I know that many of us have tried almost anything to lose that undesired weight. In fact, sometimes we've tried so much that we've given up. If this is you, this is the article you need to read. I'm an 18 year old high school senior, and I'm overweight.
At 5'9, 260 lbs, and a 48 inch waist, it's time to do something. I'm not much into diets, or lose weight-fast gyms and programs, and I'm not interested in spending a fortune to get fit.
Instead, I'm relying on some common sense and the fact that I'm fed up with being fat. for all of you that feel the same, let's begin to look at how we can take control.
This article includes:
- Important Info
- What to avoid
- Nutritional needs
- Exercise
Remember, 3,000 calories = 1 lb, so if we can focus on burning more calories than we take in, weight loss is guaranteed.
Important Info:
- Take a multi-vitamin. You'll lose some of the nutrition from eating a smaller variety of foods. Taking a vitamin ensures you remain healthy.
- Drink water: Most 12oz sodas have 130 cal / can. All these empty calories add up. Same goes for coffee and alcohol. Water might be bland, but add some lemon and you can get by. Plus, the water is needed by your body each day, and drinking only water ensures you get enough.
What not to eat:
- Milk
- Cheese
- Sugars
- Meats
To begin with, let's look at what causes the problem: Food. Either too much or the wrong type has created our problem. The easiest way to lose weight is to watch what we eat and how much of it.
By no means do I suggest we go hungry! I couldn't do that myself. Here's what I'm going to do for the next week, and if I can stick with it that long, I can tough it out for as long as it takes.
Breakfast— Calorie Goal: 500 or less
Toast (white): 6o cal/slice
English Muffin: 135 cal
Oatmeal: 72 cal/ 1/2 cup
Bagel(plain): 170 cal
Applesauce: 90 cal/ 1/2 cup
Yoplait Yogurt: 90 cal/ 6oz container
Skim Milk: 80 cal / 1 cup
Cereal: Varies – stick to whole grain only and the exact serving size
Orange: 70 cal / whole
Raisins: 112 cal / 1/4 cup
Grapes: 58 / 1 cup
Banana: 105 cal / whole
cream cheese 99 cal / 1 oz
Butter: 100 cal / 1 tbsp
Orange Juice: 85 cal / 6 oz
Apple Juice: 87 cal / 6 oz
I suggest having an English muffin with 1/8 cup applesauce on each half, a bowl of oatmeal with sliced banana, and some orange or apple juice. This should fill you up and only has about 400 calories!
Lunch: Calorie Goal: 1000
This should be your biggest meal of the day. You want to focus on getting as much protein and carbohydrates as you can.
Rice: 159 cal / 1/2 cup
Corn: 100 cal / 1/2 cup
Green Beans: 20 / 1/2 cup
Carrots: 30 cal / 1/2 cup
Bullion Cubes
Soy Sauce
Tony Cachere's Seasoning
This is my secret: Something that tastes ok, will fill me up, and doesn't have a lot of calories.
I take one can each of corn, green beans, and carrots, and mix them. When I fiz the rice, I add two bullion cubes of any flavor for every cup of water needed to prepare it (generally 1 cup rice 2 cups water),a bit of soy sauce or seasoning, and 1 tbsp of butter. the butter is the only thing that will add calories, most seasoning and bullions cubes have less than 10 calories. Then I take a half serving of rice, and 1/2 cup of the mixed veggies and enjoy. This gives you a fairly good meal for only 130 calories! If you like, double the portion, it's still only an unbelievable 260 calories! The seasonings help take away the bland nature of the rice, and hot or cold the dish still tastes pretty good.
Dinner: Calorie goal: 500 or less
Same as lunch. The only thing that you want to change is cutting out the carbs (you'll be going to sleep soon, you don't need the energy boost) and packing up on the protein. It's important to remember this, because the other two meals don't provide much of it. Skinless chicken is a good source, and so is anything that doesn't have an obscene amount of calories. A serving of anything rich in protein (you need about 50 grams a day) for under 500 calories is a GREAT deal.
Snacks:
If you follow this meal outline, you should have plenty of calories left over for snacks. I would stick to bagels and fruits. Each provide a filling snack, without packing on the calories.
Following this outline will let you eat for about 1200 calories a day.
Now the key is to burn more calories that you take in. How can you do that? Plenty of exercise.
Here's a list of calories burned during exercise:
Bicycling:
- stationary- general – 295
- stationary – light effort – 325
- moving – 10-11.9 mph – light effort – 350
Running:
- 12 min mile – 472
- 8.5 min mile – 679
- 5.5 min mile – 1062
Aerobics:
- General – 354
- high impact – 413
- Low impact – 295
Walking:
- Moderate (walking dog) – 207
- 3.5 mph uphill – 354
Weight lifting:
- Light effort: 117
When you start burning calories, you have to realize that your body will also burn muscle tissue. To prevent the loss of muscle, and prevent harm to your body, both aerobic and weight training exercise are important. spend a half hour on each a day, and do sit-ups and push-ups too. start with 5 of each a day and increase each day. soon you'll find that you can do more and more. As you begin to lose weight, you should also concentrate on toning your body and not just dropping pounds. You'll look and feel much better.
By: RJ Smit