And why is that so? I have asked this question to many people, and the majority of them answer that they are not happy because they want to lose some weight. They know that weight loss is awesome, there are so many benefits of losing weight: increased confidence, reduced risks of heart attack (and other diseases), increase of life span, and many more. But why is it so hard for them to lose weight? I mean, take a look at your friends or family. You will notice that there will be a friend or relative of yours who did a lot of exercises, but is still not losing any weight: you saw them running in the park often, or maybe when you try to reach them, they are unavailable because they are attending yoga class? So why are they still fat? Well, it might surprise you, but the reality is, lots of people just focus on the wrong stuff. They focus on stuff that doesn’t really matter, the one that requires lots of effort but yields only small results. If you ask your friends (or anyone) on how to lose weight, majority of them will answer naturally: exercise more. “Start running three times a week, sign up for gym membership, do push ups every night before you sleep.” But what if that’s just a false belief that contradict the science of weight loss? A study published by International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity to compare three groups of post-menopause women: first group focus on eating better food, second group focus on exercise, and the third group focus on both food and exercise. The study founds that after 12 months, the group who eats better actually lost around 7.2 kilograms (8.5% thinner), while the group who focus on exercise but eat normally, only lost two kilograms (2.5% thinner). The third group who focus on both food and exercise lost the most, which is 8.9 kilograms (10.8% thinner). (http://www.ijbnpa.org/content/8/1/118) PARETO PRINCIPLE: THE 80/20 RULE
You might have heard of the Pareto principle. Also called the 80/20 Rule, it was named after Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, who, in 1906 observed that 80% of the land in Italy was owned by 20% of the population. Basically, the principle states that, for many events, roughly 80 percent of the effects come from 20 percent of the causes. The Pareto Principle also applies to your weight loss. Based on the earlier study, we can conclude that: Food is the 20-percent cause on which you should focus because it will affect 80 percent of your weight loss outcome. So, what action can I do TODAY to improve my food to be healthier? Here’s some examples on what you can do TODAY: – Do a Food Journal to understand what do you eat – Try to reduce the consumption of caloric beverages (Coke, Lemon Tea, etc). You will be surprised by how much calories you consume from your drinks. – Try to eat more real food, for example: rather than eating processed food (like Oreos / M&Ms), change your snacks to real food, such as: Nuts / Fruits. Now, my challenge for you is to cut your caloric drink this week into half. Let’s say on average you drink 8 servings of caloric drinks (it can be soda, coke, etc) every week. This week, try to just drink 4 servings instead of 8. I suggest that you start small and focus on building one healthier habit each day / each week (depending on your speed). Click here and learn the science of how a habit is formed. Also, i’m giving away free awesome spreadsheet for you to keep track of your weight loss. Be sure to check it out HERE.
