The ‘Eating Well’ and Exercise Synergy
in Shedding Unwanted Pounds
Many people are not aware of how many calories they are eating per day and although we do not want you to become ‘fixated’ on your calorie intake, we do want you to be in touch with the reality of how many calories you are taking in because they do influence your weight and thus your health.
In the medically supervised weight loss program I used to work at, we used the ‘multiple’ of 11(for women, the multiple is 12 for men) times current body weight to give us an approximation of how many calories per day a person was eating to maintain their body weight. This ‘multiple’ is about how much per pound your body burns up during ‘day to day’ activity. The resulting estimate does not take into account the calories a person burns while exercising (beyond day-to-day activity). It also does not take into account that people (mostly athletes) who carry a lot of muscle mass probably burn more per pound of body weight, than a so-called ‘normal’ person. And, that people who are yo-yo dieters, especially without exercise, probably have slowed their metabolism and may burn less per pound of body weight.
In any case, it is still a valuable method to use in order to get a feel for where you are calorie-wise in your daily food consumption. First, you must determine your day-to-day calories and then add back in calories burned during exercise (daily average) to get an estimate of the ‘total’ calories you’re consuming per day.
Let’s look at a concrete example of how this works: Carol weighs 160 lbs. and she doesn’t exercise. When we multiply her 160 lbs times 11 calories (that is the amount of calories each pound of body weight needs per day), and we get 1760 calories. This is the amount of calories she needs per day to maintain her current weight.
Now, what if she starts to exercise and is burning off an additional 300 calories a day? What would she need to do in order to maintain her weight? As you might have guessed, she would have to eat 300 calories a day more in order to maintain her weight. She would have to add 300 calories to the 1760 calories to get the total calories she would need to eat to maintain her weight in her new exercise program.
So, what if Carol wanted to lose weight? What could she do? She could keep her exercise routine and keep her calorie intake at 1760. This would create a daily deficit of 300 calories (the calories she’s burning in her daily exercise) and this can add up. In a month, that calorie deficit would increase to 9000 calories (300 calories per day x 30 days). Since there are about 3500 calories in one pound of body weight, a 9000 calorie deficit per month means she would lose about 2.5 lbs per month. In a year, by just adding exercise to her daily routine and keeping her calorie intake the same, she would lose about 30lbs.
Another benefit to exercise (besides being just plain healthy!) is that even if Carol were to increase her calorie intake by 300 calories per day and thus not lose weight, she would still lose inches because she would be gaining muscle (and losing fat!), and muscle is naturally ‘tighter’ than fat. And, because of the additional muscle, she would be increasing the amount of calories her body burns per pound at rest, so her weight may go down slightly over time.
This is what we see with many people who do our Boot Camp.
So, while exercise is helping you burn more calories, put on muscle (lose fat!) and lose inches, what if you would still like to lose weight… how does that happen?
To do this, means in all likelihood making a lifestyle change. This means changing eating habits for a life time!
To do this, some of you will probably have to examine your relationship to food, and what it truly means to take care of yourself in the long run.
So, where can you start if you’re ready to make a lifestyle change?
Here’s what we suggest:
1. Start a food journal and write down what you’re eating and how it feels in your body. Notice when you’re hungry. Notice when a negative self-image comes up. Notice when you’re ‘searching’ for something to eat when you’re hungry for something, but it may not be food...
2. Get support! You can attend our ongoing weekly ‘Eating Well’ groups.
3. Eat at least 5 fruits and vegetables a day and drink 8 glasses of water. This will help flush out your system, crowd out foods that are not so healthy, and will make you feel good.
4. Eat often. This will help keep your blood sugar on an even keel.
5. Eat lean proteins.
6. Eat complex carbohydrates. Simple carbohydrates will give you a momentary ‘high’ but then leave you in the dust of low blood sugar later. This leaves you vulnerable to eating even more ‘sh#t’ (excuse my French!) later.
7. If you’re a woman always eat more than 1200 calories a day unless under medical supervision. If you’re a man, always eat more than 1400 calories a day unless under medical supervision.
8. Make sure you’re burning at least 2000 calories a week through exercise (with your doctor’s approval, of course). Exercise allows you to discharge energy and lifts your mood (via hormones), as well as enhancing your immune system etc. etc.
Want one-on-one help? We are available for one-on-one coaching! Just contact us via email or phone for a FREE consultation.
Be well and see you next Boot Camp!
