Last workout of 2005

Made it to the gym this morning:

Incline press:240#x1/2/3/1/2/3/1/2/2

Couldn't make the last triple

Cable curl:90#x7x7x7x9x10

Concentration curl: 35#x10x10x12

Triceps pushdown (cable): 130#x10x10x12

Precor Super Squat: 390#x5x5x5

Reverse Super Squat:50#x5x5x5

Here are some old pictures at a rather dehydrated 300#. I will post some current pictures next week:






Here is a picture at 335# for comparison purposes:


It is nice to see that 35# does make a difference!

Plans and Goals for 2006

I didn't hit any of my goals in 2005, but i did make alot of progress, and I should be able to reach my 2006 goals if I stay focused. I will shoot some pictures next week to help document my progress throughout 2006.

Goals:

1) 10% Bodyfat (~242# BWT). (currently 26%)

2) 3 pull-ups. (currently 1/2)

3) BWT Military press. (currently 245#)

4) 350# Incline press (current PR is 310#). This one isn't a gimmee, I might train very hard all year and fall a bit short.

I will be changing things up a bit as I lose these last 50# of fat and focus on developing strength in 2006. I will be upping my calories a bit, and trying to increase my protein consumption. Furthermore I will be adding cardio 3xweek in the form of 500M sprints on the concept2 Rower.

New diet: BWTx10Cal/day, broken down into 30% protein/30% Fat/40% Carbs. I will make sure i hit my protein goal each day although I may eat fewer carbs and fat then I am allowing for.

Exercise:

1) Lift 3xweek. Lots of work on deads, squats and incline press, plus curls and rows. I still need to build a stronger base.

2) Row 3xweek after lifting, doing a series of intense 500M sprints. These are for conditionaing rather than fat burning

3) Yoga 3xweek. I really need to work on my flexibility.

4) Grip training. I have lost significant grip strength this past year, which I would like to remedy with thickbar work, gripmachine and griper training. Also some plate curls and sledgehammer levers for my wrists.

12/28/05

BWT 296#

Although I am not quite feeding freely, I haven't been exactly dieting the past few days. I should, however, be under 1,500 today which should be good for a 4# or so drop as I burn off all the glycogen in my muscles. Loading up with carbs did restore my arms to 18" (cold, flexed) which tends to indicate that I have not been losing any muscle.

We did have a very nice lunch at "Bombay Talkie". Great place for a reasonably priced, fancy Indian meal. Tomorrow we are having lunch at "Jeans-Georges", for a real treat.

Work out:

Incline press:240#x1/2/3/1/2/3/1/2/3

Made it through the ladder, but not easily.

Cable curl: 90#x7x7x7x8x9

Working towards 5x10.

Rack pull:430#x3 450#x3 470#x3

These were much easier now that i have a set of lifting straps. I was spending too much energy focusing on holding onto the bar.

12/23/05

BWT 287#

Cal.=1,800 yesterday. The MTA strike is over and I made it to the gym this morning! I felt pretty good on my lifts, and hope to start really pushing the ladders on the Incline press. I am probably about 20# from PR territory so I have some work to do. After January 1st, I am upping my calories and I will be counting protein as I start paying more attention to "bodybuilding" as opposed to simply weightloss.

Incline Barbell Press:240#x1/2/3/1/2/3/1/2/3

Made it through the ladder, but i will wait to increase the weight until I can do so easily. The last rep of those triples was hard.

Cable curls:90#x7x7x7x7x8

I will add reps to the final sets until I reach 5x10.

Precor Super Squat: 390#x5x5x5

These were hard, but I managed to get good depth.

Precor Super Squat (reverse):0#x5 90#x5

These are really hard, but they hit the quads so I better start doing them. I am going all the way down (almost butt to ankles) and the leverages on these are very unfavorable. They feel a lot like overhead squats.

