My monthly fatloss report....

Today's Post:  Monday, 9-21-2015

[This month’s report is a mixed review with some positive and some negative events to report. I both gained some leverage and lost some. That status seems like AND IS where I’ve been stuck for some time!

My hope of course, is that I’ll gradually make progress by relentlessly continuing the things that have lost and kept off the fat I no longer have;

Having the things I’ve added get traction and gradually help lose some more fat;--

AND find things with more leverage that work well when I try them -- and then keep doing them also!]

Here’s the key news. 

1.  Last month, I lost 1.2 pounds, about a pound net.

My waist didn’t go down.  My chest was the same; and my hips went up an inch.

Also, the 1.2 pounds left the first week. And, my weight was exactly the same each week after that!

The bad news is that there is basically no progress.  The good news is that what I’m doing is consistent enough that I’m not losing ground either.

That leaves the promise that if I can upgrade my efforts effectively, I’ll be able to keep the progress I get.

2.  The foods and supplements that I had hoped would help with increasing my muscle and strength may be working.  I didn’t get measurably stronger since last month BUT I kept my gains and did so despite some real stress and way too hot workout conditions. 

3.  I also continued the two things that may have been as important, or more so, than the foods and supplements. 

The Perfect Workout information was that optimum progress came with slow repetitions of 10 seconds up and 10 seconds down.  I had been doing much faster although slow reps; but when I re-read that 10 seconds each way is best, in one of my two weekly strength training sessions I have been doing just that.  It does seem to be working.

And, I read a study that people doing strength training who were given a placebo they thought was anabolic steroids increased the weight they used right away to levels the people not given anything were doing!

So, I thought, what if I just boosted the weight in a comparable way?  I did so.  And it seems to be working!

There is also better news.  I’ve discovered that when I can get to a gym with heavy barbells and resume doing the deadlifts I did when I was last lean at my goal weight and increase the weight to what I did then or close to it, there is strong evidence I’ll gain enough muscle in my lower back, buttocks, and legs to remove at least half and maybe a good bit more of my excess fat!

*And, there may be a gym I can get to often enough to do this before the end of the year.

(My recovery from my Achilles tendon injury on my left leg is 100%; and the repair of the stress fracture in my lower left leg seems to be standing up still to the very slow building back program I’ve been on.  And, I’m getting close to a level where I may be able to speed my progress a bit.)

So I wrote last time; but the progress has stalled due to how weak the muscle got.  And, it’s not responding as well as I’d hoped – at least not yet.

* Since last time, I’m trying to restart doing jump rope.  Even tiny amounts build fitness extremely well.

One piece of good news is that it looks possible.  Hopefully by a month or two from now, I’ll be able to report some progress.

The better bit of good news is that while I’m re-acquiring the skill by simply being patient AND doing the exact same kind of jumps while moving my arms as if they held the rope, I can get the fitness effect as soon as I build back carefully enough to avoid any new injuries.

That way if I do one and two and one jump rope reps as I did recently, I can follow that with the set of 42 or 56 I wanted to do by just setting the rope down and doing them and doing them without it.

4.  My blood pressure medication is working decently now.  I’ve not been able to improve the readings with any significant fat loss yet.  But when the hot weather leaves I may be able to double the diuretic dose safely which was giving me good results before.

5.  My hopes for the cooling packs to lose fat are much lower than they were when I first wrote of them.

I was able to get the directions.  So when the current spell of horribly hot weather leaves I may be able to make some progress with them.

The reason for the lowered expectation is threefold. 

They only burn 300 calories an hour, not 500. 

And where I’d hoped to wear them 10 hours a week, 10 hours a month may be more doable. 

(Between the two things, 20,000 calories a month is a great deal less than 3,000!)

Lastly, if I do more, I recently read that just like eating less, there may be a rebound effect from losing fat from cold exposure.

Soon with the directions and better weather, I’ll be able to see how effective it is in practice and will report on that here.