Day 28

Free Day and Week 4 Results

Today is Free Day. No working out. No restrictions with food as to what I eat. Free Day is not about unbridled indulgence and gluttony. Free Day is about celebrating the week, the 12 week plan, and rewards for hard work. As I continue through the next 8 weeks, I know from experience that Free Days will become less and less about eating sugar and sweets, in fact by week 8, free day sugar cravings are totally gone.

Today I am celebrating the last 4 weeks. The commitment to the program has paid off. I started the program at 250 lbs. This morning I am at 239. I am happy to be down 11 pounds but this program is not about losing weight, it is about transforming old to new - old habits to new habits, old shapes to new shapes, old thinking to new thinking. A key indicator of old to new is body fat percent. I started at 29.5% body fat and today I am at 28.1% I have more fat to lose than muscle to gain. I do expect my actual body weight to drop in the next four weeks by perhaps another 10-12 lbs, but I really am focusing on seeing a major drop in body fat % by the end of week 12. At the end of 12 weeks if I am 200 lbs but my body fat percent is 15% (or so), that would be major success. It is kinda funny how some fitness level indicators (i.e. BMI) would still catagorize 200 at 5'11' obese. 200 at 15% is possible and realistic and that is what I am working for.

Day 27

Cardio. Had to ride stationary bike inside today as it was raining out. It was good because I worked out with Carla and listened to 80's hairband music (e.g. Def Leppard, Van Halen, Scorpians, Eddie Money, etc.)

Will I ever blog about anything other than working out?

What is that Amonia Smell?

Have you ever worked your body so physically hard that you smell Amonia? The sensation happens to me quite a bit. It is not necessarily a bad thing but the smell is a clue to something that is going on with the body and needs to be addressed. Here is a good explanation of the Amonia smell. What I like about fitness is that it is as much of a science (if not more) as it is just plain moving your body.

Day 26

Legs. You know how I feel about legs. But it was still a good workout.

My workout partner, and wife, Carla, kicks my tail on calf exercises. I have such limited range of motion (because of flat feet) it feels like the only stress I put on my calves is equivilant to bending my pinky.

Reflecting On Hardwork

Reflecting on Leadership

(HT Despair Inc.)