Survived Week 3!

This week went well.  I'm really enjoying the rotation that I've set up.  I do two days on, two days off, one day on, one day off.  That means this week I hit the gym on Sunday and Monday then rested on Tuesday and Wednesday, worked out again on Thursday, rested on Friday, now I'll be in the gym Saturday and Sunday.  Those two-day rest periods really feel like a vacation!  Plus, this allows me to alternate which of my two workouts -- the pushing routine or pulling routine -- gets used just before a two day rest.  All of this translates into more rest for the muscles.  And as you may know, muscles grow when they're resting, not when they're working.

I start Week 4 tomorrow.  I'm excited about the fact that I'll have completed one month of my six-month challenge before the new year arrives.  No wimpy New Year's resolution for me.  I'll be well on my way by January 1!  Maybe I'll post some pics to commemorate the end of my first month at the end of next week.

Week 3 Measurements

Week 3 has come and gone. During the week, I completed all my workouts, buckled down on my diet a bit and even included a 24-hour fast. The numbers show some progress:

Weight = 196

Neck: 15 (down .5)

Upper arms: left = 14; right 14

Shoulders: 46.5 (down 1)

Chest at nipples: 39.5 (down .5)

Waist at navel: 33.5 (down .5)

Hips at widest point: 40 (down 1)

Legs mid-thigh: left = 23.5; right = 22.5

Total inches: 248.5 (down 3.5)

I'm happy to see movement in the numbers! I wasn't expecting the shoulders and chest to reduce, but I'm guessing that some of that reduction may either be a variance in my measuring technique or some fat loss in my back. (I've realized from my photos that I carry more fat in my back than I do on my belly. Good for fooling folks into thinking I'm fit...unfortunately, it even fools me some times.)

I Survived Week 3!

I have my yoga days today and tomorrow then Week 3 will be complete. I was able to successfully complete the week without missing any workouts even though I was a "single dad" for a week while Anita was in Vegas. That meant moving my Wednesday and Thursday workouts to lunch time and making sure that my work calendar didn't encroach on them. It also meant that my diet suffered a little because I found it hard to prepare healthy meals and still keep Sonia entertained with trips to the library and the homes of friends and family in the evenings.

To make up for the sloppy diet week I decided to try my first 24-hour fast yesterday (Sunday). It went surprisingly well. I started the fast at 6 p.m. on Saturday, worked out Sunday morning like usual, then even took the family on a hike in San Francisco and ran around with Sonia at Crissy Field. Amazingly, I was never low energy nor was I ever hungry! That's right...I was never hungry! I'll post more in the future about intermittent fasting and some of the research that I've been reading. But on first blush it seems doable, let's just see whether it helps me lose any unwanted fat while maintaining my muscle growth.