Friday/Weigh-in

This morning I weighed in at 168, a rather lean 168 I might add, however.

Meal # 1 (5:30 AM)

1/2 cup oats - 150
1 whole egg - 75
5 egg whites - 85
1 cup of broccoli - 40
1/2 banana/strawberries - 75

total = 425

3 mile run with client

Meal # 2 (8:00 AM)

1 cup of low fat cottage cheese - 180
raw oats - 175
1/2 small banana 50
two teaspoons of honey - 50

total = 455

Workout - back/shoulders

Did 3 tri-sets of each:

back: pull-ups, rows, straight arm push downs
shoulders; overhead dumbell press, lateral flies, dumbell shrugs

First set of pull-ups were strong (16 reps). And shoulders were strong too. Did 70 lbs dumbells for 6 reps on my last set.

Meal # 3 (11:45 AM)

5 oz grilled chicken - 195
5 oz sweet potato - 150
2 cups broccoli - 60

total = 405

Meal # 4 (3:00 PM)

5 oz of grilled chicken - 195
1 1/2 cups green beans - 60

total = 255

1/2 hour step-master

Meal # 5 (6:00 PM)

1 bowl of beans - 200
7 oz of chicken - 300
salad/dressing - 100

total = 600

Meal # 6 (9:00 PM)

5 oz of chicken - 200
salad/dressing - 75

total = 275

Daily total = 2,415

Starting Well

Meal # 1 (6:45 AM)

5 egg whites - 85
1 whole egg - 75
1/2 cup of oats - 150
1 cup of green beans - 40
2 oz milk/3 tsp of apple sauce - 60

total - 410

Morning Workout - Chest/abs

Meal # 2 (10:00)

5 oz of grilled chicken breast - 195
4 oz of sweet potato - 95
1 cup of green beans - 40

total = 330

Afternoon workout - biceps/triceps/abs/cardio

Meal # 3 (2:00)

6 oz grilled chicken - 220
3 oz of sweet potato - 80
1 cup of beans - 40

Total = 340

Meal # 4 (5:00)

1 cup of Greek yogurt - 150
1/2 small banana - 50
2 table spoons of psyllium husk - 60
2 table spoons of flack see oil - 90
1 table spoon of honey - 60

total = 410

Meal # 5 (8:00 PM)

5 oz grilled chicken breast - 195
1 tablespoon EVO - 130
1 cup of green beans - 40

Total = 365

Meal # 6 (10:00 PM)

yogurt/cottage cheese 150
strawberries - 50

total = 200

Total daily calories = 2055

The Final Countdown Begins/Whatever it takes

This is where the rubber meets the road. No more exceptions on the diet. We're in the cutting phase and everything that I put in my mouth shall be recorded with its caloric value. Once the dairy products are exahusted from my refrigerator, I'm moving to whole foods with the exception of whey protein powder. Chicken, fish and beef shall constitute my protein intake.I'm also going to record my workouts. Blogging is going to become a daily activity like showering. The calories I eat shall also be entered on my blog as well as my cardio activity. I'll be consuming my carbs around my workouts and feeding my muscles prior and after. I'm not going to be married to any one theory. I'll follow the results wherever they lead and simply do whatever it takes.

New Training Regime

On Sunday (March 29, 2009) I started my new training regime which can be found here:

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance/totalbody_training

I did the following:

Squats on the Smith Machine

1st set - 185
2nd set - 225
3rd set - 285

Weight pull-ups

1st set - 6 (25 lbs)
2nd set - 5 (30 lbs)
3rd set - 5 (25 lbs)

Dumbess Press/Flat Bench

1st set - 70 lbs
2nd set - 80 lbs
3rd set - 80 lbs

Straight bar curls

1st set - 80 lbs
2nd set - 90 lbs
3rd set - 100

Shoulder Press/Straight bar

1st set - 80 lbs
2nd set - 95 lbs
3rd set - 205 lbs

Tricep Push Downs

1st set - 90 lbs
2nd set - 110 lbs
3rd set - 130

Three sets of abs.

