First off, I don’t expect anyone to listen to my weight loss advice at 235 pounds! This is primarily written for the entertainment of those who know me, and as a record to look back at when I get where I am going.<\/p>\n
I had always heard in popular culture not to eat sweets because they are fattening. Don’t eat donuts, pizza, candy etc. I took this at face value. Remember, for the last 25 years I have eaten very healthy, with almost no artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives, and eating a large proportion of organic food. Calorie restriction? Forget about it! I have however almost all of those years exercised from a medium amount to a ton! Yes you can work out a lot and get fat! \ud83d\ude42
\nOver the past few weeks, I have been reducing my calorie intake, and recording every calorie eaten with I would guess an accuracy of around plus or minus 5%.<\/p>\n
Here is what I have learned. Nothing new for those in the know, but some important basics if you were as clueless as I was. These rules are stolen from my wife, and as I gain certainty on them I will update the list.<\/p>\n
The “BLANK” RULES OF WEIGHTLOSS in progress. Blank will be filled in with a number when I am done.
\n1. Count your calories.<\/p>\n
A calorie is the amount of energy contained in a piece of food. The experts measure calories burned by measuring the amount of heat a person generates burning that food, or by burning that food up in a labratory and measuring how much heat energy is given off. We have been using our weight x the number 13 which is stated by some experts as a way to figure out how many calories you burn.<\/p>\n
2. Eat less than you burn.<\/p>\n
I am using what that number would be if I weighed 170 pounds. That was my old professional skimboarding<\/a> weight. Then I get a piece of paper and simply record what I eat, and the amount. I weigh it if possible on a scale from Williams and Sanoma. Many items have the calories on the box. Also I found that Calorie King<\/a> website has great calorie counts.<\/p>\n 3. Eat more protein<\/p>\n Once you start doing this, you find if you eat high protein foods which take longer to burn, your blood sugar stays up for longer. If you eat candy (I love chocolate!) for the same amount of calories, your blood sugar stays up for a much shorter time. This is why the Atkins diet actually allows people to lose weight. I am by no means following an Atkins diet, but I did learn from the guy that a higher protein diet definitely keeps your blood sugar more stable. My buddy Brian Coyle, a chiropractor in San Jose, taught me another great lesson while I ate dinner with him and his kids. He told them to “eat their protein first”. If you get full on protein, you won’t eat as many other foods. Obviously if you have a health problem where eating more protien would cause a problem ask your doctor about this first.<\/p>\n That is what I know for sure so far. I will keep you posted as I go along.<\/p>\n