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Hey guys. As some of you might already know, I recently reached a pretty significant goal for myself of getting below 200 pounds. I started at nearly 270, and it took me almost two years, but it was a hell of an accomplishment if I do say so myself -- and I do!! 
Today, a friend sent me a message and basically said, "hog, how did you do it?" And I decided that rather than message him back, it might be more helpful to start a thread, just in case there might be someone else out there that can use the information. (It also gives our resident fitness gurus a chance to offer tips and tricks as well, which I'm looking forward to myself!!)
Before we get started, here's the usual disclaimer. Before beginning this, or any other diet/exercise program, see your doctor. And while it sounds cliche and corny, please do it. I would feel like dog **** if someone read this, tried it, and it wasn't right for their situation.
With that out of the way, here's what I did.
I ate less, and exercised more. Your welcome everyone, good night!!
Just kidding. But seriously, that's the gist of it.
I chose to count calories. The method is simple, doesn't deprive you of any certain food or beverage, and it really works.
First, you need to find your basal metabolic rate. That is, the number of calories you would burn if you just laid in bed all day. A good approximation is your body weight times 10.
When I started, mine was 2700. That means I could eat 2700 calories a day, put forth no effort, and not gain any MORE weight. But that's not what I wanted to do. I wanted to LOSE weight.
It's not rocket science. To lose weight, I had to eat fewer than 2700 calories. In fact, to lose a pound a week with NO effort at all, all I had to do was limit myself to 2200. (There are 3500 calories in a pound of fat. So a 500-calorie deficit, 7 days a week, would shed 1 pound.)
Surprisingly, what you can eat and still stay under that number is pretty sweet. For instance, I could have an egg mcmuffin, hashbrown and black coffee for breakfast (450 calories), a double-cheeseburger and medium coke for lunch (650 calories), and two pieces of your average large pepperoni pizza for dinner (900 calories.) And guess what? I'm still only at 2000!
I don't recommend the example above as a daily menu obviously, I just wanted to show you what you CAN eat using this method, and still lose weight. (I know what you're thinking. FYI, the average light beer has between 85-100 calories per can. But alcohol can slow weight loss sometimes because your body will work to metabolize the alcohol first, before burning anything else. It didn't stop me though. If I wanted a few beers, and had the calories available, I drank them!)
There are a few reasons why I like this method better than some other plans that are out there.
1) You can eat WHATEVER you want.
2) This prevents cravings that occur when you deprive yourself of certain foods.
3) Low-carb plans like Atkins really start to work after about 4 days, when your body enters ketosis. Screw up and accidentally over-do the carbs, and its another 4 days. If you count calories, and go over, get back on it the next day, and you start losing weight again IMMEDIATELY!!
4) This one is the most important....It's really simple to eat whatever the hell I want for the rest of my life!!
OK, so, now you know your BMR. You know how many calories you can eat and still lose weight. What happens if you go over? Well, I'm sorry to tell you, but you may actually have to un-ass the couch for a few minutes.
But it really could be just a few minutes. At 270, walking just 3 MPH, I would burn nearly 270 calories. And obviously, the more vigorous the effort, or longer the duration, the more I burned.
So as you can see, it really is a guilt-free, deprivation-free, fail-safe plan, that requires minimal effort.
If you're like me though, once you start seeing results, you'll become anxious to do whatever you can to speed the process. Well, that's easy enough. What kind of activities do you like? Hiking? Jogging? Skiing? Sex? (Yes, there really are calculators out there that will tell you how many calories you burn banging.) And you have the added bonus of being able to say, "Let's go to the bedroom babe. It's for my health!" How can she say no to that?
If you're interested in pursuing any of this, I highly recommend www.livestrong.com There are great tools there to help you keep track of what you eat (though it'll quickly become something you do in your head), what exercise you do, and how your calories-in match up with your calories-out.
I don't claim to be a fitness guru by any stretch. I have no formal health/nutrition education. I just did a lot of research, and found something that worked for me. So I figured I'd share it with all of you. I'm sure there are many members who know a lot more about this stuff than I, and I look forward to their input. Hopefully I'll be able to apply some of it myself.
I will say this. Quality of life is by far the greatest gift I've ever given myself. And if even one person reads any of this, and improves their life in any way, then it's been worth it.
