My body thanks me!

I would like to thank the people that have commented on my blog of late concerned about my well being.  I would like to say that I have been doing this for quite some time.  I started and continue under the direction of my doctor. They both know exactly what I have done and am doing to lose weight.  I also started under the umbrella of Weight Watchers.  While I no longer calculate and track according to weight watchers points, their guidelines are still deeply embedded in my mind.  I have compared the calories to points and even though I have ‘forsaken’ Weight Watchers, my eating runs right in line with what I would have eaten should I be counting weight watchers points.  Which is a proven system and greatly approved by doctors…in fact many doctors recommend using weight watchers because it is a healthy approach…nothing fanatical like fasting once or twice a week just to lose weight (I actually worked with a gal once that took the fasting to the extreme…she fasted the whole work week and only ate on weekends…NUTS…personally for anything other than religious reasons, fasting is an unhealthy practice even if only for a day) or eating only cumquats for every meal.  (What the heck is a cumquat!) or something crazy such as only eating foods that begin with the letter S. (don’t lie, you are thinking about what foods you could eat that start with S!)  Anyway, I digress….. I have been doing what should be done!

My blog is more of a touchy feely blog…emotions about weight loss, celebrations and struggles.  I like it that way……but not today. I’m going to go scientific and a bit mathematicl on you……

 That said, I have heard the concerns and I wanted to verify and double check my numbers and figures.   I even included websites for my research for the most basic of information….just because that’s how I roll (damn overachiever that I am).   LOL

 The first thing I looked at was how many calories I need to eat a day to maintain my weight.  I found this table first…

Gender	Age (years)	Sedentaryb	Moderately Activec	Actived
Child	2-3	1,000	1,000-1,400	1,000-1,400
Female	4-8 9-13 14-18 19-30 31-50 51+	1,200 1,600 1,800 2,000 1,800 1,600	1,400-1,600 1,600-2,000 2,000 2,000-2,200 2,000 1,800	1,400-1,800 1,800-2,200 2,400 2,400 2,200 2,000-2,200
Male	4-8 9-13 14-18 19-30 31-50 51+	1,400 1,800 2,200 2,400 2,200 2,000	1,400-1,600 1,800-2,200 2,400-2,800 2,600-2,800 2,400-2,600 2,200-2,400	1,600-2,000 2,000-2,600 2,800-3,200 3,000 2,800-3,000 2,400-2,800

 The table is just a general idea of where you need to be and that wasn’t good enough for me, I wanted specifics.  THUS, I went to  http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/245588.php   where they have a nifty little calculator that figures up your base metabolic rate.  I figured up my base rate.  For a sedentary lifestyle for me that is 1764.  This second website also then has you add in your lifestyle.  I do pretty heavy intense exercise 6 times a week.  So I adjusted my base metabolic rate according to the instructions on the website…which took me to 2206.25. (wow….it’s only 6.5 calories off of the table….I guess I didn’t need to do all the double checking on the second website).  So that is the amount of calories that I need to eat to MAINTAIN my weight.

However, we all know that I’m not in this to maintain my weight at this point. (although knowing those numbers will come in handy in the future!  J   I’m in this to LOSE.  I have always been told by my doctors and weight watchers that 2 pounds is the most that you should be losing on average each week.  Everything else is to much.  But for the sake of this post I decided to add a website showing this figure as the acceptable.  http://www.shape.com/weight-loss/weight-loss-strategies/ask-diet-doctor-losing-10-pounds-week-safe So for the sake of argument I’m aiming at 2 pounds loss a week…average. 

So how do you lose 2 pounds a week?  Really weight loss is just like a budget.  Deposits versus withdraw.  Your deposits are what you are eating….your withdraw is what your body is spending to keep you moving (Stop laughing, you thought I was going to say your withdraw was what you leave in the bathroom….I’m SOOO not that crass…..ha ha ha).   It’s a budget….calories in versus calories out.  Just like your financial budget.  If you want to save money you have to spend less money than you earn.  Likewise, to lose weight I have to eat less than I burn.  So it is common knowledge that there it takes a deficit of  roughly 3500 calories to lose a pound.  http://goaskalice.columbia.edu/how-many-calories-does-it-take-lose-one-pound  So if I want to lose the max recommended poundage each week, I need to cut my calories by 7000 each week.  (simple math…3500 plus 3500 equals 7000).

So let’s do the math….I need to cut my calories by 1000 each day in order to lose 2 pounds a week.  7000 calories divided by 7 days of the week equals 1000.   If I could draw a line in this blog post I would draw a line back to the paragraph about the base metabolic rate.  I can’t, so you will have to remember… my base metabolic rate is 2206.5 (at my current rate of exercise).   SO for me to lose 2 pounds a week I need to cut my calories down to 1206.5   Guess what?  I actually right now aim for 1250……I’m dead flat on with what I am aiming for to eat…maybe even a bit high.  

Is this plan perfect and fail proof?  No!  Some weeks my body doesn’t lose like it should.  It is not a given that I WILL lose 2 pounds.  This plan is just a theory, a base.  It’s based on science. It’s approved by doctors, trainers (yes, I’ve had fitness professionals recommend it), this is actually what Jillian Michaels expounded upon in her first (I think first) book and if you match up the calories with points that weight watchers uses it equals about to be the same. 

I work the plan better than most. .  I don’t fill up my calories with empty calories.  Fast food, junk food, etc etc is not part of my diet.  I will admit to some nights splurging and having a ½ cup of ice cream or some other sweet snack…SOME nights I said, not every night.  However, the bulk of my calories are filling, healthy nutritional foods.   They are foods that fill me up and leave me feeling satisfied all day long. 

Ok, that said.  I do not drop down way low in my calories.  I do not have days where I only eat 600 or 700 calories.  That is way to low and totally unhealthy.  I eat a balanced diet and actually feel full and satisfied throughout the day.  I eat healthy natural filling foods.    I do exercise a lot.  I exercise because right now it is the outlet for my stress.  It is where I drown my sorrows. 

I track everything I eat.  I won’t lie about that. However, I am not anal about measuring and counting.  Every once in a while I will measure just to make sure that I am on target, but I do not want to be tracking nazi.  I want to live my life.  So in reality, I KNOW that when I say I’m eating 1250 calories that I may, just may be eating 1300 or 1400.   It’s a trade off for me……I track, I exercise lots but I don’t worry so much about measuring every morsel of food that goes into my mouth.

As for the amount of exercise I do…..I average between 1 hour to 1.5 hours a day (mostly about 1).  It is MY time.  Its kinda scary because I am finding that I LOVE it.  I am exercising not because I have to….or because I need to. I’m doing it because I’m happy with myself when I do.  For the first time in a long time I feel as if I’m doing something GOOD and RIGHT.  It clears my mind from all the negative stuff that swirls in my  mind all day.  I do it for ME.  I miss it when I don’t do it.  I daydream about the liberation that exercise brings me….and the way my body feels when I complete a hard workout.  That sense of pride is indescribable.   That said, I’m not pushing myself to the brink of disaster.   I take a day of rest and allow my body to rest.  Sometimes my body demands an extra day of rest and you know what?  I allow it.  Generally speaking, we are under-using our bodies by a long shot.   Our bodies are capable of so much and we are not even coming near reaching our bodies potential.    I thought for a long time that if I exercised heavy and intensely that I was going to hurt myself.  That’s not the case.  I’m eating healthy foods that fuel my body.  I’m not starving myself (in fact, if you could see how much food I do eat…lol).  My body responds well.  I come home from a run and I’ve got more energy, pep and vigor that if I didn’t.  My body thanks me!