Workouts Great, Weight the Same

August 2015

I've added a bit more running (mostly treadmill but some road) to my weekly workouts, and I'm still lifting.  The body weight though never changes.  It fluctuates from 227 to 230 lbs.  If I skip dinner, then I may weigh in at 227.  It has nothing to do - so far as I can tell - with the number of calories I eat.

I may have to go back to the Atkins Diet.  It was great once upon a time, but I don't know if I have the will to do it again.  However, I also don't seem to have much choice.

I've been substituting veggie, fruit, protein drinks for meals.  I've been increasing my fiber consumption.  I'm drinking lots of water.  I'm not eating sugar.

I am still eating rice and bread.  I am still drinking coffee with cream and sugar substitute in the mornings.  I may have to simply nix the breads and rice.

Ingredients for one version of my protein shake; I use water or
unsweetened almond milk for the liquid base

230 Lbs, Very Strong, Very Fat @ Age 45

Things are not going too well.  I gain 10 pounds in Ramadan, and now I'm sitting at a very fat 230 pounds.  I feel terrible, but I keep eating poorly.  The only positive thing going for me these days is that my strength training is going very well and I'm the strongest I've been in many years.

I need to find a way to be this strong but a lot less fat (I'm not trying to be cut or ripped; that was too hard to do as a young man so now it's simply not in the cards for me).

Moderation does not work for me.

I need something extreme and I need a goal.

So here are the goals:

By September 12, 2015

Weight: 210 pounds

Body fat %: 20%

Exercise Benchmarks: run 4 miles in 44 minutes on the treadmill at a 3% incline, bench press 210 pounds x 25 reps, dead lift 210 pounds x 10 reps, leg press 320 pounds x 10 reps

By November 14, 2015

Weight: 200 pounds

Body fat %: under 20%

Exercise Benchmarks: run 5 miles in 50 minutes on the treadmill at a 3% incline, bench press 195 pounds x 35 reps, dead lift 250 pounds x 10 reps, leg press 370 pounds x 10 reps

HIIT Added; Getting My Knee Fixed

It's been a rough time.

Without running as a mainstay I've felt blah.

Over the last 14 months I've packed on solid muscle, but I've also added about 10 pounds of fat and that is proving to be very hard to reverse.

Yesterday I went to the gym to try something new: HIIT.  That stands for high intensity interval training.

I jogged on the treadmill for 1.25 miles to warm up, and then I did a little HIIT on the elliptical machine and the stationary bike.  On the elliptical I did 10 minutes of 1:1 (one minute of high intensity, 1 minute of regular intensity).  On the stationary bike I did 5 minutes of HIIT using the 1:1 ratio as well.

I was definitely tired afterwards.  I liked it. I'm going to do this more regularly in my workouts going forward.