| On cardio ... | Week 4 of 12, Day 24 of 84
... I agree with Tim 110%, there is no faster way to burn off fat than some HIGH INTENSITY cardio. I like to have a little variety in my schedule, so I do enjoy the long, slow runs, but only because I enjoy them, not because they're superior for fat burning. Just to post it, my progress for this 12 week program is set like this:
Wednesday - HIIT
Week 1: 4.5 mph warm-up, 4 cycles of 5.5/6.5/7.5/8.5, 9.5 high point, 4.5 cooldown
Week 2: 4.6 mph warm-up, 4 cycles of 5.6/6.6/7.6/8.6, 9.6 high piont, 4.6 cooldown
... etc ...
Week 12: 5.6 mph warm-up, 4 cycles of 6.6/7.6/8.6/9.6, 10.6 high point, 5.6 cooldown
Friday - Sprints
"Guerilla Cardio" - 4 minutes warm-up, then 8 cycles of 20-second sprints followed by 10-second jogs, followed by 4 minutes coold-down
No specific progress, just running harder each time ... I am able to complete 7 out of the 8 planned sprints, so this Friday I'm going for all 8!
Saturday - Jog
8 - 10 minute pace, not really concerned, I load these based on time:
Week 1: 30 minutes
Week 2: 35 minutes
Week 3: 40 minutes
Week 4: 35 minutes
Week 5: 40 minutes
Week 6: 45 minutes
Week 7: 40 minutes
....
Week 12: 55 minutes
They are "wave-loaded" to keep me from adding too much distance, too fast.
I also LOVE a routine John Berardi gave me. It is simply:
Warm-up 2 minutes
Now go 10mph for 30 seconds
7 mph for 60 seconds
10 mph for 30 seconds
7 mph for 60 seconds
etc only you progress the splits like this:
30/60 35/55 40/50 45/45 50/40 55/35 60/30
So at the end you're doing more 10mph than 7mph. I use 10/7 as an example. You do those cycles within a 20 - 30 minute time frame and progress the splits each week (if you can).
Jeremy
posted by Jeremy on 4/23/2003 11:51:36 AM | | Squats to Hades and Back | Week 4 of 12, Day 24 of 84 cont...
Yes ... last night was the night I dreaded, and revered. The exercise I love ... and hate. The one that when I wake up in the morning, I have butterflies in my stomach ... a mix of dread at the waves of nausea that welcome any visitor to the land of SQUAT, and excitement at being able to stomp the iron and push new limits.
Last week I was at 235 and I was really straining. This week I loaded up 245 and with mild trepedation, stepped up to the rack. I had already completed my warm-up set, so this was showtime. I stepped underneath the bar and positioned my hands at slightly wider than shoulder width - this is more of an athletic than a bodybuilding or powerlifting position for the squat. I let my wrists flex backwards. I retracted my scapulae and imagined a hook in my chest pulling up and out and looked straight ahead. I slowly rose and felt the cold iron settle against the cushion of my deltoids and upper back. Then, sucking in a deep breath of air, I stood up and stepped backwards into position.
It was amazing at first, because the weight didn't feel nearly as heavy as I had recalled the week prior. I took another deep breath of air, pulling down into my stomach, then pulled my belly button towards my lower back and contracted my abdominal muscles. I focused on maintaining my scapular retraction and the chest up and out. I began my descent, sinking backwards, letting my hips, knees, and ankles flex in unision as I resisted gravity's urge to send the iron plummeting to the earth. My thighs struck parallel, but this is not a partial squat, this is the real deal - the full range of motion, down into the hole, butt close to the ground, working not just quads but glutes and hamstrings and, yes, accepting that some shearing force will stress my knee caps on the ascent. I touched ground zero and paused, down on my haunches, amazed that I was in this position, such a full range of motion, with so much weight, and then, undaunted, began to resist the Earth's pull and ascend back upwards. This time, focus on squeezing the glutes and maintaining the upright posture, so that my ascent would be a mirror image of the descent and not some crazy dip-forward-and-rise scenario that so many people fall into. After I passed the sticking point and the abdominal pressure began to subside, I began the expulsion of air from my lungs and rose to the upward position.
I rocked 2 sets of these puppies and didn't bat an eye - so it's on to 255 next week!
