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Finding a Weight Loss Program that Works for You

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There are too many diets and weight loss programs to list. Some are legitimate and others inventions from websites looking for traffic. I have had a lifetime struggle with my weight that has led me down many paths, but choosing a weight loss program that works has been the biggest challenge.

I have talked openly about my diet struggles, and when I committed to my current weight loss program, I noticed for some, my choice of diet had them shaking their heads.

I know from many diet failures what has worked for me in the past and what hasn’t, so when I made my decision, I did it because the diet was the right choice for me. How can you find a weight loss program that works for you? I hope this helps.

Dream it.

Finding a Weight Loss Program that Works for You

The dream is finding a diet and shifting your lifestyle to lose weight quickly and easily. Then, of course, you want to keep the weight off.

When I talk about weight loss, I’m not talking about losing 10 lbs to fit in your dress. If that is what you are seeking, then you can close this browser window now. However, for those of you like me labelled by their doctors to be “Morbidly Obese,” or “Obese,” I’m talking to you.

We all want to find that magic formula to lose weight, but the reality is, it doesn’t exist. I’m not going to tell you I found the perfect program for everyone, but I will tell you about what works for me and what doesn’t work for me.

I also want to share the struggles of losing and keeping it off (which I’m still trying to figure out) and share why I chose the program I’m on now.

A Diet Program with a 100% Weight Loss Guarantee?

Is there such a diet out there? Yes, there is. Is it sustainable forever – NO. I believe that I have found the perfect program for me. It has structure, rules and limitations and most weeks, the scale drops. However, it is not a program for life. It is a lose weight first, and then learn how to manage a healthy lifestyle second approach.

Read More: What We Can Learn from Rebel Wilson’s Year of Health Weight-Loss Strategy

Plan it.

Weight Loss is Just One Part of It – Working Towards a Healthy Lifestyle.

Breaking the Obese Person’s Weight Loss Cycle

For me losing weight is about being in the right mindset. I have to be 100% focused and determined to get it done. I need structure and discipline to keep me moving towards my goals, and I need to stay accountable for what I’m doing.

Are You Mentally Ready to make a Big Shift?

I know from my own experience that when I’m not mentally committed and focussed on being healthy bad things happen. I lost 75 pounds and then gained back 40 because I believe it was OK to live without limitation.

I had a million excuses; I dealt with being downsized, selling my home and downsizing my own life. Oh, and then I started my own business, bought a condo and travelled for three years, going from a press trip to a press trip — not a healthy or balanced approach to living.

Mental Health and Mindfulness

When it comes to losing weight, we all focus on the nutrition and fitness part, but the negative behaviours, how we use food emotionally, are where most weight loss programs fail us. 

Coping with the behaviours, reactions and learning to balance them with nutrition and fitness is where you’ll win or lose at adapting to your new lifestyle.

Woman following recipe on iPad

Defining Your Weight Loss Goals and Finding a Weight Loss Program that Works

What is your breaking point?

We all have that breaking point where we say enough is enough. It can be a fat person insult someone said to us in passing or a medical diagnosis caused by your current weight and continual weight gain. Whatever it is, there is a time when you hit that wall and tell yourself I need to do something.

When you hit that point, where nothing else worked, but you refuse to stop, that’s when you need to find the right program for you. Because that breaking point is the moment you make your first shift.

I hit that point last year, and I decided to rebrand this website because of it. I knew I could not keep travelling the way I was and balance my business and, most importantly, my health. So I shifted my personal and fitness goals and started 2019, intending to focus on me.

When the lockdown hit in 2020, I was determined not to come out of the pandemic behind where I started. I chose to keep pushing through my goals and not let the time’s anxiety get to me.

What is your weight loss goal?

When I was in my 20s, I had a stupid goal of being skinny. Then in my 30s unrealistic scale numbers. Now, in my 50s, life has taken a new meaning. Weight goals are about health and balance. It’s about finding a sustainable weight where my Doctor isn’t listing the many medical conditions I’m at risk of because of my weight.

It’s not about clothing sizes, unrealistic body expectations. Still, about being able to do the activities I want to do, like take a hike on a challenging trail and be my best healthy self physically and mentally.

