For some time now, various people have been asking me to document what I did to lose roughly 50 pounds last year. I've been planning to get around to writing it up it sooner or later, but later just never came.
Enough of that procrastination! Today is my 32nd birthday and roughly one year ago today, I wrote the following a few days after my 31st:
Every January people make New Year's Resolutions that they end up breaking. It was with that in mind that I spent a month trying to figure out what I wanted to do. Around that time I ran across both The Hacker's Diet and Jeff Sandquist's tale of weight loss and finally convinced myself to take it seriously.
I set a goal for myself to drop 30 pounds by my birthday.
Of course, I also promised that I'd write it up back then too.
I intend to write up the process in a bit more detail in the coming weeks. Several people have asked me how I do it and what the spreadsheet looks like. I'm happy to share it as soon as I clean it up a bit.
Heh.
Well, consider this my attempt to finally deliver on that promise. This week I'll publish a series of short articles that explain the simple plan and the various tactics I used to drop nearly 50 pounds (or 5 belt inches and one shirt size) in the course of last year.
The advice I'll give isn't likely to be all that different that what you might read elsewhere, but the combination is what worked well for me. Hopefully it'll motivate a few more people to do the same. I learned a lot about my habits and behavior in the process and suspect that much of it applies to most people who are struggling with extra pounds.
What You Need To Know
Before getting into specifics, there are a few things worth mentioning about the plan I'll present:
- Small changes have a major impact on weight loss because they're compounded over time. It's just like saving for retirement. The sooner you start doing just a little bit every day, the better off you'll be.
- Anyone can do this. Anyone.
- The process is self-reinforcing once you start to see real results. That means you need to commit to a month--a very difficult month. After that first month, though, it's easy. And the more weight you have to lose, the easier it is.
- During that first month, you'll be developing three new habits. Only one of them is likely to conflict with an existing habit. The other two will consume maybe 5 minutes of your daily routine.
If you're seriously thinking about trying to lose weight, give it a shot. This is one of the easiest non-fad and non-gimmick plans you'll run across, mostly because the "plan" is very simple and tangible. It's not quite "the simplest thing that could possibly work" but it sure comes close.
How many pounds do you want to lose?
Next installments:
Posted by jzawodn at June 04, 2006 07:14 AM
Happy Birthday!
Thanks in advance for posting the advice, this last nine months has been tough on my middle.
Congratulations Jeremy! That is a great birthday present to give yourself.
I'm sure your writing will inspire many people to make healthy changes to their lifestyle. And that is a great present to give to your readers.
I've lost about 90 pounds since last November. One of the users on my site has lost more than 90 pounds since 01/26/2006. But the average weekly weight loss is about 1.5 pounds per week.
And 1.5 pounds per week is plenty. It takes a long time to gain 50 extra pounds. In my case it took me over 8 years to gain about 120 pounds. That means I only ate about 136 calories too many each day. That is less than one regular can of pop. Or one banana. Or one half cup of vanilla ice cream.
To lose that 120 pounds I could've cut just 140 calories from what I was eating on average. It would've taken me 8 years to lose the weight, but it would have happened. Like you say, small changes can make a huge difference. And anyone can lose weight. You don't need a gimmick, you just need to educate yourself and pay attention. That is second nature to most geeks so it should be especially easy for us.
If you'd like to see some real life examples of people losing weight on The Hacker's Diet then check out the list of public users on my site:
http://www.physicsdiet.com/PublicProfiles.aspx
I can't wait to read more about your success.
Matt Griffith
http://blog.physicsdiet.com
I'm doing the same thing, spreadsheet and all, centered around exercise. I started with the classic Dr. Ken Cooper Aerobics program. I used that program when I was a teenager, and I was always astonished at the low rate of progress in ramping up your exercise levels. The program was designed for sedentary middle-aged men, and judging from the slow progress, I couldn't believe anyone could let themselves get so out of shape. But now I know how it happens, it just creeps up on you when you're not paying attention.
Cooper says that you should start with exercise first, if you go on a starvation diet your body just tries to adapt and get more calories out of the little food you eat, it tries to maintain your existing weight. So they suggest starting a diet after you're into the exercise routine a little ways, but eventually you'll have to do it.
I dove into the program, doing the 12 week ramp up from slow walking to jogging to running, all you need is a stopwatch and a measured distance to run. I went a little faster than the program recommended, I foolishly figured I wasn't quite in so bad a shape as the average guy the program was designed for. I didn't lose a single pound until about 6 weeks in, when I lost 4 pounds in 1 week. Then just as I was starting to jog 2 minutes out of every 15 walking, WHAM I got bursitis in my knee and I could hardly even stand up. I guess I should have stuck to the original program, I over-exercised. Further aggravating the problem, I used his original 1960s book, the point system was reevaluated in the 1980s and was significantly changed, I was working way too hard according to the new numbers. Oops.
