I was still dealing with some back discomfort over the week, but nothing like before. I continued the yoga stretches into the weekend. They definitely lessened the discomfort and helped with my mobility. I was able to get in two workouts, two Zumba classes, and a couple of elliptical sessions. I also did four of my afternoon walks. All in all, I felt pretty good about my physical activity.
My diet, however, was another story. It was all over the place. I overindulged in some of my favorite foods; thick sliced pizza and ice cold Coca Cola. Leading up to Fat Tuesday, I made the mistake of buying a half dozen box of apple paczki. I didn't eat them all by myself, but I accounted for my share of them. Then, on Fat Tuesday, there was a small party which involved a large assortment of donuts.
Combined with last week’s inactivity, I assumed that my feasting would cause me to show a higher number when I weighed in. Imagine my surprise to find that I’d lost 1 lb! I’m chalking that loss up to having built up a faster metabolism.
I want to get back the experiment that I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, but my main focus is not straining my back again. I've been wearing my weight belt to help support my lower back when I do squats and some of the standing exercises, like dumbbell raises. I also reduced the poundage. Aside from squats, I felt that performing dead-lifts would give me a good idea of how much I’d recovered. I was able to do four sets of ten, 135 lbs each, without any discomfort. The most discomfort in the session came from an unexpected source: Shoulder shrugs. I guess I didn't consider the stabilizing role the lower back plays in that exercise.
For the upcoming week, I plan on continuing to take things slowly. I definitely plan on eating better!
This week started out well. I got in a really good workout on Monday. I had a conflict on Tuesday, so I didn't make to the gym. Things went downhill from there. On Wednesday, I experienced some back cramps that hurt like heck! It was hard to sit, stand or lie down for long periods. I can’t remember being more uncomfortable.
These spasms lasted for days. Luckily, the prescribed muscle relaxants helped to manage the discomfort, but I was still pretty hobbled. A few days in, I decided to try some yoga exercises to stretch my back muscles. I've taken some yoga classes at the gym, but not consistently, so I knew that I needed some coaching. I searched YouTube and found some videos that I thought would fit the bill. After 45 minutes of stretching, I had a lot of my mobility back and much less pain. I know that the results may seem unbelievable, but it’s happened to me before. Years ago, I was dealing with knee soreness. A friend recommended that I try hot house yoga. After the session, the soreness was significantly less.
I plan on doing the yoga exercises daily for the next week or so. I’m hoping that they’ll help me get back to the gym by the latter half of next week.
I've decided to call this week a wash, skip my weekly weigh-in, and start fresh next week.
Even though it started out below zero again, I had a pretty good workout week. I got in most of my workouts, plus an extra Zumba class and a two hour snow shoveling session, which resulted in a .4 lb weight loss.
Some people have told me, that to them, my weight loss seemed like it happened all of a sudden. I didn't pay much attention to it until I happened to mention it to my wife and she said something that surprised me. She said that even though she’s been watching the process, it did seem to her as if I had a sudden weight loss.
This got me thinking. I went back and looked over my spreadsheets and charts. I remembered that I first started hearing these type of comments after the fast that I was doing in January. Armed with this knowledge, I've decided to try a little experiment. I’m going to incorporate elements of the fast into the majority of my meals next few weeks. I’d like to see if I get a similar reactions at the end of next month.
This week’s weather was pretty similar to last week's. It started off in the low single digits, later warming up to the high twenties, then dropping back into the low teens.
I was only able to get in two workouts, two zumba classes, and four walks. My diet was not great this week. I think that I'm fighting hibernation mode. All I've wanted to do is eat and sleep. I picked up 2.4 lbs this week, though I refuse to believe that much of it is fat.
Undeterred and buoyed by many positive comments, I bought myself a couple of wicking workout shirts. They don't fit nearly as well on me as they do on the model in the photo, but they're passable. I can't wear them tucked in yet (They show off too many lumps!), but evidently they didn't look too bad untucked, based on the feedback I received.
I guess the purchase of the shirts was my "Buddy Love" moment. In the Eddie Murphy version of "The Nutty Professor," super heavy Professor Krump had just changed into his fit alter ego, Buddy Love. Excited to be thin, Buddy goes on a shopping spree at a sports clothing store. His exchange with the store clerk went like this:
Clerk: You Iookin' for any kind of clothes in particular?
Buddy Love: Spandex! All Spandex! Where's the Spandex section?
I was kinda like that. I'd seen some of the super fit at the gym wearing the wicking shirts and I'd wanted to give them a try for some time. I finally decided that I'd lost enough belly fat to wear one in public and not feel embarrassed.
Wearing them has given me a new goal to add to my goals list: Get to the point that I can wear the shirt tucked in. I guess this would actually be a subset of the "Flat stomach/six pack" goal, but who's counting?
Motivation
More positive comments and encouragement.
Noticing people checking me out during my workouts in the gym.
...and the best motivation to date: My three year old grandson spontaneously proclaiming, "Pop Pop has muscles!"
Special Motivation
This is Sam 'Sonny' Bryant Jr., a SEVENTYyear old bodybuilder!!! If this doesn't motivate you, I don't know what will!
"The simplest answer is by adding muscle. Muscle tissue, at rest, burns two to three times more calories than fat tissue does. So while cardio is certainly important for your overall health and stamina, if fat burning is your goal, then focusing a little more on weight-bearing, muscle building exercises will likely yield better results, and faster. Not because it burns more calories while you're working out, but because it turns up your metabolic flame so that it burns more calories all the time."
For me, this is one of the most important takeaways / confirmations. You must incorporate resistance training into your weight loss / fitness regimen. Too often, I see heavier people doing endless aerobics and countless sit-ups. In my mind, I'm urging them to pick up a dumbbell so that they can kick their metabolisms into a higher gear.
I think that this is a well written article, filled with great examples and information. I definitely recommend that you give it a read!
Yet another week of arctic weather. We had a couple of sub-zero days. The rest were in the single or low double digits, except for the day that it warmed up enough to snow (4-6 inches). Between the cold and some other obligations, I only made it to the gym twice this week.
I got in three of my daily lunchtime walks, missing two. I did a snow shovel workout, moving some wet, heavy snow (I went to bed an hour early that night!). I made it to two Zumba classes, one elliptical/track session, and one round of resistance training (legs and shoulders).
I took it slow with the shoulder exercises, as I wanted to make sure that I didn't stress my shoulder again. I started off with three sets of 50 lbs on the shoulder press machine. I usually workout at 70-90 lbs. On the first set, I had some discomfort, but nothing serious. It felt fine as I worked through the other two sets of presses. I finished the session with three sets each of shoulder shrugs, upright rows, dumbbell flies, and dumbbell raises.
Since I wasn't able to work out as much as I wanted, I concentrated more on my diet, paying particular attention to my portions. Even so, I was not looking forward to getting on the scale. After last week’s total, I seriously considered skipping it this week. I’d been having a pretty positive week and didn't want to spoil it. I went ahead and jumped on the scale anyway. It turns out that I lost 4.6 pounds. Crazy, right?
Motivation
I bought some size 36 pants, without bothering to try them on. They fit fine. On a side note, I walked around the Big and Tall department while I was shopping. It felt a little weird to realize that everything in that department was now too big for me.
Some folks have started referring to me as “The Skinny Man.”
I've been getting more questions about my diet and training regimen.
Here’s hoping that we get some better weather next week!
The week started off pretty cold again. I got in a good upper body workout Monday, but did something to my shoulder. I decided to take a couple of days off to rest my body. I got back into the gym on Thursday, though I didn't do any strength training. I stuck to the elliptical, some track work, and core. Friday was Zumba class and core. Saturday was elliptical, resistance training (legs only), more Zumba, and core. I also managed to get my lunchtime walks in each weekday. At the end of the week, I’d gained 4.2 lbs! Now, I knew that I’d made a couple of questionable food choices (pastries/pop) during the week, but 4.2 lbs worth???
The scale is not your friend. It doesn't tell you how much of the gain is muscle and how much is fat. It can confuse the issue. I think that it’s this type of confusion that causes people to give up. It's also the main reason that I no longer set weight goals. I set size goals instead, particularly waist size.
If I only relied on the scale, I’d have been really bummed. Even knowing what I know, I have to admit that I was a bit annoyed. I mean, a four pound gain while…
…my watch band was doing a hula dance around my wrist!
…I lost another notch in my belt (only 2 left)!
…I replaced some of my old workout pants that were getting so baggy, they were starting to look like MC Hammer’s old parachute pants!
To be honest, I’d like to see my weight numbers to be on a downward slide, but that doesn't appear to be the way the process works.
Next week, I plan on taking a couple more days off from the gym, then starting my regular routine up again.
