Hey, everyone.
Today's the third day of my daily writing challenge. And apart from helping me to see that I can write good stuff in just a little bit of time, this writing challenge has started to greatly increase my Twitter and Instagram followers. So, if you're a writer who's dying on the social medias, give this a try to boost your followers. Let's get on with it.
Wheel of Genres, turn, turn, turn! Tell me the genre I will discern!
Today's topic is... Non-fiction--Self-Help. Dang it, now I have to think of a topic in order to offer people help with. Well, I've spent the past few months since May working out and being on a diet, and in that time, I've lost 30 lbs. I wish it were more and it would be if I hadn't hit those stinkin' plateaus. In fact, I fear I've hit another. But, for this post I'll go ahead and give you the tips I've been using to work out to.
Alright, let's give this a-go. Thirty minutes on the clock: 30:00. And... go!
1. Calories In, Calories Out: The first thing many people keep in mind when it comes to losing weight is "calories in, calories out." Some fitness experts argue it's much more complicated than that, and by only focusing on the calories, you can do yourself some serious harm, but despite those claims, "calories in, calories out" still reigns supreme, especially if you're doing an exercise regimen where you want to lose 10 pounds in a week which can only be done by burning 5000 calories more than what you've taken in each day. And there are people who've put this principle to the test eating only junk food, and they have lost weight. I've done the same thing myself. And if you want to know how many calories you should be taking in, there are multiple sites on the Internet that can calculate that for you.
2. Workout: You can diet alone to lose weight, in fact, most of my weight loss has been due to dieting, but working out is very important because it helps you build lean muscle. Here's the thing: muscle requires 3x as many calories to build and maintain than fat does. A pound of fat requires 2 calories (per hour?) to maintain, but a pound of muscle takes 6 calories. And because it takes more calories to build, it also breaks down into more calories. Because of that, when you diet, your body needs so many calories per day just to function, so it's going to start breaking down your muscle first because there are more calories there. But, if you work out, especially if you do strength training or weight lifting, your body will burn fat instead.
3. Protein: After water, protein is the single most important macronutrient to your body. It helps build muscle and it contains a lot of energy. But how much do you need? A general rule is that if you want to maintain your weight, you need 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight; if you want to lose weight, you need 1.6-2.3 g of protein per kg of body weight; and if you want to build muscle, you need 2.6-3.4 g of protein per kg of body weight. Taking myself for example, I weight approximately 262 lbs which is about 119 kg (2.2 lbs/kg). And if I want to lose weight, I need 52-74 grams of protein a day.
4. Don't Drink Your Calories: There's a new adage that goes "don't drink your calories." The reason why is most likely because you can't gauge very well how many calories you're taking in when you drink them versus when you eat them. Not to mention, weight loss experts suggest drinking a glass of water before every meal because it helps to fill you up and you'll eat less as a result.
5. Workout 3x a Week: If you want to see max gains on your muscles and max losses on your overall weight, you need to workout at least 3x a week with a break in between each day so your body can recover. According to some sources, adults require 2-and-a-half hours of moderate activity a week or 1-and-a-quarter hours of strenuous activity a week. Now what's "moderate" and what's "strenuous" will be defined by your heart rate. Generally, 70 or 75 to 85 or 90% of your heart rate is considered strenuous. And the way you figure out your max heart rate is by subtracting your age from 220. I'm 28, so 220-28=192. And 70% of 192 is about 134 beats per minute.
6. Workout on Your Rest Days: If you're really serious about working out, you should also be working out on your rest days, but not to the same extreme as your workout days. See, your body is very adaptive and it can learn to adapt to exceptionally strenuous activity and lack of calories--it can acclimate to doing more on less. Ergo, you have to throw it a curveball once in a while. So you workout a little on your rest days. For me, I do "100% workouts" 3x a week, a "75% workout" once a week, and "50% workouts" 2x a week with the last day being somewhere between 0 to 50% depending on my mood. (100% does not mean 100% of my heart rate. It's just my hardest workout of the week.)
7. How Much Weight Should You Lose: So, there are charts out there that you can look at that will tell you how much you're supposed to weigh for your gender and height. For myself, some charts tell me I should weigh between 150 and 170 lbs. Personally, I can't see myself ever weighing that little especially since my wildest dream weight is 200. But there is new research to suggest that your ideal weight isn't a number on the scale, but your waist measurement. The research suggests that your ideal waist is half of height. I'm about 6'5", actually 6'4-and-3/4", so I'm going to round down to 6'4" which is 76 inches. Ergo, my ideal waist measurement should be 38 inches. Last time I measured my waist, the area between the bottom of my ribcage and above my hip bones, it was like 43 or 44 inches, so I still have quite a ways to go.
8. Plateaus: You saw me mention a plateau above. A plateau is when you're still dieting and exercising, but for whatever reason, you don't lose any weight. They suck terribly. What do you do about them? Well, it's really hard to say. Sometimes they're a sign that you need to increase the intensity of your workouts which you should be doing anyway because as you get healthier, it will take less effort to do your current workout. But sometimes, they're a sign that you're working out too hard. Some weight lifting gurus suggest working out to build muscle one week and then working out to burn fat the next week and keep doing these things in waves so your body never adjusts to your workouts and so you don't get burned out working out too hard. Other times, plateaus just happen because who knows why, and you just have to work through them. Believe me, they are going to happen.
9. Salt and Carbs: Now, there is a recommended daily intake for carbs and salt that you should adhere to, however be warned because both salt and carbs cause bloating. You will lose a lot of weight on a diet where you have low salt and carb intake, but you'll gain that weight back when you start eating carbs and salt again. What you should do is reduce your intake of both permanently and get in the habit of drinking more water so you get used to flushing your body. Refined sugars can also cause bloating. So, if you have a meal full of carbs, salt, and sugars like eating at your favorite Italian restaurant, drink a lot of water after.
And that's it! Time's up. I actually wrote 17 seconds past the alarm, but that's okay because I'm out of tips. I was really scraping the bottom of the barrel with those last few. But keep in mind, I'm not a dietician or a doctor, so you should follow actual medical advice on how to lose weight rather than what some yahoo on the Internet is saying. But, I have been looking for an excuse to blog about the tips I've been using to lose weight and pass them on, so this was a perfect opportunity to do just that.
But anyway, that's it for today. If you want to use the wheel I made, you should be able to access it here. And if you have the time, please check out my books for sale on Amazon which you can find through my author page. The link is below. See you tomorrow.
Keep writing, my friends.
More About Bryan C. Laesch:
Amazon: My Author Page, My Influencer Page
Facebook: Bryan C. Laesch, Bawdy Scholar
Patreon: Bryan C. Laesch
Twitter: BryanofallTrade
Youtube: Bryan C. Laesch, Bawdy Scholar
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