eat. Eating slowly allows for your brain to send you the appropriate signals when you are full. Eating too fast often results in overeating because we are consuming our foods too fast for us to properly identify when we are full. Cooking more nutritious meals from scratch is another way you can add more enjoyment to your eating habits. When we cook our own foods, we are more aware of and have more control over what goes into them. You eliminate a variety of additives, preservatives, and empty calories so your meals are wholesome, satisfying, and nutrient rich. This does not have to be a complex process. Many avoid cooking their own meals simply because they have never had to do it or took the time to learn how to make nutritious meals from scratch. These types of meals can have few ingredients, herbs, and spices.

Combat Compulsive Eating Compulsive eating tends to occur without our realizing it. You sit down to watch a movie with a bag of chips, and suddenly you are reaching your hand into an empty bag. Every time you walk into the kitchen, you grab a few pieces of candy from your candy dish until you come back to an empty bowl. Boredom, stress, or simply doing another activity while food is in front of

you can cause you to eat compulsively. With compulsive eating, we typically are not hungry at all when it occurs. It causes us to overeat throughout the day and also when we sit down to eat bigger meals. There are a variety of ways you can combat compulsive eating so you do not add extra empty calories throughout your day and eliminate the temptation to overeat at meals. 1. Drink water before meals and frequently throughout the day. We often misinterpret our thirst cues for hunger cues. Before you reach for something to eat, always have a drink of water first. This can curb your hunger cravings. Drinking water before you eat also reduces the risk of overeating. 2. Concentrate on your meal. When we are doing any other activity while we eat, whether this is reading a book or trying to get work done, we will be more inclined to overeat. 3. Use smaller plates for unhealthy foods. You do not have to completely eliminate the treats from your diet, but when you do have them, you want to limit how much you consume. Use smaller bowls and plates when you are having sweets or snacks, and do not go back for seconds. 4. Eat without electronic distraction. Watching movies, television shows, or having your phone in your hand often leads to overeating. We become easily distracted and focused on what we are watching. We tune out the fact that we are mindlessly eating whatever is in front of us. 5. Never go grocery shopping when you are hungry. Shopping while your stomach is grumbling often leads to buying everything that looks appealing. This means you come home with bags of treats, prepackaged foods, and other unnecessaries that will hinder your weight loss efforts. Also, do your grocery shopping when you have something in your stomach, or at least have some nuts or veggie sticks to snack on as you shop. It is also a good idea to always have a list with you when you go food shopping. This keeps you focused on just the items you need to get and will reduce the temptation of adding things to your cart you do not need.

6. Another shopping tip is to be mindful of where you shop in the store. The outer perimeter is where you will find the nutritious foods like fruits, vegetables, and lean meats. Steer clear of the middle aisle where most of the junk foods and prepackaged foods are typically displayed. 7. Start your meals with a salad. A plate full of veggies first will ensure you get the maximum nutrients from your meal. You can liven up salads and incorporate more fiber into them by adding nuts, seeds, or beans to them. The extra fiber will help fill you up so you are less likely to overeat the rest of your meal. Include healthy fats by adding in avocado and topping it with an extra olive oil-based dressing. If you are using store-bought dressing, use them sparingly. Many of these have high amounts of added sugar that will cause you to consume more empty calories than you account for. 8. Store unhealthy food out of sight. This is one of the most important things you can do. If your preferred treats and snacks are out of sight and healthier ones are in view, you will be less tempted to indulge in the “not so good for you” items. Another way to help eliminate the temptation is to place the unhealthier items as inconveniently as possible. Store them in your garage, on the top shelf behind Tupperware containers, or in the cupboard on top of the fridge that you need a chair to stand on to reach. The more you have to work to get to these items, the less appealing and desirable they become. 9. Give yourself three bites. Many times, we tend to compulsively eat because the first bite is so satisfying that we keep expecting each bite after that first to be just as enjoyable. By the third bite, what we are eating tends to lose a lot of the pleasurable qualities we perceived from that first bite. If you allow yourself to fully enjoy those first three bites, you have satisfied any craving you may have had for that food item. You also gain more control over how much you eat. As you will notice, many of these do not focus on our eating process. Our eating habits are a combination of how and what we choose to eat. They do not just refer to when we are going through the motions of eating. Addressing

the way you shop for food, store your food, and eat your meals is all a vital role in creating better eating habits.

No-Diet Approach to Weight Loss You do not need to restrict what you eat or how much you eat. You can begin to take control of your weight loss by addressing some of the most common weight gain culprits. By making a few small adjustments to how you eat, you can begin to feel and look better.

Watch Your Carbs Carbohydrates are an essential micronutrient, but they get a negative reputation because of the varying types of carbs we consume. Many of the carbs that make up our diet are empty carbs. They fill us up for a short period of time but offer no nutritional value. These carbs are also quickly converted and used for energy throughout the body. This can have a negative impact on our insulin levels and can result in more fat being stored, which never gets used. Since we frequently replenish our energy sources through fast-acting empty carbs, the body begins to rely on this as its primary source for fuel. It never kicks on its fat-burning systems that will allow you to lose weight. You may have heard carbs referred to as complex or simple. Understanding the difference between these two and how the body reacts to them is important when trying to lose weight. Simple carbs are also known as simple sugars. These carbohydrates add a sweet flavor to foods. These are found naturally in many fruits, vegetables, and dairy products. They are also the most common type of added sugars and are often listed as glucose, fructose, disaccharides, lactose, or maltose on food labels. These sugars spike glucose levels quickly, and they also provide us with no other purpose but an immediate energy source. These are what we are referring to in the previous paragraph. Simple carbs can have a negative effect on our health, but not all of them are classified as bad for you. We are still recommended to eat fruits that contain these types of carbs. When consumed with fiber, simple carbs do not immediately spike insulin levels. This is because the body takes longer to break down fiber. Fruits, which contain simple carbs, also contain more fiber, and this counters the negative effects of these sugars. Natural sources of simple carbs do provide additional nutrients that the body needs.

Complex carbs are primarily starches that take the body longer to break down. These tend to have a combination of linked sugar chains. Complex carbs are often recommended over simple carbs, but like simple carbs, not all of these are beneficial. Complex carbs include refined carbs—processed flours, baked goods, and pastries—and they also include starchy vegetables like potatoes and whole grain foods. Whole grains will slowly increase glucose levels and provide a steadier stream of energy for the body over a longer period of time. We do not want to completely eliminate carbohydrates from our diet; we want to incorporate the beneficial ones. Smart carbohydrates contain a variety of vitamins, minerals, and important nutrients that our body needs. These include both simple and complex carbs. Carbs that come from fruits and vegetables will provide you with a nutrient-dense option that will help you manage your weight. Not only do these sources have essential nutrients, but they also contain many phytonutrients (plant chemicals) that assist the body in regulating hormone production, regulate blood sugars and blood pressure, and can decrease inflammation. Some of the most highly recommend carbs include: Dark leafy greens Acorn squash Sweet potato Cruciferous vegetables Whole wheat pasta Sprouted bread Oats Chickpeas Quinoa Black beans Bananas Cherries Apples Blueberries

Fruits are also better for your carbohydrates, but these often contain high amounts of natural sugars. While not as damaging to our health as added sugars, consuming too many fruit servings daily will impact glucose levels. You can still enjoy your fruit as a smart carb, but be mindful of how many you consume throughout your day.

Plant-Based Approach Plant-based diets have been shown to have positive impacts on weight loss and weight maintenance. In a study that followed 64 overweight women for two years, it showed that on average they lost about a pound per week when starting a plant-based approach. After two years, these women were able to keep the weight off (“Weight loss: Reach a healthy weight with a plant-based diet,” n.d.). These women followed a simple, sustainable diet of plant-based foods. They removed animal products from their daily diet and kept oil consumption to a minimum. This study has shown that transition to a plant-based diet can help you lose unwanted weight and keep it off in the long term. What is even more appealing about this diet is not just your ability to lose weight. Studies have shown that individuals who stick to a plant-based diet can even reverse the effect of cardiovascular diets and type 2 diabetes (Nazish, 2018). There are additional benefits to a plant-based diet that you should also be aware of (Schmidt, 2020): Lower cholesterol levels Regulates glucose levels Improve insulin production Heart health Improves gut health Encourage diversity of gut microbiomes Can protect against certain cancers Reduces inflammation Lengthens your life expectancy Improves mental health A plant-based diet should not be looked at as a traditional diet plan.

Adopting a plant-based diet is a lifestyle choice; it is not about restricting what you can and cannot have. This type of diet is sustainable for a long and healthy life. It also offers a great deal of flexibility. If a majority of the foods you eat are from plant-based sources, you will see significant improvement to your overall health and find it easier to manage your weight. To transition to a plant-based diet, you simply want to first eat more vegetables. Try to have at least one serving of vegetables with every meal. When you eat, always start with your vegetables. This will fill you up on the nutrients first. Find some plant-based recipes to give a try, and keep at least one meal to start with strictly plant-based. Many people find that starting with a plantbased breakfast is the easiest meal to switch. Then, continue to add more plant-based meals throughout your weeks. This will help you slowly reduce your intake of animal products. To make this transition easy, you can begin by looking at your animal products like red meats as side dishes and vegetables as your main dish. You will still get to enjoy a little meat, but it will not be the focus of the meal. As you are cutting back on your animal protein, you want to be replacing this with plant-based proteins. Beans, lentils, nuts, and seeds are all plantbased protein options. The good news is you do not need much of these to meet your dietary needs. Many of the vegetables you are consuming will contain the additional nutrients you would typically get from meat products. To make this a more sustainable diet, you want to always be introducing new vegetables or recipes to your meal plan. This will keep your meals fun and delicious. You will not be thinking about what you are not eating because the meals you can create on this type of dieting approach provides you with plenty of nutritious and delicious options.

Stay Hydrated Our body needs a constant stream of water to help it function properly. A healthy body contains 60% of water (Johns Hopkins Employees, 2020). Proper hydrating plays an important role in weight management. We have already mentioned how water can help suppress your appetite, which results in fewer calories consumed. It also boosts your weight-loss efforts in a few other crucial ways.

