cyclone

A small bounce back on today's weight that I didn't post above. This morning I weighed in at 164.9. 9/24/2014 Warm Up Pull-ups 6,6,6 Skater squats 6/6,6/6,6/6 5 lb weight counterbalance, knee to ground only, no foot touch Hanging bent knee raises 8/8/8 Headstand push-ups, wide hands: 4,4,3 Horizontal pulls 6,6,6 feet on top rung of my ladder One Arm assist push-ups 6/6,6/6,6/6 3 circuits again, lots of rest, my lungs still ache, and I am out of breath easily. Modified (S)PLP finish (squats, chin-ups, split squats, dips) 7,7,6 to finish additional reps to make 38. Long grind on number 6 in the last set of chins, but finished with a high pull. I've been working out in my running shoes lately which is causing me to shift my weight forward too much on the skater squats. I am going back to bare feet to force the push through my heel more. I might bump up my counter balance weight a couple of pounds to really work towards perfect form.

Battlelog time to get back on track after two weeks of being really sick. Here are my measurements one month apart as a before and after being sick: 8/22 9/20 Neck 14.1250 14.25 Chest 37.7917 36.8958 Waist (smallest part above belly) 31.5 31.2292 Belly (across button) 32.9583 32.5417 Hips (across hip bones bellow button) 33.8750 32.8750 Bicep R/L 12.75/12.5625 12.4375/12.3 Forearm R/L 11.0625/10.8750 11.0208/10.7292 Wrist R/L 7/6.8125 6.8750/68.125 Glute 36.4375 35.9167 Upper Thigh R/L 21.3750/21.3125 21.1667/21.1047 Mid Thigh R/L 20.25/20.6875 20.1458/20.1667 Lower Thigh R/L (just above knee cap) 15.1875/15.3750 14.7917/14.9583 Calf R/L 14/13.75 13.9167/13.6875 Ankle R/L 8.875/8.625 8.7917/8.4375 Cheated Waist 30.25 30 Cheated Belly 31.9375 31.3750 I tell people I am 6' tall, but in reality I am a hair under that. I dropped from 168.8 lbs on August 22nd to 162.9 on September 20th. As a reference in the fall of 2012 I was 205 and last year before Thanksgiving I weighed in at 155 lbs. My belly measurement at the 22nd of August was the same as it was when I hit 155 lbs. During the past few weeks I was doing a modified PLP just to try to maintain something while being sick. I am going to continue with that while I ramp back up. I am going to roughly be doing the startingbodyweight beginner routine while I work some strength back and will branch out from there. 9/22/2014 Warm Up Pull-ups 5,5,5 Skater squats 5/5,5/5,5/5 5 lb weight counterbalance, knee to ground only, no foot touch Headstand push-ups, wide hands: 4,4,2 Horizontal pulls 5,5,5 feet on top rung of my ladder One Arm assist push-ups 5/5,5/5,5/5 Hanging knee raises 8/8/8 I did this in 3 circuits. I left reps in the tank on each one. My lungs are still coughing up crap and I was out of breath. I wanted to take it easy coming back. Modified (S)PLP finish For this I do ass-to-ankles squats, chin-ups, bulgarian split squats (long step), and dips. My number for the day was 36. My first day back I took it easy and counted my 15 pull-ups as part of it so I did 21 additional reps in three sets of seven in a circuit. 9/23/2014 PLP day Squats, chin-ups, split squats (short step), diamond push-ups. 37 done 1,2,3,4,5,6,1,5,4,3,2,1 in a circuit of all four exercises. Done slow and methodical, no swing, high pull, top form. So above is the remodeling on myself, next is the remodeling of my house. Neither of those will ever be complete. 9/21/2014 Removed my water softener as it has never worked and I need space to put up my new pex manifold for my bathroom remodel. The water softener was blocking part of the doorway and sitting right where I want to put up a wall to build a closet around my mechanicals. Just once I would like a project to go easy and as planned. When I get the manifold in place my ground to the water main will be broken so first I ran a new ground wire from my newly installed breaker panel to the opposite side of the water meter...not enough wire so I ran it close and left the existing jumper in place. Once I tear out the basement ceiling I will re-route this new wire and it will be able to go directly water meter. I also need to bury a copper rod in my yard and ground to that since one isn't currently present (house was built in 1962). I noticed that there was no jumper around the water softener and it sure didn't look like there was anyway that it was jumped internally. I don't think my system was actually grounded to the meter. I wish I would have checked with my meter before I tore out the pipes. It is dark in that utility room so I put up a light that I took out from the hallway upstairs. Of course I found a wire splice not in a box so I had to fix that and there wasn't enough wire to make the new box so I had to run a new wire to the different switches/boxes it fed. Finally ready to pull pipes. I got it all put back together, sweated the new pipes using the old pipes cut to the correct length, turned the water back on and...the shut-off valve leaked! So off to Ace for a new valve after shutting off the valve on the meter. I said screw it and bought a SharkBite valve since I was out of flux. After cutting off the old valve I realized that my pipes I rigged up before were now too short with the new valve, back to Ace to buy 5' of copper pipe. I also bought a SharkBite Elbow and straight attachment. I'm officially done with sweating pipe, never again! Anyway, that little two hour project ended up taking the whole afternoon and I didn't get around to building my wall. But at least the first step on my bathroom remodel is complete.

