Weight Loss 101

Two key factors for healthy weight loss are diet and exercise. If you have ever tried to lose weight by dieting alone, cutting back on caloric intake, you probably ran into at least two roadblocks. In order to lose one pound per week, you would have to cut back by 3500 calories per week. That's 500 calories a day! If you are currently eating 2500 calories per day, that's a 20% cutback. The percentage goes up if you are actually eating less than that. Two things are bound to happen.

 You can lose weight solely cutting back calories, but another factor to consider is the type of weight loss occurring. Studies have shown that weight lost using this method is comprised of 78% fat. That's good, right? ....Wrong! The remaining 22% of the weight lost is lean mass. As you may have guessed, lean mass is comprised of muscle. But did you know that it also includes bone? While women have typically been more concerned with bone loss, men should be concerned as well. Men also lose bone mass as they age; it is just at a lower rate. Considering these factors, restricting calories to lose weight is not in itself the best method for healthy weight loss.

So what about exercise? Well, to lose that one pound per week while maintaining your caloric intake, you will need to burn an extra 500 calories per day. For the average person that means walking or running 5 miles or doing some very intense circuit training...daily...seven days a week. Several problems come to mind:

Additionally, exercising without rest days will lead to mental and physical fatigue, burnout, and injuries, more likely sooner than later.

So what is the best option? Combine caloric cutbacks with exercise. It is much easier to cut back 250 calories per day. Most individuals can cut out 250 calories a day by simply eating whole foods instead of processed ones. Whole foods are more filling than processed foods because they contain more bulk (fiber). So while you are consuming the same or more in volume, you are actually taking in fewer calories.