I know everyone has been waiting with bated breath for an update, so here it is: this damned Entrepreneur’s diet really works!
I went public (Facebook early August) with a goal of losing 10 pounds during the month of August. From a starting point of 205, I vowed to lose 10 pounds by September 1st. My plan was to do it by averaging 3 hours a day of bike riding, covering 1,000 miles or more; and counting calories. I had calculated that I needed to burn 35,000 more calories than consumed during the month in order to lose the 10 pounds. This translates to 1,130 calories per day. Breaking the problem down into smaller pieces helps.
My research on the web came up with a figure of 400 calories burned up during an hour of bike riding. (About 200 calories for walking, amd 600 calories for running). If I could do 3 hours a day of bike riding (a big if!), I would burn 1,200 calories a day over and above the 2,300 calories I burn from a person my age and sex living a sedentary lifestyle. This means that I could consume 2,370 calories per day, and still meet my agressive weight loss goal.
Toward the end of July, I invested in a food scale and found a nutritional database on the internet that I really liked. I did a few trial runs to see if it was even feasible to do the calorie counting necessary to execute my plan. I also upped my bike riding to a furious pace, to see if I could really achieve 3 hours a day over an extended period. The last 10 days of July, I averaged 32 miles a day. That also helped me get used to the routine.
One of the things I decided early on was to NOT give up drinking alcohol. I was in the middle of trying to get a new version of SurvivalWare released, while juggling major customer projects, and trying to assemble a team at Luhring SurvivalWare, Inc. to take us to the next level, and do it without running out of cash. I needed stress relief above and beyond 3 hours of bike riding a day.
I hit the ground running on August 1st, exercise-wise as well as recordkeeping-wise. I’ll document the details in a separate “how-to” article, and focus here on the results.
On a daily basis, I concentrated on surpassing the goal of 1,130 calories burned in excess of consumption, and to stay above it on a cumulative basis month-to-date. I found it was easy to do when I was able to take a monster bike ride, but real hard when I was shut out of exercise. On a few occasions, I tried to stockpile my excess calories burned in anticipation of some difficult days. I didn’t realize until the middle of the month that I had a 4 day anniversary weekend getaway that involved 10 to 12 hours of driving all told. It was in the mountains, and it would be futile to bring a bike. Besides, this was an anniversary after all, and the proper thing to do was spend time with the missus. Nobody told me that we would stay in a B&B for two nights whose specialty was a 4 course breakfast. Or that we would go drinking at a college bar with my son Thomas and his friends. It was painful the next morning – not from a hangover, but from counting the calories in an Irish car-bomb (and then applying a multiplier).
It turns out my stockpile wasn’t quite big enough. I had 1,500 calories “in the bank” the Friday morning we left, and had used that up and 3,500 more by the following Tuesday. I whittled that down slowly and finished the month with a deficit just under 2,000 calories. That means that by one measure, I really didn’t hit my weight loss goal of 10 pounds – a more realistic measure would be the 9.4 pounds of theoretical weight loss. So I got lucky on weigh-in day to the tune of .6 pounds!
I was pretty determined and obsessed about the diet as I saw how well it worked, and how much it seemed to use the same principles I use as an entrepreneur to grow a new business. The last day of the month, when I weighed 195 for the second day in a row, I was tempted to declare victory and quickly report on the results. I knew that the 195 was due to luck and for sure I would gain a pound or two. God’s way of keeping me humble. At that point I had accumulated 928 miles of bike riding. I had been on track to break 1,000 miles all month, and then came the 4 day getaway. I even snuck in 25 miles the morning we left. (The only way I managed the time that day was to be at my desk by 4:30 a.m. to crank away for a good 4 hours before breakfast and the ride). Three full days of no bike riding means that I have 28 days instead of 31 to reach 1,000 miles. I would need to average 35.7 miles per day instead of 32.3 miles. Clearly there were good reasons for missing the goal.
But, the weather was nice. Low 70’s, low humidity. Light NW breeze. I had started work at 5:40 a.m. and managed a good 6 1/2 hours of sheer productivity by the noon hour. So I said to myself “what the heck? I’ll give it a try.” I packed a lunch, filled up my Camelbak with water, forwarded the office line to my iPhone, and I set off. First stop was the bank. Sometimes one of my employees will ask me to deposit his paycheck right away. This is a service I offer to family members until I figure out how to get the Direct Deposit working with my bank and QuickBooks Payroll. I always get a kick out of going through the drive-through lanes on bicycle.