So after 3 months downtime for healing and physical therapy to strengthen my knee (and about $1500 in unreimbursed medical expenses) I'm back on the program, but much more conservatively, and using the new points system. I'm losing weight again, but to avoid further knee problems, I have to do 60 minutes of fast walking to get the exercise I'd get from 20 minutes running, and my knee is holding up fine. I'll probably join a gym soon and start using a treadmill, which is lower impact and would allow me to run without knee problems.
Since the Cooper Aerobics program is based on a formula, you have to get a certain number of "aerobics points" each week, I'm doing it all on a spreadsheet. I wish I was better at spreadsheets, I haven't been a real expert in that stuff since the days of VisiCalc and MS Multiplan (and my sheets look like it too). I chart a running average of my daily points, and a trend line to show if my points are trending up or down, and a track of my weight with trend line. The only thing that would make this easier would be the new Nike+iPod gadget, it's perfect for this exercise program, but alas, Nike doesn't make compatible shoes in my size (13EEEE).
I'll be interested to see your diet sheets, Jeremy, as I'm just about to add that into my program. I figure that with a good exercise program, you don't have to be so strict on your diet, and I was eating fairly healthily all along, but it all adds up. And there is no better diet incentive than exercise, with every step you say to yourself, "oh man I wish I wasn't towing all this extra weight, this would be so much easier!"
Jeremy,
As I enter Geezerhood, I could stand to drop 100 pounds.
I expect that I will have a much harder tim losing than you did.
I'll be very interested in learning your method.
BTW, you look damned good at your new "old" weight, congratulations!
Jeremy:
Myself, many friends, and co-workers have successfully used Calorie King (think Quicken for food intake) to educate, monitor, and record the food we eat. I highly recommend taking a look at it. There's a trial version on their website:
I'll second Matt's recommendation for PhysicsDiet.com. It's just like maintaining the Hacker's Diet spreadsheets, but easier because someone else has done all the setup work for you! Plus you get the benefit of pretty graphs, weekly summaries, and a community of like-minded people to share the journey with.
Congratulations on making it to 32 ... Happy Birthday!
I'm trying to drop 15 pounds to bring my BMI to 24.9 and looking forward to your approach.
Congratulations! Have a wonder birthday and a great time ahead!
And thanks for the tip. I've put up some tire around my waist as well. Looking forward to trimming it down! :)
Happy Birthday Jeremy.
I'll also be turning 32 next month and am working on a long term weight loss plan which, mixed with my 6'5 mountain man frame, weight training and trying to satisfy my palette for the temptations of rich coconut milk based International Cuisine, is slowly taking effect on the scale (somewhere around 35 pounds now) but the changes in clothing size, belts, and even shoe width is quite encouraging.
Looking forward to your insight and accounts.
Loren
I'm ahead of you by a few months... started at Captain 173, and am now Captain 145. Just Yahoo for those terms (of course, its index is still a bit out of date). I lost it with CalorieKing and the Xbox 360, largely.
How does that put you ahead, Chris?
I lost 50 pounds last year.
Good work!
By coincidence I've just started the Hacker's Diet a week ago... love the Palm graph, thinking about porting it to the web (along with my little calorie journal app) (hate Excel...)
Thanks for udertaking a friendlier explanation of it. I plowed through the original, though skimmed some of the math...I mean, as long as I'm NOT yet coding my own version, and can grasp the "weighted average" concept, there's no reason to dwell on that... but my Aunt found the original very intimidating and endlessly geeky. It is pretty verbose relative to the simplicity of the idea it presents!
Awesome! This will come in handy. I've lost some weight on the "eat less, exercise more" plan already, this is really cool. Thanks for posting it!
yeah - i dropped 45 pounds in 6 months on the hacker's diet. it truly is about just recalibrating your psychological expectations. and yes, small changes compounded over long periods represent a lot of weight. like not having M&Ms every day at work: 240cal*25wk*5days=7 pounds right there.
Though I admittedly gave your system only a cursory reading, it sounds quite a bit like the Weight Watchers system. Full disclosure: I used to work for WW.com, my wife works there now. More disclosure: I hated working there. Neverthless, the system works. It assigns points to your meals based on calories, fat, and fiber content; and it assigns you a target number of points per day. You can earn extra points through exercise. Their points database is extensive -- I should know because I spent many hours inputting crap into the database -- so translating food into points value is easy. And then the rest is willpower.
