Introduction to Dieting

Let's get started by saying that all the fad diets are crap. Can we agree on that? If it has a fancy name or you buy a book dedicated to this one particular diet, it's not worth your time. This means you Atkins, Caveman Diet, Glycemic Index and anyone I may be forgetting. Don't let anyone tell you what to eat. Learn what's in your food, eat what you need and cut the crap.

Now that we have that crowd out of the way, listen closely: IT IS NOT OKAY TO BE OUT OF SHAPE. What? That's right. No. We, as people, have a tendency to acquiesce to our surroundings. Most of America is fat. Our friends are fat and we are fat. Therefore it must be okay. Well, no it's not. Your friends who aren't fat who pretend it's okay are only being nice to spare your feelings. They work hard to stay in shape. We have no right to put this burden on them.

That's right, I'm one of you. I'm 5'11 and 211 pounds. I say it's not okay, but in the back of my mind I'm always saying “It's not that bad, you look alright, at least you're not as fat as they guy over there.” This kind of thinking has to end. The only time it is okay to be overweight is when you are less overweight then you were the day before. You're the same weight the next day? Time to go for a jog. This is a problem, a threat, that requires constant action. Now that we have that out of the way, let's cover the very basics.

Calories

Calories are almost a little too simple. You take in less calories then you burn and you lose weight. Unfortunately, something always seems to go wrong in the execution. We aren't going to get into the nuances of calories today. We're just going to cover the basics. Starting with the Basal Metabolic Rate. This is the amount of calories you burn just by laying in bed all day. You calculate your BMR with this formula:

67 + (6.24*Your weight in pounds) + (12.7*Your Height in inches) – (6.9*Your age) = BMR

So for me that would be 67+(6.24*211) + (12.7*71) – (6.9*24)
Which comes out to be 2119.74

It would be extremely difficult for me to only take in 2119.74 calories, so obviously I have to exercise to increase my maintenance calories.

The real key to cutting calories is water!

Water. Water. Water. Water. Water.

Water is the basis of life for everything living on Earth. It allows your body to make full use of all the nutrients you consume and it has 0 Calories. If you start the day by drinking water and continue to sip on water all day long, drinking nothing else, you won't be as hungry when meal time comes around and you'll have more energy.

How to Eat

This is where most of us get it wrong. It's easy to say “I'm not going to be a fatass and eat 4000 calories worth of junk today” but the way we eat causes us to consume far more calories than we should. The first mistake we make is eating enough food for an entire day in one meal. The mechanisms our brain uses to tell us when we aren't hungry are slow, so we can wolf down five cheeseburgers in half an hour before we say “okay, that's enough” Instead, what we have to do is get the jump on our hunger. Eat something as soon as you get up before your stomach has time to even make a suggestion and then take in a 300-400 calorie serving every 3-4 hours. Before you know it the day is over and you have avoided gouging yourself with greasy fast food or junk.

I'll end this entry with a simple 3 step process everyone can follow
1.Drink more water
2.Eat a healthy breakfast as soon as you wake up
3.Space out short meals by 3-4 hours and keep your food far enough away that you have to burn some calories getting to it.

We'll be revisiting this subject in future entries where we will explore increasing maintenance calories with the Harris Benedict Equation, What makes nutrients so great, why breakfast tastes so good and we'll be following my progress as a strive to no longer be a gelatinous embarrassment to American culture.