To make a change in diet an exercise, it's important to know where you are when you start. As such, here's everything I've eaten or drunk in the past week that contained any calories, which corresponds to my first week of the current round of trying the P90X system. I'm posting this at the moment without having eaten dinner yet on the 7th day, just due to the when it's convenient to post--I'll update this in a day or so and add what's missing. I've omitted water (I don't measure how much water I drink; I could give you an estimate based on the number of glasses I've had but it would be an estimate only) and a few other 0-calorie beverages (I've had one can of diet coke and 2 pitchers of a diet iced tea in the past week).
The goal for this first phase is a very high-protein bit. I'd also been completely careless about my diet and exercise habits for over a month ahead of time, so I had more fat on my body than is normal for me. Over the course of the week, my scale registered a change from 154.8 pounds with 10.8% body fat to 153.0 pounds with 10.4% body fat, so a loss of 0.8 pounds of fat and 1.0 pound combined between water and muscle.
2.5 pounds chicken breast (skinless, grilled)
4 pounds chicken thigh (skinless, grilled)
1 pound grapes
1.5 pound strawberries
12 ounces raspberries
1 kiwano
1 pound green beans (steamed)
2/3 pound snow peas (steamed)
5 cans tuna (chunk, water packed)
19 eggs (boiled--omlettes made by boiling ingredients in a freezer bag)
8 cups cottage cheese (1%)
7 slices deli turkey (boiled)
21 slices deli Salami (microwaved)
15 slices american cheese (deli)
1.5 cups shredded Provolone and Romano (skim)
6 cups pudding (Jello, sugar-free, fat-free, made with skim milk)
1/2 bottle mustard
6 tablespoons Miracle Whip (light)
48 ounces soy milk (vanilla flavored)
16 ounces skim milk
32 ounces V8 juice
9 servings protein powder
salt, garlic, and pepper to taste.
Over the course of 7 days, that's 14,647 calories
567.6 grams fat
209.4 saturated
83.3 polyunsaturated
210.3 monounsaturated
675.7 grams carbohydrates
82.9 dietary fiber
1551.5 grams protein
Averaged per day, that's 2092 calories per day (will go up once I add in day 7's dinner)
36% fat
18% carbohydrates
46% protein
My diet for the past week has thus turned out to be higher in fat than desired, lower in carbohydrates than recommended, and slightly lower in proteins than recommended (the plan called for a 20/50/30 split of fat/protein/carbohydrate). Although the salami has been tasty, and I am probably consuming less fat than indicated in my calculations because I drain the grease left from its cooking before I eat it, it is simply too high in fat compared to its protein content to work acceptably as a meat in this diet, and if given a choice between it and my other significant fat sources (cheese, chicken, eggs) I will choose to sacrifice the salami. I had been planning to maintain a diet along these lines for another week before slowly raising my carbohydrate intake, but it looks like I should probably begin raising it sooner than that. I also appear to be getting fewer calories than I should with as high of a native metabolism as I have; removing all bread, pasta, and rice products from my normal diet in an effort to substitute in additional protein has gotten the percent protein up, but dropped the daily total of consumption down. It would seem to be a good idea to substitute out the whole eggs and replace them with egg whites, but that would also reduce the total calorie total, which I am reluctant to do. Although I am averaging over 2000 calories a day at the moment (~2300 per day for the first 6 days; day 7 currently lacking a dinner), my long-term trend over the past several years has been that my equilibrium consumption is somewhere around 3200 calories per day. As such, dropping below roughly 2700 per day is a bad idea for my long-term metabolism.
This diet would also be problematic to maintain for a long period due to an overabundance of tuna, which would put me at risk for mercury poisoning. This very low concentration of carbohydrates additionally has my fiber intake well below what it should be. I have a handful of vitamins and minerals that are lower than would be hoped for -- notably magnesium where I'm only at 55% of the goal for the week, Thiamine (66%), vitamin D (67%), vitamin E (74%), and manganese (75%) -- and all but the magnesium would be alleviated by taking 1 or 2 multivitamin tablets in a week. As such, it may be worth looking into a magnesium-specific supplement, as the multivitamin I have contains only 25% of a single day's magnesium dose. If I wish to gain muscle, I will need to increase total caloric consumption, but my lack of hunger over the past week under moderate temperatures and low-stress conditions means that I will most likely have to substitute out some foods which are highly filling for the small number of calories they contain and replace them with other foods which have a denser concentration of calories; preferrably, ones that are are predominantly protein with essentially no fat. I may, for instance, need to switch from the soymilk to skim milk, and get more of my fruit in smoothie format than in whole raw fruit.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Starting anew, and soliciting feedback
No excuses; I didn't make it through the program a couple of times which I started over the past year. I'm trying again now. So, to start with, a couple of before pictures:
These before pictures, from a week ago, give an accurate impression of what I look like at the moment. For those who want numbers, they're in my profile, but the basic stats are:
28 years old
6 foot tall
153 pounds
29 inch waist
35.5 inch widest part of rear
36 inch chest
12 inch biceps
Resting pulse 57 bpm
5k run time (approximate) 28 minutes
400m swim time (approximate) 10 minutes
Most relevant weaknesses:
Exercise induced asthma
Difficulty gaining weight
Very poor hamstring flexibility
As a long-term ideal, I would like to reach somewhere around 165-170 pounds with somewhere around 9% body fat, and avoiding any vascularization. I would settle for around 160 pounds with the same proportions. That is the most I have ever been able to weigh (albeit with a higher body fat than the goal) despite being roughly 6 foot tall; I have the metabolism of a humming bird. I'm aiming for the build of a diver, or possibly a dancer. These goals may be vain, I know, but I figure if I'm going to be thin, I might as well see if for at least a little while visible abs are doable for me.
