I think its almost impossible to lose any more...

156ish pounds, 29" waist.  I havn't had a 29" waist since early highschool!  For those who havn't followed for the last couple of months, I've gone from a 37 inch waist to a 29 inch waist in about nine weeks with very little diet and no exercise!  Thats six belt notches.. I had to make a new one just three days ago!  I don't think I could get much smaller, but it keeps melting off!  I got checked yesterday, and I'm still 14% on the body fat calculator thing, thats about 22 pounds of fat.  I'm sure once I start a regular weight-training schedule, it'll melt away even faster.

This just blows my mind!

ps.  still no six pack though.. its pissing me off :(

Another vacation.. more loss!

Vegas was AMAZING!  I attended a totally hands-on photography seminar taught by some of the best and most successful people in the nation.  Great stuff!

In a nutshell, my week consisted of like .002 hours of  sleep in 5 days.. pizza hut pan pizzas.. poptarts.. pancakes.. PAGG... water, water, water.  Lots of walking around.. so thats KINDA like exercise. :D

158 pounds, 30.5" waist.. lost half an inch while on vacation!  For those just joining, thats a total loss of only 12 pounds, but 6.5 inches at the waist in just SEVEN weeks with two working-vacations, very little dieting, and two trips to the gym. :)

The end of my 'anything goes' experiment?

158 pounds, 31" waist.  Lost only .25 inches this week which leads me to three possible reasons.

1.  My 'anything goes' experiment over the last couple of weeks isn't working anymore.  I've been drinking nothing but water, eating a protein-rich breakfast and taking PAGG religiously.. but nothing else.  If I get a healthy meal.. good.  If not, whatever.  I've eaten out, enjoyed ice cream, etc for the last two+ weeks and still lost major inches.  Maybe as I get leaner, it gets more difficult to shed inches?  It only makes sense.

2.  I didn't drink as much water as I should've.  Easily fixed.

3.  Maybe 31" is my natural stasis.  Its what I measured over a year ago when I ran 30+ miles a week.. at the peak of my physical health.  Does it get any better than 31 inches?

I think I can do better than 31.  I see all sorts of definition in the shoulder/back area.  Chest is finally coming back around, but there is still a bit of fluff on the stomach.

This coming week is gonna be rough.  I'll be away again on business.. and its totally impossible to diet when doing so.  I'll stay with the water/PAGG and try to offset poor diet by hitting the hotel gym a few times.  I'm really anxious to see what this next week holds!

Cruel glances

You should've seen the glares I got at the gym today.  My first day back in almost a year.. I strolled in, did three upper-body exercises in less than five minutes, and left.  I didn't even change out of my street clothes!  Its yet another of Tim Ferriss' magic tricks from his book, "4 Hour Body".  I refuse to go into detail right now, because I want you to go buy the damn book!  Lets just say, I hope to get 80% of the results in 20% of the time.  We'll see!

Continuing forward, and thinner

So, where to from here? I'm sitting at 158lbs and 31.25" at the belly button.  I havn't been this thin since running 30+ miles a week over a year ago.  Now I look back, and while it was fun/peaceful/whatever, it was time consuming! 


I'm keeping with the half-ass diet, PAGG and water for one more month while I start medium intensity weight training.  I will follow a quickie program as described in 4HB designed to get the MOST results from the LEAST amount of time in the gym.  Once I'm limber and have a good routine, I'll start with the heavy weights.  Probably no more PAGG.. havn't decided yet.  Instead, I've got my supplement list narrowed to a choice two or three extremely high-end anabolics.  I'd like to be a lean 190 before the end of the summer.  I know it's possible, especially with the new supplements available.  In 2009 went from a very lean 155 to a lean 187 in six months.  It was natural, lean muscle growth as guided by Johnathan from Johnathan's Gym in Bedford.  Eating became such a chore.. If you think eating to lose weight is bad.. Just TRY to cook and eat 6-7 FULL meals a day.  It's friggin expensive and time consuming.


I'm gonna work smarter, not harder this time around, and I'll be right here to tell ya all about it! :)

Dieting no more!

My wife was home for 12 hours before I had to fly out for a five day business trip.  I left weighing 161lbs, and measuring 33" at the belly button.


