Losing Weight Might Be Easier Than You Think

If you want to know how to lose weight, there is no need to go searching the internet for diets fads and trendy weight loss programs. The truth is that all successful weight loss plans use essentially the same method. Of course, each diet guru and celebrity trainer puts a creative spin on it - which is why you see so many books and programs on the market. But the bottom line is that weight loss is determined by energy balance. And if you can change your energy balance you can lose weight.

How to Lose Weight with Energy Balance
Experts in the medical field, registered dietitians and health coaches agree that there is one way to lose weight. Don't waste any more time than you need to. Master the principle of energy balance to slim down once and for all.

Most people don’t think of their weight loss journey as a math problem. But in many ways, it is. There is a simple equation behind every successful diet, every successful weight loss program and every get-slim-quick plan. It’s called your energy balance. And if you can get your numbers to tilt in the right direction, you’ll lose weight and get the body you want.

What is Energy Balance?

Energy balance is simply the relationship between your energy input and your energy output.

The equation looks like this:

Energy Balance = Energy input – energy output

Sounds reasonable, right? To figure out your energy balance you need to gather a few numbers.

How Do I Input Energy?

We input energy in the form of kilocalories, or "calories." Calories are simply a unit of energy or heat. The food we eat and the drinks we consume provide different levels of energy, or calories. Protein and carbohydrate each provide 4 calories per gram, and fat provides 9 calories per gram.

One of the best ways to start a weight loss program is to determine your current level of energy input or caloric intake so that you can make adjustments to your energy balance. A typical woman may consume anywhere from 1200 to 2500 calories per day depending on her size, activity level and lifestyle factors.

What is My Energy Output?

Energy output happens when your body uses energy. We often refer to this as "burning” calories. Even when you’re sleeping, your body uses energy to perform basic functions like breathing and circulating blood.

You also expend energy during activities of daily living, like washing dishes or shopping, and of course, through physical exercise. These activities make up about 15-30% of your total calorie burn each day. The last 5-10% of calories are burned through the thermic effect of food, when you eat and digest meals and snacks.

There are different ways to calculate the number of calories you burn each day. Many people use one or two methods to determine the most accurate number.

Tip the Scales to Lose Weight

If your energy input and your energy output are perfectly balanced, you won’t lose weight. A perfect energy balance creates a stable weight. To change your weight you need to tip the scales so that they are no longer balanced.

A positive energy balance occurs when your energy input is greater than your energy output. That is, you eat more calories than your body needs. Your body stores excess energy or calories as fat. This results in weight gain.

Weight gain = energy input > energy output

Weight loss occurs when you create a negative energy balance. That is, you burn more calories than you consume. When this imbalance occurs, your body burns stored energy in order to function and you lose weight.

Weight loss = energy input < energy output

When you evaluate your own energy balance, it's best to get the numbers as accurate as possible. Small differences in energy input and energy output can make a big difference in your weight.

Calculate Your Own Energy Balance

Are you ready to calculate your own energy balance? Here are two sample equations to use as a guide.

Dieter #1: Megan

Calories consumed each day: 2000

Calories burned each day: 1750

2000 (energy input) - 1750 (energy output) = 250 calories

Megan has a positive energy balance of 250 calories per day. That doesn't sound like much. But over the course of a week, her estimated balance would be 1750 calories or enough to gain a half pound of weight.

Dieter #2: Carol

Calories consumed each day: 1800

Calories burned each day: 2050

1800 (energy input) - 2050 (energy output) = -250 calories

Carol has a negative energy balance of 250 calories. Over the course of a week, her body will need to burn 1750 calories of stored fat to meet its needs and she will lose roughly one half pound of weight.

If the Math is Simple, Why is Weight Loss So Hard?

So if weight loss is just a simple equation, then why is it so difficult to lose weight? Because there are many factors that affect both your energy input and your energy output. Things like your medical status, your age and your mood affect your energy balance equation every day. Weight loss is a simple equation, but finding the right balance requires a little bit more work.

If you are at the beginning of your weight loss journey, or if you are questioning your current diet and exercise plan, the energy balance equation is a perfect place to start. You don't need to buy fancy tools or invest in an expensive weight loss program. Try to make some changes on your own. Evaluate the factors that affect your caloric intake and caloric output. You have control over some factors (like activity level) and no control over others (age, gender). Simply change what you can to tilt the scales of your energy balance equation and reach your weight loss goals.

