First Week o' the Decade

What a great week!

First things first. Eating has been going nicely. Not surprising, I suppose, since you'd think that I would have this down after, er, many years of devoted practice. But here's what I have been doing:

• Keeping overall calorie intake at or below 1800 calories a day.
• Eating tons of fresh fruit including lots of blackberries, blueberries, and strawberries.
• Eating nothing after 7:30 pm. Gandhi recommended eating nothing after dusk, but that's a little tough in New England in January.
• Eating small portions and meals every 2-3 hours.
• Eating lots of stuff I like including sushi, roast chicken, mushrooms sauteed in olive oil, eggs, veggies and all that fruit I mentioned, some good yogurt, a delicious meal out at Za's to celebrate a year since Betty and I met, and even a little egg nog to celebrate the New Year.

On the other side of the balance, exercise: I just got back from the pool, which makes 8 of the last 9 days I've done my half-mile swim and 150 crunches. This knocks off about 525 calories a day, so that my net calorie intake is under 1300 daily.

Naturally, if I keep up this regimen, I will lose weight. And today's weigh-in, after one week of this, shows me down from 251 to 248 since last Friday. This is a good start toward my short-term goal of getting my weight down under 225. The thing is, I like this regimen, so it is just a matter of keeping my priorities straight so that doing these things that are good for me does not get dislodged by anxiety that I need to do this or that instead.

One thing that has worked nicely in the last few days is getting my swim in at the beginning of the day. I've been dropping Betty at the train and going on to the gym for my workout, which puts me back at my desk with a sense of accomplishment, ready to do some work, around 10 am.

A note on the arithmetic of weight loss: Just to keep it simple, I am using this Basal Metabolic Rate calculator, which tells me that my BMR is 2098 calories a day. I then use the following chart to figure out the how many calories I need to maintain my weight:

Harris Benedict Formula

To determine your total daily calorie needs, multiply your BMR by the appropriate activity factor, as follows: If you are sedentary (little or no exercise) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.2 If you are lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.375 If you are moderatetely active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.55 If you are very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.725 If you are extra active (very hard exercise/sports & physical job or 2x training) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.9

So it's pretty straightforward. I've made my plans based on level #3 above, which would mean that about 3200 calories a day would maintain my current weight. So if I keep my calorie intake to no more than 1800 calories a day I should lose 2 to 3 pounds a week.

Just so.

There have been plenty of other things that have been great about the week, too, including over 7,500 downloads of my books and some great mid-day naps. But I figure it all starts with feeling mahvelous, or looking mahvelous, or whatever it is.

Balance and another weekly weigh-in

Lots going on here in the land of BMGS:

• a wonderful visit with Zach and Mary who came for blueberry pancakes and years of catching up on my pal's deck Tuesday morning,
• preparing to move home and office the end of next week,
• a mile in the pool last night,
• nibbles from a traditional publisher on my Worried Citizen financial crisis book,
• some serious work (and expenditure) to arrange my own financial life more beneficially for all concerned for the long haul,
• daily life, which never lets up, and
• Leonard Cohen reciting the sound and textual track of my life in the background.

Balance is not always at the top of my list in such times, but it should be, because it makes everything else possible.

And so, three days late, I have administered my weekly weigh-in, down from 249.2 to 248.4 in the 10 days since my last weigh-in, moving in the right direction even if I am 6 ounces behind schedule, and firm, at the very least, in my resolve to continue the BMGS 2.0 campaign's regimen of several days a week of swimming or other exercise and 2500 or fewer calories a day.

BMGS WEEKLY WEIGH-IN FOR 6/15/09 - EMBRACING THE FOCUS

Weighing in each week is an absolutely essential element of the accountability process for BMGS, but I will admit that it is sometimes a part of the process from which I shrink a bit, er, no pun intended. Nobody ever guesses my weight when they see me (either that or they are very kind to me, which is entirely possible whether deserved or not), so it doesn't thrill me to share the actual numbers here. But who's kidding who? The whole point of the project here is to bring fundamental change in my health, my eating and exercise habits, my body, and mybody's appearance. Being embarrassed by, or hiding, the reality of the numbers would be a bit of a telling dodge.

So once a week, without putting too fine a point on things, I can accept the focus on the numbers, the weigh-in, the number of pounds. I can even embrace it, even if part of my ability to do so comes from my knowledge that I'll be done with that for another week.

