I'm accountable........sorta

It's my fat, and I'll blog if I want to...

Published on January 5, 2006 By Spc Nobody Special In Health & Medicine

Well, this time I at least did the important part. I've been running and eating right. Just not posting about it like I was supposed to for, I dunno, about 3 or 4 weeks.

As opposed to vice-versa. Also here-to-fore I was posting on the Diet Club blog, but after Wahine dropped out, nobody was reading it, so now I'm going to do the accountability bit here.

Here goes, catching up. I'm 5 weeks in, ran 19 miles last week, working on 21 this week, I've done 9 so far. I'm going to do 3 or 4 today, but January finally remembered where we live, so I'm gonna wait 'til it warms up a little.

I've also started tossing in some pushups and situps since I'm going back to the whole Army thing again. Starting at 50 extra of each daily, (say, in addition to pt when I start that) and adding 5 a week 'til I'm back up to 100. Two months of that, and I'll ace any p.t. test they can throw at me.

As to weight? Down 10.5 lbs overall. Passed my weight at MEPS a week ago at 181. Down an inch and 5/8ths around the middle, and my pants are all breathing a deep felt sigh of relief. As long as I get through MEPS the second time on weight next wednesday, everything's hunky dorey.

Comments

pseudosoldier

on Jan 05, 2006

Well, that's encouraging at least. Do you have set goals (beyond the 100 pu/su per day)? Specific run times/distances, weight/waist measurements?

I need to set a new goal for myself, as "Maintain where I am" can be an open invitation for a backslide. Good luck.

Dr Guy

on Jan 05, 2006

Unloved fat is the saddest thing in the world!

Spc Nobody Special

on Jan 05, 2006

Do you have set goals (beyond the 100 pu/su per day)?

Max the test within about two months after coming back in. Might pull it off, might not. If I can keep this up, it'll be close, especially if I can squeeze in some weight training. Then a half marathon sometime this spring, and a full one in the fall. On those, I'd like to break 1:50 and 4:00 hrs respectively.

For weight, maybe 165 if I don't get much lifting, say 175 if I do. Figure about 5 or 6 lbs down a month from here. The last bits always the hardest. And I'm gonna throw chinups back in again too. I'd hate to get that pathetic all triceps no biceps look.

Unloved fat is the saddest thing in the world!

Nope, my korean skills are the saddest thing in the world. Michael Moore's politics are the saddest thing in the world. Don King's hair, pretty darn sad. Unloved fat is extremely popular. I see it everywhere I go.

Caracarn1

on Jan 05, 2006

5 Weeks now I have been on Atkins. I am going on a cruise a week from today so I wanted to lose some belly fat. I am not a fat guy really, 6feet 2inches and weigh about 189lbs. The problem is, about 89 of those lbs are in my beer belly

I have been running and lifting every day as well as eating NO carbs and it doesnt look like ive lost a pound. This is really discouraging to me as I had a mental image for myself by the time I went on my cruise.

Anyone got any advice how to trim up my belly in 6 days?

Spc Nobody Special

on Jan 05, 2006

Anyone got any advice how to trim up my belly in 6 days?

In six days, no. In six weeks, definitely.

To begin with, 189 is not at all unreasonable for a 6'2" male in decent shape. Especially if you're lifting, which will add muscle weight. For that matter, at that height, it's not absolutely terrrible if you're of the female variety either. I'm a 5'9" guy, and when I get down to say 165-170, you can literally count my ribs.

The first and most obvious solution is cardio, cardio, cardio. Running is your best bet, and you've gotta have enough miles, however upping the milage too fast is a big no, no, and a good way to cause injury. Increase no more than 10% distance a week.

Remember, at 189, you're burning 155, maybe 160 calories a mile when you run, so you do eventually want to get some decent milage, ten or fifteen miles a week usually won't cut it. If you ran 15 miles, you only burn about another 2300 calories or so a week, plus a somewhat raised metabolism for an hour or two after.

You can fill in the distance gap for now, by walking on rest days, or in the other part of the day than your run. Biking's not bad either. Also, you can up your metabolism more by splitting it into smaller runs, and getting the cardio twice a day.

If you're serious about keeping it off, you may want to switch to something slightly more moderate than Atkins. You will lose weight on it, especially the initial water weight the first week or so. Carbs bond very well with water. However, it's not healthy over an extended period, especially if you're exercising a lot. Too much protein doesn't give your body the fuels it needs to exercise properly, like trying to race your car with nothing in the tank.

Plus long term, anything over about twenty percent protein in your diet can cause liver damage, plus urinary tract problems including painful urination, infection, or kidney stones. Ever see a cat that's been eating dog food for a long time? It does the same thing, and for the same reasons.

You might consider Southbeach if you really need a regimen, but I usually get away with avoiding most breads and sugars, and sticking to veggies and fruits for most of my carbs. No regular sodas, but caffeine is fine. Alcohol is a huge no-no. (hence the term beer belly, right?) It contains maltose, which is very easily digested, and go figure goes straight to the belly. Watch calories, but don't starve yourself either.

Something you definitely might want to do, is focus on the areas you want to lose the fat when you lift. Lift for strength for a month or so to build muscle there and burn fat, then switch to endurance and tone it. Unless you get really serious about lifting, watch out for too much strength building on the lateral abdominals (on the sides by your hips). They fill out kind of blocky, so unless you need that core muscle strength for power lifting, just tone them.

Don't skip on the legs, it'll seriously help your run. That said, save the lower body workouts for your short run days or rest days. Read up. There's tons of literature, especially magazines. This month's Runner's World has an article specifically focusing on weight loss and the abdominal region.

There. A comment longer than my original article. But it's a lot of the basics on my fitness training, hope it helps.

P.S. Go to a running specialty store and get good shoes.

KarmaGirl

on Jan 05, 2006

10.5 pounds? That sounds great, especially since I'm sure you have gained muscle.

Where are the pictures of your progress?

LadyCleve

on Jan 05, 2006

Where are the pictures of your progress?

Here, at home, where they will stay for me to look at while he's gone for six months. sigh..............

Moderateman

on Jan 05, 2006

keep pushing the envelope. sounds like yer leaving a sad lady behind ya.

Spc Nobody Special

on Jan 06, 2006

Heh heh......correction, this one now goes all the way to eleven. (why don't you just make it louder and just make ten the loudest)

Where are the pictures of your progress?

Umm, waiting for a special lens. One that will cause my face to not break the scanner/'cause the hard drive to crash in horror. Plus it doesn't show that much, my face just looks kinda thinner. Pictures will surface sooner or later.

keep pushing the envelope. sounds like yer leaving a sad lady behind ya.

She'll be okay, the Army's let us practice. It won't so bad as the first couple of times. She was a wreck when I left for basic, and not much better when I went to Korea. It's not so bad, only between 3 and 6 months this time, and then coming back to Ft. Hood and the 1st Cav band.

For that matter, my cat went kinda nuts when I was gone too. I used to call every day (in Korea, can you imagine that in basic?), and sometimes I'd talk to the cat for awhile. He'd hear my voice and go nuts looking for me. We had two numbers on the same line, so it had a different ring tone for friends, and he got so he'd come running every time I called.

Welcome Guest! Please take the time to register with us.
There are many great features available to you once you register, including:

Richer content, access to many features that are disabled for guests like commenting on the forums.
Access to a great community, with a massive database of many, many areas of interest.
Access to contests & subscription offers like exclusive emails.
It's simple, and FREE!