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Weight Loss

last modified on: Sun, 04/14/2024 - 17:11

Strategy for Weight Loss

How do I lose weight?

To lose one (1) pound per week, you must eat 500 fewer calories or burn 500 more calories per day!!

THE KEYS:

  1. Understand WHAT you eat
  2. BURN more calories

Understand WHAT you eat:

  1. Calories

This table shows the energy (number of calories) that is present in one gram of fat, carbohydrates (sugar) and protein. Note that 1 gram of fat has more than DOUBLE the calories as carbohydrates/protein.

 

CALORIES PER GRAM

Fat

9

Carbohydrate

4

Protein

4

 

  1. Nutrition labels 
  1. Serving size
  • The concept of serving size may be misleading -Note in the labels can be misleading  - for example:  a popular energy drink indicates that although one serving has 120 calories, there are 2.5 servings in the bottle. Drinking the entire bottle (20 oz.) would be 300 calories.
  1. Calories
  2. Fat (9 calories/gram)
  3. Sodium
  4. Carbohydrates (4 calories/gram)
  5. Protein (4 calories/gram)
  6. Vitamins
  7. Recommended daily intake

 

  1. Principles
  • Eat LOW FAT foods
  • Limit sugar containing foods
  • Write down everything that goes in your mouth
  • Eat small meals and eat breakfast
  • Drink ONE 8 ounce glass of water before eating
  • If you don’t know what’s in it, you may not want to eat it
  1. Things to eat
  • Protein (High protein content with LOW fat): 
    • Egg whites
    • Tuna
    • Chicken breast
  • Carbohydrates (higher fiber content; low sugar):
    • Whole grain oats/bread
    • All green vegetables
  • Fat (keep this as low a possible; less than 50-60 g/day)
    • Read labels; more polyunsaturated fats; very low saturated fats
  1. Things NOT to eat when weight loss is a goal
  • Regular pop
  • Juices
  • Candy, donuts, muffins, etc
  • Limit the amount you eat at restaurants
  • Mayo
  • High fat sauces

BURN more calories:

  1. Don’t be sedentary
    • Options include
      • TURN OFF THE TV and
      • COMPUTER
    • Multiple other strategies
      • Bike to work
      • Walk the dgo
      • Regular exercise programs
  2. Build muscle!
    • Burn more calories, every hour, every day, even while sleeping = build muscle
    • Increasing muscle = increases basal metabolic rate = increased calories burned. 

5 pounds of fat vs. 5 pounds of muscle 

  • Average 200 pound person burns 100 calories per MILE at walking speed
  • Walk 1 hour = 400 calories

Three months of weight training can lead to a 3-to 7-percent increase in resting metabolic rate, which translates roughly to an extra 100 calories burned per day. The exact number depends on the size of the person.

"It is fairly well documented that the more carbohydrate you burn during exercise, the more fat you'll burn afterward," says Glenn Gaesser, Ph.D., an exercise physiology professor at the University of Virginia and co-author of The Spark (Simon and Schuster, 2001). "Interval training burns glycogen [a form of carbohydrate stored in the liver and the muscles] at a very rapid rate."

A good resource (NIH - National Institute of Heath) regarding weight loss supplements (in References)

References

Gaesser GA and Dougherty K: The Spark: The Revolutionaly New Plan to Get Fit and Lose Weight- 10 Minutes at a Time   Simon and Schuster  New York 2001

NIH Office of Dietary Supplementshttps: Dietary Supplements for Weight Loss - Fact Sheet for Consumers (accessed 10-11-2021) //ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/weightloss-healthprofessional/