A Four Step Program… sort of

A few people have asked me to go into even more detail with my approach. After getting started, I decided that it had to be in 2 parts. So, here is part 1…

Step 1: Finding the Correct Mindset

There are two common interpretations of the word “diet.” One refers to a lifestyle; it’s what types of things you eat on a daily basis. The other is something that is done. The first one is all about choices and is an integral part of who you are. The other is about rules and has a start date and an end date.

I don’t really do the second one. When I look at something I want to eat I don’t say “Woah, I can’t eat that!” Because, in all honesty, can’t means must to me. What I say is “Hmm, is that really worth it? Probably not, I choose not to eat that right now.”

This happened just the other day, while grocery shopping. I had been having a craving for a Hostess Pie. Now there is a saying that I have been living by, it’s “One piece of pie will not make me fat. However, a piece every day might.” So, I was thinking “Eh, what could it hurt?” Then I looked at the nutritional information and decided it really wasn’t worth it. Sure it would have been great for the 45 seconds it took me to eat it, but it really wasn’t worth the calories and carbs. Especially with my diabetes, I’d have to make sacrifices that I was not willing to, in order to accommodate that. But it was my choice, and that is an important distinction for me.

Another important part for me is setting achievable milestones, with rewards. A lifestyle change can’t happen overnight. It takes time. I need more frequent feedback, than what I will be like a year from now. I try to break it down into 2-3 month chunks, with a larger reward for reaching the end goal. Once I hit that goal, then I will re-think, re-plan, and set new milestone for maintenance.

Step 2: The Diet

Again, I’m not talking about being on a diet; I’m talking about changing who I am and what I eat on a regular basis. Now this was request by my doctor, and not a choice I took lightly. Many people think that exercise is the most important part of losing weight but it is not. Eating right is the most important part.

My Rules, My Way

My diet now consists of meat, nuts, and a small amount of fruit. While veggies would be allowed by most, I do not allow them. I hate them!! I’ve read articles on hypersensitive taste buds and tongues that have more taste buds than usual. Regardless of if those are real or not, the bottom line is the taste of them is so overwhelming I simply can’t stand them. I used to get burritos from Taco Bell with no lettuce and extra cheese. If there was one sliver of lettuce in it, I could taste it about three bites before I got to it. I would also be tasting it for the next hour.

Anyway, back to the meat, nuts, and fruit. There were a couple of choices I had to make here that most rational people would not. First beans and cheese are a meat. No need to argue, it is what it is. Without those two items I wouldn’t bother eating. Another is that peanuts are a nut. Many people get pissed off when I say this and try to correct me with “they are legumes/seeds.” I really don’t care. They have a shell, they are a nut, no need to discuss it further. Lastly, corn tortillas and corn chips count as a veggie that I will allow myself to eat. However with this in mind, they still have to fit into my nutritional targets (some call them “macros”) for the day.

Tracking is Critical

Now, at least in the beginning, it is critical to track/log everything you eat. You don’t have to be precise, but get close. The macros I focus on tracking are calories, protein, fat, carbs, and fiber. More on tracking macros in a bit.

The key to losing weight is maintaining a calorie deficit. If you don’t track what’s going in, it’s hard to know when to stop and how many to calories to burn. The calories deficit thing can be tricky. There are so many theories and arguments about it that is impossible to know who is right. However, I believe that it depends on the individual. One common belief is that if you have too large of a deficit your body shuts down processing and goes into storage mode, messing up your metabolism and making it almost impossible to lose weight. I think that is true to an extent. However, for some others and me, there is a trick that works. But again, back to that later.

The How

The first thing to do is Google for a calculator to tell you how many calories you need to maintain your current weight. There are a lot out there. There’s one on healthstatus.com but it’s just one of many. They all work about the same and really, for me, everything is just a guideline. Now, generally, a 500 calorie deficit per day should result in 1 pound of weight loss a week. But this is just a guideline and there are other factors, such as muscle mass gain (from exercise) that get in the way.

Now, the calculator above said I would need 2760 cal/day to maintain my current weight and a minimum of 1800 cal/day. Therefore, to reach my target loss of 2lbs/week I should be at 1760 calories per day. But, that is below my minimum… Well that sucks! Also, any calories added at the gym should be added to that. In reality, I generally have been running on 1200-1400 calories a day. Plus, I have been going to the gym 3-4 days a week and trying to be active on the days I don’t.  This means my calorie intake should be significantly higher.

Depending on if it is a workout day or a rest day, that can be anywhere from a 1000-2500 calories deficit. It is important to note that I am hungry all day! Many people can’t cope with this and continue to eat or binge. I keep nuts handy and snack on them most of the day.

Now this huge deficit is somewhat intentional. However, I’m also having a problem keeping my calories up. Since I am such a picky eater, it is really hard to keep my calories up and my carbs low. A couple people have suggested that I could be losing more, if I ate more calories. They assume my body is in starvation mode. That could be true, but I don’t think so, and I’m happy with my results and am not interested in changing things.

The “Trick”

That leads me to the “trick!” Well, there are no tricks, but this helps! Some people call it a cheat day. I call it a recovery day. One day a week I don’t log anything and I eat whatever I want. However, I watch my portions closely. As an example, the things I miss most are pizza and beer. Well on many Fridays I have pizza and beer. The twist is that instead of eating a medium pizza and drinking two or three beers, I get a personal pizza and drink one beer.

In the beginning that would not come close to filling me, so I would eat something a little more healthy, before the pizza. Now that my stomach has gotten smaller, that isn’t necessary.

This has, possibly, two benefits. First, it allows me to remain sane, and also say “Meh, not now. I can have it later.” It’s much easier to say no to something when you know you can have it later. The other benefit, which is much more controversial, though I prefer to buy it, is that it keeps your body on its toes. It eliminates that, “oh crap, I’m starving I better shutdown” response. Again, there is a lot of research supporting and disproving this. But I like it, so I go with it!

Macros

Ok, so let’s get back to macro tracking. Many people are very religious about this. I am not, currently. Later when my focus is no longer weight loss, but muscle building, I may get more serious. However, a lot of people have great results doing this. I recommend using the calculator at If it Fits Your Macros, if you choose this route.  For me, because of my diabetes, I really focus mostly on net carbs. Net carbs are basically the total carbs minus the fiber content. It gets more complicated than that and taking a fiber supplement doesn’t help because fiber is also counted as a carb. But again, guidelines people! Oh and simplicity, lets not make this too confusing! I try to limit my net carbs for most meals to under 45g. However, for dinner I will sometimes go up to maybe 85g. When I started, I targeted 45g per day. That was too hard. Then I moved to 100g per day. I finally decided that per meal was the best approach, for me. After my carbs are handled, I shoot for as much protein and fiber as I can with as little fat as possible. But I don’t stress too much over those.

This is not a Sprint

Lastly, it’s important to remember that this is a long-term endeavor. A cookie now and then, or even a bad day, won’t have significant impact and should not be the cause for derailment. So often I hear silly comments like “Well, I totally blew it for breakfast today, no need to even go to the gym!” Seriously? It’s all the more reason to go to the gym. Not only to burn some calories, but to keep trucking along.

That pretty much sums up Step 2. Steps 3 and 4 are cardio and strength training. I’ll hit those as soon as I can.

Update:

I decided to run the calorie calculator based on my current weight and higher activity level and it says I should be taking in about 3500 cal/day to maintain my current weight and 2500 cal/day to continue my 2lb/wk lose. I’m still well below that and I lose between 2-3 pounds a week. However, I am also building noticeable muscle mass. This is not my current goal, but it will be. So I will take it.