Why Does a Business President Write a Weight Loss Book?

Shopping For Calories Lifestyle Weight Loss Method – Book by Todd Gifford

I know what you are thinking —- oh boy, just what we need, another weight loss book! Not long ago, I wrote and published a book about Weight Loss, called “Shopping For Calories Lifestyle Weight Loss Method – The Easiest, Most Effective and Sustainable Way to Lose Weight and Achieve Your Target Size”.

There is an important reason I wrote this book. Very simply, I figured out a systematic, sustainable way to lose a desired amount of weight…enjoyably…and stay at that weight…enjoyably. Here are the key words: Systematic and Enjoyably and Sustainable. The reason I wanted to write the book was that I was very passionate about what I had discovered and I wanted to document it for other people to benefit from (and have a good reminder and reference in case I ever got off track). Thankfully, I have never gotten off track from my target weight in the years since achieving my target weight and size, which was 30 pounds below my then current weight. And, I weigh in every single day and log my weight every single day — so there is no wiggle room for fudging! That right there is a good proof testimonial for my book.

But after I completed and published the book, as I was re-reading it, I discovered that the book is not just a weight loss book, but it is also a ‘business book’ and a ‘life improvement book’ and ‘personal success book’ as well. And this is what prompts me to write this article — to share some of the fundamental principles that are extremely important to achieving any goal or any type of success. They apply to weight loss, sports, hobbies, achieving any desired goal or reaching any type of level of success. And they work.

To be clear, I am not trying to sell books — *I give away the books for Free* to people I know, clients, people I meet, friends of friends, etc…. Later in my article I will tell you how to get a free copy of the book if you have interest. You can purchase it on Amazon too in paperback or Kindle format, but you can get one for free from DEE/me.

One of my bucket list items for many years was to become a published author. I had no idea that my first published book would be on Weight Loss of all things. I have at least 5 other books I am interested in writing and slowly building the chapter content for those — but the Weight Loss book idea kind of grabbed me by the neck and ‘forced’ me to get it done first. I have always heard from other authors that “you really know when a book is trying to come out of you”, and I found this to be the case. It was a situation where I simply had to write it to get it out of my head and heart and onto paper.

The Teacher Learns More Than The Student

A key philosophy that I strive to embrace daily that I have picked up from a number of very successful people that I interact with is: “the teacher always learns more than the student”. In other words, there is an interesting irony about teaching —- you learn more than the students you are teaching! So, I felt that if I could document what I had discovered about a systematic and sustainable (and enjoyable) weight loss lifestyle system, effectively teaching it to others, I would ultimately benefit from it by learning even more. And….that is what happened. As I wrote the book, it forced me to dig deeper on many aspects of what I was writing about, which resulted in me learning more about ‘why’ what I was doing was working so well. It was sort of like Root Cause analysis in the business setting. By doing that, it created a better book, created better teaching, but it also created the opportunity for me to learn more.

And through this added learning and root cause investigation is where the ‘magic’ within the Shopping For Calories Weight Loss Lifestyle was found and documented. Additionally, the book can be read from a different perspective to also be a self-improvement book, even a business book.

Mastery

One of the most important, but unlikely for a weight loss book, chapters of the book is on the concept of “Mastery” and how to apply it to weight loss. I discovered that weight loss is not a project or even a goal. Weight loss is a process, which, if you want it to be, is an ongoing (sustainable) process in order to maintain your target weight indefinitely. This is big. Very little success in life comes as a result of a project. Life successes are largely the result of processes or systems that are put into place, either consciously or unconsciously. And a significant aspect of any process is mastering that process. Becoming a master is much easier than you think, but also much different than you think. I won’t give away the secret here — read the book!

80/20 Rule

Everybody has heard of the 80/20 rule (Pareto Principle), but few really apply it to its maximum potential in their life. Most relegate the 80/20 rule to a phenomena that happens with “data” analysis. While I was engaged in my weight loss crusade, I was also studying the 80/20 rule in significant depth to learn more about how to proactively ‘apply’ it and leverage it. It was a major lightbulb going on moment when something I had figured out via trial and error and an intuitive hunch that made a HUGE difference in *enjoyable* weight loss and was totally a result of applying the 80/20 rule within my lifestyle. Arguably it is this aspect of my Shopping for Calories Weight Loss Lifestyle Method that has the biggest single impact on Sustainability due to making the process enjoyable vs. requiring will power or other “tricks” or gadgetry. Everyone can apply the 80/20 rule the way I did and custom tailor it to their individual lifestyle. The thing this really taught me is that once you understand how to apply the 80/20 rule to one thing, you want to look hard at everywhere you can possibly leverage this concept in your life and at work. You will enjoy and benefit from this chapter in the book all by itself.

Writing and publishing the book was extremely satisfying once it was finished. I have re-read it myself a number of times, and still pick up something new each time a read it (and I wrote it!). That just goes to show another important principle: everything you read is interpreted based on where you are in your life at time you read it. Reading the same thing again at a different point in life will extract different gems of wisdom.

If you would like a free copy of the book, just send an email to [email protected], use a Subject of “Shopping for Calories Book”, and provide your contact information. I hope you enjoy it, benefit from it, and certainly share any thoughts you have.

Be Your Best,
Todd D. Gifford