Hi, everyone! This is the post I wanted to do yesterday, but went to bed instead. Hah!
<h2>Decemburrrrrr!</h2>
Wow, what a whirlwind this month has been! I'm glad the busiest part is over. Had an absolutely GREAT time, but there's been a lot of running and doing. Keeping on track has not been easy, and I've missed a lot of workouts, but I'm still doing pretty well.
<h2>Vacation!</h2>
Maddie (my 13-year-old daughter) and I went on a little vacation to a waterpark about 3 hours from here. It was one of her Christmas presents. We had a **BLAST**! And because I'm down over a hundred pounds and way more fit since the last time we went, I went on a bunch of the water slides. They have a million stairs... and I was kind of counting on them to give me my workouts while we were away. It felt GREAT to actually be *in the game* after so long floating in the "lazy river", what I'd always done before. In fact, the one day I was ready to do more, and my poor daughter was too tired -- she was done. I know it probably sounds crazy, but that felt better than anything. For so many years, I was the dad that was too tired to keep up with her, and finally I'd done everything she wanted, and I still had juice left. :D It is a kind of validation that I didn't even realize I had been missing. Well, truly I knew I was missing it... but I guess I wasn't entirely sure I'd ever be able to keep up with the kid. Speaking of whirlwinds, she is the original.
Anyway, I did not track my foods, I ate what I wanted mostly. I stopped myself quite a bit, but I allowed a lot too (all the time hoping all those stairs would help me out). The package I bought is all-inclusive, even booze. I'm not much of a drinker, but I did have 4 or 5 poolside foo-foo drinks on the trip. All meals were buffet -- my big downfall, but I did ok.
<h2>Stats</h2>
I ended up losing about 2.6 pounds on the trip through yesterday's weigh-in. I came in about a pound short of my weekly target / goal, but I can hardly complain -- I still lost over 3 pounds last week. And the best part? While we were away, I made that short-term goal of 225 lbs!!! I'm officially down 116 lbs and have lost over one third of my starting weight. And over half of my current weight! For those that enjoy the gross-out factor, I've lost about 16 gallons of fat. (Ugh! Scary!) I'm officially down 9 pants sizes, I can squeeze into size 38 pants (really tight! Still using 40's every day). A few more pounds and they'll be comfortable. I haven't worn size 38 pants since I was a teenager. That was a lifetime ago. I can't wait.
Missing all those workouts did cost me almost a pound (0.9 lbs) of muscle. I'll have to work to get that back. But that couldn't be helped, and my numbers still look good compared to where I started. I don't have numbers from when I started back in July, as the poor scale couldn't handle my weight then. So the best I have are numbers from about a year before in 2012 (below) with this morning's numbers. Keep in mind the 2012 numbers are still about 18 pounds lower than the number I actually started at in July of this year (340 lbs!). Also, keep in mind that this scale runs about 3 pounds lighter (it has me at 221.4, as opposed to my official weight today of 224.2). The columns in green are not from the scale. Those are my own calculations based on the info the scale is giving. I'm just using simple math there, but I'm not sure if that's the correct way to calculate it, so the numbers in green may not be right:
(Note to @Draglist and @Kingkeld: my numbers are so dramatically different than yours, I'm thinking I'm not totally calculating it correctly; Still considering getting that Tanita, but for now this is giving me enough info to get by. But Bill, for instance using your numbers from 12/24, I'm getting that you are 76% muscle {167.2 / 219.8 = 76%}. That strikes me as crazy-high. I can't imagine *anyone* is 76% muscle. What about blood, skin tissue, bone, brain mass, connective tissue? It just seems really high. Anyway, I can't figure that out.)
You can see, based on the numbers, I'm down 105 lbs of fat. And if you figure most of the other 18 lbs I lost was fat, I'm probably down closer to 120 - 123 lbs of fat. I'm up 3.7 lbs of muscle mass, and a massive gain of water weight, almost 22 lbs! My hydration is much better these days. BMI is down to 32.7 (was over 50 at my start). That's still considered "obese", but I'm at the low-end, shooting to get to "overweight" (203 lbs; BMI 30) by the beginning of February.
