My Monthly Fatloss Report August 2018.....

Today's post:  Monday, 8-20-2018

Here's the key news:

     Short term results worse. Looks like long term gains will take a lot more work.

Fat Loss Report, measured on Saturday, 8-18-2018

I gained 0.9 pounds since last month from 170.6 to 171.5.   So I've gained 6 pounds since May 19, 3 months ago.  I gained 2.0 & 3.1 pounds the previous two months. So I have slowed the rate of gain but not stopped it yet.

My goal weight is 161 pounds so I went from 4.5 pounds over to 10.5 pounds over.  NOT good!

Since last month, I gained a quarter inch on my chest.

I gained a half inch on my waist.  It's now 42 & three quarters. That's about two inches more than 3 months ago in May.

Since last month I lost a quarter inch on my hips.

My chest measured 39 inches, a quarter inch more than last month.  This is still an inch and a half bigger than several months ago when I was 37 & a half inches.

(That two inches is very likely is from muscle growth from my progress in pushups in the style that uses my pectoral muscles better than standard pushups.)

This morning, I did 194 and 47 more after a brief rest for a total of 241.

This is up from 182 and 45 more after a brief rest for a total of 227 last month.

My waist measurement went up another half inch since last month to about 42.75 inches. I want it to be 34 instead of almost 43! This is almost certainly fat gain this time.

My hips measured about 39.   This is a quarter inch less than last time. I think I kept the muscle I gained and my work on the VIBE removed some fat in that area. Working out on it even for upper body exercises demands you do it with your knees unlocked.  So all the time I’ve worked out on it may well have kept my leg strength and weight but made it more compact from removing trapped lymph and maybe even fat removal when the rest of me gained fat.

Analysis & changes needed:

1.  When I am able to do barbell strength training with a good bit heavier weights and add more muscle to the rest of me, this may finally begin to reduce my waist.

These results clearly indicate that besides the VIBE that I report on next, I need to prioritize doing this barbell strength training at least once a month for upper body AND once a month for legs.

 I made some progress using the vibe since last time; and it will likely produce some of the long term changes I want.

        It's much noisier and much harder to use than I expected!

a) I have made it a bit less of a hassle to deploy with two changes that make it easier and faster.

I used it Saturday, 8-18 & Sunday, 8-19, yesterday. 

For now it’s simply too noisy to subject our neighbors to more than two days a week.  And,  doing it after work on weekday evenings with the time and effort to set it up still a hassle at my low energy time of day, I’ve decided to not do that for the near term.  

So far on weekend mornings and weekday mornings it has been a bit cooler which helps a lot with more intense exercises.

b) My expectation was that I'd have to use less weight on strength training exercises done on the VIBE because my muscles would work harder but I'd find it easier to balance on.

The VIBE is totally different than that expectation!

It's so incredibly hard to balance on, at first I had to use tiny weights and found it very hard to do the exercises correctly without falling off!

c)  Oh well, maybe continued use will make my ability to balance improve when I'm NOT on it!

d)  I do think that by doing a little better on the exercise form and number of repetitions each week for a few weeks, I will then be able to gradually get to using the weights I expected and while using the correct form.

This past weekend I did make enough progress that I’ll try the original and heavier weights next weekend but just do fewer reps.

e)  Working out on the VIBE does not seem to make my muscles contract harder.  But if I contract them hard, the VIBE may make that build muscle better. The balance problems initially reduced my focus on that.  But eventually I plan to do it just after EVERY exercise.

f)  Because it helps my balance and insulates my head from the vibrations,

I have to bend my knees almost ALL the time I'm on the VIBE. 

Even just using it two weekend days a week, THAT will gradually build muscle in my butt and legs I think. It will also burn calories each time I use it that I have not been burning before.

g) My son in law, who studied vibration treatments as part of his studies to become a licensed physical therapist, also tells me that doing this will make my stronger leg muscles more flexible at the same time! 

I got a mild hamstring pull recently from trying to start running fast very quickly.  If he is correct, that will no longer happen!

h)  He says using the VIBE also WILL remove excess fluid from my legs and belly once I get to daily use! 

If that does happen, the added muscle may not show on the scale since there will be less water weight.  BUT my waist will measure less and my thighs will look much more muscular. 