Most people gain over a long period of time and this is how we differ from our ancient ancestors; they would eat as they needed energy and only as much as they needed to go on. Before there was money and jobs, people only worried about survival. Man was part of the food chain and were being hunted by large animals like we hunt animals today. They were constantly on the move burning energy and eating mostly roots and fruit during the day also hunting for small game that they could eat at night. Man was eating by instinct like wild animals do. If you have ever noticed, animals in the wild always maintain a perfect body weight. But domestic animals that live with us will gain too much weight and end-up with all the diseases that man has; cancer, obesity, joint problems and other illnesses. Animals in the wild will stay healthy except for injuries.

What are we doing wrong, what happened? Thin people like a marathon runner will burn his energy first and then eat something to replace that energy. He will use up all he has before he eats to replace it. We are eating before we need the energy or calories and then we try to burn all those calories we ate. We are working backwards and that's why we can't win. When you eat the calories first you will probably never burn all the calories you ate. And you never burn the body fat because your first burning the new calories you just ate. I hope that makes sense to you.

Losing weight for me works best if I have an energy shake in the morning, first thing, then workout, then eat a high-protein breakfast after the workout. I prefer ham and eggs or greek yogurt and fruit. High-protein breakfast cut my cravings and I don't even think about food until lunch.

Think about your diet this way. If your hungry two hours after you eat then you didn't eat the right food. Cravings are the way your body tells you that it needs nutrition, but you have to decide what kind. If you decide wrong you will have more cravings and this will continue on until your body get what it needs. Meanwhile you're adding pounds. Be smart about what you eat and you'll eat less and spend less money.

Do Americans Eat And Drink Too Much Sugar?

This article explains a lot about why some people have trouble dieting. 

Sugar and the sugar substitutes used in foods used are the biggest

problem we have trying to lose weight. 

By Rita Rubin, Reviewed by Hansa D. Bhargava, MD 

On average, Americans get about 16% of their daily calories from added sugars, according to the FDA. Earlier this year, the agency proposed changing the Nutrition Facts Label to tease out added sugars from the total sugar content in foods and drinks.

On a 2,000-calorie-a-day diet, 10% of calories from added sugar represents an amount equal to a dozen teaspoons right out of the sugar bowl -- not that people are dumping that much sugar on top of their breakfast cereal or into their lattes.

Naturally occurring sugars in whole foods such as fruit are of no concern,  but “added sugars probably matter more than dietary sodium for hypertension, and fructose in particular may uniquely increase cardiovascular [heart and blood vessel] risk.” Dietary guidelines should shift focus away from salt and more toward added sugars, he writes.

A typical 20-ounce bottle of sugar-sweetened soda has 15-18 teaspoons’ worth of sugar, although you might not see that word on the label. Other names for added sugars include high-fructose corn syrup, fruit juice concentrate, molasses, honey, and sucrose.

Even foods that you wouldn’t think of as sweet have added sugar, often in the form of high-fructose corn syrup. In the U.S., this ingredient “is in a lot more foods than you realize,” such as ketchup, mustard, and bread, says Jill Kanaley, PhD. She's a professor of nutrition and exercise physiology at the University of Missouri. High-fructose corn syrup is a preservative, giving packaged foods a longer shelf life, and it plays a role in color and texture, Kanaley says.

Sipping Sugar

Why should Americans cut back on sweetened foods and drinks? The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee’s working group on added sugars says there's strong scientific evidence that added sugars, especially sugar-sweetened drinks, raise the risks of excess weight and obesity, as well as type 2 diabetes. The group also found “moderate” evidence connecting added sugars to high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke, along with tooth decay.

The American Heart Association recommends even stricter limits on added sugars -- no more than 150 calories a day for men, 100 for women-- than the dietary guidelines working group. The main reason for restricting added sugars is because they're a major contributor to obesity, according to the group’s scientific statement on dietary sugars and heart health.

“Soda and other sugar-sweetened beverages are unlike most things in the diet in that they provide nothing of value, but are major drivers of diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and other health problems,” Michael Jacobson, PhD, said in a statement issued after the last meeting of the 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee. Jacobson is the director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI). “It’s encouraging to see the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee use such strong language recommending reduced consumption of those beverages.”

The scientific community is beginning to realize that when it comes to sugars, all calories are not created equal, he says. Studies have shown that different sugars have different effects on metabolism.

Simply switching from sugar-sweetened soft drinks to watercould make a big difference, he says. “Soda’s not just calories. It’s calories in liquid form. The body doesn’t seem to compensate as well.”

