How Do You Lose Weight?

I agree. The secret to weight loss that no one knows about is this: "Eating less".

I think your short views are wise too.

They could be summed up as this:
1. Eat less
2. Eat less calories
3. Increase caloric expenditure

That's all you need to do to lose weight...

Why do people think it's more complicated than this?

How I lost 200 Pounds by eating more:

1) I Ate whatever I wanted for Breakfast Lunch And Dinner just controlled the portion. 1 portion instead of 2 or 6

2) I Ate more! More vegetables, mainly dark green leafy vegetables whenever I felt hungry. I now eat massive quantities of vegetables. These complex carbs are the backbone to losing weight

3) I Ate even More! Apples. When hunger strikes I found me the biggest apple I could find. Choke full of Fiber, pectin and complex carb goodness. I dare ya to try and eat more than 400 calories worth of apples when you are hungry, something that is easy to do with chips

4) Enjoy the easy weight loss while eating more than ya ever did before and not starving to death

Firstly, setting a weight goal can be a bit shortsighted, depending on how overweight you are. Why? Because weight loss alone does not tell you anything about your body composition. If you're very overweight, then yes, you will probably lose mainly fat. But if you're only moderately overweight then there are no guarantees that you won't lose more muscle than fat. This is bad from at least two perspectives. 1 - Muscle takes more calories to maintain, not a whole lot more, but enough to make a difference. So, the more muscle you lose, the lower your metabolism will be. 2 - Muscle mass is associated with quality and longevity of life. Several conditions suffered by the elderly are caused by the unchecked loss of muscle. So, the better goal would be to reduce your body fat by a certain percentage, say 25% to 20%, or a certain number of pounds of fat.

That being said, limiting food consumption consciously is a route that can be quite difficult for most people. By focusing on high quality foods, (meat, veggies, and fruits versus chef boyardee and bagels) you will naturally tend to consume less calories than you did before. So, I definitely agree with point #2.

Point #3 - Whether this is the best approach depends on the person and how quickly they'd like to reach their goals. Harder work that's smart will yield quicker results. However, if you're going with the moderate exercise plan, then it needs some tweaking. While you're cutting calories, you have to give your body some stimulus to tell it to hang onto the muscles you have. Since you're eating less, trying to build muscle will probably be a futile effort, so you shouldn't follow a mass-gaining program. Instead, do about 1/3 of the work you would have done to build muscle. For example, if you would have done 3 sets of 8 of squats with 200 pounds, you would do 1 set of 8 squats with 200 pounds to maintain the muscle and strength you have. (Note this is the recommendation from Lyle McDonald. If you haven't heard of him, I highly advise you to check him out). Remember, you have to give your body enough stimulus to maintain muscles mass, something that cardio does *not* do. And note, that curling 5 pounds 100 times doesn't tell your body to maintain mass either unless you're extremely weak. You have to challenge your body.

Hi!

I agree with you. The key factor is to guarantee that the equation:

calorie intake - calorie expenditure

is true.

That is, at the end of the day your caloric balance has to be smaller than that you need to maintain your weight. Knowing this, you "just" (its not easy!) need to control the quantities and the calories of what you eat.

You even can eat a 350cals burger, but you know that for that burger you could have had, for instance, a 150ml soup, 100g of white meat, 150g of vegetables, and a piece of fruit. That is the kind of decisions you have to make: a burger or a nutritional meal.

Sometimes, we need to eat that burger, and if we can't make up the mistakes with eating less during the day, we have to exercise more.

I keep control of what I eat by planning in advance, normally in the night before, what I will eat in the next day. I think about my day, where will I eat, where will I be, etc., and I plan it. I count the calories for the day considering all its constraints.

In respect to exercise, I do it every day of my week. I do 3 days of strength training, and 4 days of cardio training (which include tennis, a sport that I love, and running, a sport that I learn to love). Every other day, I switch the type of training.

And this is my plan! Sticking to it, I've lost 50 pounds over the past year and a half. I think its worthy. I haven't finished my journey yet, but now I like what I see in the mirror! :)

Check my blog for news on my journey, and thoughts.

Hi!

I agree with you. The key factor is to guarantee that the equation:

calorie intake - calorie expenditure < calories needed

is true.

That is, at the end of the day your caloric balance has to be smaller than that you need to maintain your weight. Knowing this, you "just" (its not easy!) need to control the quantities and the calories of what you eat.

You even can eat a 350cals burger, but you know that for that burger you could have had, for instance, a 150ml soup, 100g of white meat, 150g of vegetables, and a piece of fruit. That is the kind of decisions you have to make: a burger or a nutritional meal.

Sometimes, we need to eat that burger, and if we can't make up the mistakes with eating less during the day, we have to exercise more.

