RESETS approach to sustainable weight-loss
Everyone is looking for some magic easy QUICK new method for weight-loss!
AND the truth is THERE ISN’T ONE - well not one that is sustainable!
Weight loss is one of the most miss-understood, controversial subjects on the planet. The amount of diets, ‘ways of eating’, supplements, pills etc etc etc all promising you that their way will work - is endless!
We are going to delve into RESETS approach to losing weight, and keeping it off - sustainably and un-restricted!
But before we can understand how to lose weight we need to understand how and why we GAIN weight in the first place.
There are many factors that come into play - but simply put, there have been more calories consumed than the required amount of calories needed going out for energy. Now although that is how we explain it simply - there are so many more aspects to this…
Remember the body is still programmed evolutionarily to store fat from our meals, as once upon a time meals were not always consistently available like they are today, and that survival mechanism still lives strongly within us! See the fat stored from each meal is the body’s way of storing energy to tap into over the hours to come. In fact the body is completely capable and designed to be able to go many hours, even days between meals.
This is where we need to ensure we are giving ourselves that long break in digestion following a meal to use that energy! With constant eating/snacking all day there’s just a constant buildup of stored fat/energy with no chance of ever being needed.
WHAT calories we consume come into play alongside how much. The body will store less as fat, and make better use of densely nutritious foods that it recognises (foods that grow outside). Every part of the body will use these nutrients better - meaning a stronger and healthier immune system, neurological system, heart, muscles, lungs, cells, etc, along with stronger long lasting energy stores and balanced hormones.
Once a meal is consumed, it will take the body around 4-8 hours to process that meal! The body disperses all the nutrients needed at that time for many roles around the body, fibre and waste is excreted and any over requirement of calories are stored within our fat cells to be used at a later time.
If there is always the required amount of calories coming in for your body’s needs, you will maintain your current weight!
If there is always an over requirement of calories coming in you will continue to add to your fat stores (weight gain)!
If there is a slight deficit in calorie requirement, from both eating the correct portions, alongside a long break in-between meals - the body is forced to dip into the stored fat for energy = weight-loss!
BUT even with 2 meals in front of you, the same calorie quantity - meal one highly nutrient dense, meal two is processed foods that are low in nutrients - you will store far more fat from meal two, so where your calories come from is also key!
It is during the period of 4-8 hours after you consume a meal that WHAT and HOW you have eaten are so important, as this directly determines your level of health, metabolism and digestive system’s speed.
Body number one with a fast digestion and metabolism require higher calorie intake as their fuel burning rate is higher, this means they store less as body fat - but body number two with a slow digestion and metabolism will store more than double what body number one stores!
Throughout this blog we will delve into the aspects that come into play to ensure your body will be body number one!
Why most diets fail
Calories are restricted back too far, causing hunger and energy depletion
Not giving the digestive system a break by constantly eating small meals/snacks all day, resulting in a lowered metabolism
The food choices are not filling enough, causing hunger and energy depletion
The food choices are not nutrient dense enough, causing low mood and energy depletion
There is no focus on the digestive system’s health and speed - and this could be the MOST important aspect of weight-loss
Trying to stick to the diet 100% of the time, where 90% is more sustainable
Many people start a diet where they restrict their calories back so significantly, that there is far less calories coming in than the body requires for energy.
There is excitement during the first few days of this new diet, because it works! The weight starts to come off, and the first few kilos drop off quite quickly. But when eating so low for their body’s requirements, their energy depletes right back, and they don’t feel good… they start to look at really low calorie intake as dieting - and the only thing that will work, because this may be the only time they have seen results!
The word dieting starts to be looked upon negatively. The thought of trying to lose weight and dieting is associated with feeling terrible, restricted, lack of energy and feeling really, really hungry... they believe this is what they have to go through in order to lose weight. So they prepare themselves each time they decide to start a new ‘diet’ - to once again feel terrible, but hope like hell this time they will be strong enough not to give up!
There is only so far someone can go when they are feeling really hungry with little energy before they give up, and when they do give up the body is in such a shocked state that they will actually store more fat from the first few meals they eat than what they lost during the diet in the first place.
When a body is in a stressed state from any type of stress, including yo-yo dieting, it releases the fat storing stress hormone cortisol. This hormone is released regardless of whether you are running from a bear or starting on a new diet!
Your body reacts to all stress the same. Stress means danger, and your body prepares for danger by releasing cortisol and storing fat - as fat storage means survival!
A human body can survive for one day with 300g of stored body fat. So when causing internal stress by restricting the body of optimal nutrients over and over again, all the body is doing is focusing on holding on to that precious fat storage for dear life - along with storing as much fat as possible from everything you do eat!
So what can we do about this? How do we lose weight without going through all of this and being forced over and over again to give up?
The ONLY way to lose weight and keep it off long term, is PATIENCE, CONSISTENCY, MOVEMENT and DEEP NOURISHMENT!
Patience
Weight-loss is a fluctuating mental battle that takes time! You need to try and remove the thoughts of wanting your results now, and instead have a focus on just a little weight-loss of around 0.5kg each week - this is a sustainable weight-loss - any more than that will create energy depletion and will have you throw in the towel. Tell yourself that in a few months from now you WILL be at your goal if you do it at this speed… Be patient! Patience is the missing factor for 99% of people starting out on a weight-loss journey! Weight loss is an up and down slow fluctuating process, initially you may see a big loss, then you may go through a period of around 7 days where there is no loss, there could even be slight weight gain here and there! Understanding this is normal and the weight will drop again, is crucial... because this is where EVERYONE fails. If you can stay patient - you will see results much faster than you ever have before!
