Race weight achieved. I am not 22% bodyfat, though.
Showing posts with label weight loss. Show all posts
Showing posts with label weight loss. Show all posts
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Progress to Date
OK, I guess I figured I may as well take some pics of myself. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm so vain, blah, blah, blah.
I have to say that my back feels really, really solid. There is almost zero hitch in it anymore from any angle, twisting, nothing. So 4 months after injuring the hell out of it, I'm healed! I think the extra core stuff helps, so I need to thank a few people for inspiring me to change things up a bit: Brett for the jump rope and Louis (no I'm not yet training for a Murph!) for the pushups and pullups. The extra abs work was my own idea because I needed to change things up there.
I still have a little over a pound of weight to lose, and hopefully it will be fat, just as I'm pretty sure the other 2.5 have been. And then once I've achieved that, I will reassess and figure out what's next. I tell ya, it doesn't get any easier to stay in shape as each year passes, although the cardiovascular stuff isn't that hard, and I haven't slowed down there yet. But maintaining lean mass is a little more challenging, and gosh, I'm just so used to having some muscle and do not want to lose any.
Well, here I am:
I have to say that my back feels really, really solid. There is almost zero hitch in it anymore from any angle, twisting, nothing. So 4 months after injuring the hell out of it, I'm healed! I think the extra core stuff helps, so I need to thank a few people for inspiring me to change things up a bit: Brett for the jump rope and Louis (no I'm not yet training for a Murph!) for the pushups and pullups. The extra abs work was my own idea because I needed to change things up there.
I still have a little over a pound of weight to lose, and hopefully it will be fat, just as I'm pretty sure the other 2.5 have been. And then once I've achieved that, I will reassess and figure out what's next. I tell ya, it doesn't get any easier to stay in shape as each year passes, although the cardiovascular stuff isn't that hard, and I haven't slowed down there yet. But maintaining lean mass is a little more challenging, and gosh, I'm just so used to having some muscle and do not want to lose any.
Well, here I am:
Monday, March 16, 2009
Pics!!!
Shelley has been bugging me to post some, so here you go.
First, proof of my little fat trimming exercise:
And yes I have a bruised toenail on my left big toe from something stupid.
Yesterday I held a baking and cooking orgy--here are pics of the roll of one batch of cookies I made and then the finished product of both cookies. There is a secret ingredient in them, and they turned out really well!
No pics of moi until I feel like it. Since it's warming up and I'm getting outside and starting to brown up, I'll wait until I no longer feel like I'm pasty white.
First, proof of my little fat trimming exercise:
And yes I have a bruised toenail on my left big toe from something stupid.Yesterday I held a baking and cooking orgy--here are pics of the roll of one batch of cookies I made and then the finished product of both cookies. There is a secret ingredient in them, and they turned out really well!
No pics of moi until I feel like it. Since it's warming up and I'm getting outside and starting to brown up, I'll wait until I no longer feel like I'm pasty white.
Weekly Workout Totals 03/09/2009-03/15/2009 and Miscellaneous Stuff
I had a good week of training last week. In looking at the hours below, it doesn't include all my extra stuff, so in reality I put in about 16 hours, which is cool! I'm feeling strong--I am doing 50+ pushups a day now, and yesterday for the first time I did 7/6/5 chinups, so I may be closing in on the elusive 10 chinups straight, which will be a real marker for me.
On the weight loss front, I am at about 111.5 lbs. now, down from 114 just 2.5 weeks ago, so all is well there. In terms of where the weight is coming off of, it's a little around my belly and then it must be pretty equally everywhere else, because the only measurement on me that has gotten smaller is 2" below my waist and maybe 1/2" off my butt and hips. But that's exactly what I wanted. Another 1.5 lbs. and I'll be at my fighting weight of 110, and I don't feel skinny at all. I may even go splurge and get a precise bodyfat measurement done just so I know what's going on.