My workout looked like this:
2 x 6 squat @ 245
1 x 6 front squat @ 165
2 x 6 leg extensions @ 200
2 x 6 stiff-legged dead-lifts @ 245
1 x 6 dumbbell lunge @ 70
1 x 6 curl @ 90
1 x 6 smith machine lunges @ 125
My wife made an INCREDIBLE (as usual) dinner last night. She cooked some chicken, then took a bed of baby greens, added olives, diced bell peppers, cucumbers, and edamame (soy beans), then dumped the chicken on top and poured on her homemade dressing (chef's secret) ... it was out of this world!
I seem to have come down with a sinus infection. It'll be interesting to see how this pans out. In the past, I would have the initial day of an irritated nose, then it would get so heavy with pain in my throat and congestion that I'd be miserable sick for 2 - 3 days (sometimes having to take a day off of work) and then there'd be a week of clearing out my sinuses. I've noticed with my new style of eating, specifically with the elimination of dairy, that I haven't had the typical sinus infections I was accustomed to in the past, so I'm curious to see how I handle this one. It seems that it has already tried to hit me it's hardest shot today, but my body is going ... so? Is that all you've got? And I have a suspicion that I'll kick this puppy to the curb by tomorrow. Let's hope I'm not wrong!
Now for some shout outs ...
X Here's my take - it's a holistic approach. Nutrition is where I manipulate fat the most, and exercise is where I manipulate muscle the most. Is your idea of moderate cardio followed by HIIT going to help with fat loss? Certainly, as it contributes to the whole equation. But could you achieve the same results by manipulating your nutrition or modifying another workout? Absolutely. Every element of your holistic approach has its pros and cons, and should fit together in the overall "puzzle" to make the picture complete. For example ...
Moderate intensity cardio is easy for people to do, you can increase the results simply by spending more time, and in some cases (such as speed walking) has less impact to your joints, back, etc.
High intensity cardio burns more calories in less time, is slightly anabolic, raises your metabolism more over a 24 hour period, but some people have trouble achieving that intensity or have heart conditions or even brain conditions that prevent them from reaching that level of exertion and heart rate.
Weight training burns more calories than moderate cardio and elevates metabolism more over a 24 hour period, but in addition to fatiguing your muscles, it taxes your central nervous system and therefore is not viable to do day in/day out.
There are more exercises, too, and they all are puzzle pieces to fit into the equation. The key is to have a program that has progression built in without overtraining. So .. ask yourself ... with what you propose ... does it PROGRESS you towards your goal (i.e. expend more calories / burn more fat / improve cardiovascular health) -- I think it DOES, it is INTERESTING and will it keep you ENGAGED? And is it too much, or just enough, or not enough? Once you answer those questions, and more, then you'll know if it's right for you ... I don't think it's the panacea of fat loss, but I think it makes a lot of sense for what you're doing!
Chuck Reynolds I have no doubts you will be incredibly successful in any of your endeavors. You said, "I am just curious how my body will respond" and that statement right there almost guarantees success, IF you "keep close tabs on performance" etc. What works for me doesn't affect you the same, etc, and I see from your blog and previous ones that you are not afraid to try new routines and nutrition approaches and monitor your progress. By trying these new ventures and keeping tabs on your progress, you'll have your body "dialed in" in no time! Best of success, and keep us posted!
Dianna You're most welcome! Ah-hah ... so you had some assessments done before ... that's great, because someone in person can do a much, much better job at evaluating your condition than those of us online! I will get the links out to you!
Everyone else - keep it green and take care! I leave you with this ...
THE JOURNEY, NOT THE DESTINATION © 2001-2003 Jeremy Likness.
Excerpt from the weekly newsletter, Peak Weekly, that I used to publish. It caught my attention because this was a mention of Zach over a year ago ... it's amazing how things can come full circle, and I'm now posting this to his own web site!
Last week, I spoke about the universal law of reciprocation. This week? I'm going to be a little more selfish. I'm going to talk about ME. More importantly, what I found inside myself today. Tonight I had a cardio session that was earth shattering, and I had to rush home to write about it. It was an incredible experience that I have to share!
Since August of 1999 I have run hundreds of miles. I have lifted millions of pounds. I have consumed thousands of pounds of lean proteins, whole, unprocessed carbohydrates, healthy fats and fibrous vegetables. I have lost over 65 pounds of fat and slashed my body fat down to low levels while steadily increasing strength and muscle size. Despite all of these "statistics" that I can share, it's not really those accomplishments that keep me going. In fact, it is only a few, rare moments that last but a few seconds or minutes that really make a difference in my life and stand out amongst my accomplishments.
