By Aaron Boike, B.S. Kinesiology, ACE CPT and Certified Health Coach

Weight loss is a hard, complicated process that involves extensive pain and deprivation, right? No wonder 95 percent of weight loss efforts fail to stick!

I’m here to tell you that this common misconception about weight loss is really to blame! Weight loss is actually a simple formula that need not be complicated or painful. Here are three easy nutritional strategies that get at the root problems that prevent weight loss, and  work without the need for crazy diets, obsessive exercise, or dangerous weight loss drugs or supplements.  I’ll explain why each strategy helps to tip the scale in your favor.

Ditching Excessive Carbs and Sugar – I don’t preach a “low-carb” lifestyle, but I do advocate for a whole food plant based diet, which is inherently much lower in carbs than the standard American diet. Sugar and flour are by far biggest contributors to excess carbohydrates in the diet, and are found is nearly all processed foods. These fast-burning carbs keep blood sugar; and therefore, your insulin spiked all day long. This keeps the body from accessing fat stores for fuel, and encourages the body to store more consumed energy as bodyfat. If you’re looking to lose weight and keep it off, you need to help your body learn how to burn fat efficiently. A great first step to doing this is eliminating the intake of flour and sugar (yes, even whole wheat flour), and focusing on moderated quantities of highly nutritional carbs like fruit, legumes, and starchy tubers (sweet potatoes, squash, yams). Focus on meeting your body’s energy / calorie needs that are left due to the elimination of refined carbs, with healthy fats (like those found in quality meats, nuts, seeds, fish, avocados, and a select healthy oils like coconut, olive, and avocado oil) and protein. In addition, having a focus on including large quantities of vegetables with most meals will help you feel satisfied, due to the high nutritional content and fiber.

Adopting a “12-Hour” Eating/Fasting Window – The research is conclusive, fasting is healthy! Now I’m not advocating that everyone go out and attempt a multi-day water fast, but we can gain a lot of benefit from lengthening the duration of the fast we already have in our everyday lives – the one we have while we sleep. After dinner and before breakfast is typically the longest fast that most people experience on a regular basis. How long do you go between dinner and breakfast – 7, 8, 10 hours? In our busy hectic lives, it can take a little conscious effort to ensure that you’re going through a true fasting period of at least 12 hours every night, but recent research is showing us that the benefits can be tremendous (See Dr. Panda’s Study Here). This is typically one of the first interventions I make with my newest clients, whether or not they are looking to lose weight. Fasting for at least 12 hours each night makes the body more sensitive to insulin, improves fat burning ability, likely improves cellular regeneration and recovery, and helps us ditch many of those late night junk food calories we consume before bed. If you find that you are eating dinner a little later than ideal, you can still hit your 12-hour fasting interval by delaying your first meal of the day. Breakfast doesn’t have to occur first thing in the morning. In fact, I go most days on nothing more than black coffee until the later morning or early afternoon. Here is a good article that explains why an early breakfast might not be all it’s been cracked up to be.

Upping Your Fiber Intake – Fiber is a magical nutrient for both digestion and weight loss. The reason why fiber is helpful for weight loss in complex, but the most simple reason is likely it’s ability to slow the digestion of food; blunting the blood sugar spike, and in turn moderating the output of insulin into the bloodstream (remember insulin inhibits the bodies ability to burn fat). By keeping your blood sugar levels more even throughout the day, the body improves the hormonal environment needed for burning fat and losing weight. In addition, foods rich in fiber at typically rich in important nutrients that keep our body feeling satiated and vibrant, helping to eliminate food cravings.