12/22/05

BWT 288#

Yesterday=2,100 Cal., 600 of which were Chestnuts eaten after 8 PM. My waist was actually a little smaller, and I was able to fit a bit better into those 38"x32" Levi's (regular fit). I might be wearing them next week. I should measure my arms as they are a good indication of my overall hydration.

Goal today is 1,500 Cal and a trip to the gym.

I finished another batch of chocolates and assembled the meringue mushrooms using some tempered milk chocolate. It is pretty amazing that I am reaching the end of the two 10kg bags of Callebaut milk chocolate we bought last Christmas, and yet I have lost over 40# this past 12 months. It is a tribute to calorie counting that I could consume 20# plus of chocolate (plus fillings) and still lose that much weight. I figure Lillian probably ate 5# and the rest we gave away.

12/21/05

BWT 288#

Calories yesterday were 1,800 since I had about 300 Cal. worth of roast chestnuts in the evening. This morning I was able to hit a new clothing size PR by wearing 40"x32" Regular fit Levi's to work. Also down another notch on the new belt, so I am losing belly fat, although I must be carrying more water than when I weighed in at 288# last week.

I am still making some Christmas confections; last night was devoted to manufacturing meringue mushrooms to decorate my "Buche de Noel". They came out pretty well, and were very easy to make. I just need to glue the stems on with some tempered chocolate and dust them with cocoa and they will be ready to go. As I understand it the traditional Yule log was a piece of fallen, rotting wood because peasants were only allowed to collect fallen branches in the forest. The mushrooms are thus a good traditional decoration. I am going with an Almond genoise for the cake, rolled up with a chestnut cream filling and frosted with semi-sweet chocolate ganache (Callebaut semi-sweet). I tried using bittersweet ganache one year, but most people thought it wasn't sweet enough. The food is generally poor at my sister's, but at least the cake should be good.

We will be driving into mid-town tonight so I should get a good workout in in spite of the strike. Parking shouldn't be too bad after 7PM.

12/20/05

BWT 288.5#

Diet is still on track, although my "sensible" breakfast included two of the chocolates i made last night (rasberry and caramel). I never appreciated how good caramel can be if you make it from scratch with heavy cream and butter. The caramelized rice crispies were very good in them as well.

I won't be going to gym today because of the transit strike. If it continues tomorrow I will start improvising workouts at home. Too bad, I was just starting to add a little cardio on the rowing machine.

12/19/05

BWT 289.5#

I stayed under 1,300 Cal yesterday (and drank lots of water) and I am aiming for 1,500 Cal today.

12/18/05

BWT 292#

That is after "carbing up Yesterday on 4,000 Cal. Interestingly, I found my arms were 0.5" larger this morning as my muscles soaked up all that extra water. So I guess I am an honest 292#.

Yesterday's workout:

Barbell Incline press: 240#x1/2/3/1/2/3/1/2/2(couldn't lockout third rep)

Incline press getting back on track.

Cable curl:90#x7x7x7x6x5

Increased the weight on these. I will try to work up to 5x10.

Rack-pull(overhand grip):320#x3x3x3

Trying to build my grip up by using a lighter weight with an overhand rather than alternating grip.

Cybex Tricep machine: 155#x5x5x5

Cybex Pec-deck:262.5#x5x5x4

Concept2 Rower: 1min. sprint.

I am going to ease back into the rowing to work on my cardiovascular fitness. Yearly physical is coming up (on the Ides of March) and I want to be in tip-top shape.

12/16/05

BWT 289.5# BF 26%

I made a conscious effort to fully hydrate, so this is an honest low for me. Diet was 1,500 Cal yesterday; aiming for the same today. I will probably go lift tomorrow morning unless there is a transit strike, in which case I will improvise a workout at home.

12/15/05

BWT 288#

Stayed under 1,500 Cal. yesterday; same goal for today. Broke out the new 40" belt and I can just wear it on the last hole. Probably better for my diet to have my waist a little tight rather than a bit loose. My 42" belt is being donated to the poor on my next trip to Philadelphia.

