My Weight Loss Strategy - Fuel vs Food
In my 50's, I've tried a lot of things but I just lose weight, gain weight, lose weight, gain weight in a never ending cycle. So now I'm trying a simpler, more sustainable approach. It may not sound simple at first but bear with me.
They say that fat is lost and abs are made in the kitchen. So here is my approach to "dieting". I have created an excel spreadsheet that will take my age, height, weight, gender and activity level and calculate not only my Base Metabolic Rate (BMR), but also my Total Daily Expenditure (TDEE) and the suggested calories I should aim for to lose 1lb per week. With this tool I've made in Google Sheets, it's now super easy for me to enter my numbers and get an instant result for how I should eat...or should I say, how I should fuel my body.
Some Quick Science
OK. So that's a lot of acronyms. "What the heck to those mean?" you might be asking. Here's a quick run down on nutrition and how I got to this idea. There's an equation that is commonly used called the Mifflin-St Jeor equation. This equation as mentioned above, gives you your BMR. When you muliply that by your activity level, you get your TDEE.
BMR is your Base Metabolic Rate. This is the number of calories that your body needs just laying on the couch and breathing. Maybe you are even napping. This is just simply existing.
TDEE is you Total Daily Energy Expenditure or how many calories you need walking around, going to work, exercising, etc. If you are Sedentary, lightly active, moderately active, active or very active, you multiply your BMR by a corresponding rate. 1.2, 1,375, 1.55, 1.725 or 1.9 respectively.
If you look at the formula, at least when I looked at it and created this calculator, the first thing you'll notice is that if you want to eat more, move more. For example, because I have a desk job, I have mine set at sedentary. This gives me 2039 calories to maintain my weight. But if I start being super active and working out hard 6-7 days per week or I get a job doing construction and I'm lifting heavy stuff for 8 hours a day or more, all of the sudden I have to eat 3229 calories to maintain my weight.
Notice in both of those I said to maintain my weight. If I eat more consistently, I'll gain weight. If I eat less consistenly, I'll lose weight. To lose 1 pound per week, I need to eat 3500 calories less which works out to cutting 500 calories per day. I could exercise more and that would help, but it takes a long time just to burn 100 calories, let alone 500. So as you can see, it's easier to do it in the kitchen.
HOWEVER...You have to be careful. It's possible to be in a situation where reducing your calories by 500 can be too aggressive and it actually places you eating less than your BMR requires. In the short term, it's not really a problem. But if you do it for too long, your body can and likely will adapt. And here is the issue with that: When you go back to eating more like you used to, the weight comes back with a vengeance and you can end up weighing more than before because your BMR is now lower than before so anything above seems like excess. This is what is happening when you hear the term "yo-yo" dieting. I probably oversimplified it, but you get the point. If you body thinks there's not enough food, it will adapt, start using muscle tissue for fuel and it just creates a viscious cycle downward.
To make sure I don't do this, I have put in some conditional formating on my spreadsheet. If my TDEE minus 500 goes below my BMR, the cell will turn red so I know that's lower than I personally want to go. I have a choice. I can raise my activity level or I can change my calorie reduction to less than 500. This is not the end of the world. Let's say I set it at 250 calorie reduction. This means instead of losing a pound per week, it'll be a half pound. Again, not the end of the world, just a little slower progress.
Nutrition & Macros!
So, how does all this translate into eating? Well, now that I know how many calories I can have, I have to figure out how to get the most bang for my buck, so to speak. Let's say I have 1800 calories that I can eat. I need to figure out the best combination to fuel my body so I can do the exercises I want and lose the weight.
Foods are made up of three macronutrients: Protein, Fat and Carbs. I'm sure you've heard of those. But what are they and why do we need them? You've probably heard of Paleo, Atkins and other low carb diets. If you grew up in the 80's you probably remember the craze was low-fat diets. Basically, all diets are just elimination diets. You are either cutting down on a Macronutrient like fat or carbs, or you are cutting down on calories which is essentially cutting down on all macros. Oversimplified, but you get my point.
Protein
Protein helps build and repair muscle. You've probably heard of body builders talking about protein shakes and chicken, chicken and more chicken. That's why. They need lots of protein to build that kind of muscle. Me? I'm not trying to be a body builder so I will have a more normal diet and not 6 meals of nothing but chicken, rice and brocolli each day...LOL.
Protein has 4 calories per gram and a great source is chicken. Of course, steak, beef, pork have protein, but they are higher in fat which may or may not fit your goals.
The recommended amount is anywhere from .7grams up to 1.2 grams per pound of goal body weight. with my goal of 180lbs, that means I need to be hitting somewhere between 126 grams up to 216 grams. Until I'm running and lifting more, I'll probably stick to the lower end.
