How I lost 68 pounds (IN 6 months) - STEP 4 - The Action phase (NEW)
Channel: Your Weight Loss Pal
Date: 2018-05-04

After losing 68 pounds in six months I wanted to share a complete guide on how I did it. I've shared my system with other people in my life and they've had fantastic results. I thought it was time to share it with the rest of the world.

It's time to start

We have planned thoroughly by creating a goal, making a timeline, and understanding the basic strategy, it is finally time to go into action.

The purpose of this article is to discuss how we go into action and what that entails. I will be going into detail about exact fitness plans and meal plans in other articles.

The two pillars of our action plan

1 | Meal Plan 
The first thing we are going to do is to create a meal plan. The basic premise of Your Weight Loss Pal's diet plan is called intermittent fasting. Science has shown intermittent fasting with small snacks in between, not only is healthy and prevents or reverses mild diabetes, it also helps for weight loss. We will be planning our weekly routine around this philosophy.

One of the main components of our diet plan is preparing our portion of vegetables once a week.  Science over the years has shown people who live longer tend to eat large portions of vegetables. As far as weight loss, eating a diet high in vegetables increases our fiber intake. Fiber takes up volume in our stomach and as a consequence, we eat less calorie dense food. Also, it takes the body a significant amount of energy to digest high fiber vegetables. Eating more vegetables actually helps burn more calories. Some vegetables, like celery, takes more energy to digest than it actually contains. Meaning, eating celery helps you lose weight. These types of foods are called net negative calorie foods. By preparing our vegetables ahead of time once a week and portioning them out we will be more likely to adhere to our regimen on a long-term basis. In summary, a diet high in vegetables will help us lose weight and be healthier.

We will be dieting 6 days a week and have 1 day off. During our diet days we will be eating one large meal, either at lunch or at dinner and the rest of the day we will be eating smaller portions. I have been doing this for over a year-and-a-half now and I regret not eating like this my entire life.  We will go into comprehensive detail in another article.

2 | Fitness routine 
The second part of our action plan is our workout routine. The basic premise of Your Weight Loss Pal's fitness routine is called high-intensity interval training (HIIT). I am sure you have seen this term on the internet and in the news. This type of training has been around for ages, however, it's just starting to become mainstream. We will be utilizing the benefits of this type of exercise to accelerate our weight loss.  We will be exercising five to six days a week and on our off day, we will walk in the evening for half an hour.  We will be doing a combination of weight training, circuit training, aerobic training, stretching and pliability, and mindfulness.  We will not be doing the same exercises on back-to-back days. The beauty of this plan is to use a variety of exercises. This gives us the most bang for our buck.  We will be covering how to work out in step-by-step detail. 

How much time is this going to take?

We understand the overall action phase, let's talk about how much time we're committing on a daily basis. Essentially, we will be devoting 60 to 80 minutes a day working out. Once a week, it will take us 1 hour to prepare our vegetable portions for the week. Basically, it comes down to 8 hours a week. This may seem like a significant time commitment, but you have to remember this will only be for the duration of the weight loss action phase. Losing weight requires more effort than maintaining weight.
If you think about it, after 6 to 12 months when 
you become a happier and healthier human being this will be the best investment that you've ever made in yourself.
Maintaining weight is much easier than the action phase
Personally, after I lost 68 pounds in 6 months my routine has eased up. I still eat healthily and make sure I get my daily portion of vegetables. However, I do not exercise as rigorously as when I was losing weight and I eat more "treat" meals too. We will cover in comprehensive detail how to maintain your goal weight.
I am emphasizing this because many people think we will be stuck in the action phase for the rest of our life. That is not the case. What I am asking you to do is to stick to this routine for the duration we set in step 3  and after that, we ease up.

Summary

The diet philosophy revolves around large portions of vegetables and intermittent fasting. 
The fitness regimen is a balanced routine based on the high-intensity interval training method.
The action phase will require 8 hours a week. Maintaining our goal weight requires less effort.

You can find more about me here:  www.YourWeightLossPal.com