How I Lost Weight and Kept It Off

The first step to controlling what you are putting in your body is to understand calories. Not all calories are created equal! So I believe we already know the plain 'low-calorie diets' don't work - here is why:

Fat: 1 gram = 9 calories
Protein: 1 gram = 4 calories
Carbohydrates: 1 gram = 4 calories
Alcohol: 1 gram = 7 calories

As you see, fat contains more than twice the calories of protein and carbohydrates.
Most foods contain a mixture of protein, carbs and fat.
Calories from fat are more easily stored as fat, than are calories from carbohydrates.

Here is what many people do not know!
Protein is the building block of muscle. Protein provides the essential support that your body needs to gain muscle and lose fat. It is the right tool to guarantee that your muscle building and fat loss processes are as "profitable" as possible.
Simply put, your metabolism is directly responsible for the amount of calories your burn each day. One of the components of metabolism is known as the Thermic Effect of Food or TEF. Basically, our bodies have to use some energy in order to chew, swallow, digest, and extract the energy from the foods we eat. In general, the typical thermic effect of food from fat is about 2% of calories consumed, and for carbohydrates, this number is about 8%. Protein has the highest thermic effect by far, burning up to 30% of calories consumed. With a greater consumption of dietary protein, your bodies will automatically burn more calories throughout the day.

I'm not going into an Atkins rant because it just, in my opinion, is not a healthy way to lose weight because most people do it incorrectly.

In general terms - basically, the body needs to process 3500 calories beyond what it needs to gain 1 pound. It also needs to burn 3500 above what the intake is to lose 1 pound.

So if you are losing 2 pounds per week. You can assume your body is in a 7000 calorie per week deficit. When you reach your target weight, keep up the same excercise and increase your food intake 1000 calories per day to maintain.

Given the simply numbers above you can now understand food labels. Buyer beware - food labels can be deceiving. Do not fall for 25% less fat, or Fat Free labels - in fact stay away from any food that claims to be free of anything - because I promise you will pay for it in other ways.

FAT FREE - usually means that the sugar content is through the roof - read the label!

SUGAR FREE - with the exception of Diet Sodas, Sugar Free usually is a tool to get buyers to buy products we won't buy when on a diet. Sugar is not the only problem. Just as guilty are processed carbohydrates - bread, cereal, pasta, cookies, cakes, muffins etc.

Here is how you are deceived. If I want to sell a jar containing half water and half oil - how would I do it? Well we know that with oil, 100% of the calories come from fat right? Well because half of the jar is water, the FDA has allowed companies to slap a label on it stating 50% FAT FREE! When for the consumers sake it should read 100% FAT. They have allowed companies to label according to content instead of calories. This is the number one reason why most people fail on diets - misinformation.

Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, and other diet programs are keeping a secret from you. Did you know that their clients who lose weight on there programs have a 95% chance of gaining it back within the first 5 years.

Why? I don't have the answer. I just know that people stop weighing in, people stop counting and measuring and they just fall off the wagon.

The are literally thousands of programs, pills and products to help you lose weight. The products are not there to help you succeed, they are there hoping you fail. If there was a magic pill then they would all go out of business. They don't want you to lose weight.

I heard the most absurd thing from a relative once. She was on Jenny Craig and had lost 30 lbs. within a year she had put on 40. Then she said to me how unhappy she was about the weight gain and mentioned "I'm going on Jenny Craig again because it worked last time." WHAT!? It worked! Then why do you have to go back?

What's the secret to weight loss? It's simple. There is no secret.

Proper diet and exercise = Weight Loss

Yes, this is true, but not because you just can't do it because your body has changed. While your body had indeed changed, lets look at why. You are probably less active, you probable have accumulated a few pounds each year, and you have Yo-Yo dieted up and down with fad diets - essentially starving your body or not feeding it enough protein. That is why your 36 year old 140lbs looks so different from your 26 year old 140lbs - loss of muscle.

The biggest culprit is that each year we learn new bad habits with eating and we get new favorite bad foods. These habits and foods don't replace the old one, they just accumulate. So you may think you are doing well only having 1 chocolate bar this week when you used to have 2, but you have now begun dipping your pizza in Ranch dip and switched to Table Cream for your Coffee - you get my point?

The second biggest culprit is that we get lazy - really really lazy and also get very week with will power. Yes it is hard to eat different from your family, but it is not impossible. People do it everyday. If you became diabetic and it was a matter of life and death, you would do it. Why not do something to look and feel better. make some time and effort for yourself. Your family will understand.

