WAY too often, people fight bravely to lose excess fat and get to a safer, healthier weight.

Many do attain their goal, but agonizingly so, all too often this is not the happy ending they had hoped for as a very high percentage will relapse and regain weight with a heavier body, now older and more weary.

Unlike many other common systems, the IntéKai System is made up of two phases, specifically designed to address this challenge — the Wave (weight loss) Phase and the Maintenance Phase.

The ITK wave phase

The ITK Wave is the fat loss phase of our system, designed to:

• Utilise stored fat for energy (burn fat);

• Maintain the all-important muscle mass;

• Minimise plateauing;

• Avoid metabolic problems;

• Re-establish good gut bacteria health;

• Offer accountability and support;

• Create a sense of personal responsibility and a new relationship with wellness;

• Undo unhealthy habituations and addictions;

• Develop healthy eating habits and mindset;

• Educate and inform on unhealthy food options and healthy food choices; and

• Adapt to each individual regardless of age, gender, size, culture, or medical condition.

Regardless of this extensive process, the changes that come with the ITK Wave, for lifelong results, the Maintenance Phase is necessary.

Why ITK maintenance?

A high percentage of successful weight losses end in relapse, resulting in regaining 50-100 per cent of the weight lost, and more.

However, the ITK Maintenance Phase is designed to prevent a runaway relapse.

There are known and researched factors involved in maintaining fat loss. These include:

• Genuine sustainable lifestyle change;

• Knowledge and mindset development;

• An unwavering schedule of eating;

• Weight tracking (yes, research proves that the majority of people benefit from monitoring gains);

• Accountability and guidance;

• Available support and like-minded people;

• Increased focus on body fat percentage (a more significant marker for healthy outcomes) and not only weight.

Importantly, there are fine points of weight loss which go largely unknown or overlooked.

The process of fat loss causes changes in our metabolism. If left unmanaged, this can result in persistent metabolic adaptation. This reduces how many calories one needs, resulting in you having to eat less and less just to keep the same weight; increasing the challenge of maintaining the fat loss.

The IntéKai Wave minimises this effect, and the IntéKai Maintenance Phase counters this condition by employing the Wave formulas in the fat-burning phase and gradual negative dieting in maintenance — a process of adjusting intake levels to allow metabolic levels to normalise.

Most of the individuals who relapse have an, “I was on a diet, but yay, I reached my goal, so now I am off the diet”, mindset. This is a fast-track to regaining the weight, not realising that only half the work has been done, leaving yourself up to “eating normally” again. This, in part or in full, got them where they didn’t want to be in the first place.

Continued support and guidance are needed to get to a new lifestyle and a new mindset.

It is essential to be taken out of the weight loss dieting state, get to a normalised metabolism and a healthy lifestyle mindset. Our brains will require undoing the old, deep learning, allowing us to embrace wellness for life.

Without these adjustments, even after all the effort, we will end up older and fatter and sicker with a diet-resistant body, and no one wants that.

Who else can benefit from maintenance?

The IntéKai Maintenance Phase was designed from the ground up, to accommodate and address all the factors covered above, but over the years it has also been proven useful for:

• Individuals struggling to lose those last few pounds and inches;

• People trying to kick that dangerous and unhealthy processed food habit;

• Gastric modification recipients who have ceased losing or have begun regaining weight;

• Individuals with illnesses, including hormone affecting and autoimmune diseases; and

• People trying to break their unhealthy cravings for flour and refined sugars.

Manageable sustainable maintenance is invaluable. IntéKai maintenance will keep you on track for one to two years.

We will monitor your progress, inform, offer support, and give meal direction, while phasing control over to you as you master your own new, sustainable wellness lifestyle. This will result in you getting to your best mode weight range. This is a healthy range you will live in, most of the time, for a lifetime.

Fitz-George Rattray is the director of Intekai Academy, which is focused on helping people live a healthy lifestyle through nutrition and weight management. If you are interested in losing weight or living a healthier lifestyle, give them a call at 876-863-5923, or visit their website at intekaiacademy.org