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Tara Parker-Pope’s New Year’s day New York Times Magazine article, The Fat Trap is both discouraging and encouraging at the same time. It’s discouraging in that it reveals research suggesting that there are extremely strong biological forces working against those of us who want to maintain weight loss. It’s encouraging in that it provides some incite as to how we might be able to beat that trend, hard as it might be.

It’s no secret that people who lose weight likely have to work even harder than naturally thin people to maintain their lower weight. I’ve always assumed that this was mostly a psychological challenge, but Parker-Pope quotes research that suggests that we literally need to consume fewer calories (or burn more) than people of our same weight and age who didn’t have to diet to get there.

“The research shows that the changes that occur after weight loss translate to a huge caloric disadvantage of about 250 to 400 calories,” wrote Parker-Pope.  She gave an example of a woman who lost 40 pounds (17% of her body weight) who — based on a metabolic study — needed 2,300 calories to maintain that lower weight. That’s fine, but a typical woman or her age and weight could consume 2,600 calories a day without gaining weight. In other words, in addition to all the other factors, it appears from this data that people who have lost weight need to consume even fewer calories than their naturally thin counterparts.

For instance, one woman who entered the Columbia studies at 230 pounds was eating about 3,000 calories to maintain that weight. Once she dropped to 190 pounds, losing 17 percent of her body weight, metabolic studies determined that she needed about 2,300 daily calories to maintain the new lower weight. That may sound like plenty, but the typical 30-year-old 190-pound woman can consume about 2,600 calories to maintain her weight — 300 more calories than the woman who dieted to get there.

My own struggles

I’m writing this on New Year’s Day after weighing in a 174 pounds.  A few weeks ago In October I weighed 165 pounds after losing 21 pounds since February of 2011. In other words — in about two months I put back nearly half the weight I lost during seven months of dieting.

Unfortunately, this is not new for me. When I was in high school I was obese and lost 50 pounds the summer between my junior and senior year to get my weight down to about 150.  By the time I graduated from college I weighed 230 but I lost 80 of those pounds when I was 24.  Over the ensuing years my weight fluctuated between 150 and 200. I’d reach that high weight, go on a diet and lose it and then put it back on again.  In 2001 I dropped 45 pounds from 200 to 155 and kept much of it off for about five years. It crept back and in February 2010, I hit 186. It wasn’t quite the 200 pounds I weight in 2001, but it was too close for comfort.

Larry in October 2011 after losing 21 pounds

Larry Dec 26, 2010 -- 2 months before losing 21 pounds

Larry Magid at age 22 weighing in a 230 pounds

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Calorie Count has an excellent article about the Importance of Balance in Fitness that includes instructions for some simple exercises.

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This post first appeared in the San Jose Mercury News

by Larry Magid

For the past several months I’ve been on a “social media diet.” No, I haven’t been refraining from using Facebook, Twitter and other social media. I’ve been on an old-fashioned food diet with a 21st-century twist. I’ve been using social media and other technologies to help me lose weight.

The diet began on a Saturday morning in February — the day after I gorged at the Poor House Bistro, which bills itself as “San Jose’s New Orleans Joint.” There’s nothing wrong with moderate amounts of blackened chicken wings, Cajun popcorn or fried seafood, but in excess they can definitely add to your bloat. But the real problem wasn’t one meal — it was months of too much food and too little exercise.

So, I when I got on the scale and saw that I weighed 186 pounds, I vowed to take off at least 21 of them and, thanks in part to my use of technology, I accomplished that goal.

This isn’t the first time I’ve been on a diet. Ten years ago I dropped my weight from 200 to 155 pounds and many years before that — when I was in my early 20s — I dropped from 230 to 150 pounds. And there were a few other gain-and-loss spurts along the way, which makes me an expert when it comes to weight loss — I’ve lost hundreds of pounds during my lifetime.

