Sunday, February 15, 2009

Simple Math Weight Loss


I have battled my weight for the better half of my life. The problem is that I hate dieting and I LOVE food. Italian... French....Indian.... cakes....fruits....cheese....chocolate... *sigh* I love food.


And I actually eat really quite healthy. But the problem is that I occasionally eat just a little wee bit too much and over 3-6 months I'll put on extra ten or fifteen pounds. That is about when I will start to diet again in attempt to take that extra weight off and I always do quite well...for while.... but I'll never quite manage take off the full amount....I loose five of ten....or ten of fifteen and then maintain for while.... eventually I'll gain another ten or fifteen....take off five or ten... and so the cycle goes until over the course of a few years, I gain that extra 5 pounds 10 times and all of the sudden I've put on a whole wack load of wait ("wack" meaning big...not "wack"- the hip new (Im aging myself again, arent I?) expression for "good") and that 5 pounds has turned to 50!



But last year I discovered a little secret.... hidden deep in the rain forests of Brazil (not really)


With all the weight loss solutions that I have read about (and dare I say tried) this one actually works for me because although it may sound cliche- it actually isnt a diet at all...
And so....


The Simple Math Diet!

(I know I just said it is not a diet but just hang in there, k?)



No, you arent missing anything. No celebrities have done it, there is no gimmick or rare secret ingredients...

And....



The simple math diet is a simple. (go figure) It is a mathematical calculation based on the science of how your body works and what it needs (in caloric intake) to maintain a certain weight.



FYI- Dont worry about the "math" portion.... I royally suck at math and even I get it!



Wanna know what it is?



Well! With just 3 easy payments of $9.99 you can find out!!! But if you call now, we will make the first payment for you!!!

jk



Here it is....

The first thing you need to know is that your body needs x (a certain- yet to be determined number) amount of calories a day, per pound, to maintain your body weight.
For the average woman that number is 15.



For some of us that number could be 13 or 14 and others (you little bitches that can eat anything you want and stay skinny) that number could be 16 or higher. But on average....we're talkin 15 calories per pound of body weight.



Okay... so this is how it works.



....if you weigh....



135 pounds you need to consume no more than 2,025 calories per day to maintain that weight- (Rough and dirty.)

135 x 15 = 2,025



Ready for the simple part?
If it takes roughly 2,000 calories to maintain 135 pounds-
than if I were to eat 2,000 calories a day, every single day, (given that I was getting some exercise and eating a balanced diet) eventually I would weigh 135 pounds!



It might take a year for someone who weighs 210 pounds to get to that weight, or a just a few months for someone who weighs 150... but so long as you are eating 2,000 calories a (every single day, 365 days a year), eventually, you will end up at 135 pounds.



Here is the catch... (you knew there was one coming didnt you?)


You cant eat the 2000 calories in one meal.


You need to eat 3 healthy meals plus 3 snacks a day.


You need to get some exercise, even if it is just a half hour walk.

You need to eat healthily and regularly (every two hours)


You need to keep track by writing down and calculating everything you eat....this is the toughest one for most people but there are tons of websites and little pocket sized books you can get with nutritional information and eventually it becomes really easy! Staying accountable is key.


Obviously there is a hell of a lot more to nutrition, dieting, and a healthy lifestyle and this "diet" is overly simplistic (you could calculate what percentage portion of your diet comes from fat, carbs, protein etc..) but I find just keeping track, counting calories and trying to resist the "fat" culture around me hard enough as it is. I try to eat protein with every meal, keep the fat down, the simple sugars and refined carbos to a minimum and a eat some fruits and veggies too! Take a complete multi-vitamin and I think I'll be ahead of the game- if not quite the all star player!


When you reach a healthy body weight you dont need to write it all down anymore but then it becomes key to monitor your weight and go back to writing down and counting calories if you gain even just two extra pounds.


And obviously, life stuff happens and you sometimes have occasion to eat more than your 2000 calories! So long as you keep track, you just have to subtract your excess calories from the calorie allotment in the next few days.
Lets say its your friends birthday and you ate 3500 calories instead of 2000... well then you'd eat 1500 calories for the next three days and make up the extra calories. When you stay accountable, you can make it work! Writing things down and counting calories is hard but sometimes it takes the guess work out of eating and gives you the confidence of knowing that you ARE loosing weight!


Here is an example of a moderately healthy (normal food) 2000 calorie day and the way I count down the calories I have eaten and what I have left:

Starting with 2000

3/4 cup whole grain cereal 120 / 1880 (left)
3/4 cup 1% milk 80 / 1800
tea with two sugar 30 1/8 c milk 20 / 50/1750
yogurt 80/1670
2 pieces multi grain bread 210 / 1460
1tbsp mayo 50 / 1410
2 slices of turkey 180 / 1230
lettuce tomato cucumber 30 / 1200
1 oz cheese 100 / 1100
1 cup milk 110 / 990
carrots and an apple 100 /890
8 oz V8 (veggie juice) 50/ 840
1 boneless skinless chicken breast 250/ 590
bread crumbs (shake n bake) 100/490
1/2 c baked sweet potato 100/ 390
3 cups raw spinach stewed with 1tbsp butter 150 /240
1 cup milk 110/130
100 calorie chocolate bar :) 100/ 30
= 1970 calorie day.



But wait, there's more! Tomorrow!


The above pic are of Abby taken this past week by the lady who has her on a free lease. More exciting news about Abby tomorrow!

