My body lies to me. In fact it makes eating demands loud and long. Unless I have some information to the contrary, I’m going to succumb. I had to come to the realization that the natural hormonal eating control system I was born with has failed. On January 1, 2012 I decided to do with my brain’s executive function what my hormonal system could not do, manage my weight to a healthy level. I realized that I would need accurate information as to both the positive and negative consequences of my food choices. So I started to weigh myself every day and record my weight in a spreadsheet. I was lucky that the scale we have gives my weight to the nearest 0.2 lbs. That allows me to react within about three days.
The first thing I noticed was that my weight jumps around. The scale isn’t very scientific to start. There is a build in error for sure. Secondly my weight varies depending on what goes in and out of my body. If I drink a glass of water that could be ½ lb right there. After a meal of 2 lbs of food, I’m 2 lbs heavier. After I pee and poop I’m lighter again. I also breathe out weight. I did a simple chemical calculation: to metabolize calories I have to breathe out 0.6 lbs of carbon dioxide daily.
So to keep things consistent I wanted to weigh myself at the lowest possible weight each day. That would be first thing in the morning, after a shower and a trip to the washroom and before getting dressed. Even then my weight jumps around. I used the spreadsheet to smooth out the data.
1. Moving average: It takes me three days to see what my weight really is. So I just averaged my current weight with the three previous days and get a four-day moving average. I put this on a graph. As the average changes I can see what is happening to my weight.
2. Week’s change: The moving average might be enough, but I wanted a little more insight. So I tried some things, and here’s one thing that really worked. I was interested in loss, so I took today’s weight and subtracted it from my weight a week ago, or day 0 – day 7. I would average that over the previous 7 days, so the average of days 0-7, 1-8, 2-9, 3-10, 4-11, 5-12, and 6-13. Excel lets me recalculate that average every day. I graph that number, revealing the pulse of my body’s internal rhythms. Each morning I plot me weight and look at the trends with these calculations. I cans see within two or three days if I’m eating too much or not enough.
About this Blog
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So many people wish they could lose weight. This blog is an attempt to put together something to share about my experience. I started January of 2012 at 232 lbs and I had been trying to lose weight, probably shaving 5 lbs off my maximum, which would have been closer to 235. My last measurement showed a mere 160.4 lbs. The means over the last year I would have lost 75 lbs. In the picture from the summer of 2012 I weigh 175. I would love to get down to the 150 to 155 range over the next year. Why so slim? Mostly because if its worth doing its worth doing well. But also because arteriosclerosis runs thick in my family and if I can live at an ideal weight of course I should. I'm also fully content to live life at 160 if that's how it is to be, but I think its worth a try. This blog lets you join the adventure! The main thing was I just decided I'm in charge of my own weight. Policitians and actors do it. Why not me? Do I just did. No hocus-pocus. No hormones or any kind of pill. No extreme behavior, diets or fasting. No worries about mysterious toxins. Just a series of straight-up, science-based strategies. That why I think I have something to share. I can weigh whatever I want. Although I take what I know from science, I don't have access to scholarly libraries or time to do full scholarship on what I put here. I don't claim to have all the science right. If you know something I should know, add in a comment. This blog is a work in progress, I will keep editing the pages as I get ideas, insight and feedback. All my best -- Rob |
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