So, for the past 12 days or so, I've been sort of yo-yo-ing. I got down to 179 (yes!) and then back up to 180, then 181, then back down to 180 and finally today back to 179! It is a little disturbing though, when you see you're putting in the work and it's not always reflected in the scale.
Or is it?
Okay, so I've admitted before I tend to micromanage the scale. I look at it every day. And this is going to show fluctuations that don't necessarily have anything to do with how hard I'm working. (Is there still food in my belly from last night? Did I eat a lot of sodium yesterday? Did I have a glass of water in the middle of the night?) I also have days where I eat a little more than usual (and I'm really okay with this...as far as I'm concerned it's built into the equation, and I log every single bite).
But if I step back and take the long view, say, for the past 19 days (this is when I got the fitbit, so I have all the data for this), I find that my average daily calorie burn was 2655, and my average calorie intake was 1792 (I try to stay within 1600, but there are those days I previously mentioned!) So the average deficit then, is 863. If you multiply that by the 19 days, you get 16397. Since it takes 3500 calories to equal a pound of weight lost, we divide 16397 by 3500 and get 4.68 pounds.
I'm 179 now, and I was 185 on Feb 1, so that's 6 lbs. Close enough. The point is, creating that deficit is working.
Also, and I almost wrote this before when I was 179, but then I went right back up again, but at 5'-5", 180 officially puts me in the "obese" range for BMI. So, I'm glad to be 179. Let's hope it stays down. Overall, losing 6 pounds in less than 3 weeks is great. And it also puts me on track to have as good a month this month as I did last month. So yay!
My only comment on this is in regards to the 3500 calorie deficit equaling a pound lost. My ubderstabdubg is it is a pound of FAT lost. and that if building muscle at all, this skews results...but yay for being under 180! Now if only I could get TO 180...
ReplyDeleteYes, it's a pound of fat for 3500 calories. Telling myself I'm gaining muscle would be believable if I were training at some Schwarznegger level. People who gain POUNDS of muscle in a month are working much, much harder at it than I am. I spend about 3 hours a week in the gym working on strength training. To gain pounds of muscle in a month's time would take hours a DAY in the gym, not to mention really crazy diet modifications, supplements, etc. For us mere mortals, it looks like a pound a month is more likely. http://www.thatsfit.com/2010/06/22/fit-or-fiction-how-long-does-it-take-to-gain-a-pound-of-muscle/
ReplyDeleteI guess what I'm saying, is when the scale continues to rob me of my pounds (as it did this morning when--alas--I was back up to 180 (!!!), I can't really blame it on the 1/4 pound of muscle I may or may not have gained this week.
And thanks! Yes! Yay for being under 180. Now I'll have to wait until tomorrow, or the next day, or the next day for it to happen again!