There are many conflicting views in the world of health, fitness, and wellbeing regarding the best ways to ‘burn fat’ or ‘lose weight’. This is partly due to our evolving knowledge of science. There are also many so-called ‘experts’ on this topic who have very differing viewpoints. Largely, there is no one magic formula that works for everyone, and a holistic weight loss approach needs to be used.
We keep learning more and more about how to make our bodies optimally healthy and during this process new ideas are formed. Some embrace the new ideas, e.g., methods of training. Some stick to the old-school ways, and some seemingly new ideas come about. Many of these ideas in fact take us back to doing things the way they were done 20 years ago or even 2000 years ago!
The ‘experts’ won’t all agree with each other!
It is near impossible to obtain a unanimous agreement on the best training method for this or that. However there is a general murmur of consensus in the health and fitness industry when talking about the emphasis that needs to be placed on exercise versus nutrition, where weight loss is the primary objective. That consensus is as follows. For best results:
FOCUS 70% EFFORTS ON NUTRITION
FOCUS 30% EFFORTS ON EXERCISE
It is true that your exercise efforts will be unlikely to produce the weight loss results that you desire unless a significant emphasis is placed on nutrition. Your efforts would not be wasted in that there are so many benefits associated with exercise alone. For example, decreased risk of disease, increased muscle strength and endurance, increased bone mineral density, increased energy levels, improved distribution of blood, oxygen and nutrients throughout the body, improved functioning for activities of daily living…the list goes on.
You should also understand that any type of exercise can form a piece of your weight loss jigsaw, Contrary to some beliefs, weight lifting can be a crucial element in your weight loss training plan.
However, should your primary objective be weight loss, very few people will achieve this goal through exercise alone. Employing more of a holistic weight loss approach will help you reach your goals, including those beyond weight loss.
[Find out more in the video “Is exercise without a nutrition focus enough to burn body fat?“].
A holistic weight loss approach
I propose a few changes to the areas of focus that are required in order to achieve sustained weight loss for the majority of people. You may already have one or two of these areas in check. Therefore you can focus on those that require the biggest improvements. The focus needs to be as follows:
- 40% Nutrition
- 20% Exercise
- 10% Sleep
- 10% Stress
- 10% Mindset
- 10% Relationships
You might be wondering how on earth your stress levels or thoughts are going to affect your ability to lose weight? The reasons ‘why’ and the details about ‘how’ they do are subjects for future articles, but for now, just believe me that they do. By adding four additional factors beyond exercise and nutrition, we create more of a holistic weight loss model.
Complete the following exercise.
Rate each section of the circle from 2-10, with 2 being terrible and 10 being excellent/optimal. Rate yourself as you are now and shade in each section as appropriate. An example has been done for you:
Your Chart:
The Wheel concept has been used before in numerous ways as a representation of balance within one’s life or within a particular area of one’s life. The wheels here focus specifically on the balance of one’s health, fitness and wellbeing. It is a holistic weight loss approach. Take a look at the example wheel. This person has paid attention to some areas of their health, fitness and wellbeing, and has neglected others. This has resulted in a strangely shaped wheel.
What happens if my holistic weight loss wheel is a bit ‘bumpy’?
The translation into real life is that although the person is doing reasonably well on the big chunks of the wheel (nutrition and exercise), they are missing out on the benefits of optimal sleep, positive thoughts, and great relationships. In this case, their mental and physical performance will be impaired and ultimately their weight loss results will be limited.
Your body is essentially a safety first, satisfaction second machine. If it’s needing to work hard just to keep you functioning throughout the day, do you think it’s going to be concerned with turning you into the fat burning machine you long to be? Compare the example wheel to the wheel on a bicycle. Without pumping up the areas that have been neglected (or are flat), you’re in for an awfully uncomfortable journey.
Now look at your own wheel. Which area(s) came up with the lowest score? Focus on making changes to these ones first.
Here is a final point of emphasis regarding the wheel. Although some sections have been assigned a smaller percentage of importance on the wheel, do not underestimate the power of the 10% or 20% they represent. The wheel functions as a whole and if any one area is completely neglected, long-term results will not be achieved. So always focus on the area(s) with the lowest score first. Pump a little bit into this area, ensuring it’s something small enough to sustain long term. Then move on to improving the other areas bit by bit.
Your next step towards a holistic weight loss approach
Now print out your wheel or cut it out and stick it up on the wall as a reminder of where to focus. If you’d like a version of the wheel that you can blow up in size before printing out, just contact me and I’ll send it through to you.
Injecting adequate knowledge, skills and desire into each section of the wheel will turn you into the fat burning machine you are striving to be. For further information on my approach to holistic weight loss, you can check out my sustainable weight loss book.
I have produced a series of videos about holistic weight loss. In these videos, I interview a weight loss expert about a specific lifestyle area related to burning fat. These interviews were created alongside my book. I have also created several short snippets (usually just 2 or 3 minutes) where you can listen to/watch one q&a at a time.
I have included a few of the video snippets below. Just click on the ones that interest you the most! While you’re on my YouTube channel, make sure you subscribe and click on the bell button so you can get notified when I post new holistic health and fitness videos.
More holistic weight loss resources
If you need a bit of a reality check in terms of realistic weight loss, check out this blog post. You might also want to read about the value of incidental exercise for weight loss or perhaps about energy blocks and weight loss. Or perhaps you’re simply desperate to lose weight but no willpower is in sight? This article takes you through four steps to a fit summer (or winter!) body.
For a personal weight loss story, you can read about how Katie Kulich lost 43 pounds without fad dieting (and kept it off). Also, make sure you read all about these effective NLP techniques for weight loss and these top natural fat-burning foods that support weight loss.
Learn more about holistic health and fitness by understanding the times when healthy food choices can be overrated. Find out how you can apply the 80-20 principle for long-term weight loss success and what to do on the days when you’ve got no motivation to exercise!
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