A Technical Approach to Weight Loss

EDIT: I will be posting daily calorie totals from livestrong.com in the comments of each weekly weigh-in post, starting with this week on this post. There will be no totals on Sundays.

A Technical Approach to Weight Loss

Basic principle: Eat regular, small meals –– Maintain an active lifestyle –– Work out 3x/week

Technical Approach start date: Monday, May 14

Weight loss to date: 10 lbs.

Current weight: 222

Goal weight: 165-175

I’m bringing out the big guns.

This is a journey. On a journey there are twists and turns, ups and downs, and changes in terrain. Sometimes, you overcome a challenge and find yourself in the clear. Other times, you have to push. You have to push hard. You have to analyze your motivations, refine your technique, and, sometimes, make a decision to jump in with both feet and go rogue, competing at an unprecedented level of 100% focus and 100% effort.

Until the journey is over, it is all that matters. You’ll do anything to achieve your goal.

So today I am turning the page. Today, the rules change.

What is a Technical Approach to weight loss? It’s one where you know the science, you know the math, and you formulate your lifestyle around it. You monitor everything closely and report it accurately, knowing that you should see the results you want as long as you do your part.

Read on to find my workout schedule, highlights of my eating plan, goals, and psychological Joebabble. Also, from this point forward, I will be completing a daily eating journal on livestrong.com. This eating log will be educational for me as I look back on my successes and (hopefully not) failures. I would like to link to it so you could follow along, but in exploring the site I wasn't able to find such a functionality.

From this point forward, I will also be posting weekly weigh-ins. The reason for this is because I feel ready for a more high-pressure experience, and weekly weigh-ins leave me virtually no margin for error.

Working out:

At the gym (Tuesdays and Thursdays): burn at least 500 calories using bike, treadmill, elliptical, and strength training machines.

At home (Saturdays): rotate between Robert Ferguson’s 24-minute Burn & Tone DVD and 36-minute Fight the Fat Kickboxing DVD. Because these workouts incorporate strength training, the body will continue to burn post-workout, and we can assume that, on average, at least 500 calories are being expended, if not more.

Active lifestyle: Weather permitting, at least two hour-long walks around town and/or on local trails throughout the week.

Calories burned through weekly exercise: 2,000

In pounds per month: 2.5

Eating plan:

After consulting numerous resources and online calculators, I have determined that in order to reach my goal weight, I need to consume about 1,700 calories per day. Physical activity is factored into the equation that resulted in the 1,700 number, so I don’t get to eat more than 1,700 on days I work out. It is a strict number. Also factored into the equation is the fact that caloric needs change as weight is lost. This is a general overall target number that should lead to steady results. For those wondering, 1,700 is about 500 calories below the caloric intake that my body would need to maintain weight as-is if significant exercise were not taking place. Therefore, I conclude that to consume 1,700 calories in a day is to reduce my overall caloric intake by at least 500 calories per day.

A day on this plan consists of:

Small, 300-600 calorie meals

2-3 100-300 calorie snacks

Each meal consists of protein and carbs (usually a combination of slow carbs and fast carbs). Fast carbs (bread, pasta, potatoes, sugars, etc.) should be limited, while protein should be the primary component of any meal. “Proteins” are meat, fish, dairy products, nuts, etc.

Snacks can be entirely protein, fast carb, or slow carb. If you are having a fast carb snack, however, it is best to combine this with a protein to ensure that blood sugar levels don’t spike.

Breakfast suggestions: 2 eggs, 4 strips turkey bacon, and 1 slice 2% cheese scrambled together (delicious and under 300 calories); whole grain toast with natural peanut butter and skim milk; oatmeal with turkey bacon; cereal with skim milk; whole grain pancakes with sugar free syrup; egg sandwich with honey mustard, turkey bacon, and 2% cheese on whole grain bread; your ideas?

Lunch suggestions: Loaded salad; McDonald’s Southwest Salad; can of tuna with whole grain crackers; avocado with tuna inside; chicken salad; Healthy Choice steaming entrées; turkey, hummus, and pepper jack sandwich on whole grain bread; roast beef, tomato, and horseradish sandwich on whole grain bread; Subway; soup; your ideas?

Snack suggestions: Pistachios; almonds; cottage cheese; carrots with fat-free ranch; yogurt (not Yoplait); Kellogg’s FiberPlus bar; Clif Mojo bar; cheese stick; hard-boiled egg; beef jerky; whole grain crackers with hummus; fruit cup; Sun Chips; homemade cookie with skim milk; whole grain tortilla chips with salsa; pretzels with honey mustard; popcorn (no butter); your ideas?

Dietary subsitutions (these are not all hard and fast; they are general guidelines):

Soda: Diet soda Diet soda: Seltzer water

2% milk: Skim milk

Added sugar: Splenda

Bacon: Turkey bacon

Butter: Smart Balance

Cheese: 2% cheese (this is extremely difficult for me!)

Cream cheese: Neufchâtel cheese

Creamy peanut butter: Natural peanut butter

Ground beef: Ground turkey

Jam: Sugar-free jam

Mayo: Honey mustard

Orange juice: Tropicana 50/50

Pepperoni: Turkey pepperoni

Refined grains: Whole grains (bread, pasta, tortillas, breakfast foods, you name it)

Salad dressing: Fat free salad dressing

Sausage: Turkey or chicken sausage

Syrup: Sugar-free syrup

What am I missing?

I have also developed a rather extensive list of good choices at many local eateries. For space’s sake (although that might already be shot), I am excluding that here.

Calories burned through weekly eating: 3,500

In pounds per week: 1

Results when combined with calories burned through exercise:

2.5 x 12 + 1 x 52 / 12 = 6.8 (7)

Using this Technical Approach to weight loss, I will lose an average of seven pounds per month and, by the end of the year, I will be between 165-175 pounds.

I will stick to the guidelines above. If they don’t work, I will have disproved the scientific fact that weight loss is about calorie intake vs. calorie expenditure and that one pound = 3,500 calories. If I truly am a man of integrity and stay true to my word, I cannot fail.

I have no interest in dabbling in this in 2013.

Psychological Joebabble:

·         Food isn’t the only thing to look forward to in life. See below:

• Time spent with my wife going out, hiking, playing games, watching movies, and talking about the future.
• To reiterate: The future.
• Church, and spending time with family and friends.
• Entertaining people at our house.
• New music.
• The NFL and other sports.
• Travel.
• Improved finances.

·         When I reach my goal weight, I will:

• Have cholesterol, blood pressure, and blood sugar numbers in the “healthy” range (I trust).
• Look better.
• Feel better.
• Have more self-confidence, enabling me to grow in my personal life and career.
• Live longer.
• Be able to do things I’ve only ever dreamed of doing.

·         I have all these people I don’t want to let down, and I want to prove myself.

• What will my wife, family, friends, and colleagues think if I fail?

I’ve put all of this in front of me for all to see now. I have to succeed. My options are 1) succeed, or 2) disappear from this blog without explanation and hope that everyone forgets – which is something typical of weak people with a losing mentality and a total lack of willpower.

I will not be that kind of person.

Hey!