Doing the Math

I had always thought that working out or playing enough sports was the key to losing weight - that if I was active enough, I could eat whatever I wanted. Well... that was probably true when I was much younger (before high school), when my body was a metabolism machine, breaking up any calorie or fat content that got in its way, even when I sat snacking in front of the ol' boob tube. Now in my late 30's, things are much different, as my metabolism has been found to be taking more naps during the day than my brother's overweight 12-year-old beagle. As my body has changed (inside and out), it is clear that my habits needed to change as well.

I'm sure you've heard that it's important to keep an eye on your calorie intake. I had and never really paid attention to that before. I figured that working out at the gym and staying away from burgers and greasy fries was enough to feel that I was at least doing what I needed to do, and that everything would come together. That's not necessarily the case. I've learned that watching what I eat is just as important (or maybe more) than the exercise or activity I choose to perform. For me, the key to losing weight has been to burn more calories than I consume in any given day. Anyone can do that. I log each calorie I consume... for breakfast, lunch, dinner and any snack in between. Basically, anything that is heading down into my belly (including liquids), is either already or going-to-be recorded into my daily calorie log. It is very important for me that I know exactly what I consume, as this practice has given me a great start to controlling my eating habits. At the same time, I am always aware of serving sizes, as labels on foods might appear to be low in calories; it all depends on how many servings that product contains. So I am always doing the math with every meal/product that I consider eating. I must say that it is very easy to accidently consume more calories than I wish to, when not looking closely to the product labels on the foods I purchase. One rule I have is... if the product does not have a nutritional value label, I choose not to eat it. That's it, plain and simple. Of course, that makes it hard for me to visit restaurants, as I have no idea what cooks put into their foods or how they choose to prepare them. Would it be rude of me if I asked to go into their kitchen and make my own meal? Honestly, I would prefer that.

I try to consume less than 1,000 calories per day (around 300 per meal, plus snacks), which (for me) means me running at least an hour and fifteen minutes to burn 1,000 calories. Calories burned beyond that tells me my workout is contributing to burning even more off my ‘belly fat’, which is motivating enough. I must be clear about one thing, though... Calories are by no means the only factor to losing weight, as there are other factors (nutritional aspects in foods), that add protein and vitamins to my diet... as well as workouts only my body can handle. I continue to learn more about food groups and other workout programs that will help achieve my goal. Balancing both of those factors has definately given me a great head start to a healthy lifestyle.

For more on calories and calorie intakes, visit http://weightloss.about.com/od/nutrition/a/blwhatcal.htm

Dave Pardo is not a licensed nutritionist or a medical doctor… and does not treat or make any personal recommendations on nutrition or specific workout programs. The purpose of this blog is for Dave to share his knowledge of dieting and exercising in order to inspire and motivate others to learn the basic practices for losing weight and living a healthy lifestyle.

Just drink it!

Not that I'm an expert in losing weight, but like many, I've always read and heard from nutritionists and doctors that drinking approximately eight 8 ounce glasses of water per day will do wonders with one's dieting. In the past, I've attempted to do that, always losing count of how many glasses I've filled up and wondered if I've had enough for my day. In the past month, as I am now focused to really lose weight, I'm once again drinking my 64oz of water every day (and sometimes more). Yes, I find myself hitting the washroom more than normal, although what I'm actually doing is flushing out the stored water in my entire body and replenishing it with new/fresh water (remember, about 60% of the average body is water)... which is great for my muscles, now that I’m working out. I’ve also learned that it’s great for my entire body, including my skin… and not to mention that it suppresses my hunger!

Here's a photo of a bottle I use. It's a 32 oz. (1 Quart) Rubbermaid-brand container. It's perfect for me, as all do is drink at least a couple of these throughout my day. I find it easy to drink as it doesn’t appear to be too large of a container (approximately 4 glasses worth per container). Another thing about drinking water... is that I've always had a problem with the taste of it, that the taste was always plain and boring… and that it didn't have enough of a taste to it. Well, I quickly solved that problem once I added several slices of fresh lemon to my water. I simply change out the lemon slices every couple of days (the mouth of my quart container is large enough to fit my lemon slices.). Another nice thing about lemons is that they're affordable (I get 5 lemons for a buck at my local grocery store!).

So, if you're dieting or exercising to lose weight, one key ingredient is water. Drink plenty every day and you will feel great!!

For more about how water can help with your diet, visit http://www.shapeupshop.com/articles/Weight-Loss/water-weight-loss.html.

A Challenge?

About a month ago, my wife proposed that we re-join the local gym and once again try to get back into shape. I don't know how many times we made attempts to do that. If anything, we'd start off strong, visiting the gym 3 to 4 times a week (for about an hour or so workouts), to then losing focus and finding little time for workouts, to finally dropping the gym membership because it didn't make any sense to pay the monthly due and not go.

For some reason, this time was different. My wife not only suggested that we hit the gym again, but challenged me to lose weight. Naturally, I asked what the prize would be, as if I needed something to get me focused on. We told ourselves that we'd think about it and come up with something 'good' to win. So, we went ahead and reinstated our gym membership and started visiting the gym... for me, it was about a few times a week, during the first two weeks. Like past times, I started out strong and was on the path to the same story of probably losing interest after a month or so.

It was during an episode of 'The Biggest Loser' when things changed for me. As my wife and I were watching the program, I became inspired to push myself, much like those contestants on TV. It was then, when I grabbed my calendar and asked my wife that we schedule weigh-ins and mark a deadline to our challege. By actually writing that info down, it became a responsibility of mine, rather than a thought or wish. It was more of a promise to myself and if I did not work on it enough to actually acheive the goal, I would disappoint myself.

To be honest, I can't remember the first couple of weeks of the challenge. I did go to the gym and tried to eat the right foods... although it took me the first two weeks to hear something that would change everything for me. My wife and I began talking more about the foods we eat and the number of calories they consisted of. We pulled out our iPod Touches and began logging our meals (calorie intake) into the "Lose It!" application. We found this to be a great tool to log our calorie in-take and excerises (I strongly suggest using the free app). It was during that conversation when my wife simply said, "In order to lose weight, one has to burn more calories than one consumes." I sat there and thought about that. Averaging roughly 1,000 consumed calories per day, I wondered if I would be able to burn that amount, every day. In my eyes, that in itself became a challenge, which I knew I could do.

So, that is when it all began for me. For the past two weeks, I've been running... and running... and running. I've ran more than I ever have before. Since coming up with my latest goal to burn more than what I consume (close to two weeks ago), between the treadmill and the elliptical machines, I've burnt over 15,000 calories. ...and to date, I've lost 8.6 pounds.

I must say that I'm proud of myself and my wife, who has also lost weight these past weeks. I have to admit that my focus has started making want to change my lifestyle for the better. In the short amount of time that I've been truly focused, I've started to feel better mentally and physically. The longer I stay focused, I expect that feeling to only increase.