I Can Have My Cake and Eat It, Too

How many calories do I need to burn in order to lose one pound?

The answer: 3,500 calories. Painful, but helpful.

With a number like this looming over my head like Satan in an air balloon, I need to mull over my options:

Option 1: Create a calorie deficit by limiting intake (eating)
Option 2: Split the calorie deficit between intake (eating) and output (exercising)
Option 3: Create a calorie deficit by increasing output (excising)

Option number one is definitely not an option. Deprivation leads to towel-throwing and hair-pulling. I’ve tried and tried and tried to change my eating habits at the snap of a finger, but let’s be real. Years of making poor choices is a feat that I cannot conquer overnight without feeling like a zombie and/or crying myself to sleep. Food and I go way back. We’re BFFs. Plus, the whole ’starvation’ thing will only lead to a downshift in metabolism which will make my goal of losing weight that much harder.

Option number two is a little more reasonable. A little less food, a little more exercise = a happy medium. This is something I should be able to handle without killing myself. I eat one piece of pizza instead of seven and I actually walk up the stairs instead of taking the escalator. What’s the big deal?

Option number three is also a looker, however, I’m a rookie. I can barely make the trek around the grocery store without becoming winded — there’s no way in hell I’ll be able to find an exercise that will allow me to eat whatever the hell I want while getting my lazy on AND burn enough calories to create a nice deficit.

Option two wins by default!

Unfortunately, there are not enough hours in the day to sit and/or sleep away the pounds. Because of that, my activity of choice has to do with convenience: the elliptical (which currently resides two rooms over). Thirty minutes on this bad boy will burn 410 calories (figuring in my current weight and height) according to one of the two billion calories burned calculators available online. I’m not sure how accurate these puppies are, but it’s a start.

Now, if I could somehow gain the attention span to track my caloric intake, I would be able to figure out if I am consuming too little (..that’s funny!), too many, or just the right amount.

And so my journey begins…