Helga without the H

A lot of people have asked me this week, with varying degrees of seriousness, for a copy of “my plan.” So here it is:

Eat Less, Move More: A Very Special Helga Without The H Weightloss Plan

It’s right in the title, and it’s pretty simple: burn more calories than you consume. So the next question is, how do you control your caloric input/output? And the even more important question: how do you do these things in a way that is healthy, sustainable, and won’t make you miserable?

EAT LESS:

1. I used the MyFitnessPal app to track my food. Game changer. You can scan food labels, search for chain restaurant food, even find semi-obscure stuff like Piragi. It was not good for non-chain restaurant meals, though. When I was in doubt, I tended to pick the higher-calorie count option.

2. I pulled out the measuring cup and calculator and actually measured out recommended servings so I could get more precise calorie estimates. This was very tedious at points, especially at the beginning. But I learned a lot about just how much we tend to overeat for no reason beyond being oblivious (example: on my own I fill the cereal bowl to the top. One serving is about 1/3 of my cereal bowl. To my surprise, I feel totally full and happy at the recommended serving size.)

3. I eat the same thing for breakfast almost every single day (that’s been true for a couple decades now). And I use a meal delivery service that covers 6 of my lunches/dinners per week. Both of those things made it very easy to track calories accurately without much headache. If I was home-cooking or ordering out meals most of the time, the tediousness of calculating would have been detrimentally discouraging, and significantly less accurate.

4. I set a target daily calorie count of 1,800. I originally set it for 2,000, arbitrarily picking a number that the internet says was the average someone needs to function. When I realized I was staying below 2K every day no problem, I dropped to 1,800 and hit it about 40% of the time. Note this number will vary a lot by person depending on activity level, starting weight, etc. My gym provided us with a super complex detailed weight loss calculator that reinforced to me that my target here was realistic, but it might not be realistic for other people.

5. I cut the following foods entirely: alcohol, chocolate, cookies, ice cream, and any other similar treat I might try to consume to fill the void left by chocolate. Basically, stuff we consume cuz it tastes good but is also super super bad for you with virtually zero nutritional value. Frankly, cutting alcohol alone would be a game changer for most people I know. You can exercise all day every day and eat nice balanced meals… then throw all that out the window every night by tripling your calorie intake with a few beverages. But I know alcohol is addictive, and in many cases is used to self-medicate, so this is a tough one for many people. For me, it was the easiest rule, and I didn’t break it once. Sweets at Halloween, Thanksgiving, and during trips were a lot harder to turn down.

6. Beyond what’s listed above, I didn’t make other nutrition rules, or make significant changes to what I normally would eat. But just by having to stay at 1.8K calories, I found myself making good decisions. I went from 3 lattes a day to 1 latte per day because those are calories that could instead be used for, say, having lunch that day. I basically just drank a ton of water as my beverage for every meal, which kept me more hydrated and better-rested than usual (both necessary for weight loss). I reached for berries or chia pudding for snacks. I realized which foods do or don’t make me feel full, and surprise: usually the healthier item worked better. If following a more detailed plan works for you, then awesome, go for it. For me personally, I know I would have lost patience with that level of detail and would have been more likely to quit altogether.

7. Exercise is a great appetite suppressant. When was I most hungry? When I was just sitting around, doing nothing. So when hunger striked (strook? did strike?) at the end of the day when I was all out of calorie space, I reached for a walk or jog instead of a snack. Which leads us to…

MOVE MORE:

Most of this comes down to: stop sitting around!!!! We (average Americans) are sitting around A LOT. It’s insane how much we just sit. Some of this is unavoidable. We have office jobs and commutes, etc. But it can be easier to get up and moving than we realize.

1. Track your step count and set a target! If you are stepping, you are not sitting, and vice versa. I set a goal of 15,000 steps per day (or 12,000 steps if I did 30 minutes of a physical activity that doesn’t count steps, like weightlifting, yoga, biking, etc). I started at 12K with a 10K exception and, when I hit those targets no problemo, I increased. If this seems like a lot to you, take a look at your current averages, then set something about 50% higher to start. Once you develop habits and get used to them, increase the target.

