Week 10

My weight Monday again reflected 1 pound of weight loss.

I repeated my body composition test:

Weight: 207.9 lbs vs 210 lbs 1 month ago

Fat Percentage: 24.7% vs. 25.8% 1 month ago
Fat Mass: 51.4 lbs vs. 54.2 lbs 1 month ago

Goals to reach by end of July:

Weight: 175 lbs (Lose 32.5 pounds)
Fat Percentage: 17% (Drop 7.7%)
Fat mass: 30 lbs (lose 21.2 lbs)

There is tangible progress yet is going at a slower rate than I expected. If I continue to lose around 2.5 lbs of fat per 5 week period, then it’s 0.5 lb per week or 45 weeks until I reach my goal :( . That’s quite depressing. Time for some additional research to what I can do to increase my weight loss.

My trainer is suggesting I do start doing high intensiy cardio on my off days. He wants 50 continuous minutes (warmup and cooldown do not count here) with high intensity aerobic exercise keeping my heart rate at around 140-160 beats per minute. I will start these next week.

My weight lifting numbers this week (4×12) are almost identical to last week with one exception. My chinups now require 30 lbs of assistance instead of 40 lbs. That by itself is wonderful to see.

Week 9

My weight Monday reflected 1 pound of weight loss. At least loss has resumed.

We will from now on do 2 weeks of 4×12 and then 1 week of 5×6 (We did before 2 weeks of 4×10 and 1 week of 4×6).
My numbers throughout this week show improvements from two weeks ago. As a matter of fact, most numbers are the same but since we did 12 instead of 10 repetitions, an improvement did take place.

Chest Press: 140 (140) lbs
Incline Chest Press: 130 (130) lbs
Preacher Curl: 70 (70) lbs
Chinups: 40 (50) lbs
Lateral Pull Down : 125 (125) lbs
Seated Rows: 135 (120) lbs
Triceps Push down: 80 (80) lbs
Triceps Extension : 100 (90) lbs
Leg Press: 450 (405) lbs
Leg Extension: 80 (80) lbs
Leg Curl: 135 (120) lbs
Shoulder Press: 90 (100) lbs
Seated Lateral raise: 95 (900) lbs
Rear Deltoid: 100 (105) lbs
Forward Crunches: 3×30 (3×30)
Reverse Crunches: 2×20/1×15 (unchanged)

Nutrition info Label Confusion

I made an interesting discovery today. I noted that my Fiber 1 cereal has what I believe erroneous nutritional info. But that started a whole chain of events that would have made Good ole Sherlock Holmes proud. With the understanding that fiber is not absorbed and rather just courses in and out through the digestive system, it is natural to expect that fiber ingested does not contribute any calories to one’s intake. But here’s what Fibre 1 label shows: Calories: 110 calories Fat: 1 gram Prt: 2 grams Carbs: 24 grams Fiber: 15 grams If fiber grams were not counted, the calories in fiber one per serving would be: (24 -15) * 4 + 9 + (2×4) = 53 calories But that is not the case as calories on label are 110. (24*4) + 9 + (2*4) = 113 (The 3 calories here are from rounding up some ingrdients I am sure) So it seems here that fiber calories are counted like all carbs. That got me quite confused. Upon further investigation into this matter, I found out that Fibre 1 in canada is Fiber one in the US and the label south of the border has the following: Protein 2 grams Fat 1 gram Carbs 24 grams Fiber 14 grams 60 Calories The difference between 60 and 53 cals is due to rounding I am sure. Quite amazing that the same product has different nutritional info based on where it is purchased. Turns out that the culprit here is the labeling system followed in the two countries. The US label measures calories as absorbed by the body while the canadian label reflects how much energy is released when a food serving is burnt in a calorimeter and thus is not actually accurate as to calories ingested by that food serving. So basically, always subtract the energy that corresponds to fiber content in food (fiber grams x 4) from total calories per serving as posted on Canadian labels. US labels should be fine however.

The Fiber Supplement Trap

I had an interesting discovery today. The fiber supplements I am taking are loaded with added sugar! Each tbsp has 3 grams fiber and 8.5 grams sugar. As I get around 6 tbsps every day, that’s more than 50 grams added sugar. I have a feeling this is playing a major role as to why I am not progressing weight wise. Those supplements had no nutritional info on and so I called manufacturer and was shocked to learn about that.

I have dropped my shakes to 2 a day each 1 scoop. So that’s total 2 instead of 6 per day. I am still getting around 315 pounds of protein (1.5 per lb of TbW for 210 lbs) as per Body Rx. I am getting most of my proteins from chicken breast, liver, eggs, natural yoghurt, and some vegetables.

Regarding vegetables, I ‘discovered’ alfalfa sprouts which I find delicious. I am now having close to 290 grams a day (0.6 pounds) and that’s a good source of fiber and protein and no sugars.

My strawberry intake is down to 1 pint per day (around 0.9 lbs)

I am hoping some weight loss will occur this week and thereafter

Week 8 Day 1

Again today, there has been no recorded weight loss. I am keeping things in focus and will not allow myself to be discouraged. I will research however if I am eating anything that is sabotaging my diet.
My jeans are getting quite loose and so I bought a size 36 today (down from 38) and that made me quite pleased as they were actually quite loose.

Today is Day 1 in week 8 and it’s the time for the 5×6 routine.

My numbers today:

Chest Press: 170 (160) lbs
Incline Press: 150 (140) lbs
Preacher curl: 80 (83) lbs
chinups: 50 (60) lbs of assistance.

Numbers in parentheses represent my performance three weeks ago. Things are looking good with the exception of a 3 lbs drop in Preacher Curl strength.

Week 7 Ends

Today is day 4 of week 7.

My weight lifting routines have mostly not changed from last week with some exceptions:

Fly Maneuver: 105 lbs vs. 113 lbs 2 weeks earlier (Again a drop in performance)

Seated Lateral Raise: 90 lbs vs. 95 lbs 2 weeks earlier (Another drop)

Rear Deltooid: 105 lbs vs. 100 lbs. 2 weeks earlier

My trainer is not concerned about the few drops noted. He is confident that a significant progress has been achieved and that things look quite well on multiple levels. A drop here and there every now and then is expected and is no big deal.

He also advised that it is not realistic for me to expect my weight to continue dropping as it did in the first few weeks. In his mind, 0-1 lb per week is realistic as I am doing things the very hard way: Losing fat while adding muscle. The muscle mass itself would translate in higher weight but that’s a good thing. As long as we continue to see a drop in fat percentage when the body composition test is repeated, there would be no reason to worry. I am fine with that.