Remember your high-school algebra? A(2) + B(2) = C(2). Where (2)=squared.

There is a very simple weight-loss calculation. If you eat more calories than you burn, you’ll gain weight. No matter how much you exercise, what diet you’re on, etc.

Want to lose weight? Count the calories you eat. You don’t have to be obsessed about it but learn to guesstimate. If you can keep a log, even better. Don’t make it hard – you don’t need to look up the food value of every item – if you look at food labels enough, you’ll get a basic idea. But there are good tools you can use, which I’ll share later.

Want a strategy for weight loss? If you live in CA, go to your local Vons (Safeway for the rest of the country) and buy their Eating Right frozen dinners. They cost about $2 each and they taste decent – pizzas are actually good – and they use good, balanced ingredients, i.e. whole grains, etc. They’re about 300 calories each – so you can eat 5-6 of them a day, if you want. Plus a couple of low-calorie snacks, i.e. fruit, vegetables, nuts (not necessarily low cal – so watch how many you eat) or something like a Clif Bar. NOTE: there are plenty of good, low-cost frozen dinners in the supermarket freezer. If you like something and it’s low cal, then go for it.

So if you eat 4 of these dinners – every 3 hours or so – and  a couple of snacks, you can easily stay under 2,000 calories a week and lose 1-2 lbs/week (no guarantees – consult a dietitian or trainer or doctor).  Walk an hour/day (10,000+ steps or more) as a bonus – or whatever you have time, feel comfortable with.

I’ve dropped 15 lbs in the last couple of months using this strategy.

Stay tuned for more…

Everyone knows there are a bazillion weight loss programs on the market. However, almost everyone fails to deal with the all important psychological issues related to weight loss.

There was a recent study that indicated managing calories works better than other diet programs. As I mentioned in my previous post, calorie consumed vs. calories burned is the critical component in losing weight. However, many of need more motivation than just being told to count calories.

Most of us go through periods of the day or week where we just are hungry. Some of us are even hungry all the time and even after eating, feel like eating again or eating more. So what can be done?

I believe that you have to take into account psychological factors when losing weight. Find out what factors motivate you. What kinds of events might have triggered your hunger. Maybe it is just the time of day.

One critical component I believe that plays an important role in how much we eat and how often is habit. We eat at certain times of the day and our bodies get used to eating so much. So, we have to retrain our body and get in the habit of eating less, more frequent meals. This can be easier said than done for many.

This is why certain diets, like the much-maligned Atkins diet, South Beach, the Ab Diet, and Body for Life, can often be beneficial for many because it helps us break some of the bad habits, i.e. sugar consumption, and for some “going on a diet” is motivation to start changing your habits.

The trick – and the hard part – is to find out what motivates you to change your habits and start eating healthier, losing weight and sticking with it. If cutting carbs helps keep you from eating too much sugar, than the benefits probably outweigh other issues. You can always add back in healthy carbs (which is what the diet is about anyway) after you’ve “cured” your addiction or changed your habits.

Exercise can be a great motivator and help change your habits. Not only does exercise offer previously discussed health benefits, but it also can help get you on track to changing your eating patterns and improve bad habits.

Regardless of what you do, read or believe, it is ultimately up to you and you need to figure out what works best for you. But while you’re starting that next diet, make of list of habits and things that you do that might contribute to poor health and weight gain. Then figure out what you can do to motivate yourself to change those habits. Be realistic and don’t get discouraged. Again, it’s hard work and it like all good things – takes time.

Good luck! Here’s to your health!

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There are so many “lose-weight-fast” diets, devices and supplements on the market  it will make your head spin. But I am find the sit up-device weight-loss commercials interesting.

If you think that only doing sit ups, for example, will help you lose weight, don’t be fooled. I suppose if you do enough sit ups you could possibly burn enough calories that you might finally lose weight but it would greatly depend on your diet and how many other calories you burn. For most of us, it’s going to take more than just crunches to lose weight.

In fact, losing weight for most people is hard work. And exercise alone won’t do the trick. It takes a combination of diet and hard work. And, ultimately it’s a simple equation: calories consumed – calories burned = weight loss/gain. If you consume more calories than you lose in a day, you are going to gain weight. Naturally, there are nuances to this equation, i.e. not all calories are stored or burned equally. Your body converts and stores energy differently, but if you stick to this simple equation and eat smaller portion sizes more frequently, you will lose weight.

But, if you want to lose weight faster and have a leaner, healthier body, then add in those crunches, walk for an hour, do some yoga — whatever you can and will do consistently.

Want to lose weight? Start by taking the FREE RealAge test!