This is Part 1 in a series of weight loss articles I want to write, so it will
serve as a sort of "history". See, I see a lot of these weight-loss articles and
my gut reaction is "What the hell makes you an expert?"
I'm 5'10", 25 years old. About 3 or 4 years ago, I weighed 210 pounds. That's
fat. It hit me hard at one point, so I decided to make some changes in my life.
Over the course of 4 months, I ended up dropping down to 160-165.
Recently, however, I got back up to around 185. So, of course, I kicked my ass
into gear yet again.
Ok, enough history, on with the content.
Metabolic Rates
Clean Eating is a technique I learned from the Men's Health
Forums, and it is the basis of every successful
diet out there. So, for this reason, I'm going to explain the technique in full,
and all the logic behind it as concisely as I can.
Determine your BMR. This is
the rate at which you burn calories doing absolutely nothing at all. The formula
is rough, but works as a really good estimate.
66 + (6.3*weight) + (12.9*height) - (6.8*age)
weight units: lbs
height units: inches
age units: years
If I calculate mine right now, I end up with 1902.
Now keep in mind that this is not the number of calories you use every day.
Typically, you're not doing absolutely nothing unless hospitalized, so we need
to multiply our base rate.
Sedentary = 1.2 [Couch potato, desk job, etc]
Light Activity = 1.375 [Walking, biking, jogging 1-3 times per week]
Moderate Activity = 1.55 [Biking, running, weightlifting 3-5 times per week]
Heavy Activity = 1.725 [Running, working out, weightlifting daily]
Superhero Activity = 1.9 [Marathon running, manual labor/heavy lifting]
I'm sure you fit in one of these categories. It doesn't matter which one, that's
not important here. What's important is the number associated. Take this number,
and multiply your BMR by it.
For me, with a 1902 BMR and moderate activity, I end up with 2948.
This number is important. Write it down. This is the number of calories that you
can intake right now, without changing a thing, and maintain your weight. But
that's not what we want just yet, is it?
Caloric Deficit
Time for more math! Yay. This one is easy though. One pound of fat is 3500
calories. For every 3500 calories you go BELOW the number above, your body needs
to burn off one pound of fat to compensate. 7 days in the week, 3500 calories,
that means that if you drop 500 calories a day from the intake you just
calculated, you can lose one pound a week without doing anything else. Neat!
Now, it's important to note that you DO NOT want to drop more than 1000
calories a day, and even 1000 calories is pushing it. You may be tempted to do
this to lose weight faster, but it doesn't work that way. Here's the rule I try
to live by:
Never drop below your BMR with calorie deficit alone
You can always up your activity level. I'm going to assume that the people
reading this far aren't doing super hero workouts and lifting piles of bricks
during their day job.
Here's the thing. If you cut calories too much, your body goes into "oh shit,
I'm starving" mode and slows down your metabolism (i.e. drops your BMR) so you
end up cutting way less than you expect.
Macronutrients
Macro-nutrients are things we all know (but I'm going to add one more): protein,
carbohydrates, fat. These are the things which actually give your body energy,
but they do it at different rates. Let's look at this in calories:
Protein: 4 calories per gram
Carbohydrates: 4 calories per gram
Fat: 9 calories per gram
Alcohol: 7 calories per gram OMG!
For those of us that know our daily caloric intake that we're shooting for, you
generally want to partition you calories at about 1/3rd (33%) to each
macronutrient. My adjusted BMR was calculated at 2948. A 500 calorie deficit
drops me to 2448. That means I need 808 calories from each macronutrient.
202 grams of protein, 202 grams of carbohydrates, and 90 grams of fat.
This doesn't mean you can eat anything. This wouldn't be "clean eating" were
that true. A comment I received via email contained the following insightful
point, which will be the jist of the rest of this:
Which would be better: eating 2000 calories from snickers or eating 2000
calories from vegetables, healthy fats, lean meats and fruits?
usedtire, from the Arch Forums
Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are what your body uses for fuel. They directly effect your
metabolism and your energy level.
-
Use the Glycemic Index as a reference. Low GI
carbohydrates are absorbed slower by your body and have less of an impact on
blood sugar.
-
Stay away from high GI carbs. Anything "white" (bread, rice, etc) is best only
in moderation
-
Go for whole grains as much as you can.
-
Try not to add real sugar to things like cereal, coffee, etc
-
Switch to lowfat (1%) or skim milk
-
Try to avoid potatoes at all costs (they're one of the worst)
-
Eat fresh fruit instead of dried (grapes, apricots, etc)
Protein
Protein helps protect your muscle mass (so you lose fat, not muscle) and helps
your body process carbohydrates better.
-
Eat the leanest meat you can (grocery meats are labeled, try for 90-95% lean)
-
Choose fish or chicken over beef or pork (less fat, more protein, typically)
-
Eat more egg whites than yolks (I do a 2 whites to 1 yolk ratio when I make
eggs)
-
Avoid super fatty meats like bacon, non-lean pork, and ribs
-
Cottage cheese is an amazing source of protein, and a great snack.
-
Avoid sugar laden or fatty dairy, such as whole milk, ice cream and (oh
noes) cheese
Vegetarians typically have issues with protein intake. Look above, most of that
is meat and dairy. [NOTE: If you have tips for vegetarians, I'd love to know
them. Email me]
-
Soy protein is good for you, but absorbed differently than whey (animal) protein.
Try, if possible, to at least buy some whey-based protein shakes.
-
If at all possible, try intaking more dairy, and cheeses. Fatty cheese might
be bad, but this is the best source of protein you can get without eating
meat.
-
Beans and nuts can give you small amounts of protein, so eat them in large
quantities if you can.
Fats
Ah there never was a macronutrient more looked down upon. Fat is good for you.
It can help protect your heart, internal organs, and even help brain
functioning. Just know what NOT to consume.
-
Load up on "Essential Fatty Acids" - omega-3 and omega-6. Use pills if
possible.
-
Fish and fish-oil generally have large quantities of omega-3.
-
Almonds and walnuts are good sources of omega-6 and mediocre sources of
omega-3 fats.
-
Steer clear of "trans fats" - margarine, Crisco, etc - fake fats.
-
Lowfat dairy and lean meats (mentioned earlier) are usually better for you.
-
Try to stay away from vegetable and corn oil - substitute for Canola oil if
cooking
Water
One of the simplest things you can think of. Water.
This is the most important "nutrient" you will ever come across. There is NO a
substitute for water - Gatorade, Vitamin Water, coffee, beer. No.
If there is nothing else you take away from this entry, please take this one:
Drink as much water as you can.
Carry a bottle with you and refill it constantly. While it's not perfect, I tend
to judge my water intake based on the color of my urine (ewww!) near the end of the day
- urine gets darker if you are dehydrated or eating poorly.
As a quick aside here - do not buy bottled water. It is something in the order
of 1000 times more expensive than tap water. Buy an empty bottle, or even one
bottle, and reuse it as much as you can.
Summary
In conclusion, here are the salient points, and a few tips, from above.
-
Watch your macronutrient levels
-
Stick to low GI carbs as much as possible
-
Protein is good, but stay away from fatty meats
-
Fat is your friend
-
Carry a water bottle and drink as much as you can
-
Stay away from packaged meals - fresh is better than pre-made
-
Sugary snacks usually have high GI levels - for best results cut out all
cookies, candy, and soda if you can.
Next time, in Part 2, I will cover exercise! Yay!