Water can help stimulate your metabolism. When you drink a cold glass of water, the body needs to use more energy to regulate the body temperature. This as a result increases your resting metabolism, where your body needs to expend more energy while at rest. While this may not result in substantial weight loss, this can be an effective way to activate the metabolism and better manage your weight. Drinking more water also helps the body burn more fat. Lipolysis is the process in which the body burns down fat, and it requires proper hydration to remain active. Mild dehydration can slow this process and make it harder for the body to use up its stored fat for energy. Water is also necessary for proper digestive function. Water is utilized in the body to flush our systems of harmful toxins and waste. The kidneys rely on it to rid bacteria from the urinary tract while also preventing the buildup of minerals and salts. Finally, water is important for regulating blood pressure. Without adequate water, the blood thickens and becomes harder to push through the body. The heart is then forced to work harder to move the blood along. When we are dehydrated, the brain releases chemicals that also restrict blood vessels. This makes it even harder for the blood to flow which puts you at greater risk of heart attack, stroke, and other heart conditions.

The No Diet, No Gym, Weight Management Steps It is possible for you to lose weight by only making adjustments to your diet alone. You can do this without actually dieting. To begin to adopt better eating habits, you need to first begin to enjoy the time you spend eating. This will create a heightened awareness of how much you enjoy what you eat, as well as how these foods will make you feel. When you begin to enjoy your meals more, you will make food choices on what keeps you feeling energized instead of weighed down and sluggish. Understand that you do not need to eliminate whole food groups from your diet, but you do need to make more nutritious choices. You can begin to make small substitutions to your food choices that can get you started on the right track to better manage your weight and improve your health. Begin to swap out some of the low nutrient-dense foods with more nutrient-dense foods. Increase your fruits and vegetable intake. Get into the habit of drinking more water. Replacing just one sugar-filled beverage with a glass of water can eliminate excess empty calories consumed in your day. All of these changes are small and easy to implement without feeling like

you are depriving yourself. These changes will ultimately add up and provide you with positive results. Adjusting to a healthier lifestyle does not mean making massive changes all at once. Commit to making one small daily change, and these small efforts will lead you to be better health.

Chapter 4 Exercise Without Punishing Yourself f you can lose weight by changing your diet alone, then why do you want to also add exercise to your weight-loss journey? Exercise is an important component to weight-loss success and a long and healthy life. Sticking to an exercise routine is one of the harder aspects of a healthy lifestyle to stay committed to. This is because many of us look at exercise as a punishment. The act of working out is uncomfortable, and this makes it undesirable.

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When your day gets away from you, it is often an exercise we cut from our daily activities so we have the time to do everything else we need and want to do. Exercise does not have to be a time-consuming effort or an unpleasant venture. There are many ways you can create an effective workout routine that you look forward to doing and will kickstart your weight loss.

Calories In, Calories Out You know you are supposed to be concerned or at least aware of how many calories you consume throughout your day, but what exactly are they? Calories are an effective way to manage weight, but there are a lot of misconceptions about how to approach this process. Cutting calories can be easily done to help you lose weight, but it can also result in slowing down your metabolism. When it comes to calculating your calories, you do not want to just focus on consuming less. There needs to be an emphasis on consuming the right types of calories and then creating a plan that will properly burn excess calories that are stored in the body. Calories are units of energy. Every item of food and drink contains

calories. Calories are the energy source for our bodies, so we rely on them to function. How many we need depends on age, physical activity, and height. As a consensus, however, men typically need 2,500 calories a day and women should consume 2,000 calories a day. This may not be the true requirement for you. To calculate how many calories you should be consuming a day, or create a deficit so you lose weight, look at your current weight “in kilograms” (Osilla et al., 2020) If you are trying to lose weight, you will multiply your weight by 29. If you are trying to gain muscle mass, you will take your weight and multiple it by 40. The resulting number is what your caloric intake should be (Osilla et al., 2020). These calories are burned through every movement we make and every function the body performs. Maintaining a balance of calories taken in with calories used is essential for maintaining a healthy weight. Consuming too many calories once in a while is not going to add up to massive weight gain. If we regularly eat more calories than we burn throughout the day, this is when our weight can spiral out of our control.

Counting Calories Calories are conveniently located on most packaging labels of foods and beverages. This is based on one serving size, which may not be equal to the whole package. You need to be aware of the serving size when you are counting your calories because what you consume may be far more than just one serving, which means you are taking in more calories than you are accounting for. Counting calories can be an effective way to take control of your weight and observe unhealthy eating habits. When you understand how many calories you are consuming throughout the day, you have a better idea of how much energy you have to exert to create a deficit so you can begin to lose weight. Relying on food labels is not the only way you can count your calories. A more accurate approach, especially if you are making your own meals, is by using different kitchen tools. Food scales will give you an accurate idea of how much you are eating. While this can require more time, once you get more comfortable weighing your foods, you will get a better idea of what portion sizes are supposed to look like. A faster alternative can be using measuring cups.

When a weight scale or measuring cups are available, such as when you are eating outside the home, you can use simple comparisons to better gauge portions sizes and their calorie equivalents.

Tracking Calories When we are tracking calories, we do not want to just focus on how many calories total we take in. We need to be aware of where these calories are coming from. Carbohydrates, proteins, and fats contain varying amounts of calories which can be broken down as (Osilla et al., 2020): 1 gram of carbohydrates equals 4 calories. 1 gram of protein equals 4 calories. 1 gram of fat equals 9 calories. We can consume the right number of calories, but if there is an imbalance of where a majority of these calories are coming from, we will impair our weight-loss efforts. A high-carb or high-protein diet can contribute to us storing more fat. Tracking calories can be easily done with the use of technology. There are many apps and websites that you can use to help keep track of the calories you consume throughout the day. Some suggestions are: MyFitnessPal Lose It! Cronometer SparkPeople While you may not get an exact number each time you track your calories, it is important to do so if you want to lose weight. Only by recording what you take in will you be able to honestly look at the changes you need to make. You need to be honest with yourself during this process. Not tracking enough calories from high-carb foods, extra sugars, and unhealthy fats will only sabotage your efforts. It is important to remember that high-quality food that contains more calories will have a different effect on your health than low-quality foods. You can consume 100 calories from a plate of spinach or from a few cookies,

but each will impact your weight loss in different ways. Burning the calories consumed for those cookies is going to take a lot more energy since there are far more sugars and carbohydrates.

Embracing Fitness You can put on five pounds in 15 minutes, but it will take over an hour to lose the same amount of weight. To lose weight, we need to exert more energy in our daily activities. You will see better results with your weightloss efforts and have better control over your weight in the long term when you begin to love exercising more.

Get Moving Increasing your physical activity helps ensure that you remain in a calorie deficit. This is when you will see weight loss. If you do not currently have an exercise routine, even adding in a small amount of more movement throughout your day will help you gain better control of your weight. Exercise contributes to weight loss in a few crucial ways. It helps increase your metabolism, specifically your resting metabolic rate (we will cover this more thoroughly in the next chapter). This simply means you will end up burning more calories throughout the day, even when you are not working out. It also is essential for building up muscle. Muscle requires more energy and therefore will burn more calories. Additional benefits of exercise for an overall healthy life include (Stibich, 2021): Adding exercise to a healthy lifestyle helps you keep weight off in the long run. You use up more calories to repair muscles and tissues after you exercise. Exercise is a natural stress reliever. Cardio activities promote a better night’s sleep. Exercise gives you mode a positive boost. Exercise makes you feel more energized. It can help reduce the risk of chronic illnesses or help manage symptoms. It improves quality of life. Exercise keeps the heart healthy. Working out promotes better lung function.

Any increase in physical activity is better than remaining inactive. There is no magic time you need to work out for you to begin promoting better weight management. While it is recommended that you get in half an hour to 45 minutes of exercise daily to burn excess fat, this often intimidates those of us who do not currently take part in any type of exercise. Do not get caught up on focusing on how much time you should be working out for. When you are trying to adjust to a healthier lifestyle, begin with just doing a little more. Go for a five minute walk, do a few squats as you fold laundry, or dance around the living room with your kids. The best way to begin an exercise routine is to start moving. You can create a more structured routine to follow a specific exercise regimen to kick-start your weight loss. In the beginning, it is important to get used to moving your body more and to start doing more physical activities that you enjoy doing. Every little bit of extra movement counts. You can start off by simply taking a few minutes to stretch in the morning and evenings. Then, add in up to 10 minutes of physical activity once or twice a day. Do this until you have built up your daily movement to at least 30 minutes a day. While you may not feel as though this little bit of movement is benefiting you, it adds up in the end. It is also the foundation for you to build a more structured exercise routine on.

Endurance Zone Once you have embraced physical activity through simple actions in your day, you will want to begin to focus more on effective ways to burn fat in the body. Doing exercises to get the heart rate up will lead you to more weight loss. Your heart rate is the best way to measure the effort being exerted while you exercise. You need to get your heart rate up to at least 60% of its maximum rate. When we increase our heart rate in this way, we reach what is referred to as the endurance zone. This is where your body needs to use more energy to perform a physical activity and is where serious calorie burn begins. When you reach this zone, your breathing becomes heavier. Your body will begin to sweat, and the action feels slightly more uncomfortable. You need to maintain this endurance zone for at least 30 minutes. The longer you maintain this speed, the more calories you will burn in one session.

You can ensure you maintain this endurance zone by reaching your target heart rate. This can be calculated by taking your age and subtracting it from 220. Once you have this number, multiply it by .6. This will give you your maximum heart rate. Remember, you want to get your heart rate to at least 60% of this number. For example, if you are 30, your max heart rate is 190. You need to maintain a heart rate of 114 beats per minute as you work out to reach your endurance zone. A heart rate monitor will help you track the calories you burn while also tracking your heart rate as you work out. These will give you an accurate reading of your heart rate as you work out, so you can be sure that you are exerting the right amount of effort for maximum weight loss.

Walk Your Way to Weight Loss If you make exercise less intimidating, you will be more determined to include it into your daily life. There are many ways to accomplish this. You can sneak it in 10 minutes at a time throughout your day. You can choose physical activities that do not feel like you are working out, such as dancing or playing with the kids. You can also do something you already do daily but with a little more intention, like walking. Many do not believe that by upping their steps per day, they can see weight-loss results. Much research has proven, however, that walking is a highly beneficial way to get physical activity, shed weight, and improve health.

Can You Lose Weight Just by Walking? Walking can help you lose your overall body fat, especially that located around the abdomen. Walking for 30 minutes a day has been shown to (“Walking for good health,” 2015): Improve cardiovascular health Strengthen bones Improve endurance Decrease the risk of heart disease Decrease the risk of type 2 diabetes Decrease the risk of osteoporosis Can protect from some types of cancers

What makes walking an ideal way to burn fat is that it is something you do daily. By focusing more attention on increasing your efforts as you walk, you can easily burn hundreds of calories a day. Another added benefit is that it does not just focus on burning calories. Maintaining a calorie deficit can cause the metabolism to slow. We do not want to just have a deficit, we want to be able to build muscles. Muscle burns more fat, both while working out and while at rest. When you begin to gain muscle mass, you will see more of your excess fat melt away. The longer you walk and the faster you walk, the more calories you can expect to burn. Just adding in more walking when you can will be rewarding.

