Fit Bowl at 9 Weeks

Fit Bowl '08 has been going for 9 weeks now, and how are things shaping up? Rather nicely.

As a group, we've lost 92 pounds, and Sam is leading the pack at -11.15%. And everyone except Tim has lost weight. Not bad. I'm about the middle of the pack (-7%), but that's not counting the odd initial weigh-in (it's my "secret" weapon, a 13 pound bump the "official" scale gave me).

To date I'm down 23 pounds, and it's easy to see the clothes fitting more loosely. Some days my wedding ring even feels a little loose (it's been snug for quite a while).

The plan of 2000 calories + exercise has been working well. My intake has been a little erratic the past two weeks - way high two weekends ago (up in Portland), and low a couple of nights this week, but on the whole it's been pretty consistent. I don't usually feel too hungry, nor too full, and the smaller portion sizes are becoming more habitual.

I've started running again (only two weeks until the triathlon) and it feels pretty good - I definitely notice not having the extra 20+ pounds on my frame. My joints feel good. Plus it's nice having that exercise as an option - it's a lot quicker than a bike ride and Simone still appeases me by hanging out in the Burley while I jog.

Here are the graphs of my food intake for the past 2+ months (ignore the bars on the right, the graph only allowed 1 or 3 months to be displayed). The first is my net calorie intake (that's the 2000+exercise allowance):
And here's the total calorie intake - which hasn't been too crazy even without exercise. I'm hoping I can sustain my weight while eating around 2500 calories a day (counting exercise), because it's been straight forward to eat less than 2500 calories:

Of course, as my weight drops, so does my basal metabolic rate, and by the time I weigh 220 (if I get there), I'll have to eat 300 fewer calories a day than I was eating at 265. So 2500 calories might be more than what I can consistently eat w/out gaining weight. In fact, I'm expecting my weight loss to taper off at some point because of the dropping BMR. The question is, will it drop off before I get to my goal weight (whatever that is)?

Yeah, so what is my ideal weight? No idea. The plan was to reach goal weights decreasing in 15 pound increments. I've passed 250 (woo-hoo), and am well on my way to 235. I definitely want to be at or below 235 - which was my weight when we got married. I pretty sure I'll try for 220 after that, and the experience of getting to that weight will help guide me in choosing my goal weight.

I love eating, and while I've been able to change how I eat so far, I'm a little scared of what I'd have to (not) eat to remain at 220. Maybe it'll be no big deal, it might just be what I'm doing right now (220#, 6'3" and 36 years old supposedly has a BMR of 2140 calories). If that's the case, I might hang out there. But maybe I'll have difficulty with the portions required to sustain that weight.

So far I've been able to simply monitor (and cut) my portions, and I haven't explicitly cut anything out of my diet. I have dessert semi-regularly, just small portions. I even had a bag of crunchy Cheetos a couple of weeks ago on the drive home (they totally weren't worth it). The goal is to find a lifestyle I can maintain.

Of course, once I reach 220, I might try for even lower. Heck, I might even try for some Hip Hop Abs!