Weight Loss Log No. 2

Five pounds to date. I'm almost back to my pre-summer weight. Staying off Nagaraya crackers (the one bag is still on the kitchen table), a total of seven days in two weeks going to the gym (20 minutes on the stairmaster and a mile of laps in the pool), and crazy calorie counting is paying off so far. I've tried going to the gym (treadmill for 40 minutes and some light weights) during grad school but I've never lost this much weight--come to think of it, never did lose weight in the gym in grad school. Only swimming and calorie counting helped me lose weight this fast.

Best of all, I feel great. I've forgotten how good it felt to swim! My ankles and my knees are probably thanking me for re-discovering the sport. They didn't appreciate me using them to run with all the extra weight. nutristrtegy.com estimates that I can burn between 472 and 563 calories with light/moderate effort swimming freestyle. More importantly, there is no jarring. The website lists other activities and calories burned with those activities. I really believe in finding the exercise that most suits you for the moment. Running on the treadmill used to work for me, but I guess I have to do heavier cardio now that I'm 30. There's really no getting out of exercise if I want to lose weight.

As for calorie counting... this is how I understand the role of calories from an article on wikipedia.org. Human fat tissue has equivalent calorie values. To maintain your current weight, you must consume food calories equal to the calories burned. To lose weight then, you must burn more than you consume. This is expounded more on howstuffworks.com. The following link helps you estimate your calorie requirements: http://www.thelifestylecompany.com/wloss/dcr.asp; while this link has estimated calorie content of food: http://www.thecaloriecounter.com/.

Why am I so obsessed with losing weight nowadays? Because I've gained more in grad school alone than some people who have given birth multiple times. I'm taking back my life--my health and my social life--that has taken a back seat since I started grad school. I will not be told I let myself go again (Damn you, Nik Tabios).