Unfettered Blather

I have attempted weight loss many times in the past. There are many theories as to how you can lose weight and I’ve tried many different methods. Most of my methods in the past meant increasing the amount of exercise I participated in while “watching what I eat”. Yes, that is quoted for a reason. At best I might lose 10 pounds, then plateau, and quickly return to my usual 220. This was not working.

Oddly, my near drowning last year was not enough of a catalyst to get me where I needed to be. I was making efforts to get in better shape but the diet and weight loss were not forming. I was making great strides on my mile time but nothing else seemed to be working. Unfortunately, without the accompanying weight loss all the running was playing merry hell on my knees. Things were not getting better. I won’t go into details but the catalyst came February of this year. I realized that I was going to need a lifestyle change in order to lose weight.

The first thing to go was the gym, believe it or not. At every gym I’ve ever been to there are only two kinds of people. Those that are in shape and doing it to maintain it or those that are not and workout to say they’re doing something. Sadly, I was in the latter group. You can go to the gym every day, work out hard for an hour, and not make any progress. The idea of exercise is good, but as a weight loss plan it is a failure.

I purchased a treadmill to do my runs at home. I love using the treadmill because it forces me to keep a pace and I don’t have to deal with uneven terrain, which is hell on my ankles and knees. Not to mention it saves me time because I can just hop on it and do my thing. Long term I might want to add some weight training, but right now I just want cardio and now I can do it at home. Also, I can’t avoid it, the damn thing sits in my house where I see it everyday. The gym is easy to blow off because it is an abstract concept so long as I’m not there.

According to my research you have to burn 3,500 calories to lose 1 pound. A good intensive hour long workout is probably going to burn 500 calories. The reality is you’ll be lucky to hit 500 especially if you’re not used to working out. You need to burn another 3,000 calories in order to lose 1 pound, so where do you make up the deficit?

The average diet assumes a consumption of 2,000 calories a day. Anything more and your body is probably storing it as fat. You work out and burn 500 calories one day and consume 2,500 calories then you broke even. No weight loss. A platter of cheese fries is 1,930 calories by itself. A chicken sandwhich from a popular franchise is roughly 400 calories. Do you see where I am going with this? 2,000 calories is actually quite a bit, but with the wrong kinds of eating habits can be easily exceeded. To lose weight you’re going to have to change how you eat. This is where my problem lies.

On an average day I will probably do 100 calories for breakfast, 500 calories for lunch, and maybe another 700 for dinner. Hmmm….that’s 1,300 calories a day. Why wasn’t I already losing weight?

The answer is simplicity itself, I hadn’t really changed anything. I was still going out to lunch on a regular basis. Let’s say twice a week. Going out is easily 1,000 to 1,500 calories each time. Pizza for dinner every Friday. Again, easily 1,000 to 1,500 depending on toppings and consumption. I would snack on candy around the office every day and sometimes would buy stuff and keep it in my desk. I would estimate an easy 500 calories a day. I was probably averaging over 2,000 calories a day but I figure I wasn’t gaining anything either because I’m burning more carrying around the extra weight. In short, 220 pounds was my equilibrium. I have been heavier, for short periods of time, due to even less activity and greater consumption.

All I did was cut out snacking and I count calories. I aim for 1,500 a day, but anything under 1,800 is probably good. I’m losing rapidly. I only work out for 30 minutes and right now I average about 250 calories a workout. The workouts are for fitness, the diet is for weight loss.

Here’s the punchline though, my eating habits are still bad. I’ve dropped over 20 pounds already, which is good. That’s the most I’ve lost in a long time. At some point I’m going to hit my goal. What then? The good news is my body is responding better to food. I get full quicker, I feel worse when I overeat. The signals my body used to send too late or not at all seem to actually happen now. Unfortunately, to get that way I practically starved myself the first two weeks of my diet. When I started eating regularly again my body just didn’t want a lot of food. However, when I hit my goal, which is 50 pounds, then I have to reach a new equilibrium so I don’t creep back up to 220 again. I plan to still be running and probably burning more calories.

I wouldn’t say I’m a model, but a hard look at my lifestyle gives me an idea of why so many Americans struggle so much with their weight. You can’t just say “Eat less and exercise” because it’s really not that simple. Yes, that’s the foundation you’ll rely on, but that is all it is. You have to accept that your everyday habits must change.

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