Consistency
This means eating your meals consistently at the same times each day. RESET recommends 3 eating windows per day, choosing your timings and sticking to them consistently!
This allows that vital break in digestion for your stored energy to be given the chance to be used! During this break your body cleans house, cleansing and detoxing every single area within you! This break between meals could just be the most important thing you do for your health! It is a part of how we have been designed and it’s something we have forgotten about within our modern world surrounded by food! During this break we want to drink lots of clean filtered water to help the body flush and cleanse.
You can go an hour either side of your chosen timings, but you want to try and stick as close to them as possible! What this does is teach your body to trust you that food will be consistently available at around the same times each day. This trust lowers internal stress and results in the body storing less of your food as fat. Just ensure you eat your last meal 2 hours before you go to bed. Before sleep, the digestion process must almost complete so that your body doesn’t have to spend this crucial time of rest and restoration, digesting. Each individual person’s body is unique! What time your body feels best eating is unique to you, your family life, work life, and exercise, this all comes into account when choosing the perfect timings that work for you.
Movement
Movement is a key aspect of both health and weight loss, movement increases our feel good hormones ensuring we are happier! Movement strengthens our heart and muscles. But movement is also like pressing the on switch on our dishwasher - movement cleans our bodies internally, flushing and detoxing our cells. Movement is also crucial in ensuring we use the stored energy from our meals! A 30 minute HIIT session is AMAZING for the heart, pushing yourself hard and fast for intervals is incredible for the human body, we were made to be able to push hard for short periods of time. But just 30-60 minutes a day is key here for this hard exercise, the rest of the day movement should be just walking around as much as possible, and being stagnant as little as possible. Rest through gentle movement is vital!
Deep nourishment
Deep nourishment is the most important step… See, even with patience, consistency, and movement, you need deep nourishing filling foods to ensure you are energised and full! Deep nourishment from the perfect nutrients creates the optimal environment for body number one (mentioned above). This is the key for firing your metabolism up and ensuring your body both burns more fat, and stores less fat!
If we fill up on nutrient dense, energy promoting whole foods that are full of vitamins and minerals, we leave little room for anything else! RESET recommends 3 eating windows per day and cutting all the snacking. At each eating window we have our full focus on filling up on foods that grow outside - vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds, healthy fats and good quality proteins. Instead of just mindlessly throwing food in our mouths, we need to look at each eating window as an opportunity to deeply nourish our bodies.
Ensuring a nourishing fibre enriched diet, ensures we have a deeply nourished digestive system that runs at the optimal speed, this is KEY and usually one of the missing links for both health and weight-loss!
When we are deeply nourished and full, we stop all the snacking between meals - and this is vital! It’s the constant snacking that is the barrier for most people in obtaining results. Snacking is your sign you are not eating right, snacking means you didn’t fill up enough at your last meal, AND constant snacking adds up to an incredible amount of calories over the day!
Alongside increasing nutrient rich foods, we want to reduce back the foods that are high in calories but don’t keep us full for long. These are our flour and grain based processed packaged options. These foods are what I call ‘empty calorie’ foods! An empty calorie food is a food that has had the majority of its nutrients removed, and turned it into a powdered / cracker / bread / pasta type form. This is all done for a long shelf life and profit - NOT health. With less nutrients, comes more hunger as the body isn’t filled up for long, in fact you will be hungry in 20 minutes after eating an empty calorie food.
We don’t need to reduce or remove these foods forever, but while we are wanting to lose weight, replacing those foods with ‘whole calorie’ foods is key!
The 90% rule…
Starting out trying to eat well 100% of the time is just setting yourself up for failure! When a human is told they are not allowed something, especially a food they are craving… GUESS WHAT? Thats all they can think about!
Instead deeply nourish your body, BUT only 90% of the time… Give yourself full permission 10% of the time to have a treat and a glass of wine! With permission comes less negative self talk and beating yourself up for ‘failing’! With 90% comes results! 90% is the key to sticking to this long term. Give yourself the go-ahead to have that 10%, and wholeheartedly enjoy it!… just stick to that 10%… don’t let it creep up to 20% or 30%… Have the 10% and jump straight back into the 90% the next day, this will ensure you will both see results AND maintain them for life!
When we start a style of eating where we are FULL, with loads of energy, and feeling good… AND we are allowed the odd treat… we will stick to that!
RESET recommends a focus on eating 3 filling meals per day, and cutting out all the snacking. This creates the BEST possible internal environment for vital health and sustainable weight loss.
This is what it looks like -
Two main meals per day, consisting of - vegetables, protein, healthy fats
One mini meal per day - consisting of fruits, nuts, seeds, healthy fats - this high fibre, gut nourishing mini meal ensures you are REGULAR
At least - 2L of clean filtered water per day - mineralised with a pinch of natural sea salt
AND - NO snacking
This will be bring in all the protein, nutrients, vitamins and minerals we need for our body to ensure we stay full with high energy levels throughout our weight loss journey, and this is the RESET difference.