Before August of 1999, if I thumbed through a magazine and saw an incredible picture of someone I knew, I would say to myself, "That's not fair. Why can't that be me?" Just a few days ago, I was reading a new issue of a popular fitness magazine when I saw a picture of someone who looking strikingly familiar. I did a double take, read the caption, and realized it WAS someone I knew! A good friend of mine who lives here in the Atlanta area was featured in an EAS advertisement - his incredible before and after pictures were posted there for thousands to see.
What were my thoughts? No jealously nor envy, only pride. I know Zach to be an honest, humble man - he did not even realize that article had been published. Now that he knows, will he run to everyone and "brag" about his accomplishment? Not at all. He has transformed on the inside, and while he may share in his excitement with others he knows, his true goals are to help others achieve the same results and to share his journey with others.
You see, physique transformation starts with a goal in mind but along the way, you realize it is the journey and not the destination. The goals are fantastic and I always try to raise the bar, but a true lifestyle is about living, not dying. What happens when you reach the ultimate destination? Do you stop? I hope not - that's why focusing on the destination may be a great tool, but savoring the journey is the greatest step you can make towards success.
Take, for instance, my run today. I had a particular goal to run a certain sequence on the treadmill. I am doing a high intensity interval workout. I set the treadmill to an incline, jog for a few minutes to warm-up, then cycle at a slow, moderate, fast, and extremely fast pace. I then double the incline for an extremely harsh minute, then drop it again and finish with 10 more minutes at a steady pace for a 30-minute workout. Just this past weekend, I obtained my goal with my last set of speeds and distances, so I set a new goal to accomplish today.
The run started out strong and I was just short of finishing the intense 20-minute cycle at the beginning when I totally broke down. I just didn't have the energy and I felt like I would pass out. So I quickly slowed the pace and dropped the incline to catch my breath. There, in that brief moment when I could have felt failure, instead, something different happened. I had a moment of clarity, where I looked deep within myself and saw some potential locked away inside of me that I had not used. It was time to find my inner strength.
One part of my mind had resolved to keep the pace slow and the incline flat to finish the last ten minutes. Then I thought about Zachary and the sense of pride I felt at his accomplishments - and I realized why it was so wonderful. He didn't stumble into the opportunity, he created it. I could let the moment carry me, or I could live the moment. My friend inspired me, and I thought about the "comfort zone" and how easy it is to just settle. I gritted my teeth and decided I would not settle. So I put the incline back up and set the pace to the original pace that I had planned, and started on a journey that lasted 10 minutes but felt like 10 years.
My failure was turning into success but it was a struggle. My legs were like lead, my chest was exploding, and my heart was pounding. It was the moment to give in or give it all I had. I chose to give. I plodded forward and filled myself with thoughts about how blessed my life has been - I thought of my family, my daughter, the friends I've made through living a healthy, fit lifestyle. This lifted me and I looked deeper within and found an even more comforting connection - my spirit. I let that carry me and thought about how there are things in life more important than just the material world that we sense - I let that inner spirit lift my and guide my legs.
Soon even that searching and exploring gave way to the painful reality that my physical self was struggling. Every step was a tremendous effort, every breath felt like it was ripped from my lungs. I looked at the clock and there were still 5 minutes left. Again, I almost faltered, and flipped the speed down and flattened the treadmill, but I realized that now it was a mental game. My body still had strength left - would I give in to my mind, or would I create my own powerful moment - use my own inner strength and triumph? I chose to be a winner, and the reward would be great - it would not be a trophy or recognition or money, it would be knowing that I can create a moment, that I can overcome my mental barriers and push to new limits that I had not experienced. It was knowing that part of my mind was ready to quit and I refused to quit, and instead decided to carry myself forward. You are either living or you are dying, and in that moment I wanted to truly live.
When two minutes remained, I was literally focusing on every movement. I could not even focus on the television set in our clubhouse - my vision was blurred and instead I just let my eyes wander as they would. I tried to keep my breathing steady but even that felt like it was wearing me down. One little thought rose in my mind - "There's nothing left but your body, gravity, calories, and finishing." Suddenly, that thought became a mantra. I lived those few moments with one step "body". Two steps "gravity". Three steps "calories". Four steps "finishing." I plodded forward and focused on nothing more than step. Body. Move. Gravity. Breathe. Calories. Finishing. Step. Move.