My diet is still far from clean...I like beer (1 a day most days) and some days I just have to reload all the calories I've burned off lest I feel like crap. Even though I've been eating below my needs at least 5 out of 7 days in the week, I don't usually feel especially hungry, but I am becoming aware of the need for more carbs as my training load is increasing steadily. The one thing I have done without for 2 weeks is any sort of candy (I have a special bag of jelly beans with my name on it for 2 weeks from now) and chips most of the time, although on Saturday after 3.5 hours of training, I had to have some Pringles, but just one serving, so not like I'm binging on them. I baked some cookies yesterday and had 2 of them, and the rest of them are being given away otherwise I'd eat them all!
As my training load increases, I am beginning to have cravings for things that I typically want during heavy training--rice pudding, massive amounts of sushi, Pringles, Cheetos, gummi bears, spaghetti carbonara (made with prosciutto) and big hunks of meat. In other words, I am about to make a 6 month guest appearance on the Food Channel!
But I am going to try and keep it fairly clean except for 1 or 2 days each week through next week, which was the promise I made to myself and want to keep. Once I am officially at 16+ hours per week (TWO WEEKS AWAY!!!!), though, all bets are off, and you'll hear me periodically chanting, "SUGAR, SUGAR, SUGAR" or "MEAT, MEAT, MEAT" or "FAT, FAT, FAT" depending on what my body is craving.
Did I say I love food? And exercise?
Spring is in the air now here. There are fat robins everywhere, birds singing early in the morning, I saw the migrating Sandhill cranes overhead yesterday, and the mallards are starting to get sexually aggressive. Tis the season!
On the weight loss front, I am at about 111.5 lbs. now, down from 114 just 2.5 weeks ago, so all is well there. In terms of where the weight is coming off of, it's a little around my belly and then it must be pretty equally everywhere else, because the only measurement on me that has gotten smaller is 2" below my waist and maybe 1/2" off my butt and hips. But that's exactly what I wanted. Another 1.5 lbs. and I'll be at my fighting weight of 110, and I don't feel skinny at all. I may even go splurge and get a precise bodyfat measurement done just so I know what's going on.
My diet is still far from clean...I like beer (1 a day most days) and some days I just have to reload all the calories I've burned off lest I feel like crap. Even though I've been eating below my needs at least 5 out of 7 days in the week, I don't usually feel especially hungry, but I am becoming aware of the need for more carbs as my training load is increasing steadily. The one thing I have done without for 2 weeks is any sort of candy (I have a special bag of jelly beans with my name on it for 2 weeks from now) and chips most of the time, although on Saturday after 3.5 hours of training, I had to have some Pringles, but just one serving, so not like I'm binging on them. I baked some cookies yesterday and had 2 of them, and the rest of them are being given away otherwise I'd eat them all!
As my training load increases, I am beginning to have cravings for things that I typically want during heavy training--rice pudding, massive amounts of sushi, Pringles, Cheetos, gummi bears, spaghetti carbonara (made with prosciutto) and big hunks of meat. In other words, I am about to make a 6 month guest appearance on the Food Channel!
But I am going to try and keep it fairly clean except for 1 or 2 days each week through next week, which was the promise I made to myself and want to keep. Once I am officially at 16+ hours per week (TWO WEEKS AWAY!!!!), though, all bets are off, and you'll hear me periodically chanting, "SUGAR, SUGAR, SUGAR" or "MEAT, MEAT, MEAT" or "FAT, FAT, FAT" depending on what my body is craving.
Did I say I love food? And exercise?
Spring is in the air now here. There are fat robins everywhere, birds singing early in the morning, I saw the migrating Sandhill cranes overhead yesterday, and the mallards are starting to get sexually aggressive. Tis the season!