Let's face it. More people are going to fail at fat loss than succeed. Telling them what they are eating is 'garbage' when ten random people will have a different opinion on what is garbage isn't the best practice. Create a sustainable deficit through diet and exercise, drink lots of water, and eat a shit ton of nutrient rich veggies (I would add in fruits also). I see no reason to exclude food if the exclusion leads to a situation where someone isn't likely to adhere to the deficit. On the flip side for some a food can be a 'garbage' food simply if having some leads to having too much and they fail to adhere to their deficit. I can't keep peanuts in the house because it is my kryptonite, but I can leave cookies, cake, chips, whatever on the counter for months in plain sight and not overeat any of them. Peanuts probably are not considered a garbage food. In this case exclusion is a good thing that can stop the temptation leading to better adherence. Eliminate 'garbage' food is an individual preference, not a universal truth. I would argue the basics of fat loss begins with the correct mindset. What is the reason you want to lose fat? Health, family, vanity? Set reasonable and achievable goals. Create a process to achieve your goals. This is where your universal truths become the process. Re-evaluate and improve. Fat loss or a cut? I would argue that a cut is a more advanced version of fat loss and therefore more strictly controlled. But that isn't in the spirit of the original post where you are talking 'fatloss basics' and universal truths. I am currently on day 8 of a roughly 17 day cut. My M-F lunch is a sandwich with processed ham, turkey, and cheese. A bunch of carrot sticks, a bag of chips, and a protein granola bar. How is that sabotaging my efforts? Last night I finished dinner with my protein macro in range and leftover calories. I ate a Snickers Ice Cream Cone in fill out my calories (and had a beer because football!). Sure I could have had another piece of chicken, but one of those two things is much more satisfying at the end of a long day. tl;dr In the end maybe I'm just being contentious. I agree with everything you wrote in the original post except number five, stop eating garbage. I don't feel it is a universal truth because it can't be defined.

Fat loss begins with setting appropriate goals. Your list is a way to achieve those goals. Number five (garbage?) isn't really all that important if you have combination number three and number four working together. Numbers one and four are solid advice for any healthy diet.

I think the catch might be 'trying hard to control my portion sizes'. It is really tough to determine how much you are actually eating. I would suggest you jump on one of the calorie counting apps for a couple of months so that you can shore up this aspect of your fat loss. This is a good link that explains how just being off by a bit can add up. One of the first few responses has a link to a youtube video that really reinforces that point. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/872212-you-re-probably-eating-more-than-you-think Also Waldo has a good article on his site about calorie tracking. It is five minutes a day that can really help you achieve a lot. At the very least you will have a better idea of portion control after a couple of months. I put all my calorie info into a spreadsheet along with a daily weigh in so I have information to go on when I need it. As for cardio, I would try to do something small on your off days. I don't really do cardio (only some tabata circuits after my workouts), but I do try to go for a long walk on my off days. This helps to get you moving more and reinforces that this is the time that I workout, creating a habit. Eventually you may build back up to do more and you are already used to do something at that time.

