Calorie Math

Weight loss is simple math. Calories in and calories out. From the Step Up program I have more information than most on the number of calories I burn per day. For the every 6 month assessments, they have me wear an arm band that measures my metabolic rate.

My initial rate was about 2500 calories per day with 8,243 steps per day general lifestyle with little exercise, six months later it was about 2600 after losing 35 pounds with walking over 14,700 steps per day on average including about 3.5 miles per day for exercise.

If I get in my exercise of 3500 calories per week and eat 1500 calories per day here's what happens:
Let's assume my basic metabolic burn rate is -2000* + eat 1500- exercise 500 equals a daily deficit of -1000 equals a loss of 2 pounds per week.
(* It may be more but according to the tables,at my age, height and weight it should be a lot less- 1600. 2000 is an educated conservative guess given the arm band info. As an aside, I think this is the reason that women have such a hard time losing weight in menopause-the metabolic rate must just plummet.)

If I eat 2000 calories per day then the deficit is 500 calories per day and that is 1 pound per week.

If I only burn half of goal or 250 calories and eat 1500 calories, the daily deficit is -750 or 1.5 pounds per week.

The biggest influence on how much I lose is how much I put in my mouth. The calorie math is just that simple. This is why counting and being aware of every calorie is critical to my success.