Scale Math

So, I got a chance to weigh myself tonight (this is not particularly easy, as public scales tend to stop at 300, and I have no desire, really, to own one). It put me at 343, which is 21 pounds less than May. Okay, whatever.

The cool part about that is I can now, figure out an approximate (kinda¹) BMR+AMR², for right now, without having to rely on a low accuracy body fat scale. For example, there’s no way I’ve gained strength, lost about 6% body weight, but increased my body fat percent by 15, yet that’s the difference between the last body fat scale I was on and this one.

My average “net calories” (calories after exercise) since May 16 have been 1230 a day. I try to keep at 1400, but I’m obviously failing. I don’t have a record for vacation week, so I’m leaving it out of the equation. It reduces the accuracy some, I’m sure, but it’s the best I can do. So 105 days, minus 8 vacation days, gives us 97 days.

21 pounds multiplied by 3,500 calories per pound is 73,500. Divided by 97 is an approximate 758 calorie deficit per day. 1230 added to 758 is 1,988. Okay, so I don’t really have anything useful to do with that number, personally, since I’m not weight loss dieting, but it’s an interesting contrast:

Putting my weight, height, and age into a standard BMR calculator spits out 2,232. If I tell it that I have a desk job, it tells me to eat 2,679 for maintenance. If I put in that I exercise every day (which I very nearly do), it tells me to eat 3,655.

Okay. Sure.

Not really.

But we tell people it’s just “calories in, and calories out.” It’s a pointless statement, as even though it’s true, it’s bullshit unless you’re going to employ calorimetry (especially for women with hormonal problems and/or either gender with Celiac disease). Metabolic rate is variable from person to person, and the less lean mass you have, the more off the equations are going to be, unless you use body fat percent to calculate. But without getting the hydrostatic testing (about $50 if you can find somewhere doing one), estimating body fat is fraught with problems as well. And even those are not 100% on the money – the only truly accurate body fat test is an autopsy (er – no thanks!). Scales, as above, are very inaccurate, and even body builders misuse calipers (much less figuring out the right equation to get an accurate body fat % out of them).

In other words, it’s all complicated, as all health topics are, no matter how we want to simplify them. Expensive diet plans “solve” this by employing VLCD, which lowers metabolism and eventually fails because who wants to starve all the time? But it isn’t going to give you a lifetime of health, and in most cases, it’ll increase weight, not decrease it, in the long run.

Eat to be healthy³. Live to be healthy. Listen to your body, love it, and honor it. IMO, this will get you farther than any expensive or outrageous diet plan, no matter your goals.

¹More of a starting point than a BMR, since it’s how much I’m burning by living plus daily activities, but not including exercise. So somewhere between BMR and AMR… kinda.
²This is assuming the weight loss wasn’t mostly during the week I was having a really bad week and couldn’t eat.
³As you can afford it, that is.