I'm Surprised

As I started out on my self-imposed plan of dietary restrictions (ie. no crap) I didn't know what to expect as fat as my body fat percentage was concerned. On top of that I haven't been able to run and, therefore, have likely been burning a lot less calories than I would had my injuries not happened. Although my workouts at the gym have been good and my indoor rowing has been aerobic for sure they only amount to about 3.5hrs of training per week. Pathetic, I know.

However, that being said I've been rather pleasantly surprised by the results after just one week of avoiding white bread, pasta, white rice, and crap in all of its processed forms. I didn't even have that treat on Sunday that I worked so hard to "earn" because I really didn't want it. I did have a whiskey sour while barbecuing on the back deck, so maybe that counts.

Anyway, last Sunday I started off weighing 191.7lbs, of which 19.5lbs were made of fat, accounting for 10.2% of my total weight.

This Sunday I weighed 188.8lbs, of which 17.6lbs were fat, accounting for 9.4%.

That's a huge difference in just seven days! I'm a bit concerned about losing nearly 3lbs overall, but almost 2lbs of that was fat so that's not too bad. I'd like to stay close to this body weight and the challenge will be adding muscle to replace the fat that I'm seemingly losing.

And in more updated news, when I stepped on the scale this morning the results were even better: 188.5lbs, 17.4lbs of which were fat, which makes my body fat percentage 9.3%. I've also started to track my hydration level since this will make the results from my voodoo scale more precise. I don't know if my body fat percentage readings are accurate, but I figure all things being equal the scale will at least be relative to itself.

The other thing I should mention is that I feel good too. I'm lifting well at the gym and I think if I was losing weight too rapidly I would notice it when trying to lift the same weight in my exercises. Instead, I'm actually getting stronger.

So, in summary, eating crap keeps fat on your body. Avoiding crap forces your body to burn said fat.

Oh yeah, the running is still on hiatus. I had thoughts of going out for a jog this past weekend, but I am not completely pain free. I'm not even close actually, so it may be a while yet...

Heart Rates and Body Fats

As per my last post, I have started keeping a keener eye on my diet in an effort to see what will happen to my body fat percentage and general exerciseiness. We have one of those fancy scales that, upon entering some information as to your level of activity, height, and the like, the machine sends electrical signals up into your body through the feet and in some magical ceremony spits out your stats, including things like how much of your weight is in fat form, you body fat percentage, and your BMI.

I take all of this with a grain of salt (you know, so that I can be more conductive and such), but at least if the scale stays relatively consistent I'll be able to tell if my body fat percentage is moving up, down, or not at all. When I first stood upon the glass and metal contraption the reading said 10.2% body fat. In the past couple of days I have checked back in with my electronic fitness conscience and now stand at 9.8% body fat. I think this might be good?

The other thing I've been really gearing up for is training according to heart rate. In reading about the Lydiard method of training I realize that what I did throughout 2010, when my injury incidents were almost non-existent, was exactly what Lydiard preached. I ran according to my fitness level and abilities. I was successful in the "train don't strain" mantra that Lydiard espouses.

This year things went off the rails and the results speak for themselves. I did a lot more straining than training and now am paying the price with time off due to bad behaviour. My injuries are not yet fixed so I must placate myself with other activities.

To that end, I've upped the anty in my weight training sessions. No, I didn't suddenly increase the weight on all of my exercises, but I have been spending what would normally be rest time doing crunches. In this way I have been able to keep my heart rate up in the aerobic zone. My workouts have been great.

Also, I have been wearing my Garmin to keep an eye on my heart rate while on the rowing machine and have been successful in maintaining a good aerobic level (almost always between 140bpm and 145bpm) during my 45 minute Tuesday and Thursday sessions.

Lastly, I've started checking my resting heart rate in the mornings. I've been surprised to learn that my results are a bit higher than they used to be. I am now registering 46bpm instead of the 42bpm that I seem to remember. Perhaps the heat of the Summer, and it's been very hot here with today carrying with it the possibility of being the hottest day on record for Toronto. The one positive since I've been forced to stop running is that I've been sleeping through the night on a consistent basis. I guess that was yet another one of those signals that I conveniently chose to ignore back when I was straining and not training.

It's time to break out of the typical No Pain No Gain mentality.

An Interim Goal While I Wait

I'm still hurting from the Achilles, the groin, the lower abs, and the heel. Things are not good in running land and you can guess that I'm not the happiest camper right now when it comes to exercise. This weekend was the first full one since November 2009 that I did absolutely nothing fitness related (and I don't count going to the driving range with the kids as "fitness", but it was fun). A very sad state indeed...

Anyway, as I wait for my body south of the equator to get better I have been doing decent workouts for the north side at the gym. I've also started in on indoor rowing in an effort to keep some aerobic activity in my regiment, but I would really prefer to be running. As such, I need a new thing to focus on while I can't run.

It doesn't even have to be a sane goal apparently as I am now focused on lowering my body fat percentage for some reason. In the past couple of weeks I've made a conscious effort to pay better attention to my diet and have had some success and some spectacular failures. The temptations in the Summer abound and with two young boys it's nearly impossible to insulate yourself from exposure to sugary treats.

With that in mind I stepped on the fancy scale we bought a couple of years ago and checked in on my metrics. Body fat percentage currently sits at 10.2% (and I do recognize these scales are not exactly accurate, but I think that's a fair estimate anyway). My goal is to get down to 8%.

How will I achieve this? Especially while I can't run? And I can't really get back to working out my legs with weights while I'm still hurting so this will be extra tough.

The answer: by following a better diet with no processed sugary foods all week. Whole grains are the carb of choice from now on. No more pie (shudder!). No more white bread (shudder!). If I achieve this I will allow myself one treat on Sundays. If not, Sunday will be yet another dreary healthy mealtime day.

Cool?

It'd better be cause that's what the plan is. Just hope it sticks...