January 22, 2012 4:22 PM PST
It's that time of year again... and it's been about a year since everyone was talking about this, including me - the problem is that's all I did was talk about it.
I'm going to be the first to admit I look like crap right now - as far as weight is concerned. Those who know me know I am a fairly small framed guy and just after Christmas I was tipping the scales at 205 lbs. Me optimum weight - the weight I was at the last time I looked in the mirror and wasn't disgusted is around 175.
So since the first of the year I have completely changed my diet and am going to the gym at least 4 times a week with my son. So far I have only lost 6 lbs, but I'm pretty happy about it. Hopefully with the support of my family I can keep up with it. Laura has been great about buying me good snacks and cooking meals that are in my diet. An my 15 year old son is great about going to the gym with me and making sure I work hard while I'm there.
Hopefully by the time the summer gets here I will be in a little better shape!
I actually started right before Thanksgiving. I do a transformation challenge every year over the holidays, and it helps me to lose weight rather than gaining it. The main thing is that it is not always about WEIGHT loss. For example, I may be classified as 5 pounds overweight right now based on BMI or weight charts, but when I look at body fat percentage, I'm in a healthy zone. And a pound of muscle takes up less space than a pound of fat!
So, if you really want to track your results...take your measurements, or get a scale that measures body fat % or a set of calipers to do a skin fold test.
I started this year 15 pounds lighter than I was right before thanksgiving. But I have since added back 3 pounds since I have been pushing more weight rather than doing as much cardio.
And Lucky...6 pounds is GREAT progress for 3 weeks in. 2 pounds per week is a healthy pace. KEEP IT UP! But, find a Navy Method bodyfat calculator you can use to check your body fat percentage based on your measurements, too. You just may have lost 10 pounds of fat and gained 4 pounds of muscle which is netting out to a 6 pound loss overall.
Also...eat healthy, but don't cut calories severely. Check out fitday.com or one of the other sites that help you track your foods and count your calories. Yes, you want a deficit at the end of the day to lose weight, but if you cut your calories too much, your body won't want to burn the fat...it will actually become very efficient at taking every calorie you consume and storing it as fat so it has the energy it wants to function. Make sure you are feeding yourself enough to keep your metabolism going.
http://www.bmi-calculator.net is a great site to use to calculate your
BMR to know how much you should be eating, as well as to calculate your BF% to set your target goals.
Edited to correct "BMI" to be "BMR", which is basal metabolic rate, or, how many calories you burn each day just by being you. You want to consume enough calories to feed your key biological functions, but also have a deficit of about 500 calories each day in order to lose 1 pound a week.