From Fit to Fat to Fit Again- My Great Experiment

[Ian Kay]

Looks like you have a grip on this thing so far! No better way to start off than to have everything (the numbers, the routine, the times, the food) all in order.

I did the Intermediate BoM earlier this year. It's a good one!!! I think it's perfect for weight loss, too.

Keep it comin!!!

[Craig]

RE this statement: "In general though, I won't do back to back sessions like this because it will cause drops in glycogen levels, which is generally counter-productive to fat loss."


***Don't overthink things. That is getting too technical and rather irrelevant. If you want to do these back to back sessions, the big picture won't change.

Craig

[cappuccino]

Wow Kaiser, you really did kick this off with a bang! Congrats! I think Spin was a great choice for your cardio...best to work in something you like!

I'm right there with you on the food scale...measuring cups just don't cut it. And the one you ordered looks awesome, 1g increments. Mine is only in 5g increments and I use it to my advantage [img]smile.gif[/img]

Be sure to let us know how you're feeling tomorrow.

[hard_rox]

Kaiser, i just came across your log. glad to hear you're making a commitment to lose weight and hit the iron again. i'll bet the fat will roll off in no time. best of luck

[gobbla]

good, good, good.

absolutely fantastic. keep it up!

[Kaiser]

Thanks HR. Well, if it could come close to rolling off or melting away like you and Craig have described, I'll be a happy man.

Thanks again C and gobbla. C, I LOVE the new kitchen scale. I measure everything on it, just because it's so much fun. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Kaiser]

Tuesday, November 16th

Nature Walk
Got up early and got a quick 15 minute walk in outside to get the blood flowing and appreciate the morning. Birds were out foraging for their winter nests - seeing them working hard made me want to work hard. I need to get into the forest for some hikes soon - I always find that clears the mind and it is a kcal burner when you hike for 75 minutes.

Spin Redux
Very tough interval class where I know the instructor and he doesn't let me slack. The intervals were only supposed to go 25 mins, but he was feeling extra sadistic, so we went 40. Was pretty wasted after class...the good kind of tired. My shirt was pretty well soaked after class and I am NOT a sweat-er.

Eating Clean
OK, I'm anally weighing and logging every morsel - it's fun to get serving sizes exact down to the gram. Today I was meeting with someone who wants me to go into business with him manufacturing and selling energy drinks (like Red Bull but better tasting and no carbonation). So I had to sample the drinks - calorie overload for one type, but luckily the other is a low-carb, low-cal option. I barely covered the bottoms of my kids' sized Dixie cups and had to explain to him why I wasn't going to drink an entire 11 ounces. Luckily, he didn't look at me like I was from Mars. Also luckily, the stuff tasted pretty good, esp. the low cal stuff (which has only 50 kcals/bottle). I was glad because Red Bull has an aftertaste like ....well, it ain't good.

My overall calorie intake today: 2,230 kcals. I'm eating 6 times/day, as is outlined in Adam's mag's (MF) nutrition spreads. The bad part was that I didn't hit the 100 grams of protein that I was aiming for today, and consequently, my protein percentage of total kcals was less than 20%. Both yesterday and today, my fats were approaching 40% of total, but only 5% of total is saturated fat. The balance is mostly monounsaturated, with some polyunsaturated.

The Numbers
Basal: 2,400 kcals
Exercise: 630 kcals
Food: 2,300
Deficit: 800 kcals (again, a little higher than I want it to be).

[Kaiser]

My visually depicted goal, thanks to JP and Johnka. I want to be looking like these two by next summer. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[gobbla]

I'm glad that you like your new food scale, I have one of the really cheapo springy ones from walmart and was impressed with it. I'm sure yours blows that one out of the water. Oddly enough it seems that weighing food was easier for me than any other method since it's about as exact as you can get while staying sane. Anyone that's ever counted out 24 grapes, 16 triskits, 18 alonds ect can back me up on that!

Be real careful with the shortfall of protein. Your muscles are what's burning the calories and all...every lb of muscle gone makes it just a little harder to lose that next lb of fat. I'm sure it's a one time deal and all but it's real easy to start looking at the calories and where to cut them...but looking at the bigger picture being at a 400 calorie deficit with enough protein to maintain or gain muscle is deffinatly going to be better off than an 800 and slowly losing (small amounts) of what you've been working so hard to gain.

That's really fantastic that you're so active. Getting out taking hikes and enjoying life just in general. I'm not sure where you're from but in most the country it's getting cooler, getting a little freebie calories burning just from the process of the body trying to stay warm is a great feeling!

You're doing great man, keep it up.

[Kaiser]

Wednesday, November 17th

Big Boy Lifts
Finally got into the fun stuff - deads and squats. But not until the evil Mr. King and his accomplice, Mr. Schuler, have you doing sets of single leg SL deads, single leg King deads, single leg step ups, and single leg squats. Ouch. Then you get to finish off doing conventional deads and squats with a 316 and 613 tempo respectively! Evil! But good evil. [img]smile.gif[/img] It felt GREAT to squat and dead again.... I even did extra squats (front squats) at the end. OK, the weight was low, but my form was exact!

