Last Updated on December 30, 2021 by Andrew Blakey
How To Lose Weight And Keep it off
I sometimes get asked how to lose weight and keep it off. This is the question many people want answered, however in order to do this, it starts with you.
When working out and exercising, most people have a goal that they want to work towards! For some people they want to lose weight, others want to get stronger, and for some – they want to keep their longevity.
That being said, no one’s going to make you do it. You need to understand that in order to have sustainable weight loss, this is about changing your habits and changing the lifestyle you currently live.
If after reading this article you’re serious about making a commitment to your health, please reach out to us and see how we can help you on your journey!
Weight Loss Equation Explained
I’m going to explain the different components of the equation that we look at when trying to lose weight. This is the most basic form of how we lose weight. Before I go into it, let me explain why this equation should matter to you in the first place.
By understanding how the calories we burn in a day are related to the food we put in our body, we can predict whether or not we are gaining or losing weight.
Through long term application of this we can have a better chance at losing that 10 or 15 lbs we’ve been trying so hard to get rid of but are making little to no progress. Lets get into it.
The Equation
The general equation is: (Calories consumed in daily food) – (Basal Metabolic Rate + Additional Activity)… Let me break each part down.
When you’re interested in learning how to lose weight and keep it off it’s important to realize that everyone has different caloric needs (meaning we all have a different amount of food we need to properly fuel our bodies).
Daily Metabolic Rate Explained
A term we use in the fitness community is Basal metabolic rate (BMR). What this refers to is the amount of calories you burn throughout the day doing everyday activities such as breathing, walking, talking, and doing the activities needed for your career. Your BMR also takes into account your size. For example, if two people are doing the exact same activities throughout the day, a person who is 6 foot 7 such as myself is going to be burning many more calories than that of a person who is 5 foot 7.
Here’s a great calculator for getting a rough estimate of your BMR plus activity level
We must then add any additional calories we burn throughout the day to our BMR to find exactly how many calories we burn in a day. Any additional activity we do includes things such as going for walks, working out, going for a jog…etc.
You can find out how many calories you burn doing different activities on apps such as MyFitnessPal and by using the BMR calculator link above (which includes both your BMR plus an estimate of your activity level).
Lastly, you need to know how many calories you are eating in a day. Once you have this number you can figure out exactly what’s going on in your weight loss journey. I highly recommend MyFitnessPal for keeping track of your daily calories consumed – and its free! One of the most important things for learning how to lose weight and keep it off has to do with proper nutrition education!
Your BMR and Calories Consumed Explained
Here are the results:
If: Calories consumed in daily food > Calories burned in a day = Gain weight
If: Calories consumed in daily food = Calories burned in a day = Maintain weight
if: Calories consumed in daily food < Calories burned in a day = LOSE WEIGHT
When you look at weight loss as an equation it can make it seem much more attainable on how to lose weight and keep it off!
The Calorie Deficit
It’s important to note that their are 3500 calories in one lb of fat. This means that if you are burning 300 more calories in a day than you are consuming in food that it would take about 11.5 days to burn one lb of fat.
Weight Loss Case Study
Jim’s BMR is 1700 calories per day and he jogs every day where he burns 350 calories. This means he has an activity total daily calorie count of 2050 calories. He also consumes 2600 calories in a day. This means he is in a surplus of calories by about 550 calories because 2600 – 2050 = 550.
Now that we know that there are 3500 calories in a pound of fat we know that if he keeps up this behaviour for one month he will have gained almost 5 lbs because 550 x 30 days = 16,500 surplus calories. 16,500/3500 = 4.7 pounds. As you can see it’s very simple for our diet to blow up and get away from us.
The Importance Of Knowledge
I believe that the first step answering the question how to lose weight and keep it off, is to educate yourself.
If you can educate yourself on what it is that is happening when we eat excess calories such as in the case study above, you can understand why it’s important to keep an eye on what you eat. This doesn’t mean you need to be weighing all your food and be obsessive about it, but it’s about being responsible in the choices you make and the foods you choose to put into your body.
I hope you all learned something in this article!
