70% of Weight Loss -- What You Eat

When I tell people that 70% of weight loss comes from what you eat, I frequently hear....'Yeah, I know.'  Well, if everyone knows that, then why are so many people still overweight? Is it because people are too addicted to the foods that taste good and aren't ready to change, or do they think that if they just exercise more, they can still eat what they want?


If you're like me, that's what I thought.  Everyone has to be ready to change, and for a long time, I wasn't.  I yo-yo'd up and down the scales to 235 pounds trying different diets and working out sporadically.  I thought exercise was the key to losing weight, and would start working out and lose 20-30 pounds.   I would always plateau, and then gain it back or more.  I consistently worked long hours, put myself last, and ate out frequently. 

When I first tracked the foods I was eating for 30 days, it hit me 'No wonder I can't lose weight.'  I was eating fast food, and just one meal was almost the amount of fat I should have been eating for the entire day.  I decided to make a lifestyle change and put myself first.  I quit one of my jobs, put myself higher on my list of priorities, stopped counting calories, monitored the amount of fat, protein, and carbohydrates I was eating daily, started cooking at home once or twice a week to make several 'batches' of food, separated them into plastic tupperware 'ready to go' meals, and ate 4-6 small meals a day. 

I discovered some guidelines that helped me put things in perspective.  Men and women should eat approximately:

• Men          88g Fat and 300-400g Carbohydrates and 38g Fiber Daily
• Women     65g Fat and 200-300g Carbohydrates and 25g Fiber Daily

OR

• Carbohydrates       45-65% of Daily Intake
• Protein                  10-15% of Daily Intake
• Fat                        20-35% of Daily Intake (< 10% from Saturated Fats)

Within 30 days of eating like this, I started getting hungry every 3-4 hours.  My metabolism was ramping up keeping me out of 'starvation' mode, and processing the food rather than holding onto it because it didn't know when the next meal was coming.  My cravings for sweets subsided within 1-2 weeks, and the weight started dropping off.

Over a year and a half period, I lost 110 pounds, and have not gained it back.  That was four years ago, and now I help other people lose weight and get healthier with the tools I used.  Some web sites you might want to consider using are:

LiveStrong MyPlate Food Tracker

Diet Facts - Nutrition Information Restaurant Chains

I also use the Livestrong Blackberry and iTouch apps to easily track my foods throughout the day and look up nutritional information.  All I can say is try it for 30 days, and find your hot spots if you're having trouble losing weight.  Make small changes each week to your diet to wean yourself off the 'bad' foods, allow yourself to splurge occasionally, and barring any medical conditions causing weight loss difficulties, you should start seeing a change.  As always, check with your doctor prior to any diet or exercise modifications.  Stay strong and don't give up!

Namaste!