But it comes down to this: eat less, exercise more. It's the hardest thing in the world to do.
Great work on the site man. It's great you met/exceeded your goals and hopefully by sharing your story it will motivate and inspire others. I personally have lost almost 50lbs over the past couple months and my strategy shares much in common with yours. I also exercise 3-5 times a week, the additional muscle I've added lets me enjoy some extra calories (the whole muscle burns more energy than fat).
Everyone who reads this just remember stick with it! Jeremy touches on making it through the first month, after that it really truly is MUCH easier.
Love it. :) Your methods for losing weight remind me of my Happy Slob methods of cleaning - bit by bit and that little efforts add up over time.
Thanks for a great blog.
Christina
Hey, thanks for posting this. I started the Hacker's Diet a month ago and have lost 6 pounds. Thanks for the inspiration!!!!
I've found that certain foods will trigger my "full" response, but others will not - in particular, sugar (as in soda pop) will almost never trigger it, so I can keep gulping, and gulping....
"#" - your fullness response is related to how the body reacts differently to fructose vs glucose. Knowing this can really inform your food choices, especially when you're running on a calorie deficit and feeling hungry a lot.
In a nutshell, fructose (which is the sugar in corn syrup, your soda's main sweetener) doesn't stimulate the production of insulin or leptin, which contribute to your feeling of fullness and your metabolism.
This means that foods sweetened with non-fructose sweeteners will make you feel fuller for the same "calorie cost." Sucrose breaks down in the body into roughly equal parts glucose and fructose, as I understand it.
Putting on my amateur economist hat, fructose has great benefits for the food industry: it is cheaper, it tastes sweeter by volume, and because it doesn't make you feel full, you'll consume more -- which is good for their business but bad for your waistline and your pocketbook. :)
A good technical read on this is at the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition:
http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/full/79/4/537
Wikipedia also has some great info on sucrose, fructose
and leptin.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leptin
my wife joena wants to lose weight what are some things you can tell me.
Bob:
Tell her to read this series of articles, maybe? Or is that too obvious?
Hey Jeremy,
I would like to thank you for creating this webpage. The first time I visited your page I thought that I could not meet my goals, but as you adviced I took a step and bought myself an elliptical (proform 675 from sears) and did my homework... like eating carefully (about <2000 calories a day) and working out on my elliptical for an hour. I can burn 1000 calories in an hour and its just like a piece of cake for me now. Its been 45 days (missed 4 days) now since I started working out and I see that I lost 20 pounds. I plan to to lose maybe 15~20 more pounds to be in great shape for my height. I will update this page once I meet my target.
My main contributers were, beer, rice, icecream, milkshakes, candy, fastfood, junk snacks (especially chips) and lots more. I just eat strawberries, watermelon and mango's instead of them and it feels great.
For the new dieters reading this, I would say all you need is self control, motivation and the spirit to get on the machine and workout everyday. I enjoy all the comments I get now from people I meet and it really feels good.
Pat
I started with your spreadsheet and eventually used some of those in the Hacker's Diet. As a test engineer for a number of years, I am trained to identify, troubleshoot, and solve technical problems, but I could not control my weight up to now. Visiting your website enabled me to focus on this problem, and using the tools you and John Walker provided gave me the methods to approach of solving it. I started 6 weeks ago and lost an average of 2.5 pounds per week by being aware (and recording) the amount of calories I intake daily as well as facing the hard fact that to lose weight you will need go hungry (for awhile).
Thanks again...
Glanos
Happy Birthday Jeremy. And it is a really big achievement to lose around 50 pounds in a year. I am also having the target to lose around 40 pounds. I am really excited to know what you have really done to lose such a big weight in a healthy manner.
Losing 50 pounds is really a big challenge jeremy. You have really get succeedd in a big challenge. Like you I am also having big challenge like losing 40 pounds.
I'm doing very well following your suggestions. I have lost 35 lbs since starting this diet 2 months ago. The old saying that success breeds confidence is true! I started this diet not just to lose weight to look good, but with the premise of getting to a weight considered "healthy" for my body size and age. I am almost half way to this goal and with the confidence that I will attain it in the next 2-3 months!
My own personal mantra as I go through periods of temptations is "I WILL NOT FAIL".
Thanks again for being an ispiration.
