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Dude, where’s my butt?

So….part of losing 40+ pounds for me included losing what used to be my behind. Somehow at 125.5 pounds I still manage to be 28.7% body fat. But I now have a much flatter derriere than I used to. I don’t remember the source but someone once referred to MPAL as Male Pattern Ass Loss. So I suppose I have FPAL.

As I have lifted weights for years, I am sure I can put on some more muscle but there will be no super-stupendous newbie gains for me.

Excellent resource!

That said, I have always responded pretty well to training. About a month ago I started using the Strong Curves book by Bret Contreras & Kellie Davis. So far so good. I am still in the first few weeks and hence am not yet doing heavy lifts but rather am working on strengthening and activation which I presume will stand me in good stead when I start doing the heavier lifts. I have never trained my glutes specifically as a focus and it feels good.

Looking forward to reporting progress.

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Big Change: Smaller Me

I’ve lost over 40 pounds since last June
Sunrise out the window of Planet Fitness

I am definitely not a very consistent blogger and it interests me that somehow reporting in real time on what has been a gargantuan accomplishment for me did not seem desirable or possible while it’s been happening. I mentioned back in November– in my first post in 3 years– that I had lost over 25 pounds. I did go on to do what I said in November, to move into the mid range of a healthy BMI.

Back in January I joined Planet Fitness. While I know hard core body builders and weight lifters look at PF with derision it’s been wonderful for me. I began using New Rules of Lifting for Life (Thank you @LouSchuler and @AlwynCosgrove) to develop workouts and have diligently been following those routines three times per week since. I learned that it is actually possible for me to get out of the house at 6:30AM to get in an hour workout before work. I honestly did not believe that I could do that consistently twice a week. My body fat percentage is still right at 30% and I am determined to slowly reduce that and build more muscle. I am amazed when I look at the clothes that fit me now. I hold something up and automatically think “no way my body’s going to fit into that” so it will clearly take some time for all those elements to gel but I feel good and am very proud of what I’ve done so far.

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Thankful for: Noom!

thankful-wall-sign-script-font-gold_1024x1024.pngI started using the Noom app back in July and have lost over 25 pounds since June. I totally did not think I could do that. I have never before used any participatory weight loss mechanism. That said, when my health insurer offered a monthly check-in with a nurse I did find that that was enough to increase my accountability regarding exercise or drinking water. So it was not entirely surprising to me that this app works for me.

Noom includes a weekly check in with a coach by text and a group of fellow Noomers where you can post. That group also has a group coach. Food and exercise logging are a big part of it as is a curriculum on food, weight loss and the psychology of eating and losing weight. It’s not cheap at about $45 per month but it is working. The default calorie level is 1,200 per day on which Noom helpfully points out that most people will lose weight. (Duh…)

A number of factors motivated me to start. One of which was inching towards the top of the Overweight BMI category. Recently I moved into a Healthy BMI for the first time in years. My goal is to move into the middle to lower end of a Healthy BMI for my height.

I feel good. I am enjoying taking in my too large clothes with sewing skills I haven’t used since high school. I ran/walked a 5K recently for the first time in years. Nice to have a baseline if I want to do that again. I have returned to yoga practice and am also using Fitbit Coach for at home workouts as my work-based exercise room is going away. Everyone is different and I am sure this wouldn’t be the answer for everyone but I enter the holiday season grateful that it is working for me.

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Fitbit!

Back in May I purchased a Fitbit Charge. The inspiration came from observing my boss who has had one for a while. I am really loving it. It’s like having a friend who is interested in a running commentary on my personal fitness. I don’t think any human being could be as interested in my fitness as my Fitbit is.

The Fitbit has provided sufficient inspiration that I have actually been tracking my food. I’ve done that in the past but never with the consistency I am now over time.  It isn’t really even a pain in the neck. I like the feeling of control of really seeing what I eat and how much I move and the result of the interaction between those two things. Eventually I want to broaden my repertoire and incorporate more lifting and yoga back into my routine, but for the time being I am just getting used to moving more and consistently.

I feel like a pigeon being fed corn pellets in that I am so motivated by Fitbit’s little badges and peer competition. The boost in accountability of having the constant feedback has gotten me tackling 50 flights of stairs at work or stepping in place in front of the TV rather than sitting after a long day at my desk and driving. If it works I am OK with it.

Fitbit Charge

Fitbit Charge

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Nonsense! This stuff makes me smarter…

Rock and Roll McDonald's Screen CapHere’s an obscure reference. There’s a flash movie called “Rock and Roll McDonald’s” that’s from an underground artist in Chicago, now deceased I believe, named Wesley Willis.  (Earworm warning; listen at your own risk.) The scene pictured here from the little movie has a cartoon kitty drinking what appears to be toxic runoff. Warned by his companion about this he comments “Nonsense! This stuff makes me smarter…”  That said, here’s what I’ve been drinking some mornings lately in lieu of breakfast. I follow it in a couple of hours with a morning snack.

