Hiya all,

Many years ago, I had discovered the benefits of getting in shape; :) then, I discovered how bad things can once again become when one resumes ones bad old eating and drinking habits. :d_mad:

So am I glad I stumbled upon this site. It got me going again.

On last Valentine's day, at 183 pounds, I set out on my 'twenty week - twenty pound' program!!!

Today, 8 weeks in, I am 11 pounds lighter :claphigh:

Anyways, here is what I discovered this time around:
caloric deficit is OK, but you can't overdo that!
I was way off wrong thinking I knew what mix of nutrients I was eating; DietPower helped me solve that!
Early morning cardio works wonders and keeps that metabolism reved up;
Weights keep the lean mass on, and give that nice endorphine effect;


That's it for now!

:claphigh:

Good work :tucool:

I sure am extatic!

When I got up today and hit the scales, they showed 165 lbs :claplow:

That somehow was a magical number for me, although technically not quite at my end goal yet.

I appologize since this journal, is not a very 'regular' journal as many others' are; my nutrition/cardio/weights however are quite regular - believe me! :db:

Instead of posting splits and other 'stats', I thought I'd rather share concepts which I have learned here, mostly surrounding metabolism;

A slight daily caloric deficit (500- 700 Kcals per day) works miracles for weight loss;
A drastic caloric deficit (like 1000 or more per day) can, over the longterm, be a true catastrophy metabolically speaking - I know, been there;
DietPower (meal/workout/metabolism tracking software) is a God send; www.dietpower.com
Aerobics + Weight training significantly increase metabolism OVER and above the calories immediately spent WHILE training;
Whereas my BMR (for age/size/sex ..) is around 1900 Kcal/day, my true metabolic rate (reported by DietPower after a 3 week period of tracking meals, workouts and my weight) is around 2400 Kcal/day - and that's NOT INCLUDING those cals specifically expended DURING workouts.
That number seems right, since it seems to agree with my actual weight loss;
Tack on workout calories, and I expend around 2700-2800 Kcals/day - depending on the actual workout;
To maintain a slight deficit of say 500 Kcal/day, I need to eat 2200-2300;
I love eating, but 2200 Kcals/day is certainly not dieting as I had immagined it - this is pure heaven!! :eat: I've actually only been able to stuff in around 1900Kcals as it turns out!
I have 6 - 7 meals/snacks per day - which means, it's practically always time to eat!
I'm never hungry, EXCEPT when I first get up in the morning - which is good news, apparently we burn fat during the last hours of sleep :mad:
My energy level (ie. metabolism) is raging high!


As for my schedule during this 'cutting' phase:
2 days HIIT 25 minutes in morning on empty stomach;
1 day weights + 20 minutes regular cardio 65% MHR;
2 days HIIT 25 minutes in morning on empty stomach;
1 day weights + 20 minutes regular cardio 65% MHR;
1 day off;

For weights I am using a 4 day split I found on ExRx.com; I'm still tweaking the workout though, and I may sollicit help from one of the trainers at the gym. Several exercises I've incorporated are totally new to me, and I want to make sure that my form is Okay. Each muscle group is only hit once very two weeks - but I'm Okay with that for now - lean mass preservation is what I'm after now, at a minimum. Once my first goal is reached, I'll readjust the schedule for the next goal.

I'm contemplating two possible 'next goals':
1- lowering my bodyfat to 9%
2- outrike bulking

I may post pictures here in a month or so, and lauch a poll as to what you forum members think that goal should be!!

That's it for now, time to EAT :tu: .... again ... then I'm off to the gym for Leg and Arm Push day.

presse
Montreal

I sure am extatic!

When I got up today and hit the scales, they showed 165 lbs :claplow:

That somehow was a magical number for me, although technically not quite at my end goal yet.

I appologize since this journal, is not a very 'regular' journal as many others' are; my nutrition/cardio/weights however are quite regular - believe me! :db:

Instead of posting splits and other 'stats', I thought I'd rather share concepts which I have learned here, mostly surrounding metabolism;

A slight daily caloric deficit (500- 700 Kcals per day) works miracles for weight loss;
A drastic caloric deficit (like 1000 or more per day) can, over the longterm, be a true catastrophy metabolically speaking - I know, been there;
DietPower (meal/workout/metabolism tracking software) is a God send; www.dietpower.com
Aerobics + Weight training significantly increase metabolism OVER and above the calories immediately spent WHILE training;
Whereas my BMR (for age/size/sex ..) is around 1900 Kcal/day, my true metabolic rate (reported by DietPower after a 3 week period of tracking meals, workouts and my weight) is around 2400 Kcal/day - and that's NOT INCLUDING those cals specifically expended DURING workouts.
That number seems right, since it seems to agree with my actual weight loss;
Tack on workout calories, and I expend around 2700-2800 Kcals/day - depending on the actual workout;
To maintain a slight deficit of say 500 Kcal/day, I need to eat 2200-2300;
I love eating, but 2200 Kcals/day is certainly not dieting as I had immagined it - this is pure heaven!! :eat: I've actually only been able to stuff in around 1900Kcals as it turns out!
I have 6 - 7 meals/snacks per day - which means, it's practically always time to eat!
I'm never hungry, EXCEPT when I first get up in the morning - which is good news, apparently we burn fat during the last hours of sleep :mad:
My energy level (ie. metabolism) is raging high!


