If you're reading this, you are probably one of the millions of Americans that is either moderately or grossly overweight.
The truth is, that with all the TV and newspaper marketing campaigns out there to super size it, get it to go, or just plain enjoy that Kentucky Fried goodness, it's no wonder that we are waddling our way to work each morning.
I must admit as painful as it is, I too once belonged to this quickly spreading (no pun intended) overweight club. Realizing that I could no longer continue along this unhealthy downward spiral, I decided to do something about it. I would go on a diet.
OK, herein is where the problem began. Which diet should I go on? Well, in my case, I needed to lose at least 50lbs. So, the first thing I did was to hit the Internet and see what was out there. Wow… My head started to spin. There was the Atkins diet where you could eat all the fat you wanted as long as you limited the carbohydrates. Then there was the South Beach Diet. With this one, once again you must eliminate as many carbohydrates as possible. This one wasn't going to happen, as I absolutely love pasta. Weight Watchers was OK but there were all those points to count. I mean if I wanted to become a mathematician I would have gone to the school of Einstein.
Finally, after spending much time and effort, I finally discovered how I had gained all that weight and what I needed to do in order to lose it.
It was all about the calories. I discovered that if I ate 3500 more calories than I burned, I would gain a pound. I also discovered that on average, men normally burn between 2000 to 2500 calories per day. The average woman only burns between 1700 to 2000 calories per day.
After keeping a diary for a week I realized I was eating about 4000 plus calories per day. It didn't take a rocket scientist to see why I was 50 lbs. over weight.
Now I formulated a plan. With the help of a calorie counter, I calculated what foods I really loved and how much of them I could eat and still reduce my calorie count to around 1500 calories a day. This was not just an arbitrary figure. I read that you should only reduce your calorie intake by 500 calories per day based on what you burn.
I discovered that if I ate a bowl of cereal in the morning, (don't skip breakfast, it is a metabolism booster), and had another bowl for lunch, I could still have what I really liked to eat for dinner and stay within my 1500 calories per day limit.
Another thing I learned was that fruits and vegetables are extremely low in calories so basically I could eat as many of them as I wanted.
Well let me tell you the weight just seemed to fall off. It took about a year but I was 50lbs. lighter. This, by the way, was without doing any real physical exercise. Just think about how much I could have lost if I liked to exercise.
One other note, after I lost that weight, I upped my calorie count to 2000 calories per day and I have remained at my new weight now for over four years.
Believe me when I tell you, just choose the meals that you like, calculate the calories once and just keep on eating. Good luck.
