Get Gary Fit

At my “peak” I lost 46 pounds and still had 28% body fat. More on that later. 

During my worst, August 2009, I was at 182 pounds. I just worked all the time and didn’t care. I ate fast food for many meals, a whole “cream cheese lasagne”, and could down an entire pizza for dinner.

At the time my triglycerides were triple what they should be. My doctor wanted to put me on heart meds. First, I tried a low calorie and “low fat” diet. That shed some weight but I felt tired all the time and it was slowing my metabolism down. Starving is not good. Even when controlled.

Then I stumbled my way upon Paleo. I felt great, my triglycerides normalized, and I kept dropping weight. This works best for me. It is a low carbohydrate, no sugar, tons of veggies, high protein diet. I feel my best when I eat this way. So much energy!!!

Christmas
I am noticing a pattern here. Christmas 2010, I clocked in at a squishy 165. My body fat percentage was probably even higher. Around this time of year, November through December, I visit family and give into temptations of many carbs. This year, I actually did better, I was about 154 ( unrecorded ) in December. So 11 pounds lighter then last year.

Spring
April 2010 I was 148
April 2011 I was 151
April 2012 I was 151

Progress
The good news is that I haven’t once again reached that 182 of 2009 again. Discipline has kept me from there. Sometimes in the day to day we fail to see the bigger picture. From what this tells me is that my weight or eating patterns do have cycles. I have to learn to break them. Find out what causes them. Are they natural?   

Goals
My two biggest goals are:
1. Stay consistent with healthy eating
2. Lower my body fat percentage while increasing lean muscle

The most telling sign is that my body fat percentage is still high. I need to continue to work on that area. Research then execute.

Just finished watching Fat Head with three friends. Great movie as it illustrates concepts that were outlined in Gary Taube’s book, “Good Calories, Bad Calories”. Basically, fat is not bad. Your body needs fat; it can even help lower your LDL and raise your HDL.

On my journey to losing 45 ( or 44 depending on the day ) pounds, I tried a few methods over the last few years. I’ve done low fat, low calorie and low carb. Eating primal or low carb has helped me the most. I’ve stuck with that now for a good 4 months. Sometimes I cheat. However, I have noticed a significant weight drop even then.

That being said, I’m fat.

Once again proving the scale has nothing to do with progress, I weigh 137.52 pounds as of today. And I am 28.4% fat.

To give a little perspective, I went with a friend today who is about 33 years older than I am. He had 8% body fat. That will motivate you.

How do I know how much body fat I have? After reading a recommendation in Timothy Ferris’ book, “The 4 Hour Body” , I decided to give BodPod a try. Even made it a goal. That is one more goal completed!

My Stats - October 16, 2011:

Based on the report that I was given, I have “Excess Fat”, which “Indicates an excess accumulation of fat over time.” Yea, no kidding.

The Plan or Phase Two

What next? Two things: do a juice fast for 10 days as described on my goals page and begin a high intensity workout session. I’ve already begun planning this.

When I begun two years ago, I decided that I would lose as much weight as possible with no or little exercise. Tracking only the scale. You cannot track progress without a measurable metric.

Once, I got low enough on the scale then I would begin Phase 2: Body composition and muscle building. It is now time for Phase 2. And it will be tracked with BodPod and the goal of lowering my percentage of body fat.

Time to kick the fat to the curb!

I hit the “130s” today! I can barely believe it. Only 9 more pounds to go until I reach goal. We’ll see how much belly fat I still have by then. I swear there is this one area in the middle around my belly button that I call my “kangaroo pouch”. It is proving to be the last to go and still bunches up when I sit down.

I can do this! 130 and/or flat stomach, here I come!