As for my schedule during this 'cutting' phase:
2 days HIIT 25 minutes in morning on empty stomach;
1 day weights + 20 minutes regular cardio 65% MHR;
2 days HIIT 25 minutes in morning on empty stomach;
1 day weights + 20 minutes regular cardio 65% MHR;
1 day off;

For weights I am using a 4 day split I found on ExRx.com; I'm still tweaking the workout though, and I may sollicit help from one of the trainers at the gym. Several exercises I've incorporated are totally new to me, and I want to make sure that my form is Okay. Each muscle group is only hit once very two weeks - but I'm Okay with that for now - lean mass preservation is what I'm after now, at a minimum. Once my first goal is reached, I'll readjust the schedule for the next goal.

I'm contemplating two possible 'next goals':
1- lowering my bodyfat to 9%
2- outrike bulking

I may post pictures here in a month or so, and lauch a poll as to what you forum members think that goal should be!!

That's it for now, time to EAT :tu: .... again ... then I'm off to the gym for Leg and Arm Push day.

presse
Montreal
Great to hear your progress.
I have lost 35lbs over the last 8 months and now way 161 lbs.
I am still cutting to hopefully show off the six pack by the Summer.
My next goal is to bulk in the autumn to pack some lean muscle. I am maintaining at the moment with a full work out two times a week.
I find a fast run in the morning empty stomach 20-30 really kicks the metabolism and keeps the fat burning off. I am interested to know what HITT you do ?

on the lost 35 pounds, mate!

How tall are you? Me, 6' 0". I'm also considering setting my next goal to 9-10% bodfyfat, after I have reached my current goal of 163. It'll all depend on what I SEE at 163!

I'm sure that you, at 161, are probably already seeing good deffinition in the ab-area, no?

As for my HIIT, it's pretty much what John Stone used to do initially;
I do it on an ellipitcal machine at the gym; it goes like this:
a: 1-2 minutes warm-up to get my heart-rate to 125 or so;
b: then 5 times 1 minutes cycles of - 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%
c: then 1-2 minutes to cool down;
when I feel good for it, I'll throw in a 6th cycle;

I had to experiment a bit for the intervals; basically I figured at what intensity and what comfortable speed I actually am at 90% MHR; from there I just estimate how fast I have to pedal to get the lower heart-rates; it's all just semi-educated guess-work; but it seems to do the job. I've found that using this method, after I've done 1 minute bout at 90% and then drop back at my calculated 60% speed, well, it takes me about 45 seconds to catch my breath, then 15 seconds to get ready for the next ramp-up.

Catch you later!

presse

on the lost 35 pounds, mate!

How tall are you? Me, 6' 0". I'm also considering setting my next goal to 9-10% bodfyfat, after I have reached my current goal of 163. It'll all depend on what I SEE at 163!

I'm sure that you, at 161, are probably already seeing good deffinition in the ab-area, no?

As for my HIIT, it's pretty much what John Stone used to do initially;
I do it on an ellipitcal machine at the gym; it goes like this:
a: 1-2 minutes warm-up to get my heart-rate to 125 or so;
b: then 5 times 1 minutes cycles of - 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%
c: then 1-2 minutes to cool down;
when I feel good for it, I'll throw in a 6th cycle;

I had to experiment a bit for the intervals; basically I figured at what intensity and what comfortable speed I actually am at 90% MHR; from there I just estimate how fast I have to pedal to get the lower heart-rates; it's all just semi-educated guess-work; but it seems to do the job. I've found that using this method, after I've done 1 minute bout at 90% and then drop back at my calculated 60% speed, well, it takes me about 45 seconds to catch my breath, then 15 seconds to get ready for the next ramp-up.

Catch you later!

presse
Hi

I am 5'10

Abs are starting to look good, I have got a good carved shape round the outside (abs shape very defined).Having a 43 chest and 32 waist gives a nice v look, I amazed at my achievement., top two abs are starting to become visible (in the right light), the remaining fat is hard to shift though.
I am doing running first thing 4-5x a week on an empty stomach 20-30 mins with some high interval running during the run. Fat still seems to keep coming off. Watching the diet of course is paramount. I really want the six pack for the Summer.

... for 3 days :p

Last week, I thought I'd give the humdrum aerobic workouts a break and do something new, something different, to keep my body guessing.

Well I love biking, and we have a vast network of bike paths in and around the city where I live. So I tuned up my bike, chose a destination and went for it. Since my chosen spot is around 90Km away, I ended up sleeping there overnight, and biking back the following day. And since all of that went so well, and the weather kept on cooperating, I put in a third day of about 110Km! The scenery was awesme on the three days, the pace was fun (no intense cardio here, just leisurly aerobic level effort), I made several short stops to stretch and rest a bit, and ate & drank plenty throughout not to run out of energy part-way through.

Here's some details:

Day 1:
Montreal (St-Laurent) to Lacolle (@US border);
90 Kms, 7 hours, consumed a massive 4,550Kcals, burned 2,700Kcals;
Day 2:
Lacolle back to Montreal/Longueuil subway station;
80 Kms, 6 hours, consumed 2,100 Kcals], burned 2,300Kcals;
Day 3:
Montreal (St-Laurent) to St-Jerome (Laurentians) and back home
110 Kms, 8 hours, consumed 3,825 Kcals, ], burned 3,100Kcals;

Weight at start: 164
Weight at end: 162.5

I estimate this cost me around 1.5 lbs of weight; I don't know about impact on BF%; I'm getting measured over the week-end or early next week; so we'll see then!

Overall, I really really enjoyed this - so I WILL do it again. Next week, I plan to go on a 3-4 day ride from Montreal to Mont-Laurier (220KM) and back. All I'm waiting for at this point are 3 days of solid weather in the forecast!

:cool:

presse


PS:
I got a flat tire on the 3rd day, on the way back home, a mere 2Km away from home - Is That Funny! I actually walked the last 2 Km stretch! :lol: