How I Lost over 60+ Pounds

My story is not a normal one as I was never over weight growing up and even at the age of 49 I only weighed 115 lbs. It's because of some health problems that I needed to get surgery at the age of 49 and when I did it caused me to go into early menopause and in 2 years gained over 100 lbs.

I decided that I was going to lose the weight but i also wanted to make sure that I lost it the healthy way. That's when I discovered a Whole Food Plant-Based Diet/lifestyle and the concept of calorie density. I was then able to loose over 60+ pounds in about 6 months and have kept it off for the past 4 years.

In this blog post i'm going to show exactly how I was able to do this. I'll explain how to use the calorie density method and how to apply it to your lifestyle to lose weight and you don't have to count calories! But I am also going to briefly touch on when and how calorie tracking can help you in certain situations, specifically in working through a plateau. 

Weight loss plateaus are extremely frustrating, so knowing when and how to use calorie tracking as a tool, can come in useful.

Calorie density is simply the measure of energy or calories in a given weight of food.  In this blog I will be talking about calories per pound.  Please look at the chart I posted below.

For Example:

1 pound of broccoli has around 150 calories per pound. Chocolate has around 3000 calories per pound.

As you can see the Fruits, veggies, potatoes and beans are some of the lowest in this calorie density chart.  You will also notice that oil, butter and chocolate are some of the highest in the calorie density chart. So if you are wanting weight loss and health then you want to stay away from the High-Density Foods as I did to lose the weight.

Interestingly, researchers found that people that ate below the 600 calorie per pound mark, lost weight effortlessly and were able to get into a healthy weight range.  This is why I ate only from the foods that are 600 calories per pound or less. Avoid all calorie dense foods that are in the dark green for better health and weight loss.

1. Remember to eat BELOW the 600 Calorie mark for easy weight loss

2. Eliminate the use of oils and butter for the quickest and biggest reduction in calories

3. In the beginning of your weight loss avoid Nuts and use Seeds and Avocados Sparingly

4. Keep processed foods to a minimum and focus more on vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and legumes.

I know what you're thinking..., "Why should I care about the amount of calories in a pound of food, when I am not eating a pound of broccoli or Chocolate?" I get it! I said the same thing...LOL!

The reason why is because researchers have found that people generally eat the same volume of food each day, regardless of the types of food they ate.  Now that doesn’t mean that I eat the same volume of food as someone else, it just means that I eat roughly the same amount of volume of food each day, regardless of the types of food I eat. So according to researchers, It doesn’t really matter if I eat donuts all day or beans and rice all day…..I will still eat 5 lbs of food a day no matter what it is and that's why this is important.

Researchers found that people eat anywhere between 3-6 pounds of food a day.  So I may eat around 5 pounds of food every day, while my father may eat around 7 lbs of food every day.

The volume of food each one of us eats every day is specific to our individual biology, so I can’t expect to eat as little as one person or as much as another.  My body craves its own specific amount of food and my hunger drive will make sure I get that each day. Now you see why it matters, right? Right.

Instead of having a bowl of Candy, which has 400 Calories, have a bowl of Fresh Fruit, which only has 200 Calories.

Satiation is driven by several components, calories, nutrients, and volume. The combination of all these components influence your satiation signals.

Researchers found that even if there are enough calories and nutrients in a meal, but not enough bulk or volume, then your 'satiation' will not be triggered. This is why eating a small replacement bar may check all the calorie and nutrient boxes but it doesn’t check the bulk / volume box which triggers satiation, so this is why you are still left feeling hunger and unsatisfied.

Example: If my hunger drive is driving me everyday to eat 5lbs of food and I eat foods that are in the High-Density category, it is more than likely that I will over eat in calories, causing me to gain weight. Now, if I eat foods in the Low-Density category then I am less likely to over eat in calories, there for maintaining my weight or losing weight.

