Goal Setting- It’s All About the Math

No matter how much I’d like to believe in the magic food combinations that burn fat and all the other “secret” ways to lose weight- let’s face it. It’s all about math.

A pound is made up of 3500 calories. To lose a pound, you have to expend 3500 more calories than you take in. The formula is easy: BMR-Calories eaten=calories burned.

A BMR calculator (Base Metabolic Rate) I used estimated my typical daily calorie usage at 1500 calories. If I do nothing else but manage to keep my intake at 1000 calories a day, I should lose a pound every 7 days. This contest runs for 59 days, so I should be able to lose about 8.5 pounds.

That sounds pretty pitiful to me, so I”m going to toss in an additional 200 calories worth of effort each day in exercise to bring my total calorie deficit to a pound every 5 days which gives me a realistic goal of 12 pounds. If I reach that, I’ll feel that this was a success.

However, the real challenge is in the stretch goal. If I exercise more I think I can realistically lose 15 pounds during the contest phase- that’s half my total goal to reach my ideal weight. If I can pull it off and reach my ideal weight in 4 months, I will be really pleased with myself. And buying a whole new wardrobe. And maybe a trip to somewhere that requires a swimsuit most of the time.

Much as I hate to do it, here’s the fat pic, taken by my co-worker a few minutes ago.

Current weight: 172.2. (AAAAGH! I can’t believe I just posted that on the Internet!!)

Current measurements: I took them. I know them.  I will not be posting them. That’s just too much info. Too much horrifying info. But I will post the difference at 3-week intervals. Chest, waist, hip, added together. We’ll call that “inches lost”. Hopefully.

The Uphill Battle

I really, really do plan on going to the Gym.  I will.  The thing is, there is an indoor pool there and the kids love it so it’s not like hey-I’ll-dash-in-and-out, it’s more like a half hour of gathering swimsuits and gear and knowing once I’m done working out, there’s another hour  of supervising swim time… plus, I have a school carnival meeting tonight.  (Why oh why did I say I’d be in charge?)

In any case, my best bet for some exercise today was lunch.  I probably should have gotten out and walked but it’s cooooold. (Really, it’s like 45′F or something! That’s cold for these parts.)  So I decided to do some stairclimbing.

I had a good idea of where the stairs are and after poking around (and opening some doors I shouldn’t have) I found them.  I realized as the door clicked shut behind me… it locked from the other side.  I pictured them finding my dry, dusty skeleton in the stairwell years later before calming the dramatics and realizing I’d just have to set off the fire alarm on the door to get out if I had to.  (Oh, the shame!)

In the meantime, I started hoofing it.  4 flights of concrete stairs up and I thought I might collapse. Oh… my… gosh. How did I get this out of shape?  I stood gasping for breath at the top step and thought to myself that at least I can say I pushed my heart rate to the max today.

I stuck with it but on the way down from my third trip to the top, my legs started wobbling pretty bad. Enough!  I wondered how I was going to get out…

I tried a few doors and eventually found one unlocked that led back into the building.  Outside this door, I found a staff bathroom that I didn’t even know existed!  Apparently it used to be public but in a redesign of how the traffic flows, it got cut off. Exploring can turn up some interesting stuff.  I followed a mouse maze of halls and eventually got back out into the building.

Heart rate properly increased and legs shaky, I spent the rest of my hour in one of the comfy chairs in the staff room listening to the others talk about the huge container of wonderful homemade hot chocolate vanilla chai mix someone had brought in and how it made a great latte when you put it in coffee…  who needs it?  Right?

A Walk in the Park

Um… a walk by the park, actually.  I had to mail my rebate form for my Tivo (oh, you’ve got to hear this!  I bought a Tivo in November for $42, bought the service for a year at $120 and I get a rebate of $170. Yes, they are paying me $8 to have Tivo service for a year.  Cool, no?) so I decided to walk the block and a half to the library.

When lunchtime rolled around… I was jonesing for mexican.  I’ve been really good lately and I started justifying it in my head… I’ll skip the chips and just get a chicken soft taco… how bad could that be?  But I didn’t. Score one for me!

Instead I changed into my sneakers and hoofed it to the post office, dropped off my letter, walked by the park, and came back to eat my Lean Cuisine in the staff room with a large bottle of water.  Yay me!  (Gotta celebrate the little victories)

So… What Happened?

Since the contest hasn’t officially started yet, let’s do a little introspecting… exactly how did I end up on SeosFightFat?  How did I get here from the size 4’s I was wearing at the 2003 SJ SES?  (Ah, those were the days…)

I’d like to spin you a story full of drama and intrigue with a little tragedy mixed in for effect but the sad, sad truth is… is… boredom.  Contentment.  Coma-inducing lethargy.

I’ve had my periods of high drama, no doubt.  But the downward slide (and upwards crawl of the scale) is more of a product of disinterest than personal turmoil.  As it is for most people, I imagine!  The more comfortable you are, the less you care where that extra slice of cheesecake ends up.

Yeah, ok, I feel a pang when I realize there’s a whole closet of clothes and nothing fits but hey, my trusty elastic waist flannel pants never let me down.  Not once.  And I think the waiters at the mexican restaurant think those plaid pants are hot with my ever-so-fashionable navy hoodie.

I’ve tried dieting a few times over the years but it was doomed to fail.  Dieting may depend on what you eat but if your head’s not into the challenge, it just doesn’t matter.  But this time… I think I’m back in the game.

I’ve actually been dieting for a few weeks, ever since I was confirmed to speak at London SES  and realized I’m going to see some dear friends I haven’t seen in a couple years, I’ve been slightly panicked.  It was the wakeup call I needed!

I’ve lost 5 pounds already and I didn’t stop dieting for the contest in order to boost my numbers. The best prize will be  a slimmer, healthier me!

The Battle of the Bulge

If you’ve ever read the nutrition information on a package of cookies, calculated the total number of calories if you were to eat the whole bag then said to yourself, “That’s not sooooo bad,” before you threw the empty wrapper in the trash, we’re going to get along just fine.

The problem with food is that it’s there… in my fridge… about 5 feet from my desk. The other problem is that in order to not feel like a shut-in, I like to go “out” for lunch and reconnect with the world… over an inexpensive and expansive mexican lunch. This pattern + 6 years of working from home has not been kind to my physique!

So, what am I doing? I’m going to use the Gold’s membership I’ve been paying for for the past year. I’m counting calories. The best thing of all is that I just started working a “real” job again.

I know, some of you are shuddering at the thought, but I have to say it’s the best thing I’ve done in a long time. I love the job and let’s face it; I need the routine and regimen. I’ve already lost a few pounds since I started last month (from bringing my food for the day instead of going out) and I plan to start using most of my lunch time to walk.

The trick is walking the opposite way from the Starbucks…