I decided my health goal was more than weight; it was a goal with a combination of things.

  • Health and Wellness
  • My Business Success
  • Reaching and Chasing My Dreams

This balanced thinking is the essence of Daily Dream 360. Full-circle balance. Health is not just weight, its relationships, my mental state, my physical state, and so on. My business is about my financial stability, how much time I spend on my clients, my blog and my work. My dreams are about the things that fuel me, like my writing, travel and unique experiences.

Read More: How to Start a Healthy Lifestyle and Stick to It

What is Your Why?

For many of us, your breaking point is directly correlated with your why. The correlation can be especially true when you have more than 50 pounds to lose because there is a health risk or issue that fuels the need to get healthy. 

For me, it is I don’t want the diabetic diagnosis that other members of my family have received. Oh, and there was that Bridget Jone’s moment getting rescued out of a tree (above).

I also don’t want the word obese to be used when describing my health status. I’ve gone from morbidly obese to obese, and I think really – I’m still obese after losing 40 pounds? When will I be an average person at an acceptable weight?

Knowing your why and reminding yourself why you started in the first place is essential for your success. It is the reason behind everything. The thought or experience that set the dream into motion is often needed to push us through the difficult challenges, the moments of weakness and the setbacks.

What You Need to Know about Big Weight Loss

Weight loss is more than going on a diet and losing a few pounds. When you have 50, 75 or 100+ pounds to lose, this is a massive transformation. It is both physical and mental. To be successful at losing weight, you need to understand how to burn fat.

Big Weight Loss Simplified

Here is how someone explained to me the fundamental essence of weight loss in a way that finally made sense to me. Your body has short term fat storage and long term fat storage. When you eat, your body uses up the energy from the food you are eating or storing it in short or long-term storage.

Think of short term storage as your pockets — a place for your body to keep loose change. If it needs something quickly for energy, it reaches into the pocket. 

The long term storage is the vault; when you need energy from it, you have to go to the bank, unlock the vault and make a withdrawal. Getting power from the vault is more challenging work, so your body’s instinct is keeping your pockets full.

Breaking down weight loss success

Breaking down weight loss success

As long as you eat in a way that allows your body to store excess energy in your pockets, your body will always go to the pocket to get its energy source. If you overeat or have no room in your pockets, it goes to the vault.

The trick to losing weight: KEEP THE SHORT TERM FAT STORAGE EMPTY.

If your pockets are empty, this forces your body to go to the vault every time. Going to the vault means your body uses the excess fat stored in your body, and this will lead to losing weight.

The key is finding a nutrition program that forces your body to burn fat – all the time.

Some call this fat-burning state a metabolic shift, ketosis or the myriad of other fad words. The point is you want to lose fat from your body, and the best way to do that is to be on a weight loss program that is determined to burn fat all day and all night long.

Why I Quit Weight Watchers Wellness that Works Program

I realize now that WW was never going to work for me. It did not teach me what I need to know to guarantee that my body goes to the vault every time. It did not help me understand why I wasn’t losing weight, and I decided I would not pay them to tell me it is OK that I’m not losing weight.

So I quit. I quit, and I committed myself to figure out what weight loss program was going to work for me. The best place to start was at my Doctor’s office, where we talked about the crazy elimination diet I did previously and how and why it worked for me. We also talked about how it failed me in the end.

Doctor talking to person about Finding a Weight Loss Program that Works for You

How Talking With Your Doctor Can Help You Choose the Right Diet Program

My Doctor and I have always had that relationship where we discussed my weight. The fact is if you are Morbidly Obese, your Doctor is going to tell you – you’re at risk of x and y. They have a list of all the things you are at risk of getting.

She recommended Intermittent fasting and a program by Dr. Jason Fung. So I tried it, and I loved it. Intermittent fasting gave me the structure I needed to minimize late-night snacking. The premise is simple. You eat between Noon and 8:00 PM and then fast the remaining time.

My next visit to the Doctor was – I love intermittent fasting, but what to eat during non-fasting hours? Because counting points was not working for me, I needed to get down to what foods would help me lose weight and avoid it. I needed a structured program to follow, with rules and accountability. Something I can follow for a long time without feeling deprived.

