A number of people have asked me how I was able to lose 47 lbs in 6 months. Here's what I did...
I downloaded an ap called, "MyFitnessPal" and I keep an eye on my total calorie count every day. I put in the ap everything I eat and it keeps track of my calories. I try to keep my calories to under 1700 calories per day, but I usually set the ap to 1500 calories per day. I do this because I know that if I put in the exact amount I want to do, I'll probably exceed it because I will want more. So if I use 1500 calories as my goal, I'll likely do 1700-1800 calories instead. A bit of trickery to myself.
I eat a lot of meat (which my wife continues to tell me is not good for me). I grill or smoke most everything and I do my own cooking. I do not cook for my family and they do not cook for me either. We decided the only way I would keep myself on the diet is if I did not eat anything they cooked.
I also eat flatbread and shredded cheese (I make pulled pork sandwiches or pulled chicken sandwiches). Each sandwich does not exceed 450 calories.
I eat bananas, apples and other fruit too, but not a lot. A eat very little vegetables, but I do eat it. At times I'll do salads with Lite Thousand Island dressing on it. Again, I just keep track that I do not exceed 1700 calories.
I limit my carbs by avoiding most breads, potatoes, rice (very hard to do for Asians!!)
I don't eat much processed foods at all. Nothing canned, frozen, pre-packaged... yeah, most everything in a grocery store! I cook my own stuff.
I do cheat a lot on my diet. I continue to keep going to Costco for a hot dog, a pizza slice with a Diet Pepsi, a chicken bake with a Diet Pepsi... this is likely why I don't drop as quickly now as I'd like. But when I go, I still try to keep the total calories under 1700 calories (it usually goes over though).
I have found that cheating on my diet is ok as long as I go right back to the diet the next day. Any weight gained by the cheat day usually is gone in several days. I am not gaining back weight to keep, which is nice!
I would not call my diet a "fad" diet by any means. I don't do the Keto diet or the Atkins diet, although many people think I'm on an Atkins diet due to the amount of meat I eat. I have done Atkins in the past, but because I do add things other than just meat, I would not call it an Atkins diet.
I think the key to my weight loss is cut out all junk food, most carbs and eat less calories than I burn up. I don't exercise much (I have a recumbent exercise bike, but don't use it to lose weight, only use it for some cardio and muscle movement). I think if I used exercise to diet, I'd gain a bunch of weight back when I stopped exercising (which I know I would do).
I try to find things to eat that I can eat "forever" going forward. If I ate only things that worked for "dieting" I know I'd gain weight back once I got off the diet.
So there you have it! Eat moderately, count your calories with an ap and cut out all processed foods if possible. Several of my students have taken my advice and are now dropping weight as well. It works if you can get yourself past the first two weeks. In the first two weeks, you'll find yourself craving everything. But get past that and it's relatively easy to do.
I downloaded an ap called, "MyFitnessPal" and I keep an eye on my total calorie count every day. I put in the ap everything I eat and it keeps track of my calories. I try to keep my calories to under 1700 calories per day, but I usually set the ap to 1500 calories per day. I do this because I know that if I put in the exact amount I want to do, I'll probably exceed it because I will want more. So if I use 1500 calories as my goal, I'll likely do 1700-1800 calories instead. A bit of trickery to myself.
I eat a lot of meat (which my wife continues to tell me is not good for me). I grill or smoke most everything and I do my own cooking. I do not cook for my family and they do not cook for me either. We decided the only way I would keep myself on the diet is if I did not eat anything they cooked.
I also eat flatbread and shredded cheese (I make pulled pork sandwiches or pulled chicken sandwiches). Each sandwich does not exceed 450 calories.
I eat bananas, apples and other fruit too, but not a lot. A eat very little vegetables, but I do eat it. At times I'll do salads with Lite Thousand Island dressing on it. Again, I just keep track that I do not exceed 1700 calories.
I limit my carbs by avoiding most breads, potatoes, rice (very hard to do for Asians!!)
I don't eat much processed foods at all. Nothing canned, frozen, pre-packaged... yeah, most everything in a grocery store! I cook my own stuff.
I do cheat a lot on my diet. I continue to keep going to Costco for a hot dog, a pizza slice with a Diet Pepsi, a chicken bake with a Diet Pepsi... this is likely why I don't drop as quickly now as I'd like. But when I go, I still try to keep the total calories under 1700 calories (it usually goes over though).
I have found that cheating on my diet is ok as long as I go right back to the diet the next day. Any weight gained by the cheat day usually is gone in several days. I am not gaining back weight to keep, which is nice!
I would not call my diet a "fad" diet by any means. I don't do the Keto diet or the Atkins diet, although many people think I'm on an Atkins diet due to the amount of meat I eat. I have done Atkins in the past, but because I do add things other than just meat, I would not call it an Atkins diet.
I think the key to my weight loss is cut out all junk food, most carbs and eat less calories than I burn up. I don't exercise much (I have a recumbent exercise bike, but don't use it to lose weight, only use it for some cardio and muscle movement). I think if I used exercise to diet, I'd gain a bunch of weight back when I stopped exercising (which I know I would do).
I try to find things to eat that I can eat "forever" going forward. If I ate only things that worked for "dieting" I know I'd gain weight back once I got off the diet.
So there you have it! Eat moderately, count your calories with an ap and cut out all processed foods if possible. Several of my students have taken my advice and are now dropping weight as well. It works if you can get yourself past the first two weeks. In the first two weeks, you'll find yourself craving everything. But get past that and it's relatively easy to do.
