When most of us think about losing weight we probably associate it with a new fangled celebrity diet, starving ourselves to exhaustion, working out 24/7, buying the latest fitness gadget that’s “guaranteed to make us lose weight in just minutes a day”, or maybe some magic pill, food, drink or article in a fitness magazine that will finally tell us the “secrets to weight loss”.
If you follow these ridiculous suggestions you will never lose weight! Okay you might lose some weight, but chances are you won’t keep it off. You need to stop wasting your time with all the useless crap that is only sold to make fitness corporations huge profits!
Weight loss is actually a very simple process and the way we lose weight has not changed since the dawn of time. The way we lost weight in the past is the same way we lose weight now and will continue to be the same in the year 5,000!
Okay So How Do You Lose Weight?
The human body is a very complex machine, in order for us to survive we need energy and this energy is obtained from food and drink. Energy from food and drink is measured in calories and our bodies require a certain number of calories per day in order to keep us alive, to keep our hearts beating and our brains and organs functioning. The amount of calories you need for your body to function is called your calorie maintenance level. The calorie maintenance level varies between individuals but it is generally recommend for men to consume around 2,500 and women to consume around 2,000 per day.
If you consume your daily calorie maintenance level your weight would remain exactly the same. For example, if your daily calorie maintenance level was 2,000 calories per day and you consumed this amount every day, you will remain the same weight.
If you were to consume more than your calorie maintenance level, say for example your maintenance level was 2,000 calories per day and you consumed 2,500 per day you would gain weight. You would gain weight because those extra 500 calories per day are not required by the body, so your body stores them as fat to retain for future use.
If you were to consume less than your calorie maintenance level, say for example your maintenance level was 2,000 per day and you consumed 1,500 per day you would lose weight. Because your body did not get the adequate calories from food and drink it uses the fat stored on your body for fuel.
So wait, does this mean you could eat whatever foods you want without putting on weight, providing you stay within your daily calorie maintenance level?
Well yes, but doing so will not make you healthy and I always recommend a healthy balanced diet, mainly because I am trying to build muscle and be as healthy as possible, and you should be doing the same. You need to make sure your weight loss goals are long term, there is no point in thinking short term with weight loss or you will end up putting weight back on afterwards!
How Many Calories Do I Need to Lose Weight and How Long Will it Take Me?
There are approximately 3,500 calories in one pound of body fat. So if you want to lose one pound of fat per week you need to have a calorie deficit (reduction) of 3,500 per week, which works out to be a 500 calorie per day deficit (3,500 calories divided by 7 days = 500 calories per day). Providing these 500 calories are below your calorie maintenance level (explained in next section below) you will lose 1 pound of fat per week.
According to the majority of US government sources, for example http://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/losing_weight/index.html it is recommended that you lose weight at a rate of 1-2 pounds per week to maintain a healthy weight loss, any more than this and it could be dangerous to your health, the only exception to this rule is with obese or morbidly obese people.
For the rest of us 1-2 pounds of weight loss per week is just fine. If you think this is not quick enough think again, 1-2 pounds of weight loss per week would result in 4-8 pounds lost in one month and 52 – 104 pounds of weight lost in one year!
So How Do I Know My Calorie Maintenance Level
Finding your calorie maintenance level is not as difficult as it may seem, you can get rough estimates using some of the online calculators which use your sex, age, height, weight and current activity levels to estimate how many calories you need per day to maintain your current weight. below are 2 of the best calculators from about.com
Calorie calculator for Men > http://nutrition.about.com/library/bl_nutrition_guide_men.htm
Calorie calculator for Women > http://nutrition.about.com/library/bl_nutrition_guide.htm
When I first wanted to lose weight I found these calculators very useful, it gave me a good starting point, and once you use these calculators you will have a good starting point, after this you need to do the following:
1. Weigh yourself once a week, first thing in the morning on an empty stomach.
Now that you have your estimated calorie maintenance level you need to weight yourself once a week, first thing in the morning (do not eat or drink anything), make a note of your weight in pounds (lbs). Try to use a good set of digital scales and always weigh yourself on the same set of scales, also make sure you empty your bowels and bladder before you weigh yourself, sometimes people use cleanse products for a few days to empty their bowels, this isn’t something I have tried but some people swear by it. One last thing, make sure you don’t have any clothes on when you weigh yourself!
2. Write down the amount of calories you eat in a full day
Now that you have your bodyweight in pounds and your estimated calorie maintenance level you need to write down everything you eat and drink in a full day, count all the calories you consumed during the first day and every day for the next 7 days. Whilst this may seem tough just remember losing weight can be easy providing you put the work in, don’t neglect writing down the calories you consume on a daily basis or you will never know how to effectively lose weight.
If you are wondering where to find calorie information don’t worry, nutritional information is displayed on all food packaging and you can clearly see calories based on serving sizes, such as a cup of oats or half a cup of brazil nuts.
Note: If you often prepare home cooked meals then you should try to estimate the calories contained in those meals as accurately as possible, the best way to do this is calculate all the ingredients in your home cooked meals.
If you have a smart phone such as an Android or iPhone there is a great FREE app you can download called “My Fitness Pal” if you don’t have a smart phone you can still use it, simply visit their website www.myfitnesspal.com and create a FREE account. Then you can search for the foods & drinks you consumed during the day. “My Fitness Pal” has a huge database of tens of thousands of foods all with their nutritional values of course, best of all its 100% FREE!
Once you have recorded all the calories consumed for the full 7 days you need to weigh yourself and see if you have lost weight, stayed the same weight or gained weight.
