I know this is the hard core training subforum, but I figured here is as good a place as any to post my story and be held accountable, esp since Danny and JP probably remember my pics from BII. It's humbling and I fully want feedback as well as motivating comments (negative ones too please). So here goes.
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Fat Bastard
As I fail to fit into yet another pair of pants, I realize I’m a fat bastard. Not as bad as the Austin Powers character, but in my mind’s eye, just as disgusting. I crave carbs, lay around and watch TV every evening, and am limited to three pairs of my old pants because I’m too big for the other ones. Work out sweats, are ironically, my clothing of choice. They’re comfortable, not binding, and do a good job of hiding all evidence of my belly. No wonder you see so many obese people wearing workout clothes. Otherwise, I wear sweaters and untucked shirts to hide the ever expanding whale blubber at my midsection. I look at my face in the mirror and see a double chin developing. I suck down pieces of cheesecake like a famine-vicitim given free reign at a buffet. I am become Shiva – destroyer of self-control.
Get Me Some Tape, Because I’m Ripped
I wasn’t always like this. Two years ago I was pretty much in shape – 167 lbs for my 5’9-1/2” frame, 15% bodyfat. Not bad for a 36 year old father of two. Four years ago, I was ripped – 11% BF and a solid abdominal 4 pack.. As late as last year, I had to put a belt on my 30” waist Levi’s- the ones I had proudly worn five years ago for the first time since high school. I had lifted regularly for 5 years straight and exercised almost daily for the last 20 years.
2003, lean and unwittingly posing with the future instrument of my destruction
Ripped Apart – My Waistline, That Is
Now my 34” waist jeans can almost stay up without a belt. The other night, in bed, my wife patted my gut and asked when my due date was. My friends and neighbor all insist that I’m not fat. Sure, not compared to most of America, where more than 50% of us are overweight or clinically obese. So I’m the best of the worst. A new member of the least desirable club in the nation. Great. I can already see my self in line at the Auntie Ann’s in the mall. I want the cheese sauce with my giant pretzel, please.
October 2004: Dun-lap disease personified
The Great Experiment Gone Awry
How did it happen? Injury? Bad habits? I wish I could that. But sadly, my state is a result of a willful experiment that I performed on myself. I’ve always been a hard-core bicyclist in the summers, and this past riding season I was determined to log some serious miles while upping my overall speed. I wanted to move up a notch in the hierarchy of riders here, and I was committed to doing it. Commitment meant that I needed to be on my bike every waking free moment I had. Essentially, I would ride 5 times a week, anywhere for 75 minutes to 5 hours at a time. Another Lance Armstrong in the making. And it worked! By the end of the summer, I had no problem whipping off a 75 mile ride. But, of course, with a family, a business to run, something has to give. In my case, I decided to stop lifting. In the past summers, I usually continued my resistance training twice a week, trying to maintain muscle. But this summer, I decided that the weights were literally my albatross. They were what was preventing me from transforming into an endurance machine. So I decided, back in March that I would drop the weights and hit the saddle.
Now, riding for more than 1 hour requires simple carbs during the ride. Riding for 3 hours requires that you ingest carbs not only during, but before the ride. Riding for 5 hours means that you need to carb-load the night before. I did. And I was a damn good cyclist and never bonked once.
But something else was happening to me. I was getting bigger in the midsection. I ignored it, figuring it was bad posture – too much time bent over in the saddle and too few abdominal crunches. As the summer wore out and riding tapered down, I found I couldn’t stop eating carbs. I was craving food, even after I had just eaten. Now I knew how fat people felt. Those who are thin often accuse the fat of having no willpower. But, in part, I know now firsthand that their ever-present munching is due to fat cells and insulin release and blood sugar levels… well, hunger. I am hungry now even when my stomach is full. My brain is getting some bad signals somewhere along the line. My body has betrayed itself, and my mind has let it happen.
Time to Pay – the Tale of the Tape
Now that the summer riding is over, the bill is here to pay. And the damages are high.
Weight
Last Year – 167 lbs.
Now – 182 lbs.
BF%
2002 – 11%
2003 – 15%
Now – as high as 26%
Pant Waist Size
2002 – 30”
2003 – 30”
Now – 34”
Upper Arms - flexed
2002 – 15.5”
2003 – 15.25”
Now – 14.75”
Resting Heart Rate
2002 – 58 bpm
2003 – 59 bpm
Summer 2003 – 57 bpm
Now – 68 bpm
I’m not even going to test my BP, cholesterol numbers, and other indicators for fear of what I’d find out.
So here I am – on Monday I begin a new resistance program (intermediate level of Lou’s Book of Muscle), a bunch of spin classes, and logging everything I eat from my now carefully planned diet. I’m having one big blowout this weekend, eating as much crap as I can in order to get sick of junk food and hopefully negate any cravings that may arise. I’ll keep posting. But Mike Mejia and Lou Schuler were right – a lot of endurance ‘cardio’ is a poor way to try to keep fit. At least in my case, I know that to be true.
My Goals
I want to be ripped. JP ripped. Johnka ripped. Not just in good shape, but in great shape. Will I be waylayed? Possibly…I know I have ADD as far as goal setting, easily distracted once I’m on my way to one goal. But I am determined to bust my ass and exercise self control to keep at the goal until at least next March – the anniversary of my momentus decision to undertake ‘The Experiment’. So here are the goals (it says 11/14 since that is when I start, but the numbers are from today). The Tanita numbers show higher than caliper reading when at low BF% - the limitations of the algorithm set up to calculate BF on a BEI device - so the 15% that you see will equate to a more accurate 10% caliper reading.
FAT ANALYSIS
WEIGHT FAT% TANITA
11/14/04 182.00 26.0%
INT. GOAL: 12/28 174.00 23.0%
Difference -8.00 lbs. -3.0% BF
11/14/04 182.00 26.0%
INT. GOAL: 2/21/05 170.00 19.0%
Difference -12.00 lbs. -7.0% BF
11/14/04 182.00 26.0%
INT. GOAL: 4/30/05 168.00 15.0%
Difference -14.00 lbs. -11.0%BF
Weekly Goals: 3 X Weight Training/Week (MWF)
4 X Aerobic/Week
8 hours rest daily
Process Goals: 500 calorie deficit/day
8+ glasses water/day
0.5 % body fat loss/week
Pain Free Knees
Peformance Goals: weight/fat measures met
