Part 1: The Miraculous Experience of Losing 50 Kilograms in a Year

The weight loss method introduced in this book, though simple, has profound implications. In fact, this method is not just for weight loss; it will bring about tremendous changes to your lifestyle and attitude towards life.

First, let's address the question of "why I absolutely need to lose weight," and then explore the reasons why I haven't lost weight. Follow these steps to easily begin your weight loss journey!

That's right, I successfully lost 50 kilograms in one year. My weight dropped from 117 kilograms to 67 kilograms. Such a huge change was something I never expected a year ago.

Some people around me asked if I followed a very strict weight loss plan, while others asked if I had any secrets. To be honest, neither.

I tried everything – spending money, making myself uncomfortable and in pain, or restricting myself to eating only certain things.

I didn't fast, I didn't have liposuction, I didn't go to the gym, I didn't take any nutritional supplements, I didn't buy a horse riding machine, I didn't wear a sweat-inducing shirt, I didn't go to a beauty clinic, and I didn't eat any diet foods!

When asked, "Was it still painful?" I honestly didn't know how to answer. Actually, looking back on this year-long weight loss journey, although it was tough, it was filled with even more joyful memories. Those who haven't successfully lost weight might not understand this feeling. Successfully losing weight changed me, and it changed how others viewed me. It was truly a joyful and exciting experience.

Especially during the three months starting last September, I lost 1 kilogram every week-the changes were unimaginable. Every week my belt would shrink by one hole, and every month I had to buy new pants, shirts, and underwear. My body became increasingly lighter; I no longer got out of breath running, and climbing stairs was a breeze. As a 48-year-old middle-aged man, it felt like becoming a superman wouldn't be difficult at all. It's no exaggeration to say that every day was spent in a state of profound emotion: this is what it means to regain youth!

The way people around them looked at them changed.

When I told people around me that I was on a diet, the reactions were usually just, "You've lost some weight!" or "Mr. Okada, you'd look better if you were a little chubby." It was more of a perfunctory, comforting response.

However, after I lost 25 kilograms, the reactions around me changed drastically, and more and more people spoke the truth: "You look like a completely different person!", "I couldn't even recognize you from a distance!"

Moreover, even now, people often ask her, "How can I lose weight like that?"

When I told them, "Losing weight is fun," they all looked astonished.

Everyone believes that the struggle of dieting won't end until you're slim and fit. You're always thinking about ending this painful dieting journey as soon as possible so you can enjoy your food. I'm sure many of you readers feel the same way, right?

However, people who try to lose weight with this mindset rarely stick to it for more than a year or two, and without exception, they all experience rebound weight gain. People find weight loss too painful, so most give up.

On the contrary, losing weight is fun!

Use your own ingenuity to develop effective methods; it's okay to eat what you crave. When your efforts yield results, you'll naturally feel happy, and seeing your weight drop will be incredibly exciting!

To use a travel analogy, the destination isn't the whole story. When visiting the Grand Canyon, standing atop it and gazing at the breathtaking view is undoubtedly the most exhilarating moment, but the hardships of the journey shouldn't be dismissed as suffering. This is especially true for a first-time trip. Cashing traveler's checks, deciding on flights, finding a hotel in Los Angeles, renting a car-these are all exciting experiences. Once you arrive, the streets, souvenir shops, hotels, even fast-food restaurants are all full of fun. Looking back at your photos after returning home, you'll find that besides the Grand Canyon, you also captured many other memorable places.

Losing weight is the same principle. Making yourself thin is certainly a great goal. However, the hardships and struggles along the way are also included in this ultimate goal. Of course, there will be setbacks and failures in various attempts. But once you finally succeed, you'll feel that even the previous setbacks are beautiful memories.

Just like the various troubles caused by not knowing English when traveling, they all seem like funny stories in retrospect.

I want to emphasize again that losing weight can be fun!

The most common misconception about weight loss is the preconceived notion that "weight loss is painful."

If you constantly dwell on the pain, you'll long for the diet to end soon; in pursuit of better results, you'll endure even more extreme weight loss methods. This leads to ever-increasing levels of endurance, until finally reaching the limit, causing you to give up halfway, and even regain all the weight you lost, resulting in a rebound. This is a classic chain reaction of failure.

You can't lose weight without enduring all of this?

That's not true!

Once you start dieting, well-meaning people around you will offer all sorts of advice, such as "It's not enough to just lose weight, you also need to exercise to build muscle," "Calculating calories is too troublesome, I can't do it," and "It's very easy to rebound after failing to lose weight and become even fatter," and so on.

This information is generally not wrong. However, for someone who wants to lose weight, it's all just boring nonsense.

The information I just mentioned, as well as most of the popular weight loss methods, are actually aimed at people who are already slim and want to maintain their figure.

Have a salad for dinner and do an hour of cardio every day. If you stick to it, you won't gain weight in the first place. People who can be satisfied with just a salad for dinner and some beans, vegetables, and fish at every meal will naturally stay slim! For those of us who can't lose weight even if we want to, listening to the advice of these health enthusiasts is completely futile.

People who are already slim only need to maintain their figure, while what we are pursuing is a weight loss method that can make us lose 10, 20, or 30 kilograms. The two are fundamentally different.

Similarly, the exercise-based weight loss approach advocated by muscle-building enthusiasts, which emphasizes "building muscle to boost basal metabolism," is also ineffective.

Spending an hour running or exercising every day should lead to weight loss, right? I don't deny its effectiveness. In fact, I believe that spending an hour on cardio every day will definitely lead to weight loss. However, you might want to ask yourself how long you can stick to it?

Let's assume that one hour of aerobic exercise every day can lead to weight loss. However, once you stop exercising, the weight will rebound. And people who don't like exercising in the first place simply can't stick to it.

Weight loss should be simple: set your sights solely on slimming down. More importantly, it should be something you can stick to for six months, or even a year. Leaving aside those tricks that promise a 1kg or 3kg reduction, for my "super weight loss method" that allows me to lose over 10kg at once, the most crucial element is making consistency possible.

Actually, regardless of the weight loss method, you can lose some weight quickly at the beginning. Any weight loss book that's been published and sold will have some effect. Following the instructions in the book will definitely lead to weight loss. However, the problem is that these efforts can only be sustained for 1-3 months, after which there's a plateau, and everyone feels frustrated.

According to an investigation by The Washington Post, a total of 26,000 weight loss methods have been published in the United States over the past 70 years, but only 10 out of 200 people have successfully lost weight using these methods, which means the success rate is only 5%.

The "success" referred to here means at least reaching the target weight. In other words, 95 out of 100 people fail before reaching their target weight because they "cannot stick to it."

Of these 5% of successful individuals, only 1 out of 200, or 0.5%, was able to maintain their weight afterward.

Regardless of the weight loss method used, most people succeed within the first week to three weeks, because it's easiest to see results at the beginning. After a few weeks to two months, a plateau occurs, and 90% of people give up at this point.

Therefore, the failure to lose weight is not due to not being able to lose weight, but rather to not being able to stick to it. From this, it's easy to imagine how difficult it is to maintain a consistent weight loss plan.