The Secret To Weight Loss

Okay.. I lied... There IS NO SECRET to weight loss. Sorry to burst your bubble! There is no magic pill, there is no fad diet, there is no 2 minute exercise plan to make you magically turn into a super-model with ripped abs with size 2 jeans.

We all have to check in with reality for a second, and I really mean it. When I see commercials on TV for a new pill that will "zap the fat right off your body", or ads on the internet for "a new exercise designed so you can get ripped abs while sitting watching TV" or expensive meal plans that teach you nothing about how to fend for yourself I get SO angry! There is no magic wand that can be waved to fix being overweight or obese. It's just not that easy! If it were there would BE no overweight people.

The REAL secret that isn't so secret to weight loss is a simple two step system. Ready?
1. Eat healthy
2. Exercise regularly.
Isn't that what doctors have been saying for years? Turns out they're right!

Next time you see another ad for a product that sounds too good to be true, let me save you time, money and disappointment - IT IS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE. All those products, fads and programs are designed to help you drop weight quickly, you might even lose a substantial amount of weight to start but you will lose too much too quickly and you aren't given the skills to help keep it off in the long run so it will likely come back plus more.

Weight loss is only a place to start, but it doesn't stop there. You don't just drop to your desired weight and stop - you'll just end up having to do it all again PLUS more as you settle back into your unhealthy habits. Weight loss is the start of living a healthy, active lifestyle that you continue for the rest of your life. As you go along your weight loss journey you should be learning about how to shop for food, how to cook for yourself and your family, how to make positive choices when out for meals, how to workout hard but also how to just be active - basically accumulating the tools you'll need to maintain a healthy lifestyle - not just popping pills or eating pre-packaged diet food provided on a 6 week 'plan'.

Do you just want to lose 10lbs now for beach season and then lose that same 10lbs again before Christmas and then the same 10lbs + the 15lbs from the Christmas season for your New Years Resolution? This cycle is not good for us mentally or physically but it sure is great for the weight loss industry! Now I in no way want to put down the weight loss industry, thank goodness there are the products and services available to us - I just think it goes a little far sometimes with the whole "magical" thinking. Aim for a loss 1-2lbs per week, exercise as many days as you possibly can (atleast 3-4 days but aim for more) for at least an hour and already you've begun your magic formula! Effort = weight loss :) Simple!

So now that I'm done with my rant let me share with you one of my "magic" tools that has helped me with my weight loss. A food/exercise diary. Any dietician or nutritionist and some personal trainers will request that you keep one for atleast 2 weeks so they can see your eating patterns and diagnose where you're going wrong and applaud you for doing things right - but for those 2 weeks I bet you would eat SOOO much better than if you weren't keeping a diary. It's the aspect of being accountable for what you're eating and it's VERY effective!

You can buy a nice journal and enter everything by hand - I used this method in college and would go so far as to give myself a sticker or something on each page that I stayed under calories or entered good exercise. Make sure to record your calories for each meal AND snack AND anything else you consume as well as your calories burned through exercise. You can figure out your calories burned through exercise through sites like http://www.healthstatus.com/calculate/cbc Then do all your math and figure out your over/unders for the day. This may be a little involved for some people and a little time consuming but it does work!

The formula for your calorie allowance is take your weight x 12 is the amount you should eat per day to maintain your weight. For a loss of 1lb a week subtract 500 calories and for 2lbs subtract 1000 calories. This is a rough formula, if you are very active during the day and are into very strenuous exercise you may need to adjust and add a few more calories. Also remember to never let your calories drop under 1000, you should never consume less than that. So if you weigh 170lbs your calorie allowance to maintain your weight is 2040, to lose 1lb a week it's 1540 and for 2lbs it's 1040. This can all be adjusted to your lifestyle, just remember it's a base starting point.

You can get tech savvy and use one of the online programs like Spark People, Fat Secret or Loseit. - I use loseit right now and I love it. With these online programs you have access to huge food libraries and rarely have to enter anything custom (but when you do it's super easy) and it calculates your food/exercise deficits as well as gives you an accurate calorie budget for the day. It allows you to connect with friends, create motivators and rewards you with badges for doing a good job. I'm very computer oriented and terrible at math so this is a lot simpler for me than doing it all by hand.

Be accountable for what you're putting into your body. We are all guilty of snacking throughout the day and not counting those calories towards your budget - but if you nit picked at a piece of cheese, a handful of nuts, 2 crackers and some of your kids snack you could have added 300-400 calories in mindless snacking to your day for no reason! Bummer!

Start keeping track of your food, even before you change anything -you'll be surprised how quickly you can change your eating habits when you see it on paper/screen. I would much rather see banana 100cals under snack rather than chips 100cals wouldn't you?