ABC’s of Weight Control

“If I knew I was going to live this long, I’d have taken better care of myself.” – Mickey Mantle

I’ve had friends and family ask me how I’ve lost 55 lbs as of 9/2012  (I’m trying to lose at least 15 more. I know that my knees keep feeling better and better as I lose weight!).

The answer is simple – consistently eat the right kinds of foods and create a calorie deficit. I’ve summarized the plan and put together some helpful hints – things that have worked for me, and that I know will work for you.

Before I get into the details, let’s talk turkey (yum – turkey). If you’re reading this, it’s probably not because of my scintillating presentation or writing skills – it’s because you are looking for something; you either know or have a feeling that you need to lose weight. Chances are you’re right. How about some tough love:

1. Remember those old-fashioned height and weight charts (note that these charts assume you have 5 lbs of clothing on when you weigh in)? It turns out they are based on a statistical “lowest mortality rate” – which means those weights listed are for a population of humans that lives longer than any other population in the same age range, regardless of cause of death. To put it simply, if your weight is above (or below) the ranges in the height-weight chart, your probability of death is higher than your peers that are in the range. But what about BMI? BMI is a height and weight chart – the only difference is your weight is divided by the square of your height, which makes the BMI curve nonlinear. That’s it – same inputs (height and weight), different data presentation. I’ve checked – “optimum BMI” is based on the same height and weight as “optimum weight”.
2. Don’t blame your weight on a “large frame”, lack of exercise, genetics, your significant others’ cooking, blah blah blah – your weight is 100% a result of how many calories you consume versus how many calories you burn – and you – yes, you – are in control of what goes into your mouth. I’ve been there – said I had a “large frame” – well, I actually measured it and it turns out I’m at the extreme low range of a “medium frame”.
   
3. Exercise – exercise is a wonderful thing with many benefits; some doctors say if they had one pill they could prescribe to make everyone under their care healthy, it would be an exercise pill. No such thing. More to my point, while exercise is a wonderful thing, lack of exercise is an excuse for not losing weight, not a reason. If you go research “calories burned per hour doing activity x”, you’ll find that the number is not tremendously higher than “calories burned per hour continuing to exist”. Not enough higher that you’ll be able to have a pumpkin muffin and a latte after your jog, and come away with a net calorie deficit. I don’t exercise a lot more now than I did when I was at my peak weight.
   
4. Let’s all say it together: “My weight is 100% due to how many (and what kind of) calories I consume versus how many calories I metabolize (“burn”).” There is evidence, however, that some foods (proteins) are harder to metabolize than others (simple carbohydrates), and that you may get a metabolic advantage from weighting toward the “harder to metabolize” spectrum.

Enough of that, on to the nuts and bolts:

A. Figure out where you stand today, and what your ideal weight is.

B. Go to this Daily Needs Calculator to determine many calories you need to maintain your weight. Be honest about your activity level, or this won’t work!!!

C.  Subtract 500 calories from your daily needs to lose weight at a safe, sustainable rate. This will result in an ~1 lb / week weight loss. Note that as you succeed, you’ll need to adjust your target calories downward to match your new, lower calorie needs.

D. Keep a food diary of every calorie you eat or drink during the day. Make sure the count comes in at or below your -500 calorie target. I use calorieking.com to look up calories for things I don’t already know. There are other choices – Google “calorie counter” and choose from the 1.8 million or so hits. Eating out is tough – there’s no knowing what the cook has hidden in your meal. Ask for information. The more of us that do this, the better the information will get.

A side note – I spend no more than  10-15 minutes a day keeping a food diary and an accurate calorie count. Study after study shows that trackers lose more weight than any other group. If this sounds like too much of a time commitment to you – well, then, you need to examine whether you really want to succeed. 

On to the details:

1. Got a kitchen scale. Get one that measures pounds, ounces and grams. This will make calorie counting so much easier.
2. Got a calorie counter book. You might choose to use the Internet.
3. Implemented A, B, C and D (above).
4. I eat at least 6 times a day to help head off being so hungry I binge. The jury seems to be out on whether or not this boosts metabolism, but the important thing to me is not getting overly hungry.
5. I always save 300-400 calories, most of which is carbohydrates, to eat an hour or so before bedtime. Lots of sleep is important to losing weight, and I can’t sleep if I’m starving. Forget that “don’t eat late in the day” advice – it’s more about how much you put in the tank, not when. A few hungry middle-of-the-night  fridge raids will quickly  negate any upside of not eating late in the day.
6. We don’t keep junk food in the house. That’s called “removing temptation”. Also, once you have reduced your calories on a daily basis, you’ll quickly figure out what foods make you feel good after you eat them and what foods don’t (hint – junk foods don’t).
7. I eat a lot of fatty coldwater fish like salmon, and I rarely (not “never”) eat red meat.
8. I try to eat nothing but Real Food.
9. I don’t do “low-fat”. I love fat; it makes things taste good and more satisfying. I avoid grain oils.
10. My big gun is non-starchy vegetables – I’ve found that the more non-starchy vegetables I eat in a day, the more likely I am to succeed at maintaining  my target calorie count. I am not talking about salads, either. A giant helping of roasted spaghetti squash with coconut oil, salt and pepper – yum!

Daily Supplements:

• 3000 mg fish oil; 900 mg Omega-3 Fatty Acids
• 3000 mg Glucosamine; 2400 mg Chondroitin (for my arthritic knee)
• 5 g creatine – helps build muscle and bone

Now comes the hard part. You get hungry anyway. Here’s where the elimination game starts.

I figured out which foods had almost nothing whatever my body needed except calories. My “no fly” list:

• Simple Carbohydrates –  “Just Say No” – white flour, white rice, pasta, sugar in any form (they’re sneaky – my favorite is “dried organic cane juice”), mashed potatoes, white bread, rolls, dumplings. 102 names for sugar.
• Foods drenched in vegetable oils. However, good fats like avocados, nuts, whole eggs – bring ’em on. Note that fat doesn’t  make  you fat – too many calories makes you fat.
• “No” trans fats, partially hydrogenated oils, Crisco, margarine, etc.
• Alcohol – I love beer and wine – I don’t drink light anything, so if I have a beer, it’s a real beer. No more than 2-3 a week unless I’m in the field doing hard days.

My thoughts on “comfort foods” – I get no comfort from eating nutritionally deficient foods that don’t contribute to my goals.

That’s about it. I’m not a monk – I didn’t take a vow – so sometimes I eat off the plan, but when I do I know I’m not moving in the direction I want to move. Plus the ‘no fly’ foods make you feel bad if you’re paying attention to your body.

Next step – exercise. Find something fun to do. Then Just Do It. If you don’t feel like exercising, do one set of one exercise – you’ll be amazed how often you keep going. And every part of your life will get easier – opening doors, picking up groceries, getting up off the couch to get another beer…

Your body is your vessel for life – take care of it. No excuses. Your knees / hips / back will be so much happier at a normal weight – believe me.

P.S. – FWIW, I’ve got thoughts on Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, “points” counting, blah blah blah – every plan that works is basically creating a calorie deficit. The problem with these plans is that you’re not learning how to eat for life – knowing how many calories are in the foods you eat gives you the tools for long term success.