When I graduated from college, the first job I had was working as a trainer for a health club that was actually in a shopping mall. Being wide-eyed and ambitious, I started a personal consultation program where I would work with individual clients on everything from exercise and flexibility training, to cardio-respiratory training and daily nutrition. One of the first participants in this program was Marcie, a 44-year-old jewelry storeowner. Marcie was like most people, over-worked, tired all the time, and a little heavy for her frame. Marcie’s goals were to lose weight and gain more energy.

I developed a program based on Marcie’s goals. It included strength and cardio training, stretching, and a diet plan. I was fairly, and still somewhat, computer illiterate at that point in my career, so I jotted down some notes on a tablet for Marcie. The notes included what to eat, what not to eat and sample recipes.

We worked hard over the next month and I was proud of Marcie for the effort she was putting into her workouts. I was, however, confused that Marcie was not losing any weight. According to my calculations, she should have lost approximately 10 pounds and an inch or two from her waist. She was getting stronger and her endurance was improving but she was also gaining weight. I knew that there was no way she could have gained that much muscle in the short time we were training so I thought about what else could be causing the weight gain. I mentally went through the list of things we were working on. Cardio…check; weights…check; diet…hang on!

Remember, I was just out of college and not yet wise in the ways of the world. I thought if you asked a client to do something, they simply followed instructions. When I saw Marcie for her next training session, I pulled her aside and asked, “How have you been eating?” “Good”, she replied. “Okay, what did you have for dinner last night?” Marcie hesitated then sheepishly said, “A few beers and a brick of cheese.” My jaw hit the floor. Granted, anyone that knows me also knows that I like to eat and am not into promoting unhealthy weight loss, but Marcie was on the anti-diet. I said, “Marcie, you gotta know you won’t lose weight if you eat like this.” “Oh I don’t always eat that. I was just bored last night.” Two days later, I saw Marcie again for her session. Before we started, I once again asked what she ate for dinner previous night. “Marcie, you didn’t have 3 beers and a brick of cheese again did you?” “No”, she said proudly, “I had two cheeseburgers and only one beer.” As you might have guessed, Marcie did not fair very well on her weight loss program.

Weight loss does not have to be painful or complicated. There is no need to starve yourself or bring on a migraine by counting every single calorie. Think of weight loss as a simple math problem: calories out needs to be greater than calories in. Fat is simply stored energy. If you want to reduce your energy stores you need to create an imbalance with more energy being expended than taken in. There are two ways to do this and I recommend both. The first is to take in fewer calories. Do NOT starve yourself. You will not only be miserable but will likely trash your metabolism. Reduce your caloric intake by about 500 calories per day. That’s roughly the equivalent of a sandwich; half a sandwich if you are eating one from a restaurant in North Central, PA.

The second thing you can do is expend more calories. This is a little more difficult. Again, aim for 500 calories per day. This does not have to be done all at once. Short bouts of exercise, throughout the day, in addition to your regular daily activities, works fine. How many is 500? Well, I will be honest, a walk is a good start but unless you are walking for hours, it will not be sufficient to reach your goal. Try a combination of activities such as a walk in the morning, and maybe a step class after work. Strength training is also a great way to firm up and expend calories at the same time. Whatever activity(s) you choose, check with your doctor first and start slow.