Fool Proof Weight Loss Methods

By Laurette Willis 

“Fool-Proof Weight Loss”? Is that even possible? Yes. From a purely physical standpoint, there are a few things you can do that have been proven to absolutely work. Add to that several scriptural elements, which include the Lord’s help and you have “Fool-Proof” methods that can mean the difference between success and “same-old, same-old.”

First, let’s look at the physical.

Researches from the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research followed more than 2,000 people who wanted to lose weight. They encouraged them to write down their meals and snacks throughout the day.

The biggest single predictor of whether a participant lost weight or not was whether he or she kept a food journal. Successful weight loss and weight management as a result of keeping a food journal beat out exercise habits, body mass index or age. Interestingly, the number of pounds lost was in direct correlation to the number of days they wrote in their diary or log.

Keeping a food diary is an eye-opening experience for those of us who think we “eat like a bird.” That may not be such a wise comparison. Did you know that birds eat constantly and some eat one-quarter to one-half of their body weight per day? Anybody up for a fifty-pound hamburger with ten pounds of fries? Yikes!

Here are a few more reasons keeping a food journal makes good sense.

1. Cutting back on between-meal snacks and “grazing”
Think back to what you ate yesterday. You may remember breakfast, lunch and dinner, but do you recall everything you ate and drank yesterday? Even if you just took “a taste” of something, each little taste adds up. Considering most mouthfuls of food average 25 calories, six extra nibbles a day are an extra 150 calories, which can add up to an extra 15 pounds per year.
2. How much DO you eat in a day?
Writing it down is a wake-up call for many of us. Do you eat by the portion size, or by the plateful?
My husband Paul (a.k.a. “Paul the Pasta Prince”) was crestfallen when he learned one portion of pasta is not a plateful but ½ cup or about the size of a fist (he asked if it could be about the size of an open fist filled with pasta).
Eating out has its drawbacks when it comes to portion-conscious eating. A good rule of thumb is to ask your server to put half your entrée in a take-home container before it is brought to your table. You’ll be less likely to open the container while seated at the table; you’ll eat less and probably enjoy it more, feel less sleepy after your meal, and wind up with a quick lunch for the next day.
3. Are you getting enough of the right nutrients?
Keeping a food journal will also reveal to you the nutrition you are getting in your daily meals. Think you’re eating the recommended 5-9 portions of fruit and vegetables per day? Looking at the food journal for a week may reveal that ketchup was the fruit and vegetable du jour and Twinkies are a new food group.
Make sure you’re taking your whole food vitamins every day and add some concentrated greens (usually powdered or granulated) to sprinkle on your food to make up for the perfection you don’t reach every day.
4. What are your food triggers?
Looking for that feeling of fullness that food cannot fill (but Jesus can)? Bored? Lonely? Looking at a project to be completed and the temporary distraction of snacking keeps calling you to the refrigerator or candy machine?

Along with the notations about food, get a handle on the emotions that accompany unplanned snacking—or binges. When you notice patterns, you can ask the Lord to help you change them.

This leads us to the best way to lose weight or make any changes in your life at all: ask the Lord to help you.

Commit your food plan to the Lord daily.

Keeping a food journal throughout the day is a great idea – and writing a food plan in your journal that morning or the night before is even better. Keep it simple or detailed and close enough to you so you can refer to it during the day. Why? For two reasons:

1. You’ve heard the expression, “Those who fail to plan, plan to fail.” By planning what you will eat, you’re less likely to fall prey to last-minute choices made when blood sugar is low and thinking a bit fuzzy.
2. It will give you a plan you can commit to the Lord and ask Him to help you keep. The wonderful thing is that He absolutely will help you. Proverbs 16:3 says, “Commit your works to the LORD, and your thoughts will be established.”

I literally hold my food plan for the day up to the Lord during my Morning Prayer time. “Lord, I commit my food plan to You today. I trust You to help me walk in the fruit of the Spirit today, including self-discipline. I place my food plan, my whole day and my life in Your hands. I present my body a living sacrifice to You, Lord, holy and acceptable which is my reasonable service. And I will not be conformed to this world, but by Your grace I am being transformed by the renewing of my mind on Your holy Word. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.”

Following these weight-loss methods is absolutely fool-proof because one who follows the Lord is NO FOOL!

Christian Fitness Expert and author Laurette Willis is the Director of PraiseMoves® Fitness Ministry, offering fitness programs, DVDs, books and instructor training for those interested in a Christian ALTERNATIVE to yoga, plus fitness for spirit, soul and body at http://praisemoves.com . To follow Laurette on Twitter, please visit http://twitter.com/Fit4Christ, and Facebook at  http://facebook.com/people/Laurette-Willis/661158603 Laurette Willis ©2009