New Year, New Jean Size: Lose Weight in 2017
Dieting is one of those words we’d rather not say aloud. First of all, no one really cares to admit they want to lose weight. After all, your desire to lose a few pounds isn’t really anyone else’s business. Second of all, everyone has an opinion on dieting; what worked for them, or what doesn’t work, and honestly, all you care about is what will work for you.
After reaching out to experts in the field of healthy weight loss, we found a pretty common theme. The secret to lose the weight you want isn’t always a diet. It’s an adjustment whole foods and a step away from processed ones.
Lose Weight With Advice from 9 Industry Experts:
1. Rebecca Lee from RemediesForMe.com
Registered Nurse and founder of RemediesForMe.com
Some of the healthiest foods may already be those you have in your pantry. “Coconut oil also curbs your appetite due to the way MCTs are metabolized in your body [as] “a major component in coconut oil is lauric acid. Lauric acid keeps you safe from harmful and powerful microorganisms that are in the body”.
“Apple cider vinegar is a multipurpose force but for your health it packs “essential vitamins and minerals. Some of the nutrients include potassium, magnesium, fiber, amino acids, and antioxidants (cancer fighting)”. In fact, “a study…showed that subjects who took apple cider vinegar every day for 12 weeks lost weight. After a daily intake of 1 tablespoon and 2 tablespoons, subjects lost 2.6 lbs and 3.7 lbs”.
2. Samantha Salmon of RawFoodMealPlanner.com
Owner of Earth’s Healing Café and health coach for Raw Food Meal Planner
“My favorite weight loss trend this year is the Pegan diet because it encourages the consumption of whole foods and omits harmful grains. Grains create tooth decay, mood imbalances, acid reflux and nutritional deficiencies. They are poisonous to the body after long term consumption…
I also love the new FitBit Charge 2 because of the guided breathing meditations…I wear mine all day every day. It auto tracks my sleep pattern and exercise. I use it to log my water and food intake. It’s like an accountability buddy that’s with you 24/7”.
3.Mike Kneuer of iPersonalTrainOnline.com
Certified Personal trainer, Retired Pro Physique Competitor
“The biggest thing I tell my clients looking to lose body fat is to stop drinking their calories. They are only allowed to drink water or black coffee. If they need some flavor they can add some lemons or other fruit into a diffuser, but they are not to drink fruit juice. I’ve had clients lose 10pounds in a month just by cutting out soda and sugary drinks. A 20oz Coke has 240 calories and a whooping 65g or sugar!”
4. Scott Deuty of Weight-Loss-Over-50.com
Author of Secrets of an Over 50 Former Fat Man
“The Paleo diet does work. Getting rid of preservatives and carbs causes your body to consume its own fat for energy…the trick to [avoiding] hunger is to steer clear of high carbs and sugar. They burn fast and bypass your body’s ability to burn what you consume. Instead, you store the added fat and protein you take in rather than only using that which your body needs.
Increasing muscle definition gives the additional protein “a place to go” and benefits aerobic exercise greatly. Finally, your sluggishness will be reduced, your sleep patterns will become regular as will your bowel movements”.
5. Scott Schmaren of UltimateVisionaryMind.com
NeuroPerformanceologist, author, public speaker
“All of the trends for weight loss are not effective for long term weight loss… Why? The focus is wrong. We focus on diet and exercise as the keys to weight loss; they are not…
The key is how we see ourselves at the core of our subconscious minds. If a person has struggled with their weight for a long time then the perception in their subconscious mind is that they are overweight and that is normal and good and any attempt to lose weight is bad…That is the reason almost everyone puts the weight they lose back on and usually more. If you change the picture and perception of yourself in your subconscious mind then eating correctly and getting good exercise will make sense…That changed my life”.
6. Katrina Love of KatrinaLoveSenn.com
Author of Losing Weight is Healing Journey: A Woman’s Guide to Losing Weight Naturally
“My #1 weight loss tip for 2017 is, ‘Start your Weight Loss Healing Journey.’
On your healing journey, make the decision to change and to do something different. Stop dieting and instead learn about the miraculous nature of your body. Know that your excess weight is there for a good reason, and if you lovingly address and heal it at the root cause, your body can heal naturally…
Your body has an amazing ability to self-heal when you focus on holistically addressing the following 3 areas: healing your body, healing your mind, and healing your emotions”.
7. Mary Caroline Craig of LiveAliveFit.com
Certified Integrative Nutrition Health and Fitness Coach
“[Eat] healthy Fat and Fiber with every meal! When you consume good fats (non-saturated) and fiber, along with protein, you stay full longer, your blood sugar remains balanced, and you don’t crave more carbs!
[Avoid] eating a ‘sugar free’, packaged food diet. These foods usually contain ‘fake’ sugars that negatively react in our brain, making us crave even more carbohydrates – and they generally aren’t vegetable carbs”.
8. Dan DeFigio of BeatingSugarAddiction.com
Fitness and Nutrition Expert and author of bestselling Beating Sugar Addiction for Dummies
“Habits and baby steps…Humans are creatures of habit. Whatever you do most of the time, that’s what you’re like. Your behavior is not designed for drastic, immediate changes. My entire approach to coaching is to gradually replace unhealthy habits with healthier habits…Successful change needs to happen gradually, so that each new habit and lesson becomes a natural part of what you normally do. You can’t change 15 things all at once and expect to be able to maintain all those changes….When your body oxidizes stored fat for fuel, it will take it from wherever it wants to. Specific [zone-targeted] exercises or diet plans cannot target fat loss from a specific area. You can get fatter or you can get leaner, but you cannot decide where”.
