Need some weight loss help ?  Well I hope I can pass on some pointers from my ongoing weight loss tips series that help get you get where you want to be. This weight loss blog is now 3 years old.  It started  January 1st 2009, and in the beginning, it was my own way of documenting my personal weight loss journey.  Since that time, I have not only lost the weight I wanted to lose, but have remained in my ideal weight range for over 2 years, but it was not always this way….

Prior to becoming a Retired Dieter in 2009 I battled with the same issues  as millions of other people trying to lose weight . I would start a diet, lose some weight, falter, and gain it back.  I would say it took me 16 years of riding this diet  roller coaster before I figured out diets as we know them simply don’t work.  Do a search at Amazon.com for diet books, see how many show up promising the best way to lose weight , then ask yourself , why are there so many diet books, but the population continues to get fatter ?

Benjamin Franklin said that “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” Yet every year, this is what we do with trying to lose weight. We pick yet another diet, stop all the things we like, then a few weeks later, it all comes crashing down. We get frustrated, we feel we have failed, and we gain back what we lost and more, only to then try another  new diet later in the year, maybe to be in shape for the beach, the bikini diet anyone ? Then once that one fails we slip back to our old routines, waiting for the next new year resolution and the search for  ” fast weight loss ” starts again.

We are only 6 days into the  New Year, but as I write this, my blog traffic is at a record high. Last January was the same. Every new year we start with good intentions of losing weight, and in the vast majority of cases, the results don’t last.  So if you really want to lose weight, and you want that weight loss to be permanent, then is it not time to break with usual diet routines that have failed you in the past  ?  Dare I say it, maybe it’s time to become a Retired Dieter too ?  and learn what really matters when it comes to losing weight and keeping it off.

I have said on a number of occasions on this blog that weight loss is simple, its just not easy.  Let me explain what I mean by that.

Weight Loss Is Simple =  If you burn more calories than you take in, you will lose weight. A calorie deficit however you create it will bring about weight loss. It really is that simple.

Weight Loss Is Not Easy =  Means you have to find a way of creating that deficit that works for you long term. On top of that, you have family gatherings, social events,  fast food companies advertising to you all day long on tv and radio, all of which are combining to disrupt your weight loss efforts. There is no point making it even harder then, by choosing a diet plan that then tells you that you need to cut out foods , or food groups you like. We have been there and done that, and we know how it ends.  So let’s change it.

I have come a long way in 3 years. I am no longer obese, and I am finally liberated from dieting and stressing about what I should or should not eat.  I now think more than ever, I can help others do the same.

What interests  me, is looking back over the last 3 years I know what I did worked, and how it worked ( the calorie deficit ) but what I am now trying to get a greater understanding of are the reasons behind why it worked.  More than ever, the last 3 years have shown me that losing weight has more to do with the mental aspect than anything else. Let me elaborate on the mental side of things. Here are things that have changed for me that have more to do with the mentality of weight loss or weight control.

1.  I no longer think that if I don’t eat at least 3 meals a day this will have some detrimental effect on my metabolism

2.  I know that if I was busy and miss lunch, I can wait for dinner and save those calories, I no longer panic thinking ” I missed lunch I better eat something now ”  - Again that is mental and it was how I would think in the past.

3.  When you see positive results ( In my case losing 70lbs ) you have more mental strength to ignore the countless people who tell you that how you are trying to lose weight or control your weight is wrong. In my case, this mental strength is even stronger today, it is far easier to be strong in my belief on weight loss, when most people who start this debate with me, are in worse shape then I am, yet think they know better.  Again when I started out 3 years ago, those early weeks, were tough, it’s why I now advise anyone starting out to keep the fact they are trying to lose weight private. Weight loss opinions from family and friends are one of the main obstacles you have to overcome when it comes to losing weight.

4.  I no longer feel guilty about eating foods I enjoy. I don’t obsess over food anymore. Again, this is a mental change, but let me explain what I mean in more detail.

