Man on 'Donate My Weight' Mission Exposes Calories

Hello, my friends! It's the end of another week and time for me to weigh in for my Donate My Weight campaign.

Last week was extraordinary and I lost 5 lbs., while this week is more reserved and measured. Take a look at the video to see how I did...

Before I get into the theme of this week's video blog, I want to talk a little about the weight loss numbers. People have a tendency to get hung up on the numbers on their scale, and they lose sight of a few simple facts about our bodies.

First, the human body has the capacity of "gaining" or "losing" 10+ lbs. in any given day due water retention. The amount of water you can retain depends on your size, with larger people retaining more water. It's important to keep that in mind when you're trying to lose weight, because the scale may show no loss due to retained water—when you have actually lost body fat.

It takes two to three days for the body to flush itself of all retained fluids. When you eat unhealthy foods that are high in fat and sodium, your body will soak up that water like a sponge. Even if you don't drink water, it's in foods and other beverages you drink.

And trust me, your body will find it. That's why people will say they gained 5 lbs. over the weekend or 10 lbs. over the Christmas extended weekend. In reality, it's impossible to gain so much body weight so quickly. To gain just one pound, you must eat your daily caloric requirement, plus an additional 3,500 calories.

Your daily caloric requirement is determined by your Basal Metabolic Rate and something called the Harris Benedict Equation. An average man (5'10, 200 lbs.) who doesn't exercise needs 2,500 calories to maintain their weight. If a person exercises or is overweight, that number can go up to well over 4,000 calories a day, depending on the amount of exercise or how overweight the man is. That means to gain even one solitary pound of body weight in a day, the average man must eat a minimum of 6,000 calories.

Consider a Big Mac and large fries at McDonalds is only 1,050 calories. Now, you can see why it's virtually impossible to gain 5 lbs. over one weekend. The same rule applies convexly to weight loss. In order to lose one pound of weight, you must eat 3,500 calories less than your daily caloric requirement. That's why it takes a couple days to lose one pound and sometimes, you may go a week without any visible loss.

Starving yourself or eating too few calories will actually work against you, too, because one of the body's survival mechanisms will kick-in and take over. When your body senses the calories are too low to sustain basic functions, it goes into 'starvation mode' and begins storing everything you eat. Any loss in starvation mode is a loss of lean muscle tissue, something you definitely don't want.

That brings me to so-called reality shows like 'The Biggest Loser,' which serve to make us all feel bad when we look at the scale. We see a pound or two lost and feel disappointed as we remember seeing those men and women on TV losing 8 or 10 lbs. each week. What the show doesn't tell viewers (a friend of mine was a contestant) is that the weigh-ins are not weekly, only the episodes are. The season is filmed over a longer period of time than the airing schedule and it can be a week and a half to two weeks between weigh-ins. Additionally, they work out a minimum of five hours a day, every day, not including regular hikes. Their phones, computers, etc., are taken away and they have no access to internet or television.

It's not exactly an equal playing field to compare to our own weight loss.

Now, with regards to my weekly blog, this week I chose to focus on my religious beliefs and I featured St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church.

Each week I tell a little of my back story and talk about things that are important to me. God is a big part of my life and I felt it was appropriate to talk about it. At the same time, I don't want to push my religious beliefs on others or make people uncomfortable. You already have enough people in political office and in the media telling you what to believe, you don't need me to do it, too.

So, if you do not share my feelings on religion or are not interested, please feel free to skip ahead to my progress at the end of the video. It's all good.

Until next week, thank you for your support and love. It is much appreciated!