So, here's what I got:

• I'm still ahead of schedule, and I have lost weight every week.
• The funny thing is that when I weighed myself yesterday I didn't think I had lost weight, because I had forgotten the numbers from the week before, and until I checked the chart I thought my June 8 weight had been 251.8 instead of 252.8.
• So, in the past two weeks I have gone from 253.2 to 252.8 to 252.2. Funny how a swing of a pound can matter.
• I'm not concerned that my weight loss is slow. Like I said, I am ahead of schedule, and what is far more important is that I am building a really strong foundation of exercise with my daily swims and off-day jogs and walks. This week's swimming plateau is at 26 laps a day, which is what I did yesterday including, in the middle of the workout, 200 yards (8 laps) without a break. That exercise and the conditioning that is coming with it will ultimately be the most important part of my success.
• I have been eating pretty healthy for the most part, even when out for dinner the last two nights -- for a Community Servings benefit at Scullers Sunday night and a Boston Writers Union get-together at Tavern in the Square last night. For the most part.
• I am feeling very confident that I will drop another 13 pounds by the end of the summer, and then another 13 by the end of the year. I am projecting that I will be at 225 by December 28, which will be, speaking of 13s, 13 years to the day after I reached a New Year's Resolution goal to run a 6-minute mile by the end of 1996. I was heavier than 225 when I ran that mile, which was on the treadmill at Wellbridge, about 7 months before I blew out my ankle in the Sugar Bowl 5-miler in Southie and ended up crutches for weeks and unable to run for years. I'm not planning any 6-minute miles this year. I'm just planning to make sure I do not end up on crutches.

I ache in the places where I used to play, but as long as they keep playing the music I'll keep playing.

Viva la difference - Originally posted to BMGS 1.0 on 10.13.2007

I think I have mentioned my friend Diane before.

Back on September 21, inspired by Big Man Getting Smaller, she began a diet. Her goal was to get down from 144 to 125 by following the same basic rules that are working here.

1. Take in fewer calories than her daily maintenance amount of calories, which was 1,904 when she started.

2. Get more exercise, or a moderate amount of exercise 4 or 5 days a week.

3. Keep track of what she is eating, and plan ahead.

As of today, she is at 136, which means that she has lost 8 pounds in 22 days!

That is 6% of her body weight in 3 weeks, which is basically the same rate of reduction that BMGS is experiencing.

It is also considerably faster than I suggested to her when she I produced a chart of weekly calories intake, etc., that would get her to her goal of 125 on February 1.

So congratulations, Diane!

But she is frustrated that it isn’t going more quickly.

Part of this, of course, is the impatience that any of us feels when we don’t get fairly constant positive feedback from, in this case, the scale. We’re working hard at something, and we want to see the progress reflected in some kind of meaningful metrics.

Another huge part of it is that Diane, when she started, was a 144-pound woman. BMGS is a man who started out at nearly twice Diane’s size.

Viva la difference, of course, but there are some very specific differences:

1. Even now, after losing 10.6% of my body weight, my daily calorie requirement for maintaining my current weight of 244.5 is 3398 calories. So, if I take in 1,898 calories a day. I will lose 3 pounds a week. 1,898 calories is not an all-day pig-out by any means, but it isn’t bad. It isn’t starving. It allows for the occasional pint, the occasional steak, and even the occasional dessert.

2. On the other hand, if Diane consumes 1,898 calories a day, her weight will never change. Of course, that is not fair. In order to lose 1 pound a week, which is what I suggested she do in order to get to her goal by February 1, Diane has to consume fewer than 1,400 calories a day. It isn’t starvation either, but it doesn’t allow nearly as much wiggle room as 1,898 calories.

3. 1 pound a week is a lot less rewarding than 3 pounds a week. It basically means, if you are getting on the scale every morning, 5 or 6 days a week it isn’t going to register any weight loss. That is harder.

4. In addition to the good news that I get when I step onto the scale, I also get good news when I step onto one of the machines at the gym. Because I am big, I burn more calories when I work out. Twice this week I had workouts where I burned over 1,000 calories in a single session at the gym. It’s a lot easier to burn 1,000 calories if the number you punch in on the elliptical keypad is 245 than 145.

Oops, excuse me. 136.

So, it is natural that this is occasionally frustrating, and more so for a woman. If it weren’t frustrating, it would be easy. If it were easy, you would have already done it!

Keep it up, Diane. The amazing thing to me is that you are able to do it without creating a blog!

Getting Younger Every Year - and a Good Weekly Weigh-in

I'm just taking a few minutes to squeeze in a post before my pal and I head over to my sister Deborah's house for a pre-birthday dinner, since I've got nice things to share.

Tuesday will be my 59th birthday and it must be a sign that there are great things going on in my life that I seem to be in the midst of several days of birthday celebrations. Last night my pal took me out for dinner at Pho & I and then to a really fun, high-energy, funny performance of Pirates! at the Huntington Theater. Dinner tonight with Deborah, and on Tuesday we're getting together with Danny, Annie (his Mom, my ex), and Kippy for a double birthday do.

