The nature of the beast

A lot of my friends and family are overweight or obese, and as is pretty common in those circles when one person starts a diet, others wonder if it's right for them. I can't answer that. I know that my diet is right for me, based on advice from the medial community and my own personality. I can deal with the monotony of menus (hey, grilled chicken again!) and the cold turkey mentality required. This isn't a diet about moderation, it's about cutting out everything other than protein to keep muscle and enough fiber to keep things flowing.

The low carb aspect of this diet isn't why it causes me to lose weight, it's why I should lose my appetite. The reason this diet will lead my lose weight is that I'm consuming under 1000 calories a day on it. On a diet like that, Tori Spelling would lose weight. Toss in even minimal exercise, and the enormous amount of calories it takes to fuel a body my size, and my calorie deficit (the difference between what you're eating and what you're burning) is extremely high.

I was once told that for obese people, the rule of thumb is that it takes 10 calories a day to maintain each pound. Based on my weigh in of 431, this diet should lead to roughly 3000 calories a day under maintenance. While 5 pounds a week is pretty extreme, it's actually doable.

The important thing to remember, as far as I can tell, is that weight loss is governed less by absolute numbers, but by percentages. No matter how overweight you are, losing 10% of your mass is roughly the same difficulty. So, I should be able to lose my 45lbs easier than a person 10 pounds over weight can lose that. At least, here's to hoping.