The weight loss formula

News reports, magazine articles, and celebrities all have the BIG secret to weight loss or the BEST diet. All of this makes for great marketing and many sellable diet plans but the only weight control secret is found in a simple formula:

Calories consumed - Calories burned = body weight gained or lost

Here are two examples:

1. If you eat 2500 calories and burn off 1900 calories, you have a net gain of +600 calories. Those positive calories will be stored as fat in the body for energy.

2. If you eat and drink 1800 calories but take the dog for a long walk, play with the kids, and exercise, you burn off 2500 calories. This leaves you with a -800 calorie total.

A negative value means that you get to burn some of the fat from your body to use as energy. Using fat as energy means you’re burning off that fat storage from your body.

This is why the Twinkie Diet still works for weight loss. You can ONLY eat Twinkie pastries but you can ONLY eat 2000 calories worth of them a day. On average, a person needs to consume around 1800-2200 calories a day to maintain their weight. The Twinkie diet gets you the recommended number of calories, yes, but it does this while forgoing the need for protein, fibre, vitamins, minerals, and general health. Starting this diet may leave you with weight loss from having a negative caloric intake... but it will also leave you with a very upset stomach.

Recently, a weight program called “Noom” has taken over the market. I’m not affiliated with them in any means but because of their philosophy of eating, they are the only weight loss system that I can fully get on board with. Noom does a good job at educating clients on what their daily calorie intake should look like based on their age, sex, height, weight, and activity level. It promotes healthy food choices with activity and exercises to help change the way they think about life in general and what health means to them.

Overall, try to look at the nutrition labels from the food and drink you consume and try to make time to walk, move, play, and exercise! Weight control is not a one day change, it’s an everyday choice to think about that simple formula.

Love yourself just the ‘weigh’ you are,

Dr. Cole Maranger, DC