All of this might be challenging to the plans and programs of the Big Man Getting Smaller 2.0 -- no more than 2500 calories a day, daily swimming, and losing a pound a week -- but I am doing right fine with it. Just keeping my eye on the priorities and the plan, and I'm happy to report that my weekly weigh-in confirmed my progress:

I lost 1.6 this week after losing 2.2 the week before.

1.6 pounds may not seem like much, but it means that for the week my net calorie intake was 5,600 calories less than my maintenance level. The devil is in the details.

I'll keep on. Maybe by Tuesday I will even feel confident enough to enjoy a piece of cake! But the important thing is that, in addition to enjoying my life and the people I love, devoting myself to this effort gives me hope that this 60th year that will begin Tuesday will be one in which I feel younger at the end than at the beginning. That, after all, is what I am here for.

Danger - Originally posted to BMGS 1.0 October 4, 2007

A little after 5 p.m. yesterday I was headed over to watch the Red Sox’ first playoff game with Danny, and I hadn’t made a plan for dinner.

I don’t know about you, but nothing spells danger for me, in terms of food and eating and weight gain, like a couple of hours of watching a baseball game. If there is food in the house, well … isn’t that why they have those 17 little breaks at the end of each half-inning?

I needed a plan.

I needed dinner, but that was only the beginning.

There’s a Whole Foods Market half-way between my house and my son’s, and I pulled in.

Five minutes later I walked out with vast quantities of fresh fruit (strawberries, blackberries, and bananas) and veggies (celery and carrot sticks, cherry tomatoes and broccoli florets). There was a container of ranch dip, but I took a little of that and mixed it with balsamic vinegar to lighten it up and thin it so it lasted longer.

I had most of the fruit for “dinner” while Danny had mac and cheese. Then half the veggies and my “homemade” dip sustained me quite well during the game. All in all it came to just over 500 calories, and the other half of the veggies are in my fridge.

Was it the greatest game-watching fare I have ever eaten? No, but it wasn’t the worst either.

It cost less, even at Whole Foods, than I would have spent if I had sat at a bar and watched the game with a sandwich and a beer.

And the Sox kicked some backside, which is especially nice.

Off to the gym! Have a good day.

Talkin Bout My Generation

20 laps in the pool this morning, and I'm feeling a little less unfamiliar in the water each day. I swam every day as a kid -- who didn't? -- and got all the certifications and junior lifesaving badges, etc. But it's been, I dunno, probably 40 years since I did any significant amount of real swimming. I always preferred running, basketball, soccer, baseball and softball, and just about anything else I could do. But all those other things took their toll, and I am lucky to have swimming now, because it is working for me and it isn't beating me up the way any of those other things.

The other thing that's fun about these morning swims is that, in addition to perhaps doing a bit to hold off my personal aging process, I'm also getting a pretty good glimpse of where I am headed, age-wise. There are usually about a dozen people in the pool when I step in around 7:15 or so, and I am often the youngest among us. The men and women are friendly and solicitous, we exchange greetings, and some offer some words of encouragement -- "Good to see you back here today" or things of that nature -- since they may recognize I am, er, just getting my feet wet at this. I can see that for many of them the daily visit to the pool is a social event as well as an exercise regimen, which is as it should be.

I may be younger than they are, but I feel at home with them. The music that is piped into the pool area during the morning adult swim period is heavy on standards from the 1940s and 50s. "Is that Al Martino?" someone asked today about a finger-snapper lodged between songs by Sinatra and Tom Jones. No problem. We're all comfortable. Toward the end of my pool time most days the demographic changes as 30- and 40-something moms come in after dropped their kids off at school. That's fine, and it's not like it's uncomfortable, but I will say that I feel closer to the group that is older than the one that is younger. I'm just hoping I live long enough to enjoy my 60s and 70s as much as they are enjoying theirs. And to give myself to keep making my health as much of a priority as they are making theirs.

* * *

I had a very nice dinner and visit with my daughter Kippy tonight.

She just hit town from New York last night after finishing her work on the Public Theater production of Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, and she is starting work on an exciting new project to create a new play for the Ensemble Studio Theater through a grant from the Sloan Foundation.

I picked her up around 6:30 and we went to an old favorite where we've been dining together since she was about 8 years old, the Acapulco Restaurant in Jamaica Plain. It was comfortable and a bit nostalgic, and I ordered what I've been ordering there for over 20 years, Pollo al cilantro. Delicious, as always. And just for tonight, i did not count calories. Or chips.

