So, did tracking by calorie deficit only work?
First, a little background for those of you who haven't read posts by me before.
I wanted to set up a program for myself that I would be able to track without getting on a scale on a regular basis. Emotionally I can't "win" when it comes to weigh-ins. If I'm doing better than expected, I tend to slack off. If the number is worse than expected, then I tend to think "what's the use?" and also slack off.
So I had already been tracking my intake at mypyramidtracker.gov (not for weight loss) and decided I would continue using that while calorie counting. In addition, you can input your physical activity there and it would automatically track your calorie deficit for the time period you request. So I set a goal for myself of running an average daily deficit of 1167 (calculated over 30 days), which theoretically would result in 1 pound weight loss every 3days. At the weight I was starting, exercise burns a lot of calories so this deficit wasn't that hard to attain.
Of course to check if this works, I was going to have to get on an actual scale sometimes. So I've now weighed in twice since starting this plan on Apr 20 and here are my results for those who have asked:
After first 72 days, scale showed a weight loss of 24 lbs, which is EXACTLY 1 pound every 3 days.
For the next 63 days, scale showed a weight loss of 12 lbs, which works out to 1 pound every 5.25 days.
I had expected the rate to drop as the calories burned for exercise can only be estimated and I get the same "credit" for the same exercise at 230 lbs I got at 265 even though my body is moving less weight for every action and I also have gotten better at each type of exercise. But honestly I was hoping it hadn't dropped that much.
So, was the experiment a success? Mathmatically, not completely. But emotionally, yes. If I had seen this same slowdown on a scale, I might have given up. Instead I'm seeing 229 on the scale this morning as a pretty good number to start my next phase (I have another experiment in mind for next 60days).
I also liked the habits I developed while tracking this way. One day I made the mistake of doing grocery shopping on the way home from swimming laps for 65 minutes and eating what seemed like half the groceries in the car on the way home. Deficit for that day was less than 200 calories. But seeing it was still a deficit and running the 30 day average, I didn't give up. Just bumped my exercise up a bit for the next 2 weeks and got that number back in line.
If I couldn't get my regular work out in, I would still do something, even if only a walk around the neighborhood. The credit for a 30 minute walk was minimal compared to the usual, but any number helped keep that average where I wanted it.
I didn't see the plateaus that have made me crazy in the past.
So I will probably try this again after my next experiment is over. I know some of you are using other online trackers for your intake, do any of those also allow you to log exercise for the energy balance? Some foods are missing entirely from the mypyramidtracker database and no way to add in foods that aren't there so I'd like to try another program that does allow additions.
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