Steps per Day Walking 10,000 steps a day averages out to five miles (Fletcher, 2019). This is considered the ideal target goal people should be walking every day. Studies have shown that individuals who walk about five and a half miles daily have a lower risk of developing cardiovascular disease and have better control over their weight (Harvard Health Publishing, 2020). Those looking to burn more fat want to go beyond these 10,000 steps. Walking more will increase your fat burn throughout the day. Hitting a goal of 15,000 steps is a perfect number to begin with. Walking is a highly effective way to manage weight for the long term. Just because you lose the weight does not mean you should cut out exercises or slack off on your nutrition. After the weight is off, it is even more important to continue with healthy habits, and walking is one of the easiest physical activities you can maintain for the long term. The body will adapt to this form of calorie burn, however, and over time, you will notice that your calorie burn will not be as high. This is why it is also important to add in some other forms of exercise or at least change up your walking routine once or twice a week.

Every Step Counts Being inactive will make weight loss a struggle. Walking offers a highly effective way to get in physical activity doing something you already do daily. Many studies have shown walking to be a safe and effective way to burn subcutaneous and visceral fat in the abdominal region (Hong et al., 2014). Women considered obese took part in a 12-week study published in

the Journal of Exercise Nutrition and Biochemistry. The women were required to walk for at least 50 minutes three times a week. At the end of the study, the women had lost 1.5% of body and over an inch in their waistlines. They also saw improvements to their insulin levels and an overall reduction in inflammation in the body (Hong et al., 2014). Increasing your level of activity will help you lose weight, even if by the smallest of margins. There is a general consensus that those who get in at least 10,000 steps a day see more weight loss and better control of their weight and health. Using a pedometer or step tracker is the best way you can ensure that you are getting in your daily steps. Step trackers are plentiful. You can find them as a device you wear, such as a watch or armband, or you can download an app that will help you track your steps. Some recommendation includes: Apple Watch Garmin Vivosmart Fitness tracker Fitbit Huawei Band Polar Grit Pacer pedometer and step tracker (app) MyFitnessPal (app) MapMyWalk (app) StepsApp (app) Activity Tracker (app) Many of these pedometers provide additional monitoring features. You can keep track of your heart rate and calorie burn while you walk. Keeping track of your steps per day will keep you on track to a healthier life. Monitoring how much you are walking will allow you to get more comfortable with adding more to your day. With a tracker, you can easily identify when you need to up your steps to reach your daily goals. Simple ways you can increase your step count if you notice you are a little behind can be: Take the stairs when possible.

Park further away from buildings. Get in three 15-minute brisk walks after your meals. Walk or pace as you wait.

The No Diet, No Gym Weight Management Steps Get moving more. Though exercises may feel like a waste of time, it will reward you in many ways. Do not focus on how many calories you burn while you work out; instead, focus on how much better you feel as you move more. Take the complication out of starting an exercise routine. Begin by committing to just walking for 10 minutes every day. Then, add another 10minute walk to your day; you will be walking 10 minutes twice a day every day. The way to make an exercise routine to stick for the long term, so you continue to reap the health benefits, is to slowly add it in. Do not force yourself to work out for 30 minutes five days a week if you have little to no physical activity now. This is only going to cause you to dislike working out even more, and worse, it can cause serious injury that will keep you from working out.

While walking is highly recommended to start with, you have plenty of options. Do what you enjoy doing. Choosing any type of exercise that you actually enjoy means that you will keep doing it. You can bike, swim, dance, join a group sports league, or experiment with a few different types of indoor workouts until you find something you prefer. The goal is just to move more.

Chapter 5 Burn More Calories, Even With a Slow Metabolism people blame poor metabolism for their inability to lose weight or M ost keep it off. It is one of the first things people give credit to when they see someone chowing down on a plate of fried chicken or large dessert without worry. “She has a fast metabolism so she can eat whatever she wants.” Do not become too jealous of that person who can seemingly eat anything without gaining weight. Just because it is not showing yet does not mean it will not show later. While metabolism does have to do with how the body burns through the food you eat, and how energized you feel during the day, there is more to it than most understand. The key thing to remember is that your metabolism is meant to fluctuate. If you have been cursed with a slow metabolism for most of your life, you will learn what you can do about it, so you begin burning more fat and feeling more energized.

Understanding Metabolism What is metabolism? In the simplest explanation, metabolism is how our body uses energy. The body uses calories from carbohydrates, proteins, and fats to supply energy to the body so it can perform all the functions necessary for you to remain active during the day and as you sleep. Carbohydrates, proteins, and fats are the only energy sources the body can fuel itself on, and it can store each of these as a reserve for later use. The body’s metabolism quickly burns through carbohydrates, and when it does, we suffer from lower blood sugar levels, an increase in food cravings, and mood swings. Metabolism also easily accessed energy from proteins, which is stored in the

muscles of the body. When you see a significant amount of weight loss but do not see inches dropping, this is because the metabolism is using your muscle mass for energy, not its stored fat. When our metabolism is out of balance, it will continue to use the wrong fuel for energy. Carbohydrates will get broken down first, and once this is used up, they will begin to burn the stored fat that makes up your muscle mass. By this time, you will have already consumed additional carbohydrates to replenish and refuel the body, so it never gets a chance to burn through the stored fat. There is no easy way to ensure you are using stored fat throughout the day over carbohydrate or protein energies. You may, however, exhibit some signs that can make you more aware of whether your body is tapping into stored fat or not. Be aware of these signs: Low blood sugar Food cravings Feeling low on energy in the early afternoon Having trouble focusing or concentrating Skipping meals, causing you to become irritable Difficulty sleeping Some things that will contribute to poor metabolism include: Skipping breakfast Consuming refined grains or sugars Drinking too much coffee or other energy drinks Drinking too much pop or soda Having a diet high in processed foods

Metabolic Rate Basal metabolic rate is your resting metabolism. Even when you are not being physically active, the body is using energy to perform various processes. Breathing, digestion, and cell repair all continue as you sit, but your body uses energy to perform these functions. When someone has a slow metabolism, this tends to refer to a low resting metabolic rate. Even if you increase your daily activity, you can still have a slow metabolism, but this

does not necessarily mean that your weight-loss struggles are due to a slower metabolism.

Why Your Metabolism Might Be Slower There are many factors that contribute to your metabolic rate; as we discussed earlier, sleep is one such faction. Your body size, gender, and genes can influence your metabolism. Women tend to have slower metabolism compared to men. Age plays a significant role as well. We tend to naturally lose muscle mass as we get older, and we store more fat which causes the metabolism to slow down. Many have the misunderstanding that being overweight causes their metabolism to become slower. Multiple studies indicate that the opposite is actually true (“How can I speed up my metabolism?”, n.d.). Those who are overweight have a faster metabolism than individuals at a lower weight. This is because the body needs to use more energy to perform basic functions than those in a lower weight range. What plays a bigger role in your metabolic rate is your caloric intake. Consuming more calories than you burn will cause your metabolism to slow down. This is why it is important to take an honest look at all the things you eat and drink throughout the day. The opposite can also cause your metabolism to slow down as well. When you significantly restrict your caloric intake to lose weight, such as going on a crash diet, your metabolism will slow down significantly. When you restrict your calorie intake to lose weight in a short period of time, you are essentially losing a great deal of muscle mass. Muscle requires more energy the less you have of it, the slower your metabolism will be.

Adrenal Fatigue The adrenal glands play a role in many functions of the body including regulating blood pressure, the body’s stress response systems, and metabolism. These glands are located just above the kidney. Adrenal fatigue, which is not necessarily a condition but a series of symptoms that cause the adrenal glands to function poorly, can cause the metabolism to slow. Symptoms of adrenal fatigue include, but are not limited to: Increase in tiredness

Difficulty falling asleep Difficulty waking up from sleep Sugar cravings Salt cravings Digestive issues Need caffeine to maintain energy levels Lower body temperature Nervous or panic attacks Depression Poor memory Confusion Dizziness when standing Lightheadedness Increase in frustrations Headaches Dry skin Hair loss Stress, once again, can be a hidden culprit to a slower metabolism due to overworking the adrenal glands. The adrenal glands are responsible for creating cortisol and adrenaline, and stress triggers their release. When we are under chronic stress, the adrenal glands become overactive and continue to produce these stress hormones. Prolonged stress forces the adrenal glands to shrink or become enlarged. When this occurs, the glands become dysfunctional. Adrenal dysfunction throws blood sugar levels off, weakens the immune system, and disrupts the metabolism. This is what leads one to feeling extreme fatigue, only further slowing the metabolism.

Thyroid Conditions A slow metabolism can be due to issues with the thyroid gland. The thyroid’s primary job is to control metabolism through the production and release of T3 and T4 hormones. These hormones are responsible for communicating to the rest of the cells in the body how much energy they need to be using. They also help regulate body temperature and the heart rate.

The thyroid is constantly at work producing these hormones and replenishing them when they have been used up. The pituitary gland, located just below the brain, aids in telling the thyroid glands when there is a need for more thyroid hormones. When the pituitary glands sense there is too much or too little of the T3 or T4 hormones, it releases a thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH). Issues with thyroid hormone production can occur when either there is a dysfunction with the thyroid gland or with the pituitary gland. Hypothyroidism occurs when the thyroid is unable to produce enough thyroid hormones. When there is not enough of these hormones in the body, the metabolism slows down. This slower metabolism is what can cause one to gain weight when they are diagnosed with this thyroid condition. Thyroid conditions can be treated and symptoms can be managed. If you suspect that you have an issue with your thyroid, you need to speak to your doctor for the best approach to help combat the condition. Additionally, iodine is essential for the thyroid to function properly. If you are not consuming enough iodine, you may have issues with the thyroid. Some foods that contain a high amount of iodine include: Iodized salt Eggs Dairy Red meat Poultry Seafood Seaweed While consuming more iodine-rich foods alone will not completely correct thyroid issues, they can help improve hormone production.