BTW, is it only kids under the age of 20 who curl in the squat rack? Our gym has 3 racks and in 2 of them there were groups of kids doing bicep curls and some sort of behind the back 'shrug' (I think, because their tempo made it look like they were having some sort of seizure). The old me would have definitely said something. The new fat me just shook my head and walked away while they were busy 'checking out the babes'.

Walking
The weather was record warm this evening in Chi-town (the low tonight is higher than the usual high for this time of year), so I put the iPod earphones in and took a brisk 30 minute walk. I have to begrudgingly admit that I really like Kelly Clarkson's ( the original 'American Idol') tune 'Breakaway'. The girl does have a voice. And just how many more chicks is John Mayer going to score with his lyrics for 'Daughter'? Anyway, I'm trying to get in some extra movement in every day, whether running around with my kids or walking - the extra 100 kcals per day could and will make a difference for this desk-bound guy.

Eating
My overall calorie intake today: 2,010 kcals. Finally got my number in line with 35%P (165 grams), 29%C, and 36%F of which only 6% of total is saturated fat. A full 18% is monounsaturated.

The Numbers
Basal: 2,400 kcals
Exercise: 657 kcals
Food: 2,010
Deficit: 1,047 kcals.

Damn, I need to eat a little more.

[Kaiser]

Thursday, November 18th

Intervals
Spin Class - 45 mins - intense. Legs were already tired from yesterday, so what did I do? Cranked it up even harder. Probably not the smartest thing to do.

I've Got Problems
Something happened this afternoon. While simply walking to my desk, something went haywire in my lower back. I've been lucky to never have any kind of back problems, exept minor stiffness from tight hamstrings. This was different - a sharp pain and then a very sore feeling that felt like I had had a anesthetic spinal block. I'm sore in the lower back now, and its been 6 hours and one hot shower since this happens. Even if it feels OK tomorrow, I'm going to hold off on lifting until Saturday. I hope it's just a pull or strain, but man, it feels like something worse. On the positive side, it hasn't gotten worse, just not better.

Eating
My overall calorie intake today: 2,154 kcals. Finally got my number in line with 28%P (140 grams), 36%C, and 37%F of which only 6% of total is saturated fat. The carbs are high because at the end of the day I had some kcals to take in and (unfortunately) I caved in and ate about 150 kcals of cookies (at least they were covered with dark chocolate, and the phenols in it are good for you).

The Numbers
Basal: 2,400 kcals
Exercise: 504 kcals
Food: 2,154
Deficit: 750 kcals.

[BjsAust]

What are you using for your cals out Kaiser? I seem to get widely varying amounts using different systems. I tend to do alright controlling what goes in, but its knowing how much to set it at that gets difficult.

Bad news on the back, hopefully a nights sleep might help .

[Kaiser]

I'm using the Fitday estimates, but for both lifting and spinning, I have a pretty good idea of kcal out from past experience - and fitday seems to be on target. Anyway, that's why I am initially going more than the 500 kcal deficit - in case of some miscalculation. If I end up losing more than the 1lb or 0.5% BF that I am planning for, I'll adjust accordingly. Usually takes about 14 to 18 days for me to fine tune it.

Thanks for the wishes on the back. We'll see tomorrow.

[TDPurcell]

K. I remember your Brother in Iron pix. I believe you had done Great Guns, and had some pix of killer arms. You'll be right there in no time.

[cappuccino]

Hey K. Sorry to hear about the back. Feeling better today? Glad you enjoyed the big boy lifts!

Did you know you eat about the same amount of cals as me? I shoot for 1900 but often hit 2000 Are you staying hungry?

Have you had Choco Lebinz cookies? Dark chocolate of course. I think 1-2 have about 70 cals, and lots of chocolate(ie very satisfying for a little splurge). They're European so the "cookie" part isn't very sweet...

[Kaiser]

Thanks C. It does feel better today; only a little sore, and it started feeling better almost immediately after I popped an ibuprofen last night. So I don't know if it is the NSAID that did it, or just that it is getting better. I'm going to drug-free today and see what happens. But I'm also going to skip working out. I wasn't planning on taking my rest day until tomorrow, but I can switch it up.

You're tryint to maintain, not cut right. What's your basal level at? I don't know your height, but it is suprising to me that it is the same. But if you are taller and trying to maintain and I need to be at 500kcal deficit and am actually hitting around 800, I guess its possible.

I haven't had those cookies. Can you get them at a national grocery store chain? The ones I have are a big tin from Costco of European style with Belgian chocolate so they are not very sweet either, and are pretty small. Yesterday was the first day I had any refined sugar, but it is one of my 'binge' items, so I really should stay away.

[Kaiser]

TD, thanks for the belief in me. I forgot about the arm pics. [img]smile.gif[/img] Yeah, I remember that it was a testimonial for King's GG. Man, I wish I had those arms now! On the plus side, even with no arm work, I've still kept the muscle that I've gained - it just isn't as full. So hopefully the lifting will get it back up again.