Photo by Leo Reynolds.

Look who decided to make a blog post!

I’ve pretty much lost my will to post lately, nothing seems worthy (worthy of the blog or worthy of my time, I’m not sure). However, I will make an update on my progress losing weight and getting fit.

I missed my goal of 155 lbs this month but I’m sure I’ve put on some muscle and that if I could measure fat loss it would be more than 5lbs. This morning I was at 156 lbs and my waist measurement is down 1″ from last month.

In the past month I’ve made a several changes and learned some new things which I’ll summarize in this post. I’ll also talk about my future goals and the future of this blog.

First, I’ve switched my resistance training routine completely. I’m following a higher volume workout regime now, something I haven’t done in ages. It is a lot more physically demanding that what I’m used to but a lot less mentally demanding. I can see why so many people are drawn to workout programs like this, they’re sort of mindless. You just go in and do your sets and leave. There is no getting psyched up in order to push yourself further to get to the magical place called “failure”. Nevertheless, I’m enjoying it. The increased volume is something my body isn’t used to and it’s adapting. I’ve also been reading more and more about functional training and have incorporated several things into my off days to remedy some problems I’ve had in my knees and shoulders. However, I just bought a Wii and have successfully re-injured my shoulder from the repetitive movement of backhands. Stephanie and I are one a quest to become “pro” with our doubles Wii tennis team.

Second, I’ve stopped being vegetarian. For the record I was still eating fish anyway but now I eat everything except pork and processed meats. Why? Eating a good amount of protein and low amounts of carbs on a vegetarian diet is damn hard. Soy may be great for women but a lot of research says it isn’t for men. Plus all the soy I was taking in necessitated obscene amounts of Beano and I was afraid I was going to overdose! Ok, that’s a bit of an exaggeration. About two months ago I started getting really frustrated that every time I was out shopping, doing errands, visiting family, whatever I can’t find anything to eat “out”. Vegetarian options are often the most unhealthy thing on the menu! How is angle hair with marinara more healthy than a steak? It’s not. I had to always carry around a serving of protein powder or a protein bar and it was getting old. I’ve never had that big of a moral stand against eating animals so, with a bite of Texas Steakhouse steak, I stopped being vegetarian 3 weeks ago. I’m trying to buy grass fed/finished as much as possible to avoid antibiotics/hormones but it’s actually really hard to find. There is one restaurant in Raleigh that serves grass-fed and grass-finished (so it has Omega 3!) beef that I need to go check out.

Third! I started a cheat day. This was inspired by talk of the “Cheat to Lose” diet. The author cites a study which monitored people’s metabolism level while on a calorie restrictive diet. After a week or two it had plummeted but that one day of normal or higher amounts of calories reset their metabolisms. I’ve read about this before but no one ever citing anything and I thought it was all some sort of mental trickery so that people would stay on a diet. I don’t like the idea of rewarding yourself with food for not eating food, to me, psychologically, it doesn’t make sense, but this got me excited. So, every Saturday Stephanie and I have a cheat day. Not really a day, a cheat 6 or 8 hours. Ideally it’s a breakfast and a lunch. I try to get a lot of simple carbs for breakfast but still a good amount of protein (I usually have pancakes, eggs, hash browns, etc) and take in a good 2000 calories for breakfast! I thought I’d crash after this but I feel absolutely fantastic after doing this. The entire world looks brighter, it’s weird. OK, then around 2 or 3 we eat a restaurant where we can get a protein/fat based meal. Think a huge serving of baked salmon and then desert afterwards. Then we don’t eat much the rest of the day, I usually just have a protein shake before bed to ward of any nighttime catabolism. How does it work? Well I didn’t make my goal but I don’t think that’s the reason. Stephanie however did meet her goal, easily. She lost 5 lbs this month after 3 weeks. She has now nearly caught up with my weight loss and passed me up as far as % lost (she has lost 16.1% of her body weight and I have lost 15.7%). I think cheat days are essential for anyone restricting their calories a great deal. The only guideline I have is to make sure you finish at least 4 or 5 hours before going to sleep.

Fourth, I started logging my food on fitday.com. You can find my profile here. I only use the calories/protein/carbs/fat tracking as I find the “calories burned” functionality to be very inaccurate. I wish the above link had the summary graph of average calories/protein/carbs/fat per day, I’m very proud of my endeavors there and think that Fitday has helped me eat more protein and less sugar as a result. The totals looks something like 50% protein, 30% fat, and 20% carbohydrates if I factor in that I usually don’t record my before-bed protein shake and fish oil.

Future goals

I want to be near 150 when I go to the beach in mid-June. At the same time I want to see if I can put on some muscle. So I’m walking a precarious line. I realize fully it is very difficult to gain muscle on a calorie restrictive diet but I’m convinced that the conventional wisdom on this (that it’s impossible) is too simple of an explanation. I don’t think I have as much muscle as I did almost 10 years ago and think that I can gain that back as long as I keep my protein high and without “bulking”. After the beach I’m not sure what will happen. Steph and I were going to go to the Bahamas in August but we’re buying a house (closing May 21!) and I fear that we won’t be able to afford it. If not, then I need to chose one of three goals. One, keep dieting and try to get down to single digit body fat levels if I’m not already there (fully visible six pack usually comes at 9-10% so I estimate I’m at around 12-13% right now). Two, up calories and start trying to put on some muscle. Three, start powerlifting. I’ve been more and more interested in this as I read more about it. Based on my bench, squat, deadlift numbers I think I’d immediately be competitive at a state level in the 148lb class (and the Westside Barbell style workout programs look very fun).

My new house is located within walking distance of a “Fresh Market” and a YMCA. Both of which will help us stay in tip-top shape. However, I’m hoping to implement a home gym in the garage. I think for a couple hundred dollars I could get something pretty good going (a power-rack with pullup bar, olympic bar, and 300-400 lbs of weights).

The future of fitfilter.com

I’m still not sure what is going to happen. I just don’t feel the passion to write anymore. I think this blog was a failure. The readership was abysmal even when I was posting 4-5 times a week. I get most of my hits from Google and I mysteriously have a page rank of 0! My problem is probably poor marketing and egotism. I should have did more ass-kissing to successful blogs and tried to do guest spots and things like that. Instead I would sometimes look at it as a competition. I should have done more controversial and less “I’m excited about this” type posts. I should have focused on one thing instead of several (diet, fitness, nutrition, weight training, etc). I shouldn’t have exhausted my list of post ideas so quickly; I should have done one or two posts a week and focused on quality over quantity.

Nevertheless I plan on updating the blog with my progress toward weight loss and muscle gain. I also plan on posting my weight-loss manifesto which pretty much sums up “how to lose weight in the most effective and efficient way”. As a teaser, even though I doubt anyone will actually read this far in this post I have three “keys” which I’ll cover individually:

1. Maximize your metabolism
2. Cut out bad carbs and get more fat and protein
3. Count and limit calories

Do all three of these to the best of your ability and there is absolutely no way you won’t lose fat, “for serious”.