We can’t get away from the fact, that as humans, we like foods that contain fat sugar and salt. Our favourites most likely contain all 3, though you would probably not know it . I still hear many people say ” I should not be eating this ” or ” this is bad for me but I like it ” . You can read everywhere that  Sugar is bad for you, Salt is bad for you,  Fat is bad for you, but the simple fact is those 3 things in one form or another are in just about everything we eat, and you can’t get away from it. Want a low fat yogurt ? then the fat will have been replaced with sugar to make it taste good. Unless you are going to create every single thing you eat at home in a strict way, the chances of you avoiding the so called bad foods are just about zero.

Food companies spend billions on creating and marketing foods that contain all 3 , so from a mental stand point you have to learn how to manage it, saying you should not eat them isn’t the answer, it’s a fight you can’t win. Only by changing how you think about the foods you eat can you overcome this unhelpful  mental issue of good and bad foods. As John Barban is fond of saying ” The Poison Is In the Dose ” . OK well it was actually Paracelsus who said “All things are poison, and nothing is without poison; only the dose permits something not to be poisonous.”  But John used it in the diet context. My point is, that we can’t get away from eating these foods, but we can limit the dose. In my view, that is a far better mental attitude than trying to kid yourself you can give them up and “eat healthy”.

I am not a scientist, doctor  or a psychologist, I have no deep understanding of biology  but I am aware that how I look at food, and how I eat has changed. I still eat the same food, it is not like I stopped eating anything that I enjoyed in the past, but there is no question there has been a change. My own view  is that  Intermittent Fasting has to be a major reason for this. I don’t just mean from the point it helps me  in restricting  calories,although that is certainly a factor, but perhaps more in the possibility it helps reset chemical changes in the body or the brain. As I stated earlier,I am not qualified in any way to know if this is the case, but what I do know is the one constant tool in the last 3 years for controlling my weight has been Flexible Intermittent Fasting. This, at least to me means the theory is plausible. I think the science community call it a hypothesis ! So the idea that  I.F.  helps reduce the cravings for foods will be something I will be looking into more during the coming year. As I say, I know what I do works, I have now just reached a point where I would like to know in more details why it works.

So at the start of this  new year, are you going to make a change ?  From a personal point of view I am also making a few changes,and setting some new goals, but more about some of those in a post next week.

If you are new here, then feel free to go through the archives, you can see read from 3 years ago if you have the time. The other thing to do if you want weight loss help, is sign up in the top right hand corner for help and advice in losing weight from someone who has walked that road. If you want to learn more about  fasting to lose weight, then check out  my posts on eat stop eat .  Let’s make this the year of change.

If you are still in doubt about what I write here, or think fasting for weight loss is some kind of fad , consider this…  I am not doing this post after 1 week, 1 month or even after 1 year. I am posting this view based on 3 Years actual experience. That is 1 year of losing weight ( well it took 10 months as it turned out ) and 2 Years of maintaining a healthy weight range. You think maybe, just maybe I might be on to something ?  If you think I am wrong, then Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers are waiting to take your money…. AGAIN.

If you liked this post, and feel it help or motivate others, then please re-tweet, and share on facebook etc.

I welcome comments and debate, but if you are just going to post a comment to get a link to a weight loss site for diet pills,colon cleanse  or the usual same old crap, don’t bother, as it won’t get approved, I do check all links. so save your time and mine. If you run a genuine site and post a good comment, it will get approved.

Time for another post in the weight loss tips series.

The basic idea of losing weight is simple, calories in vs calories out, the problem is  it’s just not easy, so with that in mind I want you to listen to Chris Gardner, or rather Will Smith playing Chris Gardner in the film The Pursuit of Happyness.

In this scene Chris Gardner quickly realizes the hypocrisy in telling his young son to not pursue his dream of becoming a basketball pro when he himself is going after his own personal success goal. He quickly corrects himself and gives his Son some advice that applies just was well to you if you want to lose weight.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQlzz6jGCfI

The minute you tell people you are going to lose weight, or you are on a diet , they all have an opinion on how it should be done. Many times we will be told by other people that we can’t do something. It can come from people who know nothing about you, work colleagues, but, it can also come from people who you respect and love.

