Weight Control 101

Welcome to my weight loss web site, home of the free DietSheet© spreadsheet program.

Download DietSheet 2000 spreadsheet (use WinZip or uncompress)

This has two files. The first (DietSheet2000.xls) is the spreadsheet. The second file (DietSheet2000.txt) explains the new features of DietSheet 2000 relative to the original Excel 97 version.

Download DietSheet User Manual (MS Word format)

This is the manual for the original version of DietSheet. Mostly the new version is the same; the text file noted above explains the changes.

The original version of DietSheet.

Use this if you have Excel 97.

Weight Loss

How to lose weight

The truth is that people don't do these things to lose weight--they do them to avoid losing weight! These things focus the mind away from what is the real goal. The diet becomes more important than actually losing the weight.

(The more unrealistic and harsh the diet or regimen, the better--because that insures you'll give up--which is what your unconscious really wants.)

The people who write books and sell systems for weight loss love this--it's what keeps them in business. They help support the myth that weight loss is complicated.

In truth weight loss is simple. It boils down to one thing: you have to burn more calories in a day than you eat.

Further, it involves a long term lifestyle change. A crash diet isn't doing to do you much good by itself, because you can't eat that way over the long haul. What you need, what you should be doing now--today--is to develop a lifestyle that combines sensible exercise, sensible food portions, and a bit of care in selecting what you eat.

Counting calories is the first step--that's how you know what to eat and how much to eat. So, short at sweet--to lose weight you must:

1. Count how many calories you consume in a day.

2. Figure out how many calories your body needs to perform basic metabolic functions and activities of living.

3. Figure out how many calories you burned today from exercise.

Subtract 2 and 3 from 1.

• If number is positive, you've consumed that many extra calories.

• If the number is negative, you have a negative calorie balance.

Keep rough track of this balance from day to day. If you reach a net surplus (more calories consumed than needed) of 3500 calories, you've gained about a pound of fat. If you reach a negative net of about -3500 calories, you've lost about a pound.

Once you get the feel for this, you will automatically start to avoid foods that have a lot of calories but really aren't that important. For example, butter and margarine have tons of calories. A lot of times just stopping putting these on everything will bring your net calories much closer to the target range for weight loss or maintenance.

The Zone Diet (is good!)

Although most "systems" are suspect, the Zone diet, is pretty good.

Don't confuse the Zone diet with the Atkins (high protein) diet-- they're a lot different. The Zone diet is based on sensible moderation--a balance of proteins, carbohydrates on fat. Importantly, the Zone diet has a lot of real science behind it.

The bottom line is not to overdo the amount of calories you consume in the form of carbohydrates. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been pushing a high-carbohydrate diet for years--and you can see what it's produced: a lot of fat people!

The reason is because when you consume too many carbohydrates, a characteristic set of physiological things happen:

1. the carbohydrates turn rapidly to blood sugar (glucose).

2. Your brain detects the rapid rise in blood sugar

3. Your brain sends a signal to the pancreas to release insulin

4. The insulin causes cells to take the sugar out of the blood and store it as fat.

The result: a few minutes after loading up on the carbs

• you're blood sugar is low again--maybe even lower than before you ate,

• you're hungry again--maybe hungrier than before,

  and

• you're fatter!

The Zone Diet aims to mix carbohydrates, protein and fat each time you eat. It is the ideal of a "balanced diet." In addition to meeting your nutrition needs, this helps insure that you don't have a rapid rise in blood sugar after eating.

Based on some research, Barry Sears, inventor of the Zone Diet, recommends that 40% of calories come from carbohydrates, 30% come from protein, and 30% from fat. But these percentages don't have to be exact (I do fine with 33% from each source).

Consistent with the Zone Diet principles, it isn't a good idea to overdo the "fat-free" stuff. Too little fat--say, getting less than 15%--20% of your calories from fat--can cause problems: your body needs a reasonable amount of fat to function. And fat deprivation can make you feel bad.

Anyway that's the Zone Diet in a nutshell. You can read the book if you like-- it is informative, but it isn't necessary, because the principles are so simple. For more information on the web, try these links:

www.zonehome.com

www.getzoned.com.au

• Hydrate! When you think you're hungry, you might really be thirsty. People often eat for the water in food. Also, water helps the metabolic processes associated with burning fat and waste product elimination.

• Hold the mayo! Mayonaise is all fat. It can add 150 or more calories to a burger! Burger King Whopper with mayo: 680 calories. Without mayo: 530. Use something else to flavor your sandwich--like spicy mustard.

• Butter and margarine: all fat! Control portions. Better still, don't use them.

• Fallacy department: For some reason, people think they're being healthy when they use lots of salad dressing. Salad dressings, especially creamy ones, have a huge amount of fat. Read the label. Measure the amount--like 1 or 2 tablespoons. Alternatives: (1) a little oil and vinegar; (2) just red wine vinegar; (3) lemon juice.

• Weigh yourself regularly. Invest in a scale.

• If some food really tempts you, and you're going to eat it, then do it. But make sure you know how many calories it has! Breaking your diet is one thing. Fooling yourself about calories is much worse!

• Keep a measuring cup handy in the kitchen for measuring liquids and controlling portions.

• Slow weight loss is better than a crash diet. The goal is to make a sustainable lifestyle change. A crash diet doesn't do that.

• The best way to lose weight is to combine moderate exercise and moderate dieting.

• Exercise smart. Fat burning occurs best when your metabolic rate is reasonably high. When you walk or cycle, do it with enough intensity to work up a little sweat.

• Evidence suggests fat burning occurs more efficiently after the first 20 minutes of exercise. So if you stop at 20 minutes, your not getting the full benefit. For sheer fat burning, one 40 minute session is probably better than two 20 minute sessions.

• Exercise also has two indirect positive effects on weight loss: (1) aerobic exercise tends to reduce your appetite; jog in the morning and you might find that you crave food less throughout the day. And (2) exercise reduces tension--so you won't feel a need to eat as a tension-reliever!

• ...and while you're exercising you aren't eating.

• For a lot of helpful information on exercising for maximum weight loss benefits, see the Covert Bailey Fitness web site. It's fantastic and free. For an example, check his Top 25 Fitness Tips.

• Food is medicine! That's a major insight by Zone Diet inventor Barry Sears. Even small food amounts trigger profound biochemical and metabolic changes. Food affects the body as much as pharmaceuticals! So when you eat, consider it as medicine--something you do for the purpose of keeping your body in tune and operating properly.

• Around mid-afternoon many workers (me included) feel their energy sag. Company vending machines are regrettably lacking in selection: chips, candy, and that's about all. Especially, there's a lack of protein food. Solution: buy a box of nutrition bars when you grocery shop, and keep them at work for your afternoon snack.

• On the subject of fat, try to avoid "trans-fatty acids." Scientsists agree they're bad for your cells and bad for you. A big source of these bad fats is "partially hydrogenated" vegetable oils. Read the food labels to avoid that stuff.

• Nuts and olive oil are good fat sources.. Dry-roasted nuts are better for you than ones roasted in oil (see above).

rev. 18 September 2006 (updated links)