*WARNING* This post contains math!
"So you are lean and mean and resourceful and you continue to walk on the edge of the precipice because over the years you have become fascinated by how close you can walk without losing your balance." - Nixon
First the bad news, I'm not 6'5" any more. I'm only 6'4", and probably have been for years, which I attribute to just growing older, despite my countermeasures of 16 oz of milk every day plus cheese in many meals. This throws off my BMI and body fat percentage calculations, and changes my ideal weight. Fortunately, this doesn't change what I need to do, just how long I need to do it. I'm still eating a set number of Calories per day, still exercising every day (even if it's just a token walk at lunch time), not snacking, taking vitamins, and monitoring my weight, blood pressure, and pulse rate frequently.
Based on my corrected height, and a desire to eventually have a lean, cut body with sexy abs, I've decided to try to hit my old pizza delivery weight of 185 pounds. It seems like a hard number to hit, but I believe I can get there. The last 8 weeks has shown me that significant physical change is possible with steady, firm pressure and lots of willpower.
I've found that I can lose weight consistently, averaging a .6 pound loss per day over the last 8 weeks. I've also found that I'm getting stronger and my endurance is picking up. I've added new exercises with free-weights and my neighbor's nautilus equipment, and I haven't pulled or twisted anything for a while now. Most importantly, I'm finally at the point where the casual observer who knows me glances at me with the "didn't you used to be fat?" expression, and I've had a couple people now mention that I look like I've lost weight. Casual observers don't notice subtle changes, so this is a major morale booster.
First, here's where I'm at now with the corrected height and new goal according to the cutesy tickerfactory image:
So what will that goal do to me? Let's see what my current and goal body fat percent and BMI numbers look like.
Body fat percent estimate:
The US Navy Circumference Method for guesstimating body fat percent is a little crazy, and goes something like this (for men, the women's formula is even crazier):
Measurements are in cm.
Percent fat = 495 / [crazy divisor] - 450
crazy divisor = 1.0324 - .19077 * log(abdomen - neck) + .15456 * log(height)
My current measurements in inches are:
42" abdomen
15" neck
76" height
Converting that to cm, we get:
106.68cm abdomen
38.1cm neck
193.04cm height
Plugging those values into the crazy divisor equation:
1.0324 - .19077 * log(106.68 - 38.1) + .15456 * log(193.04)
1.0324 - .19077 * 1.8362 + .15456 * 2.28565
1.0324 - 0.35029 + 0.35327
1.03538
...and the divisor into the main equation:
495 / 1.03538 - 450 = 28.08534 percent
28% of my 223.2 pounds is 62.5 pounds, leaving me with roughly 160 pounds of... lean? A little simple math shows that my goal of 185 pounds means:
1 - (160 / 185) = .135, or 13.5% body fat, which the American Council on Exercise would put right on the border of "fitness" and "athletes" (http://www.healthchecksystems.com/bodyfat.htm), instead of the "obese" my current 28% qualifies as.
BMI:
This equation is much simpler, 703 * weight(lbs) / height^2 (in)
My current numbers:
703 * 223.2 / 76 ^ 2
156909.6 / 5776
27.17, roughly in the middle of the "pre-obese" category, according to the World Health Organization (http://www.who.int/bmi/index.jsp?introPage=intro_3.html)
And at my goal weight (and presumably the same height):
703 * 185 / 5776
22.5, square in the middle of the "normal" category.
In other words, 185 is a good weight for me to shoot for. Over the past 8 weeks, I've lost an average of .6 pounds per day (a 2100 Calorie deficit!). If I can keep that up, which should become more difficult as I continue, it will take me another 9 weeks to get there. If I eat an extra 700 Calories a day over my current diet, and aim for a .4 pound per day loss, I'm looking at 13 weeks. So sometime between July 11 and August 8 I will hopefully be able to trounce around at the beach shirtless, strutting and wooing... but not today. Today I just look like I'm not about to keel over from a heart attack. I'll take it.
[updated Aug 2, apparently I don't know the difference between a dividend and a divisor]
No comments:
Post a Comment