How I Lost 130 Pounds And Kept It Off

My weight loss story was recently featured on CNN's Fit Nation.  The piece was narrated by Dr. Sanjay Gupta.  In the piece they discuss how I lost 130 pounds as a "broke" medical resident.  Since then, I have received countless emails from people asking me how I lost the weight and how they can lose it too.  Every time I am asked these questions, I give different answers because weight loss is so complex and multi-faceted. Well, today, I decided to flesh out the most important strategies. These keys provide a great foundation and an excellent start.The Top 7 Weight-Loss Keys    * Diet    * Exercise    * Water    * Sleep    * Stress    * Laughter    * PatienceKey #1 - DietCaloriesEstimate your daily caloric intake by:   1. Taking your height in inches   2. Subtracting 60   3. Multiplying by 50   4. Adding 1300    * Never eat fewer than 1200 calories a day. This prevents your metabolism from slowing down.    * Spread your daily calories over 4 - 6 meals. This will boost your metabolism.    * Never go more than 12 hours without eating, this includes time spent sleeping. This prevents your metabolism from slowing down.Carbohydrates - Follow these strategies to stabilize your blood sugar.Avoid white carbs. These include white bread, white rice, white potatoes, white flour, white sugar, and white pasta. Avoid other bad carbs such as high fructose corn syrup, other syrups, and other sugars. Eat your beans, other legumes, fruits, and whole-grains before noon. Eat your vegetables after noonProteins - Eating protein boosts your metabolism and is essential for building muscle.Estimate your daily protein intake in grams by:   1. Taking your estimated daily caloric intake   2. Dividing by 20Fats - You need fats, but all fats were not created equal.Avoid saturated fats and trans fatsKey #2 - Exercise    * Strength train for 30 - 45 minutes, 2-3 times a week. Focus on exercises for your glutes (butt), quads (front thigh), hamstrings (rear thigh), lats (back), pecs (chest), and delts (shoulders). These are your largest muscles in size and your biggest calorie burners.    * Do an aerobic exercise, which involves the legs, for 30 minutes, 2-3 times a week.    * Get a pedometer and walk 10,000 steps a dayKey #3 - WaterDrink enough water to make your urine clear or close to clear. This helps to maintain your health and prevent your metabolism from slowing down.Key #4 - SleepSleep at least 7 hours every night. This helps to maintain your proper hormonal balance, stabilize your blood sugar, and decrease hunger.Key #5 - StressDon't sweat the small stuff and eliminate as much stress as you can. This helps to maintain your proper hormonal balance, stabilize your blood sugar, and decrease hunger.Key #6 - LaughLaugh as much as humanly possible. Watch comedies, read funny books, and laugh at yourself. This helps to decrease stress.Key #7 - PatienceBe patient. Losing weight is a marathon, not a sprint. Large temporary lifestyle changes lead to fast temporary weight loss. Small permanent lifestyle changes lead to slow permanent weight loss.Each of these keys is essential to losing and keeping off the pounds. If you address the first 6 keys and practice patience, the pounds will fall off and stay off.Bonus KeyThis is a good weight loss foundation. However for a comprehensive weight loss program, check out my Don't Go Broke Diet.  The Don't Go Broke Diet is a well-researched weight loss plan designed to help you lose weight permanently and inexpensively.