A friend called me today, very distraught that she had gained ten pounds in the past year. We discussed her eating habits. Overall, she is a fairly healthy eater, who occasionally tends to “emotionally eat” during times of anxiety or stress. Her level of exercise is consistent, though not a lot. Although my friend is not really “overweight” per se, she is very concerned that if this continues, she will be, and was anxious about having to make drastic changes to her lifestyle to combat her weight gain. I suggested that her problem is not very serious, but it could become serious if not checked now.
I broke it down very simply, that to lose a pound a week, a person must burn 500 more calories than they consume. I suggested she consider a metabolic study to determine how many calories she burns without any exercise. I had one done when I started my epic weight loss. I learned I burned 1,700 calories doing nothing (I’ve been told average can be as high as 2,400 per day, or 100 per hour, but that sedentary people burn less, as their metabolism is slower). Assuming you burn 1,700 calories doing nothing, and you were eating 2,200 calories a day and didn’t exercise, you would gain one pound a week, as one pound represents 3,500 calories. I suggested that my friend establish a reasonable caloric intake (her physician or I can help with this), that she monitors food intake and counts calories, and that she starts a regular exercise routine. It is about more than simply cutting calories. Exercise has to be part of the equation. I suggested that if she wanted to lose a pound a week (not an unreasonable goal), that she cut her calorie intake by 250 calories per day, and increase her exercise by 250 calories per day, for a net total reduction of 500 calories, which equates to 3,500 in a week, which should translate to losing one pound.
Cutting 250 calories can be as simple as forgoing dessert, or substituting fruit salad and oatmeal for pancakes in the morning, eating 4 ounces of steak instead of 8, or skipping the Cosmopolitan before dinner. As for exercise, I suggested that simply walking two miles she should come close to burning the 250 additional calories, or if she preferred, she could ride a bike or swim laps for 25 minutes. For a sedentary or out of shape person, this may seem like a lot, but trust me, it isn’t all that bad. The key is getting out there and doing it.
