December 10, 2008 I was tipping the scales at 284 lbs. and on March 17, 2009 I clocked in at a svelte 262 lbs.  I got here without a specific diet and my exercise routine changed very little.  Two things I believe have lead to my success are tracking my caloric expenditure and consumption on the web-based Graphite application, an easy to use database for recording and monitoring what I eat and how many calories I burn.  If it sounds like a pain or that it takes a lot of time, it doesn’t.  I spend about 3 – 5 minutes a day on the application.  Seeing the results and daily progress right in front of me has been motivating and addictive.  It’s not work, it’s just what I do now.

Secondly, because I am keeping track of what I eat I make better choices in what I eat.  I have been eating more protein with the goal of eating 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight.  Eating more protein, mostly from shakes, helps add lean muscle mass and increase resting metabolic rate.  The goal is increased lean muscle mass and decreased bodyfat, and not weight loss.  The scale can mislead especially when strength training and trading good for bad pounds.  The mirror, the fit of your jeans, friends, the scale, and how you feel are all progress trackers and should be considered in balance.

Here a few tips to speeding it up no matter what your age:

• Eat more frequently and smaller amounts. Add two or three smaller snacks between meals.  Your metabolism is like starting a fire.  To get a fire going and burning hot you add small amounts of kindling and build up, never smothering your flame with large logs.
• Exercise first thing in the morning. Kick start your body into gear before your day begins.
• Strength train. Resistance training and increasing lean muscle mass will increase your resting metabolic rate.  Increased muscle will burn more calories sitting still.
• Eat a well-balanced diet. Make sure you are getting all the vitamins and minerals you need.  In order for your body to function at a high level it has to have all that it needs.
• Eat more protein. Protein is what your body needs to build muscle.  Focus on getting more protein throughout your day.  It will satisfy your hunger and build lean muscle.
• Drink more water. You are not drinking enough.  Your body is largely comprised of it.  Brain, muscle, and joint function are just a few systems that cannot perform at their optimum level without an adequate supply of it.  If your urine is not clear you are not drinking enough.

Try these tips to speed up your metabolism. Sound like too much? Try two new tips per week until you have added all of them. You will like the results.

It’s a bit discouraging for people like me, but knowing the facts can help change your mentality towards your diet and exercise.  I guess I have always known the facts, but putting it into practice is another story.

The big myth: As long as you are lifting (strength training) or exercising you can eat whatever you want.  Unfortunately it’s not true.  I am living proof that this is bunk.  I have consistently been engaged in strength training since the mid 1980’s, and logged quite a few miles on the track, and when I have not kept my diet in check I’ve struggled with my weight.

I enjoy exercise and I enjoy food.  When tracking my caloric intake and expenditure on a daily basis, seeing first hand how many calories are burned during a typical days exercise, it is almost depressing.  Thirty minutes of pretty intense weight training burns 380 calories, 30 minutes of jogging (10 minute mile pace) burns a whopping 634 calories.  This is where the news gets bad.  On the consumption side, eating 600 calories is effortless- the pizza pictured above or 4 beers and you are back to 0.  Burger and fries and you are way over the limit.

I know how important exercise is for cardiovascular health, bone density, injury prevention and mental health just to name a few benefits.  I also know that increasing lean muscle mass increases your resting metabolic rate.  The bottom line is that keeping a log of what I eat is finally driving home the importance of what I put into my mouth.

My brain has been programmed from an early age to clean your plate and not to waste food.  I have always been the clean up crew for everyone around, at restaurants, and for the girls who were “stuffed”.   I have always been more than happy to finish up that burger and fries.  Never would I be the one to let perfectly good food go into the trash.  If it is there I can and will eat it.  Pizza crust, an open bag of chips, meat left on the bone just a sampling of the disposal work I have done in my life.

With a little one around there is never any shortage of half eaten scraps, and therefore a constant test of my new mentality.  If I am going to have success and track my caloric intake and output this old mindset has to go.  One thing that has helped me is to slow down and ask myself, “Am I going to regret this later?” “Is this going to be biting me in the butt when I have to input this meal?”  For example on the road this morning we stopped at McDonald’s for breakfast.  I got one bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit w/out hash browns instead of my usual 2 bacon egg and cheese biscuits w/ hash browns.  Changing my ordering habits and “leave no waste” mentality is going to take practice, but will be critical to any long term success.

With a day shy of having completed one week on my Graphite online progress.  I really am getting the hang of it.  The input of exercise and meals was easy from the start, but the more data you have the more the trend shows your progress. Duh.  But seeing the graph take shape is fun and motivating.  The flu and crud has been going around my wife has been sick for several days and I started to get down a little today, but checking my results is inspiring me not to take the day off from exercise.

I found a new feature today on below the graphs on the results screen.  It is a pop up window of the raw data and gives you a daily average alongside the calories burned and calories consumed.  If you have kept an honest account of your daily intake and output you can calculate your weight loss w/out a scale.  I’m 8,200 calories down this week and each 1lb. equals 3,500 calories.  So even my poor math skills can see that I’m down 2lbs. this week.  Scales don’t lie, but they can definitely decieve.  Water weight (gallon of water= 8lbs.) can be misleading in both directions, and this can be discouraging when dieting and we need every psychological edge and mental strength advantage possible when undergoing any kind of positive lifestyle change.

Nothing is more discouraging than being on target with your weight loss goals on one weekly weigh in and the next week be holding a couple of water weight pounds.  You may have lost a lb. of fat, and your scale says something else.  Lean muscle gains are also deceptive in an exercise and diet lifestyle change.  Bottom line, use the scale as one of your tools, the mirror, the fit of your clothes, and Graphite online being another.  Don’t be married to the scale, she’s an evil woman.