Give Your Metabolism a Boost Many struggle with an imbalance in their metabolism, especially when they are trying to lose weight. Many of the health concerns that are connected to being overweight can result in metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome is a group of health risks that impairs the body’s ability to perform daily functions. If a person has three or more of the following condition, they often are diagnosed with metabolic syndrome (“About metabolic syndrome,” 2021): Lower HDL cholesterol High glucose/sugar levels Increased triglycerides in the blood Excess abdominal fat High blood pressure When a person has any of these conditions alone, they are at greater risk for developing serious health conditions. If they are diagnosed with three or more, their risk factor substantially increases, putting them at risk for heart

diseases, stroke, and diabetes (“About metabolic syndrome,” 2021). It is important that as you continue on your weight-loss journey, you take care of your metabolic rate. Building up muscle in the body will increase your metabolic rate and is a much more long-term approach to maintain a healthy lifestyle. We discussed how walking is an effective form of exercise that helps you burn fat while also building up your lean muscle. There are a few additional ways you can increase your muscle mass and speed up your metabolism.

Strength Training Strength training will help you build muscle and should be included in your workout plan twice a week. Studies have shown that individuals who added strength training or their cardio workouts increased resting metabolism by up to nine percent (Tinsley, 2017). While you will burn more calories during a cardio workout, you will continue to burn more calories for hours after a strength training work. Metabolic rates can remain elevated for up to 38 hours after a strength training workout (Tinsley, 2017). This is easy to add to your walking routine. You can carry a light set of dumbbells as you walk or wear a weight vest. You can also incorporate squats, lunges, or jumps which activate more muscle groups as you walk. You can also get in a short weight training session as you garden, do household chores, and many other daily activities. The goal with weight training to boost your metabolism is to focus on using most of the major muscle groups in the body such as: Legs Hips Back Core Chest Arms Shoulders Activating multiple muscle groups with your strength training will help you gain more muscle throughout the body as opposed to just in one area.

Any activity that simply requires you to lift something heavy for a few repetitions can give your metabolism a boost.

Interval Training Interval training gets your heart rate up which helps you burn more calories as you work out. High-intensity interval training has a similar impact on metabolism as strength training; it also causes you to activate larger muscle groups. This type of exercise requires you to increase your energy levels for a short burst of time, with lower intensity or resting periods in between. If you are walking, this can be picking up your pace to a light jog or run for two minutes, then returning to a comfortable walk for two minutes. You would repeat this slower to faster pace switch for 30 minutes.

Resistance Training Resistance training is a great alternative to strength training. It also helps you target multiple muscle groups in the body but without the need for additional equipment. Resistance training can be as simple as walking up a hill instead of sticking to a flat surface. There are also resistance bands you can incorporate into your workout session, which again are often a more affordable approach than having to buy dumbbells and other weights. These bands can be wrapped around the thighs, lower calves, ankles, and arms. This causes you to exert more effort as you do regular exercise moves like squatting because you need to ensure the band stays in place as you move.

Foods That Increase Metabolism Eating can give your metabolism a boost because the body needs to use more energy to digest what you consume. Even more energy is used to process and distribute the nutrients from the foods you eat. There are a few important foods that you should focus on consuming if you want to see instant boosts to your metabolism. Other foods that can help you maintain a higher metabolic rate in the long term include: 1. Proteins: Eating more lean protein helps increase your resting metabolic rate and also reduces the risk of muscle loss. 2. Green and Oolong Tea: Both of these types of teas have been shown to give metabolism an instant boost.

3. Hot Peppers: Spicy foods that contain hot peppers will get your metabolism going. Peppers contain a special substance called capsaicin which is what can trigger your metabolism to speed up. 4. Coconut Oil: Many cooking oils are long-chain fats, but coconut oil is a medium-chain fat, which can increase your metabolism by 12% (West, 2018). 5. Coffee: Drinking a small cup of coffee can increase metabolic rate by over 10% (Petre, 2016). Additionally, caffeine is shown to help stimulate fat burn. Be cautious, however—consuming too much caffeine can cause reverse effects. Your metabolism may speed up for a short period of time but then it crashes.

The No Diet, No Gym, Weight Management Steps Having a balanced metabolism is essential, not just for feeling energized and keeping fatigue at bay. Our metabolism is directly responsible for how much energy our body uses throughout the day to perform all our daily functions. When we speak of increasing our metabolism, what we want to

focus on is increasing our resting metabolism. This is the metabolism we rely on for breathing while at rest, keeping the heart pumping, and our brain alert, along with others. To increase our resting metabolic rate, we want to make a few changes to our exercise routine. While doing cardio is great for burning calories, which increases our metabolism as we work out, it quickly returns to its normal levels once we are done exercising. Focusing on building lean muscles will increase our resting metabolic rate because muscle requires more energy. Additionally, do not forget that as we are trying to lose weight, we are eating at a caloric deficit. While this is necessary to lose weight, it can also cause our metabolism to slow. What can also result is that our metabolism may turn to our muscles mass for fuel instead of our stored fat. We want to include as many metabolism-boosting foods that will keep our metabolism working properly and using the right kind of fuel.

Chapter 6 Binge Eating and Weight Gain, Plus 10 Binge Eating Food to Avoid eating occurs when you have the uncontrollable urge to continue B inge eating. You may feel full, but still, you need to keep consuming. We all overindulge on food from time to time. When the holidays arrive, we stuff ourselves; big events or celebrations make us want to try everything in sight. It is when we binge eat regularly that this eating habit causes concerns. Binge eating can have a serious effect on your physical and mental health. Many factors contribute to this desire to overconsume, and they are not easy to combat. One cannot just stop eating while on a binge. Despite feeling as though there is no hope or way to control these strong desires, you can manage your binging habits. When you first address what is causing you to binge, you can begin to take steps to combat the negative consequences.

Emotional Overeating Binge eating is a type of emotional eating. As we have discussed in chapter two, emotional eating can be a hidden cause of weight gain. Emotions cause us to crave a variety of foods. Sweets and comforts are the most common foods we reach for to reduce stress and boost our mood. These foods which are high in sugar, are energy dense, and have low nutritional values cause different reactions in the body. Binge eating occurs when we consume a large amount of food in a short period of time. During these episodes, we feel out of control and are unable to stop ourselves from consuming more. Nearly everyone has experienced

this type of eating habit; they may turn to food when they are going through a traumatic event or when dealing with a serious loss in their life. While it is not uncommon for everyone to go through short periods of binge eating, it can develop into a serious disorder. Binge eating disorder is more than just consuming a large amount of food; it is a mental health condition. This type of eating disorder often involves dangerous eating habits. People who are affected with binge eating disorder partake in binging episodes at least once a month where they eat much more food at a much faster rate in a short period of time.

Consequences of Binge Eating One of the first things that should be addressed when it comes to binge eating, before we get into the negative effects, is that this does not have anything to do with a lack of willpower. Individuals who struggle with binge eating do not choose to overeat nor is it just a phase they are going through. Binging is not just overeating. Those who binge eat will eat well beyond discomfort. They often will be physically affected by the amount of food they eat. Mentally, they will feel embarrassed or disgusted with themselves which can contribute to feelings of depression. Many women who are overweight suffer from some form of binge eating conditions. Women are at a higher risk of suffering from binge eating disorders than men, especially if they have tried dieting before or have a history of other eating disorders.

This type of eating habit has varying effects on one’s health. The more frequent the episode, and the longer the habit remains, the more serious the risks (“Physical effects of binge eating disorder,” 2019).

Overloads Your System Binge eating is often a result of restricting what you allow yourself to eat. This deprivation is what increases the urge to eat, especially when combined with negative emotions. Then, the individuals puts even more restriction on the food intake and only increases the chances of binging again. This causes the body to become overwhelmed. When we overload our system with excess calories, sugars, and fats, our body cannot process all the food properly. Binge eating causes one to consume a substantial number of calories in a shorter time frame. Binge eating sessions can last for a few hours or days, and in this time, there are a lot of empty calories typically being consumed. We may begin to binge on something sweet and then feel the need for something salty, which causes us to binge on a wider variety of unhealthy items. This excess of caloric intake leads to an increase in fat storage. The body cannot use up the immediate energy that it is being supplied with, and this causes even more of it to be stored as fat. We consume a large number of calories in such a short period of time, and we realistically cannot burn it off. Energy levels will fluctuate as the body tries to manage the intake of calories. Our digestive system will require more energy to process all the food which is allocated from other areas of the body. The excess calories can cause hormone production to get out of balance. Since we tend to binge eat when stressed or because of other negative emotions, our cortisol increases. The more cortisol we have, the more we consume. Another key hormone it deregulates is insulin. When we binge eat, the pancreas secretes higher levels of insulin. If done continuously, this can lead to insulin resistance. The high levels of sugar and other processed ingredients will cause disruptions in the gut. Additionally, the increase in fat storage causes the body to release more cytokines which promote inflammation.

Digestive Discomfort

Eating a large amount of food will cause digestive issues. This can be mild from an upset stomach and bloating to constipation. If the digestive system is pressed to break down a significant amount of food this can lead to more long-term issues like irritable bowel syndrome or leaky gut syndrome. Digestive issues will also have a negative impact on your sleep, making it harder to fall asleep and stay asleep.

Emotional Effects One of the bigger concerns about binge eating is the toll it takes on our mental health. While we binge eat to feel better instantly, this is often followed by long periods of shame or guilt about binging. Frequent binging episodes can lead to depression. The shame, guilt, and loss of control we feel when we binge can begin to impact our daily lives. This also increases our binging frequency.

Confronting Binge Eating Binge eating is a condition that may require professional help to overcome. If you struggle with binge eating, this needs to be addressed for you to be able to continue with your weight-loss goals. If neglected, the issues will worsen, and despite your best efforts, you will continue to struggle with weight gain and health problems. While professional help is essential for severe causes of binge eating, there are steps you can take to better control your binge eating episodes.

Be Aware of Eating Habits Those who go from one fad diet to another are at a higher risk of binge eating. Most diets require a strict adherence to certain foods which can make you feel more out of control with your weight. When we diet, we tend to feel more deprived and as though we are punishing ourselves for being overweight. The more we try to avoid certain foods because we tell ourselves we cannot have them, the more we naturally crave them. Ultimately, we give in to our cravings and some. Studies have shown that the more we force ourselves to steer clear of eating certain foods, the more we crave them, and this puts us at greater risk of overeating (Legg, 2019). To combat our binge eating, we do not want to forbid ourselves from eating things we enjoy. We also do not want to put all our focus on the things we are trying to cut out from our diets that cause us to gain weight. Instead,

we want to focus on what we can have with no limitation. By focusing on the fact that you can eat as many vegetables as your heart desires and enjoy a sweet treat from a piece of fruit, it can take the edge off of making better food choices. Stick to a regular eating schedule. People tend to overeat when they skip meals, simply because when they sit down to eat, they feel starved. When you have a regular eating schedule, you not only keep your body balanced by supplying it with the fuel it needs, you lower your risk of overeating throughout the day. Get into the habit of planning your meals. Create a meal plan that has a healthy mix of different dishes and snacks. Meals should be high in fiber and lean protein. These will keep you feeling satiated longer and lower your risk of overeating later in the day. When you do eat, bring more awareness to the process. When you practice mindfulness as you eat, you get in tune with your body. This will help you identify any negative thoughts you have around eating so you can begin to address them. This is also one of the best ways you can learn to listen to your body when it tells you that you have had enough to eat. By simply slowing down and checking in with your senses, you can promote better eating habits.

