Unfortunately, in many cases it isn’t and it isn’t long before some of the same people have packed it right back on again.  So what’s the problem?  Maybe it’s the fact that many people rely on exercise alone as a way to lose weight, and that’s a sure path to failure.

You can’t use exercise alone to lose weight.  Period.  Why not?  Well, think about it.  Exercise increases the amount of calories your body burns.  That’s good, right?  Yes but your body then seeks to compensate for that calorie loss by making you hungrier than you would otherwise be.  In other words, exercise increases your appetite making it much more likely that you’ll stop by the fast food drive-through on your way home from the gym.  You tell yourself, “After all, I worked hard, right?  I deserve a “reward” for working out.”

See how it works?  The more you workout, the more your appetite increases to compensate for the calories you burned.  The more your appetite increases, the harder it is to make good food choices and maintain portion control.  Also, the easier it is to feel like you “deserve” some dessert or an extra helping of your favorite food.  And boom, before you know it, you’ve not only erased all the good you did at the gym (from a weight-loss standpoint), but you’ve probably added calories to boot.  This is exactly why many people exercise all day long and don’t lose an ounce – and also why quite a few actually gain weight when they exercise.

So here’s the bottom line:  you don’t exercise to lose weight. You exercise to get fit.  You exercise to tone your muscles.  You exercise to increase stamina, build flexibility, and maintain coordination.  You exercise to maintain muscle strength.  You exercise to keep your heart and lungs healthy.  You exercise to reduce stress.  You exercise for a hundred-and-one really good and valid reasons — but sustainable weight-loss isn’t one of them.

Losing weight is about 2 things and 2 things only:

1. Eat less calories (ie: portion control)
2. Making better food choices.

That’s it.  There is no more.  That’s the whole “secret” to successful and sustained weight-loss.  It really doesn’t matter what diet program you’re on or are thinking of trying out:  Atkins, South Beach, Primitive, etc.  These diet programs provide all sorts of recipes that are designed to help you eat less total calories (number 1 on my list) as well as help you make better food choices (number 2 on my list).  That’s all they do.  And now that you know the “secret,” you can do it too without having to buy all the books and CD’s and whatever.

If you really want to lose weight, eat less – way less. Pay strict attention to portion control.  Don’t use the huge dinner plates that most people (and restaurants) use and start eating your meals on the smaller salad plates.  Get yourself a kitchen scale and find out what a “normal serving” of food looks like.  Hint:  A “normal” serving of meat is about the size of a deck of cards and does NOT spill over the side of the plate like the chicken-fried steak special at the local steak house.

Which brings me to the second point, if you really want to lose weight, make better food choices. That means passing on the chicken-fried steak special covered in cream gravy and going with a grilled salmon instead.  Choose foods that not only contain less calories, but are also better for you.

So what have we learned here?  Well, first, if you’re exercising, don’t stop – just understand that it’s not really going to help you lose much weight.  Second, serious and sustainable weight-loss is all about eating less calories and making better food choices.

Once you start working on the right things, you’ll begin to see real progress!

Certified Fitness Nutrition Coach and
Personal Fitness Trainer (NESTA)

P.S. Be sure to get my latest Fitness Blueprint called “Little Things That Improve Your Health.” This ebook is packed with loads of helpful information on how to build a better body and you can get it FREE – for a limited time.  Just click on the title to be taken to the download page.  Enjoy!

Technorati Tags: exercise, weight-loss, diet, nutrition, calories, south beach,  Atkins, dieting, losing weight, fat

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Then right after the first of the year, Teri and I took a great winter vacation to Jackson Hole, WY.  We had a blast playing in the snow.  No time for exercise – having too much fun.

Lastly, as we flew home from vacation, I started getting a tickle at the back of my throat.  You guessed it, I got home with a royal case of the flu.  Definitely no exercising now.

For the next 2 and a half weeks, I battled the flu.  Every time I started to feel better, I’d make plans to start exercising again and sure enough, I’d wake up the next day feeling like crap all over again.

Finally, I’d had enough.  I wasn’t feeling 100% but well enough to get out and take a brisk walk.  I figured that if I waited until I felt completely recovered, we’d be well into July.  It took effort but I got up off the couch and started moving.

You know what?  The more I moved, the easier it was to move some more.  Getting my cardio up to the point where I was breathing hard seemed to open up my chest and break up some of the congestion.

I felt I was finally able to start my New Year’s Resolution – yep, in February.  What is my resolution?  It’s to “get serious.”

