When we think about doctors, we make an immediate association with health. For 9 years of my life, I worked on putting the ‘Dr’ in front of my name. During this time, I became the heaviest and unhealthiest version of myself. The high stress levels, heavy workload and long hours completely robbed me of the ability to look after my own health and I started resembling, what I can only be describe as, putty....CONTINUE READING
This decline in my personal health was part of why I later decided to change my career path, as my physical health issues were contributing to my mental health struggles.
But enough about me. As a doctor, I know a thing or two about health and weight loss. And as someone who led a stressful and busy life, I know a thing or two about losing weight after gaining lots of it.
I’m going to break it down into 3 simple things to focus on. These things are doable, sustainable, and changed my life over a one year period.
1. Meals
You have heard it a thousand times: diet is the most important aspect of losing weight.
But dieting is also the first place we all fall off the wagon. I avoided ‘dieting’, and especially fad diets for weight loss. And yes, I include keto in this. I focused instead on having balanced meals.
What to do: Have balanced meals
Carbohydrates, protein and fats in each meal. Make a list of the complex carbohydrates you should be eating. Another rule, search for the glycemic index (GI) of each carb and eat those that are below 55. Proteins should be mostly lean. Fats should be healthy fats like nuts and avocados.
What not to do: avoid these weight loss killers 80% of the time.
Things on the no-no list:
Simple carbs with a higher glycemic index. Avoid baked goods 6 days of the week. This includes bread (with the exception of sourdough).
No processed meats and ready-meals.
Avoid trans fats by avoiding take always, fried foods, and (again) pastries.
2. Movement
Exercising daily is one of the most important things you can do for your physical and mental health.
Now, I know most of us identify as slugs and couch potatoes in the Netflix-era, so I will focus on keeping this section, again, doable and sustainable. Let’s focus on 2 types of movement practices for you to focus on: exercise and activities of daily living.
Activities of daily living
When I was practising medicine, we used your ability to perform your activities of daily living as a measure of your quality of life. If you can still tie your own shoelaces and wipe your own bum, you still have a fair amount of independence and quality of life preserved.
What you do with that time, my friend, is up to you. The world is your oyster!
But back to daily activities. All movement counts towards you being more active on a daily basis. Sweep your floors, play with your children, go for a walk around the block with your partner. Take the stairs, park further away from the entrance, carry your groceries.
These simple things keep you not only active, but also capable of maintaining your independence into your future.
Activities scheduled as actual exercise.
Minimum 30 minutes each day. These are the types of exercises to get done weekly:
Cardiovascular: 2x per week. Run, bike, row, or just dance like nobody’s watching. Get your heart rate up and keep it up for a bit.
Interval training: 2x per week. High intensity interval training is the most beneficial exercise type for burning fat, in the shortest amount of time.
Strength training: 3x per week. Lift something other than your unique physique to increase your metabolism and start looking like something resembling an actual shape.
3. The mental game
Where the mind goes, the body follows.
The mind is super powerful. How do you leverage this power to ensure your weight loss success?
Stress Reduction
Stress causes weight gain. And the type of weight you pick up as a result, is bloody resilient by nature.
Work an hour less, try some breathing exercises or meditation, and spend that time exercising. We live very busy and fast-paced lives. Learn to slow down and your body will start suspecting that you are, in fact, NOT being chased by a predator for 14 hours a day.
Talk yourself into it
We all do well for as long as the motivation is there. But motivation will decrease eventually.
Motivation is the ‘honeymoon period’ of a healthy lifestyle. Sooner or later the excitement wears off and you better hope like hell that you have some good conversation to fall back on.
We all engage in self-talk daily. Make sure when you start talking, your conversations are talking you into the lifestyle, instead of talking you out of it. Don’t allow excuses or self-negotiations.
And that’s my simple guide. Following these simple rules got me back to lean and mean within a year. I enjoy the privilege of quality of life by moving daily and fueling my body well for this process.
If this simple guide to reclaiming your health doesn’t tickle your fancy, and you can’t bring yourself to do it for your own quality of life, allow me to submit just one request.
Do it for the people who, in the near future, will have to tie your shoelaces. And, you know…
