2745: [Part 2] Zen To Slim - A Simple 5 Step Weight Loss Plan by Leo Babauta of Zen Habits on Lifestyle Changes

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[00:01:05] This is Optimal Health Daily, Zen to Slim, a simple 5-step weight loss plan, part 2, by Leo Babauta of zenhabits.net. And I'm Dr. Neil, your very own personal narrator.

[00:01:17] Hey there, happy Tuesday and welcome back to Optimal Health Daily, where I simply read to you from the best health and fitness blogs for free.

[00:01:26] I cover fitness, nutrition, stress management, weight management, and lots more. Just like an audiobook, but from a bunch of different authors.

[00:01:34] Now, today's post is part 2 from yesterday. So, if you're new here or skipping around, I'd recommend listening to yesterday's episode first. That's episode 1501.

[00:01:44] But if you're all caught up, then you know what? Let's just jump right in and hear part 2 and continue optimizing your life.

[00:01:55] Zen to Slim, a simple 5-step weight loss plan, part 2, by Leo Babauta of zenhabits.net.

[00:02:04] Step 2. Replace fatty and greasy foods with healthier foods.

[00:02:09] Some key points for this step.

[00:02:12] 1. Examples.

[00:02:14] If you cook fried chicken, try baked instead.

[00:02:17] If you eat burgers, try a veggie burger or a low-fat turkey burger.

[00:02:22] If you eat pizza, try making your own pizza with a store-bought crust, pizza sauce, veggies, and olive oil, and no cheese. You get the idea.

[00:02:31] 2. Gradual change.

[00:02:35] Now, you don't need to change all of this overnight.

[00:02:38] But after you do the 30-day exercise challenge we talked about in step 1,

[00:02:43] do a second 30-day challenge where you replace one fatty food a day with a healthier alternative.

[00:02:50] Slowly, replace more and more high-fat foods with healthier ones.

[00:02:55] You'll get used to it over the course of a month.

[00:02:58] 3. Exercise.

[00:03:00] Also, continue the daily exercise in the second month, increasing the duration of your workouts a little at a time if you can.

[00:03:08] Step 3. Eat smaller meals more frequently.

[00:03:12] Once you start getting used to eating less high-fat foods, try eating smaller portions and eating 5-6 times per day instead of just 3 big meals a day.

[00:03:22] Some key points.

[00:03:24] 1. The 5-6 meals.

[00:03:27] A good schedule is to eat breakfast, then a mid-morning snack, then a small early lunch, then a second small lunch a couple of hours later,

[00:03:37] then a small late afternoon snack, then a small light dinner.

[00:03:42] If that's too much, just try adding a mid-morning and mid-afternoon snack and make the main 3 meals smaller.

[00:03:48] 2. Snacks.

[00:03:51] Make sure that your snacks are healthy ones.

[00:03:54] Good ones include fruits, nuts, low-fat pretzels, low-fat cheese, low-fat yogurt, and cut-up veggies.

[00:04:02] And 3. Wait.

[00:04:04] For your meals, try eating just one moderate-sized serving.

[00:04:08] If you feel like a second serving, wait 20 minutes, then see if you're still hungry.

[00:04:13] It's important that you gradually reduce your portions and learn to eat only until you're satisfied, not until you're bursting.

[00:04:23] Step 4. Intensify exercise slowly.

[00:04:26] Once you've gone a month or so doing very short and easy workouts each day and your body is used to daily exercise,

[00:04:33] you can gradually intensify the exercise.

[00:04:36] Some points.

[00:04:38] 1. Duration.

[00:04:40] The first thing you should increase is the duration of your workouts.

[00:04:44] Without working out any harder and keeping the low intensity from your previous workouts,

[00:04:50] just add 5 minutes to your workout.

[00:04:52] Stick to this new duration for 2-3 workouts, then add another 5 minutes.

[00:04:58] Your goal is to get to about 40-45 minutes per session,

[00:05:02] although eventually doing an hour once a week is great too.

[00:05:07] 2. Intensity.

[00:05:09] After your body gets used to going for longer, once a week or so,

[00:05:13] try a slightly more intense workout.

