How to Lose Weight and Get in Shape

On the Tuesday after the Super Bowl last year, I started exercising regularly and monitoring my diet. Approximately one year later, I weigh 40 pounds less (I went from 197 lbs. to 157 lbs.) and I'm in much better shape (increased cardiovascular endurance and more muscle). I think this qualifies me to give advice on how to lose weight and get in shape. Not all of this will be applicable to or work for everyone, but it worked for me.

1. Burn more calories than you consume. If you want to lose weight, ignore stupid fad diets like Atkins, South Beach, or pretty much any other diet that has been promoted in the last 30 years. It's really simple: you lose weight by burning more calories than you consume. You can accomplish this by either burning more calories or consuming fewer calories. Most people will want to do some of both.

2. Be analytical. When you start out, you need to slow things down and think about everything you eat and how many calories you are consuming. You also need to keep track of how many calories you are burning. This is the only way you're going to know if you're burning more calories than you consume. You should also keep a log of your weight, as a check of your calculations. It doesn't matter how you keep track of this information. Use a piece of paper, or a spreadsheet, or whatever you like. I use a program called Calorie King that runs on my Treo, which makes this simple and lets me enter data no matter where I am.

3. Make it routine. Many people claim that motivation and willpower are a key part of losing weight and getting in shape. These people are wrong. The most important thing is routine. I didn't suddenly become super-motivated to lose weight one year ago. What happened is I moved to a new city and a new job, so I had no established routine. I used this opportunity to make going to the gym part of my daily routine. Now, I go to the gym after work out of habit.

   People like to spend a lot of time talking about the downsides of habit and routine, but they can just as easily be used to accomplish something great. I find it easier to form new routines when I change a bunch of things at once, so if you have been thinking of making changes to your schedule other than working out regularly, just make all of the changes at once, and within a few weeks going to the gym will be a habit and you won't have to think about it.

4. Drink lots of water. If you think you are hungry, drink a glass of water and wait a few minutes. If you are still hungry after that, then eat. It's very easy to confuse being thirsty/dehydrated and being hungry.

5. Live alone. This has dual benefits. First, you aren't obligated to eat on any sort of schedule. When you are hungry, you eat, and when you're not, you don't. Second, it means that you control all of the food coming into your household. You won't be tempted by foods that other people happen to be eating.

I'm probably forgetting a few things, but this is the core of my fitness program. It's pretty simple and mostly common sense. If this post becomes popular, then maybe I will get a fake Ph.D. and write a book that has phrases on the cover like, "Dr. Hunter's revolutionary weight loss program!" Until then, you can email me for free advice.