Some time ago I decided to lose weight. But I was over all that exercise that appeared to make very little difference, or losing a few kilograms to then put it back on again. I decided since I have a science background to work out how to lose weight and to do it without any exercise. I wanted to prove it to myself it could be done.
The result was I lost slightly over 20kg from 110.kg to under 90kg and it was all done without doing any extra exercise to my normal rather average lifestyle. No expensive gym membership, no expensive dieting club membership or special meals. Just a very simple approach to kilojoule counting.
Now some people consider kilojoule counting to by rather boring and would rather spend an hour in the gym. Yet once you know what you need to do kilojoule counting only takes a small amount of extra time. For breakfast it would take me less than a minute. On top of that since we all tend to be creatures of habit, once you know how much your cup of coffee is in terms of kilojoules there is nothing to work out.
The start of my journey was working out how many kilojoules I needed each day. Then by sticking to that amount I lost weight. It really was that easy. OK. Perhaps not easy, but it worked and if you are consistent over a period of time it can work for you. You can find my BMI/BMR calculator at http://www.justlocal.com.au/clients/dieting/bmi-bmr.php.
As with any dieting you should first go to your doctor and seek their advice and guidance. It is also a great idea to have a full set of tests done so you can compare before and after.
One article I kept for myself I thought might be of use to others. I didn't use this whilst dieting, but I believe some foods tend to make you feel fuller for longer and that can come in handy. (
) This article isn't a scientific article but I believe it relates to the work done by Susanna Holt (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7498104).
The only tools I used was a pad or scrap to record the kilojoules as I progressed through the day, a set of scales which measure to 2g and could be tared (set to zero between adding different food), a couple of calorie and kilojoule counting books and a basic calculator. Most of these items you'll already find in your home.
All you need to do is to decide you want to lose weight and you can. You just have to decide you want it badly enough. For me it was when every time I walked past a window in the shopping centre I'd see my stomach protruding which wasn't a good look.
For those who just want to exercise to lose weight I highly recommend you check out the two calculators I created. One shows who much energy you'll use for a given exercise for a period of time (http://www.justlocal.com.au/clients/dieting/exercise.php) and the other shows how much exercise you need to do to burn off a food item such as a biscuit or treat (http://www.justlocal.com.au/clients/dieting/workitoff.php). Once you realise just how much exercise you need to do to burn off the food you put into your mouth you'll start to realise exercise alone isn't enough, but once you get your diet in order, exercise should help you to feel better and lose weight faster.
With Christmas just around the corner which is a great time to over indulge, we then get to New Year when we make all sort of New Year resolutions we often don't keep. Keep it this time. Decide once and for all you'll make it happen this year.
Losing weight is easy once you know how and you decide you really want to do it.
Kelvin Eldridge
PS. All calculators can be found on the front page of JustLocal (http://www.justlocal.com.au/)
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