Are you tired of trying to figure out how to lose weight with no success?

Have you been going up and down in weight for years? Have you been searching all over Google for “How to Lose Weight” and totally confused with all the contradictory advice?

Shouldn’t weight loss be so much easier and straight-forward?

I’m here to tell you it is. It’s actually quite simple. You just have to go back to the basics. And following the advice in this article should be a heck of a lot of fun. You will start to enjoy food the way it’s meant to be eaten.

Well, here it is:

The Definitive Guide on How To Lose Weight and Live Life to the Fullest

I’m tired of seeing a million articles and books on “How to Lose Weight”. Almost all of them require some crazy dieting formula or obsessive compulsive disorder to execute properly.

This article will give you all the basics you’ll need for the rest of your life.

Remember, this is a starting point.

You can always adapt and modify the diet as every body is different. Man, woman, age, gender, race, culture. All these things make a difference.

Give yourself 3 months with this diet/lifestyle and you’ll start to see a difference. Then you’re off to the races.

If you follow the rules prescribed in the article, you should never feel out of energy like you do with other so-called “diets”. In fact, you should feel pretty damn amazing.

This is not a guide for bodybuilders or pro athletes who have their own sport-specific needs. It’s a guide for normal everyday people who just want to maintain a healthy clean cut athletic look all year round for the rest of their life.

“How to Lose Weight”: My Personal Experience

This guide is my summary after five years of living this diet. I’ve also spoken with and watched dozens of others who have followed this diet/lifestyle for decades. So it’s based on a mix of personal and life experience.

In my case, I’ve had a very steady free fall in body fat percentage from over 40-50% to under 20% and going lower every day. I’m still in my transformation. That’s after 5 years.

This is not a quick fix. Instead, it’s a lifestyle. You can live this diet for the rest of your life. You can and should modify small things as you go, depending on your needs. In fact, I encourage that. You should be curious on how to improve and take what I learned to the next level.

Tons of people follow this diet and live this lifestyle. In fact, entire countries do. This diet is so chock full of common sense that you’ll wonder why you weren’t doing it before.

To me now, it’s second nature. I don’t even think about it when I go out to eat at a restaurant or shop at a grocery store. After 3 months, you should begin to feel the same way.

“How to Lose Weight”: Lets Get Started…

I learned about this diet by studying the countries and cultures where people had the highest appreciation for food as a culinary art form. Where people had deep respect for food and its preparation and enjoyment.

These countries all had an absolutely mouthwatering cuisine and yet I noticed their people were noticeably lower in obesity than the rest of the world. They also tended to have the longest living populations in the world.

How was it possible? How could they eat such good food everyday and still stay so thin and live so long?

YES — when it comes to food, it is possible to have it all!

I spent hundreds of hours reading and studying these different cultures trying find common themes that I could emulate in my own life. I have listed some of the most helpful resources below for your own reading.

Remember, I have followed these guidelines myself for over five years with great success. I also know many people who have followed these rules for their entire lives by virtue of being born in one of these countries.

Notice that in all the countries listed, the food is served in small portion sizes, usually in several courses. Take a look at the variety of food served. Lots of diversity in vitamins and minerals. Also, the freshness of the food is extremely important. The food is enjoyed in the company of others, often for several hours.

These are countries in totally different parts of the world, yet they have those fundamental themes in common. These themes form the basic aspects of this diet/lifestyle that you have to follow.

Again, you should do your own research on each of these countries and see it for yourself. Study how they eat and what they prepare. Study their portion sizes. Study the ingredients used in their cuisine. Study their lifestyle.

“How to Lose Weight”: The Countries…

1) Japan

2) Italy

3) France

4) Scandinavian countries — Iceland and Sweden

5) Switzerland

6) Singapore

7) Spain

You can see that the countries are mostly located in Europe and Asia. They are in totally different climates with totally different cuisines. Yet their populations tend to live very long and maintain healthy body fat levels.

Here is what people from each of the countries eat for breakfast. Here is another article.

“How to Lose Weight”: Blue Zones

Several years ago, a researcher by the name of Dan Buettner set off on a trip around the world to study why certain groups of people lived way longer than others. He noticed that they had certain things in common. Here is an article that goes into that.

