So what is the best way to lose weight? You have two foes to fight when you want to lose weight: Your brain and your body.

They are powerful enemies that want to keep you exactly where you are and will not budge without making mindful changes. They are genetically programmed to stick to one way of thinking and it is not easy to change them. You are constantly at war with the very things keeping you alive.

Best way to lose weight? Determination!

For many people, myself included, weight and fat loss are a constant battle. What is the best way to lose weight? How do we win?

For all intents and purposes, I won. I won the war against my biology, my chemistry, the corporate lies and injustices, the ignorant misinformation, and most of all, the war against my own mind. I won and it was not easy.

This article is intended for people who are considered “Endomorphs.” Learn more here and check which one you are here.  Endomorphs are the kind of people who can easily put on weight and have a much harder time losing it. Ectomorphs, consider yourself lucky…

Life is just a simple game…

When it comes to health and weight loss, it is not just “win or lose.” It’s not binary like that. Instead, I believe you have “levels” that increase as you learn and experience how your body works. Like an RPG, just because you lose one battle doesn’t mean much. You restart from your last save and continue on as usual.

If the enemy is too hard to beat, you need to go “level up” before you can defeat them. Trying to take on a level 50 boss when you’re a mere level 10 is obviously foolish and can only result in failure. Unfortunately, this is how most people approach it.

An example is a 300lb person with the goal of weight loss. He doesn’t know much about nutrition or exercise, so he follows some random diet plan and exercise regimen he found in a health magazine. At first he tries it and sees mild improvement. Feeling motivated, he keeps going and there *seems* to be a drop in the pounds.

However, his body is not used to it and he starts feeling the intense hunger pangs getting to him. He ends up going crazy and eating tons of bad foods to satisfy his voracious appetite. By the end of the meal, he hates himself. He hates that he can’t stick to a plan. He hates that he doesn’t have the motivation. He hates that he can’t control himself.

He hates that he is a loser and a failure. He goes back to old habits and gains another 20 lbs. Do you think he “lost?” Nope. He merely met with a setback. The important thing is that he learned WHAT DID NOT WORK. As Albert Einstein famously said:

“Insanity is defined as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

If nothing else, he is back on square one. Time to try something else. So what is the best way to lose weight? Baby steps and experimentation.

Remember, I didn’t lose 100 lbs overnight. It was not something I accidentally figured out. It took years of research, experimentation and FAILURE. I did many things wrong and failed over and over before I found out what works.

When do we “fail?”

So in the game of life, there really is no losing. It’s about leveling up, learning, and moving forward. Striving towards a goal. What, then, is FAILURE?

Failure, as I see it, is NOT TRYING. There are only 2 modes you can be in: advancement and stagnation. There is no in between.

Either you’re working towards something or sitting there doing nothing.

This applies to all facets of life, health especially. Every single day, every move you make, every vow you break, and every claim you stake: it’ll become what shape your body will take. (And I’ll be watching you~~~)

How to level up your “character?”

One example was my ex room-mate. She is someone who can stand to lose a lot of weight. I told her of my fasting ability and how I can go most of the day without eating. She attempted to imitate me by fasting all morning. Needless to say, it caused extreme hunger and resulted in overeating.

In other words, she foolishly tried do something that took me years to do. I told her you need to take a lot more steps before you can reach my ability. (Aka: the level 50 telling the level 3: “you’re a noob.”)

Here’s some examples of how to improve yourself:

• See those doughnuts they left out at the office? Look at them. Ponder eating one. Instead, walk right past them and forget about them. +10 XP!
• Driving around and you start to get hungry… Oh look, a McDonald’s. Pfft screw that, keep driving and either fast or eat something decent. +50 XP!
• You don’t feel like doing anything, you just want to get fast food and play videogames for the evening. You suddenly feel a surge of motivation and instead you work out and eat a decent meal. (Then videogames.) +100 XP!!
• Step on the scale after a few weeks of trying to alter your eating habits. Oh look, 10 lbs lighter. +200 XP and +2 to motivation!
• You start weightlifting despite never lifting a dumbbell in your life. Slowly you keep growing new muscles. Eventually you go outside and find a tree branch. To your surprise, you can finally do a pull-up for the first time! +500 XP!
• After a few months of working out, eating right, keeping on track, you look in the mirror and suddenly there’s some newer sexier version of yourself standing there. ~Priceless. :3

Here’s one very good example: David Smith. He, after years of poor behaviors, ballooned to 650 lbs. He then got his s**t together and managed to lose 400 lbs! When I read about this, I felt inspired. He did what most would think impossible. He got his first girlfriend, he had great people pushing him to be healthy, spent lots of money to get the extra skin removed, etc.

I admired this man, but unfortunately this story does not have a happy ending. He ended up severely falling off the bandwagon and gained back hundreds of pounds. Alcohol and drugs, plus a messed up childhood made him do things like sit in the car and eat 3000 calories in one sitting away from his friends. So now, 300 lbs heavier, his close friends and girlfriend have abandoned him.

You might say he “failed.” But here’s the difference between him and others that are 300+ lbs: He has the tools and the knowledge to lose it again. He has the motivation. “Unfortunately, I fell down, but I know I can climb back up.” He’s a level 30-something and he’ll gain more levels if/when he succeeds. He has the tools, he just needs to use them. Will he win? Time will tell.

Everything requires experience and persistence.

What is the best way to lose weight? Teach yourself how to use food to your advantage!

Getting a good job, finding a mate, starting a business, traveling the world, losing weight. No matter what it is, you have to start somewhere. Don’t be afraid to fail. Failing is not starting in the first place. Learn from your mistakes and keep striving for greatness. Good luck, I’m rooting for you!

“Your beliefs become your thoughts, Your thoughts become your words, Your words become your actions, Your actions become your habits, Your habits become your values, Your values become your destiny.” ― Mahatma Gandhi

Your Friend,

-Yossif

Last updated by Yossif on February 18, 2016.