Find out your ideal weight from one of the charts, if you check several and find differences, average them out and you'll get your ideal weight for your height, gender, and bone structure.

Measure your weight when you start, and set a goal for the total weight you want to lose, then put that goal in the back of your mind and forget about it for the short term.

Now, here is your real goal: To lose 1 to 2 lbs (0.45 to 0.91 Kilograms) per week.

Find an activity chart, to see how many calories are burned with an activity, then find the place where it says how many calories are burned while sleeping or sitting and watching television, and multiply the amounts for the times listed until you arrive at a total amount of calories burned for those two activities in a 24 hour period.

This total will be your maximum intake to maintain your current weight while being lazy. Any extra activity is a bonus for burning calories, but that total is your MAXIMUM for any day.

Now, to reach the weekly goal, subtract 500 calories from that Maximum per day chart, and this will be your Ultimate maximum calories that you are allowing yourself to consume.

Example, when I started, I found that I would burn only 1440 calories per day, based on the average on a chart, so, by subtracting 500 calories from this, it would make my Ultimate maximum calorie intake per day only 940 calories. Pretty low, Doctors don't like that number, they don't want the average man to consume less than 1500 calories per day, and the average woman to consume less than 1350 calories per day. But remember, we are lazier than the average person, so we will burn less calories than the average person. Also, these charts are based on medium-boned people of the average height, so, those factors must be taken into consideration. The average person charts are guidelines for starting your plan, then go from there. Realistically, a goal of 940 calories per day was not very realistic, so I rounded it up to 1000. Sounds tough? Only at the beginning, but after you see the progress of the first week, it will give you a good feeling about doing it for another week.

The reason to subtract 500 calories a day, is that 500 calories times 7 days in a week, equals an intake reduction of 3500 calories, which is about the number of calories it takes to make a pound (0.45 Kg) of fat. Some people who are extremely overweight, who are considered to be obese, can further restrict their calorie intake, but discuss it thoroughly with your Doctor, to keep you on an healthy pace.

One might need to lose 50 pounds or more, so the amount of time it will take a person to reach their long term goal will differ, depending on how much weight one must lose. But don't worry about that, forget it, because it will seem impossible, and most folks are discouraged by this, so their "diets" are ended. In my weight loss period, over the time it took to drop 60 pounds (27.22 Kg), I can count on my fingers the number of times I exercised at a decent pace during that time. So, being lazy, I didn't want to become a workout addict, because once one stops working out, all of their extra calories add back to their fat, and thus many people gain back the weight they lose.

Any extra exercise, such as taking a walk, or riding a stationary bike, pushups, moving things around, cleaning the house, etc, that burns calories, is a bonus to your plan. It's a bonus to you, because you don't HAVE to do them for this plan. So once you've charted your intake goal, and weight loss goal, forget about the activity charts, as you don't have to bother with them again (at least until your weight loss drops you into the next lower category, then just redo your charts at that point).

Keep list of calories eaten, on an easy-to-see with easy access place, such as computer desktop note, or on a dry-erase board on the refrigerator, or in a static memo on a PDA/Smartphone, or even a sheet of paper taped/magnetted to the refrigerator.

Measure the portions so that you get the exact amount for a serving as listed on a product's package. If you're eating only half of one of their servings, measure it and divide their serving's calories by half.

Add the total to the chart BEFORE you eat them. It's a psychological boost to do this, that way you don't forget what you've eaten.

Another good idea is to find one of those old books that show the calories in foods, such as raw vegetables, or frozen meats, that don't list the calories on the packages. You'll refer to it a few times, but after you get the hang of it, you'll remember how many calories are in the amount that you're about to eat, and remember to add it to your total intake for the day before you eat them.

You might think you're starving, having to cut back so much on calories. So, to prove that you won't go hungry, I will list the foods that I've eaten on the average day, along with the calorie counts, some of which will amaze you.

