In my last post I mentioned one dieting tip, and I'd like to put out a few more, along with some of the principles that companies like Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig use.
Let's start with those principles. It's long been accepted by the fitness and nutrition communities that 3500 calories lost will cause you to lose a pound. Also, eating more often keeps your metabolism high. Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, Nutrisystem, etc. all use these principles to help you lose weight. They will absolutely work if you follow them strictly and are only after losing weight. Most of them will tell you that you can expect to lose 1 to 2 pounds a week. They design their diets to hit that mark. If your body needs 2000 calories a day to function, they have tests to determine this, then taking in 1500 calories per day will result in losing a pound a week. These same companies try to get you to eat more often along with the caloric reduction, usually 4 to 5 times per day. My guess is they do this to try to ensure their success because they probably assume you cheat regularly.
Rather than recommend simply starting one of these for weight loss, I'm going to address one thing that these companies don't really specify but that happens. Weight loss is not fat loss, but that's generally the true goal of people participating in these programs. Your body is not going to take that caloric debt and do nothing about it. It is going to pull those calories from somewhere to ensure its survival. But it's not going to be completely discriminant when it does. Sure, it'll take fat, but it will also take muscle. Would you really like to be less fit as a result of dieting? I know I wouldn't.
Increasing my fitness level was my goal when I started my journey. I did not want to lose muscle due to losing weight. That's where resistance training comes in. Building muscles and strength is the way to good fat loss. Muscles need fuel to work, and they get that from the food you eat and the fat you have. I went with the philosophy of eating nearly enough to fulfill my calorie requirements and exercising to about a 500 calorie loss. I have averaged losing nearly a pound per week during this diet and only 4 of them have been muscle (which probably wouldn't have happened if I didn't do so much cardio). I'll stop there with dieting technobabble and get on to the tips
The first tip is incredibly important regardless of your motives, measure what you take in (even if it's just noting the nutritional information on the label). For example, I know I eat 4 ounces of turkey breast and 6 oz. of greek yogurt for lunch. This will help you know how much you're eating and where you can cut back if you need to.
Have a daily calorie goal. If you're trying to lose weight, make sure you get enough to not feel sick or lightheaded. That level depends on the person, so there's no general number I can tell you.
Colorful food is both more visually and mentally appealing, watch your favorite tv chef and see what they do for presentation. Not everything has to come in some shade of brown or green. More appealing food is easier to say yes to. Brighten up that salad with some nice yellow squash, orange carrots or mandarin oranges, red tomatoes, maybe even some red onions or cabbage. Conveniently, fruits and vegetables come in lots of colors, are low in calories, filling, and full of those vitamins we need. Use a variety of them in your meals to help you be more excited to eat food that's good for you.
Fat is not a bad thing to be avoided at all costs. But, like everything in life, moderation is key. Also, vegetable fats are better for you because they much more digestible. Saturated fat, which comes mostly from animals, is not digestible and is one to keep to a minimum. In fact, the name "saturated" tells you that it's not digestible. The level of saturation refers to the number of available hydrogen bonding points. A fat that is saturated has none available, so our stomach acid (hydrochloric) can't bind to it and break it apart. In summary, get your fats primarily from vegetables and nuts, and eat lean meats like poultry and fish.
Eat only when you're hungry, but whenever you actually get hungry. If you get hungry every 3 hours, don't just sit there and starve, have something ready to eat and eat it. I keep almonds around for stacks between meals, a little over a handful is about 85 calories and enough to tide me over until lunch or dinner.
Have a cheat day once a week. Don't go insane and drink a tub of warm shortening or anything, but designate one day per week to get those guilty pleasures in. It's a whole lot easier to stick to a diet if you don't have to give up everything cold turkey.
Final tip, to keep your grazing (defined as eating when you're not hungry) to a minimum, think of how long it will take you to burn off those extra calories. If you will put in the extra work, have that extra snack. Personally, I look at it in terms of minutes on the elliptical. So I look at the can of Mountain Dew and think, "Is this really worth 10 extra minutes on the elliptical?"
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