MY guide to successful weight loss

M30834134

I want to share what worked for me to get to my goal in hopes it would help someone to achieve theirs. This is by no means anything comprehensive or ultimate – THIS WORKS FOR ME, all or some of it might work for you – read it, analyze it, and then decide if you want to try.

I’m 44, male, was 230 at the end of February, now 2 lb short of my goal of 200 but, unlike other times, I’m losing weight very easy and consistently – because I studied weight loss and nutrition, and everything related, for past 5 years or so and now know EXACTLY what to do and why.

So, below is the list of what worked for me:

• You GOT TO RALLY WANT IT! Your goal GOT to be engraved in your head and you must be willing to do almost anything to achieve it.
  
  
• Give yourself NO CHOICE but to get to your goal. THERE IS NO OTHER WAY! The attitude of “I’ll try it, I’ll try it real hard, but let’s see where it goes” or “I’ll try my best” – most likely will fail because if you are here, then most of your decision about food and exercise weren’t wise (otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this) and, most likely, if you give yourself a choice on this matter – you’ll end up on the unhealthy end of it.
  
  
• All you need to lose weight is caloric deficit – you must eat less than you burn – this is a scientific fact. In order to further tweak the progress, you will need to evaluate different macro nutrient scenarios – low carb, paleo, LCHF, keto, etc and find what works best for you.
  
  
• LOG EVERYTHING YOU EAT! You must log EVERYTHING. Otherwise why log anything at all? If my wife gives me a bite of her steak – I add an ounce to my log, if she gives me a bite of her sandwich – I add a quarter. I even log salt, paprika, coffee, etc.
  
  
• Err on the upside for calories and on the down side for exercises. I’d rather log more calories than I actually ate and fewer calories than my HRM shows, than the other way around.
  
  
• You must have the following: a kitchen scale, a measuring cup, measuring spoons at the bare minimum as there is no other way to measure food portions. You’ll be amazed how actual 4 oz of steak differ from what you think it should be.
  
  
• BE HONEST. If you went over your daily calories budget by eating an unplanned cheese cake – not logging it will fool nobody but you! If you exercised for 10 min but logging 60 – who are you fooling?
  
  
• You’ve got to decide the meaning of the word “DIET” for you. There are 2 choices:
  a. The modern meaning – “restrict oneself for a period of time to small amounts or special kinds of food in order to lose weight”. Most likely, this will result in a yo-yo diet, read explanation below.
  b. The original meaning from 13th century – “diata – way of living” or “diaitasthai - to lead one's life”
  Obviously, you have to treat this “diet” as the choice “b”
  
  
• You have to realize that there is no going back to “eating as before” as that “eating as before” got you here.
  
  
• You GOT TO READ, read, and read more! Knowledge is the key to success. When you find an article or study about something – read 10 more on the same subject as a lot of these studies bias to one side or another and contradict each other.
  
  
• Educate yourself on BMR - Basal Metabolic Rate and find out what is your number. BMR is the bare minimum your body needs to function. BMR is the energy needed for your heart, brain, kidneys, liver, digestion, breathing, sweating, hair growth, nail growth, etc. etc. If you were to lie down without any movement for 24 hours – your body will burn BMR.
  
  
• Select your daily calories plan that is ABOVE your BMR and DO NOT eat less than your BMR (at least not by a lot and not consistently)!!!!
  
  
• Starvation mode. I’m not sure if the starvation mode is a myth or not but I do know (it happened to me) what happens when you under eat (constantly eat less than your BMR). Our bodies are masters of adaptation. When you supply less than BMR calories to your body, at first, it will tap into the energy reserves – the stored fat. That’s why when you start dieting the pounds fly off in numbers and easy. But, if the shortage of calories is prolonged (more than a couple of weeks), your body will realize that and say “oops, looks like my supply of energy has changed, I must adapt!” and it will ADAPT. Your body will adapt to get by on what it has and it will cut energy to whatever it can – it will slow down hormone production, slow down your liver functions, slow down your kidney functions, etc., AND it WILL SLOW DOWN YOUR METABOLISM! Eventually, any weight loss will become almost impossible. For example, if you only give your body 800 calories per day – your body will bend backwards BUT it will make it work – it will reconfigure itself to run on only 800 calories per day! So, the minute you eat just a tad more – your body will say “hey, some more energy, I better store it”! That is why all who severely restrict themselves to unhealthy (below BMR) calorie allotment immediately gain weight as soon as they try to increase daily calories to their maintenance level. How to avoid this? DO NOT EAT LESS THAN YOUR BMR!
  
  Eating above your BMR will have less significant impact on the crucial functions but larger impact on all others, such as fat storage.
  
  
• Do not exclude foods you like – plan them into your meals. I think this one is obvious as you can’t go the rest of your life not eating foods you like.
  
  
• Plan your meals in advance. Planning in advance will make you proud. You will be more likely to stick with the plan when you have it. You will less likely to end up at diner with no calories left. You will also have the necessary information to make better decision during the day when circumstances change.
  
  
• Learn about nutrients – fats are not the enemy and neither are carbs.

