Frank Luntz posted about his weight loss journey on Twitter, which generated buzz.
Frank Luntz is an American political and communications consultant, pollster, and pundit. Many recognize him as he frequently appears on television. After losing 60 pounds, his appearance has significantly changed over the past years.
Luntz claimed that his early 2020 stroke served as his catalyst for getting his act together and losing weight. However, he has found it “impossible” to keep the weight off. One night, he woke up hungry and miserable, prompting him to vent to the rest of the world.
“For anyone who has lost weight to live, you have my respect,” he wrote in a Twitter post he shared in April 2021. “After dropping 60 lb, I can’t do it anymore. I can’t be this hungry every hour of every day. I truly appreciate the compliments, but I appreciate food even more.”
He ended the post by noting, “I can tolerate the fat insults better than the hunger.”
Thousands of people liked and commented on the tweet, and many gave support and advice. There are many examples of people losing weight successfully, but keeping it off is challenging. According to research, one-third to two-thirds of dieters gain back more weight than they lost while on their diets.
“I look much different, and everyone has been complimentary, and I appreciate it, but I’ve been so weak and so unhappy that I’ve just had enough,” Luntz said in an interview with TODAY.
He added that although he didn’t want to gain weight again, he can’t help but be “fat again,” and he can’t be this “miserable.” The pollster further noted that he’d rather be embarrassed about his weight than hungry and exhausted.
Frank Luntz's Weight Loss Tricks
The main keys to Eric’s successful weight loss:
- He consulted a chef and a dietitian, and they helped him prepare calorie-controlled meals
- He stopped drinking diet sodas and switched to drinking only water
- He gave up all sweets, including cookies, cakes, ice cream, and other treats
- He followed intermittent fasting
- He does 10,000 steps every day and frequently weighed himself
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Frank Luntz finds maintaining his weight loss challenging.
Luntz, underweight as a child, claimed to have put on “a ton of weight” in his late 20s. During those times, he ate whatever he wanted – such as an ice cream cone, cake, or spaghetti. He emphasized how happy he was when eating whatever he liked.
Luntz, who stands 5 feet, 9 inches tall, weighed a maximum of 238 pounds before having a stroke in January 2020. His BMI fell into the obese range, and his blood pressure was extremely high. According to a brain scan, he had also been suffering mini-strokes.
“I was a mess. I had to just get my act together, or I was going to die,” Luntz said.
What did Frank Luntz do to live a healthy life?
The consultant frequently traveled for business but was forced to stay in Los Angeles in Spring 2020 due to the COVID-19 lockdown. He consulted a chef and a dietitian to lose weight, who began preparing delightful, calorie-controlled meals for him.
Luntz stopped drinking diet sodas, switched to drinking only water, and gave up all sweets, including cookies, cakes, ice cream, and other treats. He also followed intermittent fasting, which involves eating only during specific hours of the day and concentrating on eating more salads and plant-based protein.
To keep motivated, he intended to do 10,000 steps every day and frequently weighed himself. Everything worked perfectly for him. He achieved his ideal weight of around 170 pounds between March and September after losing 60 pounds.
However, Frank Luntz encountered setbacks.
Luntz left the West Coast and his chef and dietician behind as he started traveling more when the situation eased. He said that dieting was totally impossible while traveling. His weight slowly climbed back into the 190s by January 2021.
He became frustrated and decided to only eat “a meal-and-a-half a day,” frequently going without food until 3 p.m. He’ll go to bed early if he is starving. One night, he slept around 7 p.m. and woke up at 11 o’clock feeling hungry. That’s when he fired off the tweet. The answer has since left him overwhelmed.
“It was the most wonderful outpouring of support and concern I’ve ever seen,” the pollster said.
Experts advise maintaining a healthy weight.
Nutritionists agree that losing weight is difficult, but maintaining it is even more challenging. Traci Mann, a psychology professor at the University of Minnesota and the founder of the school’s Health and Eating Lab, has something to say about this.
Mann explained that the body cares more about preventing starvation than your desire to lose weight. The body changes physically, metabolically, and hormonally in response to less nourishment to defend itself.
Meanwhile, eating nutritious, healthy foods in moderate portions is the key to maintaining weight loss, according to Lisa Young, a registered dietitian in New York and the author of “Finally Full, Finally Slim.” She said that the secret to feeling full is eating foods high in fiber, protein, and healthy fats.
“Having a combination of fiber, protein, and healthy fats really is the key to being satisfied,” she said.
Young, who does not treat Luntz, worried about his schedule of one meal a day. She emphasized that if you’re not a breakfast person, you don’t have to eat right away, but you don’t want to go hours without eating.
“You’re starving, and then when you eat that one meal, you don’t even know when to stop,” she said.
Her diet recommendations for maintaining weight included:
- Breakfast consists of a hard-boiled egg, whole-wheat bread, and avocado.
- Lunch would consist of a salad with grilled chicken, a few tablespoons of an olive oil-based dressing, and either quinoa or beans.
- Apple with peanut butter for a snack in the afternoon.
- Dinner will be grilled salmon, vegetables, and a grain like brown rice, wild rice, or baked sweet potatoes.
Young suggested travelers pack or buy healthy snacks for on-the-go consumption, such as a small bag of almonds, a carton of Greek yogurt, or whole-grain crackers and guacamole. Pick a salad with some grilled fish or chicken if ordering from the hotel room service.
She added that if a person is constantly hungry, their body may be working hard to maintain that weight which may not be beneficial. She went on to say that if a person dropped 60 pounds, it’s acceptable for them to gain 5–10 of them back because they would still be down 50 pounds from their starting weight.