Later...Glanos
Although i am not usually trying to lose weight, because I try to maintain an ideal weight all year round but in the summer season when it's time to be outside and show a bit more skin a good way to show your 6 packs is to get some good diet tips on how to lose weight.
Its been over 100 days now since I started my struggle for losing weight and I am here down by 40 pounds. Jeremy, I really appreciate all your tips, especially the sugarfree gum which keeps me engaged for 4 hrs a day.
I was at lunch today and I had a lot of my work mates notice me get slimmer. I really enjoy these compliments, after all hard work does payback and you stay healthy.
I am back to eating icecreams and candies but in very minute quantities, also I try to work out extra when I eat more. Losing weight is not easy, you need to keep your focus, eat carefully (stay away from beers...) and work out regularly. I will need to lose 10 more pounds to be back to what I was 5 yrs back.
Thanks again Jeremy and hackers diet for waking me from my lazy world.
Chalam
I have been on my diet for 3 months, and today I have finally transitioned from Obese to Overweight. I have progressed in my exercise plan from walking 3 miles for 60 minutes to now doing a combination walk/run 3 miles in 35 minutes. I have lost 42 pounds now and half way to my goal of a healthy weight. I am as focused as ever. And best of all my weight loss is finally being noticed by family members,friends and co-workers- which is great for my confidence.
Thanks again for being an inspiration.
Glanos
Congratulations on the weight loss, although I do think we need to focus on being healthy and not just on weight loss. For an inspiring story see
http://www.dietandfitnesstoday.com/aboutus.php
The girl in question has gone from a 30kg overweight smoker to an international athlete representing great britain in rowing.
Hope this gives some inspiration.
It is a real good thing! How you think, to what can draw a conclusion from this?
Eat less. More often.
Don’t eat right before going to bed.
Brush your teeth early.
Kick the sugar habit.
Eat vegetables before the main course.
Update your [diet] spreadsheet daily.
Get used to leftovers.
Shop with calories in mind.
Slow down!
Drink more water during the day.
Trick yourself with gum.
Reduce the amount of breads, chips, crackers, and salty snacks you eat.
Hello everyone. Here's my latest update. It's been 4 months since I started my diet and exercise program and I have lost 64 pounds. Everyone at work has noticed my weigth loss and I have gained more confidence in reaching my goal of a total weight loss of 82 pounds! I have more energy now and I really feel good about myself. If everything works out and I control myself during the upcoming holiday I should reach my goal by early next year. In anticipation of this, I already have my transition plan from dieting to lose weight to weight maintenance already in hand.
I wish everyone Happy Holidays and good luck on your individual programs.
Later,
Glanos
I found it very interesting that the Nintendo Wii is proving to shed pounds for people in America.
I really feel that competition can force you to do things you would not ordinarily do!
So many diets, and they all work- for awhile. If you're really serious about losing weight and can handle a little pain, try www.buffalodiet.com. Read the first few pages and you'll be hooked. Remember- diet season starts in March. Good luck.
Has anyone converted the Hacker's Diet macros and spreadsheets to work with OpenOffice.org? I imagine this would be much less of a moving target where the subject of macro programming is involved.
It is very interesting article mainly my favourite fruit are bananas and oranges. I've respect people who was locked in the ZOO. Thanks for your notice on this article.
Small changes and new habits are indeed the keys to weight loss. Daily journaling of your food and exercise, plus group or peer support can be a big help as well. Most often, your friends and family can't or don't want to be there day in and day out to help you along.
One site that focuses on weight loss support is Peertrainer: http://www.peertrainer.com
It is a free site where you journal your food and thoughts each day, and you do so in small groups. You keep one journal which is published to all your groups. Each group has no more than 4 members, and the members read your journal and offer you support each day. They become accountable to you, and vice versa. If you get your network going, you can develop a very effective and helpful network.
Have you have of the Negative Calorie Diet? The Negative Calorie diet works on the premise that certain foods create negative calorie effects (negative calorie foods), allowing you to lose weight. The Negative Calorie diet is controversial because the theory is not scientifically sound. No foods actually possess ‘negative calories’. However, advocates of the Negative Calorie diet say that you can literally eat your way to weight loss. A negative calorie diet ebook has even been published on this topic. Read more about it here http://www.ebookproperty.com/negative_calorie_diet.html
To successfully lose weight, you must carry out
a plan to balance your caloric intake with exercise.
Ideally, dieting should be done by eating a nutritionally
balanced, low-calorie diet and increasing physical activity.
