by Rita Black
At the consultation, Tara weighed nearly 300 pounds and was pre-diabetic. Carrying that weight was causing pain in her knees, so it was hard for her to move. When I asked her about exercise, she said, “I haven’t ever exercised especially, and now with work and my long commute, there’s no time. When I get home, it’s already late. I eat the dinner my husband makes, watch TV for an hour, and then go to bed. I don’t have time to exercise, and it hurts too much to try.”
Gina didn’t have a weight issue earlier in her life, but she had gained 20 pounds since menopause and weighed around 180 pounds. Her attempts to lose weight with exercise had been unsuccessful. “I don’t get it. I was doing two yoga classes a week with my friends, and yet the scale didn’t budge, so I gave up,” she exclaimed. “I don’t like this spare tire around my waist, and I can’t fit into most of my expensive outfits. I thought the exercise was going to help, but it didn’t.”
What was missing for both sisters at this point was an Inner Coach that would work with them to create a powerful exercise vision. An Inner Coach would also be specific about how each of them could use exercise to create their specific health and weight goals.
I calculated their Daily Body Burns. Tara’s Daily Body Burn was 2,450 calories. Gina’s was 1,773 calories.
Strategy A: Adding Exercise Calories to Increase Weekly Weight Release
When you exercise, you add those exercise calories burned to your Daily Body Burn total for the day. Adding multiple exercise sessions over the week increases the overall total amount of calories that you burn for that week. The net effect is a larger weight release for the week. You decide how many exercise calories to burn in exercise to create the additional weight release you desire and work that specific amount of exercise into your week. This is what I did for Tara.
At 2,450 calories, Tara had a higher Daily Body Burn than her sister because it takes more energy to move 300 pounds than 180 pounds. First, we calculated Tara’s Weekly/Daily Weight Release Rate goal (BEFORE figuring in exercise) for one and a half pounds per week, making her Daily Calorie Budget for Weight Release 1,700 calories a day.
2,450 Tara’s Daily Body Burn
-750 Daily Weight Release Rate to release 1.5 pounds per week
=1,700 Tara’s Daily Calorie Budget to release 1.5 pounds per week (without exercise)
Tara looked at the numbers. “Staying within 1,700 calories seems doable food-wise. I would like to release weight more quickly, but I don’t think I can eat less at this point. It feels too restrictive. I am concerned about adding exercise, because, like I said, I don’t have the time.”
“I get it, Tara,” I said, understanding her fear. “I think there is a happy medium for you. You will find that if you begin exercising a bit every day, you burn more calories, release more weight, and feel healthier. You may even reverse the pre-diabetes diagnosis.”
“I would love to do that,” she said, “but how much time are we talking about here and what kind of exercise? I ache too much to do anything too strenuous.”
We figured out that at 300 pounds Tara burns about 500 calories an hour walking at a slow to moderate pace. If she walked 30 minutes a day, she could meet her goal of burning 250 calories. That added an additional 1,750 calories to her weekly calorie burn, increased her weight release by another half-pound, and allowed her to release a total of two pounds a week.
To demonstrate how this would work, I am going to introduce you to The Weekly Weight Release Planner. (Chart N) Use this tool during your 30-Day Thin Thinking Practice to predictably track your rate of weight release and plan your exercise for the week.
CHART N: Tara’s Weekly Weight Release Increased with Added Exercise
By the end of the week, Tara will release two pounds by walking 30 minutes each day.
Tara was convinced but hesitant. “I am a little nervous. Thirty minutes seems like a lot of walking for me since I am starting at nothing,” she said.
“You can start with less, Tara,” I assured her. “As long as you stay within your 1,700 Daily Calorie Budget, you will be releasing at least a pound and a half a week. Then whatever you burn in exercise will be additional calories for more weight release. You can build up to 30 minutes over time.”
“Sounds good. This makes sense to me. Having an exercise plan puts the power and choice in my hand. I like that.”
Strategy B: Adding Exercise to bank extra calories for weekends, social events, and/or overages
Another strategy to shift your relationship with exercise is to bank calories burned exercising for times during the week when you go over your Daily Calorie Budget for weight release. Here is how Gina used this strategy to shift her relationship to exercise.
I calculated Gina’s metabolism and found that she could release a pound a week without exercise by subtracting 500 calories a day from her body burn of 1,773 calories.
1,773 Gina’s Daily Body Burn
-500 Daily Weight Release Rate to release one pound per week
=1,273 Gina’s Daily Calorie Budget to release one pound per week (without exercise)
Gina looked at the number 1,273 and a light bulb went off. “No wonder I haven’t been losing weight. I might have been losing weight during the week, because when I diet, I eat only about 1,200 calories a day. However, I like going out on the weekend and entertaining, so without knowing it I have been erasing whatever extra calories I burned during the week with extra food and drink on the weekend.”
“If you exercise more, you can add the calories you burned to your weekend calorie budget,” I said.
“I get it. It’s kind of like a savings account?” Gina asked, the wheels in her mind turning. “How much does a yoga class burn?”