If using the VIBE does remove an inch or two from my belly from fluid removal –

-- and an inch or two from adding muscle –

-- and an inch or two from increased calorie burning and metabolism boost,

I may at last have the waist reductions I want!

(My legs are already hard and muscular under a bit of fat now.  If I can add a bit more muscle and remove over half that fat, they will look a LOT more muscular.)

i)  My calf muscles have less fat on them; and I was already beginning to make them more muscular when I injured something that removed nearly half the strength of my left calf. 

I have regained some of the strength in my left calf; but the limiting factors seem no better. 

Bulletproof says using the VIBE speeds healing. If it does in the two ways that might be causing the problem with my left calf, I’ll be able to add more muscle on my right calf and a LOT more muscle on my left calf.

The problem is either too little blood flow to my left calf or a small cracked bone or two in my left foot.  So, if using the VIBE almost every day for my calves restores that, I’ll add muscle and spring in my walking step AND I’ll feel very pleased and successful!

AND, because I can put my weight on my other leg that is on the floor I already found that I can exercise each calf that IS on the VIBE quite well.

So the potential is clearly there to add muscle to my butt, thighs, and calves and remove the fat layer over them by using the VIBE.

Clearly if this does happen, my waist will shrink at least one to three inches.

So far my current VIBE use of two days a week is likely helping.

But since the best fix to make daily VIBE use possible is to move to a larger location which would take at least the $1600 a month the VIBE cost EVERY month, going to a gym with heavy barbells is likely the priority now.  It’s at least $1500 a month less!

j) Posture improvement.

Besides the muscle I lost since I was a young man doing powerlifting and gained the belly fat I have, a few years ago I found that the round shouldered look I get when I look down to read a book or newspaper had frozen in place –

-- and without the use of some force to partly reduce it or standing or sitting as tall as I can – or both, my chest looks less muscular than it is and I’m shorter and look round-shouldered.

I’ve found an effective exercise to fight this finally.  Once I use the VIBE most days I understand it will enable me to make progress using this exercise on the VIBE and just after I get off it. (Using the VIBE temporarily loosens the spine and your joints.)

The other consideration is that when I stand tall, my belly looks even bigger and sticks out in front more.

So to look close to as good as I did when younger, I need to straighten my spine a good bit and lose even more fat from my belly.

The VIBE seems to be less effective for this than I’d hoped.  But I am doing the back straitening exercise better and doing more sets right after I use the VIBE.  So I think I’ll gradually make a bit more progress.

2. Food changes this month and recently:

a) The two weeks I lost 1.0 & 1.8 pounds, I traded using yogurt in three dishes each week for enough Kerrygold Dubliner cheddar cheese to replace the protein and enough apple cider vinegar to replace the fluid.  That removed the carbs in the yogurt and likely the calorie in those carbs too!

AND during the week I lost 1.8 pounds, I did an almost 12 hour fast from about 6:30 am to 6:30 pm the Monday of that week.  The bad news is that it removed the nutrition and fiber the cabbage and kiwifruit I skipped contained. The good news is that it removed their carbs and calories too!  (I took 3 extra bilberry extract capsules for some of the fruit nutrients I gave up.)

b) Since May 19 I've gained 6 pounds with most of it going to my belly fat. Much of this is likely from three things I added:

*Instead of taking time from my getting ready to go in the morning schedule to make coffee, I began making it the night before and adding a few ounces of whole milk to make a cold coffee drink I can drink when I first walk into the kitchen.   I like it and the protein and growth factors it gives me for my exercises later in the morning. But until I add more muscle the calories and carbs in it, may be feeding my belly fat instead.

I did switch from coconut oil to Brain Octane for one or two teaspoons of oil in this to reduce the effective carbs that much coconut oil or milk would have.  Until I add more muscle to burn these calories this may cause as much as all 6 pounds of fat I just gained.

Due to the virus fighting effects of the caprylic acid in the Brain Octane I want to keep adding it; but I’ll cut back by just a bit on the added whole milk.

**For stress relief I find I do better drinking at least some wine every day. 

And, now I’ve recovered from high heart rates and now have ideal blood pressure readings instead of the readings 15 points to 20 points higher, I no longer need to cut back to fix that problem.  I no longer have it!

If I want to lose back the last six pounds I gained and keep them off, it might help to resume drinking chilled water instead of wine those three days a week!

For now, I think I can do this another way and prefer to do so.