I found useful informations at
Thanks for this post. It has truly given me encouragement on a new way to lose weight. Thanks again
some really good tips here - should consolidate them into a post
Awesome, it's good that you are taking the time to help others lose the pounds as well. It's always good to give to others. I will be doing this as well, on my blog. I hope it can help someone, as well.
I found this website www.dontforgettotakeyourvitamins.com/johnson41761 is a website that I use to buy a vitamin called the perfect pill weight loss and all I do is take the pill and I get to eat how I want and drink wat I want and still lose weight and the great thing about it is the vitamin isn't a fat burner.
For those of us who lead a busy lives losing weight can seem difficult to achieve. Health expert said that the ebst way to losed weight is to have enough exercises but I think this is not just enough things to take there are still a lot more so I would like to share this article on how to losed weight
I found this nutritional product and been using it for about three weeks now and have noticed a considerable improvement in my energy level. http://www.moreinfo247.com/9358494.0004/VAWL
I'm in the midst of a weight loss contest, losing 20lbs in 2 months. Anyone have suggestions. I'll be keeping tabs on this wager on my blog - http://stockfield.wordpress.com/2007/11/13/the-bet-weight-loss-versus-weight-gain/
Hello, This is Mary
I am 36 years old with 2 toddlers. My youngest just started day care last week- which still feels a little strange. I haven't had this much time to myself in years. First thing I want to do is lose the extra pounds I put on during the last pregnancy. One of the girls next door has suggested I join her walking group two days a week. After my first pregnancy I lost around 35 pounds using the Herbalife products, but when I called the man that sold them to me three years ago he told me this week he doesn't sell them anymore. He told me to look on the internet. It's disappointing because he was really nice and he called me regularly to make sure I was using their products correctly. It was nice to have someone checking in with me every week to see how I was and it kept me motivated.
I searched on the internet for someone that sells Herbalife in New Jersey. I found many websites but I don't want
just to buy the products, I want to find someone trustworthy that sells the products so I can also meet them and get started again.
Could anybody here recommend someone in New Brunswick?
.
Thanks, Mary
I just wanted to say thank you. I saw you blog October 2007 and decided to use your "Diet Spreadsheet" to help me in losing weight. I also read your suggestions and found them very helpful. So far, I've lost 19 lbs and aim to lose 6 more. I never thought I could achieve so much and feel so much more confident about myself overall. Not only that, I want to be an encouragement for others around me to be healthy. Thanks again, and hope things are well.
So many Americans are poorly nourished and they do not know how easy it is to lose weight. I feel when i eat better i am not grouchy, and i just feel better about myself. I try to not eat as much sugar because it is sooo bad for the body. I just thought i leave my comments on here
There is a new weight loss report out by Dr. Suzanne Gudakundst called "Top Secret Fat Loss Secrets". This report tells you why exercise and diets are uneffective because there are dangerous parasites that lurk in our system, as well as discuss the hidden dangers of what doctors and the FDA wont tell us. For a review and free video please visit this blog at
http://infoworld2u.wordpress.com/2008/01/26/buy-top-secret-fat-loss-secrets-cut-throat-report/
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I really do not understand how i can stay on my diet. I try so hard to get started then when I do get started I lose weight then my weight loss starts slowing down and I get off of my diet. Why is that?
Great post. I've been struggling with that stuff for a while.
Hey Jeremy,
How do I add extra lines to the spreadsheet that will be automatically added to my total calories? I'm unfortunately not very Excel savvy...
Thanks!
I would like to see you before and after pictures, where can I find them, and have you have any problems maintaining your weight loss?
Lynn
i am not doing very good, my waste line has gotten even bigger and i am a 143lbs instead of 132lbs. got any tips????
Hi,
I started putting on a lot of weight especially on my thighs and bottom in my late thirties.People used to glare at me when I went out and I really wanted to do something about it. I started exercising as often as possible and also cut down on a lot of high calorie stuff. Unfortunately I hardly managed to lose any weight at all. I then recently read an article by a lady who claimed that she managed to lose nearly half of her weight using a particular weight loss product. I tried it out and it actually worked really well. Within 4 months I managed to shave off 65 pounds completely. The results were pretty amazing and I feel so much healthier and energetic now without having to carry all that extra weight around. You can read more about the lady's article at the link below
I would just like to say that two years ago, I ran across your site. I weighed 260 lbs. Today I weigh 195 lbs, and it's because I followed your plan. Thank you.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS. I use Excel everyday at work, but never thought to track my weight loss thru a spreadsheet. I've been using it for 6 weeks now and have lost 11 pounds! I also added a worksheet to track my exercise.
THANKS AGAIN!