9. Jamie Logie of RegainedWellness.com
Personal trainer, nutritionist, author of Regained Wellness: Healthy Eating Starter Kit
“Many people are eating paleo “ish” as they are adding in some things like rice or oatmeal. This isn’t true paleo but still a good whole foods diet. The main benefit to me is not what these ways of eating contain, it’s what they DON’T contain. They avoid processed and refined garbage, sugars, trans fats etc. As long as your diet is whole foods based your body can do its thing and weight loss becomes more attainable.
I think the #1 [weight loss] dud are juice fasts… I think cleansing and detoxification are great but they should happen on a daily basis, not a short term period. This means more high nutrient green based foods such as kale, spinach, Swiss chard etc. Then making sure you’re getting enough water in each day but adding in things like fresh squeezed lemon to help in the cleansing process.”
10. Dorian Johnson of DorianJFitness.com
ACE Certified Personal Trainer
“Abandon the diet altogether! Diets are restrictive and people would much rather be granted the freedom to eat what they want and get results, given they know how to. People don’t like being told what to do but if you give them options, they’re more likely to comply and since your nutrition is 80% of your weight loss success, not only is it more effective at losing weight than exercise, everyone can learn how to eat healthy!”
11. Neil O’Nova of StrongerLeaner.com
Author of Seven Top- Secret Fat Burning Bio-Hacks
“My #1 pick for the top weight-loss trend of 2017 is habit hacking…Habit hacking for weight loss is all about making healthy choices easier and more automatic…
[It works because] most people rely on willpower to resist temptations and make healthy choices. Unfortunately, this strategy almost never works in the long run. Our willpower is a limited resource; just like a muscle, it gets tired the more we use it…This trend helps you focus on a few critical habits that can have a big impact on your weight…without requiring a lot of time or work on your part”.
12. Jessica Cifelli of JessInspireFit.com
“The past few years have seen a solid interest in fitness enthusiasts getting stronger, not just skinny… [we need to focus] our diets on macronutrient intake more than simply caloric intake is not only a great way to mindfully eat, but the ideal way to increase strength while losing fat concurrently…understanding the value that protein, fats and carbohydrates have in leaning out without compromising athletic performance is gaining serious ground in the industry”.
13. Chelsey Amer of CitNutritionally.com
Registered Dietician Nutritionist and blogger for CitNutrition.com
“My favorite weight loss trend for 2017 has got to be gut health! Gut health has become sexy, hot and important for health and weight loss. Studies show that if your gut microbiome (good bacteria you should have in your intestines) is out of whack that you are more likely to suffer from depressed energy levels, hold on to extra pounds, develop chronic diseases and even mental illnesses. The standard American diet is low in fiber and high in saturated fat and added sugar, which contributes not only to weight gain but also gut dysbiosis (or an abnormal population of bacteria in your gut). If you eat high fiber foods like fruits and vegetables and whole grains, as well as fermented foods like miso, tempeh and kombucha tea you can help re-populate your gut with beneficial bacteria and also lose weight!”
14. Gin Stephens of GinStephens.com
Author of Delay, Don’t Deny
“The best weight loss trend for 2017, bar none, is intermittent fasting. Not only is it fantastic for permanent weight loss, but it has health and longevity benefits beyond weight loss. The Nobel Prize in medicine for 2016 was related to a process called autophagy, and intermittent fasting stimulates this process…Intermittent fasting is changing lives.”
15. Rikke Norgaard of AthGene.com
“My number 1 pick for weight loss is based on my OWN body -my genetics -the one thing that will never change. We’re experiencing a trend in personalizing diets, exercise routines as well as lifestyle matters -such as sleep…Eating a higher fat diet is GOOD for me, though not necessarily so for everyone. My waistline in particular benefits from a diet high in monounsaturated fats as my body metabolize fat better vs carbohydrates that is more likely to be stored as fat.”
What’s interesting is that none of the experts really mentioned calories. However, it goes without saying that even when eating a wholesome food based diet, portion control is necessary to lose weight. For some, if calorie counting aids in your efforts to portion control, by all means, it is encouraged. The point is that eventually your “diet” will become a way of life instead of just a means to a weight loss end.
So what are you waiting for? 2017 is your time to get your food and mind right. 2017 is the year for a new you and a new jean size.
Which is scarier to you, a makeshift ghost with a Jack-o-Lantern head or candy corn? October has arrived and with it, one of the most sugary holidays there is; Halloween. October is a time for scary activity of all kind. Holiday eating habits can be one of the scariest. Don’t let your weight loss solution go astray because of binging on sweets. From work parties and goodie bags filled with sweet treats to the candy the kiddies bring home from trick or treating and leftover treats from the bowl by your front door; the sugar amounts can be downright terrifying. 
New Year, new resolutions. What does that mean for most people? Well, the first resolution for the New Year is always usually to lose the weight gained over the holidays. This can be difficult, but we don’t have to do it alone. As we know, the New Year is approaching and we are looking to wipe the slates clean, finally conquering those resolutions that we never got to see all the way through before. Losing weight can be the most elusive goal of them all. We tend to forget this resolution midway through January, creating reasons and excuses why we didn’t follow through. Most of those reasons being too much work to exercise, lack of time, or dieting and slow results causing discouragement, etc. but we can change that!