Down 2.2 Pounds in Week 1 of BMGS 2.0, and Catching Up

Going forward I'll make Sunday my weekly accountability day here at BMGS 2.0, and try to combine that with tying up any loose ends from the previous week's post.

So, first and foremost: I weigh in today at 254.8, down 2.2 pounds from the starting point of 257 in my Basic Calculations and Plan, May 2009 post of May 19. Good start, and one that I am pleased to build on at the rate of a pound a week.

Other loose ends to discuss below:

• Eating at night
• Daily weigh-ins
• Swimming schedule, other exercise, and days off

Eating at Night. As we all know, eating after 9 p.m. is not the straightest path to weight loss. I try to conform my behavior with this notion as much as possible, but occasionally I know in advance that I am going to have a late dinner (as often occurs on Tuesdays when I am extremely focused on getting my Kindle Nation email newsletter out the door) or want to snack or sip a bit (when I am going out with friends or planning to watch a game). The key to success for me in these kinds of situations is to plan ahead in two important ways:

• Make the basics of a plan about what and when I am going to eat, which will probably help me to eat something healthier for me than if I just leave it to chance and my late-night appetites, which long-story-short have never been for carrot sticks.
• Leave room in my daily calorie allotment for what I am likely to consume, since, after all, a key part of my plan and accountability involves calorie counting.

Daily weigh-ins. I've never totally understood the caveat against daily weigh-ins beyond the basic ideas that (1) we should never get too obsessive about anything; and (2) people who don't understand the basic arithmetic of weight loss, water retention, exercise, sweat, time-of-day fluctuations, etc., may misread their progress or lack of it. But my approach here is focused on daily arithmetic and accountability, and I almost always know what to expect from the scale before I get on it, based on all these things. Seeing the 254.8 this morning confirms my progress and tells me I am where I expect and want to be today.

Swimming schedule, other exercise, and days off. I didn't even notice when I ponied up my $280 for a year's membership at the Arlington Boys and Girls Club the other day that there is no adult swimming time on weekends. No problem. I was going to swim 6 days a week, which might have been excessive anyway. So for now the plan will be to swim Monday through Friday, walk or elliptical on the weekends, and take a day off per week as needed.

I think that catches us up, I've got phone calls and emails to return, and I'll see you here tomorrow. Have a great day, and get outside.

The key to the plan is the plan - Originally posted Sunday, September 23, 2007

All is well in the land of BMGS today, Saturday, May 23, 2009. A busy Saturday with Danny, and we're off to see A Night at the Museum 2 -- I love Bunuel! -- but we leave you with this post from 9.23.2007.

The key to the plan is the plan - Originally posted Sunday, September 23, 2007

Sunday morning, and all is right with the world.

Well, that’s not true by a longshot. But in my personal world there is a lot that is good. Threw some batting practice to Danny yesterday and he was hitting line drives over “the fence” in his yard. Got on the scale this morning and it said I have lost 20 pounds in 23 days. Took in the Red Sox last night eking out a nice, fairly dramatic 9th inning finish to a victory to clinch a playoff spot and cut their division magic number to 6. Got an email from Diane mentioning she has lost 4 pounds on her way to 125 by January. When I saw Danny he was very pleased with some really cool personally autographed Hannah Montana cast photos that an old college friend and classmate, Steve Peterman, had sent. (Steve was an amazing person when he arrived at the little college on the Charles almost 40 years ago and he is every bit as generous, funny and real today). All it takes are little things to make my day.

I got home at 5:30 yesterday afternoon and knew I had 90 minutes before the Sox game. I could easily have just kicked back for an hour but I knew how much better I would feel if I got to the gym. By 5:45 I was stepping on to the elliptical machine. I only did a little over 35 minutes, but I did a lot of climbing and resistance and had my heart rate over 150 for over half the time and really felt limbered up and good afterward. I had been a little stiff yesterday morning after my Fresh Pond run Friday, so it was really nice to loosen up, and I slept like a baby last night.

A little thing like getting to the gym one time made a big difference.

Two stupid little tips here, geeky ideas on the weight loss front:

In Diane’s email she mentioned the following: “I did this really nerdy thing. I gathered all my "take out" menus and highlighted all the foods I could order. Example, Chinese, 4 shrimp boiled and wrapped in rice & sea weed... Sub Shop, small side salad topped with seafood salad and a half pita pocket... you get the idea. I'm such a GEEK!!”

Well, you can call it nerdy, Diane, but in my book (or my blog) it is exactly the kind of thing that makes the difference between success and failure. Being prepared, so that you don’t get stuck making a hasty bad menu choice, can keep you within your daily target and make you feel confident in how you are doing overall. That kind of day-to-day confidence is as important as anything in being successful, whether it is a weight loss plan or something else.

