Hello, and welcome back. In the previous issue, I shared the Power of Unasked for Status Updates, and in this edition, I announce my next book and share why I’m straying from my normal business writing lane to share weight loss habits.
By the way, I’m Kevin Kruse, founder and CEO of LEADx and NY Times bestselling author of 15 Secrets Successful People Know About Time Management and 11 Secrets Successful People Know About Goal Setting. Welcome to Success & Significance - my take on health, wealth, and relationships (my “3 to Thrive”, read more here). Hit the Subscribe button below to join over 20,000 members who get weekly practical advice and wisdom from the world’s most successful people.
After dodging it for three and half years, last week I finally got COVID.
My first thought was, “Thank God I got the vaccines.” The data is clear that the vaccine reduces symptoms and reduces the chance of myocarditis, as compared to catching COVID without having had a vaccine.
My second thought was, “Thank God I lost 25 pounds this year!”
I started the year meeting the clinical definition of “overweight” and had relatively low cardio fitness (i.e., VO2 max). There is no way to know for sure, but I have a feeling my experience with COVID would have been a lot worse had I not gotten fit.
So, with this issue, I’ll start sharing excerpts from my next book, 12 Daily Habits For Effortless Weight Loss: Lose 12+ Pounds In 12 Weeks, Without Dieting, Fasting, or Going to the Gym.
PREFACE
When I told my friend Patrick that I was writing a weight loss book he asked, “Under your own name?”
I understand why he would be puzzled. I’m not a doctor or a dietician or even a fitness coach. I’m the busy founder and CEO of a software company.
I understand why he might think it would dilute my “personal brand.” It is a bit of a jumpcut from what I’ve written about before. My previous writing has been in the area of leadership, culture, productivity, and goal setting.
And yet…
My life philosophy is to focus on my “3 to Thrive” which are Health, Wealth, and Relationships. I reflect on those three things every single morning. What are my goals in each area? Why are they important? What will I do today to bring me closer to those goals?
And up until recently I did pretty well with two out of those three things, but health was where I fell short.
I graduated college six feet tall and about 125 pounds–skin and bones. And then while successfully starting and selling several companies, I became incredibly “skinny fat.” Suddenly, I’m 56 years old and the health app on my phone notifies me that I have crossed the threshold for being clinically overweight. From skin and bones to “overweight”?
That was my tipping point. That was the beginning of my journey and quite honestly I’m still just at the beginning of it.
But with the help of two different fitness coaches, I was able to lose about 20 pounds in 20 weeks while increasing my strength by 400% by some measures (e.g., pushups, pullups, situps). And I learned a lot along the way. And I’m continuing to get in the best shape of my life.
So, while I’m still at the beginning of my personal health journey and have so much to go, I have learned a lot already and am compelled to share so others may benefit.
As to my professional colleagues who may think it’s weird that I wrote a weight loss book, I’m modeling my work in the area of personal development on other authors like Tony Robbins who also writes about a wide range of topics including personal productivity & success (Unlimited Power and Awaken the Giant Within), wealth (Money and Unshakeable), and health (Life Force).
So, why shouldn’t I share what I’ve learned as I pursue incredible health, wealth, and relationships? Hope you find at least one thing that helps you on your journey to health and vitality.
–Kevin Kruse
Philadelphia, PA
www.KevinKruse.com
INTRODUCTION
Habits + Patience = Transformation
Yes, All Bodies Are Beautiful, and…
My fear with writing this book is that it might contribute to the very real problems with body shaming, disordered eating, or negative self-image of any kind.
I want to be very clear. This book is about achieving a healthy weight; it’s not about getting ready for the beach or achieving any particular body type. And it’s really not even about weight, but rather reducing unhealthy levels of fat (assuming it’s not related to an underlying autoimmune or other condition).
Yes, all bodies are beautiful, but not all bodies are healthy. We’re not about body-shaming here. But the science is clear. As body mass index (BMI) increases above certain levels, so does blood pressure, bad cholesterol, triglycerides, blood sugar, and inflammation.
“Overweight and obesity are defined as abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that presents a risk to health. A body mass index (BMI) over 25 is considered overweight, and over 30 is obese.” –World Health Organization
According to the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, having an elevated BMI increases all of these risks:
Type II diabetes–Men with BMIs of 30 or higher had a seven times higher risk of type 2 diabetes, and women had a 12 times higher risk.
Coronary heart disease–Men with BMIs of 30 or higher had a seven times higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes, and women with BMIs of 30 or higher had a 12-fold higher risk.
Stroke–Being overweight increases the risk of ischemic stroke by 22 percent, and obesity increases the risk by 64 percent.
Cardiovascular death–Having a BMI of 30 or higher gives you a 62 percent greater risk of dying early from Coronary Artery Disease and also a 53 percent higher risk of dying early from any type of cardiovascular disease.
Cancer–There are direct associations between obesity and cancers of the breast, colon and rectum, endometrium, esophagus, kidney, ovary, and pancreas.
Asthma–Obesity increases the risk of developing asthma by 50 percent.
Alzheimer's–Obesity increases the risk of Alzheimer's disease by 42 percent.
It’s Not About How Your Body Looks
We all have different genetics and body types. This book isn’t about trying to achieve a certain look.
In fact, a negative body image often leads to unhealthy unsustainable dieting and disordered eating behaviors. Getting to a healthy weight begins with having a positive body image, regardless of your current size and shape. This book is designed to help you instill healthy habits–not diets or extreme exercising–that keep your inner body as healthy as possible.
IMPORTANT: If you think you could be struggling with disordered eating habits or problems with self-esteem, please seek out professional help.
