Day 55: Calorie counting is working for me

Almost two months ago I started recording every single calorie I take in, as well as my daily weight and extra exercise activities that I did not previously engage in.  I committed to doing this because I decided that the best way for me to lose weight would be to keep 100% honest documentation of calories in and out.  In the past I tried some wacky diets or unrealistic exercise regimens that would be impossible to stick with long-term as well as probably unhealthy in many cases.  But now my plan was much more reasonable, which was simply to cut as many calories as this site recommended, as well as keeping honest counts of every calorie in to insure that I was sticking with it.  I am a 23 year old male, 6' 0", and have weighed as much as 340 lbs.  When I started this plan I weighed in at 302.  They estimated that I would burn around 2850 calories a day with my lifestyle, and recommended a diet of 2150 calories per day.  This would work out to 700 calories burned per day, which is about .2 pounds of fat since 1 pound of fat is 3500 calories. Now I am 55 days in, and have gone over my weight numbers to see if they agree with what my calorie totals say they should be.  And to my pleasant surprise they are remarkably consistent.

Over the 55 day period my average calorie intake was 2141 calories.  My weight fluctuated quite a bit from day to day, but the trend over this period was quite clear, and I lost 13.4 pounds.  I performed only a very small amount of extra exercise, mostly in the past month since I got my Wii fit, and the total calorie burn estimated by the game was 4000 calories over around 12 hours of played time.  That works out to around 1.2 pounds of fat loss attributed to exercise.  This leaves 12.2 pounds of weight attributable to dieting, which at the rate of 3500 calories per pound, suggests that I have burned  42,700 more calories than I took in over this period, which is 776 calories per day.  Since I have eaten 2141 calories per day, this brings my total burn rate up to 2917 per day.

This site estimated that I would burn around 2850 calories per day, which is quite close to the numbers I have experienced.  Actually my numbers are a little a better than what they estimated, but only by a couple of percent.  This is quite reassuring, because for the first time I have actual data to know how many calories I am consuming and burning, and I know they are reasonably accurate since the results have been consistent with the data.  I feel like the uncertainty regarding dieting has been removed, and that all I have to do is stay honest with myself in recording calories and over time the appropriate results will come.  I still have around 100 pounds to go, but I think I can stick with a diet and exercise plan where I lose around 2 pounds a week, so over the course of a year I could realistically reach my goal.  A year seems like a long time to wait, but since I have spent 15 years overweight, it really isn't.  And since I have seen the relatively small amount of effort that is required (around 10-15 minutes a day looking up and reporting calorie totals, and around 30 minutes a day of exercise), I really feel like I can lose the weight.

Congratulations !!!! 

I'm a little amazed that a 23 year old man can put so much thought into this and then follow through with the correct action needed.  You can do nothing but win if you just keep doing what you're doing and you are doing it the right way so that when you reach your goal you will know how to stay there.

Keep up the good work...your body is thanking you. 

Very nice, I found about the same findings as you although I am about 10 years older, so more power to you. But get ready, because the closer you get to your weight the harder the road is going to get. There is also life, which gets in the way of our plans, so get ready to deal with motivational and time issues too as you go down the road. You are in the right track. Wish you the best. Cheers!  

All I can say is WOW!  I completely admire your dedication and meticulousness.  I wish I could be as regimented and honest - it would probably help me lose these last 10 pounds (that seem to be glued on).  Great job tedfor!