Tonight I will be carbing up a bit on roasted chestnuts and then, assuming MTA doesn't strike, it is off to the gym tomorrow morning. I do think the MTA has too much money, but I also think that motormen and conductors should be pretty happy to pull in 50-60K when most of their jobs are unnecessary. That is a lot more than I make as an academic researcher and I have a PhD in biochemistry plus 8 years experience.

Now a fare reduction, that would really help the regular folk.

12/14/05

BWT 287.5#

1,320 Cal yesterday; I am aiming for 1,500 Cal today.

I fortified myself with 100 Calories worth of chocolate before going to the gym.

Workout:

Barbell Incline "Speed Presses": 180#x3x3x3x3x3x3

Not as fast as I would like, but not too bad.

Cable curl: 80#x10x10x10x8x5

Precor Super Squat: 380#x5x5x5

Upright Barbell Row: 125#x5x5x5

12/12/05

BWT 289.5#

A somewhat dehydrated 289.5#, but I am finally dipping under 290#. Next week 285#, and then we will see if I can hit my arbitrary goal of 275# by New Years day.

Diet will be 1,500 Cal today, and I wil lift tomorrow. Hopefully there will not be a transit strike, otherwise I may have to lift at home for a while.

12/12/05

BWT 291.5#

A good start to the week. I really carbed up on Sat. (~4,000 Cal) during a trip to Philadelphia. Most of that total came from a very disappointing lunch at "Rouge" on Rittenhouse square, plus 1,180 Cal worth of chocolate covered mint Oreos. I wish I had saved those calories till I got back to New York and had something really outstanding.

Sunday I had 1,750 Cal, and I am shooting for 1,500/day for the rest of the week. I tried on my 40"x32" regular fit Levi's today and I am probably 5# from wearing them in public. Next week the size 42" are being donated to the poor, if all goes well.

Last night's workout:

Barbell Incline Press: 210#x5 220#x3 230#x3x3x3

I haven't done these for a while so I have to get my groove back. My best in the past 12 months is 310# for 1 rep. Anything over bodyweight on the incline press isn't bad.

Cable curl: 80#x10x10x10x8x8

Great pump on these, probably due to all those Carbs I consumed on Sat.

Precor Cable row: 190#x5x5x5

Bradford Press :120#x5x5x7x8x8

Cybex Tricep Machine:150#x5x5x5

12/9/05

BWT 290#

Sticking to my diet although I hit 2,100 cal yesterday putting me a little over my pace for a 1,500 cal/day average.

Today's snow did not keep me away from the gym. and in fact made for a visually stunning walk up central park west to the 63rd st. YMCA.

Military Press Ladders: 200#x1 (too heavy) 190#x1/2/3/1/2/3/1/2/3

Militaries are done standing rather than seated. I find them a little harder than seated presses, but they do a nice job strengthening your "core".

Cable curl: 80#x10x10x10

Rackpull:405#x3x3x1

My grip is failing me on these. I am putting straps on my Christmas wishlist.

Cable row:180#x5x5x5

Precor "dumbell" press machine:45#x10x8x7

12/8/05

BWT 291#

Still making good progress. Goal is 1,500Cal today which should keep me on track for my December goal.

12/7/05

BWT 292#

Diet is still going strong (1,550 Cal yesterday) as I approach a new low in bodyweight. Unfortunately i picked up some stretchmarks yesterday between my rear and medial deltoids (shoulders). I wonder if this is a combination of my skin really tightening up during my weightloss and the "pump" from doing OHP and cable rows yesterday. I can't really complain too much because the alternative (loose skin) is way worse than picking up a few more scars. I was just surprised because I thought they were asssociated with weight gain rather than loss.

12/6/05

BWT 293# Lean Body Mass 227#

Diet is still going well: I totaled 1,550 Cal yesterday. If I keep it up I should easily lose 5# this week.

I am feeling alot trimmer, now that I have shed all that Thanksgiving bloat. Fat loss should be in the 0.75-1#/ day range on this diet.

