How to lose weight
Wednesday 16 December 2020 - Filed under Default
Since May, I’ve lost ~30 lbs and some have asked how, so I’d like to share what I’ve learned about weight loss.
First, the issue is simpler than many peddlers of diets and programs would have you believe.
Fundamentally controlling weight is about caloric intake and caloric expenditure, calories in calories out (CICO) some call this. A common thread in all weight-loss programs is either limiting calories (via time in Intermitent Fasting or via content in Keto). Caloric intake can be estimated very well, and you don’t have to be exact, by simply weighing your food. Get a kitchen scale ($30-40) and use an app to record every calorie on a best-effort basis.
As for how many calories your body burns, and therefore what you can eat to maintain the deficit, what’s needed is a daily weigh-in. With about a week’s data on your daily caloric intake and weight, this spreadsheet will ask your weight loss goal, then put it all together to specify how many calories to eat per day. The deficit by the way shouldn’t be any greater than 20% of your daily intake, or else you will tax your willpower and sanity more than will be helpful.
So that’s how it’s worked. Weighing all food, an app to covert weights into calories, a daily weigh-in, and a spreadsheet to set the budget. I could say a lot more on this topic but I want to keep it short. This is what worked for me.
2020-12-16 » David Sterry