Until this last diet, every successful weight-loss program I’ve been on has involved a human diet counselor. Either I would use the services of a company like the Diet Center or I’d work with a nutritionist. These weight-loss professionals would not only provide good advice but plenty of motivation.

At this stage, I don’t need a lot of advice. I’m well aware that if you consume 3,500 calories more than you burn, you gain a pound and if you burn 3,500 calories more than you consume, you lose one. I also know what foods are low in calories and have a pretty good idea of what is good for me. My problem has always been motivation. Without a counselor or nutritionist to “report to,” it’s too easy to abandon my diet. I have to admit that I need external validation.

But instead of hiring a counselor this time, I decided to rely on public exposure of my weight loss by using Twitter, Facebook and my fitness blog (NobellyPrize.com) to share my progress and setbacks. And to help me keep track of food intake, exercise and progress I used LoseIt.com, which is both a website and an iPhone app that allows you to set your goal, log your food and exercise and track your progress. The site gives you the option of sharing your progress with other LoseIt users and it has links to Twitter and Facebook, allowing you to automatically share the information with your friends and followers.

So as not to spam my Twitter followers (who care more about my tech postings than my fitness regime), I set up a special Twitter address at @NoBellyPrize. I posted to Facebook on a selective basis — occasionally but not every day.

I’m not suggesting that LoseIt.com is necessarily the best weight-loss site and app. There are plenty others out there, including SparkPeople, CalorieKing and of course WeightWatchers.com. But LoseIt, which is free, served me well. Its search engine makes it easy to locate foods by ingredient and brand name. It allows you to create your own foods, like my 275 calorie “Larry sandwich,” made of whole wheat bread, tomato, pickle, mustard and avocado. And in addition to its database of foods, it knows how many calories a person of any weight, gender and age burns per minute for most exercises.

For those of us who need a little help from our friends, the best thing about LoseIt is its “motivators” that allow you to automatically post your progress on Twitter and Facebook or email reports to others. My diet isn’t medically supervised but if it were, I’d probably send results to my doctor.

Another tool I’ve employed during this diet is the Withings Wi-Fi body scale ($159) which can be configured to automatically record your weight on a password-protected website and, if you want, can pass that information on to LoseIt.com, Twitter, Microsoft HealthVault or you can embed the information on any Web page. You can track my progress at NoBellyPrize.com but, truth be told, my data is incomplete and not necessarily up-to-date for a number of reasons, including my frequent travel.

In addition to its Wi-Fi scale, Withings also makes a blood pressure monitor ($129) that connects to an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch to take your blood pressure and — at your discretion — share it with others. Even though my blood pressure is normal (and lower since my weight loss), I’ve decided not to share it. But for those who need close monitoring, it’s a great way to keep their health providers or loved ones up-to-date on how they’re doing.

Of course, the only way my “social media diet” will work is if I stay with it. Just as with human diet counselors, it’s easy to find excuses to disengage, which is one of the reasons I’ve had a lifelong battle with my weight.

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LoseIt Reports Progress towards goal

It took nearly 5 months but I reached my weight goal of 165 today on what I’m calling my “social media diet.”

It’s by no means the first time I’ve lost weight, but it’s the slowest weight loss I’ve ever sustained which, I’m told, is a good way to loose weight. My average loss was exactly one pound a week.

A little help from my friends

At other times that I’ve lost weight, I’ve used the service of a diet counselor or a nutritionist but this time I got the necessary support I needed via Facebook and Twitter.  To keep track of my progress I used LoseIt which is both a website and an iPhone app that lets you track your intake and exercise. LoseIt has a direct link to Twitter so my followers @NoBellyPrize got regular updates on my progress.  I don’t know if anyone following me really cared that much about these updates but dieting in a public way was helpful to me because it made me accountable — much as if I were “reporting” to a diet coach.

