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There’s nothing like a chart to show you how your weight loss program is progressing. It is surprising that many popular software and online programs do not include charts. Those that do, only have basic charts that display your weight each day, or your calorie intake or your calories burnt each day, but only one at a time. What you need is a chart that gives you an instant picture for how you are going, and when you need to make adjustments.
What do you need to chart?
There are lots of options - your weight, calorie intake, calories burnt, exercise activity, food eaten, BMI, etc. You don’t want it to be too complicated. So what are the essential things to include?
I suggest you need to plot yourdaily weight, weight target and your calorie deficit.
You need a diary in which you enter your daily weight. Your weight loss program should calculate your weight loss target for each day. Let’s say you set a weight loss target of 2 pounds or 1 kilogram per week. The tool you use should work out your daily target for you. You can then plot your daily weight and weight loss target on the same chart. Are you on track? Are you losing weight too quickly or slowly? Has you weight loss reached a plateau? This is the first and basic thing to chart, and the second is your calorie deficit. The calorie deficit is a very simple, fundamental concept - if you eat fewer calories than you burn though exercise each day, your body will need to burn fat to make up the difference. The calorie deficit is the difference between calories eaten in your food and calories burnt each day. The calories burnt each day includes, firstly, the calories needed to maintain your body at rest – your RMR. The Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) is the energy needed for maintaining your metabolism when at rest - your body temperature, heart and circulation, breathing, digestion, etc., plus the energy needed for your normal activities such as getting to work etc. Your RMR is therefore you basic energy needs for your normal lifestyle without the extra exercise you may add to your program. The second part of your calories burnt is the extra calories expended through various exercises such as a walk, jog, run, aerobics, gym workout, etc. There are numerous ways of estimating your RMR and your calories burnt through exercise. Your weight loss program should calculate your daily calorie deficit for you, from the data you enter for calories eaten, your RMR and your daily exercise. The best way to plot your calorie deficit is as a percentage of your RMR, and normally you should aim for a calorie deficit of about 10-20% of your RMR.
Looking at the diagram above you can see a simple chart. It should show your weight, your weight target each day, and your calorie deficit. Obviously you aim to keep losing weight at close to the rate you set as a target. If your weight loss plateaus your will need to eat less, exercise more, or change your diet to get the loss going again. The best approach is to change both your diet and exercise program. Often your chart will show you what works, what doesn’t work and what has stopped working. It will show you how much of a deficit you need and when you need to make adjustments. But remember it is only a guide and it is not precise, but it is certainly useful especially when charted with your daily weight and target. Also remember that you will not lose weight straight away as it takes time to burnt fat, and there is water retention and other issues such as muscle versus fat etc. You need to look at the chart over one or two weeks, perhaps longer to be able to work this out. But it is a fundamental thing to include in your chart.
Why are Adjustments Required?
Many people do not realize that various things change while dieting and there is a lot of information about this. Briefly – The energy burnt through exercise depends on vigour. But it also depends on your weight. A large person weighing 300 lbs or 150 kg will burnt more energy walking 5 km an hour, than a person weighing 120 lbs or 75 kg. There is also a number of well know responses to dieting that may slow or stop your weight loss. Your body has inbuilt responses to dieting and starvation – what a pain!. Many people on diets become lethargic and may rest more, without knowing it. You may be less inclined to exercise. Your body may slow its metabolic rate to compensate for the lower food intake. Others on diets talk about plateaus being caused by having fixed portions for each meal throughout the day. You may need to vary your food intake at each meal to trick the body into not doing this. Varying the amount you eat and exercise each day may keep your weight going down. Whatever happens during your program, it is important to be able to see the changes in your progress and to adjust your program accordingly.
So stay on Track! Use a Chart to Monitor Your Weight Loss! Choose an online tool or software package that provides a diary and a chart that includes your daily weight, weight target and calorie deficit.
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