Sunday, October 26, 2014

AI–Cat2/W10 (AT15/W9)

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I’ve got 3 weeks left of CAT2 and 4 weeks left in the AT15 competition.  While my progress seemed stagnant this last week, I am chalking most of that up to too much salt in one of our bulk meals.  Salt = retained water in my eyes.  I’ll be continuing on this week and will find out how much the salt affected me! 

I also added 2 boosters to my workout for a couple of reasons.  (1) I needed to fill some time while my wife does her Venus workout and (2) I want to see growth in my shoulders and legs!

I also wanted to mention that I stopped wearing my heart rate monitor so I will no longer be posting heart rate information from Endomondo.

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Sunday, October 19, 2014

AI–Cat2/W9 (AT15/W8)

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This marks the 2/3 point into the AT-15 Transformation Contest.  Not only did my wife and I do weights and measures, we also took photos (not being posted here).

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Heart Rates for 4 workouts.

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HR Zones for 4 workouts.

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Sunday, October 12, 2014

AI–Cat2/W8 (AT15/W7)

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Seems I had my numbering off so I will reset my numbering with this post!  Yea, I can do that.

I am now 2/3 of the way through the CAT-2 workout regimen and doing very well.  The weight keeps dropping off at a steady pace; an average of 2 pounds each week.  Awesome!!

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Heart Rates for 4 workouts.

 

HR Zones for 4 workouts.

 

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Wednesday, October 8, 2014

The Blues

Wedding 100In the beginning, when I was a seasoned Sergeant in the Marine Corps, I fit the Dress Blues I had purchased as a lowly Lance Corporal.  Everything was great!  I even got to wear them for my wedding before I finally had no obligation to serve.  As with everything else, as life goes on, little changes creep in.  Eat a little more pizza each month.  Drink more soda while at work.  Exercise less.  Gain 30 friggin pounds while out of town on contract for 3 months.

While I did remain more active than my friends, I did not care about my diet.  And in the ensuing months, nay years, I slowly crept up to 240 pounds.  And then, with a mere 10 months warning, my youngest daughter tells us she is getting married, will I please wear my Blues.  Well, I had started “working out” and figured I could lose the extra weight in 10 weeks months.  Right?  Nope.  Not knowing what I was doing in the gym I ended up losing maybe 10 pounds.  And I felt beat up to boot.

So, watching my bank accounts drain, I paid for another set of Blues and had them shipped to the house.  My wife, fortunately a seamstress, did a wonderful job of adding all the touches that make the Blues what they are.  The red blood stripe down the trouser legs, the rank insignia and the years in service “hash” marks.  And I felt GREAT wearing them.  That is until a few weeks later when all the pictures started coming in.  I had turned into that uncaring Marine who had let his body go looked more like a pork sausage stuffed into oversized Blues.  Wake up call!!  (Granted; no one probably thought that thought but me.)

10 November 2013 – My Daughter’s Wedding

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08 October 2014 – Fitting of Blues for an event this weekend

A little over 7 weeks ago I found a program called Adonis.  While the marketing may be a bit cheesy, the program works.  Period.  I now find myself in a quandary.  I would really like to wear my Blues for a special event this Friday night.  So, my wife asked me to try them on so hopefully, if any alterations are needed, she will have time to do them.

Much to my surprise, my Wedding Blues are way too large for me!  And, my Blues from my time in service are almost fitting me now!  STFU!  These are pictures taken today of my (daughter’s wedding) Blues Blouse:

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These are pictures of my (late 1980s) Blues Blouse:

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As you can see in the last set of photos, my top button and “leather neck” collar are undone.  You can also see a pulling around the bottom three buttons – and this is un-sat!  I can get the top button and neck closed but it is quite uncomfortable.  I know, Blues are not meant to be comfortable.  But I do like to breathe over the long run.  But tell you what.  Come back in 6 weeks and let’s see if they fit completely.  I bet you they will.

Another week in the fitness journey.  Just 19 more pounds to go.

Semper Fi!

Sunday, October 5, 2014

AI–Cat2/W6 (AT15/W5)

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Today was weight and measures day and I will say I am champing at the bit to see it come off faster – yet pleased that I am showing steady progress.  Things that I am learning, or relearning, are really starting to get cemented in my head.  For instance, I used to think working out is what would burn fat.  After tracking my workouts for the last 6 weeks I’ve come to understand several things:

  1. If I total my calories burned for all my workouts in a week, I am burning enough to lose between 1/2 and 1 pound each week.  Huh?  Really?!  OK.  Then why am I working out?
  2. If I stay at a good caloric intake deficit (currently about 1700/day!) I should lose about 1 pound every 2 days.  That’s about 3-1/2 pounds a week!  So, again I ask, why the workouts?
  3. If I don’t workout, I don’t make my muscles work and they atrophy.  Oh!  That’s why I work out!

I get it now.  Workouts are to increase strength and stamina, not to lose weight.  Your diet is what contributes the most to losing weight, and for us (overweight) guys, a good deficit, coupled with weight training, will finally kick the fat burning engine into action.  As I exercise, my body needs fuel to move the iron around (building strength and stamina).  If I am not over feeding the body, eventually, the body will start burning the excess fat for fuel.  And once it truly starts it appears to be a very steady drip of fat loss.  Not fast, but steady.  I’m averaging about 2 pounds each week.  And I am 99% convinced this is all fat loss pounds.  While my AGR says I should lose up to 5 pounds of fat a week, I am also putting on muscle. 

Overall, I am a little over 7 inches in measurements less then when I started.  If I remember correctly, each inch lost is about 5 pounds fat equivalent.  That means about 35 pounds of fat are gone.  But I’ve only lost 15 pounds by the scale.  I am assuming that means I’ve gained 20 pounds in muscle mass.  To illustrate:

  • -7/8” – Neck
  • -1/2” – Shoulders
  • -2” – Chest
  • -3-1/4” – Waist
  • +1” – Thighs
  • -7/8” – Calves
  • 0” – Biceps
  • +1/2” – Forearms

While my shoulders have dropped a total of 1/2”, my chest has dropped 2 full inches!  My biceps have not budged (they did fluctuate over the 6 weeks) I have a ton more definition showing.  Well, maybe not a ton but I do have definition showing. 

I believe I am finally nearing that tipping point where I will see my Body Fat Percentage start to drop faster.  While I don’t have an exact number in mind for a goal, I know I want to be somewhere between 12% and 15%.  It’s taken 6 weeks to really start to see the visceral fat (internal, around the organs, take up space, type of fat) start to loosen up and leave the body.  And that is what I am most excited about at my age!  Getting rid of that type of fat will extend my life quite a lot!

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Heart Rates for Mon, Thur, Fri & Sat.

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HR Zones for Mon, Thur, Fri & Sat.

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JeFit Tracking for Mon, Thur, Fri & Sat.

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