Fats
Fats come in different types, and some are better than others. Olive oil, avocados, fish like Salmon, most nuts, are all good fats. Things like seed oils are thought to be less good for you.
Fats have 9 calories per gram. This is some of the reason why some diets cut down on fat, because at 9 versus 4, it's an easy way to get fewer calories. However, your brain loves fat so you can't cut it out completely.
The recommended amount of healthy fats in your diet is between 20% to 35%. I'll probably be around the higher end just because. I like steaks and hamburgers. I'm not here to suffer. I'm looking for sustainability.
Time Out - Let's Do Some Math
Alright, so I've decided I'll aiming for 1800 calories. My 126 grams of protein (x 4 calories per gram) will give me 504 calories. My fat intake at 35% (1800*.35) is 630 calories. When I add these together, I'm at 1,134 calories. That means that I have 666 calories left that I can assign to carbs. Uh...wait a minute. Let's call it 665. YIKES! Who said diets aren't evil? It's just been proven...LOL
Anyways, 665 calories divided by 4 (to give us the grams in that many carbs) is 166 (rounded) grams of carbs that I could have. However, I think that's too many as I have good luck losing weight when my carbs are limited to 120g per day. So...since I'm already at my limit for Fats, it looks like I will have to add in some more protein. Since I'm going to be eating (166-120) 46g fewer of carbs, and they account for the same number of calories per gram of protein, I can have 46 extra grams of protein.
Carbohydrates
Carbs are interesting. Like Protein, Carbs have 4 calories per gram. Now, while Protein and Fat are required macronutrients, Carbs are not necessarily required. You need protein or you'll waste away with no muscle. You need fat or your brain will have problems. But nobody ever died because they didn't have bread or pasta - which, for argument sake, are the carbs I'm talking about. Fruits and veggies have carbs, but in my opinion, we need those. Fruits and veggies have micronutrients like vitamins and minerals, not to mention fiber! But I digress.
When you think of runners, you picture them at their spaghetti dinners and while the body does use carbs for energy, it's not 100% necessary. You'll also picture them as stick figures if you've ever watched an elite marathoner. Unless they eat enough protein, after the carbs burn off, the body can break down muscle tissue and convert parts of it to glucose for energy instead of getting it from carbs.
In the past, I had a nutritionist and he set me on this 120g limit of carbs and I did lose weight. At that time, I was struggling with tracking and keeping up with the numbers so I gave up.
One more thing I want to mention: When you cut carbs like this, you might see a big quick weight loss. What you're seeing is mostly water weight. Intially. At some point, you'll start to slow down but with fewer carbs for your body to pull from for energy, it will turn to fat as a fuel source and you'll continue to lose weight although it will be slower. than it intially was. But 1 to 2 lbs per week is considered a good weight loss goal.
Enough Science! Tell Me What to Eat
Honestly, I'd say eat what you like, but use moderation and try to stay in your macros. As stated before, I'm not here to tell you what to do, but rather show you what I'm doing.
Essentially, change the way you think of food first. I love food. The smell, the taste, it's amazing! But I'm changing my way of looking at it. I'm seeing it now as fuel for my body rather than something for pure enjoyment. (although there is still enjoyment from it)
I'm avoiding sodas and sweets. My two favorite things. I am drinking the occassional Coke Zero, but honestly it's not the same. It does satisfy that craving though and it's zero calories. I don't like to drink a lot of them though. I am trying to eat things from the outer aisles of the grocery store. Fruit, veggies, meats, cheese. All the pre-packaged crap full of sugar, I'm trying to avoid or do in moderation.
With that said, I do like frozen veggies. They are packed at peak freshness, and they don't go bad in the crisper when you forget about them. A bag in the freezer is always there for you. I also like frozen dinners. Hear me out.
A lot of people meal prep, or they order meals from a provider or a place like Nutrisystem use to do. What's the difference? I can get a meal, with Carbs, proteins and fats and have it in my freezer for when I'm too tired to cook. It's also pre-portioned so I don't have to worry about over-eating.
Now. With all of that, I will say that if you use an app (there's a million - or least a dozen) to track your meals and macros, it does help immensly. I will eat low carb for breakfast and lunch and save those carbs for dinner or for a sweet treat. Just tonight, I had consumed mostly protein and fat during the day and was able to have two scoops of ice cream. I know I said I was trying to cut down on sweets, but I like to treat myself because I see that as being more sustainable than saying I'll never eat ice cream again.
There you have it. That was a lot longer post than I thought it would be. Sorry about that. Maybe it should have been spread out over several posts. But the point I hope you leave with is that you can eat better, lose weight, and still enjoy the foods you like.