Workout:

Seated Barbell OHP: 190#x3x3x3x3x3x3

Cable curl: 80#x10x10x10

Precor long pull(cable row): 180#x5x5x5

Precor supersquat: 370#x5x5x5

These are starting to get a bit challenging at the bottom of the squat.

12/5/05

BWT 294.4#

Making good progress towards my December goal of dipping under 275#. Yesterday I stayed under 1,200 Cal which was a bit difficult, especially since I was making Christmas chocolates. I did try 200 Cal worth this morning and they came out pretty well. The ones I decorated with transfer sheets were particularly attractive ( Twelfth Night ). I blended Callebaut Milk chocolate with Bittersweet to make a custom blend of chocolate which tempered beautifully. I pretty much treated the whole proceedings as a science project and made it through without tasting any chocolate till the sampling I had (and recorded) this morning.

12/4/05

BWT 296#

I was a bit on the high side in terms of calories yesterday (2,500 Cal) but i will be uber strict today. 290# by Saturday would put me firmly on track to 275# by year's end. I am figuring that 275# ( 22% bodyfat?) is going to be the real demarcation for me between being fat vs. merely "overweight", so I am eager to hit it quickly and then, perhaps, plateau for a bit.

I am pouring some chocolates today with four different fillings: rasberry ganache, dark chocolate with peppermint in a white chocolate shell, peanut butter and apricot. These are intended for Christmas gifts, but I will probably have a few each day as treats. My cookies were a hit at the lab party on Friday; we will see what the office staff thinks of this year's chocolates.

Worked out at the gym yesterday morning:

Seated Barbell Overheadpress: 200#x1/2/3/1/2/3/1/2/3 220#x1x1

Did some ladders. These were a bit hard.

Cable curl: 80#x10x10x10

Rack pull: 410#x3x3x3

I may need straps. My grip is really bothering me at anything over 400#.

Cybex Tricep machine: 140#x5x5x5

7# of muscle =1# of Fat?

BWT 297#

I was just musing over how many calories are in a pound of muscle and I came up with the following:

1g of protein=4cal, and muscle is ~75% water. If we assume that muscle is basicaly all protein and water we get 1,000 Cal/ kg of muscle or 450 Cal/#! A pound of fat contains 3,500 Cal.

So losing a # of muscle is ~7 times as easy as losing a pound of fat! OTOH, gaining a pound of muscle would take a very modest surplus of calories. No need to pig out when bulking up. Even 100 extra calories of protein/day is probably enough.

This probably explains the incredible pace of weightloss experienced by gastric bypass patients. It doesn't take a big calorie deficit to drop a lot of muscle.

So I can easily drop 20# in a month by running a modest caloric deficit of a few hundered calories per day. The real trick is to lose 20# of fat, which is going to take some real discipline. I tested that discipline lastnight by making Christmas cookies for tonight's lab Christmas party. Of, course I had to test out the product but I limited myself to two small cookies and a sampling of the semi-sweet ganache (great stuff:semi-sweet Callabaut chocolate, heavy cream and butter).

12/1/05

Bodyweight 297.5#

Uh-oh. Only one month to go in 2005. I guess my new goal will be getting under 275# by New Year's. 10% bodyfat will have to wait until sometime in the Spring of 2006.

Still counting Calories, and trying to stay under 2,000 per day. Lunch today will be takeout from "Curry in a Hurry", so I will follow the plan of eating 1/3 of what I would normally eat.

Last nights home workout:

Push-ups: x10 x10 x10

I tried to do these pretty explosively.

Dumbell standing press: 62.5#x5x5x5

Thick bar (2.5") dumbell rows:88#x3x3x3

These are really a grip exercise using the thick handled dumbell. I would go much heavier, and for more reps with a standard handle, but my Olympic plates wouldn't fit.

Gripinator (plate loading grip machine):60#x10x10x10x10x10

This works the crushing grip.