The key to the plan is the plan.

Now here’s my own stupid little tip. As you may have noticed, my breakfast most days consists of some combination of cereal, fresh fruit, cream, and soy milk. Meanwhile, I have been trying to save calories, avoid artificial sweeteners and reduce my coffee intake by drinking my coffee as close to black as possible.

Ever notice how there’s usually a fair amount of cream or milk left in the bowl after you finish the fruit or cereal? The natural thing to do is to lift up the bowl and guzzle it down. But I do something slightly different. I pour it into my coffee cup. I’ve already counted the calories, and the result is a better cup of coffee, even if the last sips of coffee may be a little crunchier than usual.

Like I said, it is a stupid little tip. But it works for me.

In today’s soundtrack, The Robert Cray Band’s “Twenty” is a beautiful song about a terrible subject. 3,797 American dead. Roughly 10 times that many casualties, and who knows how many Iraqi dead? And for what? Don’t get me started, but did you notice Cheney admitted the other day that it’s all about the oil?

1 comments:

thoughtz said...

Our personal worlds are really the only ones that matter. They are the only ones we MAY have any control over!
Donna

September 23, 2007 4:25 PM

You Getting Up in the Morning, or, in This Case, Me

I'll start with a few basics today:

• Calorie intake yesterday was about 2,000, including a healthy chicken fajita salad with iced team and only moderate chip-picking with my friend and ex-bro-in-law Pete at Jose's for lunch and a two-stop dinner (cottage cheese with apple sauce and Kashi at 6 and a vegan tofu-kielbasa quesadilla when I finished my weekly Kindle Nation newsletter at midnight). (Yes, I occasionally eat at midnight, but I try not to do it without a plan. More on that later).
• The scale is moving in the right direction, down from 257 to 256.2 today. (Yes, I have a scale that measures tenths and I do weigh myself every day. More on that later).
• Probably most important of these three items, in the long run -- I was back in the pool at 7:15 am and moved up from 12 laps to 14 laps, or 300 yards, with a slightly higher and thus more intensive ratio of breaststroke to backstroke.
  

The swimming feels great. It is taxing, and of course since I am already swimming more than I have swam, swimmed, or swum in over 25 years I notice that I am breathing heavily at the end of each two-lap segment. I take a little 60-to-90-second break between each segment and then start flailing my arms again. Each day, for now, I will try to add two laps to what i did the day before. We'll see how that goes.

I wondered if I would just be bored to death by the likelihood that I couldn't do enough to feel like I had done anything, but 12 laps and 14 laps on the first two days isn't a bad start. Those who've read my Boston Sports by the Numbers blog will not be surprised to learn that in my marathoning and coaching days I used to have a lot of fun paying attention to times, workout stats, interval clockings, and the like. Certainly swimming couldn't offer me that kind of juice. Then I noticed two guys in the lanes to my right this morning, consulting a printout after each segment and telling each other things like "dolphin down, butterfly back" and "19 strokes down, 15 back." So I started to realize that there might even be a future for a guy like me in the pool. They were doing 88 laps this morning, 1100 yards. I know 88 laps is a lot more than 14 laps, but somehow it didn't seem impossibly far away, today.

When I got out of the pool, showered, dressed, shot a couple of baskets at the outdoor hoop and walked to my car at 7:50 am, I felt terrific, maybe better than a heavyset 58-year-old guy has any right to feel before 8 o'clock in the morning. I had an impromptu breakfast with a pal and was doing productive work at my desk before 10.

Over breakfast, my pal and I talked about getting up in the morning. You'd think we would have it down by now. I've done it 21,535 times, and my pal has done it hundreds of times more than me. But my impression is that there is a constant need to re-train ourselves.

When my kids had to be at school at a certain hour, or I had to be at work at a certain hour, or both, it was relatively easy even if it was not always fun. But even then, there is a lot of difference between, say, rolling out of bed just in time to shower and get to work by punch-in time, and getting out of bed on my own time, early, with a plan to do one or two simple things aimed at getting my day and me off to a good start.

Meditation, swimming, running, coffee and a book on the deck, a walk around the neighborhood -- it can be any of a number of things, but for me and most others to whom I have spoken about such things, spontaneity is the enemy of success in such endeavors. Our brains are powerful, and most of us, when in bed, like to stay in bed.

When I have been most successful at using my mornings to get my day off to a great start, the key to success has been to make a plan -- "get up at 6:45 am and be in the pool by 7:15," for instance -- and allow myself no negotiation, or even any thinking, until I am inexorably on the path I have planned. In my own case, I actually pretend that I am being operated externally by remote control. (In my 12-step program, we call that "turning one's will over to a higher power.")

