Friday, May 02, 2008

Two Weeks of Green Triangles!

I am very happy to report that I have had green triangles since April 20th! This means I have had almost 2 weeks worth of steady weight loss. As of this morning, my weight was 211 pounds, which I have not been for at least a month and half. Yes, the middle of March through the middle of April can best be described as "Month of the Red Triangle," in which I must have been carbo-loading for 30 days straight in a Herculean effort to beat 43 minutes on my 5K. Success!

The preceding paragraph is brought to you by PhysicsDiet.com, which I continue to recommend to anyone looking to lose weight. I tried a competing weight logging website, SkinnyR.com, but it lacked a very important feature: the blue moving average line. You see, as each one of us is essentially just an "ugly bag of mostly water," our weight fluctuates every day based on what we put into this bag. It can fluctuate as much as 5 or 6 pounds, sometimes more. It often amuses me when I go to dinner with a relative, who eats a lot, and then the next morning tells me he looked at his scale and OMG he has gained 6 pounds! Of course, the only way to gain 6 pounds of fat is by consuming approximately 21,000 more calories than you burn. Obviously, this happens all the time -- but it usually takes six months to a year for most people. Six pounds in one day? Food and water weight -- nothing more.

The moving average line is designed to smooth out the daily fluctuations in weight caused by food and liquid intake. If you look at my lovely green triangles, you will see that I did not technically continue to lose weight every day; at least three times over the past two weeks, I woke up the next morning to a weight gain of at least 1 pound, sometimes almost 2. But because I was still below the moving average, I knew I was making progress. Without those wonderful green triangles proving I was trending in the right direction, look what the last two weeks would have shown (on right). I certainly would have freaked out and eaten an entire pizza to comfort myself. I am happy to say I have not done that for at least a month or two!

To what do I owe the pleasant greenness? Simple, my friends: a caloric deficit. (You thought I was going to say Miracle Noodles, didn't you?) Of course the zero-calorie noodles are part of it, as is the extra walking I have done over the past week or two, as is the sporadic session here or there at the gym. But it is worth noting that I have not gotten to the gym in over a week, and I have not gone running in two weeks, and yet the scale continues to drop. nutrition and exercise are both important -- but when it comes to weight loss, Nutrition is King.

That said, the caloric expenditure needed for physical activity definitely contributes to the caloric deficit, and to that end, I have decided to purchase a bicycle! I ordered it on Amazon.com yesterday and it has arrived TODAY. I plan to spend this weekend putting it together. If all goes well, from now on I will be biking to work when it's nice out. That should really help with the calories. Expect a post on My New Bike soon!

4 comments:

  1. Hey, I found your blog through the complete running network and thought I'd say hi. I've been wanting a bicycle as well but wont be able to get one for a while (too poor!).

    Also, I liked your post on Miracle Noodles. I laughed. I cried, etc. Anyway, good luck with your running!

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  2. I discovered these noodles a few years ago, ate them like crazy and then promptly forgot about them. Thanks for the reminder of their fabulous-ness!

    I just invested in a new bike last month and have been riding to work as well. Granted, my commute is only 2.4 miles, but I try to get in something more substantial and fun on the weekends. I really love riding and hope you enjoy your new wheels, too.

    Last note, I just decided to join Team in Training this month to help me increase my running distance and prepare for a local marathon. I'm usually only good for 2-4 miles, 7 at the most, so they will have their work cut out for them. lol!

    So glad to have "found" you!

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  3. congrats on the weight loss- must be nice to have the charts telling you that you're headed in the right direction. Are the green triangles necessary to help you compute something? What seems most helpful is the blue dotted line, but I'm not very physics-oriented.

    happy biking!

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  4. "Ugly bag of mostly water"... you may just have helped me decide on my newest motivational running mantra. Thanks, Matt. :-)

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http://physicsdiet.com/chart.ashx?t=weightloss&s=2011-10-31&u=ztrawhcs