What exactly IS a pound? And how do you get rid of it?

Websters Definition of "POUND": any of various units of mass and weight; specifically : a unit now in general use among English-speaking peoples equal to 16 avoirdupois ounces or 7000 grains or 0.4536 kilogram.

What does a pound look like? Here is a visual.

Related to diet: A pound = 3500 calories, I.E. to lose 1 pound we must "burn" 3500 calories.  Vice versa, to gain 1 pound you must eat an excess of 3500 calories.  Is it really that simple? Actually, yeah, it is. 

Of coarse I'm getting a head of myself.

FIRST lets understand how we know what our body needs, what does "3500 extra" calories mean exactly if you don't know what your starting point is.  Think of our bodies like a car.  A car needs gas to go, well so do our bodies.  Just like you can chose unleaded, leaded, premium, and even racing fuel, our bodies too need a good fuel source for optimum performance.  Your tank in your car has a capacity, like mine has a 22 gallon tank. So how much fuel does your body need?  This is called your BMR or Basic Metabolic Rate, which is the amount of calories your body needs to perform basic body functions if you were lying around all day.   Most of us don't lie around all day, but many of us have sedentary lifestyles, like me I sit at a desk all day.

To calculate your BMR click HERE. After you figure out your BMR, you have to factor in your activity level, most people are sedentary to lightly active.  Click HERE to calculate using the Harris Benedict Equation.

Using both these equations my BMR is 1950 calories. If I was not trying to lose weight, this would be my daily calorie need to support basic body functions and a lightly active lifestyle.  By going over this on a daily basis by 500 calories per day and not exercising I would gain one pound one week (500 x 7 = 3500 = 1 pound - also this is theoretically, there are always other factors).  Vice versa, to lose 1 pound per week I would need to reduce my calories by 500 per day.  This can be accomplished by both reducing calories and through exercise.  If I were to burn 250 calories per day through exercise, and reduce my calories 250 per day under my BMR, I would theoretically lose 1 pound that week. This theory I can say is pretty accurate, and worked for me.  It is recommended by health professionals you aim for no more than 2lbs per week weight loss to safely lose weight, unless you are being supervised by a doctor.  BUT there are benefits to losing weight slowly.  It helps your allow your skin time to shrink so you don't have droopey hanging skin, those who lose weight slowly are more likely to keep the weight off, and it increases the chance of it being fat you are losing - not muscle. If you aim to lose 2lbs per week, then you have to "burn" 7000 calories per week through diet and exercise - by reducing your calorie intake by 500 below your BMR and burning 500 calories per day, this can theoretically be achieved.

To better illustrate how we create calorie deficits and achieve weight loss by increasing activity and decreasing calories is a calorie deficit.  A calorie deficit is: the amount by which you have gone under you BMR creating the deficit which ultimatley leaves to weight loss.

To figure out your calorie deficit use this equation:
BMR + Calories Burned - Calories Consumed = Calorie Deficit
Example My BMR is 1950 (that is how much my body burns sedentary) + Calories Burned in Zumba (per my HR Monitor) 600 calories - 1200 calories consumed = A deficit of 1,350.  If I repeated this 5 times per week I would theoretically be close to my goal of losing 2lbs per week becuase I created a weekly deficit of about 7000 calories (aka 2 pounds)

I know this can be over your head at first, it took me a while to grasp the concept.  Understanding the weight loss game was nothing more than a math equation though really took a lot of the guess work out of it.  By understanding all I had to do was burn calories and consume less and lose weight well the flood gates just opened.

Something fun I came accross since we're talking about pounds is this list that compares physical items to weight.  Its so funny to see once you get losing weight, or even if your just setting out to lose weight how much you plan to get rid of compares to.  I've lost an Irish Setter and a Chihuahua, what have you lost or do you hope to lose?

1 pound = a Guinea Pig
1.5 pounds = a dozen Krispy Kreme glazed donuts
2 pounds = a rack of baby back ribs
3 pounds = an average human brain
4 pounds = an ostrich egg
5 pounds = a Chihuahua
6 pounds = a human’s skin
7.5 pounds = an average newborn
8 pounds = a human head
10 pounds= chemical additives an American consumes each year
11 pounds = an average housecat
12 pounds = a Bald Eagle
15 pounds = 10 dozen large eggs
16 pounds = a sperm whale’s brain
20 pounds = an automobile tire
23 pounds = amount of pizza an average American eats in a year
24 pounds = a 3-gallon tub of super premium ice cream
25 pounds = an average 2 year old
30 pounds = amount of cheese an average American eats in a year
33 pounds = a cinder block
36 pounds = a mid-size microwave
40 pounds = a 5-gallon bottle of water or an average human leg
44 pounds = an elephant’s heart
50 pounds = a small bale of hay
55 pounds = a 5000 BTU air conditioner
60 pounds = an elephant’s penis (yep, weights more than his heart!)
66 pounds = fats and oils an average American eats in a year
70 pounds = an Irish Setter
77 pounds = a gold brick
80 pounds = the World’s Largest Ball of Tape
90 pounds = a newborn calf
100 pounds = a 2 month old horse
111 pounds = red meat an average American eats in a year
117 pounds = an average fashion model (and she’s 5’11”)
118 pounds = the complete Encyclopedia Britannica
120 pounds = amount of trash you throw away in a month
130 pounds = a newborn giraffe
138 pounds = potatoes an average American eats in a year
140 pounds = refined sugar an average American eats in a year
144 pounds = an average adult woman (and she’s 5’4”)
150 pounds = the complete Oxford English Dictionary
187 pounds = an average adult man
200 pounds = 2 Bloodhounds
235 pounds = Arnold Schwarzenegger
300 pounds = an average football lineman
400 pounds = a Welsh pony

