Successful Dieting
Starting Your Diet Routine
Week 1
As mentioned before, you need to establish some basic "needs". First of all, calculate your calorific baseline as detailed on the previous page.
Then, for this week, don't change your routine. Instead, write down all that you eat everyday. Don't cheat - you are only cheating yourself. Remember to write down all the small things too - like a glass of milk before bedtime, or a mid-afternoon biscuit with your coffee.
At the end of the week, use the following websites to identify how many calories you have eaten each day.
Week 2
Do exactly the same as week 1. Record down what you eat. The purpose about the first two weeks is to understand what food you eat, and how many calories are associated with it. You would be surprised at what you find out.
Again, at the end of the week, calculate how many calories you have eaten each day.
You should now have a good idea of your average calorie intake each day.
Now you have to set yourself a daily calorie target. If you are not too far off your baseline, then I would suggest trying to knock 500 calories from your daily intake. If you are well over your daily calorific baseline, then try and cut down as much as you can to hit your baseline level. Don't worry if it's only 100 calories per day at first. Your body will get used to having less and less, and you can step up a gear later on. I keep on saying this, but it is so important - this is a long term healthy diet (or lifestyle change) - the idea is that it is small steps all the way to looking good. Nothing is for free in this world, and you do have to work at it.
Week 3 and 4
These are probably key weeks. Your mind is geared up for the challenge, and you will probably want to cut down loads. But be sensible. Keep to your daily limit. Don't go under it too much, otherwise your body will suffer the next week.
Start by cutting back on a few small items. Don't have that afternoon cake. Instead have a packet of Quavers or Snack-A-Jacks (they do contain a lot less calories). Drink plenty of water. This not only helps "fill" your stomach up, but it helps flush out your system. Have only one sugar in your tea or coffee and not two (or try a sweetener tablet instead). At this stage, you just want to take some "baby steps" in the right direction so that the whole process doesn't overwhelm you.
I would weigh yourself at the beginning of the week. Don't weigh yourself every day, but do it once a week or once a fortnight. And do it at the same time of day. I personally weigh myself on a Monday morning, before I have had breakfast. And I wear similar clothes when I weigh myself as well. Now I weigh myself around every 2-3 weeks.
Controlled weight loss doesn't happen each day. Although you are trying to hit your calorific target each day, your body adjusts itself to the calories you have eaten over a week.
As such, don't beat yourself up if you have had a bad day. Just be good over the next few days. This is so important to remember if you have been invited out somewhere and have to order from a menu, etc... (menu's tend to pile on the calories- see the section later on about eating out!). Once again, this is a sustainable diet - your eating lifestyle will change, but it doesn't mean your social lifestyle has to change as well.
Week 5 to 8
You are now into your second month of controlled weight loss. Congratulations. You are still sticking with it. Hopefully your mind set will be different. You will understand a lot more about what you eat for each meal. And you may even see some weight starting to come off already. Don't be alarmed if you don't. It took me 7 weeks before I even started to see a small amount of weight loss. Your body really does have to adjust - that is why we are doing this slowly and sustainably.
In this month, I would start to think even more about what I eat. Try and set yourself goals for each meal. Again this will vary from person to person, so below is an example of what I did, and what my wife did. The routine is yours - you have to be happy with it.
My Routine
Breakfast - 400 calories - Basically this was a bowl of cereal and some dried fruit in it or two toasts (with butter and whatever spread you like). I put the dried fruit in my cereal, as I don't like fruit and it helps towards my five a day. Cereal portions on the front of the box are normally meant to go "with something". Have you actually measured out 30g or 40g of cereal? It is not a lot. Give yourself two portions for breakfast and it will fill you up for the morning.
Lunch - 500 calories - This consisted of two rolls and a packet of snack-a-jacks. The rolls were brown wholegrain rolls (eg from Tesco or Asda) with sliced meat in. I don't like salad, but I put some rocket in as I can just about take that. It bulks it out for very few additional calories.
Dinner - 600 calories - Back to basics! Meat and two veg, Stir Fry's, Curry's, or Fajhita's. Each meal would be cooked from fresh. This way you know exactly what is going into the food and you can control the portion sizes. It's amazing how many calories are in a bottle of "curry sauce" instead of making your own with fresh onions, garlic, and spices. Cooking from fresh means you can have bigger portions for your calorie intake goal.. It's also cheaper too!
Floating - 400 calories - I left some calories "floating". This was in case I couldn't stop my afternoon "chocolate bar" raid. If I was good and didn't have a chocolate bar, it meant I could have something else in the evening. This was normally a chocolate milkshake for desert, some toast or other light snack when I got in from work, etc. It also meant if we were going out, and I was good during the day, I could have a meal from the menu without worrying too much
Daily Intake - approx 2,000 calories.
This worked for me, as I could normally go between breakfast, lunch, and dinner without snacking. My wife needs to "snack" to keep her sugar levels constant, so what follows is her routine.
My Wife's Routine
Breakfast - 300 calories - Again, some cereal or toast, but a slightly smaller portion than me.
Mid-Morning Snack - 100 calories - Banana (slowly releases energy).
Lunch - 350 calories - A single roll and some fruit (an apple or pear or grapes or strawberries).
Mid-Afternoon Snack - 100 calories - Some fruit (an apple or pear or grapes or strawberries).
After-Work Snack - 60 calories. We discovered "popcorn" by snack-a-jacks. They are only 60 calories per bag and are great for a snack that makes you think you have had something a bit more "naughtier".
Dinner - 500 calories - I just gave my wife a slightly smaller portion of whatever I had to eat.
Before Bed - 100 calories - A small glass of milk.
Daily Intake - approx 1,500 calories.