12 oz Soy Milk
1 Scoop Whey Powder
2 Teaspoons Instant Coffee
1 Teaspoon Cocoa Powder
25 Drops Stevia Liquid
4 oz Cold Water.

Shake in shaker bottle and voila. No more yawning.

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I [Felt] Responsible When It Rain[ed]

I know not posting to a blog is not the same as, say, falling off the face of the Earth. Yet I almost feel like I did. Over the past few months I identified that the steps I was taking to deal with a nearly lifelong problem with anxiety were not enough. Rather than just interfering with select portions of my life, it had begun to interfere with my work. So I did something I had long resisted doing: sought a recommendation of a helping professional from my primary care physician and started taking medication for the problem for the first time in my life.

About 5 weeks in and past most of the bothersome start-up issues I think it was a good idea. In addition to the meds I am reading a book that’s designed to help one with disordered and dysfunctional thinking: “Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy” by David Burns, M.D. . It’s long been one of my quips that I feel responsible when it rains. Apparently this is a problem.

I am pleased to say that I’ve actually lost 15 pounds over the last year and that the meds I am taking don’t seem prone to screw that up as I move forward in my quest for better health and fitness.

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The Surprising Benefits of Wellness Coaching

English: By Richard Wheeler (Zephyris) 2007.

English: By Richard Wheeler (Zephyris) 2007. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Over the course of my working life I’ve had insurance with most of the major health insurance companies; sometimes twice.  We had a stint with one of them last year that ended in July, but during my time with them I learned something new about myself.

The company offered financial incentives to take part in wellness activities.  The first thing I did was take a health assessment which I believe earned me a $50 gift card. Score! As a result of my responses to this health assessment I received a phone call asking me if I wanted to participate in wellness coaching. Now I don’t get many phone calls and somehow the first reach-out caught me at a bad time. So I said no. But son of a gun, they persisted and called me again. The second time I decided what the heck. So I said yes.

My coaching consisted of periodic phone conversations with a wellness coach; a nurse, I think. We set goals together for me–with a big emphasis on making them achievable. My goals included fat loss, increasing the number of times per week I exercised and increasing the amount of water I drank.

What I found surprising as the months went on is that having this little conversation scheduled gave me permission to take more time for myself. So when it was 5:20PM and I hadn’t hit the workout room at work yet, rather than saying to myself that I had to rush home to be timely for dinner I would jump into my workout clothes and text my spouse that I was working out.

I got reasonable results on this program –not to mention $175 worth of goodies–and was disappointed when we switched health insurance companies that I had to let that go. I am now looking into getting it started with our current company.  The major lesson I learned from the experience of wellness coaching is that the little boost in accountability to someone other than myself really helps me to make the extra push whether it’s pushing myself into the weight room, swigging more water or letting myself claim a few minutes here and there just for me and my health.

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Time Travel

Sample Image from Leopard Book

Sample Image from Leopard Book

Recently I watched the 2004 movie “Primer, ” a science-fiction thriller about some engineers who figure out how to achieve time travel.  The movie, according to one analysis, has nine different timelines going in it at one time.  Recently also I acquired Dr. Kelly Starrett’s book “Becoming a Supple Leopard” which is an amazing reference and resource on treating chronic pain, stiffness and bodily dysfunction in general. I have always thought of weightlifting and other fitness pursuits as being like a fountain of youth. Having been working with the exercises in this book for about a week I think this book is more like a time machine.

Starrett is the brains behind the website mobilitywod. I understand that his initial push to bring his wisdom to the masses was to post a video each day on a different topic for 365 days. His website is divided into information by subscription for professional trainers and practitioners and free stuff for the lay public.

I have been using the exercises shown and described in the book to work on particular body parts that are either themselves giving me problems or resulting in my moving in weird ways to compensate for them. An example of this is my ankles. They are tight enough that my squatting motion is restricted–and has been for years–making me most comfortable turning my feet out slightly or elevating my heels on a board. If I don’t do this my body will just tip over backwards. Starrett includes a number of tests like this to help one assess one’s own priority areas of physical dysfunction. Working on my tight ankles is going to take some time. Some other areas such as the low back, it’s helpful to have guidance on how much effort is needed to effect change in these areas. Let me say that “smash” is a word Starrett uses frequently in this text and I think he’s onto something. Some of the work I’ve been doing has resulted in parts that are immediately feeling better and more mobile. I am less stiff when I get up from sitting. Hence the time machine analogy.

I’ve been going at this for the past week for about 30 minutes a day. I’ve curtailed some of my other activities to fit it in but I honestly believe that by allowing body parts to function properly I may have built more strength and power in the last week without additional lifting than I would have bringing my years of built-up tightness to my weightlifting workouts.

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