The Secret to Losing Weight

September 8, 2008

The Secret to Losing Weight by Kari Breed

I may have discovered the secret to losing weight. It’s not exactly a secret, nor is it actually mine, but I think it just might do the trick. This little tidbit was revealed to me while I was reading a book called Secrets of a Former Fat Girl by Lisa Delaney (I told you it wasn’t my secret), which is, by far, the most motivational book on weight loss I’ve ever read – and I’m only halfway through. (And, by the way, it’s not just for girls. Anyone could benefit from this book.)

Here’s the secret:

This is disturbingly obvious, but bear with me. The secret to losing weight is to take in less calories than you burn off. Yes, I know you are groaning. You’re saying, “Ugh, we’re back to this? This is caveman stuff! It’s rudimentary! Everyone knows this!” But I ask you… do they? Do they really?

Okay, yes, they do. But (and I can only speak for myself), I have never really understood the whole problem. I never had all the information. I was missing a piece of the puzzle. I knew where I wanted to go – less calories – but I never knew from where I was starting. And learning that seems to be the final piece of the puzzle I need.

Everyone is different. My weight is different than yours. The amount I exercise is different than the amount you exercise. How much I want to lose is different, too. So, how are we all supposed to get to where we’re going (losing weight) if we’re coming from such different places, but all we’re ever offered is a one-size-fits-all plan? We have to set different goals, but before we can design those goals, we’ve got to find out how. Not by yet another generic plan, but by getting specific.

Online calculators can help us with this.

Here’s how I did mine.

First I started with an online calculator that would tell me how many calories I need to consume to maintain my current weight. For this, I went to CalorieControl.org (see Your Step-by-Step Plan below). Here’s what I entered in:

5 feet 6 inches
148 Pounds
Age 37
Activity Level: Moderate
Answer: 2118 calories a day to maintain my current weight

According to another of the CalorieControl.org calculators, my healthy weight is 130. I agree but would like to lose 5 more since I am bird-boned and looked my best at 125 (once upon a time).

3,500 calories equals one pound of body weight. If I want to lose one pound per week, that’s how many calories I need to cut back, which equals 500 calories per day.

After that, I calculated how many calories I burn during my three-day-a-week exercising:
Jogging 1.1 mile (10:30 minutes): 117 calories x twice a week = 234
Walking back 1.1 mile for 20 minutes: 130 calories x twice a week = 260
Bicycling for 30: 218 calories
Total: 712 calories a week burned exercising
Note: I walk around all day long at my job, which I’m sure counts for a lot I’m not adding in.

Then I subtracted the amount of calories I burn exercising each week, 712, from the weekly deficit I’ll need to lose weight, 3,500, which gives me my real weekly deficit number, 2,788. That means I need to reduce my caloric intake by 2,788 each week (398 calories a day) to lose 23 pounds in 6 months (23 pounds divided by 4 pounds per month equals 5.75 months). Remember, according to the calculator, to maintain my current weight, I need 2118 calories a day. So, when I subtract 398 from 2118, I find I need to consume 1,720 calories a day to lose 23 pounds in 6 months in a very healthy and doable way.

After calculating all of the above, I then calculated my daily food intake – minus dinner. I eat the same food during the week (supplementing with a vitamin or two), taking lunches to work and eating mostly well at home, which makes it easy to add up. My caloric breakdown of food came out like this:

Breakfast: Scrambled Egg, Butter, V-8 Juice: 169 Calories
Lunch: Baby Carrots, Protein Drink, Oat-Bran Muffin: 263
Lunch: Soup, Pudding: 280
Popsicle: 80
Bedtime Snack: 200 (low blood sugar prevents me from skipping this)
Water: 8 Glasses Per Day: 0
Total: 992
That leaves 728 for dinner. Since dinner is often hard to count, I just eat whatever I eat in moderation, aiming for more veggies.

Note: Cutting out drinks is an easy way to cut calories since they don’t keep you feeling full anyway.

Perhaps the best part of all is that in order to maintain my ideal weight once I reach it, I get to eat about 240 more calories per day. Anyway, that’s what the calculators say. That’s going to be a real treat, especially after getting used to the deficit. I’ll use that as motivation.

The first week I did this plan, I lost 2½ pounds. This was phenomenally exciting, so I celebrated by overeating all the next weekend and gained every bit of it back. I have, once again, lost those 2½ pounds, plus 1½ more. Just think, if I hadn’t stuffed my face that weekend, I’d be 6½ pounds to the good. If I’d paid attention to my weekend caloric intake, I would have seen how much I was actually scarfing down.

So, I reiterate: The secret to losing weight is to take in less calories than you burn off. The second secret is finding out just what that is.

Life Lesson: If you knew it, you could do it.

Note: I’ve plugged my numbers into various calculators and always get a variety of answers. The American Cancer Society’s calculator says I need 2489 calories, which is quite a bit different. My decision, for now at least, is to stick with the ones I first used since I’ve noticed good results. It’s doubtful to be an exact science anyway. About.com’s calculator agrees with CalorieControl.org, as well as others.

Note: If you are extremely overweight, have trouble losing weight even when you’re eating well and exercising, or are at all uncertain about your health, consult your doctor. You could have an underlying medical condition that needs to be resolved. I always recommend seeing a good endocrinologist as well as your regular physician.

Your Step-By-Step Plan:

1. www.caloriecontrol.org/calcalcs.html - Enter in your data to get your Maintenance Calories.
2. www.caloriecontrol.org/ibw.html - Enter your data to find your Healthy Weight.
3. Decide on your Goal Weight.
4. Decide how many pounds you want to lose per week. Keep this number between 1 and 2 for healthy, doable weight loss. For 1 pound, your Weekly Calorie Deficit will be 3,500. For 2 pounds, if you have a lot to lose and have some seriously bad eating habits, it will be 7,000.
5. www.caloriecontrol.org/exercalc.html - Enter in your data and keep notes, then tally up your Weekly Calories Burned During Exercise.
6. Subtract your Weekly Calories Burned During Exercise from your Weekly Calorie Deficit, then divide that by 7 to get your Adjusted Daily Calorie Deficit.
7. Subtract your Adjusted Daily Calorie Deficit from your Maintenance Calories to find out what you, personally, need to consume each day to reach your goal.
8. Divide the amount of pounds you plan to lose by how many pounds you plan to lose per month. This will give you your ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival), how many months it should take.
9. www.caloriescount.org/calculator.html - Research the foods you like (or are willing to eat) to find out how many calories are in them.
10. Make a Calorie Meal Plan and stick to it, adjusting it as often as you need.

Note: Feel free to search for other calculators, especially if any of these stop working.

Note: Redo your numbers every once in awhile as your weight decreases and you change your exercise and eating habits.

Other Resources:

For great low-glycemic eating and the oat-bran muffin recipe I use, check out:
The Good Carb Cookbook by Sandra Woodruff
http://www.amazon.com/Good-Carb-Cookbook-Secrets-Glycemic/dp/1583330844/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1220030940&sr=1-1

Secrets of a Former Fat Girl by Lisa Delaney
http://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Former-Fat-Girl-Sizes/dp/0452289246/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1220033726&sr=1-1

Posted in Goals, Health