It's all about momentum

This week was just damn crazy!  Sadly, I missed two cardio workouts this week; Tuesday I bought a car, so I missed my jog at the gym.  Wednesday, I had a date, which led me to shorten my workout that day (did 2 cycles of chest, back, legs, shoulders, biceps, triceps, and abs - usually do 4 cycles).  I stayed out late on Wednesday (didn't get to bed until 1 am), had to be in work early (6:30 am) Thursday, and had a second date that night (good times :)).  So, I missed my cardio workout on Thursday too, because I was so exhausted.  Friday, got back into the swing of things with the full workout, and my jog on Saturday.

In addition to missing some workouts, I totally splurged on the diet this week.  Paula made enchiladas and Strawberry short cakes for me on thursday.  It was so cute - she was so worried that it would set me back on my progress, because she knows how anal I am about my diet.  I told her it was cool, she would just have to help me work it off :)

So, why is it all about momentum?  Well, lets sit and think for a minute.  The difference between fat people and people that work out regularly is simple.  What people don't realize is that you don't build muscle and burn most of your calories during your workout, it happens afterwards.  Your body needs that full day to recover, rebuild, and replace all the energy it consumed in your workout.  People who work out regularly allow their body to continually do this.  Also, the leaner you get, and more muscle you put on, the maintenance of the muscle your body does burns calories.  So the inverse is true.  If you're a lard ass that would rather sit on the couch and watch TV than try to keep in shape, not only are you not burning your calories, but your muscles are not being maintained because your body knows "I don't use these that much, so I'm going to put all that energy into my ass, where I need it because I'm always sitting on it.  Fatty!".

The point of this post is not to just to make fun of fat people that don't have a clue what their abs look like because its covered in a thick layer of insulating material; it's to educate about the fact that regular workout pays off.  If you're sporadic about it, you will see the devastating results when missing a workout, or cheating on your diet.  When a regular schedule is in place, one missed workout or ice cream sundae doesn't have as big an impact.  Think about it; if you eat shit food all week, and have one healthy meal, do you expect to lose weight?  Didn't think so - the opposite is also true... if you eat well, and work out, and have one cheat meal, do you expect to put on 5 lbs that week?  Good call.

So here's what I accomplished with some poor diet choices this week, and 2 missed cardio workout (the 2 workouts hurt more than the meals)

4/10/11:
Weight: 152.5 lbs
Body Fat %: ~ 10%

4/17/11:
Weight: 152.5 lbs
Body Fat %: 9.7%

What!!! How the hell did that happen?  It's all about momentum baby.  Weight training was good, so I feel I may have added a bit of lean mass.  At the same time, because I did do a jog on Saturday, and because of the "maintenance effect", I shed a tiny bit of body fat.  Not as much as I wanted to, but still a good amount.

This coming week is recovery week, which means 3 days of cardio and 3 days of Yoga.  I will be adding some stretching in there either on Sunday, or on days where I feel the cardio isn't enough.

My expectation is that I will shed nearly a full % of body fat because of the yoga mixed with cardio.  I will more than likely lose a  little lean mass, because the Yoga isn't enough to build muscle... just strength and endurance.

Ok dude, don't knock me for doing yoga... it kicks ass, and have you ever seen fat people do yoga regularly?

Take THAT!

There comes a time when you see the results of all the hard work that you've put into something.  Today was that time for me.  After a stall last week, I stepped on the scale for the weekly weigh in.  I shed 3.5 lbs.  So how much of that was body fat? Almost 2 lbs. That means I lost about a pound and a half of lean mass...which is unfortunate, but not too bad.  I can live with that because when I opened up the word doc That had my goals recorded, I realized that I hit my major 3 month goal, just about right on time!  Goal was to be at 10% body fat, and weigh about 154.  Well, I'm at 10% body fat, and weigh 152.5.  Lost more lean mass than I wanted to, but that will be easy to gain back. 

I have 1 month until my vacation, and that averages out to losing about .5% body fay per week, which is not unheard of.  That will put me at 8%, weighing around 149 lbs.  A little light, but again, gaining the lean stuff is easier than losing the bulky stuff.

So, here's the scoop for this weeks results.

Last week:
Weight: 156
Body fat: 10.9%

This week:
Weight: 152.5
Body fat: 10%

Next week will be too exciting... I may finally see myself below 10% for the first time since my teens!

Take THAT, punk ass Fat!

Previous week results

Been a while since I posted, so I wanted to put out an update on my progress.  Last week was photo week, and there is definitely progress to be seen.  However, whether its the fact that I have to use the camera timer and not have a good photographer, I don't feel like the pictures I'm taking are accurately reflecting how I feel, and what I see when I look in the mirror.  So, no pics for anyone yet :)

Other than that, I feel like progress is being made.  The measurements I made this week show some progress, but I feel may be a little flawed.  I didn't drop any weight, but after three separate measurements of my body composition, I came up with the result that I dropped a little bit of body fat this week.  The reasons for this can be that I may have added a little bit of lean body mass, but not enough to show a considerable increase in muscle diameter in the key areas.

My diet last week was pretty good.  I did splurge a bit with some Volcano nachos at Margarita-ville in Westgate last friday, and burgers and chicken wings on Saturday at Paul's birthday party.  But, the rest of the week I was sticking to the diet very well.  I also missed my cardio workout on Saturday :(   But even with all that, I still managed to maintain the weight I was the previous week, and managed to shed another .5% body fat.

The numbers for last week are shown below.

3/27/11
Weight: 156 lbs
Body fat %: 11.5%
Caloric intake: about 2150 Calories/day

4/3/11:
Weight: 156 lbs
Body Fat %: 10.9%
Caloric intake: about 2200 Calories/day

This week, I feel fantastic.  Muscles feel like they are getting a fantastic workout, and the days after my runs, my body feels leaner.  I'm very excited about this week's numbers, which I will promptly post on Sunday morning.