Live it.

Choosing the Right Diet Program for You

My Choice: Low Carb Lifestyle and Intermittent Fasting

As I said, I’ve done the low carb and low sugar thing before, and I lost 75 pounds doing it. It was a guarantee that each week, I would lose weight. However, it was a complete elimination diet, medically supervised, but deprived me of eating pretty much everything. It also cost me a small fortune as Provincial health care did not cover it.

So when I found myself putting weight back on, I was so desperate to get my weight loss goals back on track; I was considering going back to a diet I hated. 

Instead, I focussed on finding a weight loss program that worked to turn into a normal healthy lifestyle. I was determined to find a balanced approach.

My Doctor and I discussed this some more. I could not afford to do the same program I had previously done, so we decided on another medically supervised program covered by OHIP called Dr. Poon’s Metabolic Weight Loss.

What makes this the perfect diet program for me?

I am not a medical professional or a nutritionist, so this is MY opinion about what makes the perfect diet for ME. I have 75-100lbs of total weight to lose, which is not a quick and easy challenge but a complete transformation that requires changes in my lifestyle, mental thinking, physical body, and ability to do this FOREVER, especially after I have reached my goal.

easy to follow surrounded by healthy ingredients

What is the Perfect Weight Loss Program?

It took me a long time to get here. The mental space where I know what I want and how to get it. Here are MY criteria for the perfect weight loss program:

  • Doctor supervised with regular wellness and weight check-ins
  • Education about nutritional eating
  • Structured with clear rules and explanations
  • Forces the body to burn excess fat
  • Slow, steady and consistent weight loss week after week
  • Education and advice about maintaining the program for extended periods
  • No judgement and harsh criticism for life’s challenges and slips from the program
  • Food eaten promotes weight loss but doesn’t deprive
  • Expects hydration and water consumption
  • Encourages exercise and physical activity
  • Education about maintaining the diet after reaching the goal

About the Dr. Poon Weight Loss Clinic

While I can’t go into specifics about the weight loss plan as that would be a copyright infringement, and I’m not a medical professional, I’m not going to give out weight loss advice. I will tell you what I love about this program and why it is different from the one I had previously done. I also love that it checks all MY boxes for the perfect diet program. If you would like more information, visit the Dr. Poon site here or talk to your Doctor.

Low-carb, Low-sugar and Low Sodium

The Dr. Poon program sets specific limitations on how much carbs, sugar, sugar, alcohols, fat and sodium you can eat. It does this within 3 phases of the program. Phase 1 being super strict with low allowances to ease your body into the metabolic state required to lose fat.

Read More: How to Detox Sugar with the Best Books on Quitting Sugar

I have a sweet tooth, so snacking on sugar-free chocolates, mini cakes, and other low carb treats makes this program much more comfortable to follow. There are rules for how to eat and incorporate the snacks in the program. So in phase 1, they teach you by eliminating medium to high glycemic ingredients to navigate the program and get into the low carb and low sugar mindset.


I love this program’s ability to deal with weight loss, introduce healthy habits, change lousy eating habits, and slowly add more healthy foods back into my diet to help maintain a balanced lifestyle.

Setting and Tracking Health Goals

With bi-weekly weigh-ins and meetings with my clinic doctor, I have a place to discuss results, how my body is losing fat vs water, challenges I have to face, and how to cope with them.

How is the Perfect Weight Loss Program Working?

So far, I have lost just shy of 50lbs in one year. Being low carb is not as hard as it was previously. I have snacks and treats and limits to keep me focussed on my end goal. I’m learning new techniques to cope with destructive behaviours and emotional eating.

With healthy choices, a little determination, and the words NO THANK YOU, I’m well on my way to getting back to that 75lb weight loss and figure out my healthy goal weight.

What I know for sure is that losing 50 lbs or more requires a great deal of discipline, knowledge, self-love and has substantial Physical Stress on your body and Mental Stress on your mind.

The important thing is to understand what works for you and what doesn’t – there is no cookie-cutter one size fits all program. Find a weight loss program that works for you in helping you change your lifestyle and move toward living the life you truly want to live.

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