What to Do After Binge Eating Despite taking these extra steps to eliminate temptations, eating may still occur. When you have struggled with overeating for a long time, there will be circumstances that lead you to binge eating. When this occurs, it is important to remember to show yourself compassion. Berating yourself because you “fell off the wagon” will only cause more negative feelings and emotions that trigger you to eat more. To help tackle binge eating episodes, it is ideal to start a food and mood journal. A food journal will help you identify the foods that you typically binge on. Knowing these food triggers allows you to identify the thing you should remove from your home. It also helps you find healthier replacements. Keeping a mood journal can be beneficial after a binge session, as it will help you get out what you are thinking and feeling. You can then begin to find alternative ways to manage your emotions and thoughts. This can be used as a guide when you are struggling with resistance and the temptation to

binge in the future. By having a safe space to write out your thoughts and feelings, you are allowing yourself to begin to heal and mend your relationship with food. Binge eating can make us feel ashamed, and many people who struggle with binge eating often hide their issues from others. Talking about your challenges with friends, family, or a professional can help relieve the shame. When you have a solid support structure around you, there will be fewer urges to turn to food for comfort.

Foods to Avoid Minimize the negative effect by controlling what you eat if you cannot control how much you are eating. If you struggle with binge eating or overeating, the first thing you want to do to help reduce the risk is clear out your kitchen and pantry. Remove items you know you tend to binge on. Additional things you should eliminate from your home include: Snack foods Candy Processed foods Prepackaged foods Instant meals High-sugar beverages Alcohol Pastas Pastries and baked goods Pizza Removing these items and keeping them out of your home will force you to find alternative foods to eat. Additionally, not having these food items in sight will eliminate the trigger to start binge eating when they are visible. While binge eating is not a good habit to continue, you can gain more control over what you might binge on. Keeping more nutritious foods in the home at your office will at least provide you with healthier alternatives. Fruits and vegetables are nutrient-dense foods that will not have as many negative effects on your health if you binge. Nuts and seeds are ideal to have on hand

to curb sudden cravings.

The No Diet, No Gym, Weight Management Steps Binge eating is not something that you should be ashamed of or feel guilty for overeating from time to time. We have all overindulged at meals or on sweets occasionally. When binge eating becomes a more habitual way of eating, it can become concerning. Whether you binge eat every once in a while or once or more a week, you want to gain better control of this eating habit. First, identify what triggers you to eat. For most, emotional comfort is what we are seeking as we binge. For others, simply being bored or unaware of how much we are eating because of other things we may be doing at the same time can cause the trigger. When we recognize these triggers for binging episodes, we can create a plan or distract ourselves in more productive ways to avoid overeating. If binge eating is interrupting your ability to go about your daily life, it may be time to seek out professional help. Participating in different types of therapies can help you uncover the root cause of your binge eating. Behavioral therapy, for example, not only covers your cause for binge eating but also helps you formulate a plan to cope with your feelings and unaddressed past hurts.

Chapter 7 Gut Bacteria and Weight gut houses a variety of bacteria, and this bacteria can be hidden O urbecause of your weight struggles. The gut does much more than break down foods and move it along to be disposed of. Hormone productions, absorption of nutrients and vitamins, and regulating different processes in the body are just a few of the responsibilities the gut has. If you are struggling to lose weight or keep it off, your gut might be the reason. Corrected issues with gut bacteria can be easily done with most people. As you will learn, what you eat plays a major role in the type of bacteria that grows in your gut, and it also impacts how well this bacteria performs all the tasks it is meant to complete.

How Your Gut Impacts Weight Loss The digestive tract, especially the intestines, contains a variety of bacteria. These gut bacteria are responsible for many key functions in the body. It assists in producing certain hormones, is the pathway of communication between the brain and digestive tract, helps keep the immune system working properly, and of course, for properly breaking down the foods we consume. Since this bacteria has an influence on many processes of the body, it is also an overlooked reason for weight issues.

Gut Microbiome The human body houses trillions of bacteria cells. Many of these are essential to keep the body healthy. Pe0ple who have less diversity in gut bacteria are more likely to weigh more. The gut microbiome that is housed in

the digestive tract is composed of more than just bacteria. Here, there are also viruses, parasites, archaea, eukaryotes, microbes, or fungi. Each of these can have an effect on one's health. The gut bacteria help maintain the balance of these various organisms and as a result keeps the body functioning properly. There are two key types of bacteria that have an effect on weight gain: Prevotella and Bacteroides. Prevotella bacteria is needed to break down fiber and carbohydrates, while Bacteroidetes bacteria break down animal proteins and fats. Studies have shown that individuals who have more of the Prevotella bacteria lose more weight than those with the Bacteroidetes bacteria (Robertson, 2018). Your gut bacteria also has a direct impact on inflammation in the body. Not only do gut bacteria assist the immune system to cause inflammation to help ward off infection, but certain bacteria also cause additional inflammation. Some bacteria produce lipopolysaccharide, which is a chemical that causes inflammation once it enters the bloodstream. This chemical has also been shown to affect blood sugar levels, causing insulin levels to spike and contributes to excess weight gain (Robertson, 2018). Just as there are gut bacteria that increase inflammation, certain species also help reduce it. Bifidobacteria and Akkermansia are two types of gut bacteria that help eliminate inflammatory chemicals from digested foods. They have also been shown to help build a wall of protection in the intestines that blocks inflammatory chemicals from passing into the bloodstream. Gut bacteria also has an effect on key hormones that either triggers us to eat more or stop eating because we are full. Leptin, ghrelin, and peptide YY are appetite hormones that the gut bacteria determine the production of. Aside from these hormones that affect weight, the gut bacteria are also responsible for how many calories are released into the bloodstream and ultimately get stored as fat. Certain gut bacteria will absorb more calories, while others will release more into the bloodstream or transfer them to be stored as fat. Having a higher balance of the calorie-burning bacteria will reduce fat storage.

What Can Affect Gut Bacteria? There are several factors that have an influence on gut bacteria. Genetics, age, and medications are a few. What you eat has the biggest impact on gut

bacteria. What you consume can alter the shape, structure, and diversity of the gut microbiome (Hasan & Yang, 2019). Diet also changes the gut microbiome the fastest. In just a short time of consuming the proper foods, you can correct the environment of your gut to promote the growth of more beneficial bacteria. Foods that help promote the growth of beneficial gut bacteria include (Robertson, 2018): Whole grains Fruits Vegetables Nuts and Seeds Fermented foods (yogurt, kefir, and sauerkraut) To maintain a diverse gut microbiome, we want to consider limiting the intake of certain foods. These foods tend to get broken down and quickly released from the gut, which means they are more likely to get stored as fat. Additionally, some of these foods feed the bad bacteria and promote the growth of these less desirable bacteria. The worst foods for gut health include (Robertson, 2018): High-sugar foods Artificial sweeteners Saturated fats

Improving Gut Health Having a healthy gut will result in a healthy body and better weight management. Making adjustments to your diet can have an immediate impact on your gut health. Unlike many of the other concerns or weight struggles, you will not have to wait long to see improvement.

High-Fiber Foods Eating a fiber-rich diet is one of the easiest ways to improve gut health. The body cannot digest fiber without the help of certain gut bacteria. When this bacteria breaks down fiber-rich foods, it releases certain chemicals that are believed to aid in weight loss. This also promotes the growth of beneficial gut bacteria. Unfortunately, high-fiber foods can also have a negative impact on the digestive process, and many people struggle to comfortably break down high-fiber foods. Some of the most recommended high-fiber foods to consider include (Strazemis, 2020): Apples

Berries Pears Dried figs Artichokes Green peas Beans Lentils Whole wheat Quinoa

Prebiotics Prebiotics are especially beneficial for the growth of the good bacteria— not just in the intestines but in the colon and other areas of the digestive tract. Prebiotics are a type of dietary fiber that provides food to the bacteria in our gut microbiome. These can be found naturally in a variety of foods such as (“The Microbiome,” 2019): Asparagus Bananas Beans Garlic Onions Leeks Whole wheat Whole grain oats Barley These foods supply plenty of healthful fiber to the gut bacteria. Those with digestive issues or sensitivities should add more of these foods in slowly. Though beneficial, they can cause an excess production of gas which can worsen some digestive problems.

Probiotics Probiotics, though often interchanged with prebiotics, do not feed our gut

bacteria. These sources contain live bacteria that will thrive in our gut environment. Consuming prebiotics is helpful in altering the microbiome of the gut and promoting the growth of good bacteria. Probiotics are also found in a wide range of certain foods such as yogurt and fermented foods. These are especially important for anyone who is recovering from an infection or serious illness. If you have been on antibiotics, probiotics can help replenish the good bacteria that may have been eliminated while on the medication.

The No Diet, No Gym, Weight Management Steps A healthy gut will lead you to a healthy weight. Taking care of your gut health can be the secret to unlocking your body’s natural fat-burning capabilities. If you struggle with digestive issues this is a clear indication that something is off-balance in your gut. You can easily improve your gut health with a few adjustments to your diet. First, limit your consumption of processed and prepackaged foods, as these only help feed the bad bacteria. Replace these foods with more fiberrich foods. Do this slowly; if you are not used to high-fiber foods, this can cause digestive issues as your digestive tract gets used to break down these foods. Second, consume more probiotics to restore the balance of healthy bacteria living in the gut. Remember, the healthy bacteria assist in various processes of the body which can boost your weight-loss efforts and make it easier to manage your weight. Finally, add in prebiotic foods to your diet

regularly. These foods will give the good bacteria the right nutrients it needs to thrive.

Chapter 8 Fat Burn and Foods to Eat discussed in the first chapter how abdominal fat can be the most W econcerning excess fat you carry. When you are trying to rid your waistline of this extra fat, it can be discouraging when you notice the scale going down but the inches remaining the same. Understanding how the body burns fat will allow you to create a diet and exercise routine that helps blast away this fat. With this information, you can also maintain a healthy weight by ensuring that your body has access to the stored fat. One thing to keep in mind is that everybody is different. It may take some trial and error before you find the best fat-burning plan for your body. Do not become discouraged during this process. Instead, remind yourself that while getting rid of the excess fat is your primary goal, for now, you are really making lifelong changes that will benefit your health for the rest of your life.