Sincerely,
Lisa
in Shedding Unwanted Pounds
Many people are not aware of how many calories they are eating per day and although we do not want you to become ‘fixated’ on your calorie intake, we do want you to be in touch with the reality of how many calories you are taking in because they do influence your weight and thus your health.
In the medically supervised weight loss program I used to work at, we used the ‘multiple’ of 11(for women, the multiple is 12 for men) times current body weight to give us an approximation of how many calories per day a person was eating to maintain their body weight. This ‘multiple’ is about how much per pound your body burns up during ‘day to day’ activity. The resulting estimate does not take into account the calories a person burns while exercising (beyond day-to-day activity). It also does not take into account that people (mostly athletes) who carry a lot of muscle mass probably burn more per pound of body weight, than a so-called ‘normal’ person. And, that people who are yo-yo dieters, especially without exercise, probably have slowed their metabolism and may burn less per pound of body weight.
In any case, it is still a valuable method to use in order to get a feel for where you are calorie-wise in your daily food consumption. First, you must determine your day-to-day calories and then add back in calories burned during exercise (daily average) to get an estimate of the ‘total’ calories you’re consuming per day.
Let’s look at a concrete example of how this works: Carol weighs 160 lbs. and she doesn’t exercise. When we multiply her 160 lbs times 11 calories (that is the amount of calories each pound of body weight needs per day), and we get 1760 calories. This is the amount of calories she needs per day to maintain her current weight.
Now, what if she starts to exercise and is burning off an additional 300 calories a day? What would she need to do in order to maintain her weight? As you might have guessed, she would have to eat 300 calories a day more in order to maintain her weight. She would have to add 300 calories to the 1760 calories to get the total calories she would need to eat to maintain her weight in her new exercise program.
So, what if Carol wanted to lose weight? What could she do? She could keep her exercise routine and keep her calorie intake at 1760. This would create a daily deficit of 300 calories (the calories she’s burning in her daily exercise) and this can add up. In a month, that calorie deficit would increase to 9000 calories (300 calories per day x 30 days). Since there are about 3500 calories in one pound of body weight, a 9000 calorie deficit per month means she would lose about 2.5 lbs per month. In a year, by just adding exercise to her daily routine and keeping her calorie intake the same, she would lose about 30lbs.
Another benefit to exercise (besides being just plain healthy!) is that even if Carol were to increase her calorie intake by 300 calories per day and thus not lose weight, she would still lose inches because she would be gaining muscle (and losing fat!), and muscle is naturally ‘tighter’ than fat. And, because of the additional muscle, she would be increasing the amount of calories her body burns per pound at rest, so her weight may go down slightly over time.
This is what we see with many people who do our Boot Camp.
So, while exercise is helping you burn more calories, put on muscle (lose fat!) and lose inches, what if you would still like to lose weight… how does that happen?
To do this, means in all likelihood making a lifestyle change. This means changing eating habits for a life time!
To do this, some of you will probably have to examine your relationship to food, and what it truly means to take care of yourself in the long run.
So, where can you start if you’re ready to make a lifestyle change?
Here’s what we suggest:
1. Start a food journal and write down what you’re eating and how it feels in your body. Notice when you’re hungry. Notice when a negative self-image comes up. Notice when you’re ‘searching’ for something to eat when you’re hungry for something, but it may not be food...
2. Get support! You can attend our ongoing weekly ‘Eating Well’ groups.
3. Eat at least 5 fruits and vegetables a day and drink 8 glasses of water. This will help flush out your system, crowd out foods that are not so healthy, and will make you feel good.
4. Eat often. This will help keep your blood sugar on an even keel.
5. Eat lean proteins.
6. Eat complex carbohydrates. Simple carbohydrates will give you a momentary ‘high’ but then leave you in the dust of low blood sugar later. This leaves you vulnerable to eating even more ‘sh#t’ (excuse my French!) later.
7. If you’re a woman always eat more than 1200 calories a day unless under medical supervision. If you’re a man, always eat more than 1400 calories a day unless under medical supervision.
8. Make sure you’re burning at least 2000 calories a week through exercise (with your doctor’s approval, of course). Exercise allows you to discharge energy and lifts your mood (via hormones), as well as enhancing your immune system etc. etc.
Want one-on-one help? We are available for one-on-one coaching! Just contact us via email or phone for a FREE consultation.
Be well and see you next Boot Camp!
Sincerely,
Lisa
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