Calories
Posted in My Weight-Loss Journey by RachelIt has been decided.
I am going to increase my calories. This seems totally counter-productive and counter-intuitive, but I am open to trying it for 2-3 weeks and reassessing once I have some data to consider. According to my BodyMedia Fit (aka GoWear Fit), I burned an average of 2810 calories per day in December (includes exercise) and consumed an average of 1653 calories per day (or 1818 calories with a 10% buffer) which comes out to be a 2-lb+ loss per week.
Uh, that didn’t happen.
I understand that our bodies cannot be expected to perform exactly ‘by the book’ and produce results according to some mathematical equation. I am OK with that. Really, I am. When it comes down to it, I will continue to exercise and continue to make good food choices because doing so has improved my quality of life beyond measure. Nothing can change that and nothing will. At the same time, I am extremely interested in the ‘numbers’ side of weight-loss. After in ‘calories in versus calories out’, right?
Now that I am edging closer to my ‘Final Resting Range’, I may want to reconsider my approach to weight-loss mainly because that 100-Pound Jackpot of stored energy no longer exists. When my body is running low and looking for an energy supply, it’s simply not going to find one. Instead, I need to provide my body with a constant flow of usable energy by eating enough calories per day. Am I currently eating enough calories? I thought so until I looked at the numbers.
Did you know that I burned (on average) 200-500 calories more per day during the months of November and December compared to July, August, September, and October even though I weighed (as much as) 36 pounds more back then?
Talk about counter-intuitive!
While I haven’t increased the duration of my workouts, I have increased the intensity and am much more active in general now that I am more agile and able. I’ve also probably acquired some decent muscle mass over the past year even though I am still considered ‘obese’ in the eyes of every single on-line BMI calculator. Yes, I am 5’2″ and 171lbs, but how much of that is extra/excess skin? How much is skeletal? How much is muscle?
I want to know.
And that’s why I am currently working with the Athletic Director over at Merrimack College (about 20 min north) to set up Bod Pod screenings for myself, my mother, and Cassie. Am I still a Fatty McButterson or a have I transformed into a Mini Rambo in Disguise? Either way, I am looking forward to stepping into one of the coolest body composition products on the market!
Until then, more calories it is.
Side (but Important!) Note: I don’t normally address the masses, but I need to thank everyone who took the time to leave a comment on my previous blog entry. I thought for sure I would be skinned and burned alive at the stake for crapping my pants over someone else’s success, but to my surprise, I was greeted with much love, support, and above all lots of humor!
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10 Comments to “Calories”
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What the…?
This is my journey to lose 121 lbs one calorie, one blog post, one tweet, and one workout at a time! No foods are off limits, moderation is a must, and calorie intake/expenditure is key.
» My 'Before & After' Photos
» My Weight-Loss Game Plan
» Calculating Your BMR
Glam says:
Good luck with your experiment! I just received my GoWear Fit today in the mail, and I can’t wait to try it out. Although, I’m hoping it serves it’s purpose after hearing about your latest issues with its number reporting versus results.
can’t wait to hear about your revolutionary testing!
Monica says:
5’2?! Youre tiny!(Thats a compliment!)
I think increasing your calories might be the way to go. I remember a looooong time ago, and we’re talking a year or two, I read that when youre body starts to stop losing the weight that you should raise the calorie level so I think youre on the right track.
Im still trying to play catch up with you and Cassie, though. You guys should hold a seminar. Id show up, notebook in hand and carb free.
I cant wait to hear your results from the Bod Pod.
Ryan Sullivan says:
I haven’t gotten to the point you are yet, but I’ve heard my trainer give that same advice to some of his other clients. They sort of hit a wall and he’ll increase their calories and they’ll start seeing results. It’s a strange thing weight loss. The fact that you are monitoring it so closely and making small adjustments is the important thing for sure.
Tania says:
I’ll be very interested to hear how your bod pod results come in. What did you do to get yourself the opportunity to be checked out by the bod pod? Also, does Cassie have a blog? Just thought it’d be inspiring to be able to read both of yours if she has one too.
susan says:
i despise the BMI calculator! i swear it’s B.S!
i’m 5’10, and even when i was in the best shape of my life, playing college basketball, it still told me i was borderline obese… SERIOUSLY!?!?
not until i completely gave up weight training, went on a crash diet (atkins) and was really skinny and felt horrible… did the BMI tell me i was healthy.
SUCK IT!
'Drea says:
Thanks for the *by the book* reminder. I have such tunnel vision at times that I do expect for things to be *by the book* quite often and, as you mentioned, things just don’t work that way all the time…
amanda says:
I agree with Ryan. I have heard that from many trainers before and articles I have read in reasearching weight loss. Like I have mentioned before about the Fat2Fit radio podcast I listen to, is that they are on under the belief that people should eat at your ideal weight. Be the way, great job on upping up your activity level and burning more calories.
45andaspiring says:
I’ve definitely heard that if you don’t eat enough you won’t lose weight. Sometimes I also think eating a bit more or changing from the same old foods you eat (like switch from your am banana to canteloupe, etc) kind of “shocks” your body out of a rut.
Neat that you get some scientific testing . .. should be interesting results.But I never feel like the numbers work like you think (and I have a biology degree)
AndrewENZ says:
It will be interesting to see how you get on. I think you might be on to something here.
Quix says:
Found your blog through a retweet of Mrs. Fatass where you said you think you were still drunk at work.
I was so there last Friday, I figured I had to come check your blog out, hehe. You're on my RSS, you crack me up.
I have so been here. Sadly, I can't give much advice as I've done EVERYTHING with my calorie count you can think of but I just cannot lose any more weight right now (I'm 5'5" – 155). I tried going down to 1300-1500 per day (while training for a half marathon – yeah. I don't recommend it.) I tried going up to 1700-2000 per day. Oddly enough, I can maintain in a HUGE range, but my body just won't let go of any more. I was at the point where I either needed to get some professional help (nutritionist, but maybe shrink would be better, heh) or accept me for who I am for a while and just concentrate on improving my running. I went with the latter.