How I lost 55 pounds in 7 months

Last year I managed to lose 55 pounds (25 kg) in 7 months. I am 5’5 (165cm) tall, so for me it meant going from size 14 to size 4 and sometimes 2. 

  I think the primary key to my success was a very strong motivation, but there were also some practical aspects that helped me persevere. Here are the main three rules which I found useful. In the following days I will be posting one more tip per day. I know that in dieting there is no silver bullet - things that work for some would be absolutely irrelevant or even harmful for others. So I am not suggesting that you follow all these tips, rather I hope you find some of them inspirational :-)

My Weightlossophy

1. Know how much you are burning.  

  I tended to hugely overestimate the energy that I burned when working out, primarily thanks to treadmills, ellipticals and workout videos that claim you burn 1000 calories in an hour. But then I had a metabolic assessment and discovered that I actually burned 400 calories, 100 out of which I would have burnt anyway, by simply being alive. Before that I had always thought: “I worked out so hard, I deserve some extra ice cream... or 2”. Now I knew why when I managed to stick to a workout routine, I’d gain weight :-).

  Metabolic assessment tells you how many calories you, personally, burn performing specific activities, such as sleeping, working, cleaning the house, running, walking, etc. I used Senswear, a small equipment you wear on your arm, which continuously measures your calorie burn based on your heart rate, body temperature, etc. Another equipment I found online that seems similar is Bodybugg. 

  Such equipment can be pricey to buy. Sometimes you can rent it from your gym. But even if you don’t have access to a personal metabolic assessment, you can approximate your calorie burn based on your weight, age and activity type on several sites, such as Nutritiondata or Healthstatus, which usually turn out quite accurate for me.
  Note of caution: as you lose weight you burn less calories for the same activity, so when you slim substantially, you might want to update your calculations. I know it’s sad, but hey - you’re getting thinner ;-)

2. Calculate how much you eat

  It is very tempting to believe that you can eat as much of the “non-fat” yogurt as you want, or that you should eat “plenty” of “healthy” foods. Walnuts are great for you, and it’s so easy to reach out and grab 2,3,4 more walnuts - how many calories can there be? Well, in 4 walnuts there are 100 calories, something that takes me an hour to burn. Not to mention “unhealthy” foods, where in a singe slice of an amazingly delicious cheesecake there can be 1400 calories - pretty much all my daily ration.

  My favorite online resource for calculating calories is CalorieKing. But there are many more great sites like that. After a while, as you become more experienced, counting calories gets much easier because you remember many items by heart, especially the ones you eat the most.

3. Record everything
  Now that you know how much you burn and how much you eat, record it all. Take a small piece of paper with you to work: it is so easy to forget a 100 calorie cookie that you munched on. Then add up everything and see what is your daily balance. It can be quite eye opening to keep such a record for a while. If you also weigh yourself every day, or at least once a week, you can see how your calorie balance impacts your weight. They say that a deficit of 3500 calories results in a weight loss of 1 lb. That was approximately true for me. 

  Don’t cheat! Don’t round up your workout time and round down the calories in your meals. It will only upset you in the long term, because you will feel that you’ve spent so much time and effort being “good”, and still have not lost any weight. 

  After a while it will be very satisfying to look back at your honest track record and see how well you were doing and how much weight you lost as a result. You can even make a graph, like mine (or prettier) to boost your morale :-).

I will be posting one additional tip from my “Weightlossophy” every day for the rest of my detox diet (April 11, 2010). So if you’re interested, check back in. Or if you have a thought or a question, please leave a comment,  and I’ll be happy to get the conversation going.