Formulas:
To maintain current weigh you need this many calories:
Little to no exercise Daily calories needed = BMR x 1.2 Light exercise (1–3 days per week) Daily calories needed = BMR x 1.375 Moderate exercise (3–5 days per week) Daily calories needed = BMR x 1.55 Heavy exercise (6–7 days per week) Daily calories needed = BMR x 1.725 Very heavy exercise (twice per day, extra heavy workouts) Daily calories needed = BMR x 1.9
Calorie deficit required to meet goal. = PoundsToLose * 3500 / #days
Daily calorie target to achieve goal = BMR * activity factor / Pounds to Lose * 3500 / #days
I calculated that my base metabolic rate with a factor for being pretty much sedentary is 2952. Assuming that a pound of fat really produces about 3500 calories, then I can easily calculate the calorie deficit I need to meet a goal. I'd like to lose 100 pounds in a single year. To do so, I would need to reduce my daily calories by 958. So, I'd to set my personal daily target for calorie consumption to be around 1994. It's not an exact science, so to make it easier to remember, I'd round my target up to 2000 calories per day.
If I knew how many calories were burned during various specific activities, I suppose I could allow this target to move up and down depending on each day's physical activity.
Ugh, I suspect I'm going to be hungry. This would imply reducing my typical caloric intake by about 1/3. It's a big adjustment and not likely to be easy. I wonder if I should take it slower?
As you can see, I'm anal. So, I'll probably plug these formulas into a spreadsheet and track my progress. And allow the spreadsheet to automatically adjust my target according to changes in my weight or other physical attributes. I'll need to think a little about the best way to do this.
I doubt that you will be very hungry after a short period of transition. The trick is finding low-calorie foods that will keep you satisfied for long enough. And of course you can take your transition slowly, cutting another 100 or 200 calories per week. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteYou won't be hungry if your primary food is meat and fats.
ReplyDeleteFor those not too far from sane weight, the calorie theory does roughly equate it seems. The whole exercise thing is bogus though. People burn radically diff amounts of energy for stuff and it's seldom enough to matter a lot anyway. Exercise for the other good it does like helping drop insulin response, lift weights, you can make that cardio if you want, if you do it right.
I like the new blog! Except I think your background color should be a little lighter or your links much darker, they 'blend in' at least on my laptop.
Hope you're doing well Daron. I'm working a crazy schedule so it took me awhile to come find you.
PJ
Hi PJ, it's good to see you online again. You were a big inspiration for me, years ago, when I was low-carbing.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the input about the blog design. I have made my links a bit darker. It's hard to know exactly what a webpage will look like with various monitor settings. Hope this looks better to you.
Regarding exercise... I've not had a chance to really research the effect of "burning calories" by exercising. I can't imagine how it would be at the same rate for everybody doing the same exercise. And there are other factors such as are you burning calories from foods just eaten or needing to access fat stores. This is my next area to research and work into my plan. What I do know is that during the six months that I was working in Paris France I walked a minimum of six miles a day (from hotel to office, office to hotel, hotel to restaurant, etc.). And, during this time, I lost weight regardless of how much I ate. So, there is perhaps something to be said for exercise.
My work schedule is about to get insane also. We are about to kick off another ERP deployment project covering 18 manufacturing plants throughout the U.S. and Mexico. As such, I will soon begin traveling just about every week.