Eating more fat and lots of protein. Feeling strong, sleeping well, body functioning overall very well. But not as lean as I like to feel. Started cardio today as well.

New Course/Learning Experience/Outside Expertise

So, my endless efforts and constant shifts in approach have proven fruitful. While they haven't brought me to my goal, they have taught me inestimable lessons.

I had cut my calories too early in the process. Taking in 1800 or so calories while at 9.3 body fat left me no where to go in terms of calorie reduction. Any added training (especially cardio) resulted in my body conserving fat. In point of fact, once I realized this and stopped dieting and exercising for a few days (this took place after 2 weeks of energy balance and intensified cardio and lowered calories - see previous posts) my body fat dropped to 8.9%. My muscles seemed to inflate as if to say they were starved.

At the behest of Marc Plano (my personal trainer and expert in fat loss) I've taken a week off from both exercise and dieting. As much as this is psychologically difficult, I trust that this course is wise in that it's given my body the opportunity to reset its thermostat. My goal now is to stack on muscle, to literally gain muscle weight and some fat weight. I'll do this by weight training three days a week and doing a minimal of cardio all while incorporating more fats and calories in general into my body. Summer is still 8-12 weeks away, so, it's really propitious that I'm not at 5-6% bodyfat since it's about 28 degrees outside and impossible for anyone to see me in such peak form.

Tomorrow I go to pick up my nutrition and exercise plan. I'm excited to learn more about my body and the process of radical fat loss. My only fear is that I'm going to stack too much muscle on my short frame.

Sensory Acuity/Ideal Weight

So, something great has come out of the energy balance of the last two weeks. I've come to realize that I'm in synch with my body, that I can actually feel if my bodyfat percentage is down, whether or not I'm in energy balance. This dawned on me this morning. A couple of weeks ago I knew intuitively that I had broken through to single digit body fat before having my BF reading taken. Both last week and this week I knew that I would not be any lower. In fact, I could tell that I'd be just a hair higher this week. Moral of the story; Know thyself! There is a spiritual awareness of your body's health, it's fitness, its leanness, etc. Also, one can tell just about how much food to eat to keep that nice tension, the buzzing of the metabolism and the burning of fat. This sensory acuity is precisely what it takes to become a master in the art of losing body fat.

I'm keeping my calories stable this week (around 2,000 more or less). I'm going to cycle my carbs every third or fourth day (i.e. refeed) and I'm upping my cardio to 40-45 minutes a day. We'll see how we're doing by Wednesday or Friday of next week. I've got a good feeling.

As of this morning I weigh 158 lbs. My ideal weight at 6% bodyfat (provided I don't lose any lean muscle, of course) would be 154 lbs. If I were to take this to the limit and attempt to reach 3% body fat, I'd way 147 lbs. I simply do not have enough muscle on my body to look good at that weight. So, I'll be content with 6% or a little below that.

Such calculations are determined using the following formula:

http://www.burnthefatinnercircle.com/members/240.cfm?

It's also important to keep in mind what Tom Venuto has brought out in Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle - namely, "It’s very difficult to lose more than 1.0 - 1.5 pounds per week without losing some lean body mass. Seeing the numbers makes the case for slow weight loss even more clear."

This means I'll have to inch-worm my way down in bodyfat and weight, perhaps losing no more than .5 lbs of fat a week until I'm at 154 lbs. (i.e. eight weeks of work).

Stuck in Energy Balance?

It's Friday and the scale hasn't gone down. (158.5) I've been keeping my diet flawlessly (around 2,000 calories or a bit less) and cycling my carbs every 4-5 days so as to refeed my body. I've cut down my cardio to a half hour a day. My last two bodyfat reads for two consecutive weeks were 9.3. If today I'm not lower than that, I'm going to keep my food intake the same and do more cardio. It's the moment of truth and I've decided to approach it very scientifically and dispassionately. If I don't get the results I want, I will have gotten some great information in terms of what does not work. I'll be blogging the results later in the day.

UPDATE

I was right.