Weight-loss plan

Weight-management is a complex behaviour with determinants from many areas (e.g., genetic, past learning, social, cultural). This is what makes giving generic advice so difficult. However, there are sensible aspects of weight-loss that can help most people, most of the time. However, please consult a doctor before undertaking any weight-loss or exercise regimen.

There are five main ideas you need to understand to lose weight:

• The energy balance game involving calories.
• Knowing how many calories you burn.
• Knowing how many calories you take in.
• How to turn energy balance in your favour.
• 5 simple steps to take.

I reference a number of tools off this site to make a few calulations easier. If you know of a better one, perhaps on a different site, please use it. The ones here are:

• BMR calculator
• Calories in food
• Ideal weight calculator
• Low-glycemic index foods
• How many calories burnt during exercise

The energy balance game involving calories.

Think of your body like a furnace. When you put a log of wood in a furnace, it burns to give off heat. However, the furnace can only burn a certain amount of wood over a given time, so extra wood over and above what is needed remains.

The same basic principles apply to the energy balance in your body. Your body is like a furnace. It has to produce heat, for instance, to maintain your body temperature. This takes energy. To fuel your body, you put in fuel in the form of food. However, any extra food you put in gets stockpiled in the form of fat. Conversely, if you do not eat enough calories, your body will go the stockpile of fat and use that instead--as it needs to maintain your body temperature at the very least.

Now you know the first lesson:

• You gain weight when you are taking in more calories than your body can use.
• You maintain weight when you are taking in as many as you are burning.
• You lose weight when you are burning more calories than you are taking in.

The advice here aims to help you burn more calories than you are taking in until you reach your ideal weight, and then supports the notion of weight maintenance.

  back to top

Knowing how many calories you burn.

You use energy (or burn calories) in mostly two ways:

1. The number of calories your body burns to maintain itself each day (e.g, maintaining your body temperature), as we discussed above. This is called your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) and
2. The calories you burn through exercise.

You can roughly determine your BMR using the following Harris-Benedict formula:

• Men: BMR = 66 + (6.23 x "typical" pounds) + (12.7 x inches) - (6.8 x age)
• Women: BMR = 655 + (4.35 x "typical" pounds) + (4.7 x inches) - (4.7 x age)

or, more simply you can use one of the many calculators available on the net. The important thing to note down is that the number of calories your body burns per day. If we take an example: If you are a male who weighs 168 pounds and are 70 inches tall (5' 10'') and are 35 years old...you would burn [66 + (6.23 x 168) + (12.7 x 70) - (6.8 x 35)] which equals [66 + 1046.64 + 889 - 238] which means you burn 1763.64 calories per day 'naturally'.

The other way you burn calories is through exercise. You can find out roughly how many you burn in many activities using the calculator available on this page. The important thing to remember is that for most people, the number of calories burnt 'naturally' far exceeds what they burn during exercise. For example, running for one hour at 5 mph burns roughly 500 calories.

This means two things:

1. You want to keep your BMR as high as possible.
2. You should not over-estimate how many calories you burn through exercise.

Many diets, or dieting techniques, will actually result in your BMR going lower! These are terrible and unsustainable diets that can only lead to health problems or misery. For example, if someone starts to constantly eat very little, the body will go into 'starvation' mode in an effort to survive. While short-term weight loss will occur (as the BMR does not drop instantly), over time the BMR will drop, weight-loss will slow (or stop)...and the person will more likely than not have to start eating 'normally' again (or starve). When this happens, the weight will go on faster than before they started the diet, as the BMR is now so low. Over time, with normal eating, the BMR will start to rise again...but probably not before weight gain, dissappointment, and a growing (though mistaken) belief that diets can not work.

Therefore, the advice here aims to keep your BMR high.

  back to top

Knowing how many calories you take in.

In addition to know how many calories you naturally burn (through BMR) and how many calories you burn through exercise, the only other thing you need to know is how many calories you are taking in.

There are two reliable ways to do this:

1. Weigh your food before you eat it, which may also require determining how many calories are in it first (for a given weight or size). A page which may help is located here.
2. Look on the packaging of food you are eating and calculate how many calories are in the portion sizeyou are eating.

This may be the hardest part for many people. However, once you get used to doing it, it really isn't that hard...as most people do generally tend to eat similar items over time.

Therefore, the advice here is to know how many calories you are taking in each day.

  back to top

How to turn energy balance in your favour.

The only thing now that you need to do is determine how much weight you want to lose. A common goal for many dieters is to lose 10% of their current weight. Or, if you think you may be near...move toward your ideal weight.

Let's take an example of someone who wants to lose 1 pound a week, which, after all, is 52 pounds over a year!

(1)First: Calculate your BMR.

