27th August Update

I weighed in at 85.4kg this past week so I am pretty pleased with progress. I haven't been counting calories too carefully either.

Here is a photograph, making a change from previous photos I am wearing a shirt (Size XS). It fits pretty well but I prefer S for now. Once I lose the rest of my belly and hip fat I should be able to wear them as comfy as S's are now.

Please ignore the dirty mirror.

Changing It Up

Seeing as I have been plateauing a lot lately, and my weight has been going up and down in 1kg increments I have decided to lower my caloric intake. MyFitnessPal automatically calculates your intake but I have been finding it too much and it must be my maintenance.

In any case, I have lowered my caloric intake to ~1600 calories per day. This seems to be an average "cutting" intake that I have seen many people adhere to on bodybuilding discussion forums. I will give it a go and see how it works.

It hasn't been too hard to be honest, it means less snacking and more whole food, which is good. When I started I ate 90% whole food. The thing about whole foods I have found is that they are incredibly filling for the amount of calories in them.

I made a soup last night with my girlfriend out of a "vegetable starter pack" which basically contained a few soup staples (potatoes, onion, parsnip, leek etc.) and made a soup with that and some lentils and tomato soup. It was surprisingly good, and makes about 5 or 6 servings. Each serving has approximately the following:

Calories: 177
Carbs: 40g
Fat: 5g
Protein: 7g

So not too bad. I guess it wouldn't be ideal if you were on a really low carb diet but I don't bother with that, just stick to a calorie goal and try to eat whole foods. In any case the carbs are from vegetables so I don't think it's too bad. The soup is incredibly filling though, you don't even need bread with it.

So because I have been making myself prepare and eat whole foods, sticking to about 1600 calories per day isn't really that hard at all. One thing I was neglecting too was drinking enough fluids. I just wouldn't and probably confused thirst with hunger some times. Always good to drink some water with a meal to make you feel more satiated.

I was considering uploading some progress photos but I have been plateauing for ages so I don't see too much point, also the photos I took are just incredibly fuzzy. Must be the mirror or something, perhaps I will take a photo when next I weigh myself.

That is all for now.

Update

At a plateau again, weight keeps fluctuating from 87-89kg in the span of a couple of weeks. I've been trying to be consistent with my caloric intake but who knows. I am a bit lax these days, probably because it's winter.

However, I fit into small sized shirts now, bought a couple and a small jacket, and they fit me well, they aren't super tight either.

I am not too worried about it for now, however when summer comes I may get really into it and cut my calories more to try and get a "ripped" physique. Will see when that time comes!

June 2012 Photos

Front
Side

Unfortunately quite poor quality and lighting. It didn't look too bad on my phone but it came out really fuzzy on the computer.

Ah well. One day these photos will make for a neat slideshow. If only I stuck to a size convention. I should have kept them full size and just text linked to them, that way proportions wouldn't be skewed.

Progress Update12/06/12

Weighed myself this weekend, weighed 87.2kg, so I am pretty chuffed with that.

Trying to take it easy at work, while still making progress on my Diploma work. I have been getting too stressed from it so I am trying to just let go a bit, at the cost of speed in completing diploma work.

I need to work out more, I think.

Also a CD came, