Forrest’s Weight Loss Guide
In my experience the trick to losing weight is simple. If you eat less calories than you expend each day, you will lose weight. There are medical exceptions to this for for the average person this is all you really need to do.
The following is based on my experience of losing 60 pounds from July to October 2016.
What you will need to prepare:
- Buy yourself a good kitchen scale to measure the weight in grams of the foods you eat. You can find them aplenty on Amazon for around $25.00. I bought a nice one at London Drugs.
- Set yourself up an account with a Calorie Counter website/app. I have been using one called FatSecret. You can just use the free account. My advice is to set up an account on your computer/laptop, save your login info somewhere safe, then download the app onto your tablet or phone and log into the app.
- Get yourself an accurate scale. If you are not over 300 lbs you will be able to buy a good one that will handle your weight. Again there are tons of them on Amazon. I bought one at Sears, (A Weight Watchers model), before they went bye bye.
- If you can afford it, I would highly recommend some type of watch that can keep track and display your daily fitness activity as well as display your heart rate while exercising. To burn fat effectively I keep my heart rate between 110 to 130 bpm. But to be exact, refer to this chart for your optimal rate.
- Set a start date. I would advise trying to start in the spring or early summer, where you can easily get out for a walk everyday. I used bike riding. But you can also use home exercise equipment, like a stationary bike, bowflex or a treadmill. If you can afford it, a membership at a fitness facility would be a good place to seek out. Perhaps community ones that are inexpensive.
- Set yourself a weight loss goal. Don’t be too aggressive. Pick something achievable. Say 20 to 30 pounds. If things are going well you can always adjust that when you reach your goal.
- Determine your starting Body Mass Index. Go to this WEBSITE and enter your information. Under the result choose the third option, Weight Loss 1/lb a week.This will give you an idea of how many calories you must be at or under in order to lose weight.
- To begin your weight loss regime will seem a little daunting for sure. Just know that if you stick to it, good things will happen and you will feel much better physically and mentally.
Foods to eat:
- You want to stick to foods that are complex to digest and for your body to break down. These foods will give you the optimal nutrition and calories that your body will use rather then store.
- Eggs (Hard Boiled are nice for lunches)
- Fresh Vegetables
- Carrots
- Pickles
- Ham (meat of any kind, but the leaner the better)
- Chicken
- Tuna
- Cheese
- Bananas and apples
Foods to avoid:
- High carbohydrate foods such as chips, potatoes and rice
- Energy drinks
- Alcohol (especially beer).
- Bread
- Chocolate (most sweets)
- Sugars
- Salty Foods
- Fast Foods (McDonalds etc.)
- Doughnuts, cakes, pies etc.
- Fruit Juices
- Pizza (bad)
To begin with:
- Don’t go extreme to start with. If the calorie counter site says 2000 calories a day, start with 2400. After a week decrease to 2200, then after that to 2000. Everyone is different, I went as low as 1500 a day and was losing 5 lbs a week, but that is hard to maintain and you have to exercise hard as well to do that. If you do go extreme you also risk damaging your organs as your body will go into starvation mode and will store anything you eat as fat and your weight will increase.
- You will not automatically start to lose weight, so do not be discouraged, your body will always fight to maintain the weight you are at so it may take a week before you start to see results.
- Start buying the foods you will be eating. Pay attention to the nutritional information on the labels. You want to avoid high carbohydrates and high sodium.
- Plan to be eating 5 meals a day. This is Important! Your goal here is to shrink your stomach in the first couple of weeks. This will ease the hunger pangs and you will feel not hungry all the time on less calories. So if your goal is 2,000 cals a day then each meal can be about 400 calories. You will get used to this pretty quickly. To begin with calculating all the calories for every foods can be a pain, so to start with, go with foods that are easy to calculate. The FatSecret app has any store bought foods already calculated for you.
- Buy foods that have the caloric value already displayed, like frozen dinners or granola bars. We love the Healthy Choice Steamers. They are between 190 and 330 calories each and are pretty tasty. Natures Choice granola bars are around 140 to 190 calories each.
- Make sure that every food that passes your lips is counted in your calorie counter (except water).
- If you must snack on something, try baby carrots or pickles. They are both filling and very low on calories.
- If you do snack on junk food like potato chips, then measure out a portion, (see the nutritional label), and weigh it, don’t just take the bag and eat it.
Daily routine (This is important as it will help eliminate variables so you know what is working or not working and why.):
- You want to measure your weight 1st thing in the morning as this is when you will be the lightest. Naked and after your morning bladder and/or bowel movement but before your shower. Don’t wait until later as your body weight will increase as you eat meals and start to move around. Enter your weight every morning in your Fat Secret app. This will allow you top start to see a cause and effect of your dieting and exercise.
- I would recommend that your breakfast be your highest caloric meal of the day. Try to eat as much protein and little carbohydrates. Fat is not your enemy as most diet plan would have your believe.
- If you are working everyday and your job is one where you are on your feet and doing manual labour then this is really all the exercise you need for the day. I would recommend a brisk half hour walk as well, but if you have a desk job, then it is important that you get up and around. If that means cycling or walking to work, or going for a walk at lunch, then do that.
- If you keep active with a hobby or exercise then you are less likely to be sitting around watching TV and snacking. You just will not notice you are hungry if you are doing something.
- No late night snacking. Very bad for you.
- Drink a lot of water during the day. 4 litres a day of plain water. Very Important.
- Get at least 8 hours of sleep each night. You will notice you will lose less if you don’t get enough sleep.
In Conclusion:
- It is O.K. to snack on your favorite foods, just do so in moderation. Make sure you are having a portion, and make sure you enter it into your calorie counter.
- If you are out at a restaurant or at friends house for a meal, just try and choose lower portions and estimate your meal in your calorie counter app as best as you can, you don’t have to be exact in those instances.
- You will find that just the fact that you are keeping track of your calorie intake will cause you to lose weight, even if you go over now and again.