As you progress with your diet you will find that your body will slowly become more willing and able to perform aerobic activity - take advantage of this moment to introduce exercise into your daily routine. Until this point, we have focused mainly on carbohydrates as a measuring system; today I would like to begin a slow transition into the calorie intake.
It may be rather obvious and need not be mentioned, but let us look at calories as a measurement of fuel used and collected. As a vehicle, we only need to collect enough fuel to compensate our use during our daily activities. Like every vehicle, the size of our fuel tank should be comparable to our mass and level of activity. A compact car uses a lot less fuel than a truck or an airplane, thus it's storage is much smaller. Likewise, a smaller built person needs to consume significantly fewer calories to propel their bodies into the world than a larger body would. In a sedentary lifestyle, our body's calorie usage is approximately 10x our weight. Thus, a 170 pound figure needs to consume 1700 calories to maintain their weight.
To continue our metaphor, let us visualize the gas tank of a plane sitting on a compact car. There is no way that a car can use all of the gas in an airplanes tank in one day. It will sit on top of the engine, weighing the vehicle down and slowly breaking down its strength until it finally falls apart. Likewise, a figure that consumes more than it uses up per day, begins to slowly add on to its mass until the bones and muscles in their body can no longer bear the load. Inadvertently, the body becomes more and more lethargic, since every step and every movement becomes more strenuous, decreasing the body's calorie usage and causing chronic overeating to become an increasingly dangerous habit.
If a body has reached this lethargic state, as mine once did, it may be difficult or impossible to instantaneously implement exercise regimen, since the body has too much weight to operate at full capacity. At this point, we need to limit the energy consumed, either through limiting calorie or carbohydrate intake. However, now that we have prepared our bodies with dieting, we can begin to consider increasing aerobic activity.
Thus, while a 170 pound figure - let us call her Jane - consumes 1700 calories a day to maintain weight, she may chose to either increase activity or lower calorie intake to lose weight. A pound equates to approximately 3500 calories, so by that figure, in order to lose 1 pound per week, Jane needs to either increase activity or decrease consumption by 500 calories a day.
We all know it is tough to eat 1200 calories a day, so the best solution for Jane is to add on approximately 500 calories of activity per day. It will not only mathematically increase her calorie intake, but improve her circulation, respiratory system and energy level. MyFitnessPal is an incredible resource at this point, since it calculates a program for you based on your weight, level of physical activity and goals. You can log your physical activity and calorie intake for a good estimate of your energy usage.
Beginning an exercise regimen is difficult, especially after years of not being active. Your body is not used to it, and will fight you every step of the way - but it is a very important aspect of attaining your new healthy lifestyle. We have to burn off all of the extra fuel sitting on top of our gas tanks before we damage our motors.
This week I will focus on some entries about the different exercise programs I have tried and the benefits thereof. Check back tomorrow for my first attempt at exercise - Bikram yoga!
Here's to our health my friends!
No comments:
Post a Comment