How the Body Burns Fat Fat is stored throughout the body. It is either added to existing fat cells, causing them to become enlarged, or new fat cells are created. These fat cells are most common around the muscles and the liver. Where it gets deposited depends on how easy it will be to burn off. If you have excess fat around the abdomen, this is the fat you are focused on getting rid of first. Since it can cause serious health complications, the more of it you can remove, the easier it will be before you achieve a clean bill of health. Remember, the abdomen can store different types of fat; when you are trying to burn fat, you want to get rid of the hard or visceral fat first.

Luckily, this is the type of fat the body tends to burn first.

Hard Fat Hard fat is the visceral fat that has built up around the organs which is what puts you at risk of more health problems. Younger women tend to have less visceral fat than men. As women near menopausal age, this shifts, and they begin to pack on more visceral fat than their male counterparts. Women who have had children, unfortunately, see more visceral fat than women who have not given birth (Harvard Health Publishing, 2010). For these reasons, it is important for women to take extra precautions to keep this type of fat at bay. This, of course, is easier said than done. To kick-start your body to burn more visceral fat, you need to adjust your diet and physical activity. Aside from incorporating cardio or aerobic exercises, women should focus especially on strengthening the core muscles. The more muscle mass you have near the abdominal regions, the more visceral fat you should burn. Sit-ups and planks are easy exercise moves that can help you begin to strengthen this area. Yoga is a highly beneficial type of exercise that further strengthens the core muscle. Yoga involves holding various poses; most require one to tighten their core muscle to maintain balance and hold the pose correctly. Yoga is a low-impact exercise, so it is gentle enough for women of any age to perform. While it may not feel like moderate exercise, you give your whole body a workout. Incorporate 10 to 20 minutes of yoga into your morning or evening to shred away extra pounds.

Soft Fat Soft fat or subcutaneous fat tends to accumulate more around the thighs, hips, and arms. The fat is also what you can see hang over the waistline and can be pinched with the fingers. Soft fat is what many struggle with losing quickly and can be quite stubborn, despite your best efforts to get rid of it. Though this fat is unpleasant, it does serve a purpose that can help you lose weight. Subcutaneous fats, like visceral fat, release chemicals into the body. Where visceral fat releases harmful cytokine, subcutaneous fat releases chemicals that increase the production of leptin. This is the appetite suppressant hormone that not only keeps us from overeating but also tells the brain to burn more of its stored fat. This type of fat also can protect one from developing diabetes by regulating glucose and blood pressure levels (Harvard

Health Publishing, 2010). Though this fat is unwanted, it is not as harmful as visceral fat, and maintaining a healthy amount of this fat is beneficial. To rid yourself of excess subcutaneous fat, you want to maintain a caloric deficit, where your calorie intake is lower than your calorie burn. Focusing on your diet is essential, and increasing your lean protein is the secret to targeting this type of fat. Some excellent protein sources to stock up on include: Eggs Poultry Seafood Nuts and Seeds Legumes Individuals who increased their protein while maintaining a caloric deficit saw a balance in the energy levels while effectively losing this unwanted fat (Turrill, 2019).

Signs Your Burning Fat Our bodies are highly effective at storing fat to be used as energy. It can store up to a month's worth of energy. Those who have an excess amount of fat often have much more stored up. Remember, our body is constantly using energy even when we are not moving, which allows us to burn through more fat with effective exercise and diet approaches. It also releases fats through various bodily functions which can be used to your advantage when trying to lose weight.

Fat Burn Through Exercise Exercising can help you shed a lot of calories, but it is the muscles that will require the most energy. This is why adding muscle mass is important when you are trying to lose weight. Though the body will be using energy as you work out, it is often using the easily accessible energy, not the fat stored energy. It can take up to 30 minutes of exercise for the body to begin burning stored fat through exercise; if you are exercising at a low to moderate rate, this can take twice as long (“Where does body fat go when you lose weight?”, 2019).

One of the ways the body releases fat is through carbon dioxide as you exhale. When you exercise, you increase your heart rate and respiratory rate which causes you to release more carbon dioxide. The more vigorously you exercise, and the longer, the higher the levels of carbon dioxide that leave your body. Incorporating longer workout sessions into your week can boost your fat burn. Working out for an hour two or three days a week—which incorporates strengthening training, interval training, or resistance training— can speed up your weight loss efforts. Keep in mind to maintain your weight after you rid yourself of the excess fat, you want to maintain a consistent exercise routine. This means you still need to get in at least 30 minutes of exercise at least five times a week.

Fat Burn Through Diet The body needs to have access to energy to function properly throughout the day and even as you sleep. To get the body to tap into stored fat to use as energy, we need to limit its access to quick easy to use fuel sources—sugars, carbohydrates, and certain fats. When the body does not have a steady stream of these energy sources, it is forced to rely on its stored fat. With specific dietary changes, you can alter your body’s fuel-burning process. A ketogenic diet is especially effective in creating these changes. It favors a high-fat, high-protein, and low-carb approach to eating. This reduces the intake of fast-burning calories found in many sugar-filled products and carbohydrates. A diet where carbs make up 10% or less of your caloric intake is one that will promote weight loss. When your body begins to use up the excess fat, you may notice temporary decreases to energy, difficulty sleeping, and an increase in fatigue. These drawbacks become noticeable three or four days after your body has begun to shift its energy use and only last for two or three days. Once you have progressed past these time frames, you will see a number of positive changes occur. Both diet and exercise are crucial for getting rid of this fat. Changing your diet alone can help lose a significant amount of abdominal fat, but exercise will help boost your weight-loss efforts. You can increase your fat burn by taking advantage of how the body burns fat. Plan your exercise early in the morning just after you have woken

up and before you eat or drink anything. This will force your body to tap into its stored fat as you work out.

Foods to Increase Fat Burn Your diet is the number one thing that will allow you to get rid of excess fat and keep it off. We do not want to just make temporary changes to what we eat and how we eat. To maintain overall optimal health, you want to follow a diet that is sustainable. This is not something that you will easily adjust to overnight, nor is it something everyone in your home will be on board with. Having a list of foods that you can induce in your daily meals is essential. In this section, you will find plenty of food suggestions that will help you limit your calorie intake, while also still properly fueling your body with the essential nutrients, minerals, and vitamins it needs.

Daily Low-Calorie Foods Including a variety of nutrient-dense foods will help you lose weight and maintain a healthy weight. You already know that you should increase your intake of fruits and vegetables, as these contain the widest variety of nutrients and most have a low-calorie level. The best low-calorie foods to add to your

daily food list include (Strazemis, 2020): Melon Celery Cucumbers Lettuce Summer squash Radish Pickles Unsalted, unbuttered, and air popped popcorn

Daily Protein Additionally, to help burn fat, you want to incorporate lean proteins into your daily diet. Proteins have been shown to reduce food cravings and are the only macronutrient that is less likely to be stored as fat when broken down by the body (Strazemis, 2020). There are plenty of protein options, but for better appetite control and weight management, you want to ensure you are consuming lean protein. Some options to consider include (Strazemis, 2020): Tilapia Cod Salmon Sardines Mackerel Skinless chicken breast Turkey Grass-fed beef Cottage cheese

Daily Fats It is well-known that not all fats are good for us, but most get grouped together as being unhealthy. Fat is an essential nutrient the body needs and can help ward off serious medical conditions. Understanding which fats you

should include in your diet and which ones you should try to avoid will help you lose weight. There are two groups of dietary fats that can make up your diet: saturated and unsaturated fats. Saturated fats are the fats we want to eliminate or significantly reduce our intake of. These fats have been linked to heart disease because of their negative effect on cholesterol levels and blood pressure (Dolson, 2020). Unsaturated fats include monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. These fats have been extensively researched and have shown to have a positive impact on cholesterol levels and are heart healthy (Dolson, 2020). Polyunsaturated fat consists of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. Omega3 fatty acids have been widely studied due to their benefits to brain health. This fatty acid also promotes heart health and can decrease the risk of cardiovascular disease. Many cold-water fish—like salmon, sardines, and tuna—are the best sources of omega-3 fatty acids (Dolson, 2020). Almonds, walnuts, Brazil nuts, and flax seeds are also excellent sources to get healthy polyunsaturated fats from. Organic nut butters, like almond butter and some plant-based oils, can also provide you with polyunsaturated fats. Omega-6 fatty acids are also beneficial, but you should be consuming more omega-3 fatty acids. It is important to keep the ratio of these two fatty acids unbalanced (1:2) with your diet consisting of more omega-3 fatty acids (Dolson, 2020). When we have higher amounts of omega-6 fatty acids, inflammation in the body can increase. Sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, pistachios, corn oil, and sunflower oil are recommended sources of omega-6 fatty acids. Many of these plant-based sources contain both omega-6 and omega-3 these fatty acids. Though polyunsaturated fats are beneficial, you want to watch your consumption. A serving of polyunsaturated fats contains nine calories, so it can be easy to add a lot of extra calories to your day with these foods. However, these fats do aid in weight loss since they help keep us full and reduce our temptation to snack in between meals. One thing to be aware of is that polyunsaturated fats are used to create hydrogenated oils or trans fats. In the 1990s, many believed trans fats were healthy and there was a huge uprise in their consumption (Dolson, 2020). Since then, studies have shown otherwise, but this has caused serious debate, and many still believe it to be a better alternative to other fats (Dolson, 2020).

Trans fats increase your risk of heart disease because it raises bad cholesterol levels, which also puts you at greater risk of developing diabetes. Though many products have since replaced trans fats, as they are considered unsafe for consumption, this does not mean companies have not found loopholes to include them in some products (Scott, 2020). You want to still read the labels of foods you intend to buy. If it contains hydrogenated oils, fats (or partially hydrogenated oil), or fat, you want to avoid these items.

The No Diet, No Gym, Weight Management Steps This chapter is all about increasing your body’s fat-burning process. This requires adjustments to both your physical activity and your nutrition. There are no major alterations you need to make. As with when you are starting your weight-loss journey, you can add in a few different techniques at a time to increase your weight-loss efforts. First, review your diet, Ensure you are getting the most out of your food. This means the foods you eat are primarily plant-based, nutrient-dense, and low in calories. Introduce new fat-boosting foods throughout your week. This will help keep your metabolism working properly. Do not forget, you do not want to eliminate whole vital food groups. Avoid falling into fad diets that tell you to eliminate all carbs or fats. The body needs these for fuel, but you can reduce how much of these you take in to promote a healthier weight. Next, consider adding in a few extras to your workout routines. Commit

one or two days to increase the intensity of your workouts. This will not only help you burn away that harmful abdominal fat, but it will keep burning more calories hours after your workout is complete. This will give your metabolism a boost, and over time, it will increase your resting metabolic rate so you will continue to use more energy even when you are resting.

