You too can lose over 15kg (2.3 stone) in just 15 weeks by following this simple and cost effective weight loss plan! It's so simple, just burn more calories than you consume!
The process of losing weight just couldn't be any more straightforward, but somehow this simple process has become overcomplicated. There are now so many fads,
including ludicrous “wonder” diets, each with claims for an easy fix for
shedding the Kilos and incredibly so many people continue to choose these short-term fad diets in the hope of a quick fix.
Many people often pay a premium for mass-produced diet products. It's a multi-billion dollar industry fuelled by consumer ignorance, poor education about our bodies, and widespread misunderstanding and misinformation about the true value of the foods we eat. Here are some of the best known (not a complete list and by no means the worst offenders):
- Hollywood Diet
- Cabbage Soup Diet
- The South Beach Diet
- The Master Cleanse
- The Atkins Diet
None of these diets support a healthy lifestyle - they are simply not sustainable. You might lose a couple of Kilos of excess body fluid quickly during the first two weeks but after that your weight loss will likely remain unchanged and if you persist with them for longer the chances are you'll deprive your body of essential nutrients and build up problems for yourself in the future. It's likely that you'll be far better off in the long term reading the excellent Mrs Beatons How To Cook.
There's no getting away from it my friends, the simple fact is that a healthy, balanced, diet and regular exercise are the keys to staying in shape. It's something that we all know instinctively to be true, though many of us also find the reality of making necessary changes to our daily routines quite painful, which is why exercise and diets are difficult to sustain in the long term for many people. If you want to experience the joy of feeling 15 Kilos lighter you need to eat a balanced diet, exercise regularly, and most important of all, you need to have the discipline to stick to your weight loss plan.
I believe that we can overcome many of the fears we have about changing our lives by taking time to understand more of the details of what's involved in making the change. So in the context of weight loss planning, we're more likely to succeed with losing weight if we develop a deeper understanding of the food that we eat, of it's provenance, and of it's nutritional value. And if we also develop a deeper understanding of our bodies, and a much better appreciation of what exercise we need in order to keep our bodies in shape, then that will re-enforce the learning experience. It's almost like we need to collectively re-learn some fundamental truths about the importance of maintaining essential balance and rhythm in our eating and exercise.
So with those points in mind, and before I get too spiritual, here's how I lost over 15 kilos in just 15 weeks.
My 5-step plan went something like this:
- Understand what calories you need to live
This is an essential first step - if you don't know how many calories you need to survive then you're not going to know how much food to eat and how much exercise you need. The daily amount of calories you need varies depending upon your age, weight, height, and how active you are during a typical day. There is an excellent simple calorie calculator tool here. Take some time to study this, and to really get a good feeling for how much exercise is needed to burn the calories.
I saw that I needed just over 2000 Kilo Calories to stay at the same weight if I do no exercise, and if I consume 1,600 Kilo Calories per day then I would lose 1 Kg per week. So I assumed that if I were to consume 1,600 Kilo Calories per day, and I exercised regularly, then I would be sure to lose some weight! - Understand what calories are provided by the foods you eat
There are a plethora of online resources providing information about the amount of calories in food. Many of those are sites that are also selling other weight loss products. The National Health Service (NHS) website has some good information about calories here. One example website that provides information about the calorific content in different foods is Food Calories Counter here.
Have a look at the different food types that you eat over the course of typical week... and be honest. The calorific content of one Snickers bar and one packet of potato crisps eaten together as a snack during the school break or during a work day break consequtively for 5 days each week, is equivalent to 2,150 Kilo Calories. That's more than enough additional calorie intake every week to power your body for an additional day every week, and that's from snacking alone! This may be an extreme example for some people, but not in my case, before I started with my weight loss plan I was regulary doing more snacking than this and with very little exercise.
The point here is to get a better understanding of the value of the food that you eat. I've worked out that if I eat some muesli with skimmed milk and fresh fruit in the morning, perhaps a sandwich or a green salad for lunch, and maybe some meat or fish with vegetables on an evening AND I avoid eating certain other foods like potatoes, pasta, bread, white rice, and fat-rich dairy products, then I can eat pretty much what I like. I've also reduced my chocolate intake to special occasions only, and I avoid chocolate with high sugar and low cocoa content completely. Furthermore, I've dropped cakes, biscuits and most other sweet deserts altogether.
Finally, I haven't avoided alcohol at all during this diet. Though I have to say that my alcohol consumption isn't really that heroic these days! - Understand how many calories you burn through exercise
You'll also need to get really familiar with the different types of exercise and the value of the exercise. In my experience running is by far the most effective exercise for burning calories quickly but it's not a precise science, and no two bodies react to exercise in the same way.
I found that running 5K on an indoor running machine at the gym can burn around 450 Kilo Calories. I did this most evenings during the first half of my weight loss plan and until I injured my calf muscle. I was able to improve my time from 27mins to less than 22mins during those first few weeks and I achieved the most rapid weight loss during this period.
The problem with running is the damage it can cause to your body, which results from the shock of the impact of your feet pounding on the pavement or the treadmill. The lower back and legs are especially vulnerable. I've found rowing and swimming are great alternatives to running but they don't get anywhere close to running as a way of burning the calories quickly. In general I found that if I row or swim I will burn half the calories that would if have burnt if I'd been running hard over the same length of time.
