Stupid Biochemistry

Sunday, March 5, 2017

I see a lot of people on the internet arguing that nothing determines weight loss but calories in versus calories out.  Many of these folks are intelligent, well-educated people.  They argue that position with passion bordering on fanaticism at times.  I just don't buy it.  There is too much going on in the human body for it to be so simple - we are not a 99% efficient natural gas furnace, where it's easy to calculate thermal efficiency.  Sure, over the long run, calorie surplus or deficit is closely - even very closely - correlated to weight gain or loss, but it's not just that simple from day to day.

There is without a doubt short-term inefficiency.  I can have a day where I eat at my target of 2,000 kcal and I still am up a pound or two, despite knowing with absolute certainty that my basic metabolic rate will burn more calories than that... it certainly isn't negative!  Fluids matter.  Waste removal matters.  Stuff matters.

As a result I try not to really pay much attention to calories.  As long as I'm eating decent food I'll be okay for a while, especially if I get back to walking consistently.  I still get frustrated by the short term variance and have the impulse to think about calories consumed, but that's just being human.

Breakfast:  2 eggs, 3 strips bacon, hash brown mix in butter, vegetable juice, coffee

Consumed later than the usual breakfast, just shy of "brunch"

The usual favorite.  Only gets 9/10 today, the eggs were cooked on heat a notch too high, the bacon left on 20 seconds too long.  Still delicious.

Lunch:  Qdoba brisket bowl

The peaks of Mt. Guac always make it look enormous.

Good as usual but nothing particularly noteworthy about it.

Dinner: ~ 7" Subway ham w/ provolone, all the veg minus spinach, southwest sauce.  Later, 12 oz Bells Smitten Ale

This is a photo of a 12" sandwich

In a rarety, I didn't eat the whole thing!  I thought I was hungry, but when I got home I determined I wasn't as hungry as I had thought.  So I ate the larger half and stuck the rest in the fridge.  This counts as a good thing.

I had intended to do a little cooking tonight, but I got tied up in an unpacking project so I went easy.

Exercise:  Well, it wasn't exactly the exercise I had planned, but I'm going to count it - went to the storage unit and wrestled with stuff for quite a while, then brought a number of boards and boxes home.  Had to be well over an hour of lifting, hauling, bending and twisting.  Then there was some unpacking, and moving stuff ... I'm tired and I'll sleep tonight!

147.8