[00:05:16] First, make the duration of the workout much shorter for this intense workout.

[00:05:21] For example, instead of running or walking for 40 minutes, do 20 minutes.

[00:05:26] Second, go harder in intervals.

[00:05:29] For example, do 3-4 minutes at a faster pace,

[00:05:33] then go at an easy pace, then a faster pace, and so on.

[00:05:38] First, be sure to warm up first and include a cool down at the end.

[00:05:42] When you first start doing the intervals, do them only at a slightly higher intensity,

[00:05:48] gradually increasing that intensity as the weeks go by.

[00:05:52] 3. Hard. Easy.

[00:05:54] If you do longer or more intense workouts, be sure to follow them with an easy workout.

[00:06:00] For example, if you do a longer workout of 45 minutes, just do 20-25 minutes the next day.

[00:06:07] Or, if you do interval workouts one day, do a short easy one the next day.

[00:06:12] Consider the longer or more intense workouts your hard days,

[00:06:16] and never have two difficult days in a row.

[00:06:19] Otherwise, you may get injured or burn out.

[00:06:22] Step 5. Replace sugary foods with healthier treats.

[00:06:27] The next target food area is sugary foods.

[00:06:30] Just as you did with high-fat foods,

[00:06:32] try to replace them with healthier alternatives one at a time.

[00:06:36] With the combination of lower fat, less sugar, and your exercise,

[00:06:41] you should start losing weight much faster by this step.

[00:06:45] Some points.

[00:06:46] 1. Challenge.

[00:06:48] Just like with the high-fat foods, try another 30-day challenge with the sweets.

[00:06:54] See if you can go the whole month without high-sugar foods.

[00:06:58] Or, try a more gradual approach and have less each day.

[00:07:02] 2. Cheat day.

[00:07:04] If you try a month without sweets, I suggest a cheat day.

[00:07:08] For me, it's Saturday, when I can eat whatever desserts I want.

[00:07:11] Interestingly, I don't eat as many desserts on my cheat days as I used to.

[00:07:15] It's not like I completely go crazy, although I don't restrict myself either.

[00:07:21] 3. Alternatives.

[00:07:23] If sugary foods are really problematic for you,

[00:07:26] meaning they may cause a relapse to old behaviors,

[00:07:29] come up with a list of alternatives to those foods.

[00:07:33] Stock up on them, and then get rid of those problematic foods from your house.

[00:07:38] 4. Drinks.

[00:07:40] If you drink sodas or juices,

[00:07:42] cut out those calories by drinking water as often as possible.

[00:07:47] 5. Whole grains.

[00:07:49] If you haven't yet,

[00:07:51] look for whole grain alternatives to things you might be eating,

[00:07:54] like cereal, breads, brown rice, and so on.

[00:08:02] You just listened to part 2 of the post titled,

[00:08:04] Zen to Slim,

[00:08:06] A Simple 5-Step Weight Loss Plan,

[00:08:08] by Leo Babauta of zenhabits.net.

[00:08:11] And I'll be right back with my commentary.

[00:08:14] Dr. Neil here for my commentary.

[00:08:16] When we think about these types of lifestyle changes,

[00:08:19] it always feels like we're going to have to miss out on the things we love.

[00:08:22] I mean, think about the word diet.

[00:08:24] It has the word die in it.

[00:08:26] It's as if the word itself is preparing us for the loss of something,

[00:08:30] like the foods we love.

[00:08:32] But if we really listen to Leo's advice from these last two days,

[00:08:36] you'll notice that really no food is actually off limits.

[00:08:40] Now the exception to this would be a food that's particularly problematic,

[00:08:45] and may lead to a relapse of old behaviors.

[00:08:48] But other than that,

[00:08:49] you can have a cheat day if you want.

[00:08:51] But just so long as you're staying consistent

[00:08:53] and choosing the healthier choice more often,

[00:08:57] you're going to be fine.

[00:08:59] All right.

[00:08:59] Thank you so much for being here.

[00:09:01] Thank you for listening every day.

[00:09:02] I hope you have a wonderful rest of your Tuesday,

[00:09:04] and I'll see you back here tomorrow

[00:09:06] where optimal life awaits.