Introduction – Let’s get Started
This book is all about one simple philosophy: Weight Management (while incorporating as much Health as someone will allow you to…) What follows is a list of Frequently Asked Questions and Long Term keys to success. We have had the honor of working with thousands of people in the arena of weight loss and have accumulated all the questions we hear repeatedly. We hope that this helps to dispel many of the myths and much of the confusion that surrounds Weight Management. There are consistencies to what it takes to be successful and unfortunately we have found consistencies in failure too. IFS WMS has tried to provide you with an efficient means to choose a realistic goal and stay on course.
Weight management is a simple five word strategy: Eat Less and Move More. The key to long term fat loss is to create an energy deficit while giving yourself as much health as you can stand. The IFS WMS philosophy for weight management is R.P.M. A à B (Realistic, Palatable and Maintainable) and incorporates three easy to remember bullets:
1. Make “Better Bad Food Choices”
2. Surprise Exercise
3. Minimize Damage
Properly managing your expectations with realistic short and long term goal setting is one of the important keys to your success. Many times we set goals for ourselves that are too aggressive taking an “All or None” approach. Although we are very aggressive from the start the road we choose is usually too difficult to maintain. This generally leads to the viscous cycle of start and stops dieting and exercise fads. Setting short term goals is especially important because long terms goals do not allow us to celebrate achievement along the way, thus leaving us feeling discouraged. This book is based on the long term principle “because you can do it and keep doing it, makes it the right plan for you”.
Through our IFS WMS you will come to realize that getting to your goals is not as difficult as popular marketing tells you but it also does not happen as quickly. It is not necessary to be so restrictive and hard on your self both physically and mentally. The reality is that life gets in the way sometimes. A plan that incorporates “life’s little pleasures” and does not punish you for eating a ‘banished’ food or missing a workout will ultimately be more successful than one that focuses on “good” and “bad” or “right” or “wrong”. There is no magic and there is no one thing that you can do or not do that will bring the success that you crave.
In order for us to get to the bottom of what works, we must realize that everything works! But what is optimal for one person is different for everyone else. Just as we all have different careers, values and preferences, etc… we all will have different eating and exercise plans.
EVERYTHING works and then it stops working. The workout that allowed us to lose 10 Lbs., the bottle of pills that temporarily shed a few more, the restrictive diet that ended up being way too hard to follow; all of these methods are a short-term fix to a long-term goal.
The first lesson is: CONSITENCY. Consistency can be achieved by following Realistic, Palatable and Maintainablestrategies for long-term results. This is the cornerstone of the IFS WMS weight loss philosophy.
In the long run you are free to choose what you do or do not do. The decisions you make and the habits that you form determine your outcome. That means that you are in control, you are responsible for your actions. This is both a powerful and an empowering statement. The lesson is: You CONTROL of your environment; your environment does not have control over you.
Finally, the third lesson is: PLAN. You have to be aware of your surroundings and make a plan that is realistic for you. Any good plan has a direct route and an infinite number of alternate routes. We all know that perfection does not exist, so stop trying to hold yourself to the perfect plan. You ultimately will fail. For long term success, I recommend that you think in terms of “better bad” not perfect. Look for ways to enjoy life's little pleasures but be accountable for your actions. Look for ways to move more during the day, not only in the gym but at the office and at home as well. Most importantly, stay positive. Remember that one meal does not “blow it” and missing one workout does not destroy your week or make it impossible to achieve the goal that you chose.
Let’s get started.
Robert Devito
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