2. How to hit these step counts? Get up and move around throughout the day. I take a walk every morning before I do anything else (it replaced the time I used to spend walking the dog). Then I get up every 1-1.5 hours for a 5-10 minute mini-walk. I was doing this anyway due to doctors’ orders to avoid chronic headaches from staring at the screen. If you can get outside for these, there’s the added benefits of fresh air and vitamin D. Stuck in an office? Use the bathroom on the far end of the building, hopefully on a different floor (always take the stairs!). If you’re hydrating enough, these bathroom breaks should be frequent, and they add up. Park on the far end of the parking lot. Walk for any errands or commuting if possible. Stuck in a waiting room or on the sideline at a kids’ sporting event or on a metro platform? Don’t sit down, just walk back and forth. To get to 10K per day, here were my targets: 2k before I sit down at my desk, 3K by noon, 4k by 3pm, 5k by end of the work day. Then at some point in the evening I go for a longer walk or jog/run (about 30-40 minutes) to grab the remaining 5K. for my 15K goals, I added more running. The main takeaway is, constant small increments will win out over trying to cram all your exercise into a single intense session a few times a week or even once a day, because your body keeps burning calories after you stop the activity (so you can be in a constant state of low calorie burn by just walking around a bunch).

3. Stop watching TV. I gave myself a 1 hour maximum per day, (usually while eating dinner). I could watch as much TV as I wanted if I was being physically active at the same time. This was easy for me because we own a treadmill. But if you don’t have cardio equipment in your house, walk some laps around the couch. Do burpees. Are you folding laundry while watching? Great- stand up instead of sitting. I also added in a rewards system where I can watch more TV at the end of the day IF I’d achieved all the other goals for the day. This rule was tough in my house because my spouse lives with the TV on, so there was a lot of honor system going on.

4. Start running. I set my original goal to run at least once every 3 days. Once I got good at that, I switched it to once ever 2 days. I picked running for my list of rules because it’s much easier to track than my other existing workout methods (volleyball, gym, yoga, etc). It is always a workout, even if it’s shitty and short. It’s easy to quantify, to track progress, to set various goals. And it definitely burns those calories and gets those steps! I didn’t set any time or distance goals beyond just “do something” which has helped me stay motivated to get out there. With the treadmill, I can squeeze in some running at times when I otherwise wouldn’t have worked out that day, like while prepping dinner (preheat oven, run on treadmill, put food in oven, run on treadmill. Boom, there’s a mile.) Working from home makes this easier, too: I’ve run during my lunch breaks. I’ve even run while working (last week I was rehearsing and timing an upcoming presentation aloud while jogging past confused neighbors). And I’ve literally run errands, like picking up carry-out orders.

(If you hate running (like I do): Wear running clothes when you head out for your daily walk (DO do daily walks!). About half a mile in, when you’re sick of running, maybe when you reach a downhill, jog for like 30 seconds or a minute. Then go back to walking until you get bored. And jog another 30 seconds or minute. Walk again until you get cold. Jog a little until you warm up. Maybe by the end of the walk/jog you’ve barely accumulated any real running distance. But you’ve probably got a bunch more steps and a faster mile time than if you’d just walked, and the run part eventually stops feeling so shitty, to the point where you find yourself swapping in more and more jog time.)

WHY THIS IS ELGA’S PROGRAM AND MAYBE NOT YOUR PROGRAM:

Full disclosure: I have a ton of advantages that made this much, much easier for me than I think it would be for most people I know:

1. I don’t have any children (or pets, or other dependents). This means way more time and energy available to dedicate to myself. I can step outside for a quick walk without having to put a kid in a stroller or a dog in a harness.

2. I work from home most days and have decent flexibility. This means I can take that morning walk or lunch jog and return to my desk unshowered and sweaty. I can get a full night’s sleep (rest is important). I can eat a slow breakfast while working so I’m not hungry all morning. My 1 day a week in the office is the day I get the most steps (from walking to/from train stations) but otherwise is the worst day for my program because I have to wake up early, shower, eat 3 hours earlier so I’m starving by lunchtime, spend all day hungry, get home too late to get to the gym and too hungry to be motivated by anything except for dinner, etc.

3. I don’t have any major physical or mental issues that get in the way. I do have chronic back pain, so morning runs are out of the question, and morning walks are painful and short. But I can still get out there (in fact the back pain has improved thanks to this program). But if clinical depression or a broken leg are keeping you glued to your couch, it’s obviously tougher to get up and about on a regular basis. And obviously there are plenty of medical conditions that can mess with your metabolism, energy levels, cardiovascular abilities, etc. So diet and exercise plans should be adjusted accordingly, with the guidance of a doctor.

