Watch Mike Ratcliffe Lose Weight

In the last 8 years I have gained 60 lbs (27.2 kg). I have tried to lose weight in so many times without success and I figure that I will go with something unconventional ... public humiliation is the way to go, after all, we all care what people think right?

I am going to share my successes, failures, trials and everything else that I can share. I will make an effort to improve this page so that it can be an interactive experience for everybody ... I will keep the graph on this page up to date and add a comments section so together we can work out what does and does not work. Comments will not appear as soon as you post them as I will have to read and authorise them to prevent spam.

What is my weight loss plan? Well at the moment I am going to just be sensible with what I eat and I am going to exercise. I have found in the past that it is actually very easy to lose weight by simply avoiding eating too much fat ... you would be surprised how much fat is in certain foods, always read the nutritional information. As a rule, 100 calories from fat is equal to 500 calories from carbohydrates ... really cutting back on the amount of fats that you eat will help with weight loss. It sounds obvious and it is true.

The problem is that losing weight just by not eating as much is only a short term solution. 1 lb of fat burns only 6 calories a day but 1 lb of muscle burns around 25-50 calories a day. This means that an extra 10 lbs of muscle will burn an extra 250 - 500 calories per day! The even more impressive news is that when you use these muscles to exercise they will burn even more calories! So I guess that what I am saying in a nutshell is that a healthier body (gained via exercise) will naturally burn a lot more calories all by itself than an unhealthy body.

I have some exercise equipment that will help with my efforts and have just bought PC Fitness, which is basically a Personal Trainer on your PC. The Personal Trainer has a knowledge of over 500 exercises and shows you exactly how to perform each one. She will take you through a rigorous workout on the schedule that you choose ... I can only manage 10 minutes at the moment but I am sure that this will quickly change. I will also be using free weights to help build some muscle mass.

Feel free to post your feedback so that I can learn from you too, after all, that is what this page is all about.