Another tool I experimented with was the WiFi Body Scale from Withings.  It’s a Wi-Fi equipped digital scale that not only tracks my weight on Withings site but Tweets it as well.  Frankly, I didn’t use that scale very often during my diet because I preferred to update LoseIt manually. But for people who like the idea of being forced to report their weight to friends or who just want an automated record of their progress, it could be a useful tool.

Withings WiFi Body Scale

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It’s taking a bit longer than I had expected, but I am making steady progress towards my goal of 165 pounds which is now just under 5 pounds away.

This is hardly the first time I’ve been on a weight-loss diet but what is different about this one is that I’m loosing it a bit slower than in the past which is actually a good thing. I’ve read that gradual weight loss is healthier and that you’re more likely to keep the weight off, though I have no illusions about the difficulty of maintaining a weight loss.

Feeling great

One thing I can say is that I’m feeling great now and have felt good since just after the first week of the diet. I think part of the reason is because I’ve been exercising consistently which not only burns calories but improves over all conditioning and plain makes me feel better.

Although I set my goal at 165 — which isn’t a bad weight for me — I’m likely to continue to about 160 which is closer to my ideal weight. Technically, I should get down to about 150 but I have no intention of doing that this time. I think my body will be happier around 160 to 165.

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For the past three months I’ve been dieting and exercising but after an initial loss of about 12 pounds, and 9 pounds from goal, I’ve hit a plateau.

For the past couple of weeks I’ve somewhat increased my food intake but greatly increased exercise and, based on “net” calorie consumption I should be loosing a pound or two a week.

As far as I can tell I’m doing things right.  I log all my food and exercise on LoseIt.com which tells me I’m well below my net calorie budget.  Of course, the body doesn’t work with the precision of an accountant.  Despite the well documented formala that 3,500 calories equals a pound, the amount of weight one loses during a period of time is not predictable.

Part of that could be measurement error. I don’t weight and measure everything I eat so there is the possibility of some inaccuracy though it shouldn’t be that far off.  Part could be muscle gain. As I exercise more, I should be gaining muscle but even though muscle weighs more than fat, I’m not exactly getting buff from my bike rides and light use of strength training machines.  The answer could also be that my metabolism isn’t what it used to be.  As we get older, we burn fewer calories so weight loss is a bit harder.

I’m not sure of why I’ve stalled but there is one thing I do know. I’m not going to let it discourage me. Getting into shape is a marathon, not a sprint and I’m in this for the long haul.

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By Larry Magid

It’s been about six week since I started cutting back on calories and increasing my exercise and I’m happy to report real progress.  My goal is to lose 1.5 pounds a week and I’m pretty close to it having lost just over 10 pounds so far.  The image below shows my progress as charted by LoseIt which is both an iPhone app and a website.

I have cut down on food but, for me, the key is exercise. With the exception of a couple of days on the road,  I haven’t missed a day using the elliptical and weight training machines at the Y or my indoor bicycle at home.  That’s what makes this easy and causes me to feel great. On days when I feel I’ve eaten a bit too much (or plan to eat a big dinner), I just add a half hour to my exercise routine and that makes up for about another 300 calories.

You can follow my progress (and find tips and resources for yourself) at NoBellyPrize.com and by following @NoBellyPrize on Twitter.

Chart shows drop from 186 to 175.6 since Feb 14, 2011

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Twitter, Facebook and a website/iPhone app called Lose It! are helping me lose weight. I’m not about to write a diet book, but if I were, I think I’d call it the Social Media Diet (though “Twitter Diet” might be more marketable.)

Three weeks ago, I started measuring all the calories I’m consuming and burning and posted my progress on Twitter, Facebook and at NoBellyPrize.com. I’m even using a $159 electronic scale from Withings that automatically tweets my weight every time I step on it.

The mere act of posting doesn’t cause me to lose weight — the social commitment of being public about it certainly does. I’m not sure if it’s the positive feedback from friends or the fear of public shaming, but it works. So far, I’m on target at two pounds a week.