<h2>Goal Weight</h2>
I've struggled with trying to identify a final goal to get to. I haven't been under 200 lbs since I was a teen. The height / weight charts say I should be between 130 and 160 lbs. I say they are nuts. The best I'd been able to determine was that I probably should be somewhere between 160 and 180, and I thought I would *figure it out* when I got to 180. I'm still thinking that. But I thought I'd take a different tack on determining the right number. I have another chart (from BuiltLean; hopefully they let me direct-link it below) that shows for a man my age (43), "ideal" is somewhere between 16 and 21% body fat:
If that's true, I need to lose about another 21% body fat to get to the lowest "ideal" for me of 16%, which (if I'm calculating it correctly) should be around 47 more pounds. That would put me at 177 lbs., which seems to affirm my primary goal of 180. I'll stick with 180 for now. Next short-term goals: 215 (down 125 lbs) and 200 lbs.
<h2>Max Cal Deficit</h2>
I recently added that column "Max Cal Deficit" to my fat-tracking spreadsheet based on information I got from Bill (Draglist) and KingKeld. That could not have come at a better time for me. Thanks guys!!! They posted that calculation (Fat pounds * 30), saying that having a calorie deficit greater than this number is counter-productive. Your body will steal from muscle rather than utilize fat stores. (Correct me if I have over-simplified it, guys). The funny part was that they posted that info the same day I had read an article on the exact same topic! But the article did not provide any specific way to determine when it becomes a problem. As I was puzzling over the article and questioning the last goals I had posted (Bill, you'll remember that's the one that had me at 180 by March 19th), here comes the salvation from Bill and Keld! -- A tool that I'll be able to use to avoid this problem.
By the way, if you want to read the article I was reading, it is
here (http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/153704-myth-or-fact-simple-math-3500-calories-one-pound-eat).
<h2>Aggressive Weight Loss</h2>
I have been fairly aggressive in my weight loss. I don't recommend this for most of you, but I have my reasons. A few people on here know my reasons. The good news for me is that things couldn't be better. Doc is well aware of everything, and it is all under his supervision. Blood tests are all FANTASTIC! I have had no adverse affects, no loss of energy, no exhaustion, and even my loose skin is shrinking remarkably. I'm a bit shocked by that last part. I really thought it would be much looser than it is. I can tell that it has rebounded very well. I'm just hoping it keeps up. But I know I've been skating a bit of a line, without quite knowing where that line was (or even the reason for the line in the first place). Reading that article, and the subsequent post by Draglist (info by Keld), really helped to shed light on things for me. And it actually provided the tool to find where that line is for me.
I can easily see why that line has not yet come into play for me (with a maximum calorie deficit in the three, four and five thousands), but why it soon will (it is dipping down into the two thousands now). I now know those last goals I posted (my journal from Dec 7th) are impossible. At least some of them are. The problem is that the formula, being based on fat pounds (and not just body weight), would be difficult to incorporate into future projections. Unless I can determine a better method, my plan right now is to stick with the goals I've made, but know in my own mind that they are going to have to be a bit *fluid*, getting pushed out as needed. I'll have to keep a close eye on that "Max Cal Deficit" number, and how I'm doing in relation to it. That's a line I do not want to cross.
I work best when I know the plan myself, and have it clear in my head. I always have. So I plan to still try and determine a method for coming up with some realistic goals and dates by which to make them. If I come up with those, I'll post them.
For now, this is the best I can do... These are the goals I posted on Dec 7th:
I'm adjusting them as follows:
Goal 4: just made it :D
Goal 4b: by somewhere between 1/8/2014 and 1/10/2014
Goal 5: by somewhere between 2/5/2014 and 2/12/2014
Goal 5b: by somewhere between 2/26/2014 and 3/22/2014
Goal 6: by somewhere between 3/19/2014 and 5/21/2014
<h2>Today</h2>
As for today's weigh-in, I ended up gaining back 0.2 lbs from the Christmas day celebrations yesterday. Not too bad, all things considered. And I'm going to resume workouts today!!! Woo hoo! I'm actually looking forward to it big-time.
A special thanks to all you guys and gals that actually read this whole thing. You're my online buddies and pals, and I cannot tell you how much your support means. Thank you! I'm sorry I've been scarce, but I'm going to go read up on what I've missed!
As Keld says, life is good. :D Keep smiling, and let's lose this weight!!!
