Conclusion: A New Way of Thinking and 8 Sacred Laws of Micro-Habit Slimming (1-4)

Chapter 10 Conclusion

You've tried many times, try this one more time!

Everyone knows the form by which I won, but no one knows the form by which I controlled victory.

------The New Thinking of Sun Tzu, Military Strategist of the Spring and Autumn Period in China

One push-up a day turned me into a regular exerciser. The micro-habit of doing push-ups prioritized consistency, thus changing my brain to become accustomed to exercise. This micro-habit amplified my short-term and long-term motivation with early success, getting me to exercise daily and maximizing progress based on momentum. It also ensured daily success, boosting my morale. Some people only see the tactic of a single push-up, perhaps comparing it to slogans like the "100 push-ups a day challenge." Focusing only on the surface tactics without considering the deeper strategy often leads to poor choices. The strategy behind "100 push-ups a day" pales in comparison. This strategy aims for rapid progress, snowballing motivation, but it almost always encounters obstacles because the brain takes a long time to adapt. Motivation is volatile, willpower is finite, and life is unpredictable.

Most people trying to lose weight resort to various forms of dieting. The strategy behind dieting involves extreme behaviors that people who aren't trying to lose weight wouldn't do (such as artificially creating a calorie deficit) to achieve their weight loss goals. The body and brain will react to these changes in unexpected ways, so even if you follow the plan, you may not achieve your goals, as you saw in the introduction. This strategy is that bad-even if you execute the plan perfectly, you will fail. Extreme changes are not only unnecessary for weight loss, but they can also be counterproductive.

The new way of thinking we discuss in this book raises an important point: weight loss and behavioral change are best implemented gradually. Change that happens subtly and gradually avoids triggering a backlash from the brain, causing us to revert to old habits, or a backlash from the body, causing our weight to rebound (and continue to increase). We systematically lower our weight set point by gradually changing our behavior and dietary preferences (both of which are determined by habit).

Furthermore, we've clarified that weight loss isn't related to carbohydrates, fats, or calories, but rather to the quality of food. Considering any one of these factors in isolation is an oversimplification, despite its popularity. Each macronutrient comes in different types, with vastly different effects on the body. Olive oil and coconut oil are healthy fats, while trans fats and many vegetable oils are unhealthy. Fruits and vegetables contain healthy carbohydrates, while ultra-processed foods like potato chips, soda crackers, and French fries contain unhealthy carbohydrates. Anyone can point to a typical food containing unhealthy fats or carbohydrates and say, "That's it! It's all the fat's (or carbohydrates') fault!" This is like concluding everyone is mean after meeting one mean person-a generalization. Observational studies consistently show that fats, carbohydrates, and calories are sometimes beneficial and sometimes detrimental, all depending on the quality of the food.

Some people say we simply eat too much. But if that's true, why do we eat so much? Were our ancestors better at calculating calories or buying sugar-free cakes? The truly important factors are satiety, satisfaction, micronutrients, and phytonutrients. For example, consider two foods, both 100 calories, but one weighs 14 times more than the other, and each calorie provides a greater feeling of fullness. How can you say that only calories matter? One calorie of strawberry weighs 14 times more than one calorie of potato chips. If anyone still believes in the validity of calorie counting, I suggest they try the "Strawberry Chip Challenge" to test this theory.

Strawberry Potato Chip Challenge

You must bear the risks of undertaking this challenge yourself, and I do not recommend that you try it.

Day 1: Grab an 8-ounce bag of potato chips and see how much you can eat. I estimate I could finish the whole bag in one go. Day 2: Grab 7.2 pounds of strawberries and see how much you can eat. A bag of potato chips has roughly the same calories as 7.2 pounds of strawberries, so if you're just "calorie counting," it doesn't really matter whether you eat chips or strawberries, right? Wait, what's going on? Eating 7 pounds of strawberries will burst your stomach? Disclaimer: Don't try this challenge at home...and nowhere else.

If someone tells you that counting calories is the most important thing, have that person try the challenge. If they refuse, or make excuses like "I can just eat less chips," then you can tell them that the feeling of fullness per calorie is more important than the simple calorie count (micronutrients are also important, but they're not as readily apparent as 7 pounds of strawberries, so let's not complicate things). Counting calories might leave you hungry and ruin your metabolism. Eating healthy foods that make you feel full and nutritious is the right approach.

To summarize the new way of thinking introduced in this book: Don't worry about carbohydrates, fats, proteins, or calories; just focus on the quality of your food. If you eat quality food, everything else will fall into place. Modern society is obsessed with processed foods, making it difficult to find quality food, but it's still easier than calculating calories, carbohydrates, and fats. We don't need to do math problems. I like math, but I don't like calculating calories.

