Losing Weight – Tips

Despite the fact that 95% of my posts are about law school, and the other 5% about Xbox 360 games, I get quite a few hits due to an offhand comment regarding weight loss. I started writing a long post about my experience (I lost 85 pounds five years ago and have gained back half of it but have been fairly stable the last year). Unfortunately, that post got lost in the WordPress ether. The part I hadn’t written was some of my tips and tricks that worked for me. (And after two years of law school and work and marriage and baby, I’m finally working them back into my routine.)

Tip 1 – Count Calories

The absolute best way to lose weight. I did not really start losing weight until I reigned in my bad eating habits.  This was after two years working with a personal trainer.

Know how much you are eating and how much you are burning. Read labels. Get a general understanding of how many calories are in the types of food that you eat. No need to get super precise (“I ate 135.6 calories for that snack”) but just have a good idea of how many calories you consume in a given day.

Tip 2 – Low Fat Does Not Help

It might be okay for milk and a few items. The problems:

1. Usually tastes awful
2. You eat more because “it is low fat”
3. It might have more calories than the high fat (compare peanut butter and low fat peanut butter)

If you need to cut fat out on doctor’s orders, by all means do so.

Tip 3 – Don’t Drink Your Calories

A normal can of soda runs from 120 calories to 180 calories. Drink two or three and you are close to a full meal in terms of calories. Even worse: free refills at a restaurant.

Tip 4 – Diet Soda + Lemon Juice

Lemon juice (not lemonade) has zero calories and does wonders as a counter to that nasty diet soda aftertaste. I usually pour an ounce or so of lemon juice in a glass for each can of diet soda. You’ll have to figure out the appropriate balance for your own taste buds. (Side note: Jones Soda’s Sugar Free Black Cherry Soda, available from Target, is quite good even with out the lemon juice.)

Tip 5 – Fiber One + Cinnamon

You need to eat a lot of dietary fiber. It helps you feel full and is a good calorie choice. Fiber One is the tastiest cereal out there and has the highest fiber content I know of. However, it is still a bit bland so I add a some cinnamon (almost zero calories) for flavor. Make sure you put the cinnamon on the cereal BEFORE adding milk. And go to your local big-box grocery store and get a big, cheap container of cinnamon. (Side note: Target is usually the cheapest place to find Fiber One.)

Tip 6 – Reduce Carb Intake

I don’t recommend going Atkins. Just reduce the carbs as your body turns that into fat. I mean candy, sugar drinks, chips, french fries, &c, &c. Try this: give up french fries (or something else you eat regularly) for a week and see if you can survive. If so, give it up for a little longer. Rinse and repeat.

Tip 7 – Werther’s Original

If you have a sweet tooth like me, finding substitutes is a pain. Hard candies are a good choice because they last longer thus making you feel like you got more. Werther’s are 20 calories per candy and last about 5 minutes (compare to a 25 calorie Hershey’s kiss that lasts 3 seconds).

Tip 8 – Weekly Weigh-In

You need to weigh yourself weekly and keep track of your weight. Since you are on a computer, I assume you have access to a spreadsheet. Use it.

Steps for the weigh-in:

1. Once a week on the same day (if possible)
2. In the morning (or after you have slept)
3. Before eating or drinking anything
4. After going to the bathroom (yes, I mean that)
5. With the same scale
6. Naked

Your body weight fluctuates constantly based on a large variety of factors. Too frequent weigh-ins can be frustrating. Too infrequent and you don’t catch bad behavior or reward good behavior.

Tip 9 – Frequent Aerobic Exercise

You need to burn more calories than your you do in the course of your normal activities. You must do something aerobic that raises your heart rate (to a safe level) for ten or more minutes per day. Whatever it is that you can do that will not lose your interest, do it. Dancing, biking, walking, hiking, treadmill, elliptical trainer, swimming, rowing, jazzercise… Make it routine and do it several times a week.

Tip 10 – Eat at Home, Cook at Home

It is cheaper. It is easier to portion control. It is easier to control what goes into the food. Learn to use spices to give flavor. Here are some of the recipes that I used

• Vegetable Soup from Picture Perfect Weightloss Cookbook
• Turkey Chili from Cook’s Illustrated (you can get it off their website)
• Turkey Meatloaf from Ina Garten’s Barefoot Contessa Cookbook or on foodtv.com. Note: You can cut the recipe in half or even down to one-quarter the amount. I HIGHLY recommend using a pan with sides so you can more easily do portion control (the recipe calls for a cookie sheet)
• Spuma di Tonno from Michael Chiarello’s Easy Entertaining or on foodtv.com. This tuna puree has slightly more calories than desirable but if you use veggies to dip: perfect
• Broccoli Puree from Giada de Laurentis on foodtv.com. An easy to make mashed potatoes with pureed broccoli. Even my vegetable hating brother likes this. Reduce the sour cream to save calories
• Creamless Creamy Tomato Soup from Cook’s Illustrated (you can get it off their website). Uses bread rather than cream for texture.

Restaurants serve too much food (it is the cheapest way to entice customers back) and add too much fat via butter or oil. Avoid them if possible. If not, eat half and put the rest in a to-go container. And don’t eat the bread they bring out while you wait for your entree.

Tip 11 – Eat More Vegetables

One of my big problems is that I don’t like vegetables. For weight loss, and general health, you need to eat more veggies. I’ve listed a few recipes above that have helped me increase my daily serving of vegetable but it is a struggle. I’m always on the lookout for vegetable dishes that will appeal to me the carnivore/garbagevore.

Tip 12 – Be Patient, Be Diligent

It takes time to lose weight. There are no magic pills (though science is trying hard). So you need to be patient because it will take a while. You need to be diligent to stick with slowly changing your eating habits. Don’t fall for the “eat only ____” type of diet. “Diets” don’t work, only changing your diet works.

Tip 13 – Cheat

It isn’t easy giving up foods that you really like but aren’t good for you. However, if you know that you will get them from time to time – and you balance the rest of your day around them – then go ahead and cheat every once in a while. Besides my sweet tooth, I love pizza. So when I was losing weight, I would have a slice of pizza every Wednesday. That way, on the weekend, I could tell myself, “Don’t eat that pizza now. You’ll have another slice on Wednesday.”

Good Luck