AH-HAH! I GET IT NOW! - Getting Started

For years I struggled with finding the trick to losing weight.  It was always some secret that constantly eluded me.  I'd see people lose weight and become fit and I'd wonder how the "heck did they do that? Why can't I do that?"  Well the answer was pretty simple.  I had never been able to maintain weight loss before because I had always viewed it as temporary, and never understood the healthy/right way to lose weight. On top of that I lacked the commitment and drive to stick to whatever method I was using, and gave up at the first sign of failure. 

The problem with these "diets" I tried was they were not maintainable.  They were so restrictive and I was setting myself up for failure because there was just no way I could sustain them long term.  In the mean time my body was probably in starvation mode, and I was depriving myself of a balanced healthy diet - which leads to other health problems.  Sure I lost some weight, but I wasn't losing it in the right way.  I wasn't losing fat, I wasn't getting fit, and I wasn't any healthier (probably the opposite).  It wasn't until the light bulb went off in my head one day that I woke up and realized weight loss is not a temporary fix, or a quick for that matter.  I had to seriously change my ways for good, not to just lose weight but to be healthy (lets face it being skinny doesn't make you healthy, and isn't this about a healthful life anyway).  Once I accepted that truth, everything else seemed to fall in place, it finally "clicked". It wasn't until I stopped looking at losing weight as a diet, and realized it was a LIFE style change that I fully committed myself.

For many, and for me, Its hard starting out.  Where do you start?  So first I had to determine what it was exactly I wanted to accomplish.  My personal goals included losing 85 pounds, getting out of the "obese" range and into the "healthy" range on the BMI scale for good, and feeling "fit" for starters. So I made a promise to myself, no more fast food or soda, I was going to start eating until I was satisfied not stuffed, and I was only going to stock my house with healthy snacks and treats.

Not only did I have to make dietary goals I had to get my butt off the couch and start exercising.  Where does someone who hasn't worked out in 5 years start?  Do I walk? Do I try running?  Do I do home DVD's?  The options are endless.  I decided to join 24 hour fitness figuring that would give me a wide variety of options.  I made a work out schedule and began working out 5 days per week. Some days were at the gym doing the elliptical trainer and free weights, other days I rode my bike, or went for a walk. 

In the first two months I lost 20lbs, all by staying with in my sparkpeople recommended calorie range of 1200-1550 calories/day (and also with in my fat, carbohydrate, protein, & sodium ranges) and working out 5 days a week (of coarse this is specific to me and I am not making any personal recomendations to any one for what their calorie goals should be, but you can build your own program and goals using sparkpeople.com). In the beginning completing 20 minutes on the elliptical was a challenge, so was lifting 5lb weights.  I stuck with it and over time I grew stronger and my body adapted. I was able to increase the restistance on the machines and go for longer.  I grew stronger and became more fit!  After a few months of doing pretty basic exercises, I decided it was time to branch out and challenge myself a little more.  I tried every class that 24 Hour Fitness had to offer.  Normally I would have been terrified of those classes. I always felt that everyone would be starring at me or judging me.  I'll be honest I had a lot of apprehension at the first classes, but quickly I found that it was quite the opposite.  Everyone in those classes were there for the SAME reasons as I was, no one was starring or judging - in fact it was a very high spirited environment.  Some people were way more fit than me, but that was encouraging - it inspired me and gave me something to work towards.  I discovered I loved spinning, and zumba, and turbo kick boxing! Those previously were things I wouldn't have dared doing, but taking that leap was the very best thing I ever did for myself!  I immediatley invested in a heart rate monitor and realized I was burning upwards of 800 calories per class!  How motivational is that!

So starting out can be hard, but if you can manage to stick to the plan for a while, and get committed I guarentee you will see results. One of my favorite quotes "Be more stubborn than the scale, eventually it will go down".