fat loss - The Calorie Concious

Last year, I weighed around 300 pounds, and I was utterly frustrated because my weight was so high that I felt embarrassed everywhere. Then, I decided that something has to change and that something was me. So, I went on a path to research everything about weight loss, and understand how I can reduce my weight without damaging my appetite or losing my muscles. In this post, I'll try to share my tidbits with you. TL;DR I weigh 290 pounds. How do I lose weight? Yes, 290 pounds is a lot of weight, but remember people with more body fat, lose fat faster. So, the first thing is to stop worrying and start making a diet plan. There are several diet plans, including paleo, keto, calorie-based, etc. Chose one of them, and start following the procedures. Each of them has worked for people. You just need to apply them steadily. Create habits that sustain you through your weight loss efforts, and you will surely lose a lot of weight within months. That was the short version, but there is a lot more to know. Therefore, if you want to understand the complete process and all the titbits about your upcoming diet plan, keep reading. I have tried to incorporate everything I know within this article, so you don't have to go anywhere else. Understanding the basics of calories Whatever we eat has some sort of energy that our body can use. So we need to understand what we are eating and how much it accounts for. The first thing you need to understand is the concept of calories. Calories are the basic building blocks of the energy calculation for our bodies. Technically, it is the amount of energy required to increase the temprature of 1kg of water by 1 degree. For a layman, calories are the parameters of your energy consumption.[1] Think of them like the gasoline in your car. But unlike the car, our body stores the excess gas for long. And, that's a worrisome situation. An average person requires around 2000-2500 calories per day to stay fit.[2] Taking over this amount will increase your weight[4], and taking less will reduce it. Several other factors contribute to you not losing weight like hormones, genetic disposition, etc.[3] But, if you don't eat more continuously, you won't get fat and if you eat less nobody can stop you from becoming nice and thin. All diets available, somehow, focus on reducing calories. Their ways of achieving the same are slightly different.[5] Let's talk about these diets. Making a suitable diet plan There are two major types of diets: 1) calorie based 2) low carb diets like the Atkins/keto/paleo diets. You can choose any one of them depending on your needs and suitably.[6] However, make sure that the macros (proteins/fats/carbs), required to keep the body healthy and disease-free, are present in ample amounts.[7] Choosing your diet: Keto vs Intermittent fasting for weight loss (Low calorie vs. Low carb diets) Diets are not only a way to lose weight, but they are our system to remain healthy. Therefore, you need to choose a diet that you can be comfortable with for a long time. In this segment, we are going to analyze the differences between the two major diet plans- low carb diets and calorie based diets. Let's first discuss the obvious: low carb diets. Low carb diets prefer to follow a formula where you reduce your daily carb intake to around 20 to 50 g per day, excluding dietary fibers.[8,9,10] The idea is that once you cut carbs, it would be difficult for you to eat a lot of food and therefore you will lose weight. The diets within, like the keto diet, also make use of the phenomenon called ketosis whereby ketones are produced in the carb starving body. These ketones provide energy by converting your stored fat and keep you alive in dire circumstances.[11] On the other hand, there are calorie based diets. These diets base their formulation on the reduction of calories in any way possible. There are many variations of these diets, like the popular intermittent fasting and the OMAD diet. In the intermittent dieting, you eat for a certain amount of time, say 8 hours, and remain on fast for the next 16 hours.[12] The omad diet that is one meal a day is quite evident by its name, and no further explanations are necessary.[13] So which diet plan do you recommend? We would recommend you to go with the calorie based plans as these diets plans can be continued for a long time even after you have lost your required weight.[14] You don't have to leave anything, and you can eat almost everything you like but in moderate quantities. Also, many new studies are quite concerning regarding the low carb diets.[15,16] So we recommend you to avoid them. How much weight can you lose on calorie based diets? As you are 290 lbs, and taking your height to be 5' 10'', you need to lose close to half of your weight to become completely thin.[17] Technically the number is 115 lbs. Here is what you need to do. 1. Calculate your daily calorie requirement(Use the Tdee calculator). According to our calculation, you need 2738 calories per day to remain at 290 lbs. 2. Reduce at least 500 calories per day by adjusting your diet. 3. Add exercise to increase your weight loss and decrease your consumed calories. Here is how much you will lose if you reduce 500 calories from your diet and do simple exercises like walking for 1 hrs per day.[18] Days Weight loss 1 day 0.3 lbs 7 days 2.1 lbs 30 days 9 lbs 3 months 27 lbs 6 months 54 lbs 12 months 108 lbs If you don't want to walk or want to reduce weight even faster, we have included some tips to reduce your daily calorie intake via food. Adding a lot of fillers to your diet In case you have chosen the path to low-calorie diets, adding fillers like fruits, veggies, and water/ice can massively reduce your cravings while providing you with an ample amount of food to make you feel full for long.[19] You can use fillers in all your foods and make low-calorie foods that taste good and last long in your belly. Take, for example, a protein shake. Rather than drinking it with milk or water, you can including fruits like mangoes or veggies like carrots. You can also use buttermilk as it digests slowly compared to other milk products. To top that up, you can add a lot of ice, and you will get 5 glasses of protein shake instead of just 1. Lastly, sometimes, you can also add carbonated water to add a zing to it. Here is a list of fillers that you can use daily in your juices and everything else Fillers Calories per 100 grams Carrots 28 calories per 100 grams Mangoes 66 calories per 100 grams Water 0 calories Ice 0 calories Kale 18 calories per 100 grams Honeydew/Musk melon 36 calories per 100 grams Carbonated water 0 calories Including exercise For a chubby fellow, exercising is not an easy job[18]. But, if you could include small exercises like walking for just 10 or 20 minutes a day, you can definitely increase the amount of fat your burn each day.[20] Always start small; If you are unable to walk even 10 minutes, start with 2 minutes and then increase when you can.[21] Here is a list of exercises that are quite easy to do for a fat person and do not require any stressful effort or going to the gym. You can do these exercises at your home without any problems. Exercise Calories burned Walking (at a normal pace) 300 calories burned per hour Climbing stairs 150 calories per hour Bicycling 180 calories per hour Do daily chores Doing daily chores like taking out the trash or brushing your teeth will also help you in reducing your daily calorie consumption.[22] Here is a list of some daily chores that can work well for you. Mopping 330 calories/hour Making your bed - 132 calories/hour combing your hairs/Grooming while standing- 132 calories/hour Mowing the lawn- 594 calories/hour Bathing- 66 calories per hour You can find a lot more daily chores for weight loss here. Making a habit of doing it continuously Image provided by jamesclear.com The biggest problem with weight loss is not that people can't do it; they just can't do it continuously. [23]And, here comes the most important thing to lean- Habits. If you stop doing exercising, if you stop eating healthy food, you are again going to gain weight.[24] So understanding habits and creating them is quite essential. We are recommending that you should read books like atomic habits by James clear to make yourself aware of the power of habits and gain a momentum that lasts for long. You can listen to an audio version here. Conclusion 290 lbs a lot of weight, but it can be lost with continuous effort and persistent action. Add a little exercise to your diet plan, like walking for 20 minutes each day, and you can surely start looking normal in 6 to 8 months. I understand that it is hand. But, you have to continue and change your life forever. You should also look into creating habits so that you can sustain this system for long. Best of luck!! Oh! And BTW! An appeal to anyone who has read this article: Please share this article with any of your obese friends, and colleagues. You can share via Facebook, Instagram, or any other platforms you use. Your 5 seconds can change lives and can contribute to reducing the menace of obesity in our society. Thank you so much.