Family and Friends may mean well, but they can be one of the main reasons for your weight loss goals getting derailed.  People who know nothing about Intermittent Fasting, would decide to tell me what was wrong with it. Losing weight is hard enough without the extra burden of others bringing you down  so my advice is listen to Chris Gardner …

“You Want Something … Go Get It…. Period”

If you are just starting out on your weight loss journey, my tip is to  keep your weight loss plan private

The Anything Goes Diet is a great plan to help you lose weight and keep it off.

Also if you are interested in a Fasting To Lose Weight programme, then  check out Eat Stop Eat

Do you need a  fancy calorie calculator to  lose weight ?

How about we break it down into what we need to know ?… OK great, let’s get to it.

calorie counting

Firstly we can agree that  if  you are looking to lose weight, then you need to get a handle on how many calories you need on a daily basis. Your best guide for this is your BMR or RMR. Otherwise known as your Basal Metabolic Rate, or Resting Metabolic Rate. Enter your details into a BMR Calculator. This will give you the number of calories you need on a daily basis, just to maintain your weight. Your BMR / RMR is also calculated without adding in any additional daily activity. Most calorie calculator tools, overestimate calories burned through exercise, so you are safer to just use the base numbers.

Calorie Calculator To Lose Weight – Understanding The Numbers

When you understand how many calories a day you body needs, weight loss becomes easier to workout, however  I have found talking to friends who have started a weight loss programme, that they don’t have any clue about their daily calorie needs.

In my case, as a 5 foot 10 man who weighs 165 lbs my BMR is around 1700 calories a day. Just be clear here, this means if I do nothing but get up, and sit at my laptop,  I won’t need more than 1700 calories a day.

Now if I want to lose weight, I need to be BELOW that 1700 calorie per day figure. If I am looking to lose 1lb of fat over a week, then I need to cut 500 calories from that figure.

Yes sorry to break the bad news, but that means I am looking at a daily calorie amount of 1200 calories in order to lose 1lb of fat per week.

Calorie Calculator To Lose Weight – Mistakes To Watch Out For

Many people make the mistake of thinking that cutting 500 calories a day burns 1lb of fat. This is not correct, it has to be 500 calories under your current daily calorie needs in order to burn fat. Now like anything, these figures are estimated.  Your own results may vary, but the easiest way to know if you are still eating too many calories will be the result. If you not losing weight, then you are still eating too much.

The easiest calorie calculator to lose weight is your own results. A calorie calculator like the BMR calculator will however give you a base level you can use as a guide.

The calorie calculator is the easy part. How we go about keeping the calories below the level is more of a challenge.

In my case I always look at calories over a week, not by the day. This means I would have 8,400 calories a week  as my total, if I was cutting by from my BMR. If I do also do additional exercise such as any Calories Burned Waking then I simply look at these calories as a bonues, I would not compensate with extra food just because I had burned extra calories through exercise.

Calorie Calculator To Lose Weight – Take Home Message

So my take home advice here is, the best calorie calculator to lose weight is  knowing your BMR / RMR.  Focus on staying below that level on a consistent basis and you will find you lose weight. Does this mean you need to count calories every day ? well I would say no, but you do need a good understanding of how many you need. After 20 months as a Retired Dieter, I don’t , and indeed never have measured food. Check your BMR/RMR it is the only Calorie Calculator To Lose Weight you need.

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Calorie Calculator To Lose Weight  Copyright Dave Ward 2010

They say a little of what we fancy is good for us, and I think it applies very well to weight loss.  I think  a significant reason for my own weight loss success was down to the fact that no foods were off limits. Before I became a retired dieter last year I would always be on some diet that would have something that was not allowed. No white bread, no white rice, no butter,  no pasta, or worse no alcohol !.

