Losing weight is a very difficult challenge. Anyone who has tried knows this very well. We were designed to store extra fuel in the form of fat during the good times (feasting) and hold on to fat during the bad times (starvation). Fat in our body is ultimately a way we store extra fuel (carbohydrates) in our body for future use. Unfortunately, for most of us in our society, we never get to a point of needing to use what we have stored over many years.

What regulates all of this in our bodies is a complex array of hormones which controls our metabolism and fat mass/balance.

This is why when we try to diet we lose only a few pounds, typically not much more then 5-10% for our body weight, and then it stops. Getting beyond 10% weight loss is exceedingly difficult.There is no magic to losing weight. We teach our patients that losing weight comes down to one simple fact: carbohydrate balance. You will only lose weight if you consume less carbohydrates then what your body needs. Carbs (ultimately glucose) is the single fuel source for the billions of cells in our bodies. Every diet plan is based on this one simple principle. No diet is based on the principle of eating more carbs.

So, how do we go about creating a negative carbohydrate balance?

First you have to know what’s in thefood that you are eating. Losing weight is conceptually as easy as NOT EATING CARBS We recommend applying what we call our “food test rule” to everything you eat.

How to create a carbohydrate balance:

1. Taking in less carbs in terms of volume
2. Taking in less carbs by changing our eating behavior
3. Needing more carbs to fuel our bodily needs by being more active