Lean Business

As I lugged my backpack to the airport on my last trip (after making sure it did not weigh more than 10 kg) I pondered the fact that my current body weight — 20 kg higher than recommended in the manual — was like carrying two of these bags permanently. No wonder I was getting tired all the time.

I have wanted to lose weight for a long time. As I flew to South Africa I weighed 100 kg. I want to weigh 80 kg. That’s simple.

How to get there? And that’s where the problem starts. The last time I looked there were about 500 well-known diet plans. Each has a claim to fame. On top of the plans there are tablets, creams, oils, potions, hypnosis, surgery, supplements, and more advice than you can read in 1000 lifetimes. That’s the detail, and its complicated.

For every magic claim there are 300 research articles proving that it is so, and 295 stating the opposite. I could continue, but if you have ever tried to lose weight, you will understand the quandary. I have lost my entire body weight a few times over my lifetime, but it keeps coming back. Being dependent on insulin makes it more complex. (We diabetics struggle to combine diet and exercise with survival because it messes with your insulin needs.)

Back to basics. Focus on what you can measure, and ignore the rest. (In fact, that’s the best business I can ever give.) If it can be measured, it can be done. If it can’t, there is not much point in worrying about it.

I can measure my weight. I can measure how many calories I put into my mouth. I can work out how many calories my body needs — even if it isn’t exercising — to stay at its current level. I know that if I eat fewer calories than this, I cannot help but lose weight. Simple physics.

It doesn’t matter how my diet is structured — if the goal is nothing other than weight loss. So why worry about all the confusing issues, for now?

I can count how many calories I’m eating by using Google. Each time I eat something new, I search Google for “calories in banana”, or “calories in chicken”, and I get a number I can trust. (Almost all processed food comes with these numbers on the label.)

Here is the fun part. As long as I eat fewer calories than I need I lose weight. That’s 5 kg over the past five weeks. I feel better than in years. I am working better than in years. And I even tuck my shirt into my trousers, whereas previously I could not breathe.

And without exercising I will soon sport a 6-pack belly that Tom Cruise will envy. (One of the best books I have ever read on this dieting subject was How to Get Six Pack Abs, and it got me totally focused.)

After decades of getting sidetracked by all sorts of details about my body, my epiphany:

1. What do I need to measure to make sure I get to my goal?
2. Keep measuring it.
3. Ignore everything else.

And that’s the best business advice I can ever offer.