The last minute and a half was agonizing. The last 30 seconds seemed like hours. The last 10 seconds was all I could do to keep moving. With 10 seconds left I was ready to jump off of the treadmill. Body. Move. Gravity. Step. Breathe. Calories. Finish. Finish. When the treadmill beeped, I almost broke into tears. I left the machine shift down to a cool down and focused on finishing out. I knew I couldn't just step off the machine, or my blood pressure could shoot through the roof. I was going to do this right.
During my stretching, I realized what I had done. With 10 minutes left, I felt like I had to slow down, that I could not make it. Somehow, I changed those 10 minutes into a personal triumph, and even though the last 10 seconds were a far greater challenge than the first 20, I did it. I made the decision to finish and despite all of the mental games - oh, stop, oh, catch your breath, oh, you can do it later - I overcame. No, I did not reach my goal for the distance and time. In fact, I did not run as far nor burn as many calories as the week before. But it was not a failure to me - it was progress, because I truly lived that workout and truly gave it everything I had.
Walking home, I savored the sensation of accomplishment and went over in my mind how I would share it. I scribbled down some notes so I would not lose the feeling - so that I could write it down for you. Statistics are great tools. Goals and accomplishments make terrific milestones. In order to truly succeed with life, however, you cannot always live for 12 weeks from now or 2 years from now - you must learn to live in the moment. It's not "I'll exercise and then get there and then stop." It's a lifestyle, not a temporary fix. Everyone has a destination, and some people must travel farther than others. To some, that longer journey may seem a burden. However, when you learn to love the journey and realize that it is truly the journey and not the destination, then that longer path will become a reward for you.
That's it. Thank you for letting me share my personal triumph, and how I believe it is the journey, not the destination.
posted by Jeremy on 4/23/2003 8:19:46 AM | | Geek stuff | Week 4 of 12, Day 23 of 84
I just had to post my geek stuff - this is really techno-geeko so if you're not into computers, it might be all gibberish.
One of the first projects I worked on here was the globalization of our weight loss product, MiDieta™. This is similar to eDiets, but was designed specifically for the Spanish-speaking population. The menus are Latin in nature, etc. One of the first deals we signed when I started involved a hospital that wanted to target the English-speaking community. This isn't a direct compete with eDiets because our product is co-branded - so, for example, the Univision versions appears differently than the Terra version, etc.
Well, the original product had been outsourced to another company and thrown together in 3 months. Most of the text was hard-coded into the system ... for example, the HTML code would literally read "Contraseņa" when prompting for password. In order to support a multi-lingual environment, I didn't want to do what many companies do, and mirror the web site with both languages. This creates a maintanance nightmare - if a bug needs to be fixed in one version, you must remember to fix it in the other, etc. Plus, I wanted to be able to keep consistent metrics between the versions and support future languages.
Fortunately, the job I held at Manhattan Associates prior to coming to DrTango, Inc. involved just that - a truly globalized and even localized (i.e. date and currency) web-based application. Only there, we had an architecture team that did the plumbing - here, I "am" the architecture team.
We ended up building it with a number of services. I took the articles that get pumped into the system and allowed an association with language, so the system would request article 5, for example, and the resulting text would be English or Spanish based on the user's preference. For code embedded in the page, I went to a resource driven model. Instead of having, for example, the word Contraseņa, instead I would ask for a resource like this:
objCM.getResource("txt.password")
And it would evaluate to the proper term. These terms were stored in a database, but once requested, I would cache them in a global object before delivering them. Images were the same way ... for example, where we used to hardcode the reference with src="/images/hello.gif" instead, I would ask for the resource like this: Response.Write "src=""" & objImg.getImage("hello.gif") & """" ... initially, the program could find the image anywhere like this:
/images/hello.gif
/images/English/hello.gif
/images/Spanish/hello.gif
But once it was resolved, it would store it in a cache and therefore have the direct path immediately upon the next request.
