The Numbers Game

Just a quick post today; as I write this, I’m sitting in the orthodontist’s waiting room.  They’re putting the screw back in the Delaney’s jaw–for the THIRD TIME.  I really, really hope this is the last time.

Anyway, I was chatting with a friend-who-shall-remain-nameless the other day, and we were both whining about (of course) dieting.

She pointed out that she’s been exercising more since New Year’s, but the weight’s not melting off like she had hoped.

That got me thinking: perhaps a little refresher is in order, now that we’re coming up on the end of January, and New Year’s resolutions are perhaps losing some of their oomph.

Fact:  one pound of body weight equals approximately 3500 calories.  So to lose a pound, you need to create a deficit of 3500 calories.

Fact:  one mile of walking or running burns off approximately 100 calories (I know–it seems cruel that WALKING and RUNNING have the same net caloric effect; Lee has explained it to me, repeatedly and with great frustration–doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me, but it’s apparently true).

Fact:  3500 (calories in a pound) divided by 100 (calories burned in one mile) equals 35.  Miles.  Running.  Let me reiterate:  YOU HAVE TO RUN 35 MILES TO BURN OFF ONE POUND OF BODY WEIGHT.  So adding an extra ten minutes on the elliptical, 4 times a week?  Not going to have a dramatic impact (on your weight, at least–cardiovascularly, it’s probably a good thing).

Fact:  my base metabolic rate (the number of calories required for me to live my daily life) is approximately 1600.  In order for me to lose weight, I have to either a) burn several hundred more calories per day, b) consume several hundred fewer calories per day, or c) both.

Fact:  one double-stuff Oreo contains 70 calories.  ONE.  If I’m going to consume fewer than 1600 calories per day, there’s not a whole lot of room for Oreos.

The take-home lesson here is this:  if you are serious about losing weight, you’re going to have to pay attention to the numbers.  Eat less, exercise more.  It’s hard work, yes, but it’s not complicated work.

Just–ahem–do it.