You can see that much of what Dan Buettner found complements the lifestyle of the countries in the previous list. The vast majority of these people in the Blue Zones are not obsessed with how to lose weight.

They know how to enjoy life. They spend lots of time socializing, even until old age. They go out to dances. They have plenty of sex. All of which is good for the mind and body.

It’s a lifestyle, not just a diet.

Here is another great article from NPR about the Blue Zone communities.

“How to Lose Weight”: What I Learned…

So here is what I learned after doing my research.

There are six main rules that must always be followed:

1) Always eat in proportion to what you work out every day.

That means smaller portions for sedentary modern lifestyles and larger portions for those of you spending hours in the gym. Your body will tell you when to stop eating. As you begin to feel satisfied, stop eating. That’s around 8/10 full. In Japan they call that “Hara Hachi Bu”. You should be able to go for a stroll after the meal without any problem.

Never eat until you are so stuffed that you can’t get up and your stomach is hurting!

2) Always eat fresh, top quality products.

No artificial crap. No sweeteners. No frozen food. No fast food. No soda. No candy. No junk food. No processed food.

Only fresh food is allowed.

You should have to empty and restock your entire fridge every few days. You are only allowed to eat freshly prepared food that is in season. Pay extra for the organic food, if you can. Only grass fed meats and wild fish, otherwise don’t eat it at all. Always buy the best quality you can find.

DO NOT COMPROMISE ON THIS.

3) Diversity is your friend.

Eat from as many different food groups every day. That means salads of all types. Grains of all types. Protein sources of all types. Fat sources of all types. You should be rotating between sources all the time.

Fruits and vegetables are the base of your diet. This is what you should eat in the largest portions. You should consume smaller portions of high quality seafood and grains, and the smallest portions are reserved for top notch red meat.

You should switch off between fat sources like extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil and top quality butter like Echiré (which is what I have at home). Extra virgin olive oil is considerably healthier for you than butter, but every so often it’s okay to partake in butter. Olive oil should be your main fat source, along with fats found in seafood. Stay away from artificially manufactured products like margarine!

Rotate between meals of vegetable protein and animal protein. Top quality vegetable protein sources include legumes, nuts, quinoa, etc. For animal protein sources you might rotate between wild salmon, chicken, eggs, cheese, and top notch red meat like Jamon Iberico puro de bellota or Steak Tartare.

You get the idea.

4) Sleep as Much as You Need

You must sleep enough hours every day to wake up fully refreshed. If you don’t sleep enough, everything changes including your metabolism and all your other body processes. Sleep needs depend on each person’s individual lifestyle. For some people that’s six hours. For others that’s 10 hours.

The only rule here is, like with eating, you must sleep enough to compensate for the work you do during the day. You should not be feeling sleepy throughout the day. If you do, then take a short nap for 30-60 minutes to refresh yourself.

5) Three Meals a Day

No more “one meal a day”. No more “eight meals a day”. No “six meals a day”.

Instead, you’re going to eat three square meals a day, like everyone in those countries listed. That’s breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The size of those meals depends on how hungry you are and the quantity of work you did that day. There is no snacking allowed.

The first three months are crucial to get your body used to the new diet. Only after the first three months of living this lifestyle can you add a snack if you have worked extremely hard that day.

By snacks I mean things like a yogurt, piece of fresh organic fruit, or nuts. No chips and no processed food. Use common sense when picking the snack. It should round out your diet for the day. That means pick a protein snack if you’ve been lacking in protein that day, a fruit or vegetable for vitamins, or a small energy bar if you did a lot of heavy cardio and you’re looking for some quick energy. The snack has to add value and round out your diet for that day.

The time for snacking is around tea time, whenever that is in your country. It varies by country to country. Here in Spain that’s around 6pm. But I’ll say that in the last five years its been only a handful of times that I’ve been so hungry to eat a snack. Breakfast, lunch and dinner is almost always plenty enough. If you’re not hungry for a meal, then just eat a snack instead.

I always do a few hours of exercise every day so I have more liberty in what I eat. I don’t have to worry if my portion size is a little too big. Remember, xxercise increases your margin for error.