“About 300 calories for an hour-long class”
“Is that all? So my two yoga classes are burning only 600 calories for the week? That is why they didn’t help much. I need to add more exercise, huh? ” Gina asked.
“It all depends on how many more calories you want to bank for the weekend.”
“Well, I probably need six hundred more each for Friday and Saturday. That’s a glass of wine or two or a dessert. I want to be realistic. I am willing to work out more; I just needed to understand why and how. My friend wants me to come to her spin class once a week, how much does that burn?”
“Around 450 calories an hour,” I answered.
“Okay,” Gina said, determined, “so if I stay within my budget of 1,273 calories a day during the week with my food, add three yoga classes to burn 900 calories total, and add a 450-calorie spin class, that is another 1,350 calories I have for lunches out and weekends. I could handle that. In fact, I am kind of excited to try this out.”
Here’s how Gina’s typical week played out without exercise. (Chart O)
Chart O: Gina’s Typical Week Without Exercise Creates a Weight Release Challenge
As you can see, with no exercise and adding socializing calories from lunch on Wednesday; a 3-course, restaurant dinner Friday with wine and dessert; wine on Saturday; and a Sunday brunch, Gina went over her calorie budget for weight release even though she stayed within that 1,200-calorie budget on the other days of the week. You can see why she was maintaining her weight and not releasing it, despite her calories being low three days out of seven.
Here is how she did when began shifting and burned a specific number of calories to create a bank of extra calories for her weekly splurges.
Chart P: Gina Uses Exercise to Bank Extra Calories for Her Social Life
Gina set her weekly exercise goals at three yoga classes (300 calories each), a 450-calorie spin class, and a Sunday walk (300 calories). She also lightened up a bit on those socializing calories. She hit her weekly weight release goals and still had fun and felt like she was splurging. (Chart P)
NOTE: If Gina had felt like 1,273 calories was too low a daily calorie budget, she could use her
banked calories for overages during the week.
Strategy C: adding exercise to average more calories into your daily calorie budget
The last strategy is to use the exercise calories you burn over the course of a week to increase your Daily Calorie Budget for Weight Release. This is a great strategy, especially if you have a very low Daily Body Burn.
For example, let’s say that Tara and Gina had a sister named Carmen who had a very low Calorie Budget for Weight Release.
1,559 Carmen’s Daily Body Burn
-500 Daily Weight Release Rate to release one pound a week
=1,059 Carmen’s Daily Calorie Budget to release one pound a week without exercise
For Carmen, 1,059 calories a day is a bit too low for comfort. Remember, Weight Mastery has to be sustainable and realistic.
Carmen could change her Weekly/Daily Weight Release Rate to half a pound a week (which would change the amount of calories she had to reduce daily to 250 instead of 500) and easily raise her Daily Calorie Budget for Weight Release to 1,309 (without added exercise), which would be much more reasonable. But what if she wanted that faster rate of a weight release of one pound a week?
Carmen could make these calculations:
Determine a Daily Calorie Budget that would be more comfortable, like 1,300 calories.
Figure out the difference between 1,300 and her Daily Calorie Budget for Weight Release of 1,059 calories. 1,300 – 1,059 = 241
Multiply that difference by seven for the seven days of the week. 241 x 7= 1,687.
Carmen would need to generate 1,687 more calories a week on average in exercise in order to keep her Calorie Budget for Weight Release at 1,300 per day and release a pound a week.
Carmen decides to take three Zumba classes (one hour each) at her local health club after work on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Each class burns 400 calories. She can burn an additional 487 calories with two brisk, 45-minute walks on the weekend.
Chart Q: Carmen Increases Her Daily Calorie Budget with Exercise
By adding exercise and averaging the energy burned by exercise for the week, Carmen is able to release one pound a week. She has a much more feasible Daily Calorie Budget for Weight Release than before. (Chart Q)
I hope that you are beginning to see the mechanics of using exercise for more of a daily calorie buffer or to speed your weight release. You and your Inner Coach can use exercise from the inside out, as a practical tool to create the change you want. The skill of having this more powerful relationship with exercise will not only allow for thin thinking but also thin living.
2 – CREATING YOUR WEEKLY EXERCISE SYSTEM
Setting up a weekly exercise system to suit your own needs is important for success. Companies run on systems, nature runs on systems, and so does Weight Mastery.
The first step toward consistency is to set up a flexible but solid system around exercise that you can repeat on a weekly basis. Having a system or plan is lacking in most Weight Struggler’s relationships with exercise. Remember the research on Weight Masters and exercise? Most of those men and women exercise an hour a day, 6 days a week. You don’t have to start there, but I invite you to see that long-term weight release takes commitment, and it takes a system to fulfill that commitment and keep it going.
