New life! Fresh eating, vibrant pregnancy, attachment parenting, unschooling, and natural living. These are my musings as I become younger and purer each day!


Friday, February 11, 2011

100 calories a day... it adds up!

I have been cringing at the scale lately... Today I realized I have gained 20 pounds in the past year. Wowzers!! How the heck did that happen? Logically I gained about 10 lbs of muscle from working out, and 10 lbs. fat. That works out since I barely even went up one size.
 
So I did a bit of math...
 
There is some saying about how vegetarians don't gain weight back. Dr. MacDougall wrote in one of his diet books a figure about carbohydrates getting stored as fat -- he says that the body can only convert 100 calories of surplus carbohydrates into fat storage every day. So you can eat unlimited carbohydrates (we're talking a nearly fat-free diet here) and your body can flush them out, and only store 100 calories worth each day.
 
Sounds like a dream come true.
 
Until a year passes... and you realize you were storing 1 lb. each month... Suddenly 100 calories a day adds up! That makes for 10 lbs. in a year.  I don't think I want to gain 10 lbs. every year. Ha! Time to eat more vegetables... or watch my portion sizes, eww.

0 comments: