Ready to make weight loss happen? Good, because that's what we're about to do. Now that you have a good estimate of your daily calorie maintenance level, it's time for the fun part. Let's call this first part "The One Fact Experiment" and the second part "The One Fact Adjustment." Remember, your goal here is making the One Fact happen, which means being below your maintenance level. To do this, it's going to require a fairly simple 3 step experiment...
The One Fact Experiment
- Start eating your estimated calorie maintenance level amount each day, every day. Be as consistent as you can. If your maintenance level was 2500 calories, and you eat 2459 or 2527, don't worry. Just get as close to 2500 (or whatever your estimated number was) as you can, and eat this same number of calories every single day. (Obviously, you can use a Calorie Counter to look up how many calories are in your food. Of course, if a food lists the calorie content right there on the package, you can just use that instead.)
- Do this for a week or two (or three).
- Weigh yourself first thing in the morning (on an empty stomach) about once per week.
Once you do the above 3 steps, it's just a matter of evaluating your results from the experiment and then adjusting until the One Fact happens. Here's how:
The One Fact Adjustment
The One Fact Adjustment
- Did you end up maintaining your weight?
If so, it means you are indeed at your maintenance level. To lose weight, start consuming 500 less calories per day. For example, if your estimated maintenance level was 2500 calories, and the experiment showed that you did indeed maintain your weight consuming this amount, you should now start consuming 2000 calories per day instead. If your maintenance level was 3500, start eating 3000 calories each day. Whatever it was, subtract about 500 and start consistently eating that number of calories per day. Doing so will put you in a caloric deficit (you'll be 500 calories below maintenance) which means the One Fact is happening. Translation: Weight loss will now happen.
- Did you end up gaining weight?
If so, it either means your estimated calorie maintenance level was too high or you may have just miscalculated how many calories you were consuming and ended up accidentally consuming more than the estimated maintenance level. It's alright, relax. Weight loss will still happen. What you need to do now is start consuming 500 less calories per day and then repeat The One Fact Experiment with this new number of calories. Whether the estimated maintenance level was too high or you just miscalculated the number of calories you consumed, it doesn't really matter. Just start consuming 500 less calories per day than you were just consuming, and repeat The One Fact Experiment all over again with this new amount.
Then, just come right back here and, depending on what your weight did this time, follow the necessary One Fact Adjustment instructions. (If you still gained weight, you'd follow these instructions all over again. If you maintained weight, you would follow the above instructions. If you lost weight, you would follow the instructions below.)
- Did you end up losing weight at the rate of about 1-2 pounds per week?
If so, congrats. The One Fact is happening, and weight loss is happening at the ideal expert-recommended rate. A pound or two lost per week is perfect. Continue consuming this number of calories every day from this point on. If you ever reach a point where you stop losing weight and start only maintaining weight (small chance, but still possible), and you have confirmed for sure that you have had no weight loss at all for at least 3 weeks in a row, come right back here and follow The One Fact Adjustment instructions for what to do when you end up only maintaining your weight.
- Did you end up losing weight at the rate of 3 or more pounds per week?
This is probably going to be pretty rare as long as all of the above information was followed correctly, but if you are losing 3 or more pounds per week for more than a couple of weeks in a row, you may be losing weight too quickly. I say "may be" because these results could be normal for the above-averagely obese person, especially in the beginning. If you fit into that category and are losing weight at this speed, you can probably ignore this. However, to play it safe, you can definitely still follow the instructions below anyway. If you do NOT fit into the "above-averagely obese" category and were still losing weight at this rate for more than a couple of weeks in a row, chances are the maintenance level estimate was a bit too low or you just miscalculated how many calories you were consuming and ended up accidentally consuming less than you should have been. Either way, relax. There is a simple solution.
That solution is to add about 250-300 calories to your daily calorie intake, and then just repeat The One Fact Experiment again with this new calorie amount. Depending on what your weight does this time, follow the necessary One Fact Adjustment instructions.
Now is probably a good time to remind you about the 3 ways to make the One Fact happen. The above method uses just diet to get it done. This is a perfectly fine way to do it. However, it could get done just the same with exercise (albeit, a bit tougher). To do that, you'd just have to burn 500 more calories through exercise when the above instructions call for you to reduce your calorie intake by 500.
Of course, the best way to do it would be a combination of both. For example, you could consume 250 less calories AND burn 250 more calories per day. A 500 calorie deficit is still made.
What should you do?
Well, I'd recommend following all of the above instructions as is, meaning you'll be making the One Fact happen through diet alone. This method will cause weight loss at the rate of about 1 pound per week (more on that below). Then, I'd recommend adding in a few days of exercise per week on top of that. This will most likely result in close to a second pound lost per week. This means the combination of the two will result in 2 pounds lost per week, which is absolutely perfect from both a weight loss stand point and an overall health stand point. It is in my opinion and the opinion of most qualified experts the ideal way to lose weight.