Dieting?

I have tried fad diets, cutting calories, watching carbs, meal replacements, you name it. I'm not even 18 yet, but I've been taller and wider than a lot of adults I know since I was 13. What I've learnt through all of my 'dieting' experiences is that dieting is not a long term solution. If all we needed was the right balance of food, exercise and motivation, weight loss would be super-easy. But the reality is, you can spend months exercising your butt off and halving your calories, but if you don't devise a plan that you can stick to forever (and I mean a long, long time), at the end of your weightloss journey you're going to end up putting it all back on again, and then some.

I'm not saying that you should continue your weightloss routine when you've reached a weight you are happy with. You need a weight-maintenance plan to take up when you're done losing your weight. You can buy weightloss books and follow the meal replacement plans to a 'T', but if you're going to get anywhere and stay there, you need to devise your own weightloss plan that is right for you. Coming up with your own will also end up being much cheaper than most out there.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not bagging out weightloss books/websites or meal replacements, they can come in useful. I just wouldn't recommend following only one book, or one diet that has already been planned for you, and I'll tell you why.

• A lot of weightloss programs are expensive, and many seem to care first and foremost about profits.

• Not having any control over what you are 'allowed' to eat (or not having enough variety) will make you bored fairly quickly.

• Doing your own research means you're 100% involved in your own weightloss. Knowing the facts won't leave you feeling like you're being led mindlessly.

• In order to maintain your new body, you'll need to understand what makes you gain weight, how to effectively lose it, and how to maintain it. Fad diets, cleanses and meal replacements don't tend to cover maintaining your new lighter weight.

My Virtual Model

A great way to actually see your goal is to use a model simulator. My Virtual Model is a tool created for online clothing retailers, so customers can try before they buy, but it can also be used as a motivator for weight loss.

You enter your height, weight, body shape, choose a face and hairstyle, and it produces a virtual you! Of course, it can't be 100% accurate, but my model is pretty close. Without registering, you can't save your model but it's free to sign up. Below I've compared my current weight to my goal weight. Try it out for yourself!

BMI and Waist-Hip Ratio

BMI

BMI is a pretty good indicator of how you're going weight-wise. I know it doesn't take into consideration different peoples' level of fat or muscle that contributes to their weight, but I know I'm more fat than muscle, and I'm using my BMI as a secondary reference to see if I picked the right goal weight for my height. So for me, BMI fulfils its purpose.

I'm Australian and am a bit biased since I use the metric system (kg, cm, etc), but I think converting to kg and cm is much easier than working out 5'9" into just feet or just inches. BUT here are the ways to calculate BMI, using either metric or imperial measurements, courtesy of wikipedia:

Using this BMI you can then guage how 'normal' your weight is for someone of your height. Before I looked up 'BMI' on Wikipedia, I'd only really seen Underweight, Normal, Overweight and Obese. It's good to see in the chart below, Obese is divided into 3 classes.

With a height of 175cm (5'9") and weight of 104kg (229 pounds), I end up with a BMI of 33.8. I fall into Obese Class 1! All the more reason for me to get into shape, I think. My goal weight of 65kg (143 pounds) gives me a BMI of 21.2, falling into the Normal category.

As I mentioned before, BMI doesn't take fat/muscle distribution into account, so it's not really advisable for a person to follow the scheme religiously. It's handy just as a reference though.

Waist-Hip Ratio

Waist-hip ratio is considered a good indicator of health in a person. The optimal ratio for health and fertility is 0.7 for females and 0.9 for males. A high waist-hip ratio brings with it an increased risk of type 2 diabetes and heart problems. As far as female body shapes go, apples are at most risk of a high waist-hip ratio, whereas hourglass and pear shapes are fairly lucky (they tend not to carry as much weight around their middle, putting less strain on their heart and such). Leg and butt weight isn't so bad on the body as torso weight.

My waist-hip ratio is at about 0.85 so It's not ideal, but it's not terrible. We'll see how my weight loss will affect my ratio.

The Beginning

Okay, so here's the part of any weight loss journey that I despise - recording the start weight/measurements - but it's essential in order to guage your progress. I personally record every relevant thing I can think of. So here's my starting weight and measurements.

Height: 175cm (5'9")

Weight: 104kg (229 pounds)
Final Goal: 65kg (143 pounds)

BMI: 33.8
Goal Weight BMI: 21.2

Chest: 45 in
Waist: 41 in
Hips: 48 in

Neck: 13.5 in
Upper Arm: 14.5 in
Thighs: 28.5 in
Calves: 18.5 in

Last but not least, the before photo. Oh dear me. I have no full-body shots of myself so my boyfriend had to take a photo on his phone for me. This photo alone is enough to get me motivated to lose some weight!

 

Wish me luck!!