The Delicate Balance

One thing that drives me nuts — I’m sure others can relate — is the seemingly delicate balance between fat loss and muscle loss. In my zeal to lose weight — fast — for the Bodybuilding.com 2013 Transformation Challenge, I discovered that I’ve been engaging in the latter and it’s discouraging.

I’ve lost an inch off my arms (which weren’t “fat” to begin with) as I’ve dropped 17 pounds over the past month. Yeah, my waist has gotten smaller; yeah, my abs and chest look better, but an inch off the arms? Give me a break.

Of course, this shouldn’t have come as a great surprise, given that I’ve been living on a diet of less than 2,000 calories while exercising 2-3 hours a day, 5-6 days a week.

So, I’ve decided to modify my diet. Last night, I upped my calories to 2,200 and I’ll continue at that level. Obviously, I’d love to do well in the Challenge, but it’s not worth losing a ton of muscle for. After all, I lift weights for size and strength, not to be small and malnourished.

The Secret to Weight Loss

I have found the secret to weight loss (at least for me)… and it's not eating/avoiding certain types of foods, snacking incessantly or any of the other stuff one typically hears.

It all boils down to ramping up one's metabolism. How that is achieved is up to the individual. For me, the combination of a good fat burner and slightly more intense (than I would like) cardio has done the trick.

When I started the Bodybuilding.com 2013 Transformation Challenge, I had a simple, tried-and-true diet in place. I would eat 6-8 times a day, mixing protein and complex carbs into my meals and snacks and I would lose weight and gain/retain muscle…

It didn’t work. My weight stayed more or less the same.

Undeterred, I decided that, perhaps, I was taking in too many calories and fat each day. So I revamped my diet and starting tracking everything I ate. I thought 2,000-2,300 calories per day would do the trick — beach body here I come!

It didn’t work. Sure, I lost more weight than before, but it was coming off very slowly.

Next, I decided to cut my daily calorie intake. Instead of 2,000-2,300 calories per day, I opted for 1,800-2,000 (mind you, my twin brother, who is naturally 30 pounds lighter than me, was losing weight with a much less stringent diet). But, hey, if fewer calories is what it took to get mean and lean, so be it.

It didn’t work. Again, I was losing weight, just at a glacial pace.

Then came my breakthrough. I noticed that, when I was walking on the treadmill (I’d maintain a pace of about 3.4-3.6 MPH at an 8-9 percent incline), my heart rate was generally in the 116-123 beats-per-minute range. Although I’ve heard that 60-70 percent of one’s maximum heart rate — crudely determined by subtracting one’s age from 220 — is ideal, I wondered if my body was resistant to that theory.

I decided to work in some interval training and quicken the pace of my workouts to get my heart rate up.

It worked. Now, when I get on the treadmill, my heart rate is immediately in the 130-135 beats-per-minute range and I’ve started losing weight — and, more importantly, fat — at a greatly accelerated rate.

So much for theories. I guess it's true: Practice makes perfect.

To Those About to Sweat, I Salute You

Every once in a while it’s nice to get some positive feedback — from non-family members. Today, I received just that at the gym when not one, but two, people asked me for training tips. Now, granted, they might just as easily have asked me for advice on how to eat an entire pecan pie in 30 minutes or less — I still have a lot of weight to lose — but at least it’s nice to know that I have a few things going for me.

Of course, I know for some — those that have even more weight to shed than I — having others notice and comment on their progress is unlikely. Sadly, among its other negative properties, excessive body fat has a way of obscuring the positive changes one is undertaking (and sometimes the scale is a willing accomplice).

So, to those who toil in anonymity, I salute you. Anybody who works hard has my respect and admiration — especially you nuts running on the treadmill as though you’re being chased by a pack of rabid dogs.

The Stress Effect

I’ve learned this week what stress can do to one’s weight loss plan. To quote the Scottish poet Robert Burns:

The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men
Gang aft agley (go often awry),
An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain (and leave us nothing but grief and pain),
For promis'd joy!

In modern-day English that means, despite one’s best intentions, one is screwed.

Although my diet has stayed the same — about 2,000 calories per day — and my treadmill activity has increased in duration, my weight shot up from approximately 198 pounds to 201 pounds this week (down a mere six lbs. from when I started my diet nearly a month ago).

(Click on image to enlarge)

But here’s the insult to the injury: A few weeks ago I learned that a longtime client was shutting down the financial newsletter that I helped him compile due to the economy, meaning that I need to find additional work — fast. Yet, despite sending out a slew of resumes and cover letters, I’ve received exactly one response to date — from a person who thought I would make an excellent insurance agent.

The sad thing is I actually thought about it for a minute or two, reasoning that it might open the door to a career in snowboarding (hey, if my writing can lead to an insurance gig…).

Anyway, on the exercise front, I decided I needed to mix things up a bit. I got advice from numerous people (I’m a big believer in the more information, the better) and decided that, perhaps, my body had simply adjusted to my current training regimen. Hence, I would throw it a loop and train differently.

Starting yesterday, I decided to focus on reps instead of weight, quickness and explosiveness instead of form. Now, when I say this, I don’t mean that I’m going to abandon good form altogether and start lifting Gangnam Style — although that might be interesting — but, rather, that I will concentrate on doing more (in less time).

I also decided to quit stressing about the Bodybuilding.com Transformation Challenge and start focusing on my health and wellbeing. Make no mistake: I’d love to win or even place in the Challenge, but I didn’t enter solely for that reason. I entered to put pressure on myself to make a positive change in my life and maybe inspire others to do the same.

That is a best-laid plan that cannot be allowed to go awry.