Weight: 224.4 (-6.8)
Fat: 34.1% (-5.2%)
Meals: Dinner, Fast 1 end 7pm
Exercise: Cardio (Treadmill 30:00 WL4 - 332 calories, 1.97 miles), Light Strength
Pictures: Front/Side/Back/Flex

Week 3
Avg Weight: 225.3 (-0.1 | -4.0 | -2.0/wk)
Avg Fat: 34.5% (-0.4% | -2.0% | -1.0/wk)
Measurements

  • Waist: 46.0 (-0.4 | -0.6)
  • Hips: 42.5 (-0.4 | -0.6)
  • Forearm: 12.0 (-0.1 | +0.4)
  • Calf: 16.6 (+0.0 | -0.5)
  • Thigh: 25.0 (+1.4 | +0.9)
  • Wrist: 6.9 (+0.1 | +0.1)
  • Chest: 45.5 (+0.0)
  • Bicep: 15.0 (+0.0)

Weight Loss

Well, even with that spike upwards this week, I still managed to eek out a 0.1 pound loss. It's not much and honestly I'd be a lot more disappointed if my weekly average loss wasn't still 2 pounds per week. Phenomenal when you consider that I've only really done cardio during that entire time. I won't give all the credit to the treadmill though, I suspect the bulk of my loss has been due to being more aware of what I'm eating, both in portion sizes and snacking.

I'm not certain how my weight loss is going to look in the coming weeks. Fasting is going to make my daily weight jump up and down even more, but I'll have far fewer calories going in. But that could very well be offset by muscle gain from the start of my strength training. If my weight stabilizes or even goes up I won't be disappointed with gains in muscle, that's for sure.

Barefoot Followup

Still only my second day and too early to develop a long term opinion, but it was still a good day. I made an effort to not think about how I was running, and I'm sure this resulted in me heel striking a bit more. Not as much as when I was wearing shoes, but enough that some of my symptoms returned.

The knee pain (not really pain, but I'm not sure what else to call it) returned, but didn't persist and was present primarily at lower speeds. This means that as I run faster my gait changes to something more healthy for my body. A good case for speeding up later this week. Overall I suspect this is not a joint issue because the pain was below and to the left of my kneecap, meaning it's probably a tendon or ligament. Still worth keeping an eye on, but not an issue.

The pad on my left foot was a bit worse today and I suspect if I don't take steps I'll develop a blister if my sole doesn't toughen up fast enough. My sweetheart, who is running on the treadmill as I type this, just got her Vibram FiveFingers today and is in the process of breaking them in. She found a pair online for me as well, so later this week I'll be able to give those a try. First impressions from her are very good so far, and they're surprisingly thin, but still very tough. I can see hiking or running outdoors in them.

Intermittent Fasting

I'm almost done with my first fast and it's been tougher and a lot easier than I thought it would be. My excitement has been pretty high so there was definitely an adjustment of expectations. But once I got past the idea that I'm not eating for 24 hours, missing three meals, not being able to hop into the kitchen to fix myself something to eat whenever I want... well, it got a lot easier. I know that I can enjoy a good dinner tonight, and that tomorrow I can continue eating normally.

Hunger doesn't really describe what I've felt. I've only experienced what I might call real hunger twice, maybe, in the last 24 hours. They were both sharp and only lasted a few moments. The rest of the time I've felt my appetite. I make that distinction because there really is a big difference between the two. Long ago, I decided that my appetite regulator was broken, which is why I consume so many more calories than I need. So ignoring my appetite and focusing on whether or not I'm actually hungry has been pretty enlightening.

I've tried to develop a habit of reaching for my water bottle any time I get the urge to fix something to eat or go grab a snack, and I've been very successful. On some level I realize I'm denying myself, but doing it all at once in 24 hours is so much easier than suppressing my urges to eat every day, all day. And as a bonus, I don't have to spend a bunch of time preparing meals or doing dishes, I can focus on doing other things. It'll be interesting to see how I feel long-term doing this, but it makes a huge difference knowing I can have what I want later. I pride myself on having a pretty strong willpower, but if you think of willpower as a reservoir, it will run dry if it's not replenished.

Finally, I did my normal cardio workout today and did my first day of (very light) strength training. Fasted. So how did I feel during and after the workout? Perfectly fine. I didn't drag or exhaust quickly, no more so than normal. I did get a little tired afterwards, but that's not too big a surprise. Overall, I had no problems running or pumping iron whatsoever. I've read that it's a good idea to ingest a bit of protein before the workout, but I'm not a bodybuilder so I don't think I'll worry about it.

Strength Training

Speaking of strength training, I finally got off my butt to lift a few weights. It's the first time those dumbbells have been taken off the rack in quite some time. I started with very little weight, and I'm going to continue to lift the same weight for the rest of this week to allow my body to adjust before I work on upping the poundage. I had few problems, although the abdominal workout was fairly brutal compared to the rest of the workout. I'll post more about my strength training in the future, but I didn't want to miss mentioning my first day.

To help me track my progress, I've added two more measurements to my weekly collection: chest and biceps. I suspect I'm not exactly going to get totally ripped, so having an objective measurement of muscle growth would be nice. I've also added a few more pieces of data to all my weekly measurements, separating out change per week from the total change. And for the weight I also added the pounds per week so that I can gauge my overall progress. Given my 1-2 pound per week range, I'm very happy with being at the upper end of that goal. Last but not least I added a flex picture against my better judgment, so I can visually gauge how much muscle growth I experience over time. Showing my enormous gut is embarrassing enough... I've hidden the flex picture behind a link at the top.

Between the weight lifting and the intermittent fasting I'm curious as to what kind of progress I'll see on the scale and in my pictures. I'm starting to see some actual improvement in my belly, at least in the profile shot. Even if my weight holds even due to muscle gain, I should see more improvement in those pictures as my fat loss is going to be accelerated by the fasting and my muscles should start to grow once I get into some more serious lifting. Only time will tell.