Every strategy has an extreme-o-meter you can dial up or down, according to your need.

On a scale of 1 to 10 how easy is it for you to gain weight? A setting of 1
is if you were let loose in Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory, you would end up
losing weight. A value of 10 means even the thought of a chocolate factory
adds 5 pounds.

Your honest answer matters, because you have to decide for yourself
which strategies to choose and how extreme you need to be in implementing
them.

Every strategy has an extreme-o-meter you can dial up or down according
to your own unique nature and what you wish to accomplish. For some
strategies, I dial the extreme-o-meter high because I know I have a particular
problem in that area. For other strategies I dial the extreme-o-meter lower
because it’s not as big a problem for me.

How extreme you need to be for a particular strategy is something you
need to figure out for yourself. Think of the extreme-o-meter as a knob you
dial up or down as your life changes.

Everyone Has Their Own Unique Way of Being Overweight

You are unique in all the world. Nobody is exactly like you. Your genetics
are unique, your life experience is unique, your talents are unique, your place
in your life is unique, and the environment in which you live is unique.
What being unique means is that nobody can look at you and know why
you are overweight. We simply don’t know if you have fewer dopamine receptors,
a higher weight set-point, problems with your hormone system, if you
have fewer taste buds, the inability to get good results from exercise, a system
more sensitive to stress or the lack of sleep, or a whole host of other issues that
could contribute to your being overweight.

Who You are Matters: Are You a Morning Person or a Night Person?
One way to think about your own uniqueness is to consider another very
personal point about yourself: are you a morning person or a night person?
Do you jump out of bed in the morning singing “zippity-do da zippityay”
or do you hide your head under the covers hoping your alarm explodes?
Over the years it has probably become obvious to you which type of person
you are.

It may surprise you that being a morning person or night person is
genetically based. We can look at your DNA and figure out which kind of
person—morning or night—you are likely to become. DNA determines what
is likely to happen. You could turn out differently than your DNA specifies,
but if I were a betting man I would bet on your DNA.

This doesn’t mean that a night person can never get up early or that an
early person can never stay up ‘til dawn. What it does mean is you’ll probably
end up living your life toward one edge of the extreme.

What happens if you try to go against your nature? What if you are a night
person who works the early shift? What if you are an early person working
the night shift? Unhappiness. Either way you’ll walk around like a zombie in
Night of the Living Dead because it just doesn’t work. You are what you are.
Through extreme discipline you can make it work for a while, if you have to.
But you won’t be as happy as you would be if you were living with your nature
instead of against it.

Nobody tells you if you are a morning person or a night person. You figure
it out for yourself through trial and error. You just know what works best for
you. People will believe you if you say you are a morning person. They won’t
say something absurd like if you just had more willpower you could be a night
person. They’ll understand because they are a particular type of person too.
In the same way you are a particular type of overweight person. Nobody
can tell you which kind, because there are so many ways of being overweight.
Only a few people share your kind of being overweight, so most others won’t
understand when you say something doesn’t work for you.

I am an 11 on the 10 Point Scale

My family has obviously survived many a famine. I’ve found I have to
be extreme on many strategies to be successful. For the most part I don’t feel
bad about this. Someone will always be faster, stronger, smarter, and better than I am at something. I accept this is how I am. It’s a fact. I have to deal with the facts by understanding the threats and being creative on how to
counter them.

For example, one of the strategies we’ll talk about later is to avoid stocking
extra food in your house. This means, for example, not buying 20 boxes
of crackers at a time. You’ll eat more when have more food available than if
you had the right amount.

This is so true for me, so I don’t stock food anymore. I know I had to adopt
this strategy and be as extreme about it as I can. Honestly, if I could, I’d have
no food in the house at all and I would have a Star Trek Replicator prepare a
perfectly portioned and nutritious meal on demand.

Would better willpower solve the problem? A little. But remember, only a
few slip-ups a week leads to weight gain. My willpower hasn’t been that good
in a lot of areas, but it’s surprisingly good in others. Of course, as always, your
mileage may vary.

What’s the Best Way for You Personally to Lose Weight?

Whatever works. That’s my favorite saying of all time. Find what works for
you and do it. Nobody can tell you which strategies will work for you. Nobody,
not your doctor, not your partner, not your best friend, not the media. Nobody
can know how you feel inside or how your body will respond to different strategies.
Believe in your own experience to figure out what works for you.
You’ll have to experiment with different strategies and how extreme you
have to be in each strategy. Don’t feel bad if a strategy doesn’t work; keep trying
and be creative. Something will work.
Everyone is similar enough that we can share ideas on what works or not,
but we are dissimilar enough that what works is different for each of us. One
size does not fit all. The support website at http://YourDesignerDiet.com can
be a big help in your journey of trying to find what will work. You can also
help others by sharing your successes.

The Nibble Example

Here’s a good example of the extreme-o-meter in action. Many people are
tempted by food in close nibble distance. They keep eating even when they
are “done” eating. The hand automatically reaches for the food and places it
in the mouth. No thinking required.

If you are one of these people, then move the food away, pack it in a to-go
box, or hide the food from sight. Out of site out of mind. Using this strategy
you really protect yourself from overeating.

Some other people may be tempted by the food, but not enough to keep
nibbling. For them, the Lifeguarding strategies we’ll talk about later in the
book may be enough.

And still other people won’t give the food a second thought. They get to
do nothing, blind to the food-generated torment many of us experience.
Be as extreme as you need to be when threatened. Don’t worry about how
you think you should feel or how other people react to the same tempting food.
Do what you need to do to help you deal with the immediate threat. And then
take pride and satisfaction in knowing that you both noticed the problem and
took action to solve it. That’s good stuff. That’s how you control your weight,
being as extreme as you need to be.

The Secret is to Experiment and Find What Works for You

Experiment. If something isn’t working then try a little more, try a little
less. Make a little change. Imagine in your mind how it might be made to work
for you. Ask people for their advice. And in the end if a strategy doesn’t work
for you then toss it and move on to the next one. Something will work. It’s not
a race. It’s OK if finding the right strategies takes a little time.

A fantastic example of the incredible power behind this idea is shown
by a study at Children’s Hospital Boston. It clearly demonstrates that paying
attention to your personal biology is critical for controlling your weight.

They put some people on a low-fat diet and others on a low-glycaemic diet.
A low-glycaemic diet says you should limit the amount of quickly digested
carbohydrates. Quickly digested carbohydrates like white bread and refined
breakfast cereals spike your blood sugar and insulin levels. They found that
some people naturally already produce a lot of insulin. When on the low-glycaemic
diet, these people lose almost six times more weight than when they
are on a low-fat diet!

The low-glycaemic diet controlled their insulin levels better. If you already
produce a lot of insulin, should you really be on a diet that encourages you
to produce even more insulin? But you’ll find people pushing both types of
diets—low-fat, low-glycaemic—like they’ll work for everyone equally well.
And then when it doesn’t work they put the blame on you, implying you just lack willpower. What you really need is a simple oral glucose test to see how much insulin you produce so you can choose a diet that works with your biology, not against it. That’s the general idea behind the Designer Diet. There are thousands of similar ways in which you are overweight and the Designer Diet helps you find them and stop them from hurting you.

Yes, everyone has weaknesses, but everyone has strengths too. Search
out your strengths and use them to your advantage.