Weight Loss - The Numbers Don't Lie

You know what I don't understand? Why I have food cravings, or days that I am lazy. So every time that I tried to lose weight by using some combination of curbing my cravings and reducing my laziness, I failed miserably. It is impossible to accurately measure these things in a way that will make you successful.

Here is what I do understand. Grade 2 Math. I am actually pretty good at Grade 2 Math ... when I use a calculator. By making my weight loss a math equation, it became extremely simple to lose my weight.

Here is how it works ...


Calories Consumed - BMR - Calories burned by Exercise = Net Weight Gain or Loss

When the above equation results in a negative number, you are losing weight. Pretty easy, hey? Let me explain.

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Example

I eat 1500 calories today. My BMR is 2300 calories a day and I swim for 30 minutes to burn another 500 calories.

Here is the math...

1500 - 2500 - 500 = -1500

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With the example above, you'd lose 3 lbs a week (3500 calories = 1 lb of fat).

Now that you see how to objectively measure your efforts, have the confidence that you can keep your days in the negative and losing weight.

Everything You Need to Workout

What do you need to do a great workout? How about nothing?

I'm sharing below one of the most intense workouts that I've ever done and it uses little more than your own body weight as resistance. There are times when they use small free weights, but it isn't necessary to use them to get started.

This is the Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred. It is tough and I am not lying when I say that the first time I did it, I thought I needed to visit the Emergency Room. Luckily, I gradually recovered and began a program of doing this work out nightly.

The work out is so effective because of its combination of cardio and strengthening. The one WARNING I will give is to modify the exercises. Be sure not to injure yourself or do something more strenuous than you can manage. It it much more important to do the entire workout at a less intense pace than to do the first 5 minutes at full pace.

Give it a try. It really does work!

Burn Calories Just by Reading This Blog ... (What's your BMR?)

Reading this blog post is the first workout that I'll be reviewing, so I'll try and take it easy, but I do have some awesome news. Your body is actually exercising right now, without you even knowing it. Even while at rest, your body is burning calories to do things like breathe, digest your food, pump blood throughout your body and even just to maintain your body temperature. This is called your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate).

A little more good news is that your BMR tends to be higher for larger people. For example, when I began my weight loss efforts, my BMR was upwards of 2800 calories a day. What a huge head start when it comes to losing weight, however it will decrease as you lose weight. After losing 40+ lbs, my BMR is currently in the neighborhood of 2300.

My Fitness Pal calculates your individual BMR when you create an account with them, but to prove that this blog is more than simply an ad for My Fitness Pal, you can use this page to quickly calculate your BMR http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/

Given that you've been burning calories all while reading this blog, I will keep this post short and ask that you all take a moment to cool down and stretch those muscles. In my next post I will talk about how you can kick start the burn and lose some serious pounds.

How to Make your Calories Count

My Fitness Pal will set everyone's target calorie intake at a different number, based on your height, weight, lifestyle, and your desired pace to lose weight. It will even adjust that number as you lose weight in 10 lb intervals. The one thing that will remain the same for everyone is that the number you are given will seem too small.

To help make that number seem a little more realistic, here are some food choices that you can make, which will give you the wiggle room you may need to stay inside your daily goal.

• "Hold the Mayo. I'll have that with Mustard." - Instant calorie savings in the biggest way. Regular Mayo can run 100 calories for one serving, which is a tablespoon. In most cases, we use more than a tablespoon, so the calories will add up quickly, while mustard has ZERO calories. Pile it on and adapt to the taste. You'll thank yourself when you are hungry for an evening snack and have calories to spare.
• "No cheese, please." - This is a tough one, but once again, a cheese slice starts at around 60 calories and goes up from there with other types of cheese and serving sizes. A lot of needless calories spent where you can avoid it.
• Always get the dressing on the side - A great idea shared with me at one time is to actually dip your fork in the dressing before picking up the salad. This way you get trace amounts of the dressing, but you do get the flavor.
• Diet Jello = Awesome - With virtually no difference in flavor, diet jello has approximately 10 calories per serving. For anyone with a sweet tooth, like me, this will probably get you through the need for dessert.
• Divide and Conquer - If you are in a situation where you really can't (or don't want to) eat a low calorie meal, use the divide and conquer method. Just because there is a foot long sub in front of you, it doesn't mean that you have to eat all 700+ calories in one meal. Half today and half tomorrow is a great way to manage your intake and prove to that filthy little snack food that you are in control.

I hope that these tips help to get you into a pattern of saving calories in places where you won't really miss them, and spend them in places where it will benefit you. I didn't get into all the obvious stuff like eat your fruits and veggies, etc., but obviously, do all that crap too.

In my next post I will start talking about working out.

Getting Started

First of all, I want to apologize for only offering 86% of a hello today. That's because I have lost 14% of myself over the last 12 weeks.

In response to all the questions about my progress, I have decided to begin a blog and share a little about how I was able to be successful.

My tips will be modest, as I am in no way medically trained to provide in-depth technical direction on diet or work-out routines. However, my tips will work. I expect anyone who decides to follow them to consult a physician before making any extreme lifestyle changes.

This blog will be more about how small changes to your lifestyle can make dramatic changes to your weight and overall health. So here is tip #1, which was single-handedly responsible for me losing 8 lbs in my first week.

1. My Fitness Pal App or MyFitnessPal.com. This application is designed to maintain a record of your overall fitness level, with the most beneficial part being the Calorie Counter.

Here's how it worked for me. I add to My Diary for everything I eat. It totals my calorie intake for each bite that goes into my body, as well as all other nutritional information (for those who need to monitor Sodium, Carbs, etc.). The biggest benefit for this application is the bar code scanner. While the best foods do not have bar codes, for those that do, simply use your SmartPhone to scan it and the nutritional information is automatically entered for you. Easy - Peasy.

The App will also tell you how many calories you should eat in a day and give you credit for any exercise that you enter, but I'll get into those things in another post. For now, get on My Fitness Pal, which is FREE and start logging everything you eat. That will get you started.