PAGG, water, lots and lots of burgers, unhealthy seafood, some breakfasts, terrible unhealthy food.. Lots of alcohol.. Almost no sleep, gallons of white mocha from Starbucks.  Just imagine the worst stuff you could ingest.. That was my week.  Most nights I got by on 2-4 hours of sleep.. which reminds me of another chapter in 4HB.  Its about how to get by for short periods of time (a few days to a few weeks) with 2 hours of sleep per day.  Without realizing what I was doing, I fell right into this schedule.. or a variation of it.  I'd sleep VERY soundly each night for a few hours, and nap for 15 minutes about three times a day.  Totally accidental, but it goes to show how adaptive the human body can be.  Mind you, the last day or two I was running about 60-70% speed.. my mind was still sharp and clear though.  Also, upon returning home, it took a good 36 hours of laying around the house and hanging with my family to fully recover.


Anyway, the most unbelievable results when it came time to weight/measure.  On a trip where I treated my body like absolute crap, I totally should been bloated, slow, weak, etc etc.  I lost 3 pounds and 1.5 inches.  W.T.F.  Has this Timothy Ferriss found the fountain of youth?!

A surprising revelation

Start 161lbs, 34.5" at belly button


The third week, my wife took a trip for ten days.  We kinda decided it'd be near impossible for her to keep with a strict diet while away for so long, so I justified bending the rules.  It'll be an experiment and I'll join in too! :)  I started bending the rules, and this is where I was most surprised about this whole experiment.  I still ate lots of protein for breakfast.  This is very important as it sets your metabolic rate for the whole day.  I still used PAGG religiously.  I still drank nothing but water.  The other rules were bent without question.  Lunch might be a healthy Subway 6", TONS of carbs.  Dinner may be Abrys, hello sodium!


I lost no weight during those ten days, but I did lose 1.5 inches.  Woah.. How'd that happen??

Two weeks that would make a buddhist monk proud

I started at 170lbs, and 37" at the belly button.  My first two weeks followed a very strict diet.  I was like Ron Paul.. said NO to absolutely everything.  It was my detox period, and it's where I lost nine of my thirteen pounds and 2.5 inches.  Its fairly impressive results considering a few hours of ballroom dancing was my only form of exercise.  How many calories can one possibly burn ballroom dancing?!  You get my point.  Instead, I always attribute any first-week weight loss to the lack of sugar and soda.  Fair enough!

I ended those two weeks at 161lbs, and 34.5" at the belly button.  Thats a couple of new belt loops!  Yay!

The daily routine becomes fun!

As with any diet, the first few days are the worst.  I attribute the lack of soda to any first week weight loss in any diet.  It's a huge change to body chemistry, expect headaches, fatigue, etc.  It's not the pills.. You are just in withdrawal.

4HB says you can take one day per week and eat like no other.  Pizza, pasta, donuts.. They're all on the list.  My experience didn't fare well with this.  The first week, we had donuts and olive garden, and it took 2-3 days to recover.  If this free day sounds good to you, buy the book.  There are rules to do before and after the day to reduce it's impact.

Maybe its just the novelty of taking 13-14 pills a day, but I found this routine quickly became something I looked forward to.

After waking in the morning, before even opening your eyes, drink at least 16 oz of the coldest ice water you can handle and take AGG (pills, remember).  Within 30 minutes of waking, eat a high protein breakfast.  I have a half dozen egg whites, and sometimes toss a whole egg in for fun.  Liquid egg whites are okay.  A single 8oz glass of grapefruit juice is okay, unsweetened tea is fine, and black coffee is fine in moderation.. Cut back on the pot per day!

Pop your AGG pills before lunch.  Drink the coldest water you an find all throughout the day, as much of the stuff as you can stand.  You can keep meals at their normal time.  If you're hungry between meals, drink more water, eat a serving of green veggies, or a small handful of unsalted almonds.

More AGG before dinner, same menu as above, but get creative!  The reason most people stop any diet is because the food gets boring.  To think, just a few thousand years ago humans lived their entire lives eating only a couple dozen different things!  Booooring!  Do a google search for 'low carb recipes' and try those out.  Have fun in the kitchen!

Winding down for the evening, kick back and watch some tv.  No killing yourself on a bloody treadmill on MY diet!  As you relax in the late evening, put an icepack on the back of your neck and shoulders.  It tricks your body into thinking it's cold, so BOOM, metabolism boost!  Between the ice pack and PAGG, I estimate I'm burning as many calories sitting on the couch as the average person running a treadmill.  If you want the treadmill, that's still fine.  Metabolism is a multiplier of calorie burn, it's not just calorie in-calorie out like most people think.  We'll likely dive deeper into this later.

Finally bedtime.  Take PAGG pills and more ice water.  This is the ONLY time during the day we add P to our yummy pill cocktail.  Do not eat anything 2-3 hours before bed.  If you MUST, have one handful of baked unsalted almonds.  Yummy protein, metabolism boost right before bed, and they're surprisingly filling.

