I often wonder why I don’t lose more weight. I joggle miles upon miles and I 
do it every day. This year I’ve already logged over 900 miles and am on track to do 1700 for the year.
And what has happened to my weight?
Nothing.
I weigh the same now as I did on January 1st.
How is this possible?
Well, it must mean that I’m eating enough food to compensate for all the additional calorie burning activities I do.
The equation for weight loss is simple.
If Calories in < Calories out you lose weight
AND
If Calories in > Calories out you gain weight
According to this article on Rodale Health, people are probably eating up to 3 times more calories than they actually need. The reason is because our minds are not good at predicting how many calories a given amount of food is.
5 tips for reducing food consumption
1. Check labels – In the US, calories are printed on everything you buy. Yes, a 20 oz coke is 250 calories.
2. Become familiar with portion sizes – A single serving of meat is about the size of a deck of cards.
(Try this fun food matching game to help you figure out portion sizes of typical foods. )
3. Buy portion-sized bags - This helps you to psychologically eat less.
4. Create your own portion-sized bags – If you get the big size package, take time to transfer it into smaller bags using sandwich bags.
5. Set your own portions in restaurants - This doesn’t seem a reasonable request. Maybe just trying to eat half the food on your plate is more effective.
If you want to be healthy and live a long time, you’ve got to cut down on your calories. It’s ok to eat good, real food. Just eat less and enjoy it more.
Being a runner or joggler is great to keep you heart healthy. Changing your diet will help prevent many “Western world” diseases.
Do you have any tips on how to control how much you eat? Leave your comments below.
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
I’m having the same issue as far as running and not seeing any weight loss. I’ve lost sixty pounds over the last several years but still have a ways to go and taking up jogging this year hasn’t made a bit of difference. Oh, well, it’s probably benefiting my heart and lungs and that’s good too.
Weight loss is a balancing act–you need to eat healthier but also you need to be careful not to go overboard and starve yourself either. It’s an exercise in patience. I’m not going to lose it all at once, it takes time and that time it takes helps change our habits. Midlife weight is harder–I’m not whining, it’s true. Still, I’m older and tougher and there’s no denying physics–it will yield to persistence.