Sunday, September 28, 2014

AI–Cat2/W5 (AT15/W4)

95140d1f2414694db943f6acea3db112ce4c3fb7

Another week done and I am feeling good.  I am *FINALLY* at the lowest weight I’ve been at in 21+ years!  217 is a milestone for me.  Now to shoot for 210.

Had some ups and downs in my eating this week but all-in-all it went really well.  Last Tuesday, I managed to eat 2,155 calories – most in a single sitting with my wife having Nachos.  Even with that, my average was just under 1,350/day.  Only 20/day above what my average should have been.

Every week we do weights and measures as well.  I was very happy to see 217.0 on the scale Sunday morning but not as pleased to see a 1/4 inch drop in my shoulders and NO CHANGE in my waist measurement.  Feel like I am going backwards.  I know it will come, I just need to keep doing what I am doing and practice patience.

Now that I am on a steady bulking circuit (2-3 sets, 13-21 reps, rest period between each set) it is not so cardio intensive.  Looking at my heart rate and HR Zones will show this.  Monday was almost too easy.  Then came Tuesday with a sapper and knocked me on my ass.  Thursday and Friday determined not to beat me up so thoroughly  and only knocked me around bare fisted style.  I will say that as I exercise, my wife is getting more and more distracted from her super circuits.  But I can say the same for me getting distracted!  :-)

Looking at my AI graph I am having more doubts about hitting 1.5 by the end of this series, which is 7 weeks away.  If I continue to lose 2-4 pounds each week, I should hit my weight goals though.

Tracking Graph

AI Trend DataAI Trend

New AGNRC

AGR 0

Heart Rates for Mon, Tue, Thur & Fri.

Screenshots_2014-09-22-13-32-14Screenshots_2014-09-23-13-08-20Screenshots_2014-09-25-13-21-24Screenshots_2014-09-26-13-27-46

HR Zones for Mon, Tue, Thur & Fri.

Screenshots_2014-09-22-13-32-21Screenshots_2014-09-23-13-08-29Screenshots_2014-09-25-13-21-31Screenshots_2014-09-26-13-27-53

 

MFP Ticker

Sunday, September 21, 2014

AI–Cat2/W4

IMG_398399337629361

Week 4 is now done.  1/3 of the way through Cat 2 and I am still seeing results.  My eating is now on track with the suggested AGNRC and I am feeling good 95% of the time.  I am curious as to why my “weight loss” has slowed down.  I mean, 1 pound lost when the expectation was 3 or more pounds?  Really?!

I am not getting this “weight loss” idea that is spouted by everyone.  If I go through all the calculations for me and for the fact that I am sedentary, my maintenance calories should be right around 2700/day.  This means, no weight gain, no weight loss.  If I want to lose 1 pound/week, I need to reduce my *weekly* intake by 3500 calories which is 500/day.  So, 2200/day should equate to 1 pound lost/week.  Drop it again to 1700/day and that would be 2 pounds lost per week.  Drop it yet again to 1200/day and that should be 3 pounds/week lost.  Now, add in exercise that is above and beyond my weekly sedentary pace of burning calories (look at my past blogs) and that comes close to another 3500 calories/week – or another pound lost each week.

So why is the scale showing 1 pound/week for the last couple of weeks?  In fact, my “weight loss” so far is:

  • Week 1: 3 pounds
  • Week 2: 4 pounds
  • Week 3: 2 pounds
  • Week 4: 1 pound

What do ya’ll think the problem might be?  I am as accurate on my intake tracking as I can be.  Everything measured in grams when I can.  Staying away from restaurants and prepackaged foods, processed foods, too much sugar, etc.  Anything else I should be aware of?  I still have 20 pounds to lose and 8 weeks left on Cat 2.  Would love some reassurances I am doing everything correctly!   

Tracking Graph

AI Trend DataAI Trend

New AGNRC

AGR 0AGR 1

Heart Rates for Mon, Tue, Thur & Fri.

Screenshots_2014-09-15-13-32-05Screenshots_2014-09-16-12-42-40Screenshots_2014-09-18-13-37-54Screenshots_2014-09-19-12-55-59

HR Zones for Mon, Tue, Thur & Fri.