This goal would involve losing about 1 pound of fat and gaining about 13 pounds of muscle, so it would be optimistic to achieve in 1 year, more realistic in 18-24 months. An actual plan for that would probably look more like lose 2-3 pounds of fat first, then try to gain a few pounds of muscle without going above 11-12% body fat, and cycling a few times.
I am quite happy with my lower body strength and appearance, though I imagine as I learn how to ride a bicycle (which, at the age of 28, I do not know how to do) there will be some changes in the musculature of my legs because biking will stress my legs differently than running, though I do want to improve my hamstring flexibility and (if possible) add an inch or so to my vertical leap, which would help my volleyball game. As far as my upper body, from an appearance standpoint I'd like a little more muscle in my chest and upper arms; from a functional standpoint I'd like a corresponding increase in my back (to maintain my posture), a significant increase in strength in the shoulders (currently the weakest muscle group relative to everything else in my body), and possibly some increase in my grip strength.
The current plan is to follow a very high protein diet for another week or so, and then gradually increase my carbohydrate consumption primarily with whole grain breads, cereals, pastas, brown rice, and some additional steamed or raw vegetables until in a few weeks protein and carbohydrates are both somewhere around 40% of my caloric consumption. I'll try to maintain that for at least a month before allowing the carbohydrates to reach higher, up into the 50-60% range, all following the general guidelines of the P90X plan, which shall also constitute my exercise regimen for the next several months. I plan to supplement this with the occasional run, perhaps once a week, perhaps only once every two weeks, of somewhere around 3 miles, simply to prevent losing what endurance I built over the spring and summer. Similarly, I plan at least the occasional swim or bike ride (even if it starts out as the exercise bike), as I have vague plans to do a very short triathlon next June. After the P90X portion is complete, I've not yet decided what comes next, though I imagine it will probably involve some instances of low-rep, high-weight multijoint exercises as I try to increase my strength, with high intensity interval training to maintain my cardio form.
These before pictures, from a week ago, give an accurate impression of what I look like at the moment. For those who want numbers, they're in my profile, but the basic stats are:
28 years old
6 foot tall
153 pounds
29 inch waist
35.5 inch widest part of rear
36 inch chest
12 inch biceps
Resting pulse 57 bpm
5k run time (approximate) 28 minutes
400m swim time (approximate) 10 minutes
Most relevant weaknesses:
Exercise induced asthma
Difficulty gaining weight
Very poor hamstring flexibility
As a long-term ideal, I would like to reach somewhere around 165-170 pounds with somewhere around 9% body fat, and avoiding any vascularization. I would settle for around 160 pounds with the same proportions. That is the most I have ever been able to weigh (albeit with a higher body fat than the goal) despite being roughly 6 foot tall; I have the metabolism of a humming bird. I'm aiming for the build of a diver, or possibly a dancer. These goals may be vain, I know, but I figure if I'm going to be thin, I might as well see if for at least a little while visible abs are doable for me.
This goal would involve losing about 1 pound of fat and gaining about 13 pounds of muscle, so it would be optimistic to achieve in 1 year, more realistic in 18-24 months. An actual plan for that would probably look more like lose 2-3 pounds of fat first, then try to gain a few pounds of muscle without going above 11-12% body fat, and cycling a few times.
I am quite happy with my lower body strength and appearance, though I imagine as I learn how to ride a bicycle (which, at the age of 28, I do not know how to do) there will be some changes in the musculature of my legs because biking will stress my legs differently than running, though I do want to improve my hamstring flexibility and (if possible) add an inch or so to my vertical leap, which would help my volleyball game. As far as my upper body, from an appearance standpoint I'd like a little more muscle in my chest and upper arms; from a functional standpoint I'd like a corresponding increase in my back (to maintain my posture), a significant increase in strength in the shoulders (currently the weakest muscle group relative to everything else in my body), and possibly some increase in my grip strength.