Breakfast bar (Health Valley ©, "Low Fat Choclolate Chip Granola Bars" www.healthvalley.com), chocolate covered with oats and rice, 160 calories. You can also compare this with that chocolate bar you're craving that has 280 or more calories in it. These breakfast bars are great for eating when you get that chocolate craving. So, you see, chocolate is still okay to eat in this form. These bars also are good to have if you must have a dessert.

Frozen turkey dinner (Banquet ©, "Turkey Meal, Mostly White Meat", ConAgraFoods©) , 200 calories. Includes turkey, gravy, a small amount of bread (they call it stuffing), mashed potatoes, and green peas.

Bread is a normal high calorie food, and diet programs will tell you to eat those awful "whole grain" breads. I found extra sourdough rye bread (Oroweat ©, "New York Style Extra Sour Rye Bread", www.oroweat.com) at 70 calories per slice, is the lowest that has good taste.

The standard Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich that many folks like, can run between 500 to 700 calories, depending on the amount of peanut butter, the amount of jelly/jam/preserves, and the type of bread used. So, If you're craving the peanut butter and jelly/jam/preserves taste, Health Valley © (www.healthvalley.com) has several varieties of flavors in their tarts and bars section, ranging from "Peanut Butter Bars & Strawberry Filling" to grape filling, and even chocolate tarts, which weigh in at only 130 calories per bar. If that isn't enough to satisfy your craving, two of them weigh in at 260 calories, which is a far cry lower than 500 to 700 calories that the sandwich contains.

Thin sliced meats (Oscar Mayer ©, "Shaved, Deli Fresh Meats" www.oscarmayer.com), roast beef 10 calories per slice, with a 6 slice serving at 60 calories. Thin sliced turkey is 50 calories for 6 slices.

Stone ground mustard, one can find anywhere from 0 calories per serving (Safeway Select ©, "Stoneground With Horseradish Mustard" www.safeway.com) on up, so read those packages before you buy.

Peperoncinis (Mezzetta ©, "Imported Mild Greek Golden Peperoncini", www.mezzetta.com) , 3 peppers are 10 calories.

So, look at your lunch: Bread, 2 slices, 140 calories, plus 6 slices of turkey, or 5 slices of roast beef, at 50 calories, plus 0 calories for the mustard, plus 10 calories for the peppers, comes out to 200 calories.

So, the average daily intake from those 3 meals listed above are only 560 calories. That's where the bright side comes in. If you're still hungry, look at this: Spoon sized shredded wheat (Post © Kraft Foods©, "The Original Shredded Wheat Spoon Size" www.posthealthyclassics.com), 1 cup is 170 calories when eaten dry, some store brands allow 1-1/4 cups at 170 calories. Eating them dry gives you the satisfaction of having that crunchy snack, without the high calorie count of chips or popcorn.

Still hungry, here's the fun part: One full ripe tomato is only 30 calories, and since it contains a lot of water, it will fill you up rapidly. If you want more snacks, celery is only 7 calories per outer stalk, and 5 calories for an inner stalk (as they're smaller). A tomato, with 3 celery stalks comes out to 51 calories.

Cucumbers, with the skin left on, sliced, one of the huge cucumbers from the store is around 50 calories, and you'll find it hard to eat the whole thing, so half of it will fill you up, and only adds 25 calories to your total.

Or, if you have extra calories left on your Ultimate maximum chart, you can have that bag of microwaved popcorn that you're craving while watching a movie or your favorite show. Safeway © "Lite Butter Flavor Microwave Popcorn" (www.safeway.com) weighs in at 350 calories for the whole bag, and Safeway's Organics ™ (Lucern Foods ©, www.safeway.com ) "Organic Microwave Popcorn" weighs in at 320 calories for the whole bag.

So, how much have we eaten today so far? 160, plus 200, plus 200, plus 170, 51, plus 25, comes out to 806 calories. And you're full. You can leave it at that for faster weight loss, or you can snack a little more if you need to, up to your Ultimate daily maximum.

