66 pounds lost in 101 days on MFP.

The purpose of this post is NOT to give you advice about dieting, exercise, weight loss, lifestyle or anything else. I have lost 66 pounds in 101 days on MFP. Many, MANY people have asked me how I'm doing it. This post is my attempt to share my "secrets" with as many people in one place as possible.

The word "secrets" is in quotations because there aren't really any secrets to weight loss. Eat less calories than you burn over a period of time, and for each 3,500 calories that you eat less than you burn, you lose a pound of fat. Pretty simple, actually. So rather than providing any "secrets," I will merely tell you the factors that I believe are contributing to my success.

1. My starting weight was 478. That is a good way to lose around 4 pounds per week for an extended period of time. At that weight, my TDEE according to fitnessfrog was somewhere around 6250 per day. That means that I needed to consume 6250 calories every day just to maintain my weight at my height, weight, age, gender and exercise level. Now that I weigh 412, my TDEE is 5541. At 350 pounds, my TDEE will be 4875. At 300 it will be 4337. At 250 it will be 3800. Every time I cut 500 off my TDEE (or do 500 calories worth of ADDITIONAL exercise), I lose a pound a week. Every time I cut 1000 off my TDEE, I lose 2 pounds a week. Every time I cut 2000 off my TDEE, I lose 4 pounds a week. At 2000 off my TDEE, that puts me at 3541 calories per day. I have been eating at or under that number for 100 out of the past 101 days. This is not rocket science.

2. How do I keep from getting hungry? My diaries are open. Most days, I try to start with a high protein, and high fiber breakfast. That keeps me feeling full until mid-afternoon or so, when I eat my largest meal of the day, typically. Then I snack or graze at night because I am too full or satisfied to eat much in the evening or night.

3. I walk pretty fast for me (3.5 or so) between 40 and 90 minutes at least 6 times per week. I do not set out to walk that far. If I did, I wouldn't do it. I just turn on my music, start my timer, and start walking for one minute. I suffer though that minute, and tell myself, ok, just one more minute. After about 3-4 minutes, I have warmed up, my initial aches and pains are gone, and I go from song to song on my iPod. Before you know it, I have peeled off 40, 50, 60, or more minutes of walking. I never look down the street, or think about how far my walk is/will be. I focus only on the few car lengths in front of me, and think about how proud my MFP friends will be the next time I throw up a deuce on the weight loss thingamaddoodle.

4. Don't I miss fattening foods that I used to eat? No. I still eat them. But I do four things before I do. First, I make sure I've eaten filling healthy foods. Second, I drink lots of water or other low calorie liquids. Third, I cut my portions of fattening foods way down and usually am satisfied after the first few bites. Fourth, I make sure the fattening foods fit into my daily calories and try to eat them later in the day so that I have already saved up the calories for them.

5. I try to never let myself get too hungry. That leads to binge eating.

6. I never look forward to what I need to lose. Eating wise, I focus ONLY on the very next eating decision. Exercise wise, I focus ONLY on the next few yards, or feet ahead of me and just try to keep going.

7. How do I stay focused? Simple. Every time I open my mouth to eat, I think about whether the short term enjoyment of X is more important or less important than my long term goal of health and fitness. If that doesn't stop the craving in its tracks, I tell myself to quit being such a f**king baby and exercise some self control. If that doesn't do it, I give in and enjoy whatever I'm craving in a much smaller portion, in moderation, and within my daily calories.

That's really about it. No special gizmos, diets, tricks, cleanses or other crap. Just relatively healthy eating, focus, determination and a positive attitude. If you look at my slidey scale thing on my profile, it will tell you that I have around 200 more pounds to lose. If you ask me, I just have one more pound to get off. The very next one. Because until I lose that pound, I cannot even think about losing the one after that or the one after that. I wish you the best of luck in your journey and invite you to ask me quesitons if you have any.