Interestingly enough, the caching mechanism I built (unfortunately, I had to build it from scratch as we aren't yet on .NET, which has native support) made the new, resource-driven site run FASTER than the old. Other advantages existed, too. For example, in the past, if someone had a change, we'd have to change it in the IT department because the text was embedded in the code. Now that it is database driven, we built an editing tool so the business departments can make and publish changes directly like a true content management system.
I also built in a rating system and a CRM. Basically, I have "visitors" which might be Mr. Anonymous for anyone coming in, might be Mr. Crawler if Google stops by, might be a user if they sign in and we authenticate them, etc. I also have "resources" which can be a page, an article, an image, you name it. Every event is referred from somewhere - I might refer from a newsletter into the page, from page 1 to page 2, or from external site into page 2, for example. All of these are tracked so I now know the article most viewed, the most popular article by partner, the page paths through the site, etc.
What the point of this blog was is that the biggest problem child I've been dealing with is our newsletter. Through our various implementations of the product, we have 160,000 recipients of a weekly newsletter. This newsletter is co-branded down to the partner level, so, for example, Univision Online will have their own set of links. When I joined, we only had two partners, so this was a highly manual process. Going to multilingual added a layer of complexity, because even two partners x 2 languages becomes 4 distinct versions going out. Well, in reality, we now have over 100 combinations of this! We had written some rudimentary tools that replace strings, etc, to facilitate this, but it was still taking an enormous amount of time.
At any rate, I was at the "build it or buy" point and decided to take a week and see what I could build. The solution was similar to the main site. I build a link service component that evaluates links. I pass it a partner, a language, and a volume, and it resolves to a link. I can therefore remotely edit links and cache them as in the main application, etc. Another image service does the same with images. Finally, a volume service takes an XSLT template and plugs in the appropriate information and generates an HTML instance of that combination. For example, I might pass it partner A language English volume 4-23-2003 and it will generate the co-branded HTML code for that partner.
With a nice template to hold it, I built a factor into the template that will generate the code to update the links. So, an administrator can spit out a view of the newsletter, then type in the article to link to a section, click a button ,and it is updated. This is hierarchal, so if I want article "main" to be the same for everyone, I set the global partner, but if I want to override it for partner B, I set partner B and then edit the same section. What's even more exciting is the images. I set it up so that when previewing the template, someone with imaging rights can actually click on a section of the newsletter and upload a new image for that section.
Basically, what was a highly manual process - take last week's HTML, give it to an editor, they try to insert the links, then graphics designs images, names them, passes them to IT, IT uploads them, then gets the HTML, maps the images in the HTML to the names of the images uploaded, then tries to generate several templates based on the partners, yada yada .... now that process is down to:
1. Editor clicks on the template for the new volume, and types in the article numbers for each section (the articles are stored in our content management system, so the article number automatically genreates the link into the article)
2. Graphician clicks on the template and uploads the images they've prepared
3. IT clicks the approve button and the code automatically generates the SMTP encoded information for the 160,000 recipients and sends it on its merry way
So instead of investing in a $200,000 content management system, I built our own little in house one this past week!!! This has, of course, COMPLETELY fried my brain, but it's all in place and working and the "virgin" issue goes out tonight! I am STOKED!!!!!!!! I had to share my geek moment. Not only am I so excited that it took literally 10 minutes to prep the issue from a logistics standpoint (it obviously took longer for the graphics department to create the images, etc) which used to take 1 - 5 hours, but I'm also excited that my brain can now REST.
Time to pop the champagne! I'd love to share a sample, generated newsletter with you, but my goal is not to use bodyblog for mass advertisements, etc. So if you are interested and want to mail me personally, that is fine, but I really just wanted to ramble about the technology, etc. If you are Hispanic or Spanish-speaking and are interested, then definitely, let me know and I can share the URLs.
Jeremy
posted by Jeremy on 4/22/2003 2:48:43 PM | | My take on the | Week 4 of 12, Day 23 of 84 cont...
Well, Ed, here are my thoughts ... probably not in tune with everyone else, but this is based on my own, personal experience both with my own journey and also with the clients I've coached.
