Weight Loss and Healthy Living

The journal entry shares a very important point. While I had performed another 12-week segment before, my results were not nearly as impressive. Why? Because on that segment, I was only "doing my best" and had several days a little less than perfect. On this challenge, however, I was 100% all the way - not "doing my best" but "giving it everything, my all." The difference showed up in my stats as the fat melted away.


7/14/2003

I was filling out my trusty little blog and I HATE the way that damned yellow square just glares at me. Funny thing is, I do not regret it at all ... I probably would have rolled into reds if I hadn't taken that day, but does it have to stand out so sharply on my calendar? Then I got to thinking about it, about my previous blog. I was struggling for a few weeks and really didn't make progress. It reminds me of my first nine months in BFL, when I was floundering before things clicked and I really "brought it home so to speak."

See, people will ask me ... Jeremy, we see in BLOG #x1 you made almost ZERO progress and in BLOG #x2 you made great progress. So what did you change about your nutrition and training?

The answer is very simple ..... I kept it green.

It's not some special supplement, it's not a new style of nutrition or a special training program that I pulled off of the web. I simply made a plan and stuck to it. And suddenly I have a calendar that is mostly green, instead of the other blog which was as much yellow as it was green, and suddenly there is progress.

People seem to be SO frustrated when I tell them the difference between my first 9 months of BFL and the 12 weeks that earned me the title of 2000 Finisher was simply believing in myself. They think it is a cliché answer and want to know the REAL TRUTH. They want to know what supplements I started using, how I cut carbs at night and ate only chicken and broccoli and avoided pork and beer and did cardio on an empty stomach and rested exactly 63 seconds between sets instead of 45 and used supersets instead of dropsets and walked up the stairs instead of using the elevator. When I shake my head and tell them I did the exact same training, nutrition, etc. in the stellar 12 weeks as I did in the mediocre 9 months, it just doesn't sink in.

LISTEN. I had an epiphany. I was inspired. Someone lit my fire. I crossed the abyss. I believed in me.

Believing in me, it was easy to drag myself out of bed and move into the gym and do something I KNEW was going to pay off in the end, instead of doubting my abilities and sleeping in another day. Believing in me, it was easy to eat the food I brought with me from work and rest assured it was helping me build my body into something healthier and stronger, rather than doubting myself and succumbing to the occassional chip or oreo or cupcake, because, well, I'm never gonna be in shape anyway, so why not enjoy the occassional treat?

So many little things add up. I'm 100% convinced you can eat the same calories and even perform the same workout with the same weight, and if you do it with fire and enthusiasm and faith in yourself, you will build better results than if you simply go through the motions or struggle through it. This is why I try to push the envelope with nutrition so much. I hear too many people complain about chalky shakes or getting sick from shoving protein down their throats. OUCH! Who wants to shovel food for the rest of their life? This is about healthy lifestyles, and I think for food to help you maintain your weight, you should ENJOY it.

This isn't voodoo magic or unlock your inner potential mind power x-rays. This is common sense. Your brain, while you commonly think of it as that clever little instrument that allows you to spout such clever phrases in your blog, is doing a zillion other things as well. Your brain makes your heart pump, even if you don't have to think about it. Your brain helps your lungs breathe. Your brain is responsible for sending the signal to releaze the enzymes that break down fat in your body. Your brain stores the neurological connections and optimizes those channels to lift that weight more effectively doing that same exercise the next time around. Your brain does all of this. So ... think about it. When you go to work and are in a rotten mood, how productive are you? As opposed to feeling WANTED, as if your company cares about you, and you are in a GREAT mood. So now consider your brain. If you are feeling rotten, bloated, miserable, do you think your brain is going to be enthusiastic? Oh, yeah, here, lets uncouple some protein ... yeah, just a little, I need to catch up on sleep ... okay, shuttle some amino acids over there, nah, don't make it any bigger, just repair that damage the jerk did flinging those stupid weights around.

Um, no.

What you want is ... HEY EVERYONE! Check this out ... FLOOD OF QUALITY AMINO ACIDS! And some stimulation over on the biceps ... let's get to building! Alright, hoist that thing up. And while you're at it, repair that slight tear to the rotator cuff - in fact, reinforce it, I'll send another flood of aminos, and let's channel those neurons to be about 15% more efficient so we can leverage the weight better next time. What? Not enough fuel to build up the biceps? NO PROBLEM ... here, pump some fat out of this abdomen, you'll get all the energy you need! In fact, let's burn some out of those love handles, too!

Sorry. That might be a little extreme ... but seriously. Love what you do. Embrace it. Above all, believe in yourself.

The only difference between a successful program and, well, just another program, is the amount of green ... and the green isn't about things that happen in your life, it's about YOU and what you make of it.

I'm out.

7/16/2003

Weight: 190 (ack .. c'mon, let's get this scale moving!)

