Key 5

Key 5 - Gross vs. Net Calories:

On loseit.com (or other plans such as myfitnesspal.com or anything that works for you) You will enter your current weight, your goal weight, etc. It will give you a target date and total # of calories per day to consume. If you eat that many OR LESS you will lose the targeted amount of calories it allots for per week (2# as I previously mentioned is the most it will let you target for).

It takes burning 3,500 calories to lose ONE pound. WOW that's a lot of work. BUT to speed up greater than 2# per week, there are ways to do it. Again, this will be with balance! To do it, you'll work your gross calories into net calories.  The formula to losing more than 2# per week would be something like this:

If your daily caloric intake were say 2,200 calories per day x 7 days = 15,400 calories per week (if this were your allotment - if it's less than do what loseit.com says and multiply times 7 days). Now for every 3,500 calories UNDER this 15,400 I consume, I will lose an additional pound. HOWEVER, don't forget - balance! You don't want to go to low on your calories and food intake b/c when you ever change and eat more, you're going to put your weight back on (usually and then some).  If consuming 15,400 calories/week means you should be able to lose 2# that week, if you go under by 3,500 calories, you should be able to lose 3. What can cause this to not be true? We'll get to that shortly.

So, how do we make this work without going too low on our caloric intake? One thing to do is go under the goal (safely) some and then burn off some.  #1 you want to remember to eat today the way you'll eat when you're at your target goal weight. So first thing, play with the weight tool in your loseit.com app. Record the weight as your goal weight. It will give you what it thinks your app. caloric intake will be - now remember to put your current weight back in! =)  Ok so if your goal weight says you'll eat 500 calories less per day then what you're allotted for at your current weight, try to eat around that many calories. If you're over some but still within what you're currently allotted for, that's ok. Remember, every 3,500 calories you're under, it's a pound lost. If you eat at the goal minus half of the 3,500 (1,750) you'll lose 2.5# for the week (make sense?).

Ok #2 Net calories - to get your net calories, you'll want to incorporate exercise. Again, balance. You'll also want to do a regimen that you can maintain after you reach your goal weight. If you haven't been exercising, you'll need to start with stretches and conditioning your muscles. Then start walking. Then you can add going to the gym or stair climbing or something that works for you. Another tool I love to use is a tool that helps you to more accurately figure your calories burned. It is:  http://www.healthstatus.com/calculate/cbc

So to get net calories, if you consumed 1,810 calories today and you did 10 minutes of stretching and burned say 110 calories, then walked for 20 minutes and burned say 160 calories, then did an elliptical for 15 minutes and burned say 370 calories, you will have burned 640 calories. Your gross calories consumed was 1,810, subtract calories burned: 1,810-640 = 1,170 NET calories for the day. =) 

It is important to have those gross calories and to have them in balance (I'm going to "Preach" balance all the time!) Balance gives you the fuel you need when you exercise. Balance gives you the tools to maintain a practical sense of weight loss; if you're at a party, just want say a burger & fries, a milk shake, mom's homemade cookies or pie, etc. that balance will mean when you do have something from time to time, you won't put on 20# for one days indulgence!  I can say this with experience.  You might not lose for that day, but you will maintain. Now if you start eating burgers, fries, shakes and mom's apple pie every day, you'll be sure to put the weight back on. This balance means eating good most of the time and enjoying some times. 

When you balance your exercise, your body realizes what becomes norm. Don't try to over do to lose weight quickly. If you can't maintain that (again, experience speaking here!) you'll be sure to put that weight back on, and likely then some.  Do what you feel you can maintain when you are at your goal weight! If you have a week here and there when you can do more, great - do it! Just don't do, do, do, now, then get to your goal weight, and no longer do, do, do, and expect it to stay of. BALANCE my friend and you'll win in the end! =)

Ok so real quickly - how my day is looking so far for food/calories: Breakfast - Oatmeal (McDonalds) 290 calories, Coffee with cream (no sugar) 44 calories. Snack, LIGHT yogurt 90 calories & I put a scoop of protein in it, mixed it real good and ate it that way (yum) 200 calories (there are protein powders with less calories but this is the only one *I* like), green smoothie for lunch - 334 calories, and a beef steak stick - 60 calories. Not sure what we're doing for dinner right now lol - my loseit app says I'm at 958 calories. My dinner will be around 500 calories - 600 would be max and not likely. But even so, I'm still under my allotment for the day in gross calories. At 600 I'd be at 1,558 calories. I'll be taking a walk tonight and will burn likely 400 calories. My NET calories for the day will be 1,158 calories (give or take) when all is said and done. =)

I have more keys and important information to avoid being a yo-yo'er and I will post more as I go. I'll also share more of my intake as we go so I can help you to see my habbits and food ideas in case you need more ideas.

Blessings my dear friends. Please share any thoughts, questions, etc. We're in this together and we're here for you!

<3 MommaKat