Dieting - How much dieting is actually necessary to achieve results?

Q

"Hello!

I have noticed in the past that sometimes people don't actually diet or exercise that much and yet still manage to shed the pounds they were looking to shed. What are they doing differently? How much dieting [or exercising] is actually necessary to achieve results?

- Vanessa R."

A

Hello Vanessa!

Honestly, it varies with the person obviously, but the quick and easy answer is "not that much".

People can sometimes achieve amazing results just by reducing their caloric intake to the recommended amount for their body type (if they were over eating this will be more difficult for them to do because they will get cravings for their favourite foods) and combining their new "reasonable and balanced diet" with an exercise routine - something simple like jogging for 30 minutes every day or doing yoga for 30 minutes, or swimming, bicycling, or any kind of cardio activity.

30 minutes out of every day is a tiny portion of the 1,440 minutes a person has available in a day - we use 480 minutes just for sleeping. 30 minutes is only 2% of your day, but that 2% can make amazing differences if you use it for exercising.

For food it is all about calories in and calories out. The average female only needs approx. 1800 calories per day, and the average male only needs about 2000 calories per day. The exact number a person needs varies with their body type and their level of physical activity, which is usually based on their occupation. Athletes for example often consume 2500 to 3000 calories per day because they need the extra energy. But for the Average Joe, those numbers are unnecessary extra calories.

Unfortunately many people often eat out at restaurants, order pizzas, snack on junk food, etc - and their diet might be closer to 3,000 to 4,000 calories per day.

Let's pretend you're a man who we will call Average Joe who only needs 2,000 calories per day. At his normal weight he weighs 170 lbs.

But Joe likes eating junk food regularly and consumes closer to 2,100 calories per day, but he is only burning 2,000 calories per day during his daily activities.

Now here is the important part: 1 lb of fat is 3,500 calories.

Ergo if Joe keeps eating an extra 100 calories per day he will gain 1 pound every 35 days. He would gain roughly 11 lbs of fat in a year - and possibly start developing health problems if he does this over many years without changing his routine. In a single year (plus overeating during Xmas) he might go from 170 lbs to 185 lbs.

But lets pretend that Average Joe decided he wanted to reverse the process. By going on a healthy diet, and only eating 2,000 calories per day.

Joe's weight would then stabilize and stop going up. He would stay at 185.

Now he could try reducing his diet to 1,900 calories (or lower, which is problematic for your health if you go below 1,500) and would lose weight doing that (some of that would be muscle mass however, due to a loss of protein in his diet).

A better solution for Joe is to maintain that 2,000 calories / day routine - but ADD more exercise to his routine.

So for example if Joe weighed 185 lbs and then got into cycling and cycled 6 miles (or 10 km) every day then he would burn approx. 350 calories each time. (Note: It takes approx. 25 to 30 minutes to cycle that far at a leisurely pace - it isn't even cycling that fast.)

At 350 calories per day Joe would lose 1 lb (3500 calories) every ten days.

Which means Joe could be back at being 170 lb "Average Joe" in only 150 days.

And have more muscular legs to show for it. So truth be told he might actually be closer to 175 lbs, because he might put on 5 lbs of muscle (or more).

Note also that Joe could have also just skipped the diet and gone straight to cycling. At 2,100 calories - 350 calories, Joe would be losing 250 per day. Or 1 lb every 14 days. Thus it would take him longer to lose the weight, but he would eventually achieve his results (and still be able to enjoy the snacks he loves).

Eventually Joe would reach his goal and then would actually need to either decrease his cycling or increase his eating habits to balance his exercise activities with his diet. Preferably with healthier food so he puts on more muscle.

He might even add weightlifting to his exercise routine later - becoming a cycling and weightlifting aficionado. No longer is he "Average Joe". He would become "Hunky Joe".

So yes, back to Vanessa's question, people can make dramatic changes with relatively minor (but permanent) changes to their diet and exercise routine. It is really just a matter of math. Calories in vs calories out.

Note - The guy in the photo below is just a model. His legs are too skinny to be a cyclist.

Archery Personal Note - Robin Hooding a Moving Target

The following is more just for me.

Dear Diary,

Today I Robin Hooded (split my own arrow) while shooting at a moving target 60 feet away.

In recent years (ever since I started taking archery seriously) I have gone from shooting cake sized clusters to doughnut sized clusters and more recently to shooting at tiny moving targets.

To what I did today... Hitting and splitting my own arrow on a moving target, on a very windy day (30 kmph gusts).

Today was a day to remember.

I need to start shooting at small moving targets 90 feet away. I figure that should be more of a challenge.

Shooting compound long distances / adjusting sights

QUESTION

"Hello!

I am a beginner at archery and recently bought a compound bow because I was told that you could shoot long distances using them. But when I went to the archery range and tried shooting at the long range I couldn't even hit the target. The arrows didn't even go half way. When I tried adjusting the sight higher the arrows kept going roughly the same spot. I used the peep sight and everything they said to use in the store, but I cannot figure out what I am doing wrong.

Someone at the range said I was shooting at the 90 yard range, which doesn't seem that far to me. My arrows are flying at 305 feet per second so 90 yards (270 feet) should be no big deal. Why are my arrows only going halfway?

