The 10-Day Quick-Start Program

By Tony Dean, Omaha, Nebraska

WEB EXCLUSIVE

Anytime you take on a difficult project, it is hard to figure out where you should start and then what you should do next. This day-by-day guide will help get you going.

Day 1
Weigh yourself.

Finalize your team. Choose your partner.

Write in your diet log and have the totals finished by the end of the day. You can eat whatever you want, but make sure to write down everything you eat and drink and track the numbers. The only food you cannot eat is anything for which you can’t find the numbers of calories, carbohydrates, fats, protein and fiber. If you can’t find these numbers on the packaging, on the Web, or in a book or anywhere else, then you cannot eat that food.

Don’t forget to track any exercise you do. Fill in as much information on the diet log as possible.

Schedule a time to see your doctor. Make sure to discuss with him or her the changes you will be making in your diet and exercise routine.

Day 2
Track everything you eat and drink in your diet log. Make sure you have everything totaled up before you go to bed that night. That’s it. Easy.

Day 3
As on days 1 and 2, track everything you eat and drink and add up the totals at the end of the day.

Prepare for your first official weigh-in tomorrow. Have you confirmed the place and time with your teammates?

Prepare for your first workout tomorrow.

• Have you secured a gym membership?
• Or have you acquired gym equipment so you can work out at home?
• If you have done neither, decide what exercises you will do.

Day 4
Attend your first official weigh-in.

• Based on your current age, height and weight, calculate your BMR (basal metabolic rate) using the formula on page 100 and determine how many calories you need to consume to lose weight. (Remember, never go below 1,000 calories for women and 1,200 for men.)
• Review how much fat, protein and carbs you should consume daily.

Do your first workout. Exercise for at least 30 but no more than 60 minutes today and enter those numbers in your diet log.

• Track everything you eat and drink in your diet log.
• Check in with your partner.
• Did you stay within your calorie levels? Did your partner?
• Did you eat at least 25 grams of fiber? Drink eight glasses of water

Days 5-10
The following days will follow much the same pattern until you hit your goal weight:

• Track everything you eat and drink in your diet log.
• Work out. Try to beat yesterday’s exercise numbers. Log your results.
• Check in with your partner.

For a small percentage of people, day 5 is very hard because it is the second day your body has been eating at a calorie deficit. If you struggle, it is your job to call your teammate and ask for help: “Bill, I’m really hungry and I don’t have any calories left; what should I do?” Let your teammate talk you through the problem. Utilizing your team is the secret to success, so make sure you use yours.

• Resist the urge to weigh yourself before the weigh-in!
• On day 10, prepare for the weigh-in the next day.