In my humble opinion I don't think you lost 5 lbs of lean muscle mass. How did you figure your BF% and lean mass? I would guess that it is higher than 17% and if you are using that number it could throw off your lean muscle mass number. Looking back through my pictures, when I had a similar body shape (I'm 6') I was at ~180 lbs and pegged myself about much closer to 22% BF. At 17% I can start to see my two pack coming in. I would peg you closer to 22% which would give you a LBM of ~132.6. Based on your height and picture, that seems a little more accurate to me. Of course, every person's body is different and your calculations could be spot on. Just some food for thought. You could check out Steve's body fat article and also Waldo's measurement article.

What should it have been around? I have this happen once in awhile. Usually the scale has been moved and there is something under it (or was under it before) that is now out of the weigh. When I see something I wasn't expecting I usually check to make sure the scale is sitting right. Even sitting a little weird on a corner of a tile can mess with mine.

I'm in.

Fine with me if you still need someone to fill it up.

The whole Labor Day weekend is hit or miss for me. If there is an auto-draft option I am okay with that

I'd be interested, but that is a bad weekend for a draft for me.

Good advice on if it is doable. My advice is on the 'if it's not going to fly back on as soon as we cut the cake' part. Make that day goal number one on the way to the end result you want. That way you celebrate that special day with your first goal met and the next day you start on goal number two on your path to level up.

I live in Ames and work for the university. If there is ever a get together I would love to join!

During the work week this my breakfast on the go: Banana Bagel Flat Laughing Cow Light Garlic and Herb Two slices of smoked turkey Two hard boiled eggs Coffee! 431 Cals 52CHO-30PRO-14FAT

I searched but haven't seen a recent post about adding friends through the online tracking software. I thought I would post links to what I use and if anyone is interested in another friend feel free to add me. I only use MyFitnessPal and FitBit. I really like seeing how I measure up to my friends on the FitBit scoreboard. A little extra motivation to pass the next person above me. MyFitnessPal: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/user/steveocy1/status FitBit: https://www.fitbit.com/user/26LRFL

For each pound lost you need to have a calorie deficit of ~3500 calories. Create that deficit through diet and exercise and you would lose roughly six pounds in six weeks. A bigger deficit you would lose more. Too big of a deficit can be hard to maintain, especially the more you drop. ETA: the 3500 calorie deficit is over seven days, I didn't make that clear in my first reply

Check out this site. It has a waist-to-height ratio calculator. That can give you an idea of what you are looking for and you can put in different numbers to see where you would fall. http://home.fuse.net/clymer/bmi/

You may just need to give yourself a little bit more time. After a change of intake for a woman you may need to make it through a whole monthly cycle before you can accurately determine if the results are from your new intake.

Here is a great site for body weight progressions. Click on the infographic poster on the right side. Lots of other great information also on the site. http://www.startbodyweight.com/

When I cut I do large deficits. It doesn't take long until I start to feel a drop off in my weight training. When I get to that point I change to three day workouts at high intensity. I then start eating just below maintenance on those three days with the extra calories coming mostly an hour or two before I workout. I have found that is the sweet spot for me. Basically calorie cycling without any of the fancy names attached to it. Other than that I pretty much stick to my normal feeding window (1PM-9PM). I IF only because it is the easiest way for me. It might be as simple for you to instead of cutting at 4900 a week you cut at 3500 a week and add the 1400 calories on workout days to fuel your weight training. Like me it sounds like you are not much of a breakfast person. I just grab a protein/energy bar before my workout and have the rest as more ice cream at night. You would just need to find something that works within your keto diet. I have done the one day a week fast. It ends up being close to 40 hours each time (Say Saturday night at 9PM until 1 PM Monday afternoon) . I have no problem doing it, but it absolutely wrecks me the next two days. I want to eat everything I see and it just isn't worth it to me to put myself through that type of misery. It reminds me of being at a really low BF% when all you do is think about food and nothing makes the hunger go away. I have buddies that eat-stop-eat and don't have any of those experiences.

