I'm sitting here right before breakfast on Sunday morning, and was pretty excited about the results, so I decided to write this post before I eat (and for those that know me, I am unlikely to do anything before I eat :))
So what did week 4 look like? Well, both weight and body fat are slowly decreasing. I start to get nervous when I hover near the 150 lb mark. I start to feel like that's a little too light, and starts to impact my working weights that I'm lifting. Nonetheless, I'm getting there, and trying to take an optimistic point of view. For example, during the week while fasting, I've seen body fat numbers as low as 10%, which are a little different than the numbers on weigh-in day. I accept that % errors are a part of life when dealing with equipment and methodologies that are less than perfect. I may work out a mathematical equation to normalize these errors and make a best guess at what the numbers actually are... stay tuned for that. In the mean time, I decided to take a gander and see what I can find as far as other means to estimate body fat %, and I found a fairly reliable calculation (within 1 - 3% error of a water displacement test) developed by the US Navy. Calculation estimates are great because they aren't affected by things like hydration level, but are bad because they try to stuff everything into a "one size fits all" calculation. It takes into account height, waist measurements, and neck size for males, using ratios between them to come up with a fairly accurate ballpark guess. Enough with that banter for now. Later on, you'll see why I brought this up.
So, what did I do this week? The only small change I made was adding a short workout on saturday. I usually don't like to workout 2 days in a row, and it would be so much easier to not do that if the week was 8 days long... which it isn't. I wanted to add a 4th day so that I can ensure that I do all the exercises twice each week, and not impact my recovery time. On monday and friday, I did workout B (Squat, overhead press, dead lift), wednesday I did Workout A (Squat, Bench, Rows), and on Saturday, I added a workout C (Power cleans, Bench). Power cleans hit the legs and back pretty hard, so its a good exercise to do while not squatting and still works the back, so its not too bad if you don't row that day. I like this routine better because on the strict ABA, BAB routine, you can go up to 5 days without doing some of the strongest lifts: Bench and Deadlift. Exercises that work smaller muscle groups harder like the overhead press, can safely be done within 2 - 3 days of recovery without impacting recovery. I wanted to ensure that I did the lifts I'm struggling with (bench, and press) twice each week, but not overload myself during the normal workout.
Ok, so I added a day - even though I said in the last post that I would just add a workout on each A and B day to bench and press 3 x each week... why? Well, first, to keep my workout to a reasonable length, I had to drop all my exercises down to 3 sets. That hurts when you can actually do 5 sets at a certain weight. Second, the recovery time was not good. By Friday, I was struggling with working weights that I normally crush! I didn't like this. Recovery is good. I'm not 18 anymore...
With these changes, and sticking to the 2-day a week 24 hour IF diet, I'm seeing pretty good initial results. I weighed in today at 153.5 lb, and dropped about .5% body fat. That's a good pace, and I will gladly accept it. I did drop some inches this week that were right on par with my predictions last week. Don't remember what I said? I said I expect lean mass to stay relatively the same, while dropping to around 11% body fat, and losing some inches from my chest and hips. The results? I'm at 11.2% body fat, lost 1/4" off my chest, waist and hips. Lean mass was relatively the same, but I did lose a little bit 136.79 to 136.31 lb. So.. here's the results:
| Weight | 153.5 lb. |
| Body fat % | 11.2% |
| Chest | 34.75" |
| Waist | 30.75" |
| Hips | 37" |
| Thighs | 21" each |
| Biceps | 13.25" R, 13" L |
So, I talked a little bit about the navy body fat calculation that I found. I've been using that the last two weeks, and I talked a little bit about why I've been using it. I personally think it's a little more accurate than the bio-electric impedance device mainly because it correlates better to the overall numbers I'm seeing. For example, in the past few weeks I've been seeing a decrease in waist, hip and chest size but still seeing the body fat readings as high or higher than before I started, which doesn't make any sense. Also, the calculation gives me the same result whether I am fully hydrated, whether its 8:00 am or 9:00 pm. Take a look at the table below: I recorded my weight and body fat readings from both the bioelectic impedance device and the Navy calculation. Both are similar, when you compare it to the second table, showing the measurements of key body areas, the calculation makes a whole lot more sense.
Body Fat Numbers Over Past Month
| Date | Weight (lbs) | BI body fat% | Navy body fat% |
|---|---|---|---|
| 02/06/12 | 167 | 12.9% | 14.41% |
| 02/11/12 | 163.5 | 13.00% | 13.36% |
| 02/16/12 | 160 | 11.00% | 12.83% |
| 02/26/12 | 156 | 13.00% | 11.75% |
| 03/04/12 | 155 | 11.80% | 11.75% |
| 03/11/12 | 153.5 | 11.30% | 11.20% |
Body Measurements Over Past Month
| Date | Chest (in) | Waist at navel(in) | Hips around glutes(in) | Neck (in) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 02/06/12 | 36.5 | 32.5 | 38 | 15 |
| 02/11/12 | 36 | 32 | 38 | 15 |
| 02/16/12 | 35.5 | 31.75 | 37.5 | 15 |
| 02/26/12 | 35 | 31 | 37.5 | 14.75 |
| 03/04/12 | 35 | 31 | 37.25 | 14.75 |
| 03/11/12 | 34.75 | 30.75 | 37 | 14.75 |
So, as you can see in the second table, week by week, my measurements are decreasing. In the first table, the body fat reading from the BI device has a downward trend, but is kinda fluctuating a little; week two and four, my measurements went down, but the body fat went up, even when my weight decreased... This is not the case for the Navy calculation. This calculation shows a steady decrease, except in week 5 when I stayed the same. This is much more believable, and just judging by how my clothes fit, and how I look in the mirror, this is closer to the truth. So, I'm sticking with that!
Stay tuned for next week's results. Based on the results I'm seeing so far, I'm going to stick with this a little longer and push it out to 12 weeks. So that's 8 more weeks of this experiment (2 months puts me in May, the perfect time to have cut away all that extra fat... hopefully put a little muscle on too so I don't feel too ashamed to take my shirt off at the beach :D )
Finally, my predictions for next week: I expect to lose a lb or two at most, maybe even no weight at all. I'm thinking the body fat number will drop down into the 10.8% range, and maybe lose a small amount of inches on the hips and chest, not expecting too much off the waist. Lean mass should stay relatively the same.
Stay tuned for next week's results. Based on the results I'm seeing so far, I'm going to stick with this a little longer and push it out to 12 weeks. So that's 8 more weeks of this experiment (2 months puts me in May, the perfect time to have cut away all that extra fat... hopefully put a little muscle on too so I don't feel too ashamed to take my shirt off at the beach :D )
Finally, my predictions for next week: I expect to lose a lb or two at most, maybe even no weight at all. I'm thinking the body fat number will drop down into the 10.8% range, and maybe lose a small amount of inches on the hips and chest, not expecting too much off the waist. Lean mass should stay relatively the same.
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