WOW! I have been so flipping busy lately that I've not had much time to post on my blog. I just wanted to give an update about what I'm up to. I had my midpoint check-in for the Gold's Gym Challenge today and I'm pretty happy with where I am considering I started my job right about the same time I started their challenge. I haven't been to get in double workouts since I started working, but I am bringing it.
My lovely husband bought me a new Heart Rate Monitor for Valentine's Day. It replaced my beat up Sportline Heart Rate Monitor that I bought from Sport's Authority almost two years ago. My new Timex works amazingly. It tracks heart rate, calories burned, zone rates, avg. heart rate and more. Plus it is more accurate! I've been able to step it up and hit about 1,100 calories in 60 minutes.
What else have I been up to? I'm boxing more frequently. I checked out a local boxing gym and have been hitting it at least 2 times a week. Then I box with Matt once a week, and also have one pt session with him. Usually on the other days I do weights. This brings me to switching up my nutrition. As some of you may know, I was using My Fitness Pal to track my nutrition. It's been a really helpful tool, however if you only have a small amount of weight to lose it can be difficult to track appropriately. It told me I would need to limit my calories to 1200/day. Then whatever I was losing to workouts I was also supposed to eat, but that was sort of unclear. I was getting hungry at work and would feel like cheating because I was close to starving myself. Consider this, I was burning 1,100 calories a day in a workout and my BMR (min. # cals my body burns/day) is around 1,400. I was eating 1,200. Meaning I was allowing my body to run on 100/cals a day, which even if I don't work out is less than my body burns.
After reading several articles on weight loss plateaus and body starvation, I decided to try a different approach. If you are a user of MFP, it is called the "Olivia method." Basically, you NEVER eat less than your BMR, and on the days you workout, you eat until you have a maximum of 1,000 calorie deficit (if continued for a week you would lose 2lbs). Here is a breakdown:
First of all, to calculate your BMR use this equation: BMR = 655 + (4.35 x Weight in lbs) + (4.7 x Height in Inches) - (4.7 x Age).
My BMR is 1495.
Next, calculate the number of calories you can eat to MAINTAIN your weight. You may be like, but Keri, I want to LOSE, not GAIN! Just do it! Take your BMR and multiply by 1.2 if you sit most of the day. multiply by 1.3 if you stand most of the day. See the Harris Benedict Equation for further explanation.
My BMR: 1495 x 1.2 = 1794 maintainenace calories. This is the number of calories I can eat to maintain my current weight. However, we are looking for a deficit of 1,000 calories/day to lose 2lbs a week MAX. I'm not going to eat just 794 calories! That would be insane. So, what am I going to do? Look to exercise to help me make that target.
Next, take your BMR and add 1,000. Then subtract your maintenance calories.
(1495 + 1000) - 1794 = 701 which is now my exercise goal. This means if I burn a minimum of 701 calories a day I will have created a 1,000 calorie deficit. If I burn MORE than that I need to eat the difference. So, if I burn 801 calories from exercise I need to eat an additional 100 calories. If I burn less than 700 calories in exercise I won't have a 1,000 calorie deficit - that's not to say I won't lose weight, I will just not lose 2lbs/week.
So, what does this mean to me? It means I'm able to eat around 1,600 calories a day when I burn more than 700 calories. And, days that I don't work out I eat my BMR - 1,495 calories a day. I'm feeling fuller obviously, and less likely to cheat. It has been one week for me following this program and I have lost about 2lbs. It's not for everyone, but if you are stuck in your weight loss, consider taking a look at adjusting your calorie intake.
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