Reducing Your Debt ... 1 Calorie At A Time

I’m beat! First it was Pilates, then some Cardio, and finally an hour with Little John. Whew! I tell you, you want motivation to work out and eat right … go on a Carnival Fun Ship out of Galveston!

I’m glad I am finally healthy and in one place long enough to get my schedule back. I feel like I have been off track lately and it is time to get back at it. Pumpkin told me the other day that this blog has also been getting off track lately. So, with only minor references to the Ecstasy, I will attempt to get this blog and my life in order.

Thankfully, I haven’t gained any weight over the past few weeks so I won’t have that battle on my hands also. In fact, I have stayed amazingly steady which is both good and bad. I think that it is time that I got serious about taking some of these extra pounds off though. Therefore, I commit to losing 1 pound by February 28th. This doesn’t sound like much of a challenge but it is to me. This is because I will have to exercise it off and then some. This might be the right time to discuss the Debt, Income, and Expense approach to understanding weight loss (the I learned at the Fitness Ridge Boot Camp). I will go through the basics of it and then will do an example.

Accounting Approach To Weight Loss

1. Take the number of pounds that you want to lose and multiply that number by 3500. This is your DEBT.
2. Divide your weight in pounds by 2.2 to get your weight in Kilograms (approx).
   Multiply your weight in Kilograms by 24. If you are a woman multiply this number by .9 This is to account for women’s slower metabolism (Sad but true).
   The resulting number is your INCOME. This is the approximate number of calories per day that your body expends just for being.
3. Your EXPENSES are the number of calories that you EAT on any given day.
4. Just like in real life there are only 2 ways to reduce your debt. The first is to spend / eat less (than your income) and the second is to earn / exercise more. When eating less please remember that it takes at least 1200 calories for women and 1400 calories for men to stay safe nutrition-wise. You should not eat less than this on any given day if possible.

My Real Life Example

1. I would like to lose 10 lbs. Therefore 10 * 3500 = 35000 (Debt)
2. I currently weight 125lbs. Divide 125 by 2.2 = 56.82 (kg). 56.82 * 24 = 1364 * .9 (woman) = 1228. (Income)
3. Although I would love to say that I eat about 1500 calories per day I really end up eating about 1800 calories per day on average (Expenses). This means that if I don’t exercise at all I will increase my debt by (1800 – 1228) 572 calories every day which means that, if a pound is 3500 calories, that I will gain 1 pound every 6 days if I don’t exercise. That isn’t good at all!!!
4. So what it means is that I have to burn (through exercise) at least 572 calories EVERY day, 7 days a week, just to maintain my weight. And, in order to lose 1 lb in the next 12 days I will have to burn 572 + (3500 / 12) = 873 calories per day (Additional Income) for the next 12 days. It shouldn’t seem daunting but it is somehow.

I know that this way of looking at controlling or losing weight has helped a lot of people understand either why they have been struggling with their weight loss. It also helps one get a really good idea of what they have to do to lose or control their weight. It becomes concrete. It doesn’t allow for excuses. The numbers don’t lie!

I think that I might have my 873 calories for the day already but I think that I might just put down the computer for a bit and go out for a walk (walking or running burns about 100 calories per mile) or do a little Wii-ing. Can’t hurt to get a little head start!

Other than getting some more exercise I think that I will:

• Call the contractor to set up an appointment
• Call my mom
• Apply for NEXUS
• Call Connie re my visa application
• Read my book
• Unpack from the cruise
• Answer a few pressing emails

Nothing exciting or pressing. I will save that for tomorrow.

Until then, have a wonderful day!

Ella