How I Lost 10 Pounds in 1 Month

I'm nearing the end of my first month of my healthy lifestyle and I'm in my fifth month of bike commuting.  I feel really good!  Here are some tangible measures of my increased fitness:

• Weight:  I've lost ten pounds since January 30.  More importantly, my percent body fat is down to 22.5% (from 24%).  If you do the math, that's about 5.5 pounds of fat loss.  Assuming 4 pounds or more is from water loss, I'm achieving my goal of losing mostly fat and not lean body mass.
• Resting Heart Rate:  My resting heart rate is down almost ten beats per minute since Christmas.  
• How I Look:  I've lost 2 notches in my belt, and I feel thinner.

What did I do to lose 10 pounds in a month?  Nothing more than eating fewer calories than I take in.  To make sure I really eat fewer, I track my calorie intake and expenditure using LoseIt! (there are other tools available, Google "calorie tracking app").  It's very easy to use with iPhone and Android apps and a database with nutritional information for thousands of ingredients, restaurant, and supermarket foods.

Based on my age, weight, and activity level (before exercise), LoseIt! estimates that I use about 2700 calories on an average day (see this article on the Basal Metabolic Rate from Wikipedia).  Based on this, if I eat more than 2700 calories, I gain weight.  Less and I lose.  I told the LoseIt! app I want to lose 1.5 pounds per week and it established a daily budget of 2,053 calories.

Using today as an example, I was planning a long bicycle ride so I knew I could essentially eat what I wanted.  Some insights I've gained by tracking what I eat:

1. It's hard for me to eat less than 30g of saturated fat each day without making choices.  I have to work on this.
2. A McDonald's Quarter Pounder with Cheese value meal (see my lunch) really isn't good for you.  You can be told something is bad for you, but until you see it, you don't always comprehend.  This meal gave me 1200 calories and nearly half of my saturated fat for the day.  I would not have eaten this if I wasn't planning to ride.
3. It's easy to add a lot of calories from soft drinks, especially with free refills and cheap large size drinks.  I normally drink iced tea so this was a treat made possible by my bicycle ride.
4. I used to drink A LOT of skim milk (as many as 4 or 5 glasses with a meal).  Now I try to limit myself to one or two.  Some days I'm sure I consumed over 1000 calories from skim milk alone!
5. I consume too much sodium.  My blood pressure is good, but still something to watch.
6. I might have eaten 4 or 5 servings of something without thinking about it.  Now I try to practice proper portion control
7. If I didn't ride regularly, I would have to reduce my calorie intake A LOT more to lose the same amount of fat.

 Below is my daily summary for today.  Do you know what your typical day looks like nutritionally?

 

Daily Summary for 2012 February 25 Export to spreadsheet

Daily Calories 500 1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500 Daily calorie budget 2,054 Food calories consumed 3,715 Exercise calories burned 1,757 Net calories so far today 1,957 I can eat 97 more calories today Nutrient Calories Fat 108.4g 27% Saturated Fat 31.4g Cholesterol 261.8mg Sodium 5,497.8mg Carbohydrates 495.3g 54.9% Fiber 25.5g Sugars 303.5g Protein 163g 18.1% Meal Calories Breakfast Lunch Dinner Snacks Breakfast Lunch Dinner Snacks 16.7% 32.2% 33.7% 17.4% Today's Log Breakfast: 619 Cereal, Cheerios, Multi Grain 2 Cups 300 Milk, Nonfat/Skim, w/ Add Vit A & D 1 1/2 Cups 125 Doughnut, Raised, Choc Frosted 1 Each 194 Lunch: 1196 French Fries, Medium 1 Each 360 Cheeseburger, Quarter Pounder 1 Each 513 Soda, Cola 40 Fluid ounces 323 Dinner: 1251 Breaded Creme Brie and Apple Stuffed Chicken Breast 1 Serving 340 Beans, Green, Cut 1/2 Cup 20 Potatoes, Ckd In Skin, Peeled, Diced 1/2 Cup 68 Lunchmeat, Turkey Breast, Oven Rstd, Grand Champion 1/8 Pound 50 Lunchmeat, Ham, Baked, Home Style, Svg 1/4 Pound 140 Milk, Nonfat/Skim, w/ Add Vit A & D 2 Cups 167 Peanut Butter Honey Ball 2 Servings 467 Snacks: 648 Milk, Nonfat/Skim, w/ Add Vit A & D 1 1/2 Cups 125 Juice, Cranberry Acai Plus, 100% Juice 16 Fluid ounces 260 Nuts, Almonds, Whole 16 Each 110 Beer, Can/Btl, 12 Fl Oz 12 Fluid ounces 153 Exercise: 1757 Bicycling 14-15.9 mph, fast 2 Hours 1757