Feeling Good, Looking Good, And Being Fast

Over the last few years I have put on some pounds. My caloric intake and expenditure have not been equal and I've gained a few pounds each year. Last year I finally got my calories equalized and have slowly started reversing the upward trend.

I have three big reasons I want to maintain a healthy weight.

1. I want to feel good. Having three children under the age of 5 takes a lot of energy and my children deserve a Dad who will be around for a long time and has the energy to keep up with them. Also my job, my church calling, and my other endeavors in life require that I feel good and have energy.
2. I want to look good. Something about having a pair of pants get tighter over time, having a gut, or bulging out of my bike clothes isn't cutting it for me. I'd like to get back to the point where I look like a lean athletic guy.
3. I want to be fast. Since I ride my bike a lot I am all too aware of anytime there is a hill. Northern Virginia is filled with nasty little climbs every mile or two.  I could never figure out why they seem to hurt more than riding a mountain pass in Utah a few years ago and then I came to the obvious conclusion. Weight is not the friend of a cyclist. On a bike, being lean means being fast and I love riding my bicycle as fast as I can.

So those are my three big motivators for wanting to be thinner.  It has been a big challenge to reach my goals. Over the last few weeks I've been trying to make faster progress. As I've done a lot of reading, experimenting and working this is what I've learned.

Knowing Your Calorie Needs

Most people have no idea how many calories they consume per day, how many calories they should consume per day and how many calories they would need to burn to lose weight.

I've used some different websites/apps in my quest. The best is www.myfitnesspal.com. You can download and app for you iPhone, iPad, Kindle, Blackberry or you can just go online.  It helps you set goals, keeps track of caloric intake, record progress and know how much you should be eating. 

Steps to Track Progress

Although I like the program I don't have an iPad or iPhone with 3G/4G internet. So I remain old school for tracking my calories on paper. Here is how to do it on paper

1. Knowing My Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR). Basically this is a calculation of the number of calories I use if all I do it wake up, eat, and watch TV. http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/
2. Determining My Calorie Expenditure. Then I calculate the number of calories I actually use by multiplying my BMR by the Harris Benedict Equation for my activity level. http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/harris-benedict-equation/
3. Adjusting Calorie Intake. I adjust my activity level down because I keep good track of the calories I burn while exercising. I can do this because I have a nice heart rate monitor that gets me in the ball park for calories consumed exercising.
4. Setting Daily Calorie Deficit. Next I established my weight loss goal based on the idea that burning 3500 calories equals a pound of lost weight. So if you want to lose a pound a week you need to burn an extra 500 calories per day over what you consume.
5. Keeping Tracking of Caloric Intake. I count calories religiously and keep a running total on a sheet of paper, any sheet of paper. Since I am in training right now, my notes books have lists of random numbers on the side of pages. Counting calories without a program can be tricky if you have never thought about it and have no idea how many calories you are consuming just keep a running list of what and how much you eat. Then go home and use MyFitnessPal to enter your calories.  When I first started I was horrified to find out how much I was really eating and that that second or third donut is really dangerous. 
6. Weighing in Daily. Weigh yourself every day. A quality digital scale that is accurate and reliable is essential. Tanita makes great scales, but there are others that are pretty accurate. Knowing who you are doing keeps you honest.

Tricks of the Trade

This is very much a learning process for me and I am getting better each day. It isn't about starving or killing yourself through exercise. It is about taking a measured approach.  Here are some things to remember.

1. A couple days of indulgence can cost you a week.
2. Try to eat healthy calories. 4 oranges give you the same calories and more energy than the yummy Krispy Kreme.
3. Indulge reasonably. Unfortunately this means two, maybe three Oreos at most.
4. Plan ahead. Plan prevents blowing the calorie budget.
5. Adjust based on how the day and week went. No more oh-well I guess I blew it so now I am done.
6. Look for opportunities to move. I love walking because the only thing you need to do is keep moving. The days I walk from the Metro to work are pleasant because all I say to my self is walk and some how a half hour later I end up at work and have had a great flood of ideas for the last half hour.

Feeling Good, Looking Good, and Being Fast

I have my goals, my motivation and the science of weight loss figured out. Over the next year I'll continue to work hard to reach racing weight. With 2300 miles of bike riding in my legs since July last year I  am feeling good and have lots more energy. Now to conquer looking good and being fast.