The One Where Amanda Plays With Numbers

Last night I had the opportunity to chat with a coworker quite a bit about diet and exercise. I knew he was pretty hardcore about both of these topics, and I had previously planned to start a running program on monday. I decided to ask him if he ran, and if so, where. I get so bored running around the circular street division where I live. His response? "Of course I run! I'm a personal trainer!"


First thought: "Super!"

Second thought: "Fucking shit."

Mostly, "Super!"

I think it's actually great to have him moderately aware of what I'm doing, even if it's scary to share with someone I've known for about 8 weeks, because he'll check in with me and ask me questions. And all accountability is good.

He mostly gave me food advice last night--mainly to eat more. He pointed me in the direction of a cool formula called the Harris Benedict Equation. I should point out now that I love facts and figures, so this was pretty much the best thing he could have said to me...other than "Hey! Mountain Dew now provides you with 75% of your daily fruit servings!"

...what?! It's made with orange juice!

Anyway, the Harris Benedict Equation provides you with a general idea of how many calories you use per day, paving the way to determining how many calories you should consume. First, you need to determine your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR). Your BMR is the rate at which you burn calories when sedentary. It takes into account only your weight, height, and age. Obviously, your BMR will change as you age (aha! see how that makes sense! your metabolism sucking as you age?! I love formulas...).  You can figure out your BMR here. Mine is 1404.5. THEN! you go to the Harris Benedict Equation here, and decide which activity level you are. Follow that simple formula to determine how many calories you burn on an average day.  I decided on lightly active, multiplied my BMR (1404.5) by an activity factor of 1.375 and came up with 1931 calories. My coworker told me to divide that number by at least 5 (meals per day). This all means that I should start eating 5 small meals a day of roughly 390 calories a day to maintain my weight and allow for my activity needs. Bingo!

Next phase: figuring out what 390 calories looks like!