Part 4: Decide Your Calorie Intake

Now that you understand the science behind weight loss it is time to put a weight loss plan in to action. Calculate your current TEE and your ideal weight TEE. Choose a calorie intake that will cause you to lose weight all the way down to your ideal weight.

For example: My current TEE at 90kg is 2545, my ideal weight TEE at 80kg is 2393. If I chose a calorie intake of 2300 I should lose weight all the way down to my ideal weight.

If I chose a calorie intake of 2450 my weight should stabilise around 85kg. In reality what would happen is that my weight would initially drop and then all but level out. The problem is that fat contains a huge amount of energy so if I were to eat just fifty calories less than I needed a day it would take years for me to lose my excess weight.

In order to lose weight at a pace that is noticeable it is necessary to eat well below your TEE. If you are a serial dieter then I would recommend 500 to 1000 calories below your TEE is probably the best value to choose to loose weight. At 500 calories below your TEE weight loss will be consistent (as long as you keep exercising) and moderate. For most people this means you will be eating about 1500 to 2000 calories a day. This is enough to have some fun food each day as long as you are careful.

At 1000 calories below your TEE weight loss will be substantial – around a kilogram a week. It is imperative that you exercise if you choose this level of weight loss in order to stop your body entering survival mode. It is also important that you monitor your body carefully and “listen” to it. If something is wrong your body will let you know about it and the correct course of action is to eat more. Most people should be be able to handle this level of diet physically but it requires more mental discipline as there is much less scope for fun food. At this level of food intake make sure you eat all your allowed calories each day. If you are unsure whether your body can handle this level of dieting ask a doctor.

My Diet

While I have outlined two regimes above I settled on an even tougher regime to lose weight. I don't recommend this unless you are relatively young, in perfect health and only need to lose a moderate amount of weight. At a minimum you should check your blood pressure and pulse rate before and during this diet to ensure you aren't putting your body under undue stress. My blood pressure is approximately 120/80 and my resting pulse rate about 72 so I felt it was safe. You also need to make sure you eat plenty of vegetables as you wont be eating all that much. This last point isn't generally a problem though because vegetables are are about the only really low calorie food with any flavour...

The diet I chose was 1000 calories a day plus whatever I do in exercise. So for example, if I walk three miles in the day I can eat 1300 calories that day. I settled on this method because it is a really good incentive to get up and do some exercise. If I want some fun food I walk a couple of miles or get on the rowing machine and earn the calories. The only day I don't stick to this level is Friday where I have 1500 plus exercise. I gave myself an easier day on Friday for two reasons: firstly I wanted a break at the end of the week, secondly it means that I'm less likely to miss out on any vital component in my diet if I can let my hair down a bit once a week.

I will admit up front that this diet is hard. I'm down to one good meal a day but I make sure that I eat throughout the day in order to stop my body thinking it's starving. I find that Ryvita are very good at staving off hunger during the day along with an undressed salad. In the evenings I can eat a good sized meal – the problem is that it rarely has any sauce component. The results are good though. I'm consistently losing one to one and a half kilos a week and my body fat is reducing.

One has to be exceedingly strict with oneself in order to maintain this diet. Hunger isn't really a problem – if I feel hungry I eat a Ryvita or a vegetable (and record the calories). The problem is a lack of choice and suppressing the habitual eating that I had got into. The habitual eating was a real problem in the evening which was why I chose to use most of my calories in the evening in order to try and fill myself. A partner that is willing to help you by constantly thinking up new and exciting ways of cooking a filling meal with only 600 calories is also a great help. My best find was instant mashed potato – 300 calories of instant mash can be made up in no time flat and will sate hunger for a good while.

My partner and I have talked to a few people about this diet and nearly everyone has asked the same thing: what do I not count? Nothing! With virtually no exceptions I count the calories in every single thing I eat and drink. That is the only way that you can be sure of losing weight. If you start not counting one thing you'll not count something else and before you know it you are packing away an extra 300 calories and not realizing. I say virtually everything here is a list of things that I haven't counted in the first month of this diet: herbs that I have put on my salad. The only reason I don't count the herbs is because I can't find a value for them and I felt the little used wouldn't make much of a difference. To do this diet correctly you need to count everything.

That just leaves me to wish you luck with your diet. Losing weight is possible and doesn't have to be that hard just remember: eat and exercise.