Diary of a Loser: Entry 10/31/08

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Entry 10/31/08

Weight:

221 lbs. I haven't been exercising for the past 10 days. Went out of town to visit my mom who was had been in the hospital for a few days.

At 61 I've found that if I don't exercise I have to track my calorie intake very closely. Over the past 10 days I've not taken the time to do either. That happens. During times like this, I try to be conscious of my diet and try to walk a little further than I need too and do little things like curl the gallon milk jug a few times before putting it back in the fridge, do a few squats, pick up the dumbbell in my office and do a few exercises with it. But now that I'm older I really have to be vigilant about my eating and exercise habits.

I've had to deal with depression all my adult life and diet, exercise and nutrition are important tools in fighting it. When I get off track I have to make sure I don't let things get too far out of hand. I have to forget about things like putting in extra hours at work to catch up and raise exercise to a higher priority. I know how important it is to get in at least a 20 minute work out each day but I'm like everyone else - I get in a cycle of indifference and bad habits.

“Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.” Jim Ryun

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Some Basics (changes in review)

There is no such thing as a quick loss diet with lasting results. Forget about the fads if you want to lose weight and keep off the fat in a healthy way. There are a few inescapable facts concerning weight loss.

First of all, a pound of fat contains 3500 calories. If you want to lose a pound of fat, you must burn 3500 more calories than you consume. Here's the equation : Fat lost or gained = (Calories consumed - Calories burned) / 3500. If you want to lose a pound fat a week, you must on average burn 500 calories a day more than you consume.

Second, you must consume enough calories each day to keep your body from thinking it may starve. If you don't get enough calories your metabolism will slow down thereby burning less calories and you'll just feel tired and hungry. Also, if the deficit is too large and last more than a few days, your body will start consuming muscle, the organ that burns the calories. The accepted wisdom seems to be 1200 calories for females and 1800 for males. One to three pounds a week is a healthy rate of fat loss.

Third, muscles burn the calories (your brain burns some also but for some people its negligible :) ), therefore exercise is a important part of any weight loss effort. It does not have to be strenuous. Walking is wonderful, it will burn extra calories and build muscles in your legs. Try to work up to at least 2 miles a day. If you walk 2 miles in 34 minutes (3.5 mph), you'll burn approximately your weight in extra calories. Use the calculator below. I strongly suggest you lift weights at least twice a weak. Try to increase or maintain all your muscles.

Exercise Calculator (click in box to select Pace)

Calories Burned Calculator
Estimate calories you burn walking:
Pace:
Weight:
Time:

BMI =	(weight in pounds * 703 )
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	height in inches²