What Are You Doing to Lose Weight?

A friend of mine named Steve Holt of Steve Holt Consulting asked me the following question, "Ok so what are you doing to lose weight?" He followed up that question with, "I am up for trying anything at this point." The question arose from my self-imposed challenge to lose eight pounds in eight weeks. They're all vanity pounds; I just want to look better in my swimsuit come February. Other friends have asked why you would try to lose weight during the holidays. Well, I just wasn't thinking – that's all. Bare with me, I'm getting to my weight loss formula.

Like Steve, are you up to trying anything at this point? Here is the secret weight loss formula – literally:

You must consume fewer calories than you burn. Or, you must burn more calories than you consume.

Yes, I'm a smartass, but keep reading please. It doesn't matter if you have a slow or fast metabolism – everyone must obey this law of physics to lose weight. If by chance you store more calories (I.e., fat) than you consume and burn you need to be studied to solve our foreign-oil dependency.

The good news is you don't have to change your exercise routine or add a routine for that matter. You don't have to eat healthy food either. A Kansas State University professor lost 27 pounds in eight weeks on a "Twinkie diet." I'm not recommending you not exercise nor am I recommending you try the "Twinkie diet." We're simply addressing the question, "What are you doing to lose weight?"

I'm two weeks into my challenge and have gone from 161.1lbs to 157.8lbs as of this writing. Here's what I'm doing to lose weight:

1. Set a goal – be specific and realistic (E.g., I will lose eight pounds in eight weeks)
2. Tell the world about your goal and share your progress – nothing like putting your pride on the line to achieve a goal, it also makes it real and tangible
3. Weigh yourself everyday in the morning after your morning potty break – everyday without exception
4. Don't change the type of food you eat – it is too difficult to eat better and eat less at the same time
5. Don't change your exercise routine – you don't have enough time to add one more thing to your to-do list
6. Allow yourself small failures – otherwise you will give up, get frustrated and kill your family and friends, well really annoy them anyway
7. Eat a little less than you normally do – I hate counting calories and I won't do it, just eat less
8. Weigh yourself first thing in the morning – did you lose enough weight to meet your goal?

• Yes, keep up the good work – go back to the beginning of step 7
• No, eat even less than you did the day before – go back to beginning of step 8

That's it. It gets easier as you make progress – you don't want to lose what you've achieved. Eat what you like, just eat less of it.

Bonus Secrets

1. When eating out always ask for a to-go container to be delivered with your meal. Immediately put one half of the meal in the to-go container. I call this HP Diet – the Half Portion Diet.
2. If you exercise, do so in the morning and before your first meal. Your body will be forced to consume fat stores instead of easy-to-burn carbohydrates in your digestive system.
3. At home, grab a plate one size smaller than you normally use. At a buffet, grab the salad plate instead of the dinner plate and don't go back for seconds. You will automatically put less food on your plate.

Comments

[Steve holt]

I think I can do this. I like the idea of the to go container.