Screenshots_2014-09-15-13-32-21Screenshots_2014-09-16-12-42-48Screenshots_2014-09-18-13-38-06Screenshots_2014-09-19-12-56-08

MFP Ticker

Sunday, September 14, 2014

AI–Cat2/W3

14 - 1 (4)

Another week down and 9 more to go!  I really expected to end the week at 117 or 188 lbs.  The scale seemed to be dropping nearly a pound a day until I hit the weekend.  Then it went up 3 lbs in 2 days.  Grrrrr!  But then it was time for measurements and I was surprised to see a little more than inch off my waist!  YES!!  Finally.  And no further loss from the shoulders.

And once I plugged all the new information into the AGNRC I discovered I can eat close to 25% more calories a day.  AWESOME!  1,000 was starting to drag me down energy-wise and the last 2 days were my “refeed” days it seems.  Even with the little bit of refeed I ended up averaging 1,102 calories/day.  Can you say hitting another goal!

Tracking Graph

AI Trend DataAI Trend

New AGNRC

AGR

Heart Rates for Mon, Tue, Thur & Fri.

Screenshots_2014-09-08-13-24-49Screenshots_2014-09-09-13-24-34Screenshots_2014-09-11-13-34-12Screenshots_2014-09-12-13-14-55

HR Zones for Mon, Tue, Thur & Fri.

Screenshots_2014-09-08-13-25-04Screenshots_2014-09-09-13-24-43Screenshots_2014-09-11-13-34-22Screenshots_2014-09-12-13-15-03

MFP Ticker

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

What are my fitness goals?

8eb357766671974ca14a0a8f0ee838a132c7b984

Since I started down the road of a healthier lifestyle I’ve pondered all the reasons why I decided to make a change, and what changes I needed to make.  I think if I break down my life in a decades sort of way some of my mindset might make sense.

Decades 1 & 2:

Commonly referred to as childhood and entering adulthood.  The biggest thing here was growing up on the Pacific Rim for the first 5 years of my life.  Typical Asian diet, high in rice, fish and veggies (yuck!).  I was never “pudgy”, over weight, sporting a spare tire, and, in fact, was the skinny kid with no muscle definition and easy to pick on.  This included the next 5 years living in Alaska, skiing, skating, doing everything outdoors.  At age 10 we moved to the greater Seattle area and my lifestyle continued on as normal – outside all the time, in the woods, riding bikes, etc.  My range from home was about a 10 mile radius and I could be found anywhere outside of 2 miles from home any day of the week and I Often rode to school (16 miles for Jr. High).

I turned 17 part way through my Senior Year in High School, was still extremely active, weighed 145 lbs and was 6’ 2” tall on graduation day.  I was on a pure see food diet.  If I saw it, I ate it (mostly).  Including an extra large pizza + 2L Dr Pepper by myself for dinner.  I found myself in college, still 6’2” and 145 lbs.  My 3rd year in College I joined the Navy ROTC unit (no scholarship = no commitment) and during that year went from 145 lbs to 185 lbs – most of it muscle bulk.  Because of some life challenges I dropped out of college and NROTC.

Decade 3:

Wedding 100At the ripe young age (joke) of 23 I joined the Marine Corps and shipped off to boot camp.  I was already a father of one, still single and still 185 lbs.  Boot camp was 3 months long and I had a blast through 99% of it.  We were weighed and measured each month.  My weight at entry was 187 lbs, 30 days was 174 lbs, 60 days was 184 lbs and graduation day I was 196 lbs.  Still no sign of abs showing but I had that nice tapered look, a lot of endurance and a lot of strength without being bulked out.  For the next 13 years I stayed at 196 lbs (+/- 2 lbs).  No special fitness program, eating mostly healthy but introducing more and more processed foods into my habits.  Ended up having another daughter when I was 25, then met and married my wife when I was 29.

 

 

Decade 4:

Right at the beginning our son was born.  I’m still 196 lbs and would remain there for another couple of years.  I have made the transition from electronics to software and am finding my self more and more in a seated position.  I ended up taking a contract that had me travelling for 3 months, rarely home, and eating 3-4 meals/day at Dennys, Sharis, Village Inn, etc.  I blossomed to 225 lbs!  And then stayed there for the next 7, almost 8 years.  Still no fitness program, my outdoor activities are almost extinct and I am sitting in front of a computer way too long each day.

It was just after the mid-point of this decade that our son was diagnosed with Type-I Diabetes.  Talk about a wake up call.  And since he was 14, changing eating habits was not a simple thing for him.  I started into learning about nutrition, carbs, the effects of carbs on the body, etc.  I started getting a glimpse into how poisoned our food chain is and was disgruntled.  But not enough to totally change.

