Diet....Round 3

How pathetic, right? Already my third attempt and we're only in March? However, I'd like to look at it from the angle that I won't quit until I get what I want.....even if I continue to screw up along the way....

Tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day. Holidays for me (like I'm sure it is for most of you) are difficult. Yes, I will be having corned beef and potatoes. That's the bi-product of having a GF who is all-to-eager to cook. And she's one helluva cook too. It's like a ying-yang. On one hand, I should curse her prowess in the kitchen, and yet on the other, I'm thinking of building an effigy of her to worship when it comes to food.

However...

I NEED TO SHOW SOME WILLPOWER!

I must buy foods that are consistent with health.

Eating pizza once a week as a reward for my training is good. Three times a week is not good.
Having a nutritious snack is good. Snickers Bars? Ugh.
Eating 5 times a day is better than 3 times a day....Provided I'm not socking down 600 calories per sitting.

I recently read the April '08 issue of Runner's World and saw a pretty compelling formula for weight reduction that I might use. I already know how many calories I should be consuming
per day (and how I've been breaking that rule, ugh), but here's another way of calcluating it.

[1] Multiply your goal weight by 10.
I am 162 pounds right now. So, 1620.

[2] Add 20 percent of that number if you sit at a desk all day; 50 percent if you're moderately active; or 70 percent if you're moving all day.
I am a voice systems engineer. Computer jockey, in other words. Looks like 20 percent for me.
That makes it 1944.

[3] Add the number of calories burned during your workouts.
And for that see this table below:













In my case, my training average is usually around 9 min per mile avg, and nearly an hour average, so let's go with 700 calories. That makes my new total 2644.

[4] Reduce the total by 15 percent.
That makes my final total 2247.

Interesting. In my club my total calories was much less. I think it was about 1900 or so calories that I could consume per day.

I am currently 162 pounds. I would like to go down to 150 pounds. Can I do this? Should I do this? I happen to be about 5'7" in height, so one might say that I'm not obese. However, my stomach has always been my problem. I have a belly. It's not tremendous, but it's there. AMA states that at my height a male should weigh no more than 160.

My problem has always been that when I reduce in weight that I increase a tendency to be injured or feel listless. I think it might be because I'm probably reducing the amount of nutrients that I still need, when I reduce my caloric intake. Also, and recently, I've noticed a great, positiveresponse to my body taking on high doses of protein (combined with some carbs) within an hour of my workout. So, I am thinking that perhaps, when I reduce calories, I am also reducing protein intake as well, which is not a good thing to my body's ability to repair, especially after a strenous workout. In the past, my primary (natural) sources of protein usually involve meats. Meats are not necessarily high in calories, but sometimes they can be high in cholesterol. Recently, I had my blood checked and my numbers came back borderline high. The count was 213 overall , however my doc told me not to worry too much because my HDL portion of that was 48, which is good.

So where the hell am I going with all this?

Diets are a pain in the ass. That's where I am going with all this. Diets are a pain in the ass because it requires a constant monitor of this or that or the other. It's almost as much a drain on my brain as it is in my stomach. So the question is.....how much do I really want this?

One way to keep a track of all of this is to revisit http://www.my-calorie-counter.com/ . This website is unsurpassed for keeping a track of not only calories, but all other items as well (carbs, protein, etc) and best of all its FREE.


The latest tally:




I've also exercised off 700 calories today as well. So, if you add that to my net target of 1946, that's 2646, and I've eaten only 2306. Net loss=340 calories.

3500 calories = 1 pound of weight. In order to lose 2 pounds this week (starting tomorrow), I will need to eat 7000 calories less than my target. My target (without exercise) in one week is 13,622 calories. That means I would only be able to eat about 946 calories per day. Ugh. However, if I can exercise off 700 calories a day, then I can go up to 1646 calories per day. It's still a lot less than what I am use to, but I think it is doable.

Doable after tomorrow St. Patty's day event, that is.....