This is hardly the first time I’ve gone on a diet. In 2002 I started writing a weekly column about fitness for the Palo Daily News,  after losing 50 pounds. My weight stayed reasonably stable during the column’s run.

Since the column’s end in 2006, I’ve put some weight back on. I don’t want to get as skinny as I was last time, but I do want to drop down to 165 pounds, 21 pounds lighter than I was three weeks ago.

The weight-loss diet that worked so well for me in 2001 was supervised by a nutritionist. But the reason it worked wasn’t simply because she was more knowledgeable than I about nutrition, but because I had someone to report to each week.

On my Social Media Diet, I’m reporting to and getting feedback from a wider community on Facebook and Twitter.

You can track my progress on Twitter @NoBellyPrize or my blog at NoBellyPrize.com. You can also friend me at Facebook.com/LarryMagid. Any way you choose, you can become one of my “diet counselors.”

Of all the tech tools I’m using, the most useful is Lose It!, which is both a website and iPhone App. The free site and app exchange data between them and are easy to use. It can also be configured to share your progress on Twitter and Facebook.

It has an extensive food database as well as a tool to add foods or recipes. Lose It! also lists many exercises and the calories each burn.

The application and website estimate the calories you’ve burned based on your weight. The program is based on the scientific fact that 3,500 calories equals a pound. Although there are other health factors to consider, from a pure weight-loss perspective it doesn’t really matter whether you load up on fats, carbs or protein, as long as the calories you burn exceed the calories you take in.

With Lose It, you start by entering your age, height and current weight and your goal weight. You then say how many pounds you want to lose a week (for health and sustainability reasons, the maximum is two pounds) and the service calculates your calorie budget.  Then you log everything you eat and every time you exercise. It tracks the calories you consume as well as your net calories (intake minutes calories burned in exercise) and tells you how many more calories you can consume that day.  It couldn’t be more simple or more scientific.

For example, I went to Costco one day this week and made the mistake of eating one of their $1.50 hot dogs that comes with a free drink. It might be a great bargain when it comes to cost, but at 550 calories, it put a strain on my day’s food budget.  So, instead of feeling guilty I did an extra half hour on my indoor bicycle, which added 257 calories to my budget.

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Wi-Fi scale from Withings automatically tweets your weight

Call it the “Twitter Diet” if you will, but I’m Tweeting my weight (follow @NoBellyPrize) as a way of a publicly declaring that I’m serious about dropping down to 165 and staying there.  A better term, however, might be “Social Media Diet” because I’m also posting my progress on Facebook.

The reason I do this is because it really helps to have someone watching over my shoulder while I’m trying to get in shape.  During previous diets I’ve paid counselors or nutritionists to do that and provide advice.  I realized a long time ago, though, that I don’t need advice. What I need is willpower and having someone follow my progress is a big help.  With technology, now I have lots of people helping me.

To automate the process, I just borrowed a scale from Withings that automatically Tweets my weight whenever I step on it.  I worry a bit about spamming all my Twitter followers with these automatic reports which is why I set up a separate account.  I’ll occasionally Tweet my progress on my main account (@LarryMagid) but not every time I get on the scale.

And, as I’ve mentioned in earlier posts, I’m also using Lose It to track everything I eat and all my exercise which helps a lot. Lose It is both a web site and iPhone App which allows you to enter and view information from either platform.  And, like my new scale, it can be configured to Tweet your progress and post it to Facebook.

And I’m not the only technology journalist on the path.  After Tweeting about my diet this morning, I got a Tweet from my friend (and former co-author) Dwight Silverman who is also using Lose It and also Tweeting his progress (@50PoundsbyJune). Dwight has written a column about it at the Houston Chronicle.  If Dwight and I succeed, not only will we lose weight but the overcrowded field of technology journalists will be reduced by about half a person — assuming you measure by weight and not actual units.

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