Hawaii Don’s BodyBlog

What are the things that those who are successful at weight loss do? What are the "Secrets" of weight loss and maintenance? As one who has successfully lost 50 lbs and maintained that loss for nearly 2 years now I can tell you what my secrets are! But more importantly, a recent analyzation of the Styles 2004 study published in the International Journal of Behaviorial Nutrition and Physical Activity uncovered 4 traits of successful losers.

To those here on Bodybuilding.com this will seem like old hat, but to those that are trying to shed their winter coat or many winter coats, this may provide some insight to where they need to go. I teach weightloss for a national program and I teach these four traits. I will give my secrets following this discussion.

1. Increase activity, including exercise and participation in sports, physical work and recreational related activities
2. Include weight training as part of your formal exercise program
3. Track and monitor everything - count and track calories and nutrients, measure your food portion sizes, plan your meals and menus in writing and monitor your body weight.
4. Avoid excuses and maintain positive beliefs and attitudes towards your  environment and what you perceive as “barriers” (for example, “I can always  make time for what is most important to me” versus, “I don’t have time to  exercise,” etc.)

These four principles are among the many that I teach to my students. Increasing activity has to be on the top of the chart for people that want to lose weight. Physical exercise carries with it many benefits. One of the benefits is in how many calories we can consume. Losing weight is a matter of calories in and out in its simplest form. There are two ways to reduce calories, eat less and or exercise more. Most people would not be able to make a reduced calorie diet a lifestyle so exercising allows us to consume more quality calories while losing weight.

Secondly, including weight training in your exercise regimin increases the amount of lean tissue in your body. Why does this matter? I thought we were trying to lose weight? Well, yes and no. It has been shown that muscle tissue burns calories 24/7/365. Fat just sits there. So it is much more advantageous for us to carry lean tissue on our frames than fat. The only way to get lean tissue is through resistance training, that is, the breakdown and rebuilding of muscle. By creating more muscle in the body, you will help to crank up your metabolism which in turn will burn more calories, even while you sleep!

Third, track what you eat. If you bite it, write it! Count calories, carbs, points or whatever your plan calls for. Get measuring cups and spoons and a good digital food scale. The biggest mistake most dieters make is underestimating calories consumed and over estimating exercise.

Fourth, is my favorite! No excuses, just do it! I can’t tell you how many times I come home from work and picking up the kids and helping with homework and getting dinner on the table, how tired I am. I always force myself to go to the gym and usually while I am driving there I start to feel better. Yes, even before I step one foot in the door my whole mental outlook is transformed. Another form of this is positive self talking. Think about how good you’ll feel after you work out! Nothing tastes as good as lean feels!

Those are the four traits that successful weightlosers posses. At my classes I teach that the members should track what they eat making sure to weigh out their portions, exercise including resistance and cardio and drink plenty of water.
My "Secrets" are made up of making sure I get a protein based diet with the carbs coming from natural sources. I steer clear of sugar and soft drinks and make sure I am getting in between 10-20% fats from fish, nuts, and healthy oils. I eat plenty of whole grains and I drink at least 128 oz. of water a day. Probably the biggest contributor to my success has been eating 5-6 small meals a day.

When you lift you must concentrate or focus on the task at hand and put 100% of your mind into completing your sets. Lift as heavy of a weight as you can while keeping good form. Lift using your head, not your ego to prevent injuries.

Aloha,
Don

I teach people how to lose weight on a popular, internationally known program. I preach making a lifestyle change in both activity and food choices. I practice what i preach and have successfully kept off the 50 lbs I lost 18 months ago. I recently had a member of my class, who blew off the activity part of the lifestyle change choosing instead to do yoga but no resistance exercise, complain of how she ended up with flabby, hanging skin. How could this be prevented? she asked.

I explained to her how the body works and how she could have avoided this problem by performing regular resistance exercise and cardio. She chose yoga because it was low impact. I am not sure of the style of yoga she chose to practice as I have been in some pretty intense yoga classes myself but most have been less than taxing on my muscular system. I believe that by performing resistance training we increase our lean mass while decreasing our fat mass. In combination with a healthy diet consisting of mostly unprocessed foods and eating 5-6 times a day we can increase the fat burning potential of the body. This is the basis of the information I relay to my students.

I usually finish off the classes with the statement that losing weight and maintaining weightloss takes three things:

1) Discipline

2) Hard Work

3) Dedication

Without those three things it is nearly impossible to be successful at losing and maintaining a weight loss. Let’s face it, if being thin were easy or if there was a magic pill to make people thin, everyone would be thin! Taking the easy way out is what got this nation in trouble in the first place.

Follow these steps for successful weightloss:

1. write down your goal weight
2. make a mini goal every week (with a time limit) and make a habit of reading it 3 times a day
3. figure out your Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) and Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) so you know how many calories a day you should intake
4. keep a diary of what you eat (If you bite it, write it!)
5. Drink at least 8 - 8oz glasses of water a day. This is a minimum requirement, you wouldn’t run Windows on your computer with the minimum memory requirement, would you?
6. exercise. Walk, run, lift weights, skip rope, do bodyweight exercises, use resistance bands or whatever. make sure you progress weekly.
7. make wise food choices.
8. eat 5-6 small meals a day
9. join a support group or get a partner

I hope this list helps you in your quest to lose weight and maintain your loss. Post your questions or comments please.

Aloha,
Don

Hey all,
What’s up? After years of debilitating back pain I finally opted to have surgery to fuse my lower 3 vertebra’s L-4 through S-1. I also had two disks removed. I had started on the path to gaining muscle and learning about proper nutrition. 18 months ago I lost 50 lbs. I am now in the process of keeping it off, forever!

So, that brings me here. Through this site and several others as well as books and magazines, I have learned about the proper amounts of carbs, proteins and fats to intake as well as the right kinds and at the right times. I have designed my own workout program which is yielding great results too.

I teach weight loss for a national program and have brought a whole new level of understanding to my students about the GI and how it affects their ability to lose weight. I have taught them about eating habits (especially 5-6 meals a day) and how that will help their metabolism. I have taught them the importance of goal setting, and how to read nutrition labels. I have taught them how food manufacturers hide the many forms of sugar in foods by calling it different names. I have taught them how to steer clear of trans fats and how low fat and fat free foods may only be that if they are left in the containers they come in.

I hope you all will join me on my journey back from surgery and to transforming myself into the the best shape of my life. Welcome to my blog. Check back often for pictures and recipes and updates from the Aloha state!
Don
Kailua, HI