8 sacred rules for slimming through micro-habits

Please do not violate the following rules, otherwise your chances of success will be greatly reduced.

1. Do not diet

Don't diet, and don't call dieting a micro-habit. Micro-habits are small, simple challenges that won't make you say, "Sorry, I can't eat this, I'm on a diet, I can only eat salad." Dieting forces you to eat healthy foods, while micro-habit strategies teach you to enjoy healthy foods in a gentle way.

2. Do not restrict unhealthy foods, and do not deprive people of satisfaction.

Once your body has become accustomed to a certain eating pattern, there's a 95% chance of failing to change it (this is the failure rate of dieting according to some scientific studies). If you really crave a hamburger, think about this sentence, try the strategies for dealing with temptation suggested in the book, and see if they work. If the craving is still strong, then you'd better go ahead and eat and fully enjoy the hamburger.

This desire might be discouraging because you want to improve, but you can still improve. Try chewing each bite 30 times, drinking water, or seeing if you can replace the bun in your hamburger with lettuce. These are battles in a war, and the best option isn't always the most extreme one. Even if you lose this battle, it's less important than winning the entire war. We no longer fight blindly; we choose to fight battles we can win. Patience and carefully planned strategies are the keys to victory.

To reduce your intake of junk food, the solution is to unconditionally allow yourself to eat it, and then use strategies to help you make healthier decisions. Leave the feeling of unfulfilled cravings to dieters. If you feel unsatisfied while using a micro-habit weight loss strategy, you're either doing it wrong or need to adjust it to your needs.

I'm not saying you should eat whatever you want just because you crave unhealthy foods. If you want a burger, but also salmon and vegetables, then eat salmon. This isn't about suppressing an uncontrollable craving, but about choosing the better one between two desires.

3. Don't feel ashamed.

There is no reason to feel ashamed of your weight or what you eat. Finishing a slice of pizza in two bites is not a crime, nor does it ruin any hope of successful weight loss, and it's not doing anything "wrong." Food is not a moral issue; that is, there is no connection between food and morality (except in cases involving religious factors).

Eating hamburgers, fries, candy, baby cabbage, French onion soup, bacon, and soda shouldn't affect how you perceive yourself. Think about it: almost everyone eats almost every type of food, so why should you be the only one feeling uneasy about eating a particular food? It doesn't make sense. Others have eaten that food too. I'm a health fanatic, but I've also eaten all sorts of terrible processed foods. In the 1990s, there was a soda called Surge that was all the rage, and I drank it every day as if it would give me superpowers. It had more sugar and caffeine than most sodas, so sometimes it really did feel like I had superpowers.

Food sustains us and brings us joy, except for the crickets I ate in Thailand. Your neighbor's fried food will still provide the energy to keep them alive.

You can eat a food without shame, fully understanding its effects on your body. This is easier to do once you've let go of the dieting mentality. If old dieting tendencies resurface, you may need to remind yourself of this. Perhaps you also need to deliberately and confidently eat unhealthy foods to reassure yourself that eating unhealthy foods isn't a crime. You have a weight loss plan, but your plan is completely different from those that don't work. Your plan is rooted in personal freedom, autonomy, and control. No food will be restricted.

Make up your mind now to get rid of all shame about your weight and food. Without shame, you'll feel 100 pounds lighter!

4. Be a captain, not a sailor.

This is important. Many people read books that introduce methods and then act on them, hoping to succeed. But when practicing the micro-habit strategy, you must take the initiative. You need to become a leader, use this book as a guide, and make changes yourself. The greatest leaders have advisors, and this book is your advisor. You are the one in charge, living your own life.

If you lower yourself to the level of a sailor, you'll follow orders instead of understanding the rationale behind the strategy. Those who achieve the greatest success with micro-habit strategies are those who have truly mastered them. They see what works: small, imperceptible changes don't trigger a physical or subconscious backlash; shame can break us, while small victories encourage us; autonomy empowers us to reach new heights, while rules constantly suppress us until we rebel; and consistency is paramount because consistent action shapes our habit preferences.

One of the most obvious differences between a captain and a sailor is that a captain makes changes as needed, while a sailor simply obeys orders. Captains are generally more ambitious and more likely to exceed expectations (which is the most exciting aspect of the micro-habit strategy).

You are free to live as you wish, and you possess a powerful strategy to help you become a better version of yourself. This is a strategy that will benefit you for life because you haven't given up your freedom. You are empowering your life, not by obeying orders or depriving yourself of your freedom in pursuit of results. Captain, steer your ship with confidence.