3.  Way to remove excess gas and Obesogenic bacteria

As I’ve posted on before, one of the ways you can become fat or regain fat you actually lost successfully is that Obesogenic bacteria in your gut tends to cause you to move less and eat more carbs.

Then too, some bacteria tend to cause excess gas when you eat the nonstarchy cruciferous vegetables.

This gas can make you feel bloated and uncomfortable; it can be smelly; and it can make your belly bigger.

So if you can stop these effects, you’ll feel better; your belly will be smaller even before you lose fat; and you’ll have more energy and tend to keep off fat you lose.

The month before this, I also felt fat and bloated even when my stomach was empty and I was hungry.

This suggests that I need something more than the probiotics I’ve been taking; and eating less yogurt with probiotic bacteria might have caused part of this.

On June 14^th I posted on an Ayurvedic 3 herb combination, triphala, which reduces excess gas by improving digestion and in other ways

So, the supplement Triphala from Gaia herbs looked promising as a fat loss aid for good gut bacteria and to avoid bloating from the high fiber diet.  The herbal combination has a track record of working; and Gaia is a high quality provider of herb and supplements. 

So, besides the using the VIBE, in the next few weeks until my next report I’ll also take triphala.

If it reduces gas and improves digestion, it may reduce the size of my belly by itself.

And, if it also replaces Obesogenic bacteria with probiotic ones, it may give me more energy and partially prevent me from regaining lost fat. 

I’ve now done this long enough I can say it HAS helped with how my gut feels.  I no longer feel fat and bloated even when my stomach is empty and I am hungry.  And, I think this is largely because I’m less gassy then I was.  

However the triphala may not be as effective and removing Obesogenic bacteria as I need now that I am going with my wife to gatherings where food that contains Obesogenic bacteria is  served.

I also eat a total of about 120 grams of protein a day.  If instead of not getting all the nutrition for my muscles from that due to the acid reducer and the diuretic I take, I might add much more muscle with the exercises I already do by taking an effective proteolytic supplement.

Even though there IS such a supplement, it’s quite expensive and to work it’s finicky about taking it at just the right time before eating.

It seems there is a probiotic that does this double!  It too is a bit pricey; but I’ve decided to try it.

It is always in your gut when you take it properly.  So it breaks down all the protein you eat and makes it accessible to your muscles even if you take it after you eat instead of before.  AND it does so even with the drugs I take that hamper digestion otherwise.

It also is very effective killing off Obesogenic bacteria. And apparently kills off bacteria and other bio-villains that would make you sick otherwise.

So I’ve decided to give it a try. 

4. Way to reduce my likely BPA intake:

I drink bottled water and make our coffee with it because it does NOT have the bad tastes and occasional cloudiness or soapy effect that tap water does.

But the plastic containers it sits in waiting to be used and on their way to the store where I buy them, bottled water likely contains enough BPA to be slightly fattening directly and reduce free testosterone reducing muscle gain too!

The monthly price is about the same as buying the bottled water.  So I’ve decided it’s worth trying.

Then too, it was in the paper that our water quality may be downgraded and make our tap water even less drinkable sometime in the next year or two.

If this product works decently for this, I’ll refer you to it in a future fatloss report post!

5.  Drop in my exercise at work each week reduced my at work exercise calories burned a week by about 600 to 800 calories a week during the same time period that I gained the six pounds!

My at your desk exerciser became less usable; and it’s been a bit too hot to use it as much as I was and the boss wants to avoid the extra charges to keep the office cooler.  That’s removed as much as 500 to 600 calories a week that I was burning. When it gets cooler, I’ll add back 200 to 300 calories of that.

And, my half mile race walks may have been burning more than the 150 to 250 calories a week I was crediting them with.  Bad air from summer reduction in air quality AND smoke from the very large fires North of us have resulted in readings a bit too high I think to exercise in.

The four fast, timed exercise walks I schedule to do burn at least 250 calories a week and may burn another recovery effect of 250 calorie more.

The air was bad all four days last week and I did no walks.  I’m still fit from my morning at home exercises.  But I think I’ve gained as much as half the fat I have from not doing these walks.

Until it’s cooler and windier and the air quality is better and the fires are out, I’ve decided to do slightly slower untimed walks on days with “low moderate” air quality.  I could have done that two or three of the four days last week.  So that may help by next month too.