Forget Everything You Think You Know

Yes, forget it.  The key to losing weight is not carbs, it's not counting points, it's not boosting metabolism, or replacing hormones.  Everything we need to know about losing weight we once knew but have forgotten.  It's all about the calories.

The simple truth is that when we eat more calories than we use we put on weight.  The processes of gaining or losing weight is slow.  Eat fast food for every meal for a few months and you'll notice your waist has gained an inch or two.  Limit your calorie intake for a few months and those inches disappear.  It's that simple, it's that easy.

To begin creating a calorie based weight loss plan, you first need to calculate what the average daily intake for you to maintain your current weight and physical activity level is.  There are numerous calculators on line, here is one I've used.

So, for this explanation we will calculate the calories I need to eat to maintain my current 264 lb weight.  To do this besides my weight, we will also need to know my height, my age, and my level of physical activity.  These are 5' ll", 36, and I work a desk job, so I will pick the least amount of physical activity.

With this data we discover I need to eat 2,583 calories per day to maintain my weight.  We also find, thanks to our calculators, that if I limit my intake to 2,112 calories per day I will be able to safely lose weight.

When I first began to look into this plan, based on the success of several friends, I was concerned that 2100 calories may leave me hungry or I would have to eat bland food, which was my problem with Slim4Life.  As I began to count calories, I realized nothing could be further from the truth.

I regularly eat out.  I usually opt for places like Subway and Mr. Goodscents, but occasionally I will visit burger joints like Hardee's and McDonald's.  In the past, when going to a sandwich shop I would get the foot long and a drink.  What I realized is that by getting a half sub, a bag of baked lays, and a zero calorie beverage I felt just as full, but with way less calories.  When at a burger joint, I no longer get fries, which is where the bulk of calories comes from at these places and instead opt for a salad if available or no side at all.  Something that also might shock you, the Big Mac, the burger that is the picture of over eating, actually only contains a little over 500 calories, compare this to Hardee's turkey burger at 460 or a Subway cold-cut sub at 360 and suddenly it doesn't seem so bad.

The secret to avoiding feeling hungry to me was a strategy that maximized the calories available to me at dinner time.  Against normal convention I typically do not eat breakfast, when I do, I will have a 100 calorie pack of Hostess cakes or some wheat toast, or maybe a scrambled egg.  When it comes to lunch I typically have a sandwich, serving of baked lays, and some jello or fruit cup.  Sticking to this regimen Monday through Friday leaves me with around 1400 to 1500 calories for dinner.  This means I can eat just about anything I want, leaving me feeling satisfied.  Most of the time I find no need to eat more than 1,000 calories at dinner, which just helps accelerate my weight loss.

I never drink my calories.  One of the quickest ways to get yourself in calorie trouble is by drinking your calories.  Sodas, coffee, juices, etc are all calorie traps.  Most contain 150 or more calories per serving.  However, I really enjoy these kinds of beverages so I am unwilling to live without them.  My solution was to switch to Crystal Light instead of juice, typically just 5 calories per serving.  I've replaced regular soda with the zero calorie alternatives like Coke Zero, Diet 7up, Pepsi Max, etc.  I also drink plenty of water during the day at the office.

Do you need your caffeine?   I've never been a coffee drinker, and usually when I drink pop its brands like Sprite that don't contain caffeine, but I realize many people just can't get through the day without it.  Instead of drinking a cup of coffee, have a can of Coke Zero or a bottle of Crystal Light Energy.  You'll get all the caffeine without any of the calories.

How do you find out how much calories are in things?  The obvious answer to that question is to check the label, but we both know the information isn't always available.  When eating fast food, check the company's website, everyone publishes a nutrition guide which will give you this information.  When cooking at home, you may have to do some addition by checking the calorie counts of the ingredients you use, but its still possible.  If you still have difficulty check the web.  There are great sources from about.com, livestrong.com and others that you can find the calorie counts for just about everything.

Exercise is a plus, not a necessity.  As I stated in earlier, I don't get a whole lot of time to exercise, my schedule is just too hectic right now.  But, on occasions when I do get to exercise, it only helps.  For example, if I spend just 30 minutes walking around a shopping center, mowing the yard, or riding a bike I burn between 300 and 500 calories.  That burn adds to my calorie deficit or helps overcome the rare instance I may have eaten too many calories.

Fluctuate the total calories you eat each day.  It's important to not always eat the exact same calorie amounts everyday.  You want to keep your body guessing so your weight loss doesn't get a chance to plateau.  While I may spend several days during the week eating the same 1500 to 2000 calories, on the weekend I may splurge one day and go over.  This one day a week splurge doesn't hurt me because the average calories I eat per day still is below my 2112 goal and is a bit of a reward for sticking to the plan.

After a few months, you'll notice things become very easy.  You get to know how much calories are in the things you eat and you can estimate things with quickly.  You'll notice the clothes getting baggy, the need for moving to the next hole in your belt, and so on.  Eventually, the plan stops being a plan and becomes a way of life.

There is some things you need to watch out for.  It may not be as obvious as it seems, but you will need to periodically check your weight and recalculate your calorie limits.  The daily calorie intake when you weigh 250 is going to be different than when you weigh 200.  I would suggest re-calibrating every 3 months or so based on your weight loss.

Don't worry about weighing yourself every day.  In fact, you probably shouldn't do it.  Your weight will fluctuate daily with water weight and other factors.  When you do way yourself, do it under the same circumstances, ie same level of clothes on, same time of day, same day of the week, etc.  This will give you a nice baseline to compare against.  At most, I would only suggest weighing yourself once a week.  If you can do it every other or once a month, you may want to do that.

I will explain in a future post why using your weight to measure your success may not be the best idea.  Here's a hint, muscle weighs more than fat and more and more physicians are realizing that BMI isn't nearly as representative of one's level of fitness as much as waist measurement.