Maybe I am dumbing myself down, but the payoff is huge.

In my next post I'll try to come back to those "more on that laters" about midnight meals and daily weigh-ins.

Have a great day. I will.

(Thanks for the beautiful picture of the sleeping polar bear to my brothers and sisters at http://www.firstpeople.us!)

Fresh Pond - 9.21.2007

By the time I got to the gym today it was over 80 with brilliant sun, just too beautiful a day to stay inside and work out on machines. My new gym is less than half a mile from Fresh Pond, so I got into my gym rat stuff and jogged over there to run the 2.5 mile loop around the pond.

I have run that loop over a hundred times. Every Saturday morning, 52 weeks a year, there is an old-school neighborhood footrace there, a classic event that has no entry fee, no prizes, no sponsors, no numbered bibs and no freeloaders (since everyone is a freeloader). If you think it is hyperbole for me to call it a classic event, I’ll just mention here that several times a year, in addition to its several dozen regulars, it attracts world-class Olympic distance runners. Numerous Olympic medal winners have run there. For several years Lynn Jennings was a semi-regular there, driving down from her home in New Hampshire several times a year trying to break 12:00 in the 2.5 miler. (My memory is fuzzy here, but I think she did not make it, that her best was 12:04).

My own personal best in the Fresh Pond Road Race was 17:02, on May 17, 1997. I remember the date because it happens to be the date on which I last got married. My best man and I ran it, and it was one of the few occasions where I ever kicked Stewart’s ass at any sport. I was in very good shape then. So was Annie, the woman I married that day. She’s still running marathons, and I am proud that she is, even though we are no longer together. As for me, I blew out my ankle two months later trying to keep a commitment I had made to my daughter Moriah to run a road race with her. Oh well, sometimes we make promises with our hearts, and our bodies just can’t keep them. I was on crutches the next day and have never been quite the same.

But it was nice to run the loop today for the first time in years. It was beautiful out, and I was feeling a lot of benefit from what I have accomplished, and chronicled here, over the past 3 weeks. My time was 36:05, a little off my personal best. But I ran the whole way, and it was the perfect workout for today.

Afterward I showered and took a quick Jacuzzi at the gym. I usually stay out of the Jacuzzi for hygiene reasons, but I needed it today. Then I got on the scale. I won’t dignify what the scale said by repeating it here. It was a hot day. I’ll just say that, as much as I might be charmed if the scale sweet-talked me into thinking my weight loss was already in the low twenties, the real message is that I have about 5 pounds of re-hydrating to do.

1 comments:

thoughtz said...

I lived on Huron Ave in Cambridge for a while. I loved it there. What a wonderful thing Harvard Square must be this time of year with the students back and things rockin'!
Donna

September 21, 2007 7:54 PM

The arithmetic of losing a pound

In yesterday's post I said that today I would focus on how I am going to go about losing a pound a week, or a total of 30 pounds during the balance of 2009, and how this will fit into my other goals and plans in my effort to improve my personal health and the overall balance in my life. The basic arithmetic of weight loss doesn't change much, and some of what follows is drawn from an ealier post:

As I continue to make progress in reducing my weight, I am struck regularly both by how simple this is and how difficult it can be.

Simple because, regardless of all the other issues that may effect how I feel, how I eat, and what I way, the bottom line is inescapable. I will lose weight steadily if my net calorie consumption is less than the “daily calorie requirement” that would sustain me at my present weight.

It is easy to figure out that “daily calorie requirement,” also known as my basal metabolic rate. The factors are my weight, age, gender and overall level of activity from couch potato to triathlete. At present, based on today’s weight of 256 pounds, my number is 3352 calories a day. When I began Big Man Getting Smaller at 273.5 pounds, my number was 3516 calories a day.

3500 calories avoided, in this framework, means 1 pound lost. Using today’s figure, then, if I consume 2852 calories a day I would lose a pound a week. At 2352 calories a day, 2 pounds a week. At 1852 calories a day, which is about where I have been given my propensity to forget to include my supplements in my daily log, I should be losing about 3 pounds a week. That’s pretty close to where I have been the past couple of weeks, after the predictable, more dramatic weight loss of the first week.

So all that is simple.

What is difficult? Doing it. Even more so, keeping track. Writing it down. Holding ourselves accountable.

That’s why I’m doing this blog. Should everyone who wants to lose a bunch of weight start a blog? Well, you could do worse things, believe me. I know this has been a good experience for me in all kinds of ways that go beyond the obvious immediate goal.

But whatever one does, with any serious goal, it only makes sense to figure out some way to maintain a journal about it. So I am thinking about this, and I will have some more thought about it tomorrow.