Before I start, one thing that always gets missed with these types of diet ideas is the hunger. When you feel hungry it is because your body is telling you that it is now using or depleting your stored energy (either in the muscles - used first - or fat). Feeling a little hungry is part of losing weight. Just know that if you are eating properly with a high protien intake, your body is using fat. Any fat loss program that is done correctly will leave you feeling a little hungry at least 30-50 % of the time. You can decrease this by slightly increasing your calorie intake each day, but it will slow down the fat loss. Healthy fat loss after the first 2 weeks will be about 1-2 pounds per week. Expect to lose up to 15 in the first 2 weeks due to water weight.

The idea is to adjust your lifestyle. I never understand why people go to the gym like crazy until they lose the weight and then stop! Create a program that works for you. Walk each day, take the stairs, park at the far end of the parking lot, walk around the mall before entering. Walking 20-40 minutes a day at a brisk pace is enough to assist in weight loss and keep you healthy. Of course a weight program is ideal, but for 90% of the population this is not anything we want or would keep up.

Here is how you can lose 6-10 lbs the first week (mostly water weight) and then 1-2 lbs for every subsequent week.

First you have to and I mean HAVE TO cut out processed carbohydrates and sugar COMPLETELY - with the exception of sugars naturally occurring.

What you will need:
Chicken Breasts, Tuna, Pre Packaged Lettuce, a variety of vegetables of your choice - try to choose veggies that will fill you up like carrots, snow peas, peppers etc, egg whites, a tub of Whey Protein Isolate, Frozen and fresh fruits (preferably just appes), packages of plain instant oatmeal , Multi Vitamin/mineral supplement, Splenda packets, oil vinaigrette salad dressing (no sugar). Eat every four hours throughout the day.

On Sunday, I pre-cook all my meats and chop all my vegetables.

MEAL 1:
Shake = 1 serving frozen vegetables, 1 scoop protein powder, 1 package of oatmeal, 8 ounces water, 2 packets of Splenda (blend)

MEAL 2:
Salad (I like) 1 big handful, mixed lettuce, handful of grated carrots, green onions, red bell pepper, snow peas, and mushrooms . Heat up pre-cooked chicken breast or tuna, slice, put over salad, then one serving of the dressing. Mix and enjoy.

MEAL 3.
Omelet: Oil pan with light rubbing of Olive Oil. 1/3 cup egg whites, vegetables of your choice.

MEAL 4:
Salad (I like) 1 big handful, mixed lettuce, handful of grated carrots, green onions, red bell pepper, snow peas, and mushrooms . Heat up pre-cooked chicken breast or tuna, slice, put over salad, then one serving of the dressing. Mix and enjoy.

If you get hungry in between, eat an apple.

BEVERAGES:
Water - lots and lots of water. Give your body the fluids to flush out toxins and get rid of the burnt fat.

Diet Soda or Crytstal Light - I drink one of either of these per day. I keep it to one because most studies show that people drinking large amounts of diet soda gain more weight. There is no conclusive evidence as to why - but I don't want to take a chance.

Yes, this sounds dreadfully boring, but you can mix up the vegetables and create some really amazing salads. Here's the thing that helped me lose over 30 pounds and keep it off for more than 6 years.

I went for a 20-40 minute walk EVERY day. More importantly, I let myself enjoy 1 cheat meal a week. This ranged from Pizza, nachos, a bag of cookies - whatever it was I was craving. Knowing it was coming every Saturday night let me know I could make it. People may disagree with this tactic, but at first I stuffed myself silly with garbage food and lots of it. After about 4 weeks my body began feeling really crappy after my pig-outs, so I made better bad choices. If it was cookies I wanted - instead of getting a bag of Oreos, I would buy 2 jumbo cookies at the bakery. Instead of a large Pizza, I would buy 2 slices. This ended up changing my lifestyle. I won't lie, it wasn't easy and I have faltered many times over the years. I still gain 5 pounds at Christmas, I still lose it afterwards, but what is important is that I unlearned all my accumulated bad habits - and yes, I swim at the pool with my kids all the time.

I hope this helps some people find the inspiration to lose some weight. It is a long hard and difficult road. Most people don't understand, but those of us who have been through it do. Best of luck and just know that is not impossible! Before starting this, you should check with your doctor to see if he feels it is a healthy fit for you.