Losing weight is much easier — when your primary goal is vibrant health.

While we don’t recommend “weight-loss goals” as such, we do acknowledge that your body will naturally seek its ideal weight if you make a permanent commitment to the 4-Leaf lifestyle  in your never-ending quest to achieve and maintain vibrant health for the rest of your life.  (See 4-Leaf page)

Leveraging the simple, yet powerful concept of maximizing the percent of your calories from whole plant foods -- still in nature's package

What about longevity goals? As for goals to reach a certain age; we don’t recommend that either. Again, a lifelong commitment to 4Leaf eating — coupled with adequate exercise, rest and purpose in your life; will very likely bring you an exceptionally long life of vibrant health — while greatly reducing your chances of succumbing to some form of chronic disease.

I recently heard about a guy whose goal was to live to be 150; something about wanting to be in the Guinness Book of Records. But for me, my motivation is two-fold:

1. Maintaining vibrant health throughout my life and avoiding the old nursing home.
2. Making a major difference in terms of executing my tagline of promoting health, hope and harmony on planet Earth. (See “purpose below)

As we point out in five of the eleven chapters in our book, what you choose to eat affects far more than just your health. A few of us are launching a project called “HARMONY” next week; and if things go as we envision, soon there will be hundreds of millions of people who will hear about the world-changing power of plant-based nutrition. Stay tuned for more news on this initiative.

You can say goodbye to your bathroom scale; after effortlessly reaching your ideal weight on the 4-Leaf Program, why would you ever need it again?

Back to weight-loss. Normally reserved for January, we decided to start talking about weight-loss before Thanksgiving this year — before much of the damage is done. We have observed that weight-loss is much easier — when you’re really not trying to lose weight. Many longtime vegetarians and vegans immediately start losing weight when they switch to 4Leaf eating — maximizing the percent of their daily calories from whole, plant-based foods; still in nature’s package.

There are many examples of people who have lost a significant amount of weight when they didn’t realize that they had any weight to lose. Here’s one that I received from Jean yesterday after reading my blog:

Hi, I really enjoyed this post as it mirrors my experience over the years. In 1984 when I became vegetarian, I no longer struggled with weight control and leveled off at 120 pounds (small-boned 5’5” female). Then in 1997 when I became vegan, my weight dropped to 115 and stayed there. In 2003 when I started following Dr. Fuhrman’s nutritarian approach (a lot of whole foods like your 4 – leaf program), I dropped another 10 pounds without trying and currently maintain that weight.

While the BMI charts claim I am too thin, because of my small frame, my weight seems perfect and I never have to worry about it. For someone who weighed 140 in my teens, I am delighted to know that healthy eating takes care of the weight issue!

Also “weighing in” (no pun intended) yesterday on this subject is Denise:

Your scenario of Nov 15 to June 15 is one that I just lived last year. You are so right on. I dropped weight without trying. I felt great and still do. Most of all, this past summer for the first time in many years I actually looked forward to spending time on the beach in my BATHING SUIT. If I don’t say so myself…..I look great  and I’m in vibrant HEALTH!

A permanent, health-promoting diet-style with lots of flexibility. Diet - Exercise - Rest - Purpose.

Weight-loss goals. In earlier blogs, we have featured the success of Dr. Hurley in Boston. Starting his 4-Leaf lifestyle with a goal of “vibrant health” almost one year ago — weighing in at 208 for a healthy young man (40’s) at 5’10” (a BMI of 29.6 just a hair below the obese range).

About six months later, after effortlessly losing over forty pounds, he confessed that if he’d been asked for his weight-loss goal last year, he would’ve said 185 since he hadn’t been below that weight in decades. But now he’s nearing the 160 mark (not seen since he was 12) and announced today that his wife has just decided to adopt 4Leaf completely. She apparently didn’t like the way she looked in some pictures from a recent wedding. Deciding it was time to join her husband on the 4-Leaf Program, she has already lost 8 pounds in just three weeks. Read their story posted on 7-22-11. 

BMI in the low 20’s — naturally and effortlessly. All three of these stories support the premise that I put forth yesterday. A permanent commitment to the 4-Leaf lifestyle will probably yield a BMI in the low 20’s for most people.

For more information on this topic of effortless and permanent weight-loss, see yesterday’s post: Holiday Eating. Gaining weight or losing? It’s your choice.

Authors J. Stanfield Hicks and J. Morris Hicks, with BMI's averaging 21.0 -- without even trying. I was once turned down for health insurance because they said that I was too skinny.

The “4 leaves of health.” In addition to the 4-Leaf level of eating, I want to broaden the definition today to include the other essentials for optimal health. Consider them the 4 leaves in the book of vibrant health.

1. Leaf #1 — Diet (Eating consistently at the 4-Leaf level)
2. Leaf #2 — Exercise (Daily, outside if possible)
3. Leaf #3 — Rest (Give your body the 7 or 8 hours sleep that it needs)
4. Leaf #4 — Purpose (Find the passion in your life)

The holidays are just around the corner; why not give yourself "vibrant health" this year?

New for the Holidays; Visit our new “4-Leaf Gear” store for some unique gift-giving ideas. This is the ONLY place in the world where you can buy 4-Leaf logo merchandise.

If you like what you see here, you may wish to join our periodic mailing list. Also, for help in your own quest to take charge of your health, you might find some useful information at our 4-Leaf page. From the seaside village of Stonington, Connecticut – Be well and have a great day.

If you’d like to order our book on Amazon, visit our BookStore now.

—J. Morris Hicks…blogging daily at HealthyEatingHealthyWorld.com

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