How to Lose Weight Slowly
Yes this post is appropriately titled. Everything about weight loss is SLOW. The “it’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon” cliché most definitely applies here. If you’re doing everything right you usually can’t expect to lose more than 2-3 pounds a week. These are my personal weight loss techniques. I’m somewhat of a yo-yo dieter myself and have been my whole life, but this year I’ve been more resolute to stick to a format that works for me to get my weight down and bring my health up.
This is not a plan that will have you ripped by tomorrow but if you follow the principles behind it, you will slowly start to see results. If you stick with it long enough (a year or more) and consistently do everything here you will see some EXCELLENT results.
I have recently lost 17 pounds (and counting!) in the last 2 months or so, which averages out to just over 2 pounds a week lost. This was mostly from diet, but I have started to turn up the exercise more as I have gotten lighter and my bad knees and back have started to cooperate more. If I had exercised more I would have seen more results. Here are my principles for steady and consistent weight loss:
1. Stop drinking beverages with calories in them and start drinking water. Ice cold water is even better because your body has to burn extra calories when you drink it just to maintain your core temperature. It should be obvious but one of the biggest contributors to obesity is liquid calories. If you like soda force yourself to switch to diet. I’m a fan of Coke, but Diet Coke is disgusting. Coke Zero is a much more satisfying alternative. Another way to replace the flavor of calorie-packed drinks if you can’t stand water is Crystal Light. I drink Crystal Light like it’s going out of style. Most of the flavors are calorie free but they have some now that have usually no more than 10 calories per packet. My favorite flavor is Wild Strawberry, not just for the taste but also because caffeine and B vitamins are added to give a burst of energy which makes it a good alternative to coffee or soda. If you must have your coffee, try to use Splenda or some other low calorie sweetener. This one tip alone can help you lose anywhere from 10-25 pounds in a year.
2. An addendum to the first item is to watch your alcohol intake. Alcohol severely inhibits the body’s ability to burn fat. I do drink from time to time even though I’m watching my diet so I’m no exception here. The way I’m still able to drink and continue losing weight is simple. I only drink on weekends. If I’m drinking beer, I drink light beer. If I’m drinking a well drink like Jack and Coke, I simply say “Jack and Diet”. To top it off, to stave off those munchies you get when you’ve had a bit too much to drink(we’ve all been there 
), I make sure to eat something healthy instead of something fried and try to make sure not to eat too much of it. Don’t be the “guy on a diet” who’s in Denny’s at 3 a.m. wolfing down the whole plate of fried chicken tenders. Too many nights like this can KILL your progress. Moderation is key.
3. Eat every 2-3 hours while you’re awake, which totals up to about 5-7 meals per day. The key here is that they are not all “meals” in the sense of a full meal, but rather a small serving of food. This fires up your metabolism and starts your body’s fat-burning furnace.
4. Focus on including more good protein into your diet. Most bodybuilders recommend getting a gram of protein or more per pound of bodyweight per day. If you do the math on that, it can add up to a lot very quickly and it’s very difficult to do. You probably don’t need that much protein, but do focus on adding more to your diet. Good sources are grilled chicken breasts, tuna, lean beef, egg whites, and turkey just to name a few. I like to focus on getting almost as much protein in my meals as carbs and I feel like I’ve done pretty well for my diet. Protein is essential for the maintenance and/or growth of muscle. Protein shakes such as Muscle Milk are highly recommended here as a substitute for a meal 1-2 times per day. Very important.
5. Focus on getting better quality carbohydrates. I’m not going to be one of those Atkins nuts who tells you to completely cut all the carbs out of your diet. I’ve tried that and trust me, it’s not fun. What I will say is try to cut most of the bad carbs out. This means if you’re going to eat a lot of carbs try to make them of a higher quality and eat them earlier in the day. Have a small bowl of oatmeal with breakfast in the morning. If you have to eat bread, do your best to make sure it’s 100% WHOLE WHEAT or some other type of whole grain. White bread is nothing but sugar, and even some of the wheat bread is suspect.
6. Limit your fat but get good fats. I usually just throw a little peanut butter (in my oatmeal or on a piece of bread) in the mix for good fats but if you want to go hardcore, you can take flaxseed oil or fish oil every day. I prefer the former.
7. You can still have dessert. Just make it a tasty light dessert. Weight Watchers have EXCELLENT desserts. You can also make Jello gelatin or low calorie pudding. 100 calorie snacks are another good one. I would recommend one dessert per day after dinner to start. Chew gum if you get cravings during the day.
8. Exercise at least 3 days a week. This is just a beginning principle, but one that you should stick to no matter what as a MINIMUM. Once you start to get in better shape, you definitely want to increase the frequency and intensity of your workouts during the week.
9. Cardio. There are 2 ideal times to do cardio: In the morning on an empty stomach or right after lifting weights. You don’t have to do a lot of cardio; 30 minutes in the morning or 15 right after you lift should be fine. The key is that at these times your body is already burning fat. Otherwise you’re looking at tacking 20 minutes of extra cardio onto the beginning just to get to the point where you benefit from it. I’d recommend saving the time and doing cardio more efficiently.
10. Lift weights. It doesn’t matter how you do it, just do it. You could do calisthenics or just do makeshift exercises by lifting heavy household objects. Resistance training is absolutely vital to building and maintaining muscle and dropping fat. Do not be afraid to lift heavy and this goes double for women who still believe in the myth that they will “bulk up” by lifting heavy weights (you don’t have enough testosterone to get big, but you will get firm and lean).
11. There are 2 ways to go about the weight lifting schedule for maximum benefit. You can train a different muscle group or 2 every day or you can do more compound exercises that train the whole body 2-3 times per week. I say try them both for 8 weeks each and decide which fits you better. You can still get a good workout, build muscle, and see results with either.
12. Rest. You need plenty of rest after working out. This is the time that your muscle grows after you tear it in the gym.
13. Try to incorporate more physical activities into your everyday life and your down time. Play basketball. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Go for a hike on the weekend. It all adds up.
The best way to incorporate this into your lifestyle is one tip at a time. If you take the first tip and just progressively add one to your life every couple of days or each week you will see your routine come together. Even if you only applied a few of these to your life you would see results over time.
Another thing to remember with these techniques is consistency. You have to stick with it. Read up, research, and arm yourself with information as well. My favorite website and one I highly recommend for weight loss information is www.bodybuilding.com . They just have so much good information as well as a Transformations section which shows people who reached their weight loss goals and how they did it. Use the success of others like this to motivate yourself. Read often about weight loss because it will keep you focused and you will start to accumulate a much greater understanding of how your body works.
As you start to see results, try to do a little more here and there and small-chunk it as I always say. Don’t be discouraged if you hit a plateau or backtrack a little bit because it can happen to anybody and almost everybody experiences it. Whenever you are lifting or working out use your best judgment, be safe, and don’t be afraid to pull the plug on a workout early if something just doesn’t feel right. Just get enough rest and give it your all the next time out.
Best of luck as you embark on your journey to the weight you CHOOSE to be at. Refer back to this post often or print it out if you need to remember some of the principles I outlined. Don’t think that if you get to a certain weight that it’s okay to revert back to your old habits. Keep in mind that this is not something you are doing but something you are becoming. You are building a lifestyle and it takes time, but it will be well worth the wait and the effort when you reach your goals.
Clark
