4 months to obtaining the body I want for my vacation.

One thing that we can never have enough of is motivation.  I decided on January 30, 2011 that I was going to take a vacation to Hawaii on my birthday in May.  The idea was that I would use the fact that I didn't want to be embarrassed about the body I was going to be donning on my vacation.  I knew from past experience that a motivator like that is a big drive.

So what's the goal?  For my vacation, I'd like to have around 8-9% body fat.  Definitely want to be in the single digits.  I don't look as flabby in the single digits, and if all goes well, 8-9% is attainable, and realistic.  This would put me at around 153 lbs.

I knew that Tom's diet and workout plan worked great in the past (yes, I didn't post details about that, but I wanted to get right to the point of THIS blog).  P90X, gave me mixed results.  I made a few changes to P90X that I though would fit well into the old BFFM plan that worked well for me when I was 26.

So Here are the starting numbers:
January 30, 2011
Height: 5'9"
Weight: 162.5 lbs
Body Fat %: 14.2%
Meals per day: 5
Calories per meal: approx 430

Workout routine:
Mon - Yoga (60 min)
Tue - P90X Chest & Back
Wed - Yoga (60 min)
Thur - P90X Shoulders & Arms
Fri - Yoga (60 min)
Sat - P90X legs & back
Sun - Rest

This started out pretty good.  For 3 weeks I saw good results, except for the fact that I gained weight between 1/30 and 2/6.  The table shows how this worked for me:

2/6/11
Weight: 164 lbs
Body fat %: 13.9 % (what!??)

2/13/11
Weight: 162 lbs
Body fat %: 13.6 %

2/20/11
Weight: 160.5 lbs
Body Fat%: 12.70% (I think this was a bogus reading - I estimate I was actually closer to 13 %)

At the end of the 4th week, I injured my knee somehow (I have no idea how it happened, maybe slept on it funny).  So, I missed legs and back, and could hardly to Yoga.  That's the week I saw a devastating result:

2/27/11
Weight: 162 lbs
Body Fat %: 14.2 %!!!

I believe half of this was that I am getting better at using the body fat measurement tool, and half to do with the fact that I missed 3 workout days that week.  In any event, even though the numbers were looking OK, I didn't feel any slimmer, and actually felt a little more bulky.  My body wasn't responding as nicely to the workout routine as I had hoped, and missing days due to injury were crippling my results.  Time for a second change.  That is the change I feel I need, and will be the focus, in excruciating detail of the rest of the blog.