Other frozen meals are higher in calories, such as Salasbury steak, at 300 calories. By choosing that over the turkey dinner, your total would be 906 calories.

Don't forget to add the calories of things you wouldn't normally think have calories, such as breath mints. They have some calories. You'll find they'll have from about 3 calories to 5 calories, maybe up to 7 calories for a serving. So add that to your daily total.

Fresh fruits make great desserts and snacks, and have fewer calories than processed alternatives.

The foods listed above are just a guideline, the point is, to be concious of the calories per the amount that you eat, and to read labels before buying a product. Consult a calorie guide for foods that don't have labels, such as fresh fruits and vegetables.

Okay, now what do I drink? Diet soda, and lots of it. The store brand is a bit watered down by comparison to branded sodas, costs less money, and weighs in at zero calories. So that's an option. Water is another option. Unsweetened tea (hot or iced) is a good option. All of those are zero calories. Have as much as you want, they help you feel full.

There is one other important step, is vitamins. I take a daily vitamin (such as One-A-Day ©, or the generic brand), plus one 1000mg vitamin C tablet per day. You may need different vitamins and minerals, so remember to buy what you need, and take them every day.

After a while, you'll find out that you're always full, and consuming less and less of the higher calorie foods.

Another important point, is that, whether or not you're religious, is that by following the Biblical health laws for eating clean and avoiding unclean foods will make you feel better (many of the Christian faith already practise this, and those of the faiths of Judaism/Jewish and Islam/Muslum are required to practise these health laws). The unclean animals are scavengers, and remember that by eating an animal, you're also eating what they ate.

If you're not familiar with what is clean and what is not, Biblically, just think of cattle, deer, elk, moose, giraffe (yep, I said it), chickens, turkeys, quail, and scaled fish, are examples of clean meats.

Pig (pork, ham, bacon), scallops, boar, bear, shrimp, prawns, and unscaled fish (catfish, shark), and unclean birds (usually are birds of prey, or scavenger birds) are examples of unclean animals. Like that ham sandwich? Pigs have no sweat glands, and eat anything, diseased or otherwise, so everything they eat stays with them. If you eat it, then you're eating what they ate.

When cooking meats, barbequing is always best, as it lets fat drip into the fire, and away from your meat.

The daily foods I listed are just a guideline, you will find that eating that burger at a summertime BBQ isn't so bad, calorie-wise, and that tomato slice you pop on it has very minute amount of calories.

The main issue here is that you note the calories before you eat the food. If you slip and go over your Ultimate daily intake, don't fret, just resume the next day. You'll find that eventually you won't feel like going over that maximum.

I found that I lost 1 pound of weight every 3 to 4 days on the average, because many times I would make a full meal out of things like tomatoes, celery, cucumbers, and raw broccoli (needed for it's calcium content), which makes for an extremely low calorie meal, and I feel stuffed for awhile, and am not hungry, so many days I stayed way below my Ultimate maximum calorie count for the day.

Exercise some, but walking around, showering, preparing meals burns off one or two extra calories per 10 minutes than the sleeping or sitting and watching television. But don't think about them as calories you need to replace. Strenuous labor, however, may require a slightly higher Ultimate maximum, if that's what one must do every day. Use the lazy activity chart as a guideline, if you really are a "couch potato" who doesn't do much or go anywhere.

And there you have it, the basics of Lazy Man's Weight Loss Guide©.

Remember, discuss this with your Doctor before you start, as some people may have health conditions that may affect their totals and methods. If you're taking medication, work your calories around those, making sure you know about side effects, etc., which is why it is a top priority to thoroughly discuss this with your Doctor BEFORE going on any weight reduction program or plan.

*Disclaimer: This article is what I did, and is my opinion only. I am not a Doctor, nor am in the medical field. I am not, by any means, an expert on nutrition, nor am involved in any scientific study nor research on the subject of losing weight. I do, however, as a regular civilian, strongly recommend that you seek the advice of a Doctor, medical professional, and/or nutrition professional, BEFORE initiating any sort of weight loss plan.

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