The 3 Keys for Effortless (and Permanent) Weight Loss
This site contains affiliate links to products. I may receive a commission for purchases made through these links. However, this does not impact my reviews and comparisons. I highlight products I use and recommend to friends.
Losing weight and getting healthy has become so overcomplicated today.
Count this, measure that, learn formulas that would confuse Einstein. To make this worse, all this rigor and rule-following makes following a healthy diet plan feel like a restriction. How about we flip that and instead focus on what you should eat to nourish your body? Focusing on the good rather than the “can’t haves” makes it feel much less like a chore than a reward.
I’ve been there. I gained 30 pounds and ended up in the hospital over Christmas in 2020. At this point, my goal was just to survive (it was a grim diagnosis from a really unpleasant doctor), so I had no choice but to focus on what my body needed rather than what I shouldn’t have. This shift in mindset completely changed things for me, and I hope to share what I learned with you here!
In this post, I will discuss the three keys I learned that allowed me to get really healthy, which meant the weight pretty much fell off. I will cover:
The importance of your mindset in terms of thinking about food
How your liver is the unsung hero in weight management
How gut health can be your best friend or worst enemy
These three things allowed me to lose 30 pounds and keep it off effortlessly. This includes eating out with friends, working in an office 40+ hours per week, and never feeling deprived.
Let me repeat that: you can work a desk job, enjoy your favorite Mexican restaurant, and not feel hungry, both while losing weight and while maintaining it.
So if you are fighting your own body, getting frustrated with the numbers on the scale, or getting crap from your doctor about bloodwork results, then you have come to the right place! These three keys worked for me, and they will work for you too.
How I Lost 30 Pounds and Easily Kept It Off…After Turning 40
I have been an athlete for most of my life. I began teaching Spin classes at 24 after I got into triathlons, and that led me to get my personal trainer certification. However, after leaving a toxic job and the death of my father, covid hit. I was miserable, gyms were closed, and I was eating horribly. I fell out of the habit of taking care of myself, both physically and emotionally, and let’s just say it showed. But this was a lot to deal with, so I didn’t blame myself.
My saving grace, strangely enough, was when I was admitted to the hospital for a virus that was attacking my liver which also uncovered an autoimmune disorder. It was the most terrifying thing that has ever happened to me because I was told I would not leave the ER alive. At that moment I knew I had to do whatever it took to rebuild my body and health, regardless of what the doctor told me about my chances of survival.
After 4 days I was released with minimal guidance as to what I should eat and what I should avoid as I healed. That meant I had to lean on the experience I’d (fortunately!) had in fitness and nutrition to create a strategy to live a normal life again (the chances were still not looking good). For a month, I was barely able to get out of bed, not even to walk my dog. During that time, I ate low-sodium meals loaded with fruits and vegetables (and remember that this was January, in Chicago, so it wasn’t peak farmers’ market season). In early February, I had my second round of bloodwork after being released from the hospital. My numbers were almost totally back to normal.
Again, roughly 5 weeks after being told I wouldn’t survive, my bloodwork was almost back to normal after eating a liver-friendly diet I put together for myself.
I cried on the phone with the doctor. It was so good to be in the clear physically, released from the constant fear that living in bed would be the rest of my life.
How did this happen, and so quickly??? It was truly a sheer miracle that my body was healthy again, , entirely through the power of food. Even better, I was slowly getting stronger and able to take longer walks (when we didn’t have full blizzard conditions, of course) while continuing to eat liver-friendly foods.
Then one day, without all the anticipation of the worst, I noticed that my clothes were too big. Wow, here I was so focused on what my body needed that I didn’t even notice I was losing weight. Talk about an added bonus! This brings me to my first bullet point:
Key #1: Shift your mindset from what you can’t have to what your body needs.
I was trying so hard to consume everything I could with vitamins and minerals to replenish my system, that I didn’t even stop to think about what I “couldn’t” have. It’s funny how when you shift your focus, you don’t feel deprived. I was eating a lot (I never counted calories, but the sheer volume was ridiculous. My brother, who is an elite runner thus eats a metric crap-ton was amazed by the quantity of food I ate). Whole food put together the right way (to complement rather than detract from each other) is delicious and satisfying. This means I was never hungry or restricted.
This can work for you too. If you are struggling to meet your daily fruit and vegetable goals, a shift in mindset is a huge first step to getting there! Start by setting a goal to eat the rainbow – one serving from each color group ever day (read more about the benefits of eating the rainbow here).