Second stop was lunch. This was the day the Wall Street Journal published an article about large companies taking longer to pay their bills, but requiring payment from smaller companies more quickly. “What a bunch of ass-holes!” was all I could think. Don’t they realize that their cost of capital is much lower than ours? The smart thing to do would be to do the opposite, and thereby lower the cost of doing business with them. We would be happy to share the savings.
So – two hours in I had a grand total of 9 miles under my belt. I had this slightly uneasy feeling that time might be a problem. I had about 63 miles still to cover before it got dark. I had not yet installed my new bike light set on the bike I was riding. But I trudged on. I decided to just do a straightforward 36 miles out and 36 miles back. I took the Mount Vernon trail to where it meets up with the 4 mile run trail just south of National Airport. That takes you to milepost “0″ of the W&OD trail (about 2 1/2 miles). Then I just needed to get to milepost 23 and turn around and come back. The rest is history, of course. I managed to clock 73 miles that day in over 6 hours of riding time. I ate more than usual, but still managed to beat my daily goal of 1,130 calories burned in excess by about 800 that day. And the next day – September 1st – after 6 hours of riding and good healthy eating – I weighed the same: 195.0 pounds. What’s a brother gotta do to lose a pound or two?
Here are some charts that show what happened during the month:
- Calories burned vs. consumed
- Difference between Actual Weight and the theorectical weight
- Bike miles ridden
- Time spent exercising
Calories burned vs. consumed
I averaged about 2,452 calories per day in food and drink. I estimate about 20% of the calories were in the form of alcohol. I calculated calories burned at an average of 3,518 per day based on my bike riding, and the occasional walk with the missus, and lawn mowing with the reel-type push mower.
Difference between Actual Weight and Theoretical weight
It was remarkable how closely the two measures tracked. My actual weight was always within 2 or 3 pounds of the theoretical, and often within a pound or less. I never went more than three days in a row with my actual weight still above the theoretical. It always drifted back down.
Bike miles ridden
This was not exactly a life of hard labor. We have some of the nicest bike trails in the world here in the Washington, D.C. area. I love riding outside. I have a variety of rides to choose from depending on how much time I have, and the time of day. I did 1,001.5 miles for the month, an average of 32.3 per day. Some days were easier than others. I like it best when I can break the ride up with lunch, or errands. At least 11 of the rides were in 90 degree heat. It’s not that bad once you get going. You make your own breeze. You only get hot when you stop. You just have to be sure to take a good supply of water. There are lots of places to refill your water bottle or CamelBak all along the trails, but sometimes they do go out of order. I figure on about one liter of water per hour of riding when it is hot.
Time spent exercising
I supplemented the bike rides with 6 walks averaging an hour a piece, and 6 sessions of lawn mowing. I gave myself credit for the lawn mowing at the rate of 600 calories per hour based on the volume of sweat produced and the feeling of exhaustion afterwards. I use a reel-type push mower, and I get a real good workout. I have been doing it all summer, and think it has helped my arm strength.
Steady as she goes
Now, a week later, I am happy to report that I haven’t gained it all back. I gave myself two days off (goal of 0 excess calories burned) and on one of those days ate and burned exactly the same number of calories (a piggish 3,094) without intentionally fudging the numbers.
I feel like the first time in my life I have control over my weight. This morning I weighed 194.5, down 30 pounds since April 8th. My T-Shirt size is down to L from XL. I can wear shorts with a 36 inch waist, down from 40. I’m about to go to the last notch on my belt – for the second time. I found a BMI Calculator online (http://www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/) and found that my BMI is now 26.4, down from 30.5 when I started. Over 30 is obese. 25 to 29.9 is merely overweight. A weight for me of 180 with a BMI of 24.4 would be at the upper threshold of “normal weight.” I will probably require intensive psychotherapy to stop from thinking of myself as fat.
I am trying to dial back the instensity this month, and then take advantage of some of the free time. I’ve set a goal of 1 hour and 45 minutes a day of bike riding, which is about 20 to 21 miles a day for me. I want to burn an excess of 500 calories a day which will result in a weight loss of 4.3 pounds per month. I still want to make up the 2,000 calorie carryover from August. I figure I can get down to 180 by the end of the year without a whole lot of stress, and then decide what to do from there. I hope to follow up with a more detailed “How to” article about some of the mechanics of counting calories, and monthly reports on how it goes.
