Calories Schmalories

I've stated before that my theory is that if we eat the right things, then calories are sort of irrelevant.  Not irrelevant in the sense that we'd be able to lose weight by throwing down all the junk food we want down our piehole, but in the sense that if we eat healthily, we won't wind up consuming too many calories.  How many is too many you ask?  Well, that all depends on your age, weight, height, sex, and activity level.  I, for instance, weighing 336 lbs. at 5'8" or so, obviously male (or at least I hope it is obvious) and as of late, moderately exercising, need approximately 3400 calories a day just to maintain my globelike figure.  See here to find your daily caloric needs.  http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm
Understand, this is not my calculator, just one I found on the internet.  Don't take it as an absolute number.  There is no such thing.  Take it as an estimate to, perhaps, satisfy your curiosity, if nothing else.

My research tells me it is widely understood that it takes approximately negative 3500 calories lose 1 lb. of body fat.  That means by eating 3500 calories less, or burning 3500 during exercise, or a combination of both, you would presumably lose 1 lb of body fat.  This is no exact science, by any stretch of the imagination.  I do not count calories per se, but I am aware of the rough amount of the little buggers I swallow every day.  By my estimates, it is 1200 to 1500.  I don't normally figure these things out, but for illustrative purposes, here we go. Yesterday, for instance, my breakfast was a fresh fruit salad which came in at approximately 300 calories.  Lunch was a pre-packaged veggie burger and sandwich thin with a hint of Dijon, 295 calories.  For dinner, I enjoyed a pasta dish which I made myself and I estimate, given the modifications I made to the recipe, totalled about 630 calories.  Add in a 50 calorie piece of dark chocolate I ate after writing my blog and we get 1275 calories for the day.  A fairly typical day in the life of moi. 

By the math listed above, let's say that I consume about 1350 calories on average per day, 7 days a week, for a total of about 9450 calories per week.  By the calculator linked above, I need some 23,800 calories per week to maintain my weight.  A difference of 14,350 calories.  Divide that by 3500 and you would get 4.1 lbs per week in body fat lost. 

Yes, I am averaging 4.7 calories/week, thus far, but in the last 4 weeks it has only been 10.8 lbs.  What does this tell us?  A: I have been estimating my calories wrong, B: I cheat and don't report to you all exactly what I eat, or C: Metabolism and weight loss are not an exact science and these calculators and theories are, largely, a bunch of B.S.

I am going with C.  Which is exactly why I do not make myself crazy over every calorie I consume...and neither should you.  Be sensible and live your life.  Obsessing over every unit of energy your body uses as fuel will make you crazy and it is a recipe for failure. 

Cya tomorrow for WIMHW,
M

What I ate today and how I exercised:

Breakfast ~ What should have been a 2 egg, veggie omelet, turned into a veggie scramble.  I need new non-stick pans.  :(

Lunch ~ On the road and ate 1 Burger King small hamburger

Dinner ~ Left over pasta con sarde from last night.

Snack while writing this ~ 1 honeycrisp apple

Exercise ~ After walking over 8 miles in the last 3 days, I am kinda sore.  I took the day off.