| Weekly Workout Totals | 03/09/2009-03/15/2009 This week's totals are sponsored by the coming of spring! |
| Swim: | 9800 yards (5.56 miles) in 3.43 hours; 23% of weekly workout time; approx. 1202 calories burned Canadian: 8961.12 meters |
| Bike: | Approx. 99.96 miles in 5.68 hours; 38% of weekly workout time; approx. 2870 calories burned; Total TSS=325 Canadian: 160.87 kilometers |
| Run: | Approx. 30.33 miles in 4.6 hours; 31% of weekly workout time; approx. 2085 calories burned Canadian: 48.81 kilometers |
| Strength: | 1.33 hours; 9% of weekly workout time; approx. 333 calories burned |
| All Sports: | Approx. 135.85 miles in 15.04 hours; approx. 6490 calories burned Canadian: 8.07 kilometers |
| Sleep: | 8.07 hours avg./night |
| Stretching: | 2.37 hours. Massage: 1 hours |
Thursday, March 05, 2009
113--The Plan is Working
I'm down about 1.5 lbs. in 6 days and pretty sure it was fat. I've been tracking my calorie intake and calculating daily and cumulative deficit in 2 ways (cuz I'm anal): first, based on what I was told about a year ago the last time I had my BMR/RMR measured, which was to just plug in 500 calories per hour for any type of exercise I do (swim, bike, run, lift) and second, based on what I have estimated my actual burn rates to be for different types of exercise taking average pace into consideration.
I'm pretty sure I don't generally burn 500 calories per hour swimming, although the last time I used an HRM in an Ironman, I think my swim came out to about 750, so under the stress and excitement of a race, that may be true. For biking, the Ergomo tells me exactly what I am burning based on my power output, and on an average basis, it comes out to about 550. For running, I definitely don't meet the 100 calories/mile estimate because I am so small, but if I remember from when I used an HRM, it was around 525-550/hour. Strength I have no clue!
So my 6-day deficit as measured with what I believe to be my burn rates is about 3800 calories, which should be a little over a pound. I've been adding about 10 minutes of extra stuff per day that is not included in my calories burned total, and if you figure on 500 calories per hour for that, it comes out to another 500 calories, so maybe 4300 (although I'm not including that extra stuff in my calories burned for purposes of dropping weight), and 4300/3500 is 1.3. Nice!
It is good to see that the old calories in/calories out equation is working the way it should. I frequently hear people bitching and moaning about how they can't lose weight even though they believe they are technically creating a significant calorie deficit. I always tell them that the only way to prove their statements is by having their RMR/BMR measured, their exercise burn rates approximated based on that (which requires a bodyfat % calculation, too), and then keep meticulous records of intake and output. But then one needs to recognize that as you drop weight, your RMR for sure is going to change, and unless you keep adding more exercise, your BMR would drop, too. So it is true that there's a delicate balance between how much you eat, how much exercise you do (on average), how lean you are and to an extent, age. Which is why I have had rules of thumb about what I will and won't eat based on the average number of training hours per week that I do, and I knew full well that I was not paying close attention to that this winter, and presto, extra fat. DUH.
Why should RMR/BMR be affected by age, all other things being equal? Technically, it may not be. That is, if you maintain the same bodyfat %, then as you age, all other things being equal, your RMR/BMR should stay pretty much level. Many RMR/BMR estimates will use your age but not your bodyfat %. So the assumption is that as you age that you get fatter, which is true for most sedentary to moderately active people. Is it more difficult to maintain lean mass as you age? I think that may be true to an extent, but is it biochemically based? I doubt it. I think that as we age we adjust our standards to be "OK" with a little more fat than we had when we were younger. I mean, face it, it's hard work to stay lean and muscular. Like I always say, if it were easy, then everyone would be ripped and gorgeous!
I can tell you from my pre-endurance days that I was able to maintain a weight of around 118 lbs. on very few calories--maybe 1800 per day. I think there is an individual daily quantity of food that makes you feel "not deprived." I remember when I was watching my intake like a hawk and that 1800 did not seem like a whole lot of food. Since I've been tracking things again for almost a week, it "feels" like around 2000-2200 is satiating to me. But if I wasn't doing all the CV stuff, that would be enough for me to get fat pretty fast.
A nice by product of the extra stuff that I'm doing is that I'm using/developing muscles that don't normally come with the "triathlon" package. It feels really good! Jumping rope is an excellent warmup for anything else and is awesome for your calves, core and arms, the pushups and pullups may be helping me in the water, and changing up/supplementing my abs work was something I needed to do anyway.
