Keith Barrows: AI–Cat2/W6 (AT15/W5)

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:

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?
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?
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!