Because we make it difficult.

Here's the deal: The human body wants Netflix, cold, lots of delicious food, and an attractive member of the opposite sex.

It’s not trying to lose weight.

Losing weight, inevitably, requires at least some superficial effort.

But too many people make it too difficult.

While losing weight is no walk in the park, there's no need to take a long, tiring walk to Mordor.

You know the first thing people do to lose weight? Eat less.

Usually, significantly reduced.

This is the first mistake.

Your body is already hating you because you're limiting its access to too much energy—stop irritating it by eating a nut diet of one almond a day.

The most important weight loss rule is: keep it as simple as possible.

In part, this means eating as much as possible.

"Can" is the key word, since you should eat as much as possible while losing weight.

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry? Don’t think so.

Have you ever seen a photo like this before? Don’t worry – I’m not asking you to swap cupcakes for broccoli.

Only a madman would do that.

It was too intense.

For most people, this is too much to live with because the cupcakes are so delicious and the (especially raw) broccoli tastes too much like swamp butt.

Let's be gentler.

Here's what you should do: Think about gradients and hierarchies.

It goes like this: Pasta Rice Potatoes Broccoli Fatty Meat Fatty Fish Lean Meat Lean Fish.

Milk Chocolate Dark Chocolate Ice Cream Low-Fat Ice Cream To lose weight without the pain, consider substituting rice for pasta.

Or potatoes.

If you still aren't losing weight, eat broccoli.

The same goes for meat.

The same goes for chocolate.

Ever seen a toddler run across the room at full speed like an Olympian? Small steps are important.

They help you walk.

Stop substituting broccoli for cupcakes.

The change in identity and habits is too great.

Another “keep things simple” mentality occurs when we consume most of our food.

Most of my sedentary clients eat the same lunch.

It goes like this: protein shake + fruit.

the reason is simple.

When most people try to lose weight, they either avoid eating their favorite foods.

Replace all their food with less appealing options.

Step 1 and 2.

But here's the thing: Eating an unpleasant meal in the evening, whether in a social setting or in front of your favorite TV show, is the same in terms of calorie impact, but different in terms of emotional cost than a busy day at work.

Each meal is the same energetically, but has different emotional effects on us.

You don't have to stop enjoying dinner with your family***.

You don't need to bring your own food to the picnic.

You don’t need to order a salad on a date.

But maybe drink a protein shake, have some fruit for lunch, or start eating a lean, protein-only breakfast.

How high is the emotional cost of doing this? You may be busy working at lunchtime, and if not, you may be too busy in the morning to really enjoy the food you eat.

It’s a bit wasteful to use up a lot of energy like that, isn’t it? Which brings me to the other, and final, three things I just invented to make things easy: delicious.

See these strawberries? How about these plums? Or how about this garlic chicken breast? These are delicious.

They are also both very small in terms of energy compared to their volume, making them very filling.

Dieting is inevitably difficult.

We should try to offset this by making our meals as tasty and filling as possible.

I actually eat more food when I'm dieting than when I'm fat because when I'm dieting, my hunger hormones are stronger, whereas when I'm fat, eating feels like a chore.

(Yes, that means I eat ice cream for tactical reasons).

If this all seems a bit much, I've put them together into a simple list of what you need for sustainable fat loss (generally): Foods you enjoy.

Eat as much as your diet allows and be patient.

Habits you can stick with for a long time.

Maybe some protein.

Calorie deficit be damned.

Not cabbage (optional).

That's it, really.

It sounds simple, but most people don't want to do it, maybe because it's simple.

If weight loss is difficult and complicated, that means success is a difficult endeavor, something we're unlikely to succeed at—and if we fail, it provides us with an easy way out.

It allows us to deceive ourselves.

"Of course I can't lose weight. It's so difficult. Almost impossible." But what if it wasn't? What if, in reality, it wasn't so hard