Getting started losing weight using basic math

I'm sure you're wondering how can math help you lose weight. Who is this guy telling you all of this. Well let me answer the second question first. My name is Dennis Plourde, and on January 18th 2010 the Rite Aid Distribution Center I work in started a "Biggest Winner" weight loss challenge along with the rest of the DCs. I weighed in at 410 lbs. Yes four hundred ten pounds. They had a fitness consultant that did the weigh ins, and gave some advise to try and help us lose weight. He told me to write down everything I ate, and try to keep my calories around 3,000 calories, but not just eat 3 meals more like 4 or 5 smaller meals, and snacks. So I did. I wrote down everything I ate in a little book I got from the store. I recommend getting a 3"x5" composition book from Wal-mart they're a little more than the spiral books but they hold up much better. When I went back in the following week I had lost 7 lbs., I my mouth just about dropped through the floor. It was around that time that the Assistant Manager of my Dept. gave me a pamphlet that his wife gave him, and told me to under line the foods I like. However what I found really interesting was the information in the first paragraph. It said that if you take your weight and multiply it by 13 that will tell you how many calories you can take in without gaining, or losing any weight. For me that was 5330 calories. I couldn't even fathom it. I didn't think I ate that much I only ate twice a day. The other part that really got me thinking was that 3500 calories equaled 1 pound. So if you take 500 calories away from the amount that you got when you multiplied your weight by 13 for every day then you would lose 1 pound for that week.

So that got me thinking 410 times 13 equals 5330 minus 3500 equals 1830. So if I kept my calorie intake around 1800 I should lose a pound a day. The next step was to try and figure out how to do that and still live a normal life eating what my family ate. So everything I ate I would look up on the Internet. I just clicked on my search bar, and typed how many calories are in ______, how many calories are in ______. Then I wrote it down. For the first several weeks I totally swore off chocolate, and all of the other snacks we all enjoy so much. Opting more for fruit like apples 80 calories, and Oranges 60 calories. Now I've added the chocolate, and ice cream back into my diet in the last several weeks but I'll tell you the trick to that next time.

I won the weight loss challenge in my local DC by losing 40 lbs in 12 weeks as my weight on April 6th was 370 lbs. Now I have continued to lose weight, and as of Tuesday April 20th 2010 I have lost 6 more lbs, and I now weigh 364 lbs. I'm going to continue sharing my success, and hopefully inspire yours as well. So until next week keep thinking about what you're eating.