The Speculist

At my weigh-in this morning, the nurse practitioner told me that she had been over my results to date with the doctor. Apparently he's pleased with what he sees, but concerned that I may be losing a little too fast. In the business world, that's what we call a "good problem to have."

So coming back from the doctor's, I stopped by Krispy Kreme and picked up a half a dozen glazed doughnuts, which I was able to polish off by the time I got home. That should slow the old weight loss down a smidge!

Just kidding.

The doc recommends a long-term plan to take off 1-2 pounds per week. This is sensible and healthy. An eating plan that achieves those kinds of results will help my body to avoid the dreaded starvation mode, slowing my metabolism in anaticipation of the eventual arrival of more calories to turn into fat (not to mention wasting away my muscle mass.) But I wonder if the rapid-weight-loss effect these first few weeks hasn't had more to do with water weight than over-doing it on the diet?

It's hard to be sure, but one way to check is to try to get a handle on how many calories I've been eating and how many I've been burning. If the difference between those two comes close to the pound-or-two-per-week rate, I'm golden. If not, I may need to make some adjustments. This is where the BMR (as recommended by ivankirgin in a recent comment) comes in. From the BMR you add in your level of activity, and that gives a pretty good idea of how many calories you burn per day or week.

I'll report more on the math next time. For now, suffice it to say that I have lost an additional two pounds, bringing my weight down to 276 pounds.

I now weigh 21 pounds less than I did at the end of 2005.