I keep control of what I eat by planning in advance, normally in the night before, what I will eat in the next day. I think about my day, where will I eat, where will I be, etc., and I plan it. I count the calories for the day considering all its constraints.

In respect to exercise, I do it every day of my week. I do 3 days of strength training, and 4 days of cardio training (which include tennis, a sport that I love, and running, a sport that I learn to love). Every other day, I switch the type of training.

And this is my plan! Sticking to it, I've lost 50 pounds over the past year and a half. I think its worthy. I haven't finished my journey yet, but now I like what I see in the mirror! :)

I eat healthy food throughout the day. I'll have oatmeal for breakfast and snack on fruit and veggies all day with a Lean Cuisine at night.

To me,if I'm feeding my hunger throughout the day then I'm not going to go overboard and binge. Works for me.

I do not accept the calories in calories out theory for one second. the calories in/calories out theory envisions the human body as a dumb peice of reductionistic machinary that thinks the body is a hunk of meat that burns calories at random. The calories in calories out model is part of the mainstream, which has been wrong many times throughout history including the time the world was supposed to be flat. it's the type of calories that count. protein, carbs and fat have unique and distinct impacts on the hormonal, or chemical status of the human body. which is more like a flickering flame than a hunk of meat. "the body has no organ dedicated to counting calories" -John Erickson, creator of the usa diet. google usa diet.

Cilio, i donot entirely agree with the eat less theory. Now the truth is that yes you will lose weight while you eat less, but two questions remain...
First, how long will can you do this?
Two what do you really want to do, lose weight or lose body fat? There is a difference you know.

Then you make it further complicated by adding some exercises. Exercise however light will demand that you eat.

The trick in losing body fat and losing inches is to have your cake and still eat it. You want a diet that keeps you full so you never have hunger pangs or craving while still providing just the sub-optimal calories (just slightly less than you need). Then you may add some weight loss exercises. Generally speaking the exercises should mainly focus on strength training. And should consist a routine that is easy to maintain.

But of utmost importance is a diet that cuts back on calorie and never keep you hungry. It should include smaller but frequent meals. Include some protiens and vegetable in all these meals. And reduce amounts of starch (carbs) you take from 3pm. Better still eliminate carbs after 5pm.

The video above has a link to a diet that can achieve these kinds of results.

Eat healthy food. Exercise daily. Repeat.

If you don't know what eating healthy should look like, check out some good books. One I like is Clean Eating by Tosca Reno - yes, she's a bit of a celebrity but it can help you to hone in on how to eat the type and quality of food that your body needs. Also Dr. Walter Willet's book, Eat, Drink and Be Healthy and Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food. These last two aren't diet books, they are books about food and our (disfunctional) relationship with it, among other things. Great material! Also a new one, The End of Overeating : taking control the insatiable American appetite by David A. Kessler.

Exercise daily - at least three times per week of that should be weight lifting! Dieting can cause your body to lose muscle tissue which you don't want to do. You may even gain some muscle if you eat enough protein and increase your weight regularly. More muscle = higher metabolism too.

Do it over and over and over and over... you get the idea. It's a lifestyle not a "diet". Make your body the most healthy it can be and it will pay you back by getting smaller, more fit and stronger. I now love the feeling of sweat dripping down my back in the gym because I know that what I'm doing for my body will make me healthier, stronger, sexier, more energetic, and I sleep better too!

47 years old, 123 pounds!

The question is not what we eat, it's why. I find I have three reasons for eating more than I should.

First: Heavy responsibility. If I am heavier, it is easier for me to plod solidly along doing my duty.

Second: Feeling of "Not Enough." If I am not getting enough love, attention, money, rest, I fill the void with food and frankly, enough food does feel great.

Third: Protection. If I am rounder, I am more protected from the many irritants in my life.

So, to be able to eat less calories, I have to figure out how to sometimes loosen the ties of responsibility, how to get enough attention or love (support groups for some reason feel good to me) and how to keep only people who love me in my immediate environment. During the very few, very brief times when all three of these needs were met, weight melted off.

I have had a lot of success doing something along the lines of what you're talking about, except that I count calories (I use an online program) and exercise more than you're suggesting - I do about 20-30 minutes of strength training most days (alternating between different muscle groups) and anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour+ of cardio most days. You probably don't have to do as much exercise as I do - I enjoy it and want to be able to eat more - around 2,000 a day or so. I choose only healthy food most of the time and have been losing quite consistently, usually a pound a week.

Susan, I believe you have given everyone solid advice. Diet, exercise, and support is the key! I also think it is interesting you mentioned an online program as your method for weight loss. Researchers at Brown University have come out with a study that shows online counseling can be much more effective than self-managed programs online. Will be interesting to see if online counseling becomes a trend.

I agree eat less exercise more. Right now I am trying to lose 5 lbs in 3 days :0