The current plan is to follow a very high protein diet for another week or so, and then gradually increase my carbohydrate consumption primarily with whole grain breads, cereals, pastas, brown rice, and some additional steamed or raw vegetables until in a few weeks protein and carbohydrates are both somewhere around 40% of my caloric consumption. I'll try to maintain that for at least a month before allowing the carbohydrates to reach higher, up into the 50-60% range, all following the general guidelines of the P90X plan, which shall also constitute my exercise regimen for the next several months. I plan to supplement this with the occasional run, perhaps once a week, perhaps only once every two weeks, of somewhere around 3 miles, simply to prevent losing what endurance I built over the spring and summer. Similarly, I plan at least the occasional swim or bike ride (even if it starts out as the exercise bike), as I have vague plans to do a very short triathlon next June. After the P90X portion is complete, I've not yet decided what comes next, though I imagine it will probably involve some instances of low-rep, high-weight multijoint exercises as I try to increase my strength, with high intensity interval training to maintain my cardio form.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Dusting off the site
It's been months since I've entered anything on this site. I could give you my excuses, but at the end of the day, they're excuses. I didn't do it. Now I'm going to give it a shot.
Because I have a few month in which I have no plans to travel, I've begun a new regimen. Namely, January 1st was my 1st day with the P90X system, about which I had heard and read a number of good things. I'll fully admit that before I purchased the product, I downloaded it to take a look at a few of the routines and see if they made sense. I also read through the instructions, the meal plans, etc, for the same reason. Everything seemed sensible enough that I figured it was worth a shot, particularly because my gym is so busy in the early part of the year, and thus I actually bought a copy. I like the freedom of being able to work out at home, regardless of the time of day. I also appreciate not having to try to pack a post-workout snack or shake and bring it with me, which is less pleasant when I'm going to the gym after I've had to do a number of work related things than when I'm going first thing in the morning. After this first week I'll probably resume going to the gym and using at least the cardio equipment there--there are still hazy thoughts about participating in a very short triathlon this summer, and I'll need time spent on the treadmill, in the pool, and on the exercise bike to have a realistic chance of finishing that--but for this week, I've been sticking with just the DVDs.
In any event, here's some of the basic information of where I was before beginning this program:
Photos:
Not terrible, but not good either, considering that back in August standing at a more flattering 3/4th shot I was:
We'll see if I can get to looking like that without posing, just being.
Height: 6'ish
Weight: 163.4lbs
Body Fat % : 13.1 according to my scale, so probably near 15% reality
Resting pulse: 67 bpm.
It's been months since I've run a timed mile as fast as I can, so I imagine my first shot around now would be in the 8 minute range, but I've worked it to as low as 5:59 in the past.
Long term goal is in the 165-170 lb range and maybe 9% body fat.
Over the 90 days of one complete cycle of this program, I'm hoping to get to 160-165 and 10-11%. I'd like a resting pulse in the 50 or so range, and a 5k run time in the 22 minute range, or maybe 25 as part of a triathlon.
I'll be sticking intermittently updates on my progress in here, hopefully at least once a week. But, for the moment, I'm off to go return some library books. And now that I've spent this time talking about the exercise program, I think I'm going to try walking there, like I did in the summer. We'll ignore the fact that it's in the 20s and snowing.
Because I have a few month in which I have no plans to travel, I've begun a new regimen. Namely, January 1st was my 1st day with the P90X system, about which I had heard and read a number of good things. I'll fully admit that before I purchased the product, I downloaded it to take a look at a few of the routines and see if they made sense. I also read through the instructions, the meal plans, etc, for the same reason. Everything seemed sensible enough that I figured it was worth a shot, particularly because my gym is so busy in the early part of the year, and thus I actually bought a copy. I like the freedom of being able to work out at home, regardless of the time of day. I also appreciate not having to try to pack a post-workout snack or shake and bring it with me, which is less pleasant when I'm going to the gym after I've had to do a number of work related things than when I'm going first thing in the morning. After this first week I'll probably resume going to the gym and using at least the cardio equipment there--there are still hazy thoughts about participating in a very short triathlon this summer, and I'll need time spent on the treadmill, in the pool, and on the exercise bike to have a realistic chance of finishing that--but for this week, I've been sticking with just the DVDs.
In any event, here's some of the basic information of where I was before beginning this program:
Photos:
Not terrible, but not good either, considering that back in August standing at a more flattering 3/4th shot I was:
We'll see if I can get to looking like that without posing, just being.
Height: 6'ish
Weight: 163.4lbs
Body Fat % : 13.1 according to my scale, so probably near 15% reality
Resting pulse: 67 bpm.