What do I mean by that?  Easy.  2011 is the year to get serious.  It’s time to get serious about:

• Getting into shape
• Eating healthier foods
• Losing weight
• Getting fit

I also included some financial goals as well (“it’s time to get serious about getting my company back on the growth path”, etc).  The point is that you can “play at” getting into shape, you can “play at” trying to lose weight.  Or you can get serious and actually do it.

How many times have you told yourself, “I really need to start working out” and then immediately said, “tomorrow.”  See, that’s “playing at” getting into shape because we all know that “tomorrow never comes.”

How many times have you told yourself “I’m going to cut out junk food” immediately followed by the thought, “right after I finish this piece of cake?”  That’s “playing at” losing weight and I used to fall into the same trap.  I was always going to do something to improve my health or fitness tomorrow, or down the road, or right after this bowl of ice cream.

If  you’re serious about change, you don’t play those games. If you’re tired about being weak, or overweight, or broke, or whatever, then get serious about changing it.  Get serious about doing what it takes to get yourself from where you are now to where you really want to be.  And then get serious about staying there.

Certified Fitness Nutrition Coach and
Personal Fitness Trainer (NESTA)

P.S. Be sure to get my latest Fitness Blueprint called “Little Things That Improve Your Health.” This ebook is packed with loads of helpful information on how to build a better body and you can get it FREE – for a limited time.  Just click on the title to be taken to the download page.  Enjoy!

Technorati Tags: fitness, exercise, vacation, seriousness, determination, goals, diet, weight loss, nutrition

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Sorry.  There’s no such thing.  Let me say that again so you can stop your frantic searching — there is no secret way to losing weight.  All you have to do is eat less, way less as it turns out.

I know what you’re thinking.  You’re thinking, “But I already cut out eating bread with my meals” or “I already skip dessert and I STILL can’t lose weight.”  The problem is that you haven’t cut enough.

That lesson was brought home to me in an interesting way.  I’m reading a fascinating book titled, “Physics for Future Presidents: the Science Behind the Headlines,” by Richard A. Mueller.  In it, this Physics Professor takes much of the hype out of many of the issues that crowd today’s headlines.  In a very straightforward way, he tackles issues such as “dirty bombs,” terrorism, energy, climate change, and so on.

It was on his chapter on energy where he’s talking about how much energy a gallon of gasoline contains that I found, of all things, a comparison to the energy content of food.  Mueller states that “food is almost as good as gasoline” in terms of energy content.  He goes on to say that,

“If you find this high energy content implausible, watch a hummingbird.  It uses enormous energy to flap its wings just to sip a tiny amount of nectar.  Clearly the energy in the nectar must be more than enough to cover the work being done by those rapidly beatings wings that hold the bird in front of the flower.  It is.  Food is almost as good as gasoline.”

Because food has such a high energy content, it actually takes very little of it to completely nourish our bodies and fuel our daily activities.   The problem is that we’re typically greatly overloading our bodies with way more food than what we actually need.  Professor Mueller goes on to say that,

“On the downside, the enormous energy content of food is what makes it so difficult to lose weight without serious dieting.  One 12-ounce can of soda contains, typically, 150 food calories.  A person can work that off with a half hour of vigorous exercise (running, not jogging; basketball, not baseball; swimming, not golf), provide, of course, that he doesn’t reward himself with a can of soda.  The best way to lose weight is to eat less, not to exercise more.“

Make sure you pay particular attention to that last line:  “the best way to lose weight is to eat less, not to exercise more.”  It’s simple physics.  To eliminate 150 calories from your diet, you can do half an hour of hard exercise, or you can simply pass on the soda and drink water instead.

Now, to be clear, note that he didn’t say that you didn’t have to exercise at all or that exercise isn’t important or that it doesn’t help you lose weight.  He didn’t say any of these things.  All he said is that from a physics standpoint, it’s easier to lose weight by eating less than by exercising more simply because food has such a high energy content.

