Holding myself accountable (with this formula!)
What I like most about this forum and blogging is that I’m essentially being held accountable for my goals. You don’t know me, and I don’t know you, but if I put this out there for all to see, I’m still going to want to adhere to it because I don’t want anyone to think I’m just a doofus.
So, I’ve really been studying and talking to nutritionists and reading as much as I can from people who seem to be “in the know”. This is not new information. As a matter of fact, most people know about 98% of this stuff already. But maybe by having it in written form, and looking at it every so often, I will hold myself accountable to my own goals.
Before I go into the “rules” to meet my goals, I should note my goals:
*lose 40 pounds OR
*get into size 8/9 (whichever comes first)
My physical goal is to strengthen my skeletal muscles through daily exercise. To burn off one pound of fat, I have to have a 3500 calorie deficit. I’ll work the formula below.
After having studied (and tried) Nutri-System, Weight Watchers, Atkins, South Beach, Dr. Oz You: On A Diet, meal replacement shakes, cabbage soup, BFFM (Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle) TrimSpa, Lean System 7, Five Way Fat Burner (well, you get the picture) and multiple other “fad of the week”s, I have come to the following conclusion: I suck at all of these for one reason or another after a while.
But by combining different livable aspects of some of each of what I‘ve learned , I think I finally have the following conclusions.
Diet: No hydrogenated oils
No sugar (or at least <4 gms per serving)
No high-fructose corn syrup
No enriched flour
No bleached flour
No trans fats
<4 gms saturated fat per serving
Healthy snack foods: apples, carrots, almonds
I’ve started Phentermine on 15 October to give me the “willpower in a bottle” that I’m needing. It’s the first thing that I actually think is working.
Exercise:
*Mon through Fri: 45 minutes elliptical
*Mon/Wed/Fri: crossbow
*Tue/Thur/Sat: tabata, ball
*Sun: day of rest! Well, except for housework and yard work, and shopping, and taking the horse for a walk…
OK, so to get this straight in my own head (sorry if you’re reading this thinking “this is about the most lame blog I’ve ever read”, but again, I’m trying to hold myself accountable to myself): Everyone has a Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) and a Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE). The BMR represents how many calories my body uses each day to function at the most basic level. The TDEE is how much energy my body, and therefore additional calories (taken strictly from excess fat), my body uses to perform additional tasks, like exercise. The key here is to determine my BMR and TDEE, then take the TDEE, subtract the BMR, and that’s how many calories of fat I’ve burned off that day.
Whew! Sounds complicated, hunh? Let’s see if I can do this right.
Basal Metabolic Rate
BMR: 655 (4.354 x wt in pounds) (4.569 x height in inches) - (4.7 x age in years)
Damn! I knew I should’ve paid better attention in algebra!
Ok, so then 4.354 x 180 = 783.72 655 = 1438.72
4.569 x 63 = 287.847
1726.567 -
4.7 x 41 = 192.7
1533.867
So I’ll just say 1534. It takes 1,534 calories a day for my body to function just to survive.
Now, Total Daily Energy Expenditure
TDEE: activity multiplier
*sedentary (desk job, little exercise) =
BMR x 1.2
*light (light exercise/sports 1-3 x week) =
BMR x 1.375
*moderate (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 x week) =
BMR x 1.55
*very active (exercise/sports 6-7 x week) =
BMR x 1.725
*extreme (training for marathon) =
BMR x 1.9
Well, my exercise load right now would be light, which is actually up from sedentary. I’ve been really lazy this summer. So my TDEE is 1534 x 1.375 = 2109.25 making my TDEE to BMR deficit 2109 - 1534 = 575
So, I’m using 575 more calories each day that what my body needs just to survive. Therefore, if it takes 3500 calories to burn off one pound of fat, then 3500 divided by 575 = 6 days to burn off one pound of fat. I want to lose 40 pounds.
40 x 3500 = 140,000 calorie deficit to lose 40 pounds
140,000 divided by 575 daily deficit = 243 days = 34 weeks = 8 months
Of course the formula numbers change as the weight lowers and the exercise increases, so I’m going to shoot for 7 months, since I’m climbing the Chichan Itza Pyramid next May.
Ok, so there’s my goal.
Thanks for reading!