Chapter 9 Let’s Talk About Stress has been mentioned frequently throughout the chapters in this book. S tress Because of its strong connection with gaining weight and poor health, I think it is important to dedicate more time discussing ways to combat stress. When you begin a weight-loss journey, you are bound to encounter slightly more stress. Feeling anxious about the weight you need to lose, the medical conditions you are trying to combat, and whether you are eating right and moving enough can derail your weight loss efforts. Not to mention, the daily stress you already encounter from being a parent, an employee, spouse, and all the other roles you play should also be taken into account. We have covered how stress can negatively impact your health, which we will briefly review, but our main focus will be on the techniques you can use to instantly reduce stress and creating a proper stress management routine that fits in with your weight management goals.

Negative Effects of Stress Stress can cause a lot of negative effects on the body. These can be short term or are experienced more instantly, such as: Headaches Irritability Feeling out of control Muscle tightness Poor sleep

These immediate effects can make it harder to stick to a healthier lifestyle. When we are stressed, we often make poor decisions, and this means poor food choices. The aches, pains, and fatigue we experience cause us to be less mobile, so exercising is often out of the question. These shortterm effects contribute to long-term issues caused by stress. When we are constantly dealing with stress, and not properly managing it, our health—physical, mental, and emotional—can unravel. Cortisol, the stress hormone released when feeling stress, causes various issues within our bodies. These include: Increased levels of cortisol stimulate appetite Our metabolism slows down when stress Higher levels of insulin in the body Increase in blood pressure Each of these can cause weight gain, and this is where stress can be damaging to our health.

Instant Stress Relievers Though you cannot completely eliminate stress from your life, it is vital that you have various tools and techniques to help keep the body and mind calm when unexpected occurrences arise.

Affirmations Maintaining a positive mindset as you progress on your weight-loss journey is crucial. Affirmation is commonly used with goal setting. They help you stay motivated and confident. Using them to reach your weight-loss goals and a healthier lifestyle can benefit you in the same way. Not only will they keep you motivated and make the right choices, but they will also reduce the stress that comes with the process. Using daily affirmations have many benefits such as: Boost self-confidence Build new positive belief systems Keeps you focused on what matters most Helps you change negative thought patterns Allows you to gain a more positive view of yourself and your capabilities We can use positive affirmation to boost our weight loss and keep stress at bay. Having a more positive outlook reduces stress because you shift your focus from what is causing our struggles to the solution. When we repeat these positive phrases, we are reprogramming the mind to let go of what is causing us stress. They can be used as quick reminders that you can choose happiness and to have a positive mindset, no matter what you are facing. Some affirmation to help combat stress: I am calm. I feel at peace. I am learning from my mistakes. I am strong and healthy. I choose to be happy today. I am blessed. I am worry-free. Feeling relaxed and calm come naturally to me. Affirmations to support your healthy lifestyle changes and encourage weight loss include:

I love my body. I nourish my body with nutritious foods. My body is getting stronger and healthier every day. I am healthy. I feel light and fit. I love the way I look and feel. You can also create your own positive affirmations. When creating your own, ensure that they are positive phrases. When repeating them, also say them as though they are happening in the present moment. While you want to create affirmations that will motivate you, you also need them to be realistic. Simply repeating a phrase that does not resonate with you will not help shift your stress thoughts to more positive ones. Affirmations will have a bigger impact if you say them out loud to yourself while looking in a mirror. Repetition is important to help rewire your thought process with affirmation. The more you expose yourself to these positive phrases, the more you will begin to believe them. You can remind yourself of these affirmations by setting alarms to remind you to repeat them. Write them down on sticky notes and post them around your home and office. Carry a short list of your affirmations with you at all times. When you encounter a stressful situation, pull them out and read over them. Having these little motivational reminders can help ease your mind and boost your mood. This can put a stop to the negative effects that stress can have.

Anger Management Anger and stress go hand in hand. Learning to properly manage our anger helps to lessen our stress and worry. Our frustration can get the best of us in any situation; being able to deal with these frustrations in a more positive manner is essential for our health and happiness. When you find yourself getting angry in a situation, try some of these anger management techniques: Properly express your frustration, but only after you are calm. Being able to say what is upsetting you in a firm but loving way will not only make you feel better but will help find a solution for what is frustrating you. We can quickly criticize others when

we are angry, and this often causes even more problems. When expressing your own anger, be mindful of how you state your feelings. Use “I am” instead of “You never . . .” or “You always . . .” when talking. When you say, “I am angry that . . .” and then state what has made you upset, you remain respectful of the other person. Give yourself a time-out. Removing yourself from a frustrating situation will help you remain calm. If you keep yourself in these situations, you are likely to become more agitated. Taking a short break allows you time to clear your head and to look at the situation from a clear and more positive perspective. Pause before you speak. When we are angry, we tend to word vomit whatever pops into our heads first. These are not typically the kindest things we want to say and often regret it once we do. Before you speak, pause and take a few deep breaths. This will naturally calm the body and help you choose your words carefully. Shift your focus from what is upsetting you to finding a solution. When we are mad, we get stuck on the wrongdoing, and this causes us to become more upset. Instead, we want to focus on the possible solution to the problem or identify the lesson so we can avoid the frustration in the future. Laugh it off. Sometimes we encounter one aggravating situation after another which quickly increases the stress we feel. Instead of getting upset over every mistake, have a good laugh. Laughing will release the tension from your body and from the situation. A little humor can go a long way in helping you remain calm and in control when confronting frustrating situations. Forgiveness will instantly lead you to be more positive. When we become mad, we can get stuck on additional negative feelings like disappointment, regret, and bitterness. Learn to forgive and release. This does not mean you excuse what has been done to you, but it does allow you to let go of the negative feelings and make room for more positive ones.

Breathing Exercises

Using deep breathing techniques when you are stressed is one of the easiest and convenient ways you can alter the effects that stress has on the body. When you take a big inhale and slowly exhale, you trigger the calming response in the body, which switches off the fight-or-flight response activated from stress. Deep breathing will also help you regulate and lower your heart rate. This is a technique that can be done anytime and anywhere. While there are many different deep breathing techniques you can use in stressful situations, you do not need to make this complex. Simply stop what you are doing, close your eyes, and inhale through the nose. As you inhale, count to five. Once you have filled your lungs to capacity, pause for a count of three. Then, begin to slowly exhale for a count of five. Pause again for a count of three, then repeat the exercise at least three times. Even learning to just pause and take a deep breath in before you react to external stimulation can help ward off stress. Before you pick up your phone after hearing a message alert, pause and take a breath. Before getting out of your car do your grocery shopping or go into work, pause and take a deep breath. Find random times throughout your day that will allow you to just pause, slow down for just a brief moment, and see how much easier it is to get through your day without becoming overanxious, worried, or stressed.

Additional Stress Reduction Activities Ask someone for a hug. Get outdoors. Put on your favorite song. Read. Count backward from 10. Stretch. Grab a stress ball and squeeze. Clean up a cluttered workspace or area in your home. Make yourself some tea. Have a piece of gum. Call a friend.

Long-Term Stress Management

The right stress management routine is one that combines a mix of activities that calm the mind and body, keep you connected with others and yourself, and activities that you find pleasure in doing. Regular exercise, a balanced diet, and proper sleep are essential for long-term stress management. Other activities can be incorporated to manage stress, while also providing additional health benefits and complementing your weightloss goals.

Yoga Yoga is a mind-body exercise that has been proven an effective stress reliever. Since it involves physical movement, doing yoga is also a great form of exercise and benefits your weight-loss goals. Yoga focuses on connecting to your breath and tuning in to the body through fluid movements. Doing this triggers the body’s relaxed response system which lowers stress levels while also strengthening your body and mind’s stress tolerance. Yoga is a good practice to start and end your day with. Beginning your day with yoga can help you start the day with a clear and calm mind. Ending your day with yoga allows you to release the stress that has been built up throughout the day. This can help you sleep better through the night. There are many yoga sequences that focus on reducing stress as well as other than can help promote weight loss. Try a few different techniques to find one that resonates with you.

Progressive Muscle Relaxation If stress or worrisome thoughts keep you awake at night, progressive muscle relaxation can help relieve your stress to help you get better sleep. This technique does not just clear away the mental stress, but it releases the stress that accumulates in the body by relaxing tight muscles and strained joints. This technique can be done as often as you need it, but if you deal with higher levels of stress daily, it is a good idea to perform this relaxation technique at least once a week. It can also be beneficial to use a guided recording when you first begin with this technique. As you become more comfortable with the process, you do not need to continue to use a recording, and instead, perform this exercise at your own pace. This exercise involves tightening a group of muscles for a few seconds then releasing them; waiting for a few moments and then moving on to the next muscle group. You can go through each muscle group, starting from the

head and working your way to the feet. Or, you can first focus on the more tense areas of the body and then work your way around the body. The muscles groups to tighten and how to tighten them are as follows (Healthwise Staff, 2020): For the face, begin by wrinkling the forehead as though you are over-exaggerating smelling something unpleasant. Close the eyes as tightly as possible. Press the lips together as tightly as you can. Be mindful to keep the rest of the face relaxed, as we just want to tighten the area around the mouth. For the cheeks and jaw, smile as big as you can. To tighten the neck muscles, press the back of the head into the floor or your bed. The front of the neck can be tightened by bringing your chin to your chest. For the shoulders, you want to shrug them as high as you can toward the ears. For the upper arms, you want to bend them at the elbows and flex the biceps. Form your hands into a fist. To tighten the forearms and wrists, extend the wrists and forearms as you bend the hands back at the wrist. For the hands, you just need to clench them. To tighten the chest muscles, take a deep inhale and hold it for five seconds, then quickly exhale. For the back, arch it up toward the ceiling as high as you can. To tighten the abdomen, you want to suck in the stomach. For the hips and buttocks, you want to clench your buttocks tightly. For the lower legs and feet, you want to point your toes up toward your face while spreading the toes. Once you have done this for a count of four, release, and count to 10. Then, point the toes away from you as you curl the toes down, holding for a count of four before releasing.

You need to be in a positive mood to get started. It is best if this is done right before bed. Close the eyes before you begin. For each of the items listed above, you want to tighten the muscles for at least four seconds and no more than 10. Then quickly release and relax the muscles. It is important to release tension in the muscle groups quickly as opposed to gradually. Then, count to 10 before moving on to the next area. When you have worked your way through all the groups, count backward from 10 and open the eyes. Take a few deep breaths in before you get up or change positions.