Training:

20 minutes @ 3mph maximum incline in the morning

In the evening, a gut-wrenching sweat flinging gasping for air struggle against time on the treadmill:

2 minutes @ 5.9 mph

4 cycles of 6.9, 7.9, 8.9, and 9.9 mph

And a super-cycle of 10.9 mph where I thought I'd burst at the seams (not that I have any seams, it would seem).

Nutrition:

Supplementation:
1 tbsp flaxseed oil
1000mg fish oil
50mg Niacin (B3)
1 tablet "The Bridge" multi-vitamin
4 tablets TwinLab multi-mineral
2000mg Vitamin C
400IU Vitamin E
2 servings CytoVol
60mg ephedrine / 600mg caffeine

Morning:
8oz tropical punch (100% natural fruit juice)

Breakfast:
1 apple
1 orange

Early meal:
1 slice sprouted grain bread
2 soy sausage patties
2 cups green beans

Lunch:
GeniSoy Chunky Peanut Butter Fudge

Afternoon meal :
Amy's vegan burrito
2 cups green beans

Dinner:
1 cup chopped chicken breast
1/2 cup green peas

Calories: 1747
Fat: 43g (6g saturated) 22%
Sodium: 2970mg
Potassium: 3580mg
Carbhoydrate: 232g (43g fiber / 32g sugar) 52%
Protein: 113g 26%
Water: 203oz

HOOAH!

7/16/2003

Well, I went ahead and measured more than just my gut to get a more precise feel for my body fat. The results were:

Chest: 4mm
Triceps: 7mm
Suprailiac: 8mm
Abdomen: 17mm
Thigh: 12mm

As you can see, I "carry low". Consensus is 10% body fat. One method is 9.7 and the other is 10.4 which gives us a nice average, now, doesn't it? I could care less about the thigh. If I were getting on stage, then that would be important, but my quadriceps are large enough that I can take good pictures at 12mm. It's the abdomen I have to work on, that needs to be 10mm or less ... the rate at which those are dwindling is increasing so I'm confident I can make it, I allow for 1% of my body fat per week so that puts me at 6 - 7 percent for the shoot. Not bad, not beating any previous records, but hopefully I'll be much more muscular this time so the pictures will show better.

7/17/2003

Weight: 188.5

Training:

20 minute @ maximum incline (3mph) (morning)

Level 5/6 10-rep HST training

25 minute @ maximum incline (3mph) (post-workout)

Nutrition:

Supplementation:
1 tbsp flaxseed oil
1000mg fish oil
50mg Niacin (B3)
1 tablet "The Bridge" multi-vitamin
4 tablets TwinLab multi-mineral
2000mg Vitamin C
400IU Vitamin E
2 servings CytoVol
6g creatine
60mg ephedrine / 600mg caffeine

Breakfast:
Dr. McDougall's Oatmeal and 4 grains

Early morning:
2 Prosage patties (soy)
1 slice sprouted grain bread
2 cups green beans

Lunch:
Nature Valley Granola Bar

Afternoon:
Cha-Cha Chili (soy)
2 cups green beans

Dinner:
GeniSoy Chocolate Fudge Bar

Post-workout:
6oz soy milk
1 banana
1/2 cup raw sugar
1 cup water
1 cup ice

Calories: 2133
Fat: 44g (6g saturated) 18%
Sodium: 2250mg
Potassium: 3440mg
Carbohydrate: 353g (48g fiber / 73g sugar) 64%
Protein: 96g 18%
Water: 180oz

I'm outtie!

7/18/2003

Somehow I lost a day this week ... hm. No matter.

Weight: 188.5 (stuck, stuck, stuck)

Training: hellacious interval run

Nutrition:

Supplementation:
1 tbsp flaxseed oil
1000mg fish oil
50mg Niacin (B3)
1 tablet "The Bridge" multi-vitamin
4 tablets TwinLab multi-mineral
2000mg Vitamin C
400IU Vitamin E
2 servings CytoVol
60mg ephedrine / 600mg caffeine

Breakfast:
Mojo Mixed Nuts & Nature Valley Oats N' Honey

Early meal:
2 cups spinach
Fantastic Country Lentil soup

Late meal:
2 cups spinach
1 slice organic sprouted grain bread
1 California burger

Dinner: Luna s'mores

Calories: 1757
Fat: 54g (7g saturated) 27%
Sodium: 3110mg
Potassium: 4430mg
Carbohydrate: 239g (51g fiber / 62g sugar) 52%
Protein: 98g 21%
Water: 173oz

Onward ... !

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 2.5 License, unless otherwise noted at the footer of the article. Article boilerplates, terms, conditions, and licenses supercede this license when present. Any republication of any form must attribute Jeremy Likness as the author and copyright holder. Any republication on the web must be accompanied by a live, direct, clickable, and visible link to www.LoseFatNotFaith.com. Redirects whereby the actual link does not point directly to the losefatnotfaith.com domain are expressly prohibited with the exception of affiliate links generated through the Lose Fat, Not Faith Affiliate Program; improper links will result in termination of rights to republish this content.