I suppose this is a good place to share my own experience with weight loss. This is not a definitive, scientific guide - merely a set of my own observations and lessons learned over time, and particularly in the last three years. I have gone through several cycles of gaining weight and then losing it in a spurt of effort. I was never very obese, but I was overweight enough to look pudgy and had a beer belly that stuck out half a foot further than it should. Three years ago was when I decided to be more systematic about my diet and determined to get back to a healthy weight and keep it there. I don't think what I am about to relate is particularly groundbreaking, but it worked for me and perhaps it can work for others as well. Ok, on to the tips and tricks...
- Set a realistic goal for daily calorie balance and keep the score
Most diets try to do too much too fast or they are too demanding. It's very difficult to cut out entire food groups, for example, and subside on tasteless substitutes, so called "healthy" or "diet" options. It's also not necessary. Obviously this has to be done within reason and varied nutritious diet is preferable, but it doesn't need to be nearly as extreme as many believe. You can pretty much eat what you like as long as you stick to smaller portions and don't cheat on the calorie count. This is the important part - keep the score.
Estimated calorie burn just from existing is 2000/day. Peoples' metabolisms vary, but this estimate is generally correct and perfectly applicable to the majority of us. Whenever you are about to eat something, look up the calorie count and note it down. I would recommend to round up calorie values, so if a given food package says 330/portion, record it (MS Excel is good for this) as 350. Don't forget to count calories from what you drink, including alcohol. It's very important to limit alcohol intake as it can easily ruin an otherwise balanced diet.
Set a goal for your calorie balance to be around 1300-1600/day. Going lower than that is not advisable as it will likely result in a significant loss of energy and attention span as the body will go into ketosis. It's fine in the short term, but generally not sustainable, so set a realistic daily goal. Calorie balance is calculated as: (calories consumed) minus (calories burned through exercise) minus (2000 daily passive burn). Calories translated to weight are approximately 7700/kg and 3500/lbs. So being 400-700 in the red on a daily basis will allow you to lose a kilogram in about two weeks or about two pounds in the same amount of time.
- Forget the weight scale and the mirror - trust the calorie counter
Once you have worked out the score keeping, forget about weighing yourself. Seriously. It's depressing and you don't see any gains because weight fluctuates quite a bit so that any gains from the diet are either hidden or exaggerated by normal inner workings of our body. Depending on the time of day, when we have last eaten, what we have eaten, how much water the body is holding, there is no reliable way to notice weight loss progression on a day to day basis. It can only cause uncertainty and frustration. Looking at the calorie counter is motivating because you can see the steady progression which will not be evident either on the scale or in the mirror. Trust the counter. The weight loss is happening. If you do want to step on the scale, I would recommend doing it no more than once every two weeks or, better yet, once per month. That's when the weight loss process will have enough time to actually manifest itself.
- Look for options to limit sedentary time
Exercise is good. There is nothing novel about that statement. Do not resign yourself to the notion that you have to sweat like a pig, day after day, for it to have an effect. Do something light, like walking in place while watching TV instead of lying on the couch. Take a short run, push yourself just a bit, but don't make it so painful as to put you off of exercise for the next 10 years. Your body will slowly adjust to the increased load and you can do a little more each day. Give it time and don't rush it though. It's better to do 10-15 minutes of exercise per day, and stick to it than do 30 minutes all at once and then give up. Note down the exercise in your calorie tracker. A rule of thumb is that 30 minutes of walking is worth extra 100 calories burned, while 30 minutes of running is 300-350 (depends how fast you run, a slow jog will be the close to the first number, a faster run will be close to the second). Be creative in finding time to get even a little bit of extra movement. It all adds up.
- Be patient
There is no miraculous way to lose weight. It's possible to go on a starvation diet and drop quickly, but this is very painful and generally unhealthy, which is why hardly anyone ever succeeds. Do not set a goal where you expect to go from being overweight to perfectly slim in a manner of a few weeks. It's not going to happen. It will take a few months at least to get really noticeable results so you have to be patient. This is not so much about going on a diet as it is about making a sustainable lifestyle change. If you follow the above, it can be done with very little inconvenience. You can still enjoy your food and do only a modest amount of exercise. Of course, as you get fitter, it's likely that exercise will become fun and effortless and it will be a simple matter to increase the length and intensity, but that's a long term thing. Do not despair if you can't run a marathon after a couple of weeks of healthier living. Be patient and let the process do its work.
Ok, that's the gist of it. I am pretty sure I forgot a few minor details, but I'll add them if I remember anything else. Anyway, the above should be a pretty good start to a sustainable weight-loss oriented lifestyle.
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