For an example, let's say your BMR = 1700.

(2) Second: Determine how much you want to lose per week.

For an example, let's say one pound, which is 3500 calories.

(3) Third: Divide how much you want to lose by 7 (the number of days in a week).

In this example, that means 3500 / 7 = 500. This means you would need to 'lose' 500 calories per day.

(4a) Fourth (Scenario one): If you are trying to lose weight but do not plan on exercising, then subtract how much you need to lose per day from your BMR.

In this example, you would need to eat 1200 calories per day (i.e., 1700 - 500 = 1200).

(4b) Fourth (Scenario two): Alternatively, if you are planning on exercising you have a number of options.

For example, if you exercised at a rate of 500 calories per day, you could eat 1700 calories per day, which also results in an overall intake of 1200 calories per day. Or, you could exercise for say 300 calories per day, and eat 1500 calories. Or, you could exercise for 1000 calories, and eat 2200 calories. The formula is the same:

how much you eat (calories in) - your BMR - how much you lose during exercise = # of calories you want to lose per day

Ex1: 1700 - 1700 - 500 = -500 (over 7 days = -3500, or one pound weight loss)

Ex2: 1500 - 1700 - 300 = -500

Ex3: 2200 - 1700 - 1000 = -500

You can figure out your weight-loss plan too!

Therefore, the advice here is that only once you know how many calories you are taking in, how many you burn naturally, and how many you burn during exercise, are you in a position to determine how to lose weight moderately over time. This means you will be able to keep your BMR high and be more happy and in control.

  back to top

5 simple steps to take.

There are five easy steps to truly effective weight-loss that specifically helps keep and/or establish a high BMR (particualrly in the properly motivated person who has high self-efficacy (i.e., belief they can achieve it) and high self-control (i.e., the ability to control one's thoughts and actions) who sets realistic goals):

1. Start eating the recommended 5 different fruits and vegetables per day (some suggest 10), and try to eliminate bad foods and drinks (high in fat, salt, sugar, and alcohol) from your diet.
2. Start exercising based on international recommendations: Perform moderate intensity exercise for 30 minutes at least 5 days per week.
3. Perform strength-training (e.g., sit-ups, weights, push-ups) 2-3 x weekly for 15 minutes each.
4. Have your standard 3 meals per day at 300-500 calories each and an additional 1-3 x per day of healthy snacks (i.e., fruits, vegetables, nuts) of 50-150 calories each...if the number of calories you want to eat is between 1050 - 1950...otherwise adjust as needed.
5. Buy a good weight-scale and measure your weight every day in the morning to track your progress.

Please recognize as well that that weight-management is a matter of finding the correct life-style balance, or life-style rebalancing...and should not just be used to lose weight...but also to maintain it for the long-term.

For a bit more on each of these:

1. The obvious foods that need to be eliminated are highly processed foods, sweets, crisps, chips, fried foods, fast foods, etc. If you can't grow it or make it yourself...it's probably not good for you. Also, avoid excessive alcohol consumption. If you do drink, keep it low to moderate, and add it to your daily calorie intake count.
2. Be sensible here. If you have never exercised before, then start slowly and take advice. Exercise helps generate and maintain a high BMR and burns calories. The key here is low-intensity exercise up to a level where you can still carry on a conversation comfortably.
3. Be sensible here. If you have never lifted weights before, then start slowly and take advice. Strength training helps develop muscle mass which helps raise your BMR.
4. Your meals should definitely include a breakfast (e.g., non-sugar cereal with a piece of fruit) and thereafter generally include mostly low-glycemic index foods and possibly a low-fat high quality protein. Be very careful with butter, oil, salad dressings, etc. For example, one tablespoon of oil contains 120 calories, which, in itself, is a small snack. If you can't be bothered with determining which foods to have, keep it simple: Choose fresh vegetables, fruits, legumes, and whole grain foods with limited dairy, low-fat meats, and condiments. Or, use the 'be good to yourself' style-meals available in many grocers.
5. Measure your weight each day using a decent weight-scale. This will keep you motivated, as you track your progress to your ideal weight. Be aware that you can fluctuate a few pounds a day quite easily just in water-retention, so be careful not to get too excited or too disappointed if the scales go for you or against you on a given day. The reason for tracking your weight is you will know whether or not your current plan is working or not. If it isn't, you are either overestimating how much you are burning or under-estimating how much you are eating.

Regarding food: It is very easy to lose track of calories, and in a day or two, obliterate a whole week of work. For example, if you go out and have four beers and a high-fat meal (common in nearly every restaurant), that could be as much as 1500-3000 calories in one sitting! Be judicious with your choices when eating out. You would be surprised to learn just how many calories there are in many common meals.

  back to top

© 2010 Larry Raisanen