13 comments:

  1. I'd be so busy with that calculator and lil book I wouldn't have time to eat! Maybe I'll give it a try!

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  2. It all sounds good, but I hate math. Actually, when I need to lose some poundage I usually do weight watchers online,it's not expensive and instead of counting calories you count points and put them in your daily points counter. It's easier I think.

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  3. That horse...is gorgeous.

    A word about weight loss: I've found that if you're just too busy to eat, you also tend to lose weight! Not very healthy, but damn is it effective!

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  4. Okay, I sorta got lost as soon as numbers start appearing, LOL! But as long as it does the job that's the main thing!
    I'm very lucky, my stomach does the dieting for me. I go through a cycle, in no way under my control, for a week or two I am starving like I can't eat enough, then my stomach says "woah up gecko" and i feel sick at the thought of anything sickly(choc, chips take-away food etc). I can't control it, sometimes it really pees me off!

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  5. I know I did that once - figured it all out, how many calories I needed a day. When I was doing sports in College our coach made us so we knew how much food we needed to eat and therefore could stay healthier and in shape. But I have forgotten how to do it. Didn't it include a body fat test and bunch of other stuff? Seems like there was one and I had to keep track of what I ate and how many calories I ate for a week.

    Wasn't it kinda complicated? All I remember was thinking "wwwhhhyyy do we have to do thissss..." the whole time. But maybe I was over dramatizing the whole thing....

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  6. There's always the cabbage soup diet :)) lol I wouldn't recommend that one though.

    I think you have a good start with the 3 healthy meals and 3 snacks. My trick is to do just that, eat a little bit lots, not a lot in little bits. I eat little things like granola bars or apples and other little things, frequently throughout the day. I personally believe that it keeps your body burning that stuff and raises your metabolism. If you eat a lot at one setting only three times a day or whatever, your body spends so much more time burning it off (or you get full and then just sit, not burning anything) that your body is still trying to metabolize what you ate by the time you sit to eat your next big meal. That coupled with the fact of portion size (which is VERY distorted these days). Portion size is what gets most people. Like you said it is with you. There is unfortunately such thing as too much of a good thing.

    One guy that's doing the Biggest Loser challenge here in our town said he exercises and is super conscious of what he eats through the week, but then allows himself the good stuff one day on the weekend because if he doesn't, he focuses on the fact that he's denying himself the good stuff. Self control is very hard.

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  7. That horse is gorgeous!!

    And I have been fighting my weight ever since I had kids. But I go to a weight wise clinic that has helped me a lot.

    They have this special scale that does exacatly what you just described. Right now I can eat 1546 calories a day and stay where I am at. But I strive for 1200 calorie diet. I will eat a protien for breakfast and then again for lunch, and eat what I want for dinner. I dont' count my calories. But I loose about a pound a week.

    I also walk about 40 minutes three times a week, and I try to add some bike riding or horse riding into the mix!!

    I have lost 14 pounds so far!! I am now down to my prepregnacy weight!! I can't wait to hit 145!! Which is 20 lbs away!! I have a ways to go. But this summer I am hoping to drop a lot of weight, with the heat and all!!

    Great post!!

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  8. Ah yes...weight loss and food journals! They do go hand in hand. :)

    I wish you luck with your plan. I am still learning the whole glycemic index thingy, and I am beginning to see inches rather than pounds come off.

    Abby looks absolutely stunning in those pictures!! Are you sure you don't want her back right now??? LOL!!

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  9. I think Miss Abbey is gorgeous!! Such a kind eye too... okay on to the un-fun stuff. I too have struggled with my weight ALWAYS!! Sucks!! because most everyone I know is rail thin and complains about how very fat they are...I just agree and say that yes their butt's deinitely do look bigger..hee hee! Anyway, I had a back injury 2 1/2 years ago which led to a huge weight gain for me because I became depressed and couldn't do anything and ate instead. Then I got plantar fascitus (heel pain) and my main form of exercise (walking and hiking) was very limited. Vicious cycle...plus I'm 49 now and my metabolism has slowed way down. Anyway, I'm intrigued because I have been trying to lose weight and am not having very much luck. Great post! Anxious to hear more!

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  10. Abby is BEEE-UUUU-Tiful!!! You have such good taste in horseflesh!!

    I haven't had to diet since I got pregnant with my daughter, but I am working on cutting back my smoking now and will be quiting when the weather gets nice. I fear the weight gain so many people say comes with it. Trying to combat that by waiting until I am riding a lot and hoping that being busy all the time keeps me from munching excessively. I dread the thought of having to go back to counting calories.:(

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  11. I struggled with my weight for years until I read The Ten Habits of Naturally Slim people and started keeping a log of my food intake and energy burned with FitDay. With the help of both I learned to only eat when I was hungry and to stop eating when I was satisfied. Some days I need 2600 calories to fulfill those criteria and some days I need 1300 -- it depends on what I have been doing and where I am at in my cycle. I never limit myself to a daily restriction, but I do keep track of calories to keep myself honest. I also eat whatever I want, I just stop eating the moment it starts to taste dull in my mouth. That book was the most valuable thing I ever read.

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  12. First, Abby IS beautiful! Usually, I prefer the boys but she has that "something" I look for.

    Next, thanks for that bit of math! It's much more lenient than what I've been following with one of the online services.

    dp, that tip about quit eating when it tastes dull in your mouth is great! I'll have to try it too! Thanks!

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