Commit to a Healthy Weight

  • The Bad News:80% of all diets fail after 1 year.
  • The good news is 20% succeed in keeping the weight off.
  • The recidivism rate for commercial programs is a lot higher.

I believe the reason for failure is a commitment to a short term goal, not the life time commitment to a healthy weight. Healthy weight is a long journey. Slow and steady is the winning strategy.

Like any project, let's start with a list of tools:

Strategies

Know your BMI

BMI (Body Mass Index) the favorite index of insurance companies, is a function of your height vs. weight. It is a fair approximation of your health and life expectancy. It is a good number to know and is a good motivator to lose and keep the weight off. There are BMI calculator available on the web. I have one listed in the Foot Notes. The "Calorie King" lists the BMI values in relation to health risk.

Know your BMR

Your BMR (Basic Metabolic Rate) is a measure of the calories you burn daily just to maintain life. There are several calculators on the web to estimate what yours should be. The calculation is a bit complex and is an estimation. A true measure of your BMR requires sitting in a Plexiglas box doing nothing but breathing in oxygen and expelling carbon dioxide. If you are a true data freak, like me, you can get a good estimation from measuring your caloric intake, caloric expenditure and change in weight over time.

BMR changes with diet as well as weight

If your dietary intake is less then your BMR, then three things happen.
  1. Your BMR will lower and
  2. You will not want do anything and
  3. You will be bitchy.
  4. Keep your caloric intake above your BMR, but below your caloric expenditures.
Example: My BMR is 1800. To maintain my current weigh of 200 pounds, I should have a balance of calories eaten to calories burned of 2,500. The sweet spot for weight loss of one pound per week is halfway between 1800 and 2,500 or 2,150. Lose It does all the calculations for you and adjusts your recommended daily intake.

Lose Weight Slowly

The longer it takes to get to your target weight, the better the odds your body will adjust to your new life style. I spent over a year getting to my target weight of 190 pounds. That is a loss of 56 pounds.. It has been a life style changer.: I have maintained a weight of less than 190 pounds for a year and a half now.

There is a Short Cut (Fasting & Exercise)!

Doctor Michael Mosley suggests that you Fast for two days out of seven. By eating 500 calories (woman) 600calories (man) you will trick your body into burning fat at an accelerated rate. Another advantage of the fast is, it is hard to make up the deficit eating normal the other four days.