Eat right, BGO. And DO WORK!!!!
hog
Today, a friend sent me a message and basically said, "hog, how did you do it?" And I decided that rather than message him back, it might be more helpful to start a thread, just in case there might be someone else out there that can use the information. (It also gives our resident fitness gurus a chance to offer tips and tricks as well, which I'm looking forward to myself!!)
Before we get started, here's the usual disclaimer. Before beginning this, or any other diet/exercise program, see your doctor. And while it sounds cliche and corny, please do it. I would feel like dog **** if someone read this, tried it, and it wasn't right for their situation.
With that out of the way, here's what I did.
I ate less, and exercised more. Your welcome everyone, good night!!
Just kidding. But seriously, that's the gist of it.
I chose to count calories. The method is simple, doesn't deprive you of any certain food or beverage, and it really works.
First, you need to find your basal metabolic rate. That is, the number of calories you would burn if you just laid in bed all day. A good approximation is your body weight times 10.
When I started, mine was 2700. That means I could eat 2700 calories a day, put forth no effort, and not gain any MORE weight. But that's not what I wanted to do. I wanted to LOSE weight.
It's not rocket science. To lose weight, I had to eat fewer than 2700 calories. In fact, to lose a pound a week with NO effort at all, all I had to do was limit myself to 2200. (There are 3500 calories in a pound of fat. So a 500-calorie deficit, 7 days a week, would shed 1 pound.)
Surprisingly, what you can eat and still stay under that number is pretty sweet. For instance, I could have an egg mcmuffin, hashbrown and black coffee for breakfast (450 calories), a double-cheeseburger and medium coke for lunch (650 calories), and two pieces of your average large pepperoni pizza for dinner (900 calories.) And guess what? I'm still only at 2000!
I don't recommend the example above as a daily menu obviously, I just wanted to show you what you CAN eat using this method, and still lose weight. (I know what you're thinking. FYI, the average light beer has between 85-100 calories per can. But alcohol can slow weight loss sometimes because your body will work to metabolize the alcohol first, before burning anything else. It didn't stop me though. If I wanted a few beers, and had the calories available, I drank them!)
There are a few reasons why I like this method better than some other plans that are out there.
1) You can eat WHATEVER you want.
2) This prevents cravings that occur when you deprive yourself of certain foods.
3) Low-carb plans like Atkins really start to work after about 4 days, when your body enters ketosis. Screw up and accidentally over-do the carbs, and its another 4 days. If you count calories, and go over, get back on it the next day, and you start losing weight again IMMEDIATELY!!
4) This one is the most important....It's really simple to eat whatever the hell I want for the rest of my life!!
OK, so, now you know your BMR. You know how many calories you can eat and still lose weight. What happens if you go over? Well, I'm sorry to tell you, but you may actually have to un-ass the couch for a few minutes.
But it really could be just a few minutes. At 270, walking just 3 MPH, I would burn nearly 270 calories. And obviously, the more vigorous the effort, or longer the duration, the more I burned.
So as you can see, it really is a guilt-free, deprivation-free, fail-safe plan, that requires minimal effort.
If you're like me though, once you start seeing results, you'll become anxious to do whatever you can to speed the process. Well, that's easy enough. What kind of activities do you like? Hiking? Jogging? Skiing? Sex? (Yes, there really are calculators out there that will tell you how many calories you burn banging.) And you have the added bonus of being able to say, "Let's go to the bedroom babe. It's for my health!" How can she say no to that?
If you're interested in pursuing any of this, I highly recommend www.livestrong.com There are great tools there to help you keep track of what you eat (though it'll quickly become something you do in your head), what exercise you do, and how your calories-in match up with your calories-out.
I don't claim to be a fitness guru by any stretch. I have no formal health/nutrition education. I just did a lot of research, and found something that worked for me. So I figured I'd share it with all of you. I'm sure there are many members who know a lot more about this stuff than I, and I look forward to their input. Hopefully I'll be able to apply some of it myself.
I will say this. Quality of life is by far the greatest gift I've ever given myself. And if even one person reads any of this, and improves their life in any way, then it's been worth it.
Eat right, BGO. And DO WORK!!!!
hog
