Okay, here we go again:

Weight 137.0

Waist 37 (ugh)

Bicep 13.25

NEW GOAL
Time to move on... My new goal is more of a performance goal than a fat loss goal because I am counting on my body to adapt to what I am doing. This will hopefully develop the habit of early morning cardio and it wont be so hit or miss.

My new goal is to ride (either on the trainer or on the road) a total of 275 miles between yesterday 12/26/06 and 01/31/07. I will maintain calorie intake between 2350-2500 calories per day which coupled with the exercise should be a 700-1000 calorie deficit per day.

I will start tracking my progress using an Excel spreadsheet and Fitday.com. You can see my food logs here. I will post distance totals on Saturdays and I will for the sheer joy of it keep tracking the same parameters as before.

It seems one of my biggest struggles is late night snacking especially for something sweet. I have to find a good 'something' to fill this void.

Starting Stats
Weight: 190 lbs. (I hope a lot of this is water weight and will drop quickly.)
I will make measurements tomorrow. Pictures to follow.

Embracing Failure

I hate to lose. There seems to be no way for me to reach my goal of losing 2.5” off of my waist by December 24. Allow me to assess my situation as I plan for my next goal.

Positive Things
I did lose 1.5” off of my waist. My strength has increased and I am in the habit of lifting weights 4 days per week.

Negative Things
I didn’t achieve my goal.

Analysis
So, why did I fail to reach my goal? Was my goal realistic (attainable)? Was the plan sound? Was I diligent (tracking)? I believe it was a combination of the three, but I really think the biggest problem lies in my lack of behavior modification.

On most days, my caloric intake was good during the day but fell apart during the late afternoon/evening hours. I failed to perform cardio at the desired time and frequency outlined in the plan. My bed time is way too late to support early morning workouts. My eating on the weekends was weak in nutrition yet overly abundant in calories.

I’ve heard that you cannot break a habit; you can only replace one habit with another habit. My plan failed mostly because I didn’t develop the good habits needed to succeed.

Next Step
I maybe taking a final picture on Friday, December 22 because Christmas will involve numerous occasions to eat and very little time for exercise, however, I will try to make good choices to minimize the damage.

I will define a new goal to begin on December 26 and run for several weeks. Since most of my failure came from misbehavior, I am thinking of defining a performance goal instead of a body-specific goal trusting that my body will follow accordingly. I will need to make it challenging and fun as to make it sustainable. I may also take this opportunity to reset my workout routine. (It’s best to change it up every few weeks). Expect a more attentive effort in the coming weeks.

Merry Christmas!

More On Calories

Our body uses X number of calories just to stay alive. This is called your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR). There are several factors that influence this number such as body composition, weight and gender. These are calories required to do nothing other than exist.

Of course we hopefully do more than just exist. Daily activities such as moving at all (walk, sitting up in bed, making toast, .etc) increase the number of calories we need in a day. The more active we are, the more calories we need.

There are several ways to figure out your BMR, but the easiest way is to use this calculator.

Now in order to loose weight we need to have these needed calories to be greater than our intake. Remember 3500 calories make a pound. So if we know our estimated need, then we can either eat less or exercise more to make the fat go away. For best results, do both.

Update
Weight 182
Waist 36.5
Bicep 13.25+ (I’ve actually seen a slight increase)

Analysis Forthcoming

Update: Another 1/4 inch, but still not enough.

182 lbs
36.5 waist
13.25 bicep

Yesterday's diet was good however I got sloppy just before bed time. I remained in range however. I did get my weight training in, but no cardio.

I spent 20 minutes on the trainer this morning and am planning a mountain bike ride after work. I will more than likely lift weights today because I will be involved in meetings tomorrow.

Yesterday was nearly perfect as far as diet and exercise are concerned. I celebrated by oversleeping. Seriously, I did my early morning cardio on the trainer, lifted weights and even played some 3 on 3 basketball with the men in my Sunday school class. Nearly perfect

Calories
When I started this project, I set my daily calorie intake between 1800 and 2300 daily. You may be questioning where I got these two numbers and why they are significant.