Not necessary at all, but I try to mix some in for two reasons. First, when the Doctor shows up there will probably be a lot of running involved. Second, (and the real actual reason) is that if there is ever a situation that I need to pick up my 30lb daughter and run a mile, I sure as hell want to be able to do it. That said, I don't run. I am only doing weight training three days a week currently. On one off day I go to the local park and sprint up the hill, walk down and repeat. It is long and steep and the first time I tried it I did it three times before I wanted to throw up. I literally got down on my knees by a tree and thought I was going to lose it. Super bonus, hill sprints are great for building legs and the whole posterior chain! One day a week I do one or two tabata workouts, usually start with a round of jumping rope and finish with a round of burpees. Again, these make me want to die, but I feel amazing after. Each round takes four minutes, so easy to attach to the end of a regular workout if you want. You can download a tabata app for your phone to time it. Tabata was originally applied to cycling, but I find it can work with about anything you want. I also average a little under 13k steps a day between work and chasing a 2 year old all around the neighborhood.

Two things to try for each. Pull-ups: Use a chair, but for each session make it a little farther away. That way each session you will be using a little bit less assistance from the chair. I don't know the structure of the program, but it sounds like multiple sets. You could cycle through all the different assisted types. First time through use the chair, second time use the band, third time do band pull downs, fourth time jump up and do negatives, fifth time do jump and holds (hold yourself at half, 3/4, & top) for time. You can always finish with an Australian pull-up or a horizontal pull on a table. Each of those should help you improve on your pull-up volume. Push-ups: Start with wall push. Each session search for something slightly lower and work your way down until you are horizontal. Towards the end if you run out of gas change to just negatives really concentrating on form and going slow down. (I'm a big fan of negative movements. A slow negative performed with great form is a valuable addition to my workouts.) http://www.startbodyweight.com/2014/01/basic-routine-infographic-poster.html has some progression that might be helpful.

I know this is waaaayyyy off topic, but I think this might be a good place to ask. One section of our veterinary diagnostic lab that has 24 hour dropoff/testing has a cooler (gas station ice machine) to drop off samples that come anytime 24/7/365. This cooler is located across the building from where the testing takes place. I am trying to come up with a solution to have the clients let the employees know when there is a sample in the cooler because it is way too long of a walk to have the lab techs constantly walking back in forth. So far the simplest solution is a outdoor wireless camera that does motion capture and sends an email alert. Unfortunately the vet med college won't let us hang a camera in that area as it is also in an outdoor rec area for rehabbing animals and they don't want these animals to be recorded in any way. (small chance they would be recorded, but they put their foot down on this). So what I am looking for is either an IP based battery doorbell that can hit the wifi and ring in the lab, a door opening detector (usually a magnet that when the door opens the connection is broken) that can send a notification over the wifi network to a computer, or a wireless IP based light switch for outdoor use (I have found indoor ones only). I have seen some different options, but I am curious if anyone has any experience with anything. thanks --steve

Did you eat back your exercise calories? With MyFitnessPal the whole process is one of discovery. If you don't like the calorie goal it gave you I would suggest using the manual setup instead of the guided setup. Google search for a TDEE calculator and put in your information into one or a few and take an average. Use that number. If you still don't feel the best up your calories until you reach a point that you feel good and lose fat at a rate you are comfortable with.

I am a huge proponent of online/smartphone tracking. When I have a binge (usually at a football tailgate or potluck/party type of event) I have two defenses to try to prevent the binge. I first will drink a large glass of water. If that doesn't help, and at a party it usually doesn't, I make sure I record it in MyFitnessPal first. A lot of times seeing a real number of calorie cost will be enough for me to cut short my binge plans. After a binge I don't feel too guilty about it. I figure if I ran a deficit the past 7 days, and I run a deficit the the next 7 days, I am still in good shape. I may adjust my calorie goal down some to make up for the binge. I take what I was over my goal for that day, divide it by 7 and take that amount off each of the next 7 days. Sort of my own penance for the binge, but not a terrible one. So if I eat an extra slice of pizza and a couple of wings for 700 calories, I just take 100 calories off each of the next 7 days. This might not work so well if you are running a huge deficit to begin with, but I usually run a fairly modest one. I have a spreadsheet that I input CI/CO for each day and keep a running 7 day average of the difference so it is easy to see what my weekly figures look like.