Calories

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My weight loss has been a slow and steady process this year.  I have not done anything special expect count calories.  I am down over 50 pounds since I started on this journey.  Making it to my ideal weight of 185 seems realistic now.

One of the most frustrating things about weight loss is my plan is probably exercise driven. During this past year, my fitness level has increased greatly.  When you throw in my weight loss, I now burn so fewer calories when I exercise.

About this time last year, my weight loss plateaued.  Per the calorie counter application, I should have been losing weight.  I went out and got a heart rate monitor that calculated calories.  I discovered my calorie counter was over crediting my exercise by almost 30%.  Once I made this adjustment, my weight loss began again.

I again plateaued this year.  It seems to happen at the beginning of cycling season.   I assumed it was because the heart rate monitor was not controlling for cycling instead of running.  I would trim about 10% off what it read.  My new Garmin Edge has a calorie burned calculator built into it.  It is much more sophisticated.  Besides your age, weight, weight of the bike, you load in your Firstbeat Technologies Ltd. Activity Level.   It turns out I should have been trimming my heart rate data for my road riding by 30%. I am off the plateau again. 

185 pounds here I come.