This morning as I was reading The Daniel Plan by Rick Warren, I was amazed at the familiarity of his concept of living a healthy life. For a brief moment I thought, “Was Rick Warren reading my journal when I lost over 150 lbs? Did he steal my plan and write a book about it?”
No – Rick Warren did not steal my plan. However, my belief is both of us had the same life coach.
That Life Coach would be none other than the Holy Spirit.
The Daniel Plan is a good book with a simple plan. If you want to learn more about The Daniel Plan, I suggest getting the book. From what I have read so far, I would recommend it. (I wonder how much his book sales just went up because of this plug. lol.)
The plan I was led to follow generated major transformation in my life.
You need to keep in mind before a plan can work you need to come to agreement that even simple plans require awareness.
- You’re currently not as healthy as you’re intended to be.
- You’re willing and ready to make changes in my health.
- You’re able to make these changes with support.
As mentioned I was over-weight at the beginning of my journey. The stats were as follows:
- 38 years
oldyoung - Obesity – Weight 350 lbs
- High Blood Pressure
- High Cholestorol
- Border Line Type 2 Diabetic
- Anemic
- Severe Anxiety
- Sleep Apnea
As you can see, my health was really bad. However, all of the above health problems have been reversed except for one. I can’t seem to get a handle on the first one. Each year I continue to get older no matter what I try.
6 were all fully reversed within 6 months. It took 15 months to lose 150 lbs.
My plan was simple and short: a 4 point, one day plan.
This is the plan:
- Start the day with a quiet time and read something spiritual for myself.
- Educate and make a better food choice today than the previous day.
- Be more active today than I was yesterday.
- Surround myself with a healthy like-minded community.
The secret to the plan was like the last line of directions on the shampoo bottles, which state “Repeat”.
And that is exactly what I did each day. After following the plan, it became part of my life. It was just natural for me to continually live it.
Notice the word DIET was not mentioned once. If you want the quick fix to lose 10 lbs in 7 days, this is not it. The funny thing is, the diet that CLAIMS you can lose 10 lbs in 7 days is not either.
In today’s post my goal is that your weight loss expectations change by proving that claims to lose 10 lbs in 7 day DIETS are false and not healthy. I hope after you read this you can feel better about your weight loss numbers each week.
For my example I will use a 220 lb man who, in the course of a day, burns 2,500 calories just to maintain his weight. With 7 days in the week his calorie intake to maintain his weight would be 17,500 per week.
Fact: 3,500 calories = 1 lb
Scenario #1 – The Healthy Way: 1.25 lbs per week
- Food intake change. (1 lb per week)
- If he reduces his calorie intake each day by 500 x 7 days that would be 3,500 calories.
- 3,500 calories = 1 lb. So he would have lost 1 lb that week.
- With the addition of exercise
- Run or walk 5 miles per week x approx 165 calories per mile = 825 calories
- 825 calories divided by 3,500 = 0.25 lbs.
Scenario #2 – The tabloid Miracle 7 Day Weight loss Doctor approved lose 10 lbs in a week DIET.
- Food intake change. (5 lb per week)
- If he reduces his calorie intake each day by 2,500 x 7 days that would be 17,500 calories.
- NOTE: This would mean no food at ALL!
- 17,500 calories divided by 3,500 = 5 lb. So he would have lost 5 lbs that week.
- If he reduces his calorie intake each day by 2,500 x 7 days that would be 17,500 calories.
- With the addition of exercise
- Run or walk 105 miles per week x approx 165 calories per mile = 17,325 calories (15 miles EACH DAY)
- 17,325 calories divided by 3,500 = 4.95 lbs. Ok I will round it to 5 lbs.
With the above you can see that a DIET plan that claims you can lose 10 lbs in a week is deceptive. You would have to starve yourself for 7 days and running 105 miles in one week. This is the only way you could actually lose 10 lbs in a week if you weighed 220 lbs.
So all of us know someone or maybe even ourselves that has experienced losing 10 lbs in a week. So are we lying? No we were just deceived.
DIETS that claim extreme weight loss in a week do a few things that allow the scale to show a 10 lb weight lose. In reality, it is not true. When we go on these DIETS we lose water weight, food inventory, and some weight that week. But the majority of the weight loss shown on the scale is water weight and food inventory. When you return to eating normal, your water and food inventory come back up to normal and then that is when the true weight lose is recognized.
So have your expectations on how much weight you can lose per week changed? Do you feel better about those past efforts when you lost around a pound per week? Are you now ready to change your expectations?
It’s the big claims like these that discourage people. It is these big claims that breed the lies we tell ourselves like:
- I can’t lose weight
- My metabolism is just too slow
- I’m big boned
- Etc…..
The truth is you can lose weight. Everyone can. Don’t believe the lies.
Don’t go it alone. Find someone who can support you with your health goals. With good community, a support group, or a life coach losing weight is much easier. With all the temptation we are faced with each day, it’s hard to resit. Support and accountability are the key to real realizing your weight loss goal.
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