I was told there would be no math.

hello

it's me again

it's three days now

that you've been in my dreams

and i don't know, i guess

you've just been on my mind

i don't know, i guess

i think about you all the time

Schuyler Fisk

It's no mystery when you lose some weight why it gets harder to keep losing more weight. Your body adapts as the weight comes off and it burns fewer calories. It seems like an easy equation to work out but it never really is. Without a doubt the most important class at Fitness Ridge is the Calorie Budget class that is taught Monday afternoon by Michelle. I wish they would move it back to a slightly more prominent position and bill it as the most important class because many of the newbies and at least one of the regulars are dying by 1pm on Monday. They have survived the 4.5 miles up the mountain and a pool class and all they want to do is rest before the afternoon regimen.

With calculators and pens in hand the class takes your body weight, determines the number of calories you will burn in a day and then you work out the addition of exercise to come up with a target for your day. With calorie restriction below that level you lose weight, and obviously, if you exceed that level in calories you will gain weight. There it is....There is the magic formula....There is the answer to all your diet questions....There's why places like Fitness Ridge and Weight Watchers are in business.

Here's the starting spot for men and women, although a google search will show you a few different and more accurate ways to get to this number, its an estimate but helps give you an idea to what you need to do.

English BMR Formula
Women: BMR = 655 + ( 4.35 x weight in pounds ) + ( 4.7 x height in inches ) - ( 4.7 x age in years )Men: BMR = 66 + ( 6.23 x weight in pounds ) + ( 12.7 x height in inches ) - ( 6.8 x age in year )

You can also have your metabolic rate tested at the ridge to get a more accurate number. So why is all this science and rates so important to me. Simply because what I had been doing for the last year is no longer effective in getting the weight loss that I desire. And the simple reason is that the calories my body was burning 125 lbs ago were much more than its burning now. What are the options? Well quite simply there are two. Increase the calories you are burning or decrease the calories you aretaking in. Again that's it, that's the answer. Is it fun...No! Is it easy...No! Can I do it? Of Course

It's really not magic at all. And no matter what anyone tells you it's all a simple little equation. It's like a credit card. When you overspend they tack on the fees, when you over eat they tack on the pounds. The most important thing you can learn at the ridge is Calorie Budget. I know its a Monday after lunch class, and I know everyone is tired but knowing that number and knowing what you have to do to get under that number is the true KEY to your success.

We were scheduled to start outdoor volleyball Monday, however, April 13th in Madison included wind, freezing rain, sleet, and snow. The whole bag of winter fun. Its beautiful and sixty today but volleyball will start in earnest next week. Perhaps Mother Nature was not happy with my whole winter is over diatribe before getting on the plane a month ago. She sure sent some cold to Utah for my stay and welcomed me back to Wisconsin with real cold.

I have been listening to a lot of Schuyler Fisk recently. She was the opener for Ben Taylor last month. Ben failed to mention his famous parents James and Carly, and I just recently learned that Schuyler failed to mention her famous mom as well. She is the daughter of Sissy Spacek, and she can craft and sing wonderful music. The cd is called Good Stuff and is available on I-Tunes so go download it.

My sports watching dries up after the NCAA tournament ends. I'm just not a baseball guy. And because of my Utah trip I am completely clueless when it comes to this year's crop of 3 year olds preparing for the Derby in 17 days. That's probably a really good thing as my lone winner in the last decade was Barbaro and that didn't turn out so great for the big horse.


Other than that, the mundane life of Jim muddles on. I am really looking forward to this summer more so than any summer I can remember. I owe a ton of thanks to the people at the Ridge for pushing me up that hill, now I need to spend a summer pushing myself up and I feel better armed and and in a good spot because I can grasp the importance of understanding the need to know and maintain a calorie budget. Go Caps!! (I don't really care about hockey) Peace, Jim