Why One (or Two) Pounds Per Week Is Your Goal
Most people want to lose too much weight too quickly. Whether it’s to fit into a prom dress or get beach body ready, we often have short-term reasons and unrealistic expectations for fat loss and pursue unhealthy diets that just don’t work.
Straight from the website of the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC), “People with gradual, steady weight loss (about 1 to 2 pounds per week) are more likely to keep the weight off than people who lose weight quickly.”
The Cleveland Clinic website makes the same recommendation, “A moderate goal of losing 1 to 2 pounds per week tends to be more successful over the long haul.”
Anything more than one to two pounds per week can have serious health consequences. In a Cleveland Clinic article, obesity specialist Marcio Griebeler, MD, explains the dangers:
Your metabolism shifts into slow gear, reducing your ability to burn calories and increasing the risk of putting more pounds back on
You lose muscle mass quickly as you lose fat
Without proper macro and micronutrients, you may suffer from digestive problems, fatigue, loss of bone density, and even hair loss
Patience is the key. You have to remember that it’s far better to lose fat and keep it off forever than to forever yo-yo between losing weight and gaining it back.
It’s Not About a Special Diet
What’s the best “diet” to lose weight? The one you’ll actually stick to.
These days, people proselytize their diet like it is their religion. The Atkins Diet, the South Beach Diet, Keto, Paleo, Slimfast, and raw food. And let’s not forget about intermittent fasting! Their diet, their method, is the best way. But the truth is very different.
Most people know through personal experience that weird, restrictive diets actually do work until they don’t. They lead to results in the short term but almost always lead to failure in the long term.
Adam Bornstein was the editor of Men’s Health magazine and the legendary nutritionist to stars and athletes including Arnold Schwarzenegger, LeBron James, Cindy Crawford, and Lindsey Vonn. In his book, You Can’t Screw This Up, he explains how different diets are really just different ways to restrict calories.
He shares the results of a year-long study published in The International Journal of Obesity, which did a year-long study of all the major diets. Which diet was actually the best?
It turns out that the people who were most adherent to the diet they were assigned to were the ones who lost the most weight. It wasn’t about which diet they were put on, it was whether they followed it or not.
Researchers concluded that it isn’t about the makeup of macronutrients (i.e., how much protein versus carbohydrates versus fats) you eat; it is about restricting for a long period of time the amount of calories you eat (within reason and healthy limits).
One Pound a Week = 500 Calories a Day
This book isn’t about counting calories. It’s about tiny changes and new habits that lead to healthy outcomes. However, it can be helpful to understand the basics of fat gain and fat loss. It’s very simple.
Let’s assume your goal is to lose one pound per week.
A pound of fat contains approximately 3,500 calories.
There are seven days a week.
So, if you want to lose one pound a week, you would need to have a deficit of 500 calories a day.
7 days x 500 calories = 3500 calories = one pound
You could either eat 500 calories less each day. Or you could burn 500 calories more than you usually do each day. Or, of course, some combination of both.
On my own health journey, keeping this 500 calories a day number in mind was very helpful. I started to naturally see tradeoffs between burning calories and eating fewer calories.
Walking for 90 minutes burns about 500 calories (depending on your weight and pace).
A bagel with cream cheese is approximately 450 calories (depending on the amount of cream cheese).
Playing basketball might burn off 500 calories in an hour, racing up and down the court.
A small order of McDonalds fries is about 230 calories; a large order is 480 calories.
Candy bars are around 250 calories.
A large Starbucks coffee is about 5 calories; their large white chocolate mocha is 550 calories.
While I didn’t obsess over the calories, I started just to read the labels of everything I was eating. Just in the spirit of learning–and it was very educational.
Holy crap walnuts are a great source of healthy fats and micronutrients AND they have a lot of calories–who knew? Wow, it takes a long time to walk off 500 calories! Huh, vegetables have almost no calories. Yikes, that ‘healthy’ breakfast cereal sure has a ton of calories.
I found I naturally started shifting my foods a tiny bit, and tiny changes started adding up. For sandwiches, I switched from two slices of wheat bread (220 calories) to pita bread (60 calories) and actually enjoyed them more.
When eating in restaurants, I switched from salmon (8 ounces is about 450 calories) to grilled shrimp (8 ounces is about 240 calories) and enjoyed my meals just as much.
I wouldn’t not eat a bagel and cream cheese, but I might eat half of it and wrap up the other half to have it the next morning.
When I lost 20 pounds in 20 weeks, I didn’t follow a “diet,” I didn’t limit my eating to only certain times of the day, and no foods were off limits.
It was about eating a healthy mix of foods in reasonable portions and trying to move as much as I could in my very busy days.
Overall, I would try to do a little of both each day: don’t overeat more calories than I really need, and try to move a bit more than normal.
You’ll see that the core 12 habits in this book aren’t about counting anything; they’re about making little changes that naturally and automatically lead to less calories consumed or more calories burned.
Remember, you can't hate yourself into loving yourself–healthy habits need to come from a place of self-love. You should want to nourish your body and increase exercise because you love yourself.
Until the next issue, remember…
Impact > Income,
Kevin 🙏
If you liked this post, you’d love my books. Consider grabbing 15 Secrets Successful People Know About Time Management or 11 Secrets Successful People Know About Goal Setting or Great Leaders Have No Rules.
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Want to dive deeper?
If you liked this issue, check out this list of my top posts, or a few of my personal favorites:
Kevin’s Recommendation Zone
Some of my favorite HEALTH related things: Nutribullet Blender (use it 2x a day!), Vega Sport Protein Powder, No Cow Protein Bars, Neuriva Brain Health, G Hughes sauces, chiller bowl to put fruit and vegetables on the counter all day to snack.