If you have read my past posts, you already know that I am a runner and have been for years. I love it. But, believe it or not, running is a lousy way to lose weight. In fact, running when overweight is actually bad for the body due to the pounding the joints take. Losing weight takes a different approach. But let’s start from the beginning.

I stopped running for about ten years. It was difficult to find the time with a family and a full time job. I would get home, exhausted, and eat. Because of this, my weight ballooned to 210 pounds. I stood 5’7″ so I looked like a Weeble (Remember those? “Weebles wobble but the don’t fall down”?). But that didn’t matter to me. I was fat but happy.

But, then, I did something crazy at the age of forty. I went to a doctor to get a check up. My doctor, who is brilliant (he holds PHDs in both medicine and electrical engineering) told me I was going to have a heart attack and die. My heart was struggling, my blood pressure reading were astronomical and my cholesterol was through the roof. I had time to fix things, but he said I needed to start taking care of myself immediately.

Now, let’s go further back.

I went to Pierce Community College in Los Angeles. I needed to classes to get my Associates degree: science and physical education. I wanted to take easy classes so I took Health and Soccer. In health, I learned about exercise, metabolic rates and diet. Because I was getting a tad fluffy (a family, full time job and college leave less time for exercise), I decided to put the class’s theories to the test and use the results for my final project. I got an A in the class and lost ten pounds in two months.

It was time to put what I learned in school to practice fifteen years later. And, even at age forty, I was able to go from 210 pounds to 165 pounds. And, better yet, it is eight years later and I still weigh 165 pounds. Now, this method is not a quick fix. In fact, any diet that promises that you will lose twenty pounds in two weeks is bad for you and you will probably gain the weight right back This process is time tested and an easy lifestyle change that will have you lose weight and maintain your weight.

This article will be broken into three parts. The first will be calculating Basal Metabolic Rate to find out how many calories a day you need to take in to lost weight each day and how to maintain your weight once you reach your goal. The second will be to go over anaerobic versus aerobic exercises and which is best for weight loss. We will also go over some routines that I have used in the past. Finally, we will go over diet. What you can eat and what you shouldn’t eat. We will discuss the different nutrients (carbs, fat and protein) and blow out some of the myths of each.