At the start of last year, and with  a large amount of weight to lose, I knew that I would not be able to refuse the foods I liked over a long period of time. The key to healthy weight loss is variety, and enjoying your favourite foods without guilt while just eating less. Short periods of calorie restriction is much more manageable for long term weight loss than trying to cut calories every single day.  So my weight loss tip is to restrict the amount of your favourite foods, but certainly don’t refuse them. If you eat more than you should, then compensate for it later. View your calories over a week, not by a day, it is normal that some days will be less than others, just make sure that over the longer period your calories are less than you need. No matter what many will try and tell you, it is about calories in and calories out. Eat less calories than you need and you will lose weight, eat too much, and you will gain weight. In my case enjoying the foods I love and then using intermittent fasting to restrict calories and burn body fat  has enabled me to finally get the results I have wanted. Weight loss is about the bigger picture, not trying to lose 30lbs in one month while refusing anything you like. When I accepted dieting was not the answer, and just focused on eating less, I finally started losing weight, no special plans, magic weight loss pills or diet secrets required.

Brad Pilon’s Eat Stop Eat and John Barban’s Anything Goes Diet are  ways you can look to cut calories and lose weight  without giving up what you love.

Go Back to the Weight Loss Tips home page

Well my weight loss before and after pictures resulted in quite a few emails, so I will try and answer the best questions by creating a  weight loss tips series, but  for today here is my weight loss video experiment.  I am still getting used to this video blogging lark , and it still feels a bit strange to be talking into a camera, but I am getting there, and intend to stick with it.

As I mention in the video, It is very hard to give one main weight loss tip, but I do think it is about getting a better relationship with food. Don’t think of foods in terms of good or bad. They say variety is the spice of life, so keep your food choices varied, and enjoy the foods you eat.

So if you are just starting out on your plan to lose weight, what would be the best advice I could give ?  this post on tips to lose weight would be where to start.

Want To Know More About Why I Became A Retired Dieter ? Want To Lose Weight Without Dieting ? Then Enter Your Email Below And Get My Story

Weight Loss Explained !

Many a true word spoken in jest.  I guess this is what I have been doing since January 2009. Intermittent Fasting = eat less. body weight exercises  and walking = move more.  The weight loss industry love to make things complicated, and get you dependent on their diet plans, but it really is a case of just finding a way to eat less. In my case I used intermittent fasting with eat stop eat. But it’s all about finding what works for you.

My advice is Leave the pills and the diet industry BS alone. Eat Less and Move More.

Go here for more of  my weight loss tips

Want more information on using Intermittent Fasting for losing body fat ?

Then enter your name and email address in the form below for my free report

Is It A Weight Loss Plateau ?

Is It A Plateau ?

As I mentioned last week, I have now hit my first  weight loss plateau. It has taken 6 months, but now, with only around 11lbs left to lose, my body seems to be saying no more !.

A weight loss plateau is not unusual when you decide to lose weight. The fact it has taken almost 6 months before I have hit one shows how affective intermittent fasting for weight loss has been for me.

Weight Loss Plateau –  What To Do Next

In order to move past this block, I need to make some changes, but I also need to be sure that the weight loss plateau is not just caused by simply eating more calories than I need. Many times a weight loss plateau is no more than you eating too many calories for losing weight.

To be sure my weight loss plateau is not because of a problem in my diet, I first have to monitor my calories to ensure I am still in a calorie defecit for losing weight.

As I have lost 46lbs ( 21 kilos) I no longer need the same amount of calories I did 6 months ago.  At the start of the year when I weighed 231lbs ( 105 kilos)  my maintainence calories would be around 3,200 calories per day. Today at 185 lbs ( 84 kilos) and my current activity leval that  number is now around 2600, so 600 calories a day less.

My target now is only to lose 1lb a week, and when you realise that just to maintain the weight I am now I would need to be eating 600 calories a day less than 6 months ago, it is a unrealistic to expect to lose much more. This a good example of why my weight loss goes from 2lb per week, down to 1lb. The number of calories we need does not remain static, it moves along with our weight.

If you are looking to lose weight yourself, please remember that 1lb ( approx 0.5 kilos) per week is a healthy and realistic target. When I started using intermittent fasting, I had a large amount of weight to lose, and the first few weeks the weight came off quickly but I always knew it would change, that is why I set 52 weeks to lose 56lbs, it is realistic.

