I want to keep it real. And not to make excuses, but if I were living in a slightly different time, keeping it real would be a lot easier. In other words, I would like to do nothing more than put on my running shoes, have them transform me into something that I can not be, and then go for a run -- free on the earth.
But no, I am in this time and so surrounded by all these toys and gadgets. I'm typing on one right now. (An aside: I obviously have not been typing much on this gadget lately, especially for the purpose of adding to this blog, simply because I have not made it a priority. I find that with more time outside I have less time inside where the gadgets are, and by the time I do get in it's bed time. One of the reasons for this blog was to put myself "out there", as a motivation to run more consistently. I have been running anyway, so the only thing that has suffered is the exploration of my thoughts through the organization of them into a readable semi-readable form.)
So as much as I would like to keep it real (an expression I stole from Alice, a fellow runner at work), I am as addicted to this technology as anyone. But fear not, it's all part of my master plan to bump back down to books, postage stamps and sketch pads in my quickly approaching older years. We shall see. (Another aside: I haven't written in awhile so I'm enjoying all these nebulous digressions. Please bare with me.)
Other than Boston next spring, my running goals are fairly hazy. I have a yearning to run the Columbia Gorge Marathon this fall and I would like to take a real stab at breaking the 6 minute mile barrier. But neither of those things are concrete enough to give me real direction. I haven't yet plunked down any money on the race and my concentrated effort in meeting that single mile objective doesn't make sense until I drop the last few pounds of my muffin top. I've set a goal weight of 180 pounds before I start training for that.
Which leads me, f i n a l l y, to this entries topic. (I wanted to say this weeks topic but it has been too long since I have committed to a weekly entry for that to be proper.) I've said before in this blog and I still believe that we make maintaining weight and losing weight so much more complicated than it is. Now I understand some of the reasons for why this happens; people write books or make videos for profit and confuse the issue with a lot of imagined or soft science ideas and we, the over weight, buy them, especially when they tell us what we wanted to hear in the first place: "Forget low fat! The secret is low carb, high protein! Throw the steaks on the barbie!" Oh I like that diet.
I'm going to blog about this same idea sometime, parties telling people what they want to hear regardless of the actual product, especially as it applies to today's politics. But I am not going to take the time right now. Suffice it to say for now that I am very disappointed in our system and perhaps even more disheartened with our culture who seem to pick their politics like they do their sports team, more by locale and what color their f**cking slogan comes draped in. We blindly follow whatever these hired mouth pieces say when, just like a professional sports player, they could have just as easily played for the other team if that's where their money was coming from. But we the "fans" cheer for our side regardless of the realities, seeing every play and close call from our biased viewpoint. But.....I said I wouldn't get into that now. So where was I? Oh yeah...steaks on the barbie.
So like politics, you really already know what's right. You really already know how to lose weight. I don't need to tell you. Right? But okay, I'll just say it. Again. It's simply calories in versus calories out. Throw out all that crap about metabolism rates. Throw out all the confusion about insulin levels. Throw out everything you've been told about 65% of your lunch plate being protein but at dinner it can be as much as 72%.
All those things might be true, or maybe none of them are, it doesn't matter because your weight is no more complicated than the amount of fuel you shove down your pie hole (I love the movie "Fever Pitch"!!) in relation to how much of it you use up during the day. As my friend Alice might say, that's as real as it gets.
Which is where I want to introduce my new little gadget and get a little...well...unreal. I was browsing my phones app store when I came across one that does little more than track your calorie balance. It's called Lose It! and it's been very helpful to me in keeping track of intake and out flow of calories. Here is how it works:
After initially entering your vital stats and setting a goal, you start recording your food and your exercise. For example I entered my age, height and weight and that I wanted to lose 1 pound a week. The app gives me a budget of just over 2000 calories a day. It makes the assumption of a base daily calorie use. If I don't exercise that day, my goal can be rather tight. If I run for an hour, I have lots of breathing room. It's pretty easy.
At first I was looking up a lot of new foods on the programs built in database (it's not getting things off the Internet). But after awhile they are collected in an alphabetized list which you can spin to from a wheel you flick with your finger. Exercise is easily entered too. I just enter how long I ran and about how fast and it subtracts the calories from my daily total. You see right away where you are in relation to your budget goal for the day. You can also see all kinds of reports: graphs of your progress, a list of favorite foods, even a nutrients break down if you just can't let go of that low fat vs low carb debate.
I'm more than half way from my starting weight of 198 to my 180 target, so I can be ready for race training. This simple app has kept me honest and given me the information to manage the only number that count. Calories. And it can't help but work because it's just keeps track of the simple math equation. In and out. It just doesn't get any more real than that.
