WHETHER you need to shed 100 pounds or five, it boils down to the same thing: To lose weight, calories in must be less than calories out.
Want to lose one pound? You’ll have to burn about 3,500 calories.
The participants in “The Biggest Loser: Families” – which airs its finale tonight – know that better than anyone.
They keep track with a little something called the bodybugg, from 24-Hour Fitness. The armband gadget doesn’t come cheap ($250, including six-month Web subscription), but it’s a cool hi-tech way to slim down.
The bodybugg, which just released a smaller, Mac- and PC-compatible version, measures how many calories you’re expending by sensing motion, skin temperature, heat and moisture to monitor how active you are.
I decided to give it a try. I’m a 47-year-old, 125-pound woman who exercises at least three times per week. I’d like to lose 1 1/2 pounds per week for a total of seven pounds by mid-January. To do this, each day I’ll need to burn 1,950 calories (boosted by walking 10,000 steps a day) and eat 1,200 calories – 20 percent protein, 20 fat and 60 carbs. This adds up to a deficit of 750 calories per day – or 5,250 calories per week.
I went to bodybugg.com, typed in my personal information, answered several questions about my dietary and exercise habits – and was ready to go. The program offers a week’s worth of personalized menus. Velveeta notwithstanding, it gave me only vegan menus, although I eat eggs, dairy and fish. It also suggests soy drinks instead of a real lunch – not my thing.
After six days of obsessively recording my diet, uploading activity data and studying the site’s numerous charts, I lost 1.8 pounds, averaged a deficit of 756 calories per day (based on my food diaries) and averaged 8,576 steps per day.
I don’t know how those Biggest Losers do it – to lose five pounds a week you’ve got to burn 2,500 additional calories per day.
But there’s no escaping the hard facts of calories eaten versus calories burned.
Think about that when you’re drinking that 300-calorie glass of eggnog, a 50-calorie shot of rum not included.
marymhuhn@nypost.com