I had a terrific breakfast with my daughter Moriah this morning, and she shared some really nice news with me.

So, long story short, as I renew my efforts now in May 2009: I will keep my daily calorie intake under 2500 calories, get at least 20 minutes of regular moderate exercise 5 days a week (walking, swimming, and elliptical), and lose a pound a week.

Nap and tuck - 9.19.2007

Most people who know me know that I am a confirmed and enthusiastic daily napper. I usually grab about 20 minutes in the early afternoon, and it tends to make me feel refreshed and productive for the rest of the day.

It’s been a bit of an upside down day today, a good day for catching up after a late night last night, but even a double dose of my usual napping hasn’t quite done the trick.

I finished a copywriting assignment at 1:30 this morning and hit the pillow hard, then got up at 7 to take care of getting my son Danny to school so his Mom could attend an early work meeting. I came back afterward and had a brief nap, then went to the gym for a nice workout and on to Toyota for a belated 10,000-mile service visit for my Prius. By the time I came back and did a little work, I was ready for another nap.

This time I took a solid hour while “All Things Considered” was playing on the radio. Woke up feeling even more tired.

But now I can tell the tired feeling is my whole body standing up and letting me know I’ve been doing a lot, relatively speaking, at the gym the past few days. My muscles don’t feel sore so much as well used.

So I will listen to my body and act on this information. I’m having our weekly dinner with my roommate this evening, but afterward I’ll go to bed early, by 10 at the latest. And tomorrow I will skip the gym and do a little walking, but not as much as I would do ordinarily.

Otherwise, all systems go!

The quinary in the coal mine - 9.12.2007

Well aware of my petty human fixation with the fact that the next half-pound will mean 15, my scale stands firm day after day for the pleasure of mocking me!

That’s gotta be it.

It’s funny how numbers can become fixations, as if there was any significant difference between 15.0 and 14.5.

But I am doing what I should be doing. Eating healthily, eating less, and exercising. Monitoring my progress, writing it down, and “claiming my seat” here at BMGS.

Of course I’d love to see progress on the scale every day, but there is a Zen of doing things the right way, staying on the path and being in the present. And when was the last time you saw a fat Buddhist monk?

One thing I haven’t been writing down in my daily food log are a few supplements I take, based on advice in a terrific book on nutrition by Phyllis Balch. I probably should, since when I look at the labels I see that they add up to about 125 calories a day! Here they are:

· 4000 mg of Vitamin C
· 2400 mg of flaxseed oil
· 2000 mg of fish oil
· 2 multivitamins
· a tablespoon of fennel

Sounds like a witches’ potion. But maybe these things will keep me around a while longer to enjoy life as a 170-pound man. (What? A guy can’t dream?)

I should mention here, because I said I would report back on this, that the burritos I had for lunch the last two days from BoLoco have been terrific. On Monday I had the chicken summer burrito with mango salsa, black beans, rice, melted jack cheese and cilantro. Yesterday the same thing except I had it with baked tofu (thanks, Donna!) rather than chicken. Each was between 550 and 700 calories, very filling, delicious, cheap, and ready in about 90 seconds. So I’ll keep them in my menu rotation.

It was pouring most of the day yesterday and I only got in 10 minutes of walking, when Danny and I took his dog for a walk. I’ll get in my full hour today.

And a little more fruit. Some strawberries on my cereal this morning won’t be a bad way to start.

thoughtz said...

Mmmmmm... baked tofu... Yummy!

How far do you walk/run in an hour?I used to walk at least a mile every day no matter what.. but I've let the desires of others become more important than my own. This blog is helping me remember that if I am to be of any help to anyone I must take care of my own desires and needs first.

Donna

September 14, 2007 6:55 PM

Blueberries - 9.7.2007

Friday morning. Another pound gone, which means 13.5 pounds in the first week of Big Man Getting Smaller. Already 20% more than the most I was able to lose at any point with Atkins back in June and July, and I haven't felt wiped out and plugged up like I did with Atkins. In fact I have been feeling great!

I began today with half a cup of fresh blueberries on top of my cereal. Absolutely delicious.

Thursdays tend to be kind of packed, since I drive an hour every Thursday afternoon to have dinner with a friend and then attend a GA meeting before I head back. No excuses, but one result is that it is the one day when I have trouble scheduling the exercise I would like to have. All I got yesterday was 20 minutes of walking, about a quarter as much as I would have liked. And I had a nice big meal at the Tavern - 1082 calories! - but I'd planned for it and it fit perfectly into my overall plan for the day.

Today I'll make a point of getting some good exercise, starting with a nice walk through Danehy Park to Starbucks and back this morning.

