Getting Started AGAIN!

• You GOT TO REALLY 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.
• 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 number of calories.
  
• 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 few weeks) and too large, 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. Eventually, your weight loss will become infinitely more difficult, frustrating, and unpredictable.
  
• 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

MasterVal wrote: »

• You GOT TO REALLY 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.
• 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 number of calories.
  
• 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 few weeks) and too large, 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. Eventually, your weight loss will become infinitely more difficult, frustrating, and unpredictable.
  
• 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