It takes 3500 calories to change your body by a pound. Therefore if we want to gain or lose weight, we must increase or decrease our caloric intake by this much. At this point I want to lose weight, so I want to decrease my daily intake. For me, 1800-2300 calories is a 500-1000 calorie reduction from what my body requires. Therefore I should be on track to lose 1-2 lbs. per week…if only I would stick to this guideline, but alas, all the Christmas goodies keep jumping into my mouth.

This leads us to ask what our daily caloric requirement is, but I’ve got to save something for next time.

Tomorrow is picture day, but I may skip it because of my recent failures. But then again, I have to take the good with the bad. We’ll see.

I'm still struggling to get my diet under control, but there are so many cookies and cakes and pies this time of year. Peppermints, double-mocha latte, hot chocolate. A get together here, a gathering there....sometimes two in one day. Arrrrghhhhh!

It's no wonder people resolve to lose weight on New Years day. I will however approach the coming year leaner and more focused than ever.

I have two weeeks to hit my goal. I'm committed, focused and gaining speed. Look out 2007, I'm a comin'.

Update:

181 lbs
36.75 in waist
13.25 bicep

No picture today. I figure every 2-3 weeks will suffice. I did get up and ride my bicycle mounted in a trainer today. This is good because it is non-impact (easy on joints) and allows me about 30 minutes more sleep since I don't have to go anywhere but the next room to do cardio. (I was initally facing a 15 minute drive to the gym after the windshield was frost-free before.)

If I can stay on track with the morning cardio and my diet, my gains this coming week should larger than previous posts.

It’s been along time since the last post, but here’s what you’ve missed:

Early morning cardio isn’t working for me. I just can’t get up. True, I could adjust bed time, but that would cut into other things that equally need attention.

My diet hasn’t been the best in the world, nor the worst. I need to be more diligent, but now I have challenged myself to figure out when diligence becomes obsession. The Bible tells me that diligence is necessary to succeed, but obsession is idolatry, which is a sin. So, at what point do you cross the line? I’m seeking to be more diligent without it becoming an obsession. In the past, I’ve not maintained the balance well.

Back on topic: How do you prevent muscle loss? Two simple things: eat more protein and perform weight-bearing exercise (lift weights). If you noticed in previous posts, I am trying to get 40% of my calories from protein. These are generally in the form of fish, chicken, cottage cheese and whey powder, which is a supplement drink mix found in most stores.

My current approach to lifting weights is very simple. I wanted a routine that I could do either with dumb bells, free weights or a universal type of machine. This allows me flexibility in the gym if one machine or station is occupied. I have a two-day split where I do upper body exercises one day, lower body the next and rest on the third day. I also rest on Sunday, so this is a Monday/Tuesday-Thursday/Friday schedule with rest on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday. (I may do cardio on these rest days.)

So, for my upper body, I do chest, back, shoulders, bicep and triceps exercises in that order in rapid succession…boom, boom, boom. I work quads, hamstrings, calves and abs on the other day in the same fashion. After each set of exercises, I rest anywhere from 30 seconds to 2 minutes and repeat for a total of 3-4 sets. So generally my workout looks like:

Upper Body
Bench Press
Bent-Over Row
Upright Row
Curl
Tricep Extension
Rest and Repeat

Lower Body
Squat
Stiff Leg Dead Lift
Calf Raise
Crunch
Reverse Crunch
Oblique Crunch
Rest and Repeat

This approach allows me two things. I can do my workout in 15-20 minutes (which is perfect on my lunch hour). The rapid progression elevates my heart rate to a cardio level and burns more calories.

As far as reps, the body adapts quickly to new stimuli, therefore I may do 15 reps at a lower rate for a few weeks and change to 5 reps at a heavy weight for a while. Either way, I am accomplishing my goal while I’m shocking my body to adapt. I try to be quick and intense to maximize my time in the gym. I probably won’t develop a body builder’s physique this way, but I should maintain the muscle I have and maximize my fat loss in the process.

A person should find what works for them, but not be afraid to try different routines, exercises and combinations of sets/ reps/ rest. A great resource is http://www.exrx.net/Exercise.html.

I’ll delve into the world of calories next time.