CICO: My Experience with a “Less is More” Weight Management Strategy.

(Short Version: I’ve used math and science to steadily and safely lose 16 pounds in 90 days. Sharing lessons learned and details below, because I wish I’d known this stuff myself long ago.)

3 months ago, I posted about my weight creeping up on me as I was heading to my 42nd birthday, the same age my dad was when he had his first heart attack in 1990.

While “only” clocking in at 173, I was nonetheless a good 20 pounds north of my college weight, and had gained a pound per year in the 15 years since 2003.

More concerning, I was pushing up against the World Health Organization’s limit for “healthy weight” for my height/age (175), which concerned me.

Because you all know I’m a believer in “better life through math and measurement”, I got busy learning about this stuff so that I could get busy managing my weight.

I’ve since learned a *lot* more about nutrition, exercise, and all-around health over these last 90 days. Figured I’d share some highlights with you here.

1. I’ve learned that fat loss (or gain) is entirely a function of CICO: Calories In; Calories Out. If you eat more than you burn (run a caloric surplus), the excess gets stored as fat. If you burn more than you eat (run a caloric deficit), you lose fat. Period.
2. I’ve learned that 70% of the calories we burn are burned not through activity or exercise, but by “just living.” Your heart, brain, breathing, warmth, digestion, etc. This is called your Basal Metabolic Rate. On the flip side, an active day of play, chores and exercise, while great for your neuro and musculoskeletal health, only typically adds about 20% to your calorie burn total for the day.

3. The implication: It’s a LOT easier to achieve a 300 calorie deficit by skipping the cake than by running 3 miles. Seriously: No contest.

4. I learned that to lose 1 pound, you need to achieve a 3,500 calorie deficit. Period.

5. Armed with all this research, I decided (big surprise) to get my measurement on. For the past 90 days I’ve captured my activity data from my Apple Watch to track my Calories Out (burned). I’ve also used an app called LoseIt! to meticulously track my Calories In (eaten).

My progress below:

(Teaser: Science Rocks!)

A. Average Daily Basal Metabolic Rate

(i.e., heart, brain, breathing, heat, digestion, etc.)

April 1805 cals

May 1780 cals

June 1735 cals

B. Average Active Calories

(e.g., exercise, chores, karaoke, dancing, chasing twerpy kids off my lawn, etc. This is the “red circle” number on Apple Watch fwiw)

April 573 cals

May 595 cals

June 555 cals

C. Total ‘Calories Out’ (burned)

(adds A. and B. from above)

April 2378 cals

May 2375 cals

June 2290 cals

D. Total ‘Calories In’ (eaten)

(tracked religiously in the LoseIt! App.)

April 1836 cals

May 1723 cals

June 1800 cals

E. Daily average caloric deficit

(subtracts D. from C. above.)

April 542

May 652

June 490

F. Expected weight loss per month given 1 lb lost per 3,500 calorie deficit.

April 4.7 pounds lost in 30 days

May 5.8 pounds lost in 31 days

June 4.1 pounds lost in 30 days

G. Expected weight loss over 90 day period:

14.6 pounds

H. Actual weight loss over 90 day period:

15.5 pounds

Bottom Line:

CICO as a weight/fat management strategy works, and works predictably. It’s not about diet or exercise fads. Rather, just like personal finance, it’s about sensible, sustainable thrift: Habits, tracking, and room for the occasional splurge.

Maybe we don’t hear as much about CICO because it’s hard for businesses/marketers to sell a concept based on “consume less”. Easier and more profitable to sell a silver-bullet diet book, salad, sneaker, or gym membership than to sell people on the boring idea that they should just “eat real food; not too much; mostly greens.” 🤷‍♂️

My next 90 days is going to focus on:

-losing another few pounds of fat

-developing more strength

-developing more cardio