Wow. I didn’t think the list will be that long, but here it is.

ciamlsortiz

Thank you for this. Im new to this and have somewhat of an understanding. This really helped. A few things I still need help with but hopefully ill figure it out

kommodevaran

Good tips, I already use many of them myself

999tigger

Agree with some, but as you said its what worked for you. We all find our own way.

zoeysasha37

Nice post

kellycasey5

I love this!

Just go all Olivia Pope and keep asking...... WHAT DO YOU WANT?????

I am slowly, ever so slowly, making progress. Less than a pound a week or so progress. I am sedentary, couchbound, and many times on bedrest. I am disabled and perhaps handicapped although I really don't like either of those words. I am sick, I am tired, I take medications, and I have very extremely limited activity. And I am thus far successful despite these things. All of the less than a pound a weeks have added up over time. And now I am 30 pounds less, fairly painlessly.

WHY? OP NAILED IT with this post. I have given myself no choice but to get to my goal, and I stay within calories to achieve my goal. That's it! No magic, no stress, no real serious hard work, just my daily choice to be successful. I am aware of my goal. I WANT my goal. I do not want to be sick and obese anymore. I can't help being sick, and have no choice in that. I am, however, directly responsible for my weight. I can control my weight. I can make changes and be successful in regards to my weight goals. I can still eat a cheeseburger and fries for lunch and move toward my goal. That is my kind of goal No restrictions, just limits, easy reasonable limits. NO DIETING.

I will say I had doubts about losing 60 pounds. Who seriously loses 60 pounds? And I thought about it. And the truth is, the amount is irrelevant. I am not trying to start a war over who is the fattest or how hard everyone thinks they have it or how far some have to go and how close others are to goal. I simply don't care. It was as hard for me to lose the first pound as it was to lose the 30th pound. And that was simply as hard as admitting I had made mistakes and am solely responsible for becoming obese. It was me, all me, and I did it to myself. I ate too much and I got fat. See? That wasn't so hard. I took the emotion out of it. Feel free to add the geicko gecko screaming like the flat tire commercial if it helps. I ate too much and I got fat. There is no emotion there, and nothing special about it. THIS WAS MY DOING. It goes back to OP. If you give yourself a choice you will fail at reaching your goal. Choose success, or fail. It is one heck of a choice, and a REALLY EASY one if you want to be successful. Take the choice out and move forward. Allow yourself to succeed. It feels better than failure and it is easier.

I will let you know if losing pounds 31-60 are magically different, but I suspect not. There is no other way to lose the weight but to lose the weight. Get rid of the choices and get to it. Start today, start now, make changes.

Thanks for a great post

ninerbuff

Not a bad plan at all. In fact, it's more likely that people who try to follow it will do well and maintain.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

simply_bubbz

I love this post! But can someone explain "eat less than you burn" i hear this a lot but can you put n perspective? B/c when I think abt doin tht each day it's impossible....

M30834134

simply_bubbz wrote: »

I love this post! But can someone explain "eat less than you burn" i hear this a lot but can you put n perspective? B/c when I think abt doin tht each day it's impossible....

@simply_bubbz, quite possible and actually necessary to lose weight.

Here is an utterly oversimplified explanation: The objective of the weight loss is to burn fat, which is a source of energy your body has stored for "emergencies". Your body needs a certain amount of energy per day and if you eat LESS than that need, the body has to get the remaining energy from somewhere - it taps into fat storage - hence burning fat. That's what I meant by "eat less than you burn": your energy expenditure is greater than your intake.

M30834134

kellycasey5 wrote: »

I will say I had doubts about losing 60 pounds. Who seriously loses 60 pounds? And I thought about it. And the truth is, the amount is irrelevant. I am not trying to start a war over who is the fattest or how hard everyone thinks they have it or how far some have to go and how close others are to goal. I simply don't care.

@kellycasey5 such an inspiring reply! Thank you! This is one of the reasons I frequent weight loss message boards to find posts like this - to learn from, to get inspiration, to get other people experiences!

LOVE IT!

kellycasey5

Just thought I would pop back to bump this thread, and let you know that pounds 31-50 came off EXACTLY like my first pound! Who seriously loses 50 pounds? It doesn't even matter. I continue to move forward, and can go forward or backward. I like forward!

I am still working on 9 pounds to hit goal. The amount still remains irrelevant to me!!! I still have health challenges and am still sick, tired, disabled, blah blah blah. I CAN do about 7 minutes at a time of seated or floor yoga, and about 15 to 20 minutes of modified chair yoga. Should any of you be looking for some serious motivation, check out the spinal cord injuries videos on youtube doing wheelchair exercise. GOOD STUFF right there. NO EXCUSES unless you want excuses.

Still looking at my goal as a matter of success or failure. I prefer success, and I am successful! The alternative is failure, and let's get serious here. Failure is not a suitable option, at least not for me

And, as you so aptly shared many moons ago, caloric deficit is STILL working for me.

So, just thought I would share that I STILL can find success or excuses, and that for me success is working out as it has all along. One pound at a time, one calorie counting day at a time, and by consuming less calories.

Carry on and keep your chin up! You are stronger than you think you are and capable of so much more than you have ever imagined

M30834134

@kellycasey5 - great inspiring reply! Thank you!

I wish you success