CardiMuscles’s BodyBlog

I’ve been eating exactly the same as I have since I started counting my calories and this week I did a bit of extra walking and I gain 4 lbs???. If anyone can explain why this might be the case, I would be very happy indeed!

Unless of course as part of this project I happen to up the old calories expended number (which may well happen anyway). The project launches on Wednesday and when the website is up and running I shall of course post a link.

Well, it’s been a month since I did the calculations and in that month I have dropped 8lbs (exactly working out at the average safe weight loss of 2lbs per week) which just goes to show how easy weight loss can be. Or at least it was until someone said to me "Well done, have you adjusted your baseline?". I thought for a moment he was talking about tennis, but what he meant was reducing my BMR by 80 calories and he was right I hadn’t. And that got me thinking. There will come a time where my BMR will be something like 1,790 calories and I would be eating nothing in order to keep on going at the same rate, so therefore I have another question:

 "Will walking a quarter of the land area of Ceredigion (according to the Wales Yearbook 2007 an area of 448 square kilometres) over the course of six weeks enable me to keep on with my current diet and still be in a position to lose weight?"

Now, you may wonder why I would ask a question about such a random element as walking the land area of this district that I live in? Well, the BBC (the national state broadcaster) has asked me to be part of the BBC Wales 60 to help the BBC cover the Assembly Elections that are going to be held on May 3rd 2007. As a result of this there is a good chance that I will be mentioned on the site and might even appear on the television (although I suspect it will be a fully clothed picture as opposed to the one I’ve uploaded on this photo section). Hopefully I won’t fall into the trap of most televised people (i.e the camera will add the weight I’ve lost back onto me) but will endeavour to report anything of interest both on the project front and how much weight I’ve lost!

I’m amazed that I’ve not gained any weight at all this week (which proves that my theory must be holding true), but prompted by a comment on a BBC News website about the diet industry I decided to find out what sort of view the BBC have on the subject of bodybuilding.

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Last week I estimated that to lose weight as a safe level of 2lbs a week, I needed to ingest about 900 calories a day (1,100 less than I use by simply being) and at the end of the first week of doing that method i have indeed lost 2lbs (the 210lb figure was based on the scales that need the batteries replacing). At this precise moment though, I’m trying to recover from a fluey type cold which (because I can’t blow my nose) seems to have sent something to my chest and I’ve been trying to cough it up for at least 5 days now and am starting to get a little peeved!

I had a thought after posting that article yesterday. Does simply being use calories? And to my amazement it does. I found out about something called the "Basal Metabolic Rate" which is just a technical way of saying "How many calories do I burn by simply existing?".

Now I know that simply entering data into online calculators is not the best way of doing things (but as I have said before Wales isn’t exactly bursting at the seams when it comes to bodybuilding gyms) so having entered my data into several the general rule of thumb appears to be, "You burn 10 calories a day for every lb of bodyweight you are", so that means that in an average day I burn 2,100 calories.

Now, if I know that to lose weight I have to use 1,167 calories more than I ingest, this means that to lose weight I can ingest no more than 933 calories a day which then I suppose brings us to the question of "What is the best order in terms of protein, carbs and fat to generate that 933 calories a day and still be healthy?". Any suggestions?

Current Weight: 210lbs, Target Weight: 179lbs (min), Weight Loss: More than 31lbs

Now, I’ve done some research and would like to know from the experts if I have my maths right. I found out a day or so ago, that 1g of protein and carbohydates each generate 4 cals, whilst 1g of fat generates 9 cals. So working backwards I came up with the following, and it is this assessment I would like to know if I have right:

Overweight by: 31lbs, Convert into kg: 14, Convert into grams: 14,000, convert into excess calories: 126,000, Safe level of weight loss per week: 2lbs (0.9kg), Safe weight loss in calories: 8,172 divided by a week equals 1,167 per day which means

I must expend 1,167 more calories a day, than I ingest in order to lose weight at a safe rate

Am I correct? Yes or No?

I am FAT there is simply no other way of putting it I am fat. 211lbs at 5ft 11 comes out as 29.9 on the BMI scale and acording to a handheld bodyfat measuring device of that 211lbs only 150lbs is lean muscle mass. The last time I exercised was in May 2005 and I honestly cannot remember when I last felt my heart thumping to such a degree that I knew I was losing weight.

I therefore quite understand if those who I have added as friends since I started this will want to click the "Delete friend" button but hope that who stay as one of my friends will be able to help me get down to between 128lbs and 179lbs in a safe and healthy manner and enable me to have at least some semblence of muscle by the end of 2007

but more a post saying to everyone who has designed the whole My Bodybuilding.com site the following things:

English: Well done chaps, American English: Woah, dudes, check this out. Mad props

In other words, you have been very busy indeed haven’t you? Can I ask if it is possible to nominate you all for an award of some kind?

and warning, that from January 1st 2007, I will be tracking my diet and posting it daily for the first week of 2007. Any advice that my BodySpace friends will be able to give on my diet (in terms of the changes needed) to help me reach the goals I want to get to will be not only gratefully receieved, but acted upon wherever possible.