Where this will all lead, who knows. In case you're asking the question, am I vain? Of course. I'd like to stop/slow down the aging process as much as the next person, but I also want to feel strong in my daily activities aside from triathlon. It's nice, for example, to be able to shovel my driveway when I feel like it and not be sore, or to rake leaves for 4 hours or be bent over for a few hours gardening. And it was really nice to be able to weather a stupid back injury--I'm not saying I did it with aplomb, but it could have been much, much worse.
I'm sure some of you are wondering when I will post pics of my work. Give me another week and we'll see what I think after dropping another pound.
I'm pretty sure I don't generally burn 500 calories per hour swimming, although the last time I used an HRM in an Ironman, I think my swim came out to about 750, so under the stress and excitement of a race, that may be true. For biking, the Ergomo tells me exactly what I am burning based on my power output, and on an average basis, it comes out to about 550. For running, I definitely don't meet the 100 calories/mile estimate because I am so small, but if I remember from when I used an HRM, it was around 525-550/hour. Strength I have no clue!
So my 6-day deficit as measured with what I believe to be my burn rates is about 3800 calories, which should be a little over a pound. I've been adding about 10 minutes of extra stuff per day that is not included in my calories burned total, and if you figure on 500 calories per hour for that, it comes out to another 500 calories, so maybe 4300 (although I'm not including that extra stuff in my calories burned for purposes of dropping weight), and 4300/3500 is 1.3. Nice!
It is good to see that the old calories in/calories out equation is working the way it should. I frequently hear people bitching and moaning about how they can't lose weight even though they believe they are technically creating a significant calorie deficit. I always tell them that the only way to prove their statements is by having their RMR/BMR measured, their exercise burn rates approximated based on that (which requires a bodyfat % calculation, too), and then keep meticulous records of intake and output. But then one needs to recognize that as you drop weight, your RMR for sure is going to change, and unless you keep adding more exercise, your BMR would drop, too. So it is true that there's a delicate balance between how much you eat, how much exercise you do (on average), how lean you are and to an extent, age. Which is why I have had rules of thumb about what I will and won't eat based on the average number of training hours per week that I do, and I knew full well that I was not paying close attention to that this winter, and presto, extra fat. DUH.
Why should RMR/BMR be affected by age, all other things being equal? Technically, it may not be. That is, if you maintain the same bodyfat %, then as you age, all other things being equal, your RMR/BMR should stay pretty much level. Many RMR/BMR estimates will use your age but not your bodyfat %. So the assumption is that as you age that you get fatter, which is true for most sedentary to moderately active people. Is it more difficult to maintain lean mass as you age? I think that may be true to an extent, but is it biochemically based? I doubt it. I think that as we age we adjust our standards to be "OK" with a little more fat than we had when we were younger. I mean, face it, it's hard work to stay lean and muscular. Like I always say, if it were easy, then everyone would be ripped and gorgeous!
I can tell you from my pre-endurance days that I was able to maintain a weight of around 118 lbs. on very few calories--maybe 1800 per day. I think there is an individual daily quantity of food that makes you feel "not deprived." I remember when I was watching my intake like a hawk and that 1800 did not seem like a whole lot of food. Since I've been tracking things again for almost a week, it "feels" like around 2000-2200 is satiating to me. But if I wasn't doing all the CV stuff, that would be enough for me to get fat pretty fast.
A nice by product of the extra stuff that I'm doing is that I'm using/developing muscles that don't normally come with the "triathlon" package. It feels really good! Jumping rope is an excellent warmup for anything else and is awesome for your calves, core and arms, the pushups and pullups may be helping me in the water, and changing up/supplementing my abs work was something I needed to do anyway.
Where this will all lead, who knows. In case you're asking the question, am I vain? Of course. I'd like to stop/slow down the aging process as much as the next person, but I also want to feel strong in my daily activities aside from triathlon. It's nice, for example, to be able to shovel my driveway when I feel like it and not be sore, or to rake leaves for 4 hours or be bent over for a few hours gardening. And it was really nice to be able to weather a stupid back injury--I'm not saying I did it with aplomb, but it could have been much, much worse.
I'm sure some of you are wondering when I will post pics of my work. Give me another week and we'll see what I think after dropping another pound.
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