At the end of the day, our bodies only needs so many calories and if we over eat we will gain weight, it's that simple. This is why calories per pound matter. As long as we eat of the lower density food we are not going to gain weight.

I hate to break it to you BUT everyone knows that the ONLY way to lose weight is to create a calorie deficit. And honestly I hate to say "Calorie Deficit" because it sounds like you have to starve yourself but that is not the case.

The truth is you need to start eating the Appropriate Amount of Calories for your body because until now you have been eating WAY TOO Many calories for your body, therefore comes the "calorie deficit" but really it is "Your Appropriate Amount of Calories" that you need to learn to start eating. This doesn't mean you have to Count Calories as long as you eat from the Low-Density Chart.

Researchers have found that when people eat below the 600 calorie mark that they all lost weight and were able to get within their healthy weight range.  However, they found that some individuals landed at the top of their healthy weight range, some in the middle, and some at the lower end of their healthy weight range.  Now I know we all want to look our best and hope that we fall into our lower healthy weight range but sometimes this doesn't happen so here is what researchers have done to help people out of a plateau...

So this is where the magic starts! Because we will be cutting the Calories without cutting the Volume of food we eat! Doesn't that sound amazing! I know!

So below we have a bowl of Pasta (700 Calories) with Marinara (100 Calories) making it a total of 800 Calories BUT here is where the magic starts because with this method you do not have to cut the Volume of your food only the Calories and this is how you do it... To dilute the Calories of the Pasta, we will replace half of the pasta with steamed veggies (this is called the 50/50 plate) Now the pasta is 350 Calories and the sauce is 50 Calories and the steamed veggies is 100 calories making it a total of 500 Calories! This is how we cut the Calories and keep the Volume and this meal will keep you fuller longer.

This 50/50 plate is what helped me lose the 60+ pounds and keep it off for the past 4 years. With this method you don't have to count calories and you can still get the volume of food with less of the calories. All you can to do is fill you plate with half veggies and half starch and always eat your veggies first.

if you want seconds that is fine, just make sure to fill you plate up the same way and eat your veggies first and it'll take your body about a week or two to get used to eating this way but after a while you will just be able to eyeball it.

Plateau: how to further dilute your calories, before your meal start with a veggie soup or salad and then proceed to eat the meal and if you want seconds...eat another soup or salad first before eating your second plate of food. Eating this way you will start seeing the pounds fall off as I did.

The Low Calorie Density chart clearly shows us that a Whole Foods, Plant-Based & Raw lifestyle is the best and healthier way to eat for weight loss. These foods are low in calorie and high in nutrition and have a host of good properties for good health.

You can eat large volumes of these foods for less calories than animal food or any other processed foods.  Not to mention that a plant based diet is sustainable, good for the environment, great for health, and very affordable if you stick to the produce aisles of the grocery store.

Many people don't like counting calories but really counting calories is a one time thing, first you find out how many calories you should be eating then you only have to count your calories for a week or two and then you will pretty much know how many calories are in the foods you like to eat. That's it! it's not hard to do.

With that said, if you eat from the low calorie foods and you're still having problems losing those last few pounds, then this is a good time to count calories and like I mentioned it's not that much work.

Sometimes you just want to eat some pizza or have a piece of cake but you don’t want to sabotage your weight loss, this is another time that calorie tracking can be very helpful in helping you gain information so that you can stay on track. So if you have a day where you want to eat more calorie dense food, you can track your calories for the day to allow room for these foods while not going over your calories.

So now you know how I was able to lose the weight and keep it off. The principles of calorie density is the best way I found to be able to eat an abundant of food with less calories, therefore helping me to lose the weight.You also know now that calorie counting is not difficult and can help you when you reach a plateau. Be sure to follow me on Social Media where I always post tips and trick and recipes to help you on your journey to weight loss. Love you all and it's my pleasure to help you on your journey, please feel free to post you comments and let me know how this plan is helping you too.