Changing Body Math

Was it six or seven weeks ago that I started working out? I don't recall. Let's call it seven.

In those seven weeks, I've dropped my weight from 305 lbs to 285. That's a loss of twenty pounds. Average it out and that's a little under three pounds a week. I pay $140 a month for once a week training sessions and over two months that averages out to $3.50 a pound. One pound of almonds costs $3.50.

When I started I had 30% body fat. That means I was carrying 91.5 pounds of body fat on my frame. I've dropped to 27% body fat meaning I'm carrying 76.95 pounds of body fat. There are 14.55 pounds of fat which used to exist which *poof* don't anymore.

Which means that, not only have I lost 20 pounds, I've gained 5.45 pounds of muscle. An extra pound of muscle burns an extra 50 calories a day. So I've been burning 272.5 extra calories a day.

It would take 21 minutes of chopping wood, 28 minutes of jogging, 36 minutes of caring for a child, 42 minutes of weight-lifting or 97 minutes of taking the lead while doing the deed to burn 272 calories.

I'd need to eat half a Big Mac, a whole croissant, 8.24 tossed salads w/o dressing or drink 272 Diet Cokes extra in order to match the calorie intake - calorie burn ratio I was at before I started working out. Or I can just bank it and every 13 days burn another pound of fat.

If someone had come to 17, 19, 23 or even 26 year-old Mike and explained the math to me, I never would've made it to 305. But, since I did see 305 and someone set me down and ran the math, it's on 28 year-old Mike to pick up the pieces.

It's a long way to go. But the number don't lie. If I keep at it, I will lose the weight my body has been desperately been hoping to shed. Sounds like a fair deal to me.