I now know a  20% reduction in calories from that total  ( 2600 calories) would give me a 1lb per week weight loss.  It also means that my current calorie intake to achieve this should be around 1850 per day ( 185 llb x 10 cals per lb ).

So with this figure as my benchmark, the next thing I had to do was to look at the actual calories I am eating. To do this I simply keep a food diary, and write down everything I eat and drink . I have done this for the last 14 days  This has shown I am not going over the 1850 per day average. On weekends my intake is higher, but weekdays when using Intermittent Fasting and a condensed eating window my calorie intake is lower with an avg of 1500. So now that I know it is not too many calories that are causing the weight loss plateau, I can now look into how I am going to beat it.

In case you are wondering what these figures I am quoting are based on, I take them from Lyle Mcdonald at  bodyrecompasition.com Lyle is an expert in his field, and one of only a few people who’s advice  I respect in terms of losing body fat. Lyle has also written a number of books on the subject which you can find on his. website here

So How to Break A Weight Loss Plateau ?

Well once you have established that the plateau is not because you are eating too many calories, you have to look at what else can be a problem.  Since the end of February of this year I have  used a condensed eating window during the week, and then eaten normally on a weekend. This fits my lifestyle and has been very successful for me, but I think my body has  now got used to the routine. It is time to shake things up.

Since Friday I have taken a break from fasting, but have still monitored my calories to ensure I am at maintenance. My next fast will be from Sunday evening 12th of July to Monday 13th July. [ Update ] I did not do this fast due to a party

From an exercise point of view, I have altered my body weight exercise routine and made it harder. If I am honest, I have not changed it enough in recent weeks. One of the drawbacks of bodyweight exercises is , they get easier to do as you lose fat !.  Take a regular push up for example, I am now pushing up 46 lbs less than I was 6 months ago, but I am fitter and stronger than when I started. When you use weights, it is a progression, you increase the weights you use as you get stronger , but when using your own body weight , it is the opposite.

The way to ensure this is not a problem is to make the exercise more difficult, for example a one arm push up, or doing the push up on a decline etc.

I also have purchased some suspension straps. I can use them in the local park, and it is far cheaper and easier than a gym membership. At this time of year I enjoy doing my workout outdoors.

I use this book for my body weight exercises. I only do about 20 minutes 3 times per week to maintain muscle .

So this is my plan to break my weight loss plateau. This is the first time in 6 months I have looked at the amount of calories I am eating. The reason for doing so, was to be certain I was not eating more calories than I thought, even when using Intermittent Fasting it is possible to gain weight. As a retired dieter I don’t intend to spend the rest of my days counting calories. This exercise was neccasery to confirm my regular meals are not the cause of the wieght loss plateau.  If you have been using intermittent fasting and are not losing weight, or even gaining weight, then you are consuming more calories than you need on your eating days, and you need to look at ways to reduce this.

For me intermittent fasting is the perfect way to control my calorie intake, but with still wanting to lose 11 more lbs I need to alter my current routine a little to get the results I want. What I won’t be doing is restricting any foods I like. I am still, and always will be a retired dieter !.

I expect to remain the same weight for another 2 weeks and then see the final few lbs start to melt away… at least that is the plan, only time will tell, either way I will post the results.

Update Jan 2010

I did reach my weight loss target in Oct 2009 It took me 41 weeks to lose the 56lbs of fat. You can see my weight loss transformation pictures here

The weight loss plateau lasted for a little over 2 months. It was the toughest part of my weight loss journey, but my advice now looking back is to stick with what has worked, and be patient.

You also need to get an understanding of your current RMR ( Resting Metabolic Rate ) You can use my BMR/RMR Calculator here

Often what you think is a weight loss plateau is nothing more than your lifestyle catching up with the new you. Understand the changes you have made, and chances are this will be the last you see of  your weight loss plateau

Update Feb 2011

Another year on and I have maintained my weight loss. I now find I go between 163 and 166lbs . Since writing this post, the things I believe are important in acheiving weight loss are now covered in the anything goes diet.

Want To Know More About Why I Am A Retired Dieter ? Want To Lose Weight And Burn Body Fat Without Dieting ? Then Enter Your Email Below And Get My Story