Losing weight is pretty simple, you simply have to consume fewer calories than you use.
A typical person needs about 2,500 calories per day (what this means, just being alive will consume a certain amount of energy and 2,500 calories is the recommended amount, obviously the actual amount varies from person to person).
A gram of fat is worth 9 calories, so if you are interested in losing 1lb of fat, you would have to use 4086 calories MORE than you consume over any given period of time. As:
(1 lb of fat = 454 grams of fat x 9 calories = 4086 Calories)
This is why it is completely possible to accomplish weight loss through correct eating. Assuming you actually use 2500 calories per day, and then you are careful and only consume 2000 (of the right kinds of food, not just anything), you would burn off an excess of 500 calories per day which would mean that if you did this for 8 days, you would lose a single pound of fat. (as 4000/500 = 8)
Another way to speed this process up is with light cardio (aerobic) activity on a consistent basis. So this is how I speed things up a little:
I exercise in the morning after sleeping because sleep is essentially fasting for 8 hours. Your blood sugars are already low, so when you begin a sustained period of exercise, eventually your body MUST convert fat to energy. I also do 15-20 minutes of lifting before I hit the tread mill. I am also extremely careful to not over do it, you really can if you are not careful, just light easy aerobic exercise, like a brisk walk or good elliptical speed. I try to burn 1000 calories through aerobic exercise, twice a day. This equates to losing about a half pound of fat per day, sustained 6 days a week allows me to lose 3 lbs of fat per week (which is probably a little too fast, but I have found it works good for me).
What this means is, if I eat right and consistently exercise on this plan, I can drop over 12-15 lbs of fat per month through eating smart and consistently exercising.
Again, as I mentioned yesterday, the most important thing you can do is start a food journal and become extremely aware of everything you are eating in terms of calories, carbs, protein and fat. This will have the biggest impact. Once you have a grasp on this, speed the process up with exercise you are most comfortable with and enjoy.
Its kind of comforting once you know how this all works. ☺
I have been doing a food journal for the past month. my weight is stable. I was thinking of cutting 250 calories out of diet and excercise to make up the other 250. I am pretty much limited to walking for excercise. how long do you think I would have to walk to burn that much
Depends on your weight- there are a number of calorie charts (per exercise) on the internet. Ill be posting some more info on these soon. I would guess ball park you are looking at 30-40 minutes.
Michael, I think it is great that you are putting your diet on here as part of your maveness! Having done Body-For-Life as my routine I can promise everyone that the food is the most important part, the exercise is the easiest part of the routine. I did have a question for you on the fat intake. I remember you saying something like if the saturated fat is half or more than half of the total fat don’t touch it but if it was less than half it was okay to eat. Did I remember right or am I forgetting something?
Hey Michael, check out a book called The Primal Blueprint by Mark Sisson. I have a feeling you will love it> He also has a pretty good blog called Marks Daily Apple.