If you haven’t done any physical activity that day, you had better be eating small portions!

6) Alcohol

When it comes to alcohol, less is more. Stick to things like red wine or a shot of digestif after dinner. Here is a list of some common Italian aperitif and digistif. The last time I was at a French restaurant I had a shot of armagnac.

I usually have one or two glasses per day of a robust Rioja or a smooth Ribera del Duero to complement dinner. Most times, I never drink during lunch because I work out later in the afternoon.

Water should comprise the vast majority of your fluid intake during the day. You should aim for a few liters a day, especially if you exercise regularly. The only other things you should be drinking are coffee and herbal teas. Remember, coffee and alcohol are dehydrating. So when you do take them, remember to drink an extra glass or two of water.

Remember, the purpose of drinking alcohol is not to get piss drunk. It’s to slightly accentuate the senses and to enjoy the company of others. Drink responsibly and use your judgement at all times.

Tricks on How to Lose Weight

I have a couple tip/tricks that I think will work for you. At least it did for me.

First, slowly adapt to the diet. Don’t try to do the whole diet at once. Add or subtract only one thing at a time from your diet. Your body cannot handle sudden extreme changes well. If you are eating natural whole foods, your body will intrinsically tell you when to stop.

As you begin to lose fat, your body will crave less and less food. Five years ago, I was eating way more food than I really needed. Nowadays, I eat much more moderately. That’s because I weigh less and need less calories to maintain my body. All I did to lose that weight is slowly cut one thing at a time and continued that over the years. I’m still modifying my diet to this day.

Don’t try to lose too many calories at once. Or force diet. Your body can only safely lose 1 pound of fat per week. Any more and it tends to drain your muscle at the same time, which is the exact opposite of what you want. And you will hit a plateau. In order to avoid a plateau, you need to lose weight slowly but steadily. Check yourself in the mirror maybe once every few weeks but don’t obsess over it.

You should maintain a solid exercise regimen at the same time to boost your metabolism and maintain your muscle mass. This will speed up the process and promote an active healthy lifestyle.

I know, it’s a slow process, but be patient. This is a lifestyle choice. Getting to your desired body takes years when done properly. Remember, you have to maintain this for the rest of your life. That’s why you should only take up a diet/lifestyle you can maintain in the long run.

Be careful when trying to follow other diets that you read online or in a book. Really figure out where the author is coming from. One of the questions you have to ask is: “Is this diet for an average person or a professional athlete?”

Professional athletes have a very sport specific diet. It might be as crazy as Michael Phelps eating 10,000 calories a day. Or a pro bodybuilder eating 30 eggs in a day. None of these are guaranteed or proven to lead to a long and healthy life. Remember, these people were already in peak physical condition. Diets that work for them at this stage are specially customized for their activity levels. In the case of pro bodybuilders, they may go on an extreme low carb diet for a brief number of weeks pre-competition to reduce body fat levels. But they’re trying to go from 12% body fat to maybe 5-6%. This is most likely not your case. On top of that, some of the athletes may be on performance enhancing drugs to stimulate their muscle growth and recovery. Which is also most likely not your case.

In other words, what I’m trying to present here is a healthy lifestyle that you can follow for the rest of your life.

The diet listed here is nothing more than studying the communities that actually live the longest and are the healthiest in the world. Then just following their example. We aren’t trying to reinvent the wheel here.

“How to Lose Weight”: My recommendation

Try this lifestyle for at least 3 months and let me know your results in the comments below. It takes a few months for your body to adapt and learn on its own how to lose weight. You should continue modifying the diet to fit your individual needs. You may need to eat more or less of certain things depending on your lifestyle. That includes portion sizes, types of nutrients, diversity of food products, etc.

Also, take time to enjoy your meal. Spend as much time at the table as is reasonably possible. You shouldn’t feel rushed to eat. Relax and use the time to chat with friends. Especially dinner. I almost always eat dinner with friends. Great food is best enjoyed with company.

To get you started, here are two different examples of a Japanese dinner: Example 1 & Example 2.

That’s all. Pretty simple, huh?

Remember to use common sense and do your research.

Live the diet. Live the lifestyle.

Until next time,

-HF