So how does one go about it?
I for one have started to try out P90X and while it's a good workout I'm not really seeing a lot of weight loss or fat burn, however, I am seeing muscle mass increase, higher vertical jumps (thanks to plyometrics) and I have more energy overall. Why am I not seeing the fat/weight loss? Two things really: 1) I did not follow the nutrition plan and continued with my bad eating habits with regards to sweets. 2) My appetite increased and I began eating larger portions. And of course, there was the beer - as I said we don't want to give this up.
So, how can we go about loosing the weight, while enjoying our beer? Here is where my wife came in and got me thinking - bottom line, as my wife says, it's all about calories in and calories out. She's gone on a calorie cutting diet, which in the last few days has done her wonders - and no she isn't eating like a bird, she's just reduced the overall calories of what she eats by cutting portions and making the occasional substitution. Also, she pointed out to me that that 1 pound of fat is equal to 3500 calories, so this whole calorie counting thing could really help.
Now the question is, how many calories do I need a day to live and maintain my current weight, metabolism differences aside, the typical equation here is body weight * 10 + 20% of that. So for someone that is 1701b's their "maintain" calorie count would be ~2040 calories. If you are exercising, then add the calorie burn into the equation (P90X states ~600 calorie burn per workout). This means for this same person at 1701b's doing P90X they would need about 2640 calories. Now if you want to loose weight we know you have to cut out 3500 calories per 1 lb, which is 500 calories a day. Using our example of the 170lb guy doing P90X, this means he should only be taking in 2140 calories a day to loose 1lb of fat a week.
I know what you're thinking - "Wait, this is all too much to handle, how do I know how many calories I'm eating and you still haven't told me how I can keep my beer." Simple, most items have nutritional information on them and should be quick to determine, however, if you are eating a meal at a restaurant, friends, etc... and don't know you can quickly do a Google search and find something that will give you an approximation. After a few days of calorie counting you'll actually get a good feel to be able to approximate yourself and know if something can/cannot be had based upon your daily allowance. From here it's all about where you want to put your calories - while I do suggest a nutritionally balanced diet (as most diet programs recommend) - we can still have our beer by budgeting for it. A pint of dark stout, like Guinness, is ~210 calories.
Bringing it all together... Back to our example of the 170lb person, say they budget ~300 calories for breakfast, 500 for lunch, 800 for dinner that leaves us 400 for beer and snacks. Keeping this in mind, here is what a typical day may look like...
- Breakfast: 1 Piece of Buttered Toast, Coffee with Creamer, 1 Piece of Vegetarian Sausage = 230 calories
- Lunch: 1/2 a Chicken Breast - Baked and Breaded, Small Salad, Diet Coke = 400 calories
- Snack: Apple and a String Cheese, water = 135 calories
- Dinner: Corned Beef sandwich, cabbage, potatoes, carrots, water = 600 - 900 calories (depends on portion sizes)
- Evening Guinness = 210 calories
- Total Calories for the day = 1875 calories on the outside
Notice in our example diet here that we ate plenty of meats, had our veggies/fruits (maybe not enough...), enjoyed our Dark Beer and still came in under our daily calorie cap.
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