Week 1 results: How you can get started

I am excited! Week 1 weigh in! And the results are in: (Drum roll please!)

Week 1 weight slips

Not bad at all! I am very pleased with this week’s progress. 2.4lbs overall loss, 1.5% decrease in fat or 5 lbs of fat, my BMI is down 0.4 and the degree of my obesity is down 1.5%.

I did not have to starve myself, sacrifice foods I love or anything else some fad diets have you do. The method to the madness is quit simple.

1. Find your BMR (base metabolic rate)

This is how many calories you specifically will burn to maintain your body at rest for 1 day.                For example my BMR is now 2238kcal.

2. Set a realistic and healthy daily goal. My max daily goal is 1600. 

3. Get an app or some way to track your calorie intake. I personally use MyFitnessPal for Iphone.

4. Be honest! Track everything that goes into your mouth.

5. Do this for a few weeks to get used to the change in diet and to adjust to how often you eat. When you start eating 200-400 calories for breakfast instead of 1500, you get hungrier quicker. That is OK! You will get used to eating 4-6 times per day, but much smaller portions.

6. After acclimating to the new way you eat it is time to start adding in exercise! Why so excited? Oh you will be after 4 weeks of eating healthier and you see the weight difference. Then you think, but I did not do anything other than change how I ate. Hmmm. If I actually got active and started burning calories, I can accomplish even more! You should be excited and motivated here!

It is important to note here:

What kind of exercise you choose to do will greatly depend on where your body is at when you start this journey. Me personally, as a former US Army soldier, I carried my weight quite well, but 280lbs is still 280lbs. Add to that a lower leg injury and weak joints, I had no exercise or cardio in 13 years. For me just getting off my butt and walking around my neighborhood was a huge step forward. I then eased into more progressive cardio and am still moving forward. If you have questions about were your should start please consult your Dr or a personal trainer.

Do not try and run before you walk here. It is better to start slowly and build up to more intense workouts than to hurt yourself trying to keep pace with people who are at a more advanced level of fitness.

7. Keep track of your workouts. Count your reps, how long you ran or walked and try and improve on those numbers weekly. 

8. Record workouts in your calorie counting app or program. The calories you burn count against your daily goal and result in a NET count for the day. 

Lets say my goal is 1600. I eat 1450 calories for the day. I estimate that I burned 600 calories for the day. My NET calorie count for the day is now 850. My BMR says 2238. Thats a huge deficit and I should probably eat more so I would add something else and try and get myself to my NET goal of 1200 calories per day. That is a deficit of 1038 calories per day which is a healthy number.

Do not set over realistic goals. Make a plan that is broke down into, small, obtainable victories that create a path to and end result and will set yourself up for success. 

For myself, I am moving to Korea at the end of January. My immediate goal is to break 250lbs before I leave. That is 11 pounds in about 4 weeks. If I maintain my current diet and exercise routine I should hit 251+/- 2 lbs.That is a reasonable goal on my way to getting to 180lbs.

Take it 1 week at a time and never give up! We CAN get there!

Share your stories with me! I want to hear from you guys. If you have questions please leave comments. If you have suggestions, leave a comment!

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