So, a number of people at Microsoft, including myself, have been doing the 20/20 program at the Pro Club. And the results have been good… lots of weight lost! The 20/20 program is high intensity diet, exercise, and therapy (!) program designed to change your lifestyle such that you lose weight and keep it off. The 20/20 program is designed by a cardiologist and he takes a medical approach to things… for example, people don’t have “weight problems” they have “metabolic disorders.” Presumably, “metabolic disorder” tested better with insurance company executives.
How does a doctor handle a metabolic disorder? Well, with a shotgun really…
- Exercise. In particular, cardio and weight lifting with a personal trainer.
- Diet. In particular, a diet that puts you on something like the GI diet. This is similar to the Atkins / South Beach style diets in that it’s a high protein diet, but differs in that it isn’t a low-carb diet. It is a low grain diet however — so minimizing bread, rice, and pasta.
- Therapy. A number of group therapy sessions and individual sessions to help you through the process.
This seems daunting… but really, it’s a bit simpler. There are 3500 calories in a pound of fat. So, weight loss or gain is defined simply as:
WeightLoss = (CaloriesBurned - CaloriesConsumed) / 3500
CaloriesConsumed is what you eat. CaloriesBurned is what you use in living (breathing, walking, etc.) and what you burn in exercise. Or:
CaloriesBurned = CaloriesBurnedLiving + CaloriesBurnedExercising
An hour of exercise will burn about 1000 calories, so 5 days of exercise for an hour each will burn 5000 calories, or a little under a pound and a half burned over 5 days. For most weight loss programs, they get about 2 pounds loss a week, and that tends to come from the exercise. Now, a question I’ve been getting asked a lot is whether you can lose weight without exercising. Well, from the above equation, you can… but it’s hard. The rub comes from CaloriesBurnedLiving. CaloriesBurnedLiving is dependent on your muscle mass. Muscle burns 3x as many calories as fat, so more muscle = higher metabolism = higher CaloriesBurnedLiving. The reverse is true… less muscle = lower metabolism = lower CaloriesBurnedLiving. Your body will naturally grow or shrink muscle depending on how you use it… sad but true.
If you try to lose weight without exercising, all you can do is lower the calories you consume. However, because you aren’t exercising, your body will lower your metabolism, and you’ll have to eat less to compensate. There is an equilibrium point, but that means you’re eating next to nothing, probably always hungry, and have no muscle mass whatsoever. Kind of like Kate Moss. What will more likely happen is you’ll lose weight (both fat and muscle you aren’t using), then stop and get frustrated while being really hungry. You’ll eat more, and your body will then store that extra food as fat (remember, no exercise = no muscle). This is the classic yo-yo diet…losing and gaining. But it’s worse than it sounds, because you’re losing muscle and gaining fat throughout, making each successive diet that much harder.
So what does this mean? Well, all those random diet supplements they’re adertising on TV? Not going to work without exercise. Weight Watchers? Not going to work without exercise. Jenny Craig? Not going to work without exercise. And how about Jared from Subway? Well, he lost his 235 pounds by eating only about 1000 calories a day (you typically need 1500 - 2000 to live) and exercising. Simple as that.
I’ve learned a lot going through 20/20… they do a good job on the education front. I understand more about diet and exercise. I’ve lost a bunch of weight. It’s all good. But the most important thing is that I’ve gone through the math and realized that the secret here is exercise… gotta use muscle and burn. Otherwise, the fat builds.
So, for everyone out there wondering how to lose the weight… exercise. Lift weights, do cardio. Build muscle. Burn. Move more, eat less. You can lose more (or less) by changing your diet, but fundamentally, you need to burn off the food. Only way to do that is exercise. But hey, you can have some fun with it… after all, it’s fun to go fast on a bike! 
