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A year ago, if anyone had told me there was almost a science to weight loss I would have laughed, truly. I have learned that there is only one true and lasting way to lose weight and over the last year I have tried every method imaginable. Bottom line, eating right and exercise is the only true way to keep it off permanently. All you weight loss surgery patients; I’m not addressing you because I refuse to wear a bikini with a bunch of scars all over my body. I speak from experience and my advice is to learn from the ones that have failed.
Some of the biggest questions that I have received over the last few weeks are from many of you saying this is what you want but are unclear as to where to start. Though I don’t believe in New Years Resolutions simply because you don’t have to wait until January 1st to change your life, I do appreciate the fact that many of you want to start the New Year out on the right foot. Where do you start? Wow. Well though this information isn’t novel, it did take me a long time to figure it out. This is probably going to be the best advice I could ever give you.
Bottom line end all be all solution to weight loss: TAKE IN LESS THAN YOU WORK OFF. This means you must burn more calories per day that you take in. We need to start with some basics though because we need to know where you are.
1. First, you need to know where you are in all the areas that matter. First – calculate your BMI (body mass index). />Okay – write it down and compare it to where you need to be. If you are over where you should be – chances are you need to start making some changes.
2. Next, you need to figure out what your Daily Caloric Needs are. How many calories do I need to maintain my current weight and maintain all normal functions? If you run the calculation and it says that you need 3000 calories, this means that if you wanted to maintain your current weight and not lose or gain weight, this is the number you should be getting to everyday. However – if your goal is to lose weight, it needs to be under this. A healthy number everyday for caloric consumption when you are trying to lose weight is 1700 – 2000 calories per day. The difference between the number of calories you take in everyday and what your body needs is what I consider a calorie bank. If your body needs 3000 to maintain and you intake 1700, this means you have 1300 calories in your bank every day. In order to lose one pound of fat, you need to be burning off 3000 calories. This means in theory if I wanted to lose a pound of fat every day, I need to be burning off in excess of 1700 calories per day. If an average 30 min walk burns off 300 calories, do the math. This means I should be doing cardio for 4-5 hours per day. {{laughing}} If I wanted biggest loser type of numbers and average 6-8 pounds a week, average time spent working out is 4-6 hours per day. This is how they get those kinds of numbers. I realize most of us don’t have this kind of time and the most we can a lot for work out is 30-60 minutes per day. If this is what kind of time you have, then let’s be realistic about your numbers okay? Here we go back to the basics. Once again – if you intake 1700 calories per day and it states you need 3000, then you have 1300 calories in your bank. If you work out for 30 minutes and burn 300 calories, this means you now have 1600 in your bank. If you take that 1600 and times it by 7 days in a week, this give you around 11,600 calories down for the week. Remember it takes 3000 calories to burn a pound of fat so this means over a weeks’ time working out for 30 min a day and a sensible diet, you can expect to lose around 3.5 pounds or 15 pounds in the month. This is not a bad number!! It’s very reasonable and not hard if you follow a good plan and commit to the 30 min per day.
3. What’s a 1700 calorie a day look like? A good plan should have you eating around every two to three hours and eating small amounts but more often so you never feel hungry. Let me give you an example:
BREAKFAST:
Scrambled eggs with cheese; bagel with cream cheese; and grapefruitBagels, oat bran, 1/2 bagel (3″ dia)Cheddar or Colby Cheese, Low Fat, 2 ozCream Cheese, 1 tbspEgg, fresh, 1 jumboGrapefruit, 1/2 fuit
SNACK:
Apple slices; and walnut
Apples, fresh, 3/4 cup slicesWalnuts, 2/3 oz
LUNCH:
Turkey sandwich on rye with lettuce, tomatoes, and mayonnaise; and baby carrotsBaby Carrots, raw, 10 mediumBread, rye, 1 sliceCARL BUDDIG, Smoked Sliced Turkey, light and dark meat, 1 packageMayonnaise, regular (mayo), 2 tspRed Ripe Tomatoes, 1 large whole (3″ dia)
SNACK:
Carrots with salsaBaby Carrots, raw, 10 mediumSalsa, 1/2 cup
DINNER:
Chicken breast and baby carrots; dinner rolls with Smart BalanceBaby Carrots, raw, 10 mediumChicken Breast, no skin, 3.5 ozChicken Breast, no skin, 3.5 ozDinner Rolls, whole wheat, 1 roll (1 oz)Smart Balance Buttery Spread, 2/3 TbspSmart Balance Buttery Spread, 2/3 Tbsp
SNACK:
Berry Berry Smoothie with added bananaBanana, fresh, 1/2 mediumBerry Berry Smoothie, 1 serving(I can give you the recipe)
I would shocked if you followed this for one month and didn’t lose weight. The months that I didn’t lose weight? I didn’t follow my plan. Its that simple. If your goal is to start out the new year right? Then get your tools, know your foods and schedule in your work out time. Be ready…. and you will be successful. I know this.
I know this route is the longest one… it is not the most fun and its going to be the toughest thing you’ve ever done. For the ones that do it the right way - getting home is going to bbeeee sooooo niiiiicceeee. *wink*.
My love to you all.
Tag: calorie counter
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