In other words, if you scarf down a late-afternoon snack of a cookie with 150 calories’ worth of added sugar, chances are you might not eat quite as much at dinner. But a glass of soda that packs 150 calories of added sugar won’t stick to your ribs the same way as that cookie, so you won’t eat less to compensate for those empty calories, Jacobson says.

“There’s so much evidence on soda, because it’s kind of the easiest thing to test,” he says. “It’s pure sugar water, and it’s very widely consumed.” In February 2013, CSPI petitioned the Food and Drug Administration to determine safe limits on sweeteners used in soft drinks.

The Obesity Link

The effect of added sugars on health is a subject of ongoing debate, though. Just a week before the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee met in December, speakers at a conference entitled “Advances & Controversies in Clinical Nutrition,” sponsored by the American Society for Nutrition and the Tufts University School of Medicine, downplayed sugar as a major cause of obesity.

James Rippe, MD, a cardiologist who helped organize and spoke on the panel about sugar and health, acknowledged that “it’s not an unreasonable thing to limit sugar,” because it can cause weight gain.

But added sugars are the least of the obesity problem, Rippe said. From 1970 to 2010, he said, the average number of calories Americans took in daily rose by 474, but only 39 of those extra calories come from any type of added sugar.

But “if you try to say something positive about sugars, God help you, the mommy bloggers will kill you,” he said.

Rippe is a professor of biomedical sciences at the University of Central Florida, and he's the founder of the Rippe Lifestyle Institute in Celebration, FL.

Fructose is the sugar in fruit, vegetables, and honey. Although population-based research has linked the obesity epidemic to eating and drinking more high-fructose corn syrup, a link doesn’t prove cause and effect, Rippe says.

“I think you could point to a lot of things” that occurred at the same time that use of high-fructose corn syrup and obesity trended upward in the U.S., Kanaley says. More reliance on technology and less exercise could be one explanation for the obesity epidemic, she says.

But, Jacobson points out, obesity rates have nearly plateaued at the same time that the total amount of sales of caloric sweeteners has leveled off.

Even so, he says, “too many people are adding a ton of calories from soda. It is the only food or beverage that’s been demonstrated in clinical studies to cause weight gain.”

Is The Time I Eat Really Important?

Watching when you eat, without necessarily changing what or how much, may yield big health benefits, including weight loss.

Although more research is needed, intriguing new findings in people and mice suggest that eating within a strict 8- to 12-hour time frame each day changes metabolism at the genetic level, lowering blood sugar and body weight, even without cutting calories.

Scientists think the changes may be powerful enough to lower the risks for cancer, heart disease, dementia, and diabetes.

The latest study on this phenomenon, called time-restricted eating, looked at the link between meal timing and blood sugar control in more than 2,200 women. The average age of women in the study was 47, and the average body mass index (BMI) was 28, making them overweight, but not Obese.

Poor blood sugar control is a risk factor for diabetes and cancer, among other things. Blood sugar that swings wildly before and after eating indicates that the body isn’t very sensitive to insulin, the hormone that signals cells to take in calories from food. That means more insulin has to be released from the pancreas to get the blood sugar into cells. The trouble is that extra insulin doesn’t just impact blood sugar. It also promotes the growth of cells -- including cancer cells. And over time, the body can’t keep up with the demand for more and more insulin. When that happens, blood sugar levels climb dangerously high, leading to diabetes.

The women in the study reported what and when they ate and gave blood samples. Researchers could see how high their blood sugar climbed after meals and how steady their blood sugar had stayed over the previous 2 to 3 months. About half the women reported not eating or drinking anything for at least 12 hours, from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., for example. The other half fasted for less than 12 hours, eating both early and late.

“What we found, in general, [is] that women who fasted for longer nightly intervals had better blood sugar control than those who didn’t fast as long, and that was independent of other eating behaviors such as how many calories women were eating,” says study researcher Catherine Marinac, a doctoral candidate in public health at the University of California at San Diego.

It's a very interesting study of eating behavior and not calories. The whole idea of fasting everyday for 12 hours and not really watching your diet is very interesting. I'd like to see more research done on this. Maybe this is really the way to lose weight.

Why Can't We Lose Weight?

Typically we all have similar problems that keep us from losing weight. We start out with good intentions but after time we tend to fall into one of the three categories listed below. 