Gratitude Making gratitude a daily practice is not only ideal for stress management, but various studies have shown that those who practice gratitude daily are generally more satisfied with their lives. Gratitude is easy to do and just as easy not to do, which is why many tend to neglect to be thankful for what they have. It is easy to focus on where we want to be, especially when we are gaining control over our health. Focusing on what we do not have causes us to stress and worry. Shifting our focus to what we do have and the things that bring happiness into our lives will reduce the negative impact of stress. Gratitude also benefits us in other ways such as: Higher self-esteem Boosts your mood Can improve our relationships Make us more likable Helps us develop a more optimistic view of life Helps us feel connected to the world around us Has a positive impact on our decision-making skills Allows us to remain calm and patient Helps us find more meaning in life Can lower blood pressure levels Promote better quality sleep Can motivate you to exercise more Starting a gratitude practice does not require much effort or time. Start your day by expressing thanks for things. This can be related to your health,

your relationship, or the things you are looking forward to enjoying that day. At the end of the day, take five minutes to reflect on your day. Find three good things that happened to you or that you learned that day. You can start a gratitude journal to help capture all the things you are grateful for. This will allow you to reflect upon your day and can be highly beneficial when you encounter difficult times. This gratitude journal can help you remain grounded and thankful for all that you have instead of focus on the struggles you are facing. It also reminds you that you have many things to be happy about.

Journal Journaling your thoughts and feelings can remove the excess worry from your thoughts and provide you a safe space to express what you are stressing about. Writing what is causing you to feel overwhelmed can help you identify what the root cause of your concerns are. You are able to gain a new perspective of various situations, and this allows you to prioritize what needs to be addressed and what needs to be let go of. Journaling also helps you track your emotions which then helps you identify triggers that you can plan for and combat in the future. What makes this an effective way to manage stress is that you create the rules for what you write. You can choose to write freely about anything that enters your head at the time, or use prompts to get your thoughts focused. There is no structure you have to follow except the one you outline for yourself. You can add drawings, quotes, or keep it dedicated to what happened that day. Your journal is just for you; it does not matter if there are spelling mistakes, if you jot down just a list of words, or write out full paragraphs. This is also an easy activity that you can fit into any part of your day. You do not have to commit to more than five minutes to journal to reap the benefits. All you need is a pen and a notebook.

Time Management Poor time management contributes to long-term stress. A lot of stressful situations arise because of mismanaged time. Gaining control over your schedule, daily to-do lists, upcoming deadlines, and other responsibilities will allow you to worry less about how you will get it all done. Not having enough time is the go-to excuse many people rely on when it comes to taking better control of their health. We all have a limited number of hours in the

day; learning how to make the best use of this time will allow you to prioritize the things you need to do and increase your productivity. When you feel more in control of your time, you will be able to make time for other essentials, like exercising, meal planning, and meal prepping. To better manage your time, you first have to look at all you do in your day. For a week or two, keep track of all the things you do from the time you wake up until the time you go to sleep. By tracking your time, you will identify where you can cut back or eliminate some activities to make room for more beneficial ones. Once you have a clear idea of how you are spending your time, you will want to begin to use routines to make the best use of this time. Time blocking can be helpful when you are managing work, kids, house chores, and your own self-care. With this time-management method, you prioritize everything you need to do in your day and give it a designated time slot to be done in. Things that you cannot eliminate or already have a scheduled time, like work hours, will be filled in first. Then, you continue to your next priority group which are things that you need to do, if you cannot find someone else to take over them. The third group are things you need to do but do not necessarily need a fixed time slot, so the time you do them may vary from day to day. Then, you will include other essentials which you need to do to maintain your own happiness and health. Finally, you have your spare time which you can further fill in with more beneficial activities or use to relax and recoup. Your days will not all look the same; some days you may have more obligations that you cannot shift around. The goal of this is to give you better control of your daily activities. When you block out time to focus on priority tasks, you will work on more of the things that are important to you. Another thing that can help with time management is to reevaluate your daily to-do list. We often try to cram more things into our day than we need to and then treat everything as a priority. We also tend to check off the things on our list that are easiest to do but do not add value to our days. This gives us a sense of false accomplishments that can contribute to procrastinating on the more important items that we need to be working on. When you make a to-do list, you want to limit what you put on this list. A to-do list should not have more than 10 items on it. Of these 10 items, you want to identify the top three priorities, if these were the only things you crossed off. See if they would move you toward your goals or meeting upcoming deadlines. These

three tasks are the first things you should begin working on in your day. Some additional ways to better manage your time to reduce stress: Break big projects down into small manageable steps. Write each step down in the order they need to be completed and then schedule them into your day appropriately. Say no to things you do not want to do. You have no obligation to do things that do not add value to your life. Eliminate distractions. Use the Pomodoro technique to help you focus intently on one task at a time. Use a scheduling system that works for you. This can be a day planner that you carry around with, a calendar app on your phone, or a project management app. Delegate what you can and ask for help when you need it. Commit to completing one thing at a time. Avoid multitasking or jumping back and forth from one thing to another. When we feel more confident in managing our time, we are less likely to stress over missing deadlines or important meetings. This also gives us more control over our time and when we begin to uncover what we spend our time doing we learn to make room for the more important things.

Guided Visualizations Guided visualization or guided imagery can be used as a form of meditation. Meditation has been shown to effectively reduce stress and helps promote an overall healthy life. Guided imagery helps reduce short- and long-term stress. It is a technique that when practiced regularly can be used to instantly bring calm over the body and mind. Guided visualization focuses on creating a peaceful scene in the mind that you then connect with feeling relaxed and calm. It is a process that helps you detach from your negative feelings and relieves the tension that these negative feelings can cause in the body. While guided visualization is a practice that can be done from anywhere at any moment, when you are just beginning, it is best to find a quiet space

where you will not be distracted. This will help you become more comfortable with the practice and give your attention to the process without interruption. As with progressive muscle relaxation, it can be easier to get started with this practice using a guided recording to help you create your mental calming scene. This can be easily found with a quick search online. There are plenty of videos that walk you through the process and incorporate calm sounds or music to help you remain in a relaxed state. Many of these will follow a similar process as explained below. Before you begin, set a timer for up to 10 minutes. This will help you remain focused on the process and will eliminate the risk of falling asleep as you progress through the steps. First, begin in a comfortable position. This can be lying down or sitting in a chair; you do not want to be too comfortable where you risk falling asleep. Once you are comfortable, focus your attention on your breath. There is no need to try to control it; just watch how you inhale and exhale. Then, close your eyes. Bring to your mind a beautiful relaxing scene; this can be a beach, a cabin in the mountains, the middle of a forest, or a big comfy bed in a serene room. The location can be anywhere that you desire. Image yourself in this scene. Smile as you look over the landscape, and notice all the perfect details about this location. Focus on how calm and happy you are in this scene. Next, begin to bring your attention to your senses. What smells do you notice in your scene? How does the wind or sunshine feel on your skin? You want to spend time focused on each of your senses to make the scene more vivid and clear. Explore your location; with each new detail you discover, you should become more relaxed and at peace. As you walk through the scene, remind yourself that this is your safe, calm space, and that you are welcomed to visit it whenever you like. When you hear the timer go off, slowly open your eyes and remain still for a few minutes. In the beginning, you want to commit to performing this guided meditation regularly, four or five times a week. As you become more comfortable with the practice, you can begin to spend more time doing this mediation. Instead of 10 minutes, go up to 20 or 30. You can cut back on how many times you do this a week to two or three times. When you encounter stressful situations in the future, you will be able to recall this peaceful image to quickly relax the mind and body.

The No Diet, No Gym, Weight Management Steps Though much of the information in this chapter has little to do with your diet and exercise, it can have a major impact on your weight loss. Keeping your stress under control is equally important as keeping your weight under control. Both can have serious negative consequences on your overall health and happiness. Stress can derail your weight-loss efforts and is often a neglected aspect of living a healthy life. To help you combat stress and take better control over your emotions, which will result in better control over your weight, begin to incorporate at least one long-term stress management technique into your daily routine. Remember, exercise is also an ideal way to reduce stress and is something you want to include in your weight-loss plan. Many of the techniques you will be using to help you lose weight will also double as effective ways to manage your stress. If you are walking daily outside, you are utilizing two stress management techniques—getting outdoors and exercising. Incorporating these techniques does not mean you need to find more time in your day to do something else. We all have limited time in our already

busy schedules; these stress management strategies can help you add more time to your day.

Conclusion

loss does not have to mean depriving yourself of foods you love. It W eight does not require spending hundreds of dollars on a gym membership or workout equipment. Missing weight is more than just cutting calories and moving more. As you have learned, there are many factors that contribute to weight gain and just as many that can help you lose weight and keep it off. Focusing on what you eat is only the starting point when it comes to proper weight management. For many, this is the only thing that gets addressed when they are trying to lose weight. Many people have the misconception that changing their food choices will drastically change their weight and health. While this is true for some, for many, weight gain is the result of many factors. We have discussed a number of important factors that can influence your weight. You have also learned how excess weight can have serious consequences on your overall health. Struggling with maintaining a healthy weight and going up and down frequently in weight only makes it more challenging to lose the weight again and keep it off. The good news is that you do not have to continue to be a prisoner of your weight, and it is possible for you to reach a weight that is ideal for your body. There are no quick fixes when it comes to managing your weight. This was the lesson I learned through my own weight-loss journey. If you want to enjoy a healthy and strong body, it takes time and patience to get there. Along the way, you will feel like there is no hope, but rest assured that it is possible to reach a weight that is best suited for your body. It may not be as slim as you would like. You may have a few extra pounds that remind you of

what your body is capable of. I still have a little stomach pouch from my pregnancies, and I have learned to embrace it and love it. It reminds me of how amazing my body is. It also reminds me why I should be nourishing it with the right foods and moving it daily to remain flexible and strong. I hope the information has brought you clarity, confidence, and a better understanding of your weight gain. It is my wish that you take the information and use it to improve your health. To embrace a healthy lifestyle that provides you with years of happiness. I hope that today is your day one of your weight-loss journey. I hope that you enjoy the process as you learn to love your body and work with it instead of fighting against it. I hope that the information serves you well and that you not only use what you learned here in your own life but share it with others. Encourage those you love to embrace new eating habits that will benefit their lives. If you find this book helpful, I ask that you share your review and let others know how it can benefit them. Thank you and good luck.

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