Ever wonder how to reach that healthy weight your doctor recommends?
After a lot of review on current weight loss trends, there are only a few key points to help you reach your target weight. - Research has shown that we need to burn more calories (creating a calorie deficit) than we consume to lose weight.
- Additional research shows that the wrong approach to creating this calorie deficit may create a worse problem down the road.
What is a calorie deficit? Achieving a calorie deficit is just simple math... consume less calories than you burn. If you are like me, you really don't want to spend time adding up all of the calories you eat. An alternative, easy way, to determine if you have a calorie deficit is to see if your weight is going up or down. Monitoring your weight for a "Calorie Deficit" If you don't have a scale invest a bit of money in one. The highest accuracy is not important, it just needs to be consistent. Pick a time of day you think you will be able to consistently measure your weight. For 1 week, note your weight at this same time of day. Review your data and determine which day of the week you want to use to monitor your data. For most people we put on a bit of extra weight on the weekends and lose weight from Monday to Friday. This is a normal pattern. Our body tends to follow a weekly pattern so it is good to leverage this for consistent measurement. I exercise regularly and Thursday is my last training day of the work week so this is the day i have chose. Measure once a week
Why once a week? Most of us cannot lose more than about 1 pound per week. From the end of March 2019 to now (July 2019) I managed to lose 14 pounds (approximately 15 weeks). Going forward, measure your weight once a week on the day you have chosen.
How did I lose 14 pounds in 15 weeks?
I first decided that I was at an unhealthy weight and tried to figure out simple changes to reduce my weight. I looked at my Body Mass Index (BMI) and it said that i was obese for someone 6 feet tall and 224 pounds. For an active person I didn't feel overweight and didn't really look overweight. Regardless, I remembered that my best (recent) weight had been around 204 pounds. So I decided to see if i could return to this weight, with no specific timeline, just through adjusting what I already did. First I noticed that my weight could fluctuate by 2-4 pounds per day just from exercise (mostly water). I also monitored my weight at the same time of day over the weeks and selected the day of week to make a measurement (as noted Thursday is the last exercise day of the week for me before the weekend). Then I made a couple of choices... No running involved, just Fast Walking. The goal was to make simple adjustments to what I was already doing not make dramatic changes to my habits. Skip a
2nd helping when there was additional food from a meal (occasionally skipping the fries with some lunches), Develop simple changes to my daily routine. Morning - 20 minutes of Fast Walking my dog after my son left for school, my dog always comes to the bus stop with me. Lunch - Fast Walking to lunch (typically 20 minutes), I go out for lunch every day to get out of the office. Evening - 20 minutes of Fast Walking my dog in the evening since my dog always goes out in the evening before going to bed, and I chose to maintain my other regular activities, including snacking with the occasional healthier choice. Removing stuff you like is not sustainable because you will crave them.
What's your goal? If you don't have a long term goal then it is hard to keep on that target. Don't pick a difficult number for your immediate goal. If you are overweight, 10 pounds is a reasonable target. Once you achieve this number regularly, then you can set your sights on a lower number if that is where you need to be, just use 10 pound increments. My long term goal is just to reach 204 pounds (or so). My next increment is approximately 6 pounds. After that, I will see how I look and feel at this weight. Once you reach your desired target weight, just monitor it weekly. Weekly monitoring will allow you to make adjustments if your weight starts to go up. The Bottom Line? Reaching your target weight should not make you miserable. Simple changes might just be the the magic. Fast Walking is a great fitness and weight loss solution that shouldn't increase your appetite and create that "calorie deficit" you need to achieve and maintain a healthy weight.