Food!

Yes.  This is a DIET!  It requires you to stop eating the things you love.. well.. kinda.  We'll get to that later.

These are the ONLY things on your new menu.  Throw everything else out.  If you have frozen pizza in your freezer, you WILL eat it.  Just take the loss and trash it, trust me.

Egg whites, chicken breast, fish, low fat beef, beans, cottage cheese, salsa, any green veggies especially spinach, pickles, and almonds.  

4HB has a few more available foods.. but this is what I decided to stick with.

I found it best to cook a whole week of meals in one evening.  Only one mess to clean up, and you can use the microwave for the next six days.  Feel free to spice up any of this food!  Any natural spices are fine.  Don't do too much salt.  Do zero sugar and avoid ALL sugar substitutes.  Use olive oil or sesame oil to cook with, and they're not too bad on a salad either.  I really enjoyed marinating my chicken in salsa before baking or using taco seasoning on lowfat beef.  Just think outside the box.  Just because you have an extremely limited grocery list doesn't mean it can't taste good!

Pocket full of pills

I stopped taking any sort of medication in early highschool, some 14 years ago.  I got on this big straight edge kick and it lingered for a couple years until I discovered how frickin amazing a quality cigar tastes.  With the birth of my second daughter almost three years ago, I thought it better to keep myself healthy during the flu season, so I gave in and took a pill here and there.  After a decade, I had sort of a reverse immunity to medication.  A single Tylenol cold and flu capsule would get me high as a kite for a good 24 hours... no joke!

When I started hitting the gym a year and a half ago, I started in on some supplements.. easing my way back into the medication world.

So now, this anti-pill freak is gonna tell you something that'll blow your mind..  Drop everything and make a trip to the drug store!  These four supplements are the key to making this whole thing work.

Policosanol 20-25mg

Alpha-lipoic acid 100-300mg

Green tea extract 325mg

Garlic extract 200mg

These pills are hereby referred to as PAGG.  I found P at GNC for like $15.  AGG are all at walmart for $5ish each.

If ya wanna know what these do, buy the book.  In a nutshell, they control insulin response, and put your metabolism on freaking overdrive.  Policosanol is a magic little pill and lowers blood pressure, but as a cool side effect, it targets excess fat and just melts it away.   I'm not a diabetic, pregnant, or nursing, so I skipped reading that section of the book.. So be sure to read first if you're affected.

Dieting for fun!

First and foremost, I'm not a dietitian, doctor, sports medicine guru, etc.  This is just my story.  It may not work at all for you.  I'm just a guy that read a book and wants to share my experience thus far.  This may not be safe for everyone, so do your own research.  Buy 4 Hour Body, talk to your doctors, be smart!

Second, I dunno if its my gender, genetics, or simply that when I'm interested in something, I get educated and jump in head first.  Its always been surprisingly easy to lose weight, then gain muscle in a fairly short period of time.  I've only recently gotten interested in nutrition and physical health.  About a year ago, I was at the best physical shape of my life a year ago.   I ate the strictest of diets..  I was at the gym 7ish hours per week..  I kept logs and records for everything.  It was alot of work, but I truly enjoyed it.  Due to an injury, I took some time off.  Then I got way too busy at home, at work, and in the evenings, so I stopped it all cold turkey.

Fast forward twelve months.

I've followed my little variation of the slow carb diet for about five weeks after reading "4 Hour Body" by Timothy Ferriss.  This little blog  is no substitute for reading 4HB, you should go buy it ASAP.

http://www.amazon.com/4-Hour-Body-Uncommon-Incredible-Superhuman/dp/030746363X

It's got dozens of little tricks, hacks and tweaks to fool your body into doing some strange and interesting things, all of which are designed to get the most results from the least amount of work.  Want to run further?  Lose weigh faster?  Bulk up with little effort?  Hold your breath longer?  Higher vertical jump?  Achieve a 15 minute female orgasm?  ...Wait!  Don't rush to Barnes and Noble just yet!  I doubt most of you would still be alive after a 15 minute orgasm, but Timothy devotes two chapters to this epic feat.

I started on the eve of 2011 weighing in at 170.  Semi-respectable for a 29 year old guy that stands 5'8".  More importantly, I measured 37" around my bellybutton.  Yikes!

In five weeks, I'm 157lbs.. Not so impressive weight loss in itself, but my waist measures 31".  I havent had a 31" waist since late 2009 when I was running 30+ miles a week!!  I don't work out, no cardio, and in the last two or three weeks, I havent followed a strict diet AT ALL!  Lemme tell ya how I've arrived to this point, then later, where I go from here.