So let me summarize:

1. If you want to lose weight, eat less – way less. Although when you first start a diet it feels like you’re dying, your body will actually adjust after a couple of days.  Your stomach will get smaller so that small portions will be more filling and your digestive system will get more efficient since you’re not constantly overloading it anymore.  If you can make it past the first week, it really does get easier.
2. Yes, I did say “eat way less.” Just making token cuts like skipping the bread or desert isn’t enough.  Not eating bread reduces your total calorie count by what, maybe 250 calories?  Big deal.  That’s not nearly enough.  You need to cut your total caloric intake by 1/2 to 2/3.  No, this is not a typo.  Cut your meals by one half to two thirds of what you’re eating now.  Unless you make really radical changes to your diet, your body simply adjusts to not having bread or not having dessert and you end up weighing the same.  IMPORTANT NOTE:  radical changes to your diet does put a strain on your body at first so make sure you’re in good health to begin with and that you’ve discussed your plans with a healthcare provider.
3. Exercise is still important. Physical exercise still plays an important part in your weight-loss plans.  You still have to keep your metabolism rate at a high level, you still need to keep your muscles toned, and you still have to encourage your body to burn fat instead of muscle.  Exercise does all these things so it’s critical that you work in as much as you can.

How have I used this information?  Well, here’s the diet that I try to follow (notice I said “try” because honestly, I do occasionally cheat).  I try to follow the “reduced calorie” routine for as many days as I can during the week.  It doesn’t always work out that way but I try to follow it as many days as I can.  On weekends, I eat whatever I want but obviously try to keep from undoing all my progress.

My “Reduced Calorie” Diet

Breakfast:  One 8-oz Protein Shake (I use Syntha-6) with one small banana or 2-3 strawberries mixed in.  Calories:  about 150

Lunch:  One cup (about 8-oz) of soup.  I love Campbell’s Chunky Healthy Request (not the “condensed”) soups, especially the Beef Barley.  Keep in mind that most cans of soup contain 2 portions so make sure to read the label!  Calories: about 150

Dinner:  Another protein shake.  Calories:  about 150

So during the week, I try to get by on around 500 calories per day (more or less).  Am I always successful?  Of course not.  I occasionally throw in a snack in between lunch and dinner that probably adds another 100-150 calories.  The key is to make sure that your “snack” is a wise choice like a piece of fruit, some nuts, or a granola bar.  It’s critical that you stay away from sugary “empty” calories.

Again, this diet is not for everyone – and not everyone will be able to stay on it for long.  Make sure you are in good health before starting ANY diet (or exercise) plan and discuss your plans with your doctor or healthcare provider.  That being said, use your head and take things slow and easy at first.  Like I said earlier, it does get easier once you get past the first week.

Now 500-600 calories per day isn’t much, but then, I’m a little guy (5′ 10″) so don’t take the actual number of calories as gospel.  Simply take what your normal diet is and try to get buy on half.  Do that as many times as you can during the week.  If that means you do it every other day, that’s fine.  If you can only do it on Wednesdays, that’s a good start.  The point is to start.  Once you do, you’ll find that adding an additional day gets easier and before you know it, you’ll be getting by on much less food.

Make sure you keep up your exercise routine.  In fact, when you start getting hungry, go out for a brisk walk instead of reaching for the chips.  Drinking lots of water will also help to keep your stomach from grumbling.

So to sum up, “token” dieting doesn’t work since your body simply adapts to the slight changes in food intake.  The end result is that you end up weighing exactly the same.  To lose weight, you’ve got to make a radical reduction in the amount of food you eat – on the order of 1/2 to 2/3 of what you’re eating now.  Drink plenty of water, get plenty of exercise, and above all, use common sense and check with your doctor along the way.  I think you’ll be pleased with the results you start getting.

Certified Fitness Nutrition Coach and
Personal Fitness Trainer (NESTA)

P.S.  Be sure to get my latest Fitness Blueprint called “Little Things That Improve Your Health.”  This ebook is packed with loads of helpful information on how to build a better body and you can get it FREE – for a limited time.  Just click on the title to be taken to the download page.  Enjoy!

Technorati Tags: diet, weight-loss, nutrition, balanced health, fitness, muscle, protein, weight, calories

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Still struggling to lose weight?  Have you tried one diet after another with little or no results?  Or worse, have you gained back more that what you lost on your last diet?  Losing weight shouldn’t be this hard!

Well, in truth, it’s not.  Losing weight is pretty simple.  Here’s what I recently learned becoming certified as a Fitness Nutrition Coach.

I recently completed the material for the NESTA Fitness Nutrition Coach certification.  They did a really good job of explaining how the body uses various nutrients.  Here’s some of what I learned about losing weight.

First, your current weight is an indication of your body’s energy balance.  If you burn off (energy going out) the same number of calories that you consume via eating (energy coming in), then your weight won’t change because the number of calories going out is exactly the same as the number of calories coming in.

However, if you eat more calories than you burn off (energy coming in > energy going out), then you’ll gain weight because you’re putting more calories into your body than the body can use.  It will simply store the extra calories as fat.

