As of tomorrow morning, I get 200 more calories to eat each and every day.
Since I’m so close to my goal, I’m slowly adding calories back into my diet, so that the pounds don’t slowly add themselves back to my body.
It’s kind of interesting, actually. For the past four weeks I’ve lost an average of 3 lb. per week, which, at 3500 calories per pound, equals 10,500 calories per week. Since I’ve allowed myself 1650 calories per day, in a week I’ve taken in 11550 calories.
If you then add those two numbers together (the ones I burned, and the ones I consumed), then my total calorie needs for my current activity level is… drumroll, please…
3150 calories!
That seems like a lot, doesn’t it? Makes me wonder if I’m making a math error somewhere. But I don’t think so… I’m pretty active lately, with the running and the swimming and the cycling and the stair-climbing and all that.
So, that’s what it would take for me to maintain my weight. Which, after four weeks of calorie-counting, and the previous months of Atkins dieting, seems like an incredible feast. It’s twice as much food as I’ve been getting.
Therefore, I don’t want to jump back up to that level. I’ll add 200 calories per day and increase by another 200 calories next week, until I’m closer to the 3150 calories per day level that seems like my balance point.
When I started the diet, it took time for my body to start shedding pounds; likewise, there will be a resistance to my body achieving a stable weight. But if I suddenly were to double the calories I took in, that would cause a spike in my weight, and tip the balance back the other direction (that direction being “gaining weight”).
I’ll probably still count calories for a while, though, at least until I get used to estimating how much I need to eat to maintain my weight. I’m learning a new skill!
But, tomorrow, what to do with those 200 calories? The possibilities are endless!