New Year's Resolutions
Photograph of a man with a tape measure around his stomach.
According to Forbes magazine, 40 percent of Americans will resolve to lose weight in the new year but only eight percent will be successful. The New Year always brings out the best of intentions. Have you ever been to a gym in January? The place is packed with gung-ho exercisers and you’re lucky to find a parking spot or an empty elliptical machine. But by early March, the crowds have vanished along with their New Year resolutions.
At this time of year, we are bombarded with advertising for diets, equipment and supplements that makes rather enticing claims that promise you’ll lose incredible amounts of body weight in just a few weeks.
Any claim that promises the loss of more than two pounds of body weight per week is either false, unhealthy or most likely, both. The average person needs around 1500-1600 calories a day to sustain life—which means basically just sitting around doing nothing physical. On average, we consume 2,500 calories a day.
Here’s the math. Since each pound of fat packs 3,500 calories of energy, to lose two pounds of body fat per week, we’ll need to create a deficit of 7,000 calories and would have to reduce our caloric intake to a dangerous level of 600 calories per day. This isn’t smart and certainly not healthy.
A better option is to consume 2,000 calories instead of 2,500 per day. This creates a deficit of 500 calories per day or 3,500 per week (500 calories per day x 7 days=3,500 calories) or one pound of fat. If you also walk briskly three miles a day, six days a week, you would walk 18 miles, burn 1,800 calories and burn over half a pound of fat.
Combining diet and walking will result in about a one and a half pound of body fat loss per week. This is a healthy approach and has been shown to result in long-term success. Sadly, there is no magic pill, or diet or exercise equipment that is going to circumvent our biology. The only way to lose weight and be healthy is to develop a healthy lifestyle including a balanced diet and exercise.
Speak to your Primary Care provider about VA's weight loss programs and before beginning an exercise regimen.
