zebdavison's Journal, 07 January 2014

I had a small calorie surplus yesterday, but I got my fat and carb numbers into the percentages I want to see them, and I hit my protein macro without resorting to late-night turkey-slammin'! As expected, I've got a small down-tick correction in spite of the surplus. Not as low as I really wanted, but I am back on my 28-day average and under my 7-day average. That's probably within a pound of my "true" weight.

I give a lot of thought to what my "true" weight should be, and it often differs a bit from my 7- and 28-day averages. Bill Parcells always said of his football teams that you are what your record says you are. Maybe you lost to a few good teams - but you still lost. And so your record reflects what you are, and how you did. And that is true.

Today, the record will show that I am 187 pounds. But just as a football team might be more or less talented than their record shows, my "true" weight often differs from what was measured on a given day. That is due to a lot of factors - current time, how long ago I last ate, my current hydration state, etc. For a long time I would track and measure my estimated "true" weight, and it was useful for a while, mostly to keep me from overreacting to weigh-in's that were higher or lower than expected.

But the 7- and 28-day averages have solved that issue. I no longer need to estimate my "true" weight - it will be hovering around those two averages. In fact, the relationship between those two numbers is how I determine where my "true" weight should be. And since I'm a numbers person, I have an Excel graph that charts those two numbers over time.

I don't have a formula to calculate "true" weight. Not because I can't figure it out, mind you - I just don't think weight is that important. How I look and feel - that's important. But the number on the scale? It's down the list a bit. It's an easy number to get, and easier to see changes, which makes it useful, but it's often misleading, and the daily fluctuations can drive you crazy.

So I focus on other things, like how my waistline is shrinking. That's right, I am at a new low - my waist measured 33.25" this morning! My estimated fat % is now somewhere in the 14-16% range (Navy calculator says 14.5%). That is a really cool result, and much more important to me than the 1 pound I lost overnight! I really have shifted my goals to center on that fat percentage, and how I look as a result. Dropping the weight was initially of primary importance, and a good way to track my progress. However, I now care more about the composition of that weight, and I'm liking the changes and the trends.

187.0 lb Lost so far: 0 lb.    Still to go: 17.0 lb.    Diet followed reasonably well.

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2914 kcal

Fat: 119.04g | Prot: 202.15g | Carb: 258.94g.   Breakfast: Private Selection Black Forest Ham, Mushrooms, colorado proud 2% milk, Baby Spinach, Kroger Fancy Shredded Mozzarella Cheese, Kroger Break-Free Real Egg Product, Gatorade G2 Perform 02 - Grape. Lunch: Hormel Turkey Pepperoni,  Private Selection Mesquite Smoked Turkey Breast, Prego Traditional Spaghetti Sauce, Private Selection Small Eye Baby Swiss, Private Selection Black Forest Ham, King Soopers Bolillo White Rolls. Dinner: Boar's Head White American Cheese, Private Selection Black Forest Ham, Parkay Margarine, Kroger White Dinner Rolls, Chicken or Turkey Rice Soup (Home Recipe). Snacks/Other: General Mills Chex Honey Nut Cereal, Enstrom's Dark Chocolate Almond Toffee, Honey Roasted Peanuts. more...

3175 kcal

Activities & Exercise: Calisthenics (light, e.g. home exercise) - 10 minutes, Calisthenics (heavy, e.g. pushups) - 29 minutes, Sleeping - 5 hours, Desk Work - 8 hours, Driving - 1 hour, Basketball - 45 minutes, Resting - 8 hours and 36 minutes. more...