First, for measurements, at 300+ pounds, I don't think any measurement is going to be reliable except for scale weight. Even tape measurements can very wildly. You've seen those advertisements that you can lose 4" in your waist in one hour using "wraps" etc ... well, this CAN happen. I've seen my measurements go all over the place, too. I'm just not convinced that body fat or measurements make sense. We know that you'll have to lose more fat than any muscle you might gain, right? The scale MUST go down. Some people claim the scale lies ... it doesn't. It tells you exactly how much gravity is affecting your frame at any given time. It's not the scale that lies, it's the people who try to interpret it - because 10 pounds might mean 10 pounds of water or it might mean 10 pounds of muscle or, ideally, 10 pounds of fat. When we KNOW that the scale MUST go down, then it becomes a reliable measure for progress. We just have to look at it long term, over weeks and months, not days, because water retention can account for over 10 pounds of your weight!
(Keep in mind that body fat measurements aren't highly accurate, either, especially when people disguise the word "lean" with the word muscle - for example, creatine loading pulls water into the muscle cells, so you might gain a pound of "lean" - you haven't gained an ounce of muscle tissue, you've just taken the balloon that is your muscle and filled it with water).
So, tossing out the tape measurement and body fat analysis, where do we go from there? I am a firm believer that you can lose around 1 - 1.5% of your body fat each week. How do I know this? Well, for one, David Greenwalt taught me that. For two, I've gone to his sources and read similar claims. For three, John Berardi pointed me to several studies that give us a very interseting premise. The higher your body fat, the more likely any weight gain or loss is going to be fat. The lower your body fat, and the more likely any weight gain or loss is going to be muscle. This has been confirmed in many studies. So when I'm 8% trying to get to 6%, I probably should only lose a little bit of weight each week to avoid losing muscle. When I'm 30% trying to get to 8%, however, I have more room (and this is exactly how it happened for me).
So, I'm 210 right now, so at 1 - 1.5 percent a week, I should be able to lose 2 - 3 pounds per week ... which is what we always hear, right? And when I'm at 180 trying to get down to 6% body fat, 1 - 1.5 percent becomes 1 1/2 - 2 pounds instead of 2 - 3 pounds, in other words, I'm slowing it down.
So if we are looking at 300 - 400 pounds then we are looking at 3 - 5 pounds per week being the acceptable range in my book.
Now, the first week is always a throw away week. I always preach two factors for success: persistance and consistency. Persistance means when the scale stops moving or you get frustrated or whatever, you keep going. Consistency means you don't keep changing the nutrition around, going low carb this week and food combining next week ... when you plan out a 12 week program, you stick with the plan.
So, if we are being consistent, the first week usually results in adjusting to a HEALTHY nutrition regimen, which typically means less sodium and carbs. This means less water under the skin and in the muscles (remember, every gram of carb that goes into your muscle drags 3 grams of water with it) so someone can lose 10 - 15 pounds that first week.
After the first week, it should settle down as the excess water is gone and now the water status is stabilized. You'll get the fluctuations if you take a free meal or free day, but it should average out over the weeks.
I'm going to say that if you are dropping 5 pounds or less on the scale every week, everything is fine in my book, and I really as your trainer would not be using a tape measure or attempting to test body fat at this time. There's just too many factors. The tape measure AND body fat measurements become more accurate the less weight.
So when to start measuring, etc? I don't feel comfortable with anything but the scale under you are under 30% body fat. That is just me. Too much inaccuracy. Usually what happens is someone who is over 30% body fat will get a body fat measurement and it will tell them they have 210 pounds of lean mass (even though they're 5'10") and suddenly they think they only need to lose 30 pounds when in reality their goal of being single digits body fat is nearly twice that far away (50 pounds or so). So, until 30%, I say the scale.
But if we're not measuring, how do we know when we hit the 30% mark? For that, it's guesswork, but at least we accept that it's a guess and don't try to read too much into it. I don't know your height right off the bat, Ed, I might have it somehwere but not in front of me, but let's say I had a client at 285 pounds who was 5'10". I now for a fact that 180 pounds of lean mass would be VERY IMPRESSIVE for someone that height, most people would be around the 160 range, and 200 would mean they're ready to go compete and win medals. So if I take a better-than-average guess at 170 pounds of lean mass, then 30% body fat would be at the 235 - 240 range. So once you made it past that mark on the scale, then I'd start to measure and worry about lean mass, etc.
Fact of the matter is, it's going to be TOUGH to lose lean mass when you have more than 60 pounds of extra fat to carry around. Your body is constantly under stress to carry the extra weight and is making adaptations to preserve the mass needed to be mobile, etc. This isn't too say you should eat nothing but twigs and dust, but it means if you're losing 5 pounds or less, I'm really not concerned. If you're losing 7 - 10 pounds a week, then I raise an eyebrow and get concerned.