The last 5 days, I have averaged 1 pound a day of weight loss, after my big initial loss the first 2 days. 5 days isn't really much to use as a basis for trying to figure anything out, but it might be enough to make an interesting point about my metabolism. In the past, I've always assumed that my metabolism was a bit on the slow side, and that the slow metabolism was a significant part of the reason for my weight gain.

But for the past 5 days I have averaged about 1600 calories a day, and lost a pound a day. The specific exercise I've gotten has burned off an average of about 400 calories a day. Rough that out and my net calorie intake has been about 1200 a day.

The arithmetic of calories and weight says that 3500 calories equals 1 pound of weight. Doesn't matter if it is weight gained or weight lost, a pound tallies out to 3500 calories. So, if 5 days was enough to go on, I think all of this arithmetic would tell me that my daily calorie requirement to maintain the same weight over the past 5 days was 4700, which would mean a bit faster metabolism and lot more active life than I had thought.

Who knows? Dr. Phil? Dr. Atkins? Dr. Caligari? Dr. Frankenstein? All I know is that I need to keep track of what I eat, what I exercise, and what I weigh, and keep coming back to report in here, because it's definitely working.

What's up with the shredded wheat for dinner? - 9.6.2007

Another pound has disappeared, for a total of 12.5 in 6 days.

The hunger from the previous day was gone yesterday, and I made a point of getting a little closer to the 1750 calorie a day target that I set when I began this. I had been hovering around 1550, and the mild hunger may have just been a residual effect of that deficit. As if I really know.

The other thing I made a point of yesterday was ratcheting up the exercise to 70 minutes, since the back pain I’d experienced the previous day was gone. I’m trying to ratchet up my walking by 5 minutes a day, at least for now. Later, as my weight declines, I will try to include more jogging in the same amount of time.

I did a funny thing yesterday. I forgot that I was nearly out of cash and that I left my bank card/credit card in an out-of-town restaurant a few days ago and won’t get it back until today. So I failed to make a stop at my bank to replenish my cash. I had intended to go out in the evening for a chicken fajita salad at Jose’s, but instead, given my bare cupboard and short cash, my main dinner course was a double serving of shredded wheat and milk. It was fine.

Today, the credit card. And I’ll be having dinner out before my GA meeting this evening. Planning on the “ultimate salad” topped with blackened chicken at the Tavern.

ps - Call me lazy, but a good pal of mine makes a grocery run for me each week, and I am happy to have the help. I give her a list. Okay, call me a lazy leech. Anyway, a few weeks ago I was trying unsuccessfully to follow the Atkins diet, so my list was all about meat, eggs, cheese, tunafish, etc. Here's my list today:

Fresh strawberries

Fresh blueberries

Fresh grapefruit

Raisin bran

Dark rye or pumpernickel bread

Chicken

Canned pineapple chunks

Potatoes (for baking/microwaving)

A burger a month?

Saturday, September 1, 2007 - Day 2 - net loss to date: 4 pounds

Weighing a lot more than we want to way is tough to handle for any of us. There's even a portion of shame involved sometimes. After all, shouldn't I be able to eat normally?

One thing that has always amazed me is how gradual the process of gaining way too much weight can be. I've told people from time to time that my weight gain, since high school, amounted to less than a burger a month. I can even do the math that seems to prove the point:

Weight on 8/31/2007 273

Weight on 8/30/1967 162

Weight Gain in Pounds 111

Weight Gain in Ounces 1776

Period of Gain, in Months 480

Ounces gained per month 3.7

What can I do about a burger a month, after all? 29 days every month I eat healthy and take care of myself, and 1 day I have an extra burger, and look at what happens! I wake up 40 years later and weigh over 270 pounds! Come on! How can this be fair?

Of course, that isn't really how it happens. There have been a lot of peaks and valleys in the graph.

I got off to a good start yesterday, of course. Today the scale showed a 4-pound loss.

I'm not silly enough to think that I really lost the equivalent of 16 burgers yesterday. A pound or so of that is real weight loss, and the rest is a matter of normal day-to-day fluctuations. My weight was especially high yesterday morning, due in part to the fact that it was Friday morning and I generally have a long drive home after a GA meeting on Thursday evenings, during which I ordinarily consume an extra coffee or soda and, often in the past, a snack as well.

But I ate healthy and got my exercise yesterday. I wasn't hungry when I went to bed, and I'm not hungry now at 7:55 on Saturday morning. I walked down the street for dinner at Jose's last night and had their very healthy, nutritious and yummy chicken fajita salad while I sat at the bar and watched a couple innings of the Sox game. But I had an iced tea instead a Corona or a Sam Adams, and I asked the bartender not to bring me the usual complimentary chips and salsa.

More of the same today. That's the ticket, for me.