The Key To Dieting - 1st Grade Math

I have a firm grasp of the obvious.  The one golden rule of establishing or maintaining a healthy weight is that output must exceed input if you want to lose weight, and it must equal input if you want to maintain weight.  In other words:

Calories Out >= Calories In

At the end of the day, that's it.  Sure, you can worry about carb ratios and sodium intake and high fructose corn syrup versus sugar, but if at the end of the day you output more than you input, you are on the right track.  That is the first thing to get used to, worry about the other stuff after you establish that habit.

The funny thing is, it is really easy.  So far today I have taken the dog on two walks for 2 miles each, at a comfortable pace of 15 minuted per mile.  One earlier this morning, one in the evening.  Total time invested is one hour, but I can think about other projects in that time, so it isn't like I am losing it.

Anyway, that has burned ~620 calories according to iTreadmill on my iPhone.  I also mowed my lawn which they say burned another 300 calories (who knew?).  So far today I have consumed around 713 calories of food in breakfast, lunch and snacks.  I'll be eating another 500 or so for dinner, maybe another snack for a total of, let's say, 650 calories tonight.  That will bring me to 1,363 total calories eaten, minus 920 worked off, for a total intake of ~443 calories.  This is WAY under my daily calorie budget computed for me to lose 2 lbs a week (2,594 per day budgeted by Lose It!).

So, what does this mean?  This means I will lose weight faster in the beginning of the process and it will eventually slow down to the 2 lbs per week.  Also, my daily calorie budget will drop with my weight (this goes to the theory of eat for the weight you want to be, not what you are).  So, I might as well get used to it.

So, use your math skills and figure out your input & output.  If you aren't sure of your daily calorie budget to meet your goals, Lose It on the iPhone or iPod touch can tell you or you can use one of the many online ones such as at the Mayo Clinic.

By the way, in case you were wondering, my goal is to lose 100 lbs....