From Fit to Fat to Fit Again- My Great Experiment

[Kaiser]

Do it Greg. Us old(er) guys need to stick together and encourage each other. I know having the log here makes me cognizant that someone (in my case, mostly C, who, just for clarification, is neither older nor a guy) is going to be checking in and seeing what I did ----> some sort of accountability----> fewer missed workouts.

[gregl515]

I think you are right. I have my home gym set up and I've been keeping track of my diet on fit day for over a month, so now would be a good time to start a training log.

[OldGuy]

A lot of praying going on in here. Don't let the RCJC find out about this (oh wait, I think I'm a member ).

Anyway, feel better guys.

[cappuccino]

Originally posted by Kaiser:
Do it Greg. Us old(er) guys need to stick together and encourage each other. I know having the log here makes me cognizant that someone (in my case, mostly C, who, just for clarification, is neither older nor a guy) is going to be checking in and seeing what I did ----> some sort of accountability----> fewer missed workouts.

Yeah Greg, will be fun to have another log to follow. I get my need to confess from Kaiser's log. He lays it all on the line, so I feel guilty if I don't mention that desert I had [img]smile.gif[/img]

Hope you get to feeling better soon.

[Kaiser]

Do it Greg. I'm waiting.

Wednesday, December 29th

Resistance Training
BOM, Intermediate Weeks 4-6 B. Leg Day. Breathing squats in sets of 20 make my weakened VMOs hurt. Damn biking ---> weak VMOs.

That said, I always approach leg day with much trepidation, due to my surgically depleted knees and past pain during squats, and leave pretty pain-free and wanting to do more and relishing the next leg day. Plus, I am going way past parallel again on squats, albeit at lower weights.


HIIT
Didn't do it - c'mon, it's leg day.


Diet
RMR: 1,480
Exercise: 377
Food 1,580
Deficit: 277

43%P/19%C/37%F of which 6% of total was saturated.

[gettinhuge]

Hey Kaiser GOOD JOB!!!! Glad to hear you made some progress, Keep it up.

[gettinhuge]

Hey Greg,
Chambersburg huh? I am right down the road a ways in Hershey.

[Kaiser]

Thanks GH.

[b]Thursday, December 30th[b]

Intervals
Darcy, the tall blonde instructor was back for our ass-kicking today. I felt good that I went because my sinuses were clogged and I felt like crap. But I showed up and worked very hard. Loads of intervals and hills.

Afterwards, I went to talk to her and she asked if I was an instructor. OK, I'm getting freaked out (and slightly happy) because in the last 3 weeks, I have been asked by 4 professionals (2 spin instructors and 2 personal trainers) if I was an instructor/personal trainer. Now understand that, in three of these cases, these are pretty much the first time I have had any substantial conversation with them.

Here's a summary of each encounter.
-CPT1, with 7 years of training experience: "Are you a trainer, because you know enough to be one."
-CPT2, with 5 years: "Are you a trainer? Your form is perfect and you have a solid program and are logging everything." [huh? has it become so bad that having good form, a program, and logging everything makes you look as knowledgeable as a trainer?]
-Spin Instructor 1: "You should get certified and teach spin. Your form is impeccable and you have the right personality an energy." [he knows me]
-Spin Insructor 2: "Are you an instructor? No? You should be one."

Is this a sign that I should change careers when people at the gym, unsolicited and out of the blue, think I am a fitness professional? Or a sign that I need to spend less time on this forum soaking up knowledge? Maybe I should lose the fat first before pondering this weighty question.


Diet
Don't know, but most likely in deficit. We had friends come in from out of town and I didn't log and weigh everything I ate, although I remained hungry as I usually do.


Other Comments
My pants that fit nicely are now loose, my belt that was too tight, now fits better, and I finally went out and bought some new clothes (OK, new shoes and a shirt) even though I said I wasn't going to buy any new clothes until I lost all of the fat. Call it an 'advance' because of the good progress. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[poopy pants]

Is this a sign that I should change careers when people at the gym, unsolicited and out of the blue, think I am a fitness professional? Or a sign that I need to spend less time on this forum soaking up knowledge? Maybe I should lose the fat first before pondering this weighty question.

stick to your day job Q, keep selling the tshirts

[cappuccino]

Great that you're seeing measurable progress Kaiser. Watch out on buying clothes. I would buy stuff that fit and then they'd rapidly be too big.

