Lose weight by eating right

Ever since taking a more serious approach to my fitness, I genuinely see that diet is indeed the majority of a good fitness plan. Unfortunately, food is very much my weakness. So I approached my diet as I would approach a casual financial budget. Save some early in the period so you have more to spend later.

I'm sure if you do some research, you will find a smorgasbord of diet plans and eating theories. But if you're looking to lose weight, then it's really simple math. Burn more than you consume. If you create a deficit of 3,500 calories per week, that would equate to 1 lost pound. Now 500 calories is a lot to cut from a day, but if you cut 250 calories and workout to burn 250 calories, there's your 500 calorie deficit for the day. As for the actual food, well that can get complicated.

We've all heard of the Atkins diet, the South Beach diet, the Weight Watchers diet. There's a whole lot out there. And we can get into all the counting of the protein, the carbs, the fat. Whether you do 40/40/20 or 60/20/20 or any other ratio(protein/carb/fat ratio). But I'm just not that detail-oriented in terms of food at the moment. I do use quite a bit of common sense. Junk food? No-brainer. It has the word "junk" in it. Limit these a lot. Same for sugar. You don't really need more than what you can get in regular food. As for carbs, aim for whole grain/complex carbs and try to consume the bulk of it in the early part of the day. You know, things like that.

As for the actual budgeting part of my eating, it's quite simple. I know I don't eat the best outside of work, so I make the most of what I can do when I'm at work or at home. Here's a typical work day for me:


Breakfast: Cheerios w/milk - I aim for skim, but I do 1% if it's on sale. You should really train yourself to like at least 2% milk. Go to skim if you can take it. You don't need the fat and lower fat milk has higher calcium content.

Mid-morning snack: Varies. I try to do a handful of nuts. Sometimes, I'll do a protein shake if I know I'm going to do a hard workout later in the day.

Lunch: I try to bring this meal from home. If you didn't make it, you never know what's in it. So I usually do 1-2 servings of veggies with some protein (usually chicken breast). Occasionally, I'll have rice with it if I'm not lazy to cook it.

Mid-afternoon snack: This has been pretty consistent for me. Peanut butter and jelly sandwich. It's made with one slice of whole grain bread with Skippy's Natural PB and Smuckers Sugar-free preserves. A quick 200 calories of goodness. If I was lazy, then I'd take a protein bar. It's less calories than a candy bar and has a lot more nutritional value to it. And no sugar.


I don't really count calories, but I limit my snacks to 250 calories or below. No reason for more for a snack. Also, my eating during the day usually doesn't have a lot of fat or sodium. I skimp on those because I know I'll probably eat that stuff later on. In fact, I apply some rules 24/7 to "budget" for indulgences later. Dinner out or dinner at my mom's can get pretty unhealthy. So my little rules are:

-Remove skin from chicken
-Eat a lot of vegetables
-No sodas, if you must avoid full sodas; aim for diet
-Avoid cream sauces/dressings
-Avoid white bread (except sourdough...I love sourdough)
-Eggs are usually poached. I do over easy sometimes.
-Ice water. Lots of it.

So, nothing crazy in my eating habits. Just doing the best I can to work with what I got. I love food, so I try to cut down wherever I can. Another habit you must get into is weighing yourself regularly. Pick a time and the conditions and do that consistently once a week. That will give you an idea if you need to adjust your eating. In fact, think of eating as fueling and your body as a machine. Pick up on how you feel and how you weigh and tweak the fuel to maximize performance.

In the end, don't go too crazy with any eating plan. You need to have a cheat meal/day, and you need to allow yourself small mistakes. Otherwise, you'll be overwhelmed and burn out. So pick a good eating plan, couple that with a decent workout regimen, and get lean, strong, and fit!