1. "All or None" Mindset
Many people adopt and hold true to the mindset of PERFECTIONISM or "All or None". This mindset shows itself in numerous ways, but most often, it rears its ugly head during conflict. Many clients I have had are OK as long as everything is going well. Their choices are sound, their thinking is pure and their mood is good. However, as soon as one area of life causes stress this creates a spiral of negative thinking and their mindset goes from "I am in control" to "This isn't working, I quit!" The stress could be a work conflict or poor food choice or a missed exercise session.
The "All or None" mindset makes it difficult to maintain success because the thought process relies on Perfection. A better plan is to understand that negative situations happen to everyone and will happen to you on occasion. Learn to handle stress with a proper perspective and the ability to understand that every choice counts towards achieving your goal or to delay it.

2. Failing to Plan
A second pitfall I often see is that many people do not plan their meals or workouts. We wait for motivation to strike before we act. This is the opposite of what needs to be done to gain success.
You must schedule your workouts as a "non-negotiable priority" and attend these important appointments with yourself. You must plan and schedule your meals in advance. If you wait until you get hungry to think about what you are going to eat you increase your risk of making poor food choices and eating items that are not in your plan. This may lead to a loss of control (see "All or None").

3. Lacking Consistency
Often, individuals begin a plan when they become distressed about something (health, appearance and/or fitness), making multiple drastic changes at once, in an all-out effort to achieve as much as possible as quickly as possible. Generally, repeating mistakes from their recent past.
When you attempt this method in addition to the busy schedule you may already have, you can become overwhelmed and may cease a few of the more important acts of attaining your goal. Consistency is accomplished by placing priority on the actions that are most vital for your desired outcome and continuing these actions. You cannot get to your goals with a "tomorrow" attitude.

So, what's the answer, how can I be successful at losing weight. The same way you succeed in your job or business. You never stop trying and never give-up. If your not succeeding your just doing it wrong and you need to start over and make a new plan. There's a hundred different  diets to lose weight and none of them work for everyone. You have to find one that works for you.

New USDA Dietary Guidelines

U.S. dietary guidelines, the government’s benchmark for balanced nutrition, have changed. Nutrition experts now provide different dietary recommendations including scrapping high-cholesterol foods and the 300-milligram-a-day cholesterol limitation.

The guidelines endorse a diet that includes limited amounts of meat and suggest more plant-based foods and seafood. Diet should include fruits, vegetables and whole grains while limiting salt intake and saturated fat.

This is an important change , the government has actually gotten on the same page as a lot of diet gurus. I think we'll be seeing some changes now and in the future on labeling of packaged foods, school lunches, and other institutional meal programs and also restaurant menus. All the changes will take time, but I think public pressure has finally taking over. Personally, I want to see better labeling on foods. Some foods still have no nutrition labels and I still see menus with almost no nutritional information. Restaurants in particular use sauces and creams which make it difficult to estimate nutritional value. I can't help but think that it's done on purpose. Some entries you order can't be served without the sauces. I would rather see menu items that can be ordered with or without. Then list the nutritional value of the sauces separate from the entrée.

How to lose weight and keep it off:

The new guidelines:

Eat breakfast every day (instead of just having a cup of coffee or tea)

Eat smaller meals more often (instead of a large lunch and larger dinner)
Eat fish 2 or 3 times a week (instead of just red meat)
Eat blueberries or strawberries (instead of just pie, cake, cookies, and candy)
Eat heart-healthy nuts like almonds, walnuts, pecans, and Brazil nuts
Eat more vegetables like tomatoes, broccoli, carrots and Brussels sprouts
Eat more slowly, taking at least 1/2 hour for each meal

For information on the Mediterranean Diet look at the pages listed on my first webpage.

Drink More Coffee--Live Longer

A National Institutes of Health study found that older coffee drinkers, even those who drink decaf, have a lower risk of death than those who don't drink coffee, and people who drink more coffee actually live longer and have a reduced risk of diseases like Alzheimer;s and diabetes. Coffee is the largest source of antioxidants in our diet--even more than fruits and vegetables combined. To achieve these benefits you must drink 4-5 cups of coffee per day. Drinking more than 5 cups does not improve your benefits.

