How to Lose Weight

Let’s keep this simple:

If you want to know how to lose weight, there are only three ways:

• The first is to eat less calories than you burn: This method (which I call the starvation method) will work for a while, but since your brain uses so much your energy, you go crazy with cravings when you limit your calories (especially if you are still eating sugars or foods that act like sugars). And this is the method that will drive you crazy with calculating calories in verses calories out.

• The second is to stop producing fat: You can accomplish this by limiting the amount of fructose you take in your body. Remember that fructose (which shows up in soda, fruit, fruit juices, table sugar, and anything with high fructose corn syrup) is what makes fat – not eating fat. You also have to remember that table sugar (sucrose) is one-half fructose – so, yes, you have to avoid this too. The last thing to remember is that eating foods that act like sugar will also lead to making fat.

• Teach your body to burn fat: You can teach your body to burn fat by turning your body into a ketone burning machine. Eating a diet that is ketone producing has the added benefit of suppressing your cravings.

How to Lose Weight

The winner is not the first bullet point (eat less calories), but the last two: avoid sugars and start burning ketones for energy.

In order to produce ketones on a regular basis, you have to reduce the amount of carbohydrates you are consuming to under 50 grams (200 calories) of carbohydrate a day. If you are not worried about weight loss, then I generally recommend that you eat under 100 grams of carbohydrate a day. What this looks like is that you will be eating proteins (meats, eggs, nuts), fats, and low-carb vegetables. The benefits of running your body on ketones are many and I will be discussing them in the next few e-mails.

I’m a big fan of vegetables too, so remember to get them in your diet. Here is a list of very low carb vegetables that are okay to eat:

• Asparagus
• Artichoke
• Broccoli
• Broccoli Rabe
• Brussels Sprouts
• Cabbage
• Cauliflower
• Celery
• Chard
• Collard Greens
• Cucumber
• Dandelion greens
• Eggplant
• Greens (most)
• Kale
• Leeks
• Onion
• Rhubarb
• Scallions
• Snow Peas
• Spinach
• String or Wax Beans
• Tomato
• Water Chestnuts
• Zucchini