Kaiser - Spin instructor extraordinaire - why don't you give it a try and sub in a couple of classes?

[Kaiser]

C, I'm really thinking about it, but not because I would enjoy teaching spin. My workout is for me - to workout. I would probably lose the enjoyment with the responsibility of teaching. The decision is purely economic - if I teach, my membership is free at the club - a savings of sround $720/year, plus whatever I make teaching. I've been toying around with the idea for 4 years since my friend Suzy, our group leader at the old gym and a CPT for 10 years, told me and another friend that we really should go get certified and teach. He did, I didn't. It's been in the back of my head since then. And of course, if I do it I am one step closer in my head to trying to become a CPT (a dream that will probably never happen due to economic realities, but one that's nice to have nonetheless - as we've discussed.)

On buying clothes, I haven't bought new pants in almost 2 years! Last winter I said I'd wait until I lost the fat, and then this summer I got too big.


DAY 45 STEP-UP-TO-THE-SCALE RESULTS

I started November 15th. 45 days. Of course, with my RMR faux pas, I really have been only at it properly for 21 days, since all of the results are basically since then. I am way behind my initial goals (3.5% BF, drop of 9.5 lbs., but OK since I've adjusted the RMR.

Weight: -5 lbs.
BF%: -0.5% (BEI) to -1.3% (Calipers)
So I've either lost 2.75 lbs LBM and lost 2.25 lbs FAT or gained 1.68 lbs LBM and lost 6.68 lbs FAT. The real result is probably in the middle, with a tiny bit of LBM loss and the rest fat, as can be seen from my measurements below:

Waist: -1.63" (YAY!!!!)
Chest: +0.13" (essentially no change)
Left Thigh: +0.75" (this has to be a mistake - that's too much)
Right Arm: no change
Left Calf: -0.75 (My worst area gets even worse)

So my noticing the looseness of my pants and the notch tighter in my belt is quantified. I'm happy. But I still want to get the metabolism up because eating at this level, even at 2,000 kcals for maintenance, for a long time is not viable for me. To that end, I've started taking in tea twice a day (more caffeine).

[cappuccino]

Awesome, Kaiser! That waist movement is worth jumping up and down about!

Yeah, I bet you'd like teaching a class or two, even if it were to sub from time to time. Free gym membership is a huge +...assuming you could find the spare time in your schedule!

[Kaiser]

Thanks C! No jumping up and down yet. Still to much 'aftershake'. [img]smile.gif[/img] If you don't know what I am talking about, there is a general test to see where you hold fat and it is weird, but it works. Before you hop in the shower when you are in the buff, get in front of a full length mirror and jump up and come down hard. Tense up your muscles first. Then look to see what it still shaking after a second or so. That's fat. Of course on a woman, certiain parts should still be shaking (ahem), but it is a good rule of thumb to see where you are holding it.

Kaiser's Freaky But It Works Tip O' The Day

When I get to your level C, I'm getting MY bellybutton pierced.

[cappuccino]

ooh wee. Can't wait to see that pierced belly pic. Funny you mention your jump story. I just realized today I can flex my obliques You mean things still bounce after a coule of secs??

[Kaiser]

Oh. Mean mean woman! Listen, if you still don't have something (a couple of places, at least) that is 'bouncing' after a couple of secs, you've got some issues.

Yes, a lot of 'bounce' around the middle. But it's moving in the right direction. I have obliques....they're there somewhere. I can see the top two abs a bit now, as well as my ribs some. But I can't see flexing obliques (I just tried).

[cappuccino]

I meant besides the obvious

Happy new year!!

[Bill2380]

Kaiser,

I just did the first work out of BOM week four. What a difference from the first three weeks. I broke a sweat and feel like I really worked hard. Those strip sets are a bear. I'm not looking forward to those breathing squats on Monday. Basketball Tuesday night could be a painful experience.

Congrats on your progress. Keep up the good work.