- Geoffrey C."

ANSWER

Oh wow.

#1. Your arrows may be traveling at 305 fps, but they are still arcing downwards as they fly through the air. You need to be aiming higher - which on a compound bow means moving the sight lower. See #4.

#2. You really need to practice at shorter distances first. Especially if you are a complete beginner. Start at 20 yards and sight in the top pin. Then go to 30 yards and sight the next lowest pin. Then 40 yards, 50 yards, etc. If you just purchased the bow it likely came with a 3 pin sight, which means you are very limited in what ranges you can shoot accurately using the pins.

8 Pin Compound Sight

If you get a 5 pin sight then you can sight in 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 yards. Or you could do 20 yard increments: 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100. Obviously having a 5, 6, 7 or 8 pin sight gives you more options.

The Toronto Archery Range has 20, 30, 50, 60, 70 and 90 yards targets - thus a 6 pin sight would be sufficient for every target - with larger gaps between the 30 and 50 pins and between the 70 and 90 pins.

#3. You should stick to the 20 yard range until you can get tight (doughnut sized) clusters that are on target using the top pin. Then move to the longer ranges. Beginners are always trying to shoot at longer distances before they are ready to do so, so you are not alone in this.

When your clusters are tight then you can try the 30 yard range and repeat the whole process until your clusters are on target and the size of a doughnut.

#4. When adjusting your sights, if your arrows are too low then you need to move the sight lower, not higher. If the arrows are too high, then you need to move the sight higher. Whatever you do on the sight, the arrows will do the opposite.

The same goes with left and right. If your arrows are too far to the right, you need to adjust the sight to the right.

Now you might wonder "Why is it the opposite?"

The reason is because you need the arrow to be angled upwards on a higher angle. If you move the sight higher, the arrow goes lower instead of higher. When you move the sight lower - closer to the arrow - then your arrow will be angled higher.

#5. When it comes to shooting really long distances you may need to get an oval-shaped sight with quite a few pins, like the 8 pin sight shown further above.

#6. You might also benefit from some archery lessons. You might even consider getting recurve archery lessons too, just so you understand the physics better. I always recommend people learn recurve first before trying compound, longbow or Olympic.

If you continue to have difficulties you should consider archery lessons as an option. Beginners especially should consider getting lessons because beginners have so many bad habits that need to remedied before they can shoot straight.

10 Exercise Tricks that Help Burn Fat FASTER

Want to learn how to lose weight faster? Well then you need to learn how to burn calories FASTER!

#1. Move faster when doing cardio activities - including daily activities like running to catch the bus. The faster you move the more calories you burn.

#2. Try harder - The harder and faster you do an activity - whether it be yoga, jogging or even sex - it burns more calories!

#3. Angry? Upset? Want to key your boss's car? Time to exercise! Exercising while angry or upset is a great way to burn more calories faster and it relieves stress.

#4. When weightlifting do the exercises SLOOOOOOOWER. Cardio exercises you want to do fast, but for weightlifting you get better results if you do things slowly. Lifting a weight slowly takes more energy and burns more calories - and it builds more muscle, faster! Seems counter-intuitive, but it works!

#5. Music makes you burn more calories faster - especially if it fast paced music that gets you excited. More excitement equals more calorie burn.

#6. Try to do everything - exercise wise - perfectly. It takes more energy, but you reap more rewards. So if you're doing yoga - try to do each pose perfectly instead of being lazy about it. If you are weightlifting, use perfect form while lifting - which means lifting slowly and watching your form carefully, sometimes even in a mirror.

#7. Exercise with a friend. You lose track of time, you exercise longer, you help motivate each other, you even compete with each other, and you burn more calories overall. No exercise buddy? See trick #10 instead.

#8. Stay hydrated. You burn more calories if you can try harder while properly hydrated. Don't bother with the energy drinks (they're mostly a waste of sodium which will give you more "water weight"), good old chilled water works wonders.

#9. Eat before you exercise. Not after. Helps burn more calories and you won't feel hungry afterwards. Sometimes people binge eat after they exercise, and it ruins what they were striving for.

#10. Hire a personal trainer. Me. Someone else. It doesn't matter. We can teach you a much longer list of ways to burn calories faster.

8 Activities to do at the Beach

#1. Frisbee!

#2. Build a sandcastle - if you are moving sand around, it still counts as exercise.

#3. Go snorkeling in the water!

#4. Try Rock Balancing. See my post "Sculpture as Exercise".

#5. Fly a Kite - admittedly this could burn very little calories, but if you run with the kite it burns a lot more.

#6. Go for a jog or run along the beach.

#7. Do yoga at the water's edge.

#8. And the classic, go swimming!

Bonus Activities!!!

Tug of War

Beach Volleyball

Skip Rope

Arm Wrestling

Play Tag with Water Guns

Archery on the Beach - this used to be a pretty popular activity in the 1950s - but now it is banned in some locations. eg. You cannot do that in Toronto, but there are other beaches within an hour drive of Toronto where you can do archery at. Check the local by-laws to be certain. You will need your own equipment and you will still need to establish some safety guidelines so you are not shooting near people (reckless endangerment = fine + possible jail time). Best way to do it is to pick a secluded beach which has almost no people there.