Week Four Results: A Reason to Live Healthy

A whole month under my belt and I’m now 12 pounds lighter! Woot! Another 3 pounds gone this past week. I’m nothing if not consistent. : /

The diet took a back seat this week to something much, much more important: the birth of our grandson, Gavin. He’s very precious and we love him lots! And I want to be around to enjoy him for a long, long time.

He was 2 days getting here, though, and that meant lots of time sitting and doing nothing. A hospital cafeteria isn’t exactly a treasure trove of diet friendly food, and there wasn’t much opportunity for meaningful exercise. There’s a Subway not too far from the hospital, so I ate lots of “Jared sandwiches” and walked up and down the stairs for exercise. I took a few strolls around outside, but it was very hot (heat index 105+) so they didn’t last long. But when you’re out of your normal element you have to get creative, right?

Hot topic for this week: I’m losing weight, but am I losing fat or muscle? This concern has plagued me since I started this venture. Do I need to eat less carbs and more protein? Should the settings on my elliptical be for fat burning workout or aerobic? Honestly, my muscle has been buried so far beneath fat I wasn’t even sure I had any. And on the off chance I did have some muscle left, I certainly didn’t want to be burning it instead of the copious stores of fat I have accumulated over the past few years.

So I decided to do a little research on the subject of burning fat vs. burning muscle—and what I found out was that you practically need a degree in nutrition, human physiology, or one of those other ultra-scientific subjects to be able to truly understand how your diet and exercise program is working for you. Either that, or a personal trainer, and one is about as expensive as the other. What I needed to find was a reliable source of information for cash-strapped folks like me.

Thanks to my mad internet browsing skills, I came across a great article at www.dummies.com (remember the Computers For Dummies books that came out when PCs became so popular?) that breaks down the myths of fat burning into an easily understood article. Click here to read. Be sure to read the Comments section, too—you’ll find a lot of interesting discussion there also.

I also found a body fat percentage calculator that incorporates several measurements to calculate your percentage of body fat. (I put a link in the Tools section.) According to its calculations, I’ve dropped 2.4% body fat since I started. I still have a long way to go, but I’m making progress!

You can get all ultra-scientific if you want, and I’m sure hardcore athletes and bodybuilders are real fanatics about it. But at nearly 50 years old, I know I’ll never work my way to a ripped physique. Even with a ton of plastic surgery. So for folks like me, the bottom line is you have to burn more calories than you consume in order to lose weight.

While I have made significant adjustments to the way I eat, in the month I’ve been tracking my diet and exercise I’ve learned I can fudge just a little and still lose weight. I just step up the exercise when I do. You have to ask yourself, ‘Is that helping of mashed potatoes worth an extra 30 minute jog on the treadmill?’

‘Cause I don’t believe you have to give up all the foods you love, just because you’re involved in a weight loss program. You just have to be sensible about what you’re doing and know that there is a price to pay for eating outside your regular menu: you either increase the exercise, or your weight loss slows/stalls. The choice is up to you.