It's been months since I've run a timed mile as fast as I can, so I imagine my first shot around now would be in the 8 minute range, but I've worked it to as low as 5:59 in the past.
Long term goal is in the 165-170 lb range and maybe 9% body fat.
Over the 90 days of one complete cycle of this program, I'm hoping to get to 160-165 and 10-11%. I'd like a resting pulse in the 50 or so range, and a 5k run time in the 22 minute range, or maybe 25 as part of a triathlon.
I'll be sticking intermittently updates on my progress in here, hopefully at least once a week. But, for the moment, I'm off to go return some library books. And now that I've spent this time talking about the exercise program, I think I'm going to try walking there, like I did in the summer. We'll ignore the fact that it's in the 20s and snowing.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
080615 Update
So, I've actually been working out regularly for a few weeks now, after having passed my quals. I've just been too lazy to get some pictures up. Hopefully, I'll deal with that soon.
I've currently finished 3 weeks of a 12 week plan. Specifically, RealJock.com's Strength Foundation plan. I don't know whether I'll be able to get it done as 12 consecutive weeks, given that I might be out of town for a few points in the middle without access to gyms, but whatever. I've realized overly regimented plans don't work well for me. I'm stubborn enough to not really need the motivation boost from such a commitment, and prefer the flexibility of adjusting my schedule as needed.
I've also begun swimming, in large part due to thoughts about doing a sprint distance triathlon next summer. I'll be honest, I current suck at long distance front crawl. I'm fine over short distances, but I lose energy rapidly. I've read that I should expect it to take 4-6 weeks of regular swimming until I suddenly develop some endurance. We'll see how that goes. In the mean time, it's a great way to keep my ego in check now that I can comfortably run a 5k and am steadily increasing the speed at which I run it.
I've currently finished 3 weeks of a 12 week plan. Specifically, RealJock.com's Strength Foundation plan. I don't know whether I'll be able to get it done as 12 consecutive weeks, given that I might be out of town for a few points in the middle without access to gyms, but whatever. I've realized overly regimented plans don't work well for me. I'm stubborn enough to not really need the motivation boost from such a commitment, and prefer the flexibility of adjusting my schedule as needed.
I've also begun swimming, in large part due to thoughts about doing a sprint distance triathlon next summer. I'll be honest, I current suck at long distance front crawl. I'm fine over short distances, but I lose energy rapidly. I've read that I should expect it to take 4-6 weeks of regular swimming until I suddenly develop some endurance. We'll see how that goes. In the mean time, it's a great way to keep my ego in check now that I can comfortably run a 5k and am steadily increasing the speed at which I run it.
Friday, February 22, 2008
Facing reality
I've realized that now is not the time for this 12-week muscle building plan. The workouts take so long that I would have to go to the gym twice a day. I have my PhD qualification exams in less than two months. I just can't afford that much time in the gym at the moment. I think I now need to go back to a more normal workout, and try this plan in the future. Sorry to anyone watching my results.
Monday, February 18, 2008
I'm not dead yet
Digital scale: 154.8 pounds (yikes, weight loss), body fat 10.8%, water weight 60.2%
But I am finally over a bad virus. I decided not to subject the others at my gym to my infectiousness the past two weeks, so today I begin week 5 of the program. Over the past two weeks, I've mainly been out walking around outside, or on the stairs at work, or sometimes forcing myself to do pushups and situps at home. It's not the same, but I figure at least it's something. New photo to be posted later, when I get home and can take the obligatory shirtless photo of the week.
But I am finally over a bad virus. I decided not to subject the others at my gym to my infectiousness the past two weeks, so today I begin week 5 of the program. Over the past two weeks, I've mainly been out walking around outside, or on the stairs at work, or sometimes forcing myself to do pushups and situps at home. It's not the same, but I figure at least it's something. New photo to be posted later, when I get home and can take the obligatory shirtless photo of the week.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Week 5, Day 2
So, today's day 2, but I took this photo yesterday:
4 weeks on the program, the results according to my digital scale are thus:
I've lost 3 pounds of fat.
My muscle mass is unchanged.
Essentially, I think that means that my paying attention to my diet is causing me to lose weight, but the heavy workouts are forcing my muscles to stay in place, so my body goes after fat instead. I should point out that paying attention to my diet is more about eating healthy than anything else, but I would say no to developing some abs should that happen
When I
4 weeks on the program, the results according to my digital scale are thus:
I've lost 3 pounds of fat.
My muscle mass is unchanged.
Essentially, I think that means that my paying attention to my diet is causing me to lose weight, but the heavy workouts are forcing my muscles to stay in place, so my body goes after fat instead. I should point out that paying attention to my diet is more about eating healthy than anything else, but I would say no to developing some abs should that happen
When I
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