My monthly fatloss progress report....

Today's Post: Monday, 12-19-2011

Since last month, I lost another pound.

That’s the good news. And, there are three reasons for it.

First, except for the Thursday that was Thanksgiving, I did my partial fast at lunch the other Thursdays. Second, I was able to skip drinking an extra day and averaged my new and lower number of alcoholic drinks each week, 8.5, despite drinking a bit extra on Thanksgiving. Third, one of the people who usually brings a food to Thanksgiving that I eat a bit extra was unable to make it. And other things happened too such as less appetite due to my cold, so I ate less at Thanksgiving than I have in the past.

I’m pleased the partial fast at lunch method is still working and that I was able to avoid drinking extra for the month. Clearly I’d have weighed more and gotten even fatter had I not done them.

But the bad news is that on both of the two measures of my waist I take -- a bit tight AND a bit relaxed, I gained about three quarters of an inch.

That means I lost lean weight and got fatter! Oops!

To do that I clearly lost muscle. On a guess, I gained a couple pounds of fat and lost three pounds of muscle.

What happened on the gaining muscle side that caused me to lose it instead?

Simple. In between 11-19 & 12-17, the Saturdays I took my monthly measurements, on 11-22 I came down with a really bad cold.

Much to my shock, with all the things I do that make colds half as bad and only half as long, THIS cold was triple strength! The bad part of the cold lasted a week. The almost as bad part lasted a second week. And, it took another two weeks to recover my strength and cough up all the gunk in my chest in addition.

Colds are worse in the late afternoon and early evening. And my Monday and Weds evening jump rope sessions need extra energy and deep breathing. So I had to skip those sessions. I suspect I lost muscle from my legs and butt by doing so.

In addition, I kept up my morning exercise sessions. But to avoid making my cold worse, I used lighter weight and less repetitions. So, here again I suspect I lost some muscle.

The far better news is that the recent several morning sessions are back to normal and I’ll be able to get back to my jump rope sessions tonight.

My hope is that I gain the muscle back by next month, that I lose another pound, AND lose back the 3/4 inch from my waist or even lose an inch.

(My main goal now that I’m close to my goal weight is to lose inches off my waist by adding muscle on my larger muscles like my chest and butt and legs and keep those two measures the same or increase them.

Clearly I went backwards on this one last month. Although I may not make progress on more, over the next month I should be able to regain the muscle I had.)

Also, I had a plan to get a log book pad of paper to keep track of the broccoli I ate each evening. But I was too tired in the evenings from the cold to make the extra effort at all to unthaw the frozen broccoli florets and eat some. And, I was too short on time and energy to buy the kind of log book pad of paper I plan to use.

I will have some extra shopping time the Monday after Christmas to buy the log book pad of paper. And, I’ve had excellent results following through on things I once use a log book system to track.

So, between adding back the muscle and the one day a week partial fast at lunch and that evening effort, I believe I’ll again lose a pound on the scale by next month.

The combination of adding muscle and losing weight should cut back on my waist measurements. Next month, the weight loss should be fat loss and my fat loss should be greater than the weight loss!

Let’s hope so!

I now need to lose 4 pounds total to return to my goal weight. And, I still need to lose at least four to 6 inches off my waist.

According to pictures I’ve seen, I’m now at about 22 % bodyfat or a bit more, perhaps 25%. To remove my abdominal fat, according to those same pictures, I also need to add enough muscle to stay at or just slightly below my goal weight AND lose about 12% to 15% of my current bodyweight as fat.

This translates into losing 18 to 24 pounds of fat while gaining 14 to 20 pounds of muscle.

My strength training has gone decently lately – once I finally got over my cold; but I need to add some heavier dumbbells now and eventually will need to go to the gym to use heavier weights as well to do that.

That’s mostly true for leg exercises since I’ve not done enough heavier or more challenging exercises for them.

THAT I’ve begun doing something about.

Not long ago I began doing a set of squats with one leg at a time, one for each leg, two times a week. I’m only at 11 repetitions once for each leg. But I can clearly keep adding one each time for quite awhile. In fact, it has gotten enough easier, I’ll be at 14 reps soon. Once I do that, I’ll add holding the 25 pound dumbbell as I do them. That will be as if I added 50 pounds to doing two legged squats. (Then once I get some heavier dumbbells, I can add more weight.)

Eventually that will add some thigh and butt muscle and increase my pounds of muscle. In fact, I may be able to get a more solid balancing post and add a dumbbell of enough weight to make this more likely.

So far, that plan is working but is still at too early a stage to expect much on the scale or tape measure.

(Eventually I’ll also need to get a specialized minibike or other seated leg exerciser I can use while seated at my desk and another I can use while reading at home.

They don’t yet make those that I know of but most people today need them. Given the health harm of sitting too much and how many people do that, these minibikes or other seated exerciser for your legs and chairs that match them well are coming soon I think.

Walking burns about 300 calories an hour. (200 if you are skinny and walk slowly to over 500 if you walk really fast or walk somewhat fast but are much heavier.)

Using a seated minibike or other seated exerciser that you use much less effort on but keep moving slowly most of the time you sit can easily burn 50 calories an hour.

Then if like many people today you sit for 6 hours a day, you could easily add an extra 2100 calories a week by using a seated minibike exerciser most of the time you sit at home or at work. That would help people lose about 2 and a half pounds a month for a few months once they got into the habit of always using one.

If I’d used one of the seated minibikes since I began my current fatloss plan, I’d still need to add the extra muscle to be at my goal weight. But I’d be trying to add muscle weight to get back to my goal weight! That’s because I’d be 10 to 15 pounds less fat.)

I’ve also had an idea for awhile. Before sewing machines had electric power, they had an under the work area treadle that was designed to be effective but avoid distracting the person sewing from doing their sewing.

It may be possible to find an antique sewing machine and find a manufacturer to make a design of that treadle mechanism that would do the same for people working at a desk.

It’s proven to do the job needed in actual use!

The best good news is that most of what I did to lose the 15 pounds I wanted and 3 pounds extra I lost temporarily is still in place. I’m still doing those things. And, I am still 11 pounds lighter than I was when I started.

I’ll certainly keep doing those things!

I’ll let you know how my additional planned changes and efforts work next month!