Rita’s Weekly Exercise System
I want to share with you how my weekly repeatable exercise system works. Like many of the Weight Masters mentioned earlier, I burn about 2,000 calories a week in exercise to maintain my weight of 140 pounds. As a woman in her early fifties, my metabolism is relatively low. My Daily Calorie Budget for Maintenance is 1,550 calories a day, so I bank my additional exercise calories (around 1,600-2,000) to use for social outings, entertaining, and days when I go over my budget.
Chart R: Rita’s Weekly Exercise System
You may think that my Daily Calorie Budget is small and my exercise budget seems high. For me, it’s perfect. I always feel well-fed and never deprived. After years of being an achy couch potato, I feel like a million dollars inside and out. I am not saying this to brag. I am saying this because I know you can have this, too.
I am currently burning about 2,000 calories a week with physical activity (Chart R). I get resistance training with light weights in my HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) and Boot Camp classes, which helps tone my body. After age 40, men and women begin losing lean muscle mass every year. That muscle loss adds to the decline of metabolism. Doing some strength training, even if it is lifting soup cans while watching TV at night, will help slow this process. (Think of it as burning calories instead of consuming them in front of the TV.)
During my weekly planning huddle with my Inner Coach, I make sure my exercise sessions are set up within all the other appointments and events of my week. Planning in advance sets me up for success by creating a mental roadmap through my week and imagining how it will all play out. This helps me follow through on my plans about 90 percent more than if I just “hope” to exercise.
I carve out exercise times from my schedule. I make sure the workouts are on my calendar and honor those times as much as I would a client appointment, a birthday party, or a doctor’s appointment. I put all those appointments in my weekly planner and keep them.
By planning ahead, you are making exercise a part of your life. This time is your time, and you and your body deserve to be a priority. After all, if you are not healthy, how can you be of service to those in your life who need you? Taking time to be healthy ahead of other things isn’t selfish; it is selfless. Be a role model for others.
Now, let’s get your exercise system set up.
Setting Up Your Exercise System
Now once again, you are going to lean on technology for help. You can go to www.FromFatToThinThinking.com and find the Shift Weekly Weight Release Planner-Calculator.
You can use the planner-calculator to figure out your Exercise System. It includes:
What days you will exercise.
What types of exercises you will engage in.
How much time you will need to exercise to meet your weight release goal for the week.
The planner-calculator will help you see how your exercise plans align with your weight release goals for the week. The calculator will also help you decide your exercise strategy for the week. Remember, your exercise strategy defines how you are using exercise within your weight release goals. The calculator will demonstrate what those choices would look like to help you decide.
You can use exercise to:
Increase your weekly weight release
Bank calories for the weekend, social events, and/or daily overages
Increase your Daily Calorie Budget for Weight Release
When you have planned out your week of exercise and decided upon your strategy, you can print your results. You can use this online planner every week during your 30-Day Thin Thinking Practice. Or if you don’t want to use this online resource, you can fill out the Exercise System Worksheet provided in the index along with the Exercise Calorie Per Hour Chart to plan out your exercise for the week.
EXERCISE SYSTEM WORKSHEET
Chart S: Exercise System Worksheet
No Time? Break Up Exercise into Bite-Sized Chunks
When you have busy days that don’t allow for an hour of exercise, break up your exercise into short segments and spread them out in mini sessions throughout your day.
For instance, Tara realized, as we were working out her thirty minutes of walking every day, that she could not do it at one time. She decided that first thing in the morning she could walk around her block for ten minutes. Lunchtime at work, she could walk around the floor of the hospital twice for ten more minutes. After dinner, she and her husband would walk around the block again for another ten minutes.
Tara found that dividing exercise into shorter sessions not only made achievin
g her goal doable, but she came to love the moments her walking gave her to refresh herself and think about her day. She also started pulling her friends Sue and Barbara along on her lunchtime walk. Soon they started the ten-minute club and made a social activity of it. Tara discovered a way to make exercising enjoyable and doable.
Market The Reward of Exercise to Yourself
Every time you think about exercise, practice thinking how good you are going to feel after your workout instead of how you feel leading up to it. Imagine yourself finishing the exercise and feeling:
Strong in your body.
Exhilarated in your mind.
Your body and mind are connected as one.
Proud of yourself for having exercised.
Here are some benefits to focus on. Exercise:
Balances your hormones.
Allows you to solve problems.
Elevates your libido.
Lowers your blood pressure.
Helps regulate the hunger hormones leptin and ghrelin.
Makes you feel good about yourself.
Lifts your mood.
Makes you smarter!
Overcome “I blew it” from your Inner Critic or Seduction from Your Inner Rebel
There are going to be times when exercise doesn’t happen, perhaps for a good reason. If you decide that missing an exercise session Wednesday ruins your entire week and you’ll start over with exercise on Monday, think again. Starting over is death to consistency. “Keep on going!” is the mantra of Weight Masters.
Do you sometimes talk yourself out of exercising? The Inner Rebel likes to resist exertion of any kind. I bet there are some distinct ways that your Inner Rebel knows how to talk you out of your exercise session, including:
It’s too warm in bed.
You worked too hard today, so relax.
