In and Out and get your minds out of the gutter!

So the Ronfather goes to the finale in The Biggest Loser, which bites.  But whatcha gonna do?

Anyway, kickboxing last night was a kicker!  Jack was ruthless and due to the higher temps outside, it was hotter in the workout room, so I was a puddle by the time it was over.  The only downside to this class is aching knees for the next 24 hours, but it seems a small price to pay. That is from the all "jump rope" and "boxer's shuffle" commands as I don't think the kicks would cause my knees to be painful after the fact.

I've been trying really hard to educate myself further on weight loss, so I've been investigating my BMR or Basal Metabolic Rate.  For me, that number is 1667.55.  Once I have that, I use the Harris Benedict Equation to figure out my daily caloric need based on my activity level. So for me, I multiply my 1667.55 by 1.55, which gives me 2584.7, which is the number of calories I would need to consume daily to maintain my current weight.  From there, I click on the link "Caloric intake to lose weight".  It gives the following guidelines:

There are approximately 3500 calories in a pound of stored body fat. So, if you create a 3500-calorie deficit through diet, exercise or a combination of both, you will lose one pound of body weight. (On average 75% of this is fat, 25% lean tissue) If you create a 7000 calorie deficit you will lose two pounds and so on. The calorie deficit can be achieved either by calorie-restriction alone, or by a combination of fewer calories in (diet) and more calories out (exercise). This combination of diet and exercise is best for lasting weight loss. Indeed, sustained weight loss is difficult or impossible without increased regular exercise.

If you want to lose fat, a useful guideline for lowering your calorie intake is to reduce your calories by at least 500, but not more than 1000 below your maintenance level. For people with only a small amount of weight to lose, 1000 calories will be too much of a deficit. As a guide to minimum calorie intake, the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommends that calorie levels never drop below 1200 calories per day for women or 1800 calories per day for men. Even these calorie levels are quite low.

An alternative way of calculating a safe minimum calorie-intake level is by reference to your body weight or current body weight. Reducing calories by 15-20% below your daily calorie maintenance needs is a useful start. You may increase this depending on your weight loss goals.

So what does this mean for me?  It probably means I should start food tracking and ya'll know how much I hate doing that.  But with 48 pounds left to lose and with losing very little since Christmas, I need to move things to the next level.  Calories in versus calories out.  Can't really work that to my advantage without knowing my calories in.  Ugh.

Oh and the information above can be found here.  Now to go find a website I like for food charting.  Oh joy.

And a congrats to C&P girl Susan, who is down about 70 pounds since her surgery!  Keep on keeping me posted, girl!  I love hearing how you're doing!  And thanks for the encouragement too!