Seven Crucial Steps for Long Term Weight Loss – Part 1

1. Food Intake – How much do you need?

First of all, you need to understand that in order to begin
losing weight you must consume fewer calories than your body
burns in a period of a day. The bottom line is, regardless of
the confusion brought on by the media and industry, calories
still count!

Your body weight is largely a product of total daily caloric
intake minus total daily energy expenditure (TDEE). So, to lose
weight, your daily food consumption measured in calories must be
less than TDEE. In other words a deficit in calories must be
created to trigger a reduction in body weight. Although this is
a simple concept, it’s not easily accomplished. And statistics
prove it: approximately 50% of Americans are obese and two
thirds of Americans are borderline obese.

It doesn’t have to be that way, however. People need to be
educated with respect to health, nutrition and weight loss
maintenance. Knowledge is what we need. Knowledge is power, and
with power comes change.

One simple guideline for losing weight is to adjust your daily
caloric intake to equal ten times your weight in pounds. For
example if you weigh 180 lbs. your total daily food intake
should equal 1800 calories. This would create a sufficient
deficit in calories for gradual weight loss. This method will
not work, however, for people who are extremely obese.

Another efficient method of losing weight at a reasonably
comfortable pace (for any person) is to reduce your total daily
food intake by 500 calories. One pound equals 3500 calories and
at the rate of 500 calories per day, it translates to 1 pound of
weight loss per week. This is a sensible, realistic weight loss
pace and more likely to succeed in the long term. On the other
hand, diet programs based on more extreme calorie restriction
are very stressful physically and mentally, which is why they
result in quick but temporary weight reduction. Not to mention
the high cost of many weight loss plans that include pre
packaged food, unnecessary meal replacements, supplements and so
on.

A more accurate method to figure out how many calories you
actually need (to maintain your weight) is to take your body
weight and multiply it by 11. Say you weigh 160 pounds and you
are completely sedentary.

160 x 11 = 1760 (calories). So you would need 1760 calories if
you sat around all day with very minimal movement to remain at
160 pounds.

Now to go a step further, we have to determine your metabolic
factor. There are 3 main categories for metabolism. Slow
metabolism is when you have a very difficult time losing weight.
Medium metabolism means you don’t have difficulty losing weight
- if you really try. And Fast metabolism is when it seems no
matter how much you eat you can’t gain weight. Don’t I wish I
had that problem. See the table below.

Slow Metabolism (%)

Under 30 Years of Age – 30% Between 30-40 Years of Age – 25%
Over 40 Years of Age – 20%

Medium Metabolism (%)

Under 30 Years of Age – 40% Between 30-40 Years of Age – 35%
Over 40 Years of Age – 30%

Fast Metabolism (%)

Under 30 Years of Age – 50% Between 30-40 Years of Age – 45%
Over 40 Years of Age – 40%

Let’s continue with the above example (1760 cal.) and let’s say
you’re 35 years old and have a slow metabolism. The
corresponding metabolic rate factor would be 25%. 1760 x 25% =
440 calories – which means you would need an additional 440
calories. Your total daily calories would therefore equal 2200
(1760 + 440). In other words, you would require 2200 calories
per day to maintain your present weight.

Now to lose weight at a comfortable pace (as mentioned above),
subtract 500 calories from this total. That would equal 1700
calories (2200 – 500). Consequently, in order to lose one pound
per week you would require 1700 daily calories from food. The
next step would be to keep track of all your calories. To do
that you will need to know the calorie content of the foods you
eat. A calorie counter or calculator is where you enter the type
of food product, the amount (in grams or ounces) and it
calculates the calorie content for you. You can find them at
many websites online for free. One that I found to work fairly
well, which also contains a huge selection of foods including
items from fast food restaurant chains, is at

http://www.caloriesperhour.com.

To increase your rate of weight loss even further you can raise
your exercise level. One way to accomplish this is by
participating in a program of regular physical activity or if
you already are, simply increase the exercise intensity level.
See tip number 6 and 7 in this article for more information on
physical activity and weight loss.

2. Diet Composition

Your diet must consist of foods from all food groups (e.g. meat,
dairy, vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts/seeds, legumes).
If you’re a vegetarian, you can still get sufficient amounts of
protein from legumes, soy bean products and whole grains. In a
French study, evidence suggested that diet variety was one of
the reasons French people were less obese and had fewer
occurrences of heart disease than Americans. Another important
factor was the diversity in their diet. Overall, the French diet
contained more foods from all food groups and consisted of more
types of food and food products compared to the American diet.
(1)

Furthermore, the French seemed to enjoy their food more. Their
meals were like special gatherings, celebrations, meant to be
enjoyed by all. They typically didn’t eat very fast. They seemed
to enjoy their food more; it’s as if time stood still during
their meals. This method of eating accomplishes several things.
For one, eating slower and being more relaxed during meals
increases chewing time. In addition, by slowing down the pace of
a meal and chewing more, you are more likely to get a feeling of
fullness while eating less quantities of food. In contrast,
North Americans, very often eat on the run.

The other benefit of the French eating style is that it aids the
digestive process by reducing workload and improving the
efficiency of nutrient distribution throughout the body. An
increase in food variety and diversity decreases the percentage
of bad foods (saturated/trans fats, unrefined carbohydrates)
present in your digestive system. Moreover, increased fiber
content from fresh foods (fruits vegetables and whole grains)
also sweeps up and pushes out bad foods quicker, leaving them
less time to be absorbed by the intestines and therefore
becoming less harmful. As a result risks of developing chronic
diseases, such as various forms of cancer and heart related
diseases are also reduced. (2)

3. Quantity and Frequency of Meals

Does the size and quantity of your meals really matter? You’ve
probably heard many times over that it’s best to have smaller
more frequent meals throughout the day. In other words snacking
is preferable to gorging. Is this fact or fiction? Well, the
fact of the matter is that scientific research with respect to
this area of study has been largely contradicting. There really
is no overwhelming evidence to support the idea that increased
frequency and decreased portion size of meals is associated with
weight loss efficiency. This eating method, however, has been
shown to benefit athletic performance in trained athletes. (3)

A study with ice skaters suggested that meals taken throughout
the day to correspond with periods of physical demand associated
with training, help to maximize performance. Keep in mind that
improving athletic performance in athletes is one thing, but
increasing the rate of weight loss is something quite different.
Although, when taken to extremes, it is probably better to eat
8-10 smaller meals per day than 1 large one for example.

As it turns out, the customary three meals a day method is just
fine. There just hasn’t been enough convincing evidence to prove
that it has a negative effect on weight loss. Eating 5-6 meals a
day is also fine. Changing to a more frequent eating style,
however, may cause you to over eat, if you’re not careful,
especially at the beginning. This is because, subconsciously,
you’re used to having larger food portions at meal time. So,
it’s important to keep track of the food quantity of every meal,
until you get accustomed to the new way of eating.

1. Prev:Mother Was Right
2. Next:Seven Crucial Steps for Long Term Weight Loss – Part 2