How to Lose Weight and Still Enjoy Life
WHY is this important: People seem to think that you can either lose weight or eat the foods you like to eat. Many people equate dieting with torture and hence, never get around to it. For those of us that do get to it and cut out all the good foods, we keep it up for x number of weeks then feast once we’ve hit the goal, only to be marginally better than where we started. There is a way, however, to eat the foods you like (maybe not in the quantity that you like) and still lose weight consistently.
WHO I learned this from: Greg O’Gallagher, founder of Kinobody (https://kinobody.com) , a company that produces and sells fitness programs and supplements. I’ve been following Greg’s programs for about a year now, and, although I’m not perfect with them, I’ve seen great results. I also want to give Master Tim Berlow (5th Dan in taekwondo and Master Instructor of UMAC Shrub Oak) a shoutout for turning me on to this guy and sharing his own knowledge with me.
WHAT the hell am I talking about: Our bodies are systems, just like any other organism or machine on the planet. If you give it certain inputs, you will get consistent outputs. The hard part is figuring out which inputs get which outputs. One thing that we do know is that the number of calories we put in our body directly correlates with how much weight we gain or lose. If we eat more than our maintenance level of calories (number of calories our body burns naturally per day if you are lightly active and walk at least 30 minutes of the day ~ 15 x your bodyweight in pounds), then we will gain weight. If we eat less than maintenance (calorie deficit), we will lose weight. It really is a simple as feeding a machine, but it isn’t terribly easy.
I am a 163 lbs. human that is moderately active so my maintenance level is 15 x 163 = 2,450 calories. To lose weight at a more than marginal weight, one should strive to eat 300-600 calories below maintenance, so 2,150 for me. To maintain muscle mass we should eat 0.82 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight —> 134 grams. These are the numbers that I strive to hit everyday. So far this is very simple, 2,150 calories and 134 g protein, not bad. The hard part is actually doing it and eating food you like. This is where intermittent fasting and MyFitnessPal come in. Intermittent fasting is where you do not eat for the first 4-8 hours of your day, then consume all your food after that. This is where most people stop me and say “Hey, no breakfast???” YES! It really isn’t hard if you have 1-3 cups of black coffee in the morning to give you energy and blunt your appetite (caffeine is a known appetite suppressant). If you don’t believe me and are serious about getting in shape, try it. First you’ll have to learn to love sugarless coffee which isn’t hard, coffee is delicious. While doing this, you’ll also find that you can focus more and get shit done better and faster. This is because your body’s full attention is on what you are doing, not digesting the food in your stomach. This is especially true if you eat a high sugar/ high carb breakfast.
Ok, so we’re fasting for the first 4-8 hours of the day, what now? I love the saying “What gets measured gets managed.” You need to track your calories to make sure you don’t eat too much (MyFitnessPal app is great). This is what really allows you to eat the food you love! If you know you want to have ice cream at the end of the day, set aside 450 calories in your app for ice cream then plan the rest of your meals around it. That’s the hardest part, actually planning what you have to eat. For me, the 10 minutes I spend per day logging what I’m gonna eat later on is worth it, because I can still shred fat and eat steak, burgers, fries, chocolate, etc later on. The final part is to combine this with some sort of physical activity. I’m a big fan of weight training and martial arts but find something you love and do it 3-6 times per week. For example, I lift 3 x per week and train in taekwondo on the other 3 days, usually taking Sundays to rest.
YES, it is that simple, NO, it’s not easy, but it is doable. Find the reason WHY you want to lose weight first, to help you stay on course. Then, it is as simple as eating less calories than your body burns and planning your meals out in advance so you can eat great food. It will not always be easy, but then again, nothing worth doing is. Comment, or email us with any questions or tips you’ve learned from your own experiences. Try it out for a week of two and see how far you get!