So ... to summarize ... Jeremy's response is, I'm not worried about lean mass now but let's monitor the next few weeks. Throw out the tape measures for now or at least pull back to one every 3 months when the changes will be more significant. Focus on no more than about 5 pounds of scale weight loss per week until you hit the 230 - 240 range (or higher if you're taller than 5'10" and lower if you're smaller than that) and then start to focus on the other measurements. If you're losing more than 5 pounds, it's time to start eating more.
Jeremy
posted by Jeremy on 4/22/2003 2:17:09 PM | | Hey partly people in the house, | Week 4 of 12, Day 23 of 84 cont...
We gonna show you what it's like to kick it live in '85 ...
Okay, sorry, SERIOUS relapse there.
It's great to see Sanieh checking out Food Combining. There really is not a large body of scientific evidence that supports this, but it is incredible to talk to people (like me) who have tried it. I have never seen my wife healthier or more energetic, and she doesn't even train with weights right now! For me, it has been insane, because despite only consuming 30 - 60 grams of protein in a given day, I'm getting larger than I ever was (and that's large in the muscles, not large in the belly). I couldn't say this would work for everyone, but I always encourage people to give new things a try - so I'll be one eager spectator watching Sanieh's progress!!!!
Last night, Doreen make a killer meal. Here's what she did:
1. Boiled some whole grain pasta
2. Mixed in olive oil and garlic chives
3. Added some diced olives
4. Added raw corn (just take the cob and shuck it right into the bowl, no cooking necessary)
We mixed it up and had a KILLER dinner, very tasty (I just LOVE raw corn - I usually eat it right off the cob - it's very sweet and tasty, just make sure to rinse it well).
My workout was incredible. I've just completed my third cycle for all exercises, and strength gains have been phenomenal. I am about to bust a personal record with hammer curls (50 lbs) and last night I got close to my old personal record for Arnold Press (I did 55 lbs, PR is 60 lbs). A week ago, I was straining to finish 4 reps at 115 pounds on the press, last night I did 6 reps with ease. Definitely enjoying the progress.
I think right now I'm going to follow the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" policy. I'm making good gains, so I'm sticking to these exercises. When I hit a plateau, then I'm going to switch to a routine using the Poliquin Principles. I may be able to continue like this for the whole twelve weeks, however. I think the key was allowing extra time to heal between workouts. I used to work each body part at least once a week. Now, more than a week passes. I have 5 workouts but only do 3 in a given week, so it takes a week and a half to return to the same workout.
Tonight is the most dreaded night for me: legs. I love legs, and I hate legs. It's exciting to start to push some heavier weight but on the same token I dread the funny little birds that circle my head as the room spins and turns blurry and I end up horizontal with a feeling of nausea sweeping my body. Yippie I guess that's just heavy training!
Tomorrow will be the cardio conquest ... 5.8/6.8/7.8/8.8 ... getting close to the 6mph mark for my low end spurt .... that's exciting as well ... even when the fat doesn't melt off as quickly as I'd like, it's comforting to know I can still maintain my cardiovascular conditioning. And the fat is really a non-issue - I could drop it all in 4 weeks if I wanted to, but I'm enjoying the balance in this program and feel like if I lose it much more slowly this time, I'll maintain or possibly even gain more muscle. At the 4-week mark I'll probably add a single cardio session.
Look out for an important health announcement related to obesity to be released on Thursday. Details can't go out until then, but I think it will be very, very big and will help galvanize the government and health industry's efforts to promote safe, healthy weight management.
Okay, that's enough rambling for today. I'm going to leave you with this:
Happiness (a secret) © 1992-2003 Jeremy Likness.
written with acid and flowers
Life
Is a moving picture
A crayon landscape
A changing world we all must
Share.
Love
Is a fleeting touch
A bleeding heart
A burning moment we all must
Bear.
Time
Is a ticking clock
A pendulum's swing
A throbbing thought we all must
Think.
Death
Is a motionless friend
A stone epitaph
A bitter concoction we all must
Drink.
Child, don't wither like roses.
Child, don't sting like their thorns.
Child, just live like their beauty
And exhale their perfume when you're born.
posted by Jeremy on 4/22/2003 7:34:55 AM |
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