Clearly this is different for everyone, and that's the point... you need to get into how your body reacts to exercise and adjust your daily exercising so that it is tuned to your unique metabolism, so that it fits with your individual and family circumstances, and so that it matches your personal preferences. - Draw up a weight loss plan that works for you
Decide the target weight that you want to reach; that might be your ideal weight, which you can calculate using a tool here, or it could be another target weight that you feel you want to reach. Use the calorie calculator tool to work out how many calories you need to consume each day in order to lose enough weight each week to reach your target weight, and also work out how long that will take assuming a certain amount of exercise per week.
I set a target that I could achieve over 15 weeks if I lost an average of 1 Kilo per week. The blue line on the weight loss chart above shows what 1 Kilo per week looks like spread evenly over 15 weeks; the green line shows my target weight of 76.36 Kilos. This is slightly more than my ideal weight, but losing 15 Kilos in 15 weeks was more emotionally appealing for me, so that became my target. - Stick to the plan and stay in control
Make sure you don't eat more than your target calories each day, and make sure that you exercise regularly - ideally every day. Make sure that you eat and exercise routinely according to your plan so that it becomes automatic behaviour. Make the effort to get into it, but don't beat yourself up if you slip up from time to time.
Recognise and accept there will always be exceptions that are worth making. For me these are things like accepting a travel sweet from a passenger when your driving long distance with the family - why not take just one? And when having a meal out with friends, and it's a beautiful evening, and you really want to take on the cheese board with a sweet white dessert wine - then why not just go for it? It's not the end of the world if you relax the rules occasionally. Just make sure you don't relax the rules again the next day, and the day after that.
I like to relax the rules a little on a Friday and/or Saturday evening when we sometimes eat out at a restaurant or enjoy some drinks with friends, but then I work out a little harder and for longer on Monday and Tuesday in order to compensate.
In my opinion it's more important to understand the value of what you eat, to know what it means for you, and to stay in control. You can always eat less the day after your big meal out, and you can always work out for harder and/or for longer in the gym for a couple of days after a special treat!
And there will almost certainly be times when you don't stick to your diet, or for some reason you don't exercise for a few days, and that's perfectly fine so long as you remember that in the big picture you need to make sure you balance your calorie intake with the calories that you need to survive and burn off through exercise. On days when you don't exercise just reduce the amount you eat, and if you eat more for a few days then increase the amount of exercise you do for a few days. After a while this will become second nature as you become more familiar with the value of the food you're eating, and benefit of the exercise you're doing.
You may need to overcome significant obstacles on the way. About half way though my weight loss plan I badly tore my calf muscle whilst participating in a 5K outdoor run. I was advised to rest for at least 6 weeks, and I was devastated. My brother mentioned swimming as an alternative. I was never a good swimmer; I always felt like I was drowning whenever I got into the water, but I it was a great opportunity to overcome my fear and improve, and importantly I would still be able to exercise. It's incredible how quickly my swimming has improved in just a few weeks. I now routinely swim 50 x 25 metre lengths in less than 40 minutes and I do that 3-4 times per week. My breast stroke technique has really improved significantly by watching other swimmers, and I now feel confident in the water. The swimming also reduced the amount of time needed for my injured calf muscle to recover. I was able to start running back in the gym after 5 weeks and now I'm looking forward to my first 5K Park Run on 10th December after missing several weeks due to injury.
You may be forced to confront some painful truths about yourself, your family and the world you live in. I've become much more aware of the mass-produced rubbish that I was routinely heating up for myself and my family on a daily basis and calling it food, all in the name of convenience, and so that we can meet the demands of busy lives, work and careers.
I've also developed an almost militant zero tolerance attitude toward waste, overeating, and slovenliness in my household. Three months ago I was doing little exercise, but now if I don't exercise for a couple for days I start to feel slightly irritable and itching for a visit to the gym or the swimming baths.
No doubt my new regime will be tested to the limits over the next few weeks as the temptations of Christmas will naturally overpower us all to some extent. I don't want to deprive the kids of this important seasonal experience, but I'm pleased for the time being that I've managed to almost completely eradicate low quality chocolate, sickly sweet fruit juices, fizzy drinks, and the dreaded Haribo from their diets. Indeed, they're now sampling delicious home made meat casseroles, eating freshly prepared meals on most days, and snacking on fresh fruit and vegetables rather than sweets. One particularly popular treat from the new food regime, which both my two kids can't get enough of, is organic Biltong from the The Biltong Company. Check it out, it's delicious.
On balance the reaction from the kids has been more positive than negative. Even though they aren't 100% convinced about all the benefits of the new diet, they are very happy that we now eat together as a family most evenings and every weekend, and when we talk about food we do it together at the dinner table!
The benefits of eating better and getting regular exercise are immeasurable, but the main lesson I've learnt on my weight loss journey is that those benefits are not achieved easily, and if you're not prepared to commit to make changes in your life above and beyond simply making a plan, and unless you have the support and understanding of your family and those around you, then it will not be easy to lose the weight.
I've uploaded the full details of my weight loss plan in Excel spreadsheet format here. It is a complete record of all my exercise activity of the past 15 weeks and includes details of any significant exceptions to the standard diet described above.
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