Weekly Weigh-In: Week 22

Today's weigh-in brings me firmly into the sub-180 category. I cannot even remember the last time I was in this spot and while I would like to be happy about it, I'm a little reticent about it all. Maybe it's just because I'm having a stressful week, but I just don't feel good about the way my body looks right now. I still have more body fat than I want (about 17.8%) and it all collects in the one place hardest to target, the mid-section.

Still, I have to convince myself that this is only the 22nd week that I have been doing this. There are two more weeks until I will have reached the 6 month mark. Perhaps the tide will have turned by then.

Weight: 178.2
Waist: 34.875"

Weekly Weigh-In: Week 21

Okay, body, you need to figure out what's going on here. First you're up, then you're down. Whatever was going on, I seem to be back down to where I was a couple of weeks ago. Perhaps attributable to my recent HIIT efforts. Either way, I'm getting closer to my goal because my waist is responding in turn. Not quite a huge drop, but enough to let me know that it is coming down.

I have reached the halfway mark with my introduction into Turbulence Training and the workouts are intense enough to where I can get a good workout but not so long that I don't get burned out.

Weight: 180 lbs
Waist: 34.875"

Intense Intervals

This week I have pushed myself during my interval workouts, even more so than what I have been doing in the past. Even though it is really tough, it is satisfying to finish strong. Plus, I am doing 10 minutes less work than before.

My new interval workout is 20 minutes long with 60 second intervals. There is a 3 minute warm-up and a 4 minute cool-down. I pushed my hard intervals to 9.4 mph and my resting intervals stay the same at 3.5 mph. I have done the 20 minute session before at a slower speed (8.5 mph) and never felt completely worked at the end. Previously, I had to increase the time to 30 minutes to feel the same way after my interval training that I do now with 20 minutes.

I'm pretty excited about this because I think it'll take me one step closer towards burning more fat. Perhaps I've been stuck in a rut lately and this gets me out of it.

My Physical Results

The University of Alabama has some awesome benefits and one new program they started is something called WellBama. It is basically for helping employees learn about their current health level, as well as steps to improve their health through small changes.

After having some blood work done, I went in for a physical (all of this was free, by the way). I went over everything with the doctor and I'm in great shape. I finally have my results here. The WellBama program grades you certain points per category and puts you into either the Bronze, Silver, Gold, or Crimson Club.

Here are the results:
Height - 6"
Weight - 181
Waist - 35.50"

BMI (Body Mass Index) - 24.5
Systolic Blood Pressure - 116
Diastolic Blood Pressure - 67
LDL Cholesterol - 75
Total Cholesterol - 122
Total HDL Cholesterol - 36
Triglycerides - 59
Glucose (blood sugar) - 82
Cardio Exercise days per week - 5+
Tobacco Use(w/in 12 months) - Never used or have quit for 12 mos.

All of my results put me into the Crimson Club! I was told that I am one out of ten people on-campus in that group. I'm in the Top 10!

We also made goals for ourselves and they would follow-up with us in a few years (or months, depending on how healthy you were). My main goal is to get down to a body fat percentage of 12 - 15% as well as losing 5% of my weight (172 lbs) over the next year. I'm not really sure if I can get down to 172, but I feel confident of reaching 12 - 15% of my body fat, especially since I signed up for Turbulence Training where so many have had fantastic results.

Update: Here is the grading scale for those curious what it takes to be in the Crimson Club.
BMI (Body Mass Index) - <= 24.9
Systolic Blood Pressure - < 120
Diastolic Blood Pressure - < 80
LDL Cholesterol - combined w/ total
Total Cholesterol - <= 160 mg
Total HDL Cholesterol - combined w/ total
Triglycerides - <= 149
Glucose (blood sugar) - <= 100
Cardio Exercise days per week - 5+
Tobacco Use(w/in 12 months) - Never used or have quit for 12 mos.

Weekly Weigh-In: Week 20

Okay, first the bad news. After 20 weeks of losing weight, I finally had my first gain. It all started last week and I've been dealing with it all week. Getting it down to 181.6 was a small victory this morning, because I was coming in around 182.4 all week. Part of me wants to attribute this new gain to muscle, and I really hope that's the case. If so, I don't have a problem with it.


Now, onto the good news. After three weeks of stalling out with the same waist size, I was able to drop it just a bit to 35". So, maybe that weight gain was muscle after all? Like I mentioned earlier this week, waist is going to better determine my success than weight.

Weight: 181.6
Waist: 35"

A Visual Goal in Mind

I have read before that it is good to put up a poster or picture of what kind of body you are working towards. It gives you a visual reminder of where you need to go. Well, I give you my goal: Josh Holloway, otherwise known as Sawyer from LOST.

I have been holding onto this issue for two years and now I'm just getting started. My main reason for wanting my body to look like his is because it's just very natural. He looks like a regular guy who is in shape but not hugely cut. I guess that's how I want to be. This issue sits on my coffee table and I look at it every day, just to keep me grounded. Hopefully I'll keep chipping away at the fat to get down there one day.

Weight vs. Waist

Recently, I went to the doctor to get my first physical in a long, long time. We got to talking about my weight loss and I asked him about losing too much weight. What he said here grabbed my attention. Basically, he said that he could really stop weighing people when they came into the doctor's office and just start measuring their waist.

In addition to tracking my weight in pounds, I measure my waist. However, now that I'm getting to that point where weight is going to level out, my waist could be a greater indication of positive results. Just hearing the doctor say this made me realize that I was on the right track.

Weekly Weigh-In: Week 19

This week shows that I'm getting to the point where losing those last few pounds and bit of fat is getting toughest of all. Although I lost a pound, my waist size stayed idle. I'm going to have to get really serious if I want that to drop any more.

In fact, just to show how serious I am, I signed up for Turbulence Training. This program is designed by Craig Ballantyne, the same person who is over the Men's Health Belly Off program. There are tons of workouts. I'll be starting on these next week. I guess that means that this is my last week for the Bodyweight exercises.

Weight: 180.2
Waist: 35 1/4"

Weekly Weigh-In: Week 18

I've been pretty busy at work this week and today, so this will have to be a short report. I'm pretty close to breaking the 180 barrier and that just seems like an odd place to be. Some people I work have asked me if I'm still losing weight and all I can say is yes. I mean, I'm not under eating or anything drastic. I'm simply eating what I'm supposed to and exercising every day. I can't help it if pounds of fat keep falling off. As far as I'm concerned, as long as I keep working out, the weight that I'm losing is just fat and not muscle.

Weight: 181.4
Waist: 35 1/4"