There was a new goal planted today that I'd like to offer some input on. BTW - I did catch the season opener of the "Biggest Loser" last night and have participated in a home version of "Biggest Loser". The show is full of great tips and motivation. A little bit too much drama for my taste at times but that's what gets us hooked on the show.
It might be a good idea to mention my qualifications to give "dieting" advice. I have no qualifications or formal education. This is my disclaimer. What I do have is experience at losing weight and keeping it off. I am 85 pounds lighter than my highest adult weight. The first ten pounds were the easiest. The last ten pounds were the hardest.
My diet started in April 2008 and I hit my goal weight in July 2010. I was within 10 pounds of my goal weight for months getting a few pounds closer then a few pounds back the other way. The main reason for this was the fact that I was adding muscle weight at the same time I didn't have a lot of fat to burn off.
The key for me is that staying at my goal weight has become second nature to me.
- Rule #1 - Move more
- Rule #2 - Target 200 calories less than your daily requirement every day
- Rule #3 - Follow Rule #1 and #2 at least six days a week
This starting point was better than May 2008 because in May this was my condition.
You have to be able to move to burn calories. It is a challenge to move when both arms are in a cast and you are not supposed to put any weight on one of your legs. The green casts were my second set. The first set didn't let me use any of my fingers. To eat I had to strap a spoon or fork on my hand and try to keep the food from falling off. The new casts let me hold a fork or spoon, shave myself, play guitar and even hold small weights.
It was a long road and lots of "Moving" to get to this next image.
The journey was:
- A transportation stretcher to
- a wheelchair to
- a walker to
- a cane to
- an occasional walking stick to
- a treadmill to
- a "coasting" bicycle (a bicycle without any cranks or gears) to
- a hand-cycle to
- a road bike with crank arm adjusters to allow for limit motion in my right knee
The point is, you have to commit to moving as much as you can and sticking to it. My first walk on the treadmill was a 1/4 mile at 1/2 a mile an hour. I kept at it until I could knock out three miles in an hour and could walk nine miles in one day.
The weight loss started slow because I didn't have the ability to exercise at even a moderate pace. Now I can knock out 20 miles at a time on a bicycle before taking a break. See Team Rock Ranch for more information.
Rule #2 - Take in less calories than you need.
This is pretty straight forward. I targeted 1,800 calories a day when I couldn't move very much to burn calories off. This was 250 calories less than the daily recommended allowance. At 250 calories a day I should be losing 1,750 calories a week (about 1/2 a pound) just by reducing the calorie intake. My idea was that I would exercise enough to lose the remainder needed to lose a pound a week. One pounds is about 3,500 calories.
I stuck with the 1,800 calories a day even as I started to move more and more often. It didn't take long before I was losing an average of two pounds a week. The biggest loss in one week was six pounds. I'll admit that there were days that I went over the 1,800 limit so I would eat less the next day or move a lot to make up for it. I walked nine miles one day to burn off some donuts!
How do you know what your ideal weight is?
A weight that is in the "Healthy" range based on the your body mass index (BMI). An index below 25 was my initial target. I figured I'd see how being at that weight felt. The main reason for losing weight was to make things easier on my bad knee (well, the worse of my legs).
Here's an little BMI calculator if you want to see where you are at. This is just a quick estimate tool.
The highest BMI I've been at was 32.4. My BMI was down to 31.1 when I decided it was time to focus on 24.9!
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