A Wild Weekend ... at least as wild as I get!

I've got some making up to do this week. We had a rare night out with Friends on Saturday night; tons of fun and tons of food. I snuck a weigh-in on Sunday morning because I was curious and I was up 3 lbs. Here is the great thing. It's no big deal . I didn't freak out or get depressed. I had a great night out and an excellent meal and a few drinks and I am sure that with a few good workouts I'll be able to whittle away the excess. Like I said I'm not on a diet, I am changing my diet..... and part of that will be going a little crazy once and awhile. It's all part of settling in to this new life.

For some reason the initials BMR kept popping up last week in some research I was doing. For those of you, like me, who have no idea what BMR is I dug a little deeper. BMR stands for Basal Metabolic Rate, basically the amount of energy your body needs to burn each day. You can use BMR to determine how many calories you should be eating each day.

Here's the formula:

Women:
655 + (4.3 x weight in pounds) + (4.7 x height in inches) - (4.7 x age in years)

Men:
66 + (6.3 x weight in pounds) + (12.9 x height in inches) - (6.8 x age in years)


So for me it would be 66 + (6.3 x 234) + (12.9 x 71) - (6.8 x 33) = 2231.7


Then you calculate for your level of activity.

Calculate Activity
Step two: In order to incorporate activity into your daily caloric needs, do the following calculation:

* If you are sedentary : BMR x 20 percent

* If you are lightly active: BMR x 30 percent

* If you are moderately active (You exercise most days a week.): BMR x 40 percent

* If you are very active (You exercise intensely on a daily basis or for prolonged periods.): BMR x 50 percent

* If you are extra active (You do hard labor or are in athletic training.): BMR x 60 percent

Add this number to your BMR.


I consider myself to be moderately active. So 2231.7 x 40 Percent = 892.68

2231.7 + 892.68 = 3124.38

If I understand this correctly I can eat 3124 calories a day without gaining weight. To lose 2 pounds per week I need to eat less than 2415 calories a day. Right now I am averaging around 2000 calories a day.

According to the government's dietary guidelines a moderately active male between the ages of 31 and 50 should consume 2,400-2,600 calories. This was determined using the Institute of Medicine equation. Whatever the heck that is.

I just checked and my "crazy Saturday" calorie count was 3635. Way over my norm but not to far over the 3124 calories I could eat if I was maintaining.... And I did burn nearly 4500 calories between my 45 minute strength training, 3.5 mile walk and just breathing.


I have to reapologizes to my lovely wife. I had a hankering for some ice cream on the way home from our wild night out. Since DQ isn't open at 1am I decided I needed a Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwich. She tried to convince me a Slim-a-Bear ice cream bar was the way to go, but I was stubborn. Sorry sweetie for leading you astray.

Tony
9/17: 234 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
14 lbs. to go