Please look at these graphs and comment
Here is a graph of my weight loss to date:
Here are detail graphs from the period I have where I kept documentation that allowed me to generate graphs for Daily Calories Consumed, and Hours of Cardio Per Week:
Weight Loss:
Daily Calories Consumed:
Hours of Cardio Per Week (this does not include Strength Training)- note that this is not the same time period as the two graphs above (smaller data range):
(I sized the graphs to allow direct comparisons, but somehow switching between microsoft products embiggened the Cardio graph)
Now: I am trying to figure out how to regain the weight loss rate seen t the beginning of my program. Alas, I was not recording data at the time, so I do not know how many calories I was consuming, or how much exercise I was performing at the time of greatest loss. So, I decided to generate those graphs to see if I could spot any trends that would help me set my intake and expenditure levels.
My big problem is deciding Caloric Intake. As you can see, I have changed the amount of daily calories frequently; this was either to try higher or lower intake levels, or if I was trying different macronutrient levels, or like at 07/10, when I tried Atkins. The second is determine how much Cardio I should do; is more always better?
Not on the weightloss graph: This morning's weigh-in (which I do once a month, on the 1st.), in which I lost two more pounds; this makes a (small) loss for three straight months. The latest theory I have been trying is that the stress hormone Cortisol, which begins to be produced after about 45 minutes into a workout, causes some physiological reaction that is inimical to weight loss- along with causing high blood pressure, inflammation, and other nastiness as well; in light of this, I now limit my workouts to 45 minutes or less, both Weights and Cardio.
I now workout six times a week, Monday-through Saturday: Cardio first thing in the morning before work, and Weights as soon as I get home. Saturday I still do break the Cortisol limit rule and bike up to three hours.
So, what do you think?
"The secret to happiness is freedom, and the secret to freedom is courage." - Thucydides, c. 410 BC
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