Let’s cut the crap (no, not the carbs)
Guess what?
Weight loss is really fucking simple.
So why are we making it so complicated?
In early 2021, my wife and I were out for a walk, and she took this photo of me and our kids.
That’s me at roughly 225 pounds, by far the heaviest I’ve ever been. At a shade over 5'11, I was firmly in the “overweight” category, at least as far as the World Health Organization is concerned.
As someone who’s always considered himself to be in relatively good shape, I was shocked by what I saw. So I did what most people would do — I went straight to Google and typed in every combination of “How to lose weight” I could think of.
What quickly became apparent is the sheer amount of conflicting information that is out there.
- Should you cut out carbs?
- No, carbs are good, you need to cut out all fat.
- Carbs and fat are fine, maybe gluten is the real enemy?
- Maybe it doesn’t matter what you eat, perhaps I should only eat standing naked at the top of a hill by the light of the full moon?
Is it any wonder why people lose motivation? Weight loss has become a $70 billion industry, and everyone wants their product to be the next miracle in weight loss.
For example, take the study conducted at the University of Tennessee by Dr Michel Zemel in 2004, which concluded that the consumption of a diet that is rich in dairy foods increases weight loss. Great! Who doesn’t love cheese?
However, Dr Zemel failed to mention a couple of crucial points.
Firstly, the study had just 21 participants, nowhere near a large enough sample to verify the claims. Second, Dr Zemel owned a patent on the claim that dairy foods can aid weight loss, meaning it was in his interests that the study showed a correlation between increased consumption of dairy foods and weight loss.
If someone is selling you something to help you lose weight, run.
The funny thing is, weight loss isn’t some closely guarded secret. Deep down we all know what we have to do, we just can’t be bothered. Instead, we’d rather waste our time and money searching for a silver bullet to shed the pounds with minimal effort on our part.
Crash diets, fat-loss pills, pick your poison, it’s all utter bullshit, designed with one goal only — to make you part with your money.
So what’s the answer then?
First off, let me say this.
I’m not a weight-loss expert or nutritionist — I’m just a regular guy who, in the space of five months, has gone from a chunky 225-pound dad-bod to a lean-190.
How? By following the steps that I’ve outlined below.
Work out how many calories you need
Everything you do burns calories. Breathing, walking, digesting, it all burns calories, which are replaced when you consume food and drink. At some point, you’ve probably heard the general rule of thumb that women need approximately 2,000 calories per day, and men need 2,500.
It’s not quite that simple.
The number of calories you need is known as your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) and is unique to you. Your TDEE will be completely different to mine, as it’s dependent on a number of factors, including age, weight, height, sex, body composition, and physical activity level.
- Head over to TDEE Calculator, fill in the required fields, and press ‘Calculate.’
2. The number you want to pay particular attention to is your maintenance calories, which you can see on the left-hand side of the screen.
This is an estimate of the number of calories you need to consume every day to maintain your current body weight. You can also see how this number would change with varying levels of physical activity. It’s important to be as honest as possible when estimating your activity level, as overestimating can drastically impact your maintenance calorie number. If in doubt, underestimate.
Now that you know your maintenance calories, you need to work out how many calories you need to consume to lose weight. Eating fewer calories than your body needs is known as being in a calorie deficit, which is essential for weight loss.
I’d recommend a 20% calorie deficit as a good baseline for sustainable weight loss. At a 20% deficit, most people should lose between one and two pounds per week, which is a good number to be aiming for.
To work out your new calorie requirements, simply work out 20% of your maintenance calorie number, and subtract it.
Maintenance Calories = 2,403
20% of Maintenance Calories = 480
New Daily Calorie Target = 2,403–480 =1923
So you’ve got your new number of calories to consume, now what?
Track everything you eat and drink
I know, it might seem like a pain, but tracking your calories is the only effective way to make sure you’re staying on track.
I recommend using MyFitnessPal, a handy smartphone app that allows you to easily log everything you eat and drink. The app’s barcode scanner makes it really easy to find what you’re looking for, and if you can’t find something, you can manually add it to the database ready for next time.
Logging your food might seem a pain at first, but it will open your eyes. You’ll realise just how quickly the calories can add up. Remember, the number of calories you’re now aiming for is just an estimate. If, after a few weeks of tracking, you’re not making any progress, consider increasing your calorie deficit, until you start seeing results.
Hold yourself accountable. Don’t track your food Monday to Friday, forget the eight beers you had on Saturday night then complain that tracking doesn’t work.
Track everything, be honest with yourself, see results.
Start in the kitchen
“You can’t out-train a bad diet” is a popular phrase in the fitness community. It’s a reminder that although exercise is vital, it is only one small part of the equation. A healthy lifestyle, specifically weight loss, starts in the kitchen.
Do you how many calories are in the foods that you eat? Most of us have no idea. Take a look at the pictures below, which show just 200 calories worth of various foods.
73g Fries vs 740g Mini Peppers
34g Peanut Butter vs 328g Kiwi Fruit
Surprising, isn’t it?
The average person will burn between 300–500 calories during a 30-minute run. That’s barely a Snickers bar.
Use exercise to compliment your weight loss strategy, but do not rely on it. You can burn all the calories you like on the treadmill, but if you reward yourself by stopping for a Big Mac and a McFlurry every other night, don’t be surprised that the weight isn’t coming off.
Weight loss starts in the kitchen.
Look beyond the scale
How do you know if you’re getting better at something?
You track your progress.
Weight loss is no different. Weighing yourself periodically is important to ensure you’re staying on track, but you need to look deeper. The human body isn’t a block of marble, our “weight” is made up of various different tissues, including muscle mass, fat, and water. If the number on the scales isn’t shifting, it could be for a number of reasons, such as how hydrated you are, whether you’ve been to the bathroom, or when you last ate a meal.
Progress is more than just the number on the scale, you should also consider:
- Have you noticed your clothes fitting better?
- Do you feel more confident in yourself?
- Do you feel like you have more energy?
For me, one of the earliest signs of weight loss was having to use a tighter hole on my belt when getting dressed in the morning. It made me feel amazing, and even more so when I started getting compliments at work for how slim I was looking.
Progress comes in many forms, look beyond the scale.
The best diet is…
The one that you enjoy, and you can stick to.
I don’t care what anyone says, they can rave about the effectiveness of the Keto diet until the cows come home, a diet is only as effective if it is sustainable.
Eating is such an important part of our lives, it’s important to find the foods that you enjoy eating and will allow you to stick to your calorie goal. There is no point forcing yourself to eat foods that you don’t like — this will just cause you to dread mealtimes and cause you to give up, forsaking weight loss forever and going back to eating whatever the hell you want.
You will have off days and you will overindulge. Don’t beat yourself up about it, just acknowledge that you’re a human being, and try to get back on track at your next meal. It’s better to be consistently good than inconsistently perfect.
The best diet is one you can stick to.
Takeaways
- Work out how many calories you need
- Track everything you eat
- Weight loss starts in the kitchen
- Look beyond the scale
- Find a diet that you enjoy
No comments:
Post a Comment