4. I’m not addicted to TV or alcohol. I am addicted to staring at my phone, but I can at least get up and move while staring at it (treadmill time was great for reading the daily news, etc). TV is tougher to unplug from. Alcohol is even tougher.

5. I have a treadmill in my house. I know I’ve mentioned it multiple times, but just want to acknowledge that I’m fully aware of what a huge huge advantage this is.

6. I was already pretty fit and active, with relatively decent and routine eating habits. My lifestyle already had me eating the same breakfast and lunch, not reaching for trans fats, fast food, beer, etc. I already went to the gym twice a week, played volleyball every week, walked regularly, jogged occasionally. My favorite weekend activity is doing something active like hiking, kayaking, etc. So for me, this program was about turning it up a notch and dropping a moderate amount of weight from “just oh-so-barely overweight” to “healthy.”

For people with higher starting weights and/or less active lifestyles, these changes are going to be a bigger shock the the system, to the point of maybe feeling initially unachievable.

The silver lining is: it is actually EASIER for heavier people to lose weight (assuming you can temporarily get over whichever barrier made you heavier in the first place). So you don’t need to go as extreme in your plan as I did to get results. I would suggest just starting with: get a step-counting device and start walking around regularly (tiny walks all throughout the day, every single day). Slowly build from there. And if you’re siting in front of the TV, stand up and stretch instead. Do eat breakfast, don’t reach for seconds or desserts, and keep a stash of granola bars in your car and soups in your pantry so you’re less likely to go for Taco Bell drive-thru when you’re hungry and too tired to cook.

PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS:

1. No matter what: DO TRACK YOUR PROGRESS.

Set up a checklist or calendar with a couple (not too many) clear and quantifiable goals (eg step count, max tv time, no fast food/ chocolate/ etc) and enter your progress every day. Don’t focus on the daily weight as it can fluctuate like crazy, which is demoralizing. Instead, DO focus on what you HAVE achieved, like “Hey! I made it 10 days without beer!” or “Hey! I walked 3 more miles this week than last week!” Those little victories make you feel better, which is a great motivator to keep pushing towards the next little victory until they snowball into big victories.

2. And finally, like I just said: DO NOT FOCUS ON THE WEIGHT ITSELF. Weight is just a metric; it should not be the goal. Sure, use weight to help you get healthier, but if you’re trying to look better or hit a beauty standard or some bullshit like that, cut that out! Do people tend to feel better when they look better? Sure, of course. But you know what feels even better than looking better? FEELING BETTER. Lose weight using healthy habits, and you’ll feel great! Your energy levels will increase. Your endorphins will be going nuts. You’ll have less aches and pains (after the soreness subsides, haha). You’ll be getting more sunshine. Your screen-induced headaches and your doom-scrolling anxiety will subside. Your clothes will be more comfortable. You’ll get less winded walking up a hill.

If all you care about is getting smaller or prettier, you not only put your physical health at risk (overdoing it can lead to muscle loss, eating disorders, and a host of other medical issues), but you put your mental health at risk as well.

A lot of people reacted to me by saying “Why are YOU trying to lose weight?” I guess they thought I didn’t look fat enough that I should care. Follow-up comments were “well you don’t LOOK like you’re 180” or “Why are you still doing this program? Didn’t you hit your target already?” Amazingly these comments mostly came from vball teammates, who should know better than anyone that there are tangible benefits to improving one’s health than just getting skinnier, like being able to move quicker on defense, jumping higher, or playing a whole match without getting winded. If I, or anyone else, did a weight loss program for the wrong reasons (just focus on getting skinnier) my athletic performance would decline (loss of energy, muscle, cognitive ability, etc). And I would probably be a total saddo from spending all my time and energy on something so negative.

I guess that’s about it. Questions? Comments? Concerns? Let me know.

[disclaimer: I’m not a doctor, nutritionist, or other medical professional. I’m just someone who spent 90 days trying out a thing, and responding to people who wanted to know more about that thing.]

PS: I forgot to add… Drink an insane amount of water. Start by keeping a full glass on your nightstand and chugging the whole thing as soon as you wake up.