Decade 5:

us_02_tn

This is where we start down the road of becoming empty nesters.  Yay us!  But wait – or is that weight!  We can’t do what we were once able to do.  Well crap.  Guess we better poke at this fitness thing for a few years.  Started learning about the gym, cardio, the disagreements between bulk and lean minded folks, read 2 or 3 magazines and dumped those quick.  And through all this research steadily packed on about 0.5 lbs each month until I was at 240 lbs!

For me personally, I HATE CHEMICALS THAT HUMANS PUT IN THEIR BODIES WILLINGLY.  That include aspirin, ibuprofen, chemistry set vitamins (One-a-day, Centrum, et al).  While I am not 100% au natural, I strive for that.  My vitamins and supplements (cal-mag, Co-Q10, etc) are 100% certified natural, Halal, Kosher and are pharmaceutical grade.  The fields all of the plants are raised on are certified 100% organic.  Just think that through for a few minutes.

After poking, injuring ourselves we started making some gains.  What I can attribute my weight gain to is sitting still for too long (decades), hormonal balance changing due to aging, and not really watching my diet.  Still not much to watch there though as the habits we formed are still serving us well.  But, as I was saying, my wife and I were making progress.  I was down from 240 lbs to 218 lbs in 4 months.  But I was plateaued at 218 lbs.  Then I tore my back and was out of doing pretty much anything for 4 months.  And over that 4 months I went back up to 230 lbs.

Now, my wife and I are on a body definition program.  We are in our 3rd week and I am down to 221 lbs.  I was looking at this number and realized that my plateau is one week away.  But so far, this program has been more consistent, or should I say, I’ve been more consistent and I am hoping I’ll just go right through 218 lbs and keep going until I hit somewhere around 200 lbs.

My Goals:

IMG_348492395301475

I’m not going to go into a lot of details here.  This is where I will be bullet pointing my goals, and if they are struck through that means I’ve attained that goal.  And all of these are health & fitness related.

  • Quit smoking
  • Weight: 230 lbs
  • Weight: 220 lbs (almost there!)
  • Weight: 210 lbs
  • Weight: 200 lbs
  • Weight: 195 lbs (+/- 3 lbs)
  • Physically fit and limber
  • Lose the “gut”
  • Better energy throughout the day
  • Lean & mean (fit) Marine body
  • A hint of six-packs
  • Broad shoulders, narrow waist
  • Fit into my Dress Blues that I was married in
  • Extend my life (hard to measure)
  • Still be alive when DNA life extension programs arrive – and partake
  • Still be alive when DNA age reversal programs arrive – and partake

And there we are…

Sunday, September 7, 2014

AI–Cat2/W2

magic

Today ended Week 2 with measurements and such.  A little disappointed, but expecting the loss of inches in the shoulders and upper body but was also expecting a bit of a loss on the waist.  Nope!  Not this week!  And after those Day 1 and 3 workouts, I thought for sure I’d be down 8 or 10 lbs – just from sweat loss!  Alas, not to be.

As I said last week, my goal this week was to approach a 1300/day calorie intake average.  My total for the week is 8,882 which is an average per day of 1,269!  Achievement unlocked.  My goal for this week upcoming will be 1100/day average.  Even though the gains are not fast enough for me, I am making gains.  Weight: –4 lbs, Waist: no change, shoulders: -0.75 inch and AI from 1.268 to 1.256.

As far as cutting back on calories, I believe the gradual cut back has helped a lot for my body to get used to it.  Dropping from an average 2750/day straight to 1000/day is a big jump.  And it’s only been the last 3 days that I got under 1000/day as I try the 16-20 hour fast cycle.  And if all goes well, I’ll have 2 700 calorie days this coming week.  Can you hear the fat sizzling?!

Tracking Graph (now in metric so I can see my weight on the same graph!)

AI Trend Data  AI Trend

New AGNRC

AGR

Heart Rates for Mon, Tue, Thur & Fri.

Screenshots_2014-09-01-14-59-06 Screenshots_2014-09-02-12-35-28 Screenshots_2014-09-04-13-48-12 Screenshots_2014-09-05-12-37-49

HR Zones for Mon, Tue, Thur & Fri.

Screenshots_2014-09-01-14-59-15 Screenshots_2014-09-02-12-35-40 Screenshots_2014-09-04-13-48-21 Screenshots_2014-09-05-12-38-00

MFP Ticker