20/20: In Detail

Step 1: Make a Plan & Set a Goal!
My plan is to lose 20 (+) pounds, in 20 weeks.
My goal is to fit back into my clothes & be comfortable again.


Step 2: Set Your Rewards
I copied Ash's chart to track my progress. You can see that I pinned it up on the bulletin board in the kitchen, so I have to see it all of the time.


On the bottom are .5 pound increments. When I reach each milestone, I'll cross out that number.

Part of my problem with losing weight, is sticking to it. I'm hoping that doing this with a group and being accountable to others will provide me incentive to see it through. If that isn't enough though, part of the challenge is setting rewards.

I'm still stuck on this! The rewards could be every pound, 5 pounds, 10 pounds, etc. Obviously I don't want a food reward, and I don't really want a clothes reward- I've got a gift card I'm waiting to use when this is over. The rewards shouldn't cost too much since we are saving... I'm stuck- any ideas?

Step 3: Workout and Eating Plans
So this part required a bit of math.

First I needed to figure out how many calories I need to burn in order to lose around 1 pound a week (preferably more).

1- According to the average of a few BMR calculators, my body height & weight burns 1554 calories each day without exercise. So technically, I could eat that many calories everyday and not gain (or lose) weight.

2- In order to lose 1 pound/week, I need to burn 3500 calories over that 1554/day. 3500 calories divided by 7 days in a week is 500 calories per day extra that I will need to burn. If I want to lose 1.5 pounds/week, I need to burn an extra 750 calories a day.

3- What are my net calories? (The calories that I take in minus the calories that I burn)

Daily:
BMR (1554) - Calorie Deficit (750) = 804 Calories

4- So, how many calories should I be eating in order to get a net of 804 (800) calories?

Daily:
800 = Calories in - calories out
800 = Calories in - 500 (What I will burn through exercise)
800 + 500 = Calories In
1300 = Calories In (On days that I burn 500 calories through exercise)

OR


Daily:
800 = Calories in - calories out
800 = Calories in - 300 (What I will burn through exercise)
800 + 300 = Calories In
1100 = Calories In (On days that I burn 300 calories through exercise)

I don't like the idea of eating less than 1200 calories a day, so I bumped those days up to 1200- since those calculations are based on losing 1.5 pounds/week, I have a bit of play room.

Holy cow, that was a lot of math... I'm still not convinced it makes sense, but I've done it before and it did make sense, and this was Ash's formula, so I'll go with it.

In another post, I'll continue with my actual exercise and eating plans, now that I know how much I will need to eat and exercise.