Finding the balance

So as some of you may know, I recently lost about 5 pounds, bringing me down to 137.5, the lowest I've been since I started college in fall of 2001!

I truly believe that this substantial drop came from a) finding exercise that I love to do and b) finding a true balance between calories consumed and calories burned. And by calories burned, I mean naturally, at rest.

I read something in one of Chris Freytag's books that made a lot of ideas and diet myths make a lot more sense. I've never been a fan of the "six small meals a day" group due to the fact that I don't think our bodies were meant to constantly be processing food. I do have a light morning and light afternoon snack in between my well-balanced breakfasts, lunches, and dinners, but that's as far as I go. Anyway, Chris's idea went something like this:

AYou should strive to keep your caloric intake in balance and in rhythm with your caloric output as much as possible

The theory I adapted from this perspective goes like this: The average person burns 100 calories at rest, so eat a "meal" that will be burned off as much as possible in time for your next meal So for instance, I eat a 300-calorie breakfast at 7:30. Between 10 and 10:30, I have a 200-calorie snack, 12:30 lunch, 3-4pm: snack, 5:30-7: dinner (depending on if I work out in the morning or afternoon), and then 10:30-11 bedtime. Without adding in exercise, this plan worked wonders for me because it was so easy and manageable, plus the math really makes it easy to keep track of your calories.

Now, if you add in exercise, this automatically creates a deficit, so then I just rearrange the numbers and add more calories and the same plan works. It's been a real eye-opener.