If you lost weight – Depending on how much you lose will depend on how accurate your calorie maintenance level was. Make a note of how much weight you lost, if it’s between 1 and 2 pounds then the calories you consumed during the week were perfect, keep to this calorie number per day and you will continue to lose weight.
If your weight stayed the same – If your weight stayed the same don’t be alarmed, if anything this is great because you now know the calories required for your calorie maintenance level. For the next week you should drop your calorie intake by 500 calories per day, then weigh yourself again at the end of the week and see if you lost weight.
If you gained weight – Hopefully you haven’t gained any weight because the online calculator was correct, but if you put weight on and you are sure that the calories you kept a note of were accurate you need to drop your daily calorie intake by 500 per day for the next week. After that week weigh yourself again to see if you lost weight, keep going through this process until you are losing 1-2 pounds per week.
3. A Balanced Diet
You can lose weight eating fast foods, cakes, candy, alcohol, sodas etc providing you stay within your calorie maintenance level, however you will not be a healthy individual. In fact you would probably be feeling tired, angry, upset and generally unhealthy 99% of the time if your diet consisted of these types of foods & drinks. Of course you can eat these foods in moderation, but eating them the majority of the time is bad news!
A healthy balanced diet consisting of natural unprocessed foods will help aid fat loss and make you feel healthier, happier and stronger. So make sure you eat a good balance of the three macronutrients: proteins, carbohydrates and fats.
Proteins – Examples of natural proteins: Salmon, Tuna, Steak, Turkey, Chicken, Eggs, Milk, Cheese, Cottage Cheese, Beans, Nuts etc
Carbohydrates – Examples of natural carbohydrates: Wholemeal bread, wholemeal pasta, brown rice, porridge oats, beans, couscous, buckwheat, potatoes, yams, museli, berries, fruits etc.
Fats – Examples of natural fats: Cashew nuts, brazil nuts, pumpkin seeds, dairy products, salmon, avocados, olive oil, cottonseed oil etc. For more detailed information about diets checkout my bodybuilding diet section here.
4. Eat 5, 6 or 7 Meals per day
By eating smaller meals several times throughout the day you will find it much easier to lose weight, also doing so will help increase your metabolism which in time will make your body more efficient and burning calories. By eating smaller meals at regular intervals you also ensure that you don’t become bloated or suffer from blood sugar spikes. Finally by eating smaller meals throughout the day you receive the full nutritional benefits from the foods you eat. By eating 3 big meals per day your body cannot process all the nutrients from each sitting, so by eating smaller meals you are receiving the full nutritional benefits.
I recommend eating smaller meals every 2 to 3 hours, to give you an example I eat at approximately the following times: 7.30am, 10am, 12.30pm, 3.30pm, 5pm and 8pm. On the nights I lift weights I have a protein based snack around 10pm, just before I go to bed.
Whilst you don’t have to eat smaller meals throughout the day, doing so can dramatically improve your weight loss efforts. If you find eating 5 or 6 smaller meals is too much for you, don’t worry, you will still lose weight eating 3 meals per day, but just remember if you want to take your weight loss to the next level 5 to 7 meals per day is key. Also if you are looking to build muscle I strongly suggest eating smaller meals for the benefit of increased metabolism.
5. Cardio Exercise
I bet you were hoping I wouldn’t mention exercise as part of a weight loss plan, sorry no can do! Let’s forget weight loss for a second, exercise does so much more than just help you lose weight, it improves your overall health and wellbeing, makes you more confident, relaxes you, helps fight major health problems, reduces stress, keeps your body strong, makes you live longer and so much more. For these reasons alone you must include exercise as part of your weight loss goals, in fact you should include exercise in your life whether you plan to lose weight or not.
Of course the other major benefit to exercise is weight loss, the weight loss comes from the number of calories you burn performing a certain activity, such as running, swimming, walking, cycling etc. You should look to exercise at least 3 times per week, and at least 30 minutes each time. Exercises that are weight bearing, such as running or using an elliptical trainer will burn more calories than non weight bearing exercises such as cycling or rowing.
6. Lift Weights
Lifting weights will help build muscle and burn calories. Yep that’s right, lifting weights burns calories, okay it may not burn as many calories as a cardio workout but it will burn calories. As you increase muscle mass your body needs to feed that additional muscle, it feeds the muscle from calories, so by increasing your muscle mass your caloric maintenance level naturally increases, allowing you to lose weight faster!
7. Drink Water
Water is the source of all life, without water no living thing could survive. Over 55% of the human body is made up of water, which is why we need it to survive. The amount of water required every day differs from person to person, activity levels, climate and other factors affect the amount of water required. Taking these factors into consideration it is generally recommended that the average adult consumes between 8-9 cups of water per day.
The best time to drink water is between meals as it helps aid digestion, don’t forget you also get water from certain foods, such as fruits and vegetables. When you are working out it is very important to consume water throughout the workout, make sure you take small sips rather than big gulps of water when working out.
8. Sleep
Sleep plays a significant role in brain, muscle and organ development, sleep deprivation is very dangerous, if you are not getting enough sleep your body will reduce its ability to build muscle and shed fat. Scientific research has suggested that sleep loss may increase the risk of obesity because chemicals and hormones that play a key role in controlling appetite and weight gain are released during sleep.
You should aim for at least 8 hours of sleep per day, even more if you are trying to build muscle by weight training or trying to lose weight by performing cardio vascular workouts.
Okay that’s it, you now have everything you need to lose weight successfully and keep it off, no more excuses I’m afraid. Good Luck!
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