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It's not my 'right way' method, Stella. It's the method that people in the know that aren't trying to sell you something advocate. It's the method that over 3500 people in the National Weight Control Registry study have used to lose on average 32 kg (70 lbs) and have kept it off for over 6 years. And if you think I'm "dying to tell you", you're wrong. I already did in a private e-mail you sent me, and you gave me a nasty reply in return for telling you the "truth" about permanent weight loss. You don't want to hear what I have to say, or anyone else for that matter, that's going to tell you something other than what you want to hear. So no, I'm in no particular hurry to go over it again with you.
But I will. Here's the deal. You have to have starting point for any journey and you have to have a destination. The first thing you want to know is how much fat and how much lean you now carry. You might have to scrounge around to have someone measure it. Check out a local gym, sports med doctor, or dietitian or purchase an inexpensive set of calipers (less than $20) and do it yourself.
Once you know how much fat you have, you can calculate how much lean - or muscle - you have. There's a fomula you can use.
Lean Body Mass (LBM) Formula
LBM = Bodyweight X (1 - % of bodyfat as a decimal)
ie: if you weigh 150 lbs with a bodyfat of 35% then the formula becomes
LBM = 150 (1 - .35) LBM = 150 X .65 = 97.5 lbs
Now we know it's the fat you want to lower to a healthy range. Let's say our goal is to lower our bodyfat from 35% to 20% as a first goal. Again, there is a formula we can use.
Target Weight (TW) Formula
Our 150 lb individual wants to lower their bodyfat from 35%to 20%.
TW = LBM divided by (1 - desired bodyfat as a decimal)
Plugging in the numbers, that becomes 97.5 divided by (1 - .20) = 121.87 lbs
What the formula is saying is that if you train properly and eat correctly, and if you work to lowering your bodyfat percentage to around 20%, your bodyweight should drop accordingly to around 122 lbs.
Bet you've never had that explained to you like that before. Makes a lot more sense than saying I've got to lose 25 lbs. Sure, 25 lbs of what? Here you know what you're losing. If it's confusing, go over it again and crunch the numbers.
Basically you're doing everything correctly, Stella. You never mentioned this before. You're drinking plenty of water. Good. You exercise and walk an hour. Good. You eat 4 meals and don't stuff yourself. Good.
Make sure you have a nutritious breakfast. Until you get a handle on how much you're eating, it's probably wise to count calories. An alternate method is to not eat a meal that's larger than your closed fist. Nutrients should break down into a ratio of 50% good carbs, 40% protein and 10% healthy fats on your diet.
Yeah, I know. You're dying to ask me how many calories a day should I eat. Okay. Zip over to Calculator to run the numbers for your bodyweight. This is a good calculator that gives you the average of 5 different methods. In the example above, the Target Weight for the individual was 122 lbs. I'd run the calories needed at that bodyweight to get an idea of the number needed per day. In this case it would be around 1200 calories - I wouldn't go much lower than that.
Nothing is cast in stone. It's all trial and error. If at 1200 calories you're drained in the middle of the day, then you know you need to up the calories. If your weight loss is stalled, then lower them slightly. Get to know your body. A lot of people can actually increase their caloric intake by eating properly and exercising and still have the unhealthy pounds keep coming off.
If you want 50% carbs in your diet, then that's 600 calories from carbs. Carbs carry 4 calories per gram so that means you be allowed 150 grams of carbs. Protein at 40% is 480 calories and 4 calories per gram means an allowance of 120 grams of protein. Fat at 10% is 120 calories and at 9 calories per gram, is 14 grams of healthy fats.
Work out your menu based on those calculations for your bodyweight and needs. CalorieKing is a good place to get the caloric content of foods. I could suggest some sample meals, but I'll let you do some work.
Recap: Cardio, Resistance (weights), Proper Diet, Behaviour Modification (your attitudes about food. A four pronged approach that will give far greater results than diet alone.
Any of this make sense? That's the short version of the 'right way' method to lose weight.
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