It's amazing to me that so many people have made so much money telling people how to lose weight when, in fact, it's so simple a 5 year old can figure it out.
It's just a matter of counting calories. Just like balancing a ledger but in reverse.
It's so simple. All food items have a calorie index on the label. You just take in less than you burn. Duh? What's so difficult?
I consider myself a pretty average person lifestyle wise. My job forces me into a certain amount of physical exertion and I have been doing some running lately.
I've determined that if I limit my caloric intake to 1700 calories a day I should lose 2 lbs per week.
I came up with these figures myself and they were verified by a site known as My Plate, a web site which can assist dieters by displaying calorie counts and even adding up the calories you've ingested daily.
I started this meal plan January 1st and have lost 8 lbs so far, right on target.
For Breakfast I eat: Trophic Green Concentrate with 6 oz of Organic Apple Juice. I also have two poached eggs.
That adds up to about 250 calories.
I have an apple mid morning: 80 calories, subtotal so far: 370 calories.
For Lunch my wife makes me a large meat and cheese sandwich: 500 calories. Subtotal: 870 calories.
For Dinner I have a mixture of Organic Refried Beans with dry low fat cottage cheese.
Good for 250 calories. Subtotal: 1200 Calories
I have 1 orange at 8 PM each night: 80 calories.
Later in the evening, around 9 PM I make myself a tomato and onion sandwich (300 calories) with an 8 oz. juice drink of Cranberry and Apple Juice, 200 calories.
Total calories consumed is : 1700 Calories.
I eat nothing else but the above, no snacking or nibbling. And because these foods supply all my nutritional needs, I've never felt hungry between meals.
I eat the same thing every day. This meal plan gives me a good balance of protein, fat, carbs and fiber.
In the last 18 months previous to this I believe I was consuming about 2500 to 3500 calories a day simply because I had no idea how many calories I was eating. I ate everything that was offered to me. And I let others control what I ate.
That amount was probably 500 to 1000 calories stored each day, as fat.
I started my new meal plan weighing 192.5 lbs. My Goal obviously is 173 lbs. which would be a healthy weight for a person of my height and build.
In order to maintain that weight once I get there I need to consume about 2000 to 2200 calories per day. Should be no problem, if I continue to count calories.
The secret to maintaining a given calorie level is to eat the same food everyday!
That makes counting calories easy and there is no way you can deviate from your goal.
I hear all this whining about how boring it is to eat the same food.
My philosophy is that food is fuel for your body and should not be a source of pleasure. There are many ways to gain pleasure, food shouldn't be one of them.
Do you want to be at a healthy and good looking weight level or do you want to "enjoy" food? Pick one.
Look for more posts on this subject as my weight loss continues.