Key #2: How your liver is the unsung hero in weight loss/weight management.
I go more in depth on how your liver is your best friend in Supercharge Your Weight Loss with This Organ. Essentially though, while most of us only think of it while hungover, the liver is one of the hardest working organs in your body. It filters junk out of your blood, stores the nutrients in it, and produces enzymes to set fat burning into motion.
This means when your liver is overloaded with junk like excess salt, added sugar, or saturated fat, or poison like alcohol, it is too busy removing the toxins in your body to be able to burn fat.
Key #3: What is gut health, and why it is important.
“Gut health” is as simple as you wanting to have lots of the healthy good bacteria and little of the unhealthy bad bacteria. The more bad bacteria you have, the less out of whack your system will be, and the more cravings you will have. That’s correct, just by changing the bacteria in your tummy you can effortlessly reduce cravings. Crazy, huh? Here is where prebiotics and probiotics emerge as heroes – they help the good stuff thrive and starve the bad stuff.
If you are one board with shifting your mindset and want to try a nutritional booster that supports both liver and gut health, check out my favorite helper, Daily Greens. This is a superstar that is filled with the nutrient-dense foods that detox your liver and prebiotics and probiotics to strengthen the bacteria in your digestive tract. That makes it a one-two punch for boosting your health and losing weight…effortlessly I might add!
What is Daily Greens exactly though? It is a powder filled with 34 superfoods and 11 herbs and extracts that deliver tons of vitamins, minerals, prebiotics, and probiotics. You can add it to smoothies, protein shakes, even just plain old water. [Side note, my personal favorite is mixed with frozen blueberries and bananas.] I like to consider it an insurance policy for being sure I’m getting all the nutrients I need (especially if I am having one of those days where I want all the sugar ever…because we all have those days.]
This formula includes alfalfa, wheat grass, spinach, spirulina, broccoli, beets, cucumbers, Brussels sprouts, celery, kale, asparagus, green peppers, carrots, mushrooms, tomatoes, cauliflower, bananas, pomegranates, blueberries, and blackberries. Now that is what I would call a wide variety of produce to provide a wide variety of nutrients in one simple package (without even the hassle of a blender if you just want to put it into juice or water)!
You will notice that these fruits and vegetables are all powerhouses for nourishing your liver and boosting its ability to filter the toxins from your blood, store important nutrients, and burn fat.
And this week, you can try one month of Daily Greens for $39.95 - click here! Remember that if you don’t love the product as much as I do, they offer a 60 day money back guarantee!
Once I shifted my thinking about food from what I “couldn’t” have to what I needed, I began eating to boost my liver and gut health with tons of superfoods. As a result I easily lost 30 pounds and have kept it off ever since.
I am not hungry, I do not feel deprived, and my bloodwork continues to amaze my doctor. I still eat what I want and do not count calories or points or restrict carbs, and the number on the scale never creeps up. The more nutrients you flood your body with, the less junk you will crave as well. A daily dose of Daily Greens helps you wipe out those cravings! Now I have more energy, more focus, and I sleep better.
Do you want a healthier body and looser pants without feeling deprived? Eliminate your tossing and turning at night and that urge to rush the vending machine at 3PM? I want this for you too!
If you are ready to commit one small step to nourishing your body with what it needs, improving your liver function and strengthening your good gut bacteria, and finally drop those pesky pounds, I encourage you to sign up for a month of Daily Greens! Click here to see the plans available and read more about the ingredients, science underlying it, and success stories! It is easy to get started!
As I learned, one of your biggest supporters in your weight loss journey is your liver. Even if you are not ready to go all in on your goals, I have something that will change the way you look at food and give you a jump start to detoxing your liver and losing weight. (And remember, once you get that momentum moving in your favor, it will likely continue!)
Get my FREE 3-day Liver Detox! Use the form below to get INSTANT access to this delicious and easy food plan, complete with recipes for real, whole food. You will be surprised by how much you will be eating (in fact, I have had women tell me they couldn’t finish all the food). These meals are the actual ones I ate to help repair my liver and overall health on my way to being my healthiest self, all at 40 years old!
I also have a fabulous resource library containing tons of other tips, tricks, and lessons I learned that I used to lose 30 pounds and shape my healthiest body yet. Click below for my favorite ones!
RELATED POSTS:
Why We Need to Eat the Rainbow
Build the Body You Want with Barre
Best Cookbooks to Get You into the Kitchen
A Healthy Liver Provides These Surprising Benefits