Drink More Water

5 glasses of water a day (or as much as you can)
Drinking water at a certain time maximizes its effectiveness on the body
2 glasses of water after waking up - helps activate internal organs
1 glass of water 30 minutes before a meal - helps digestion
1 glass of water before taking a bath - helps lower blood pressure
1 glass of water before going to bed - helps avoid stroke or heart attack

Eat More Vegetables

The U.S. advisory panel revamping the government's dietary guidelines recommend Americans eat at least 3 cups of dark green vegetables like broccoli or spinach; 2 cups of orange vegetables like carrots and squash; 3 cups of legumes like lentils and chickpeas; 6 cups of starchy vegetables like potatoes, corn and green beans; and 7 cups of other vegetables like tomatoes, onions and lettuce.

Addressing weight loss, the advisory panel wrote: "The healthiest way to reduce calorie intake is to reduce one's intake of added sugars, solid fat and alcohol - they all provide calories, but they do not provide essential nutrients." Living longer and having a better quality of life is a subject addressed by countless experts and non-experts alike.

Medical Disclaimer: This information is not intended to substitute for the advice of a physician.

Want To Live A Long Healthy Life?

If someone told you there really is a fountain of youth, would you believe him? What if it was one of the world’s leading cancer doctors? David Agus, MD, says you can live longer, stave off disease and feel younger than you ever thought possible if you follow his advice. Dr. Agus teamed up with Mehmet Oz, MD, to share these longevity-boosting tips.

Tip # 1: Automate Your Life
We all have busy schedules, and sticking to a routine can be difficult. But Agus says automating things like when you go to sleep, eat meals and exercise can add years to your life. According to Agus, it doesn’t matter how many meals you eat -- it could be three or even five -- as long as you eat them at the same time each day. Why? Eating meals at different times causes your body to go into stress mode, which raises cortisol levels, says Dr. Oz. High levels of cortisol lead to spikes in insulin, which causes inflammation and can increase the risk of cancer.

“If you want to live a longer, healthier life, schedule it,” says Agus.

Tip # 2: Pop This Pill Daily
You don’t have to wait for a headache to take an aspirin. Agus suggests you ask your doctor about taking this powerful anti-inflammatory pill once a day. Studies have shown that daily aspirin reduces the risk for heart attacks and strokes as well as for dying from common cancers, including colon, prostate, brain, lung and pancreatic cancer.

Aspirin therapy isn’t for everyone, so talk with your doctor before you start.

Tip #3: Stand Up
Sitting all day could be worse for your health than smoking cigarettes, says Agus. “Women seem to be more severely affected by inactivity than men,” he adds. A recent study found that women who sat for six or more hours a day were 40 percent more likely to die during the 13-year study than those who sat fewer than three hours a day.

“Bursts of exercise is not the answer; 2 hours of exercise per day will not compensate for 22 hours of sitting,” says Agus. He suggests finding ways to move more during the day. Take the stairs instead of the elevator and pace when you’re talking on the phone. When you’re watching TV, don’t just sit there. Cook, fold laundry, empty the dishwasher or march in place. I have a stationary bike that I ride when I watch TV. If you have a desk job, make sure you get up and move every 30 minutes.

“Medicine can’t do it alone,” says Agus. “Patients need to take matters into their own hands -- and only then can we end illness and enjoy the fountain of youth.”

20 Minutes a Day to Younger Muscles

Just 20 minutes of this stuff a day can help keep your muscles young. We're talking about exercise.

Yep, the timeless physique is just minutes away. It appears that, regardless of age, 20 minutes may be all the daily exercise needed to somehow reverse age-related decline in muscle stem cells, those master cells critical to new muscle growth.

20 Minutes to Youth
Remember Jack LaLanne, the country's first uberfit exercise guru who lived to the ripe old age of 96? Turns out he was really on to something. But don't worry. You probably don't have to become an exercise fanatic like Jack to keep your muscles regenerating as you grow older. In an animal study, just 20 minutes on a treadmill 6 days a week was enough to bestow up to triple the number of stem cells produced in the test subjects. And those extra stem cells are likely behind the subsequent jump in new muscle fibers and additional muscle mass that those test subjects experienced as well. One other benefit: The older rats in the study also exhibited an uptick in "spontaneous locomotion" — a naturally occurring increase in their physical activity levels. 

Exercise has turned back the clock

It's not clear exactly how exercise increases the number of stem cells in muscle, but stem cells normally remain dormant in adults until a muscle injury or some other event triggers the stem cells to crank out new muscle fibers to replace damaged or dead ones. Exercise may work the same way, increasing stem cells and enhancing their capacity to renew old muscle tissue. 

I prefer to use a stationary bike because of my knee problem but I agree with everything and I also do some Yoga to stay flexible and give me better balance.