Conversely, if you burn more calories than you consume (energy coming < energy going out), then you’ll lose weight.  In this case, the body needs more calories than you’re giving it through eating so it uses some of the calories stored in fat to make up the difference.

Pretty straightforward, I know.  But how exactly do you apply this in a way that you can stick with on a day-to-day basis?  How do you put that into easy-to-follow steps?  Here’s where I figured out what the A-B-C’s of weight loss actually were.

A – Reduce Your Total Calories

OK, you should have seen that one coming.  But the first question I had was, “What exactly does that mean in terms of my daily eating habits?”  Are we just talking about dieting?

Well, yes and no.  Dieting is part of the answer, but not all of it.  Here’s why dieting alone usually doesn’t work.  Most experts agree that for permanent weight loss, your goal should be to lose 1-2 pounds per week.  If you’re losing any more than that, it’s probably water weight, not fat loss – which means it will eventually come back.

So let’s do a little math and see exactly how many calories 1-2 pounds translates into.  One pound equals approximately 3500 calories.  Therefore, if you want to lose 2 pounds in a week, you would have to reduce your total caloric intake for the week by 7000 calories (2 lbs x 3500 cal/lb = 7000 cal).

So what’s that on a daily basis?  Well, we need a reduction of 7000 calories per week and there’s 7 days in a week so dividing one by the other gives 1000 calories per day.  You would have to eat 1000 fewer calories each and every day.

Holy Smokes!  One Thousand Less Calories!  That’s huge!  If you’re eating around 2000 calories per day, then eating 1000 fewer calories means cutting your meals in half! Could you do that?  I know I can’t – at least not for more than a day or two.  This is exactly why most people who try to lose weight by dieting alone rarely find success. It’s just too high a hurdle to clear each and every day.

So what’s a more balanced approach?  One approach that will increase your chances of success is to combine dieting (reducing the total number of calories you consume) with some type of exercise (increase the total number of calories you burn off).  That’s the next step.

B – Increase Your Activity Level

Instead of trying to reduce your daily calorie intake by 1000 calories through dieting alone, it makes much more sense to combine dieting with exercise.  Here’s how it would work.

Remember our energy balance equation?  Energy coming in (via food) must be less than energy going out (through activity level) in order for us to lose weight.  There are 3 ways to accomplish this:

1. Through Dieting Alone. In other words, reduce the amount of food coming in and keep your activity level the same.  However, we’ve already discussed how difficult this is to maintain over the long term so this is not really a good option.
2. Through Exercise Alone. You can keep the amount of food constant and increase your activity level.  But you still  have to create a deficit of 1000 calories per day and if you’re not going to do it through dieting, that means you’ll have to burn it off.  There’s just one problem.  Do you realize how much exercise you have to do in order to burn off 1000 calories?  That’s about a 90 minute, non-stop cardio session.  And remember, you have do this each and every day.  Again, not something most people can stick with on a daily basis.
3. Using Both Dieting and Exercise. This is the balanced choice.  Instead of trying to loose (or burn) 1000 calories using one method alone, try losing half that amount (500 calories) with each method.  Seek to reduce your caloric intake by 500 calories – that’s about a 20-25% reduction in meal size.  I can probably do that just by cutting out snacks and soft drinks.  Second, seek to burn off an additional 500 calories by increasing your activity level through exercise.  I can probably burn off 500 calories in a 30-45 min cardio class with no problem.  Now you’ve got a weight reduction plan that’s doable, and one you can stick to.

C – Make better food choices

The last step is to make better food choices on the calories you do consume.  Choose foods that are nutrient rich, instead of energy rich.  For example, a Twinkie® and a large apple both have approximately the same number of calories (about 120).  Although the Twinkie provides a short-term “energy-rush,” the apple provides a number of nutrients (like fiber) that are missing from the Twinkie.  So make sure that the calories you do consume are from whole foods instead of processed ones.

So that’s the “secret” to weight loss:  reduce your total calories, increase your activity level, and make better food choices.  What turned on the lights for me was realizing that if you utilize all three steps in your weight loss plan, your chances of success go way up!

Give it shot.  I think you’ll not only find this kind of weight loss program easier to stick with, but you’ll also begin to get the permanent results you’re looking for.

Hiram
The Balanced Health Guy

Technorati Tags: Body Balance, calories, diet, Dieting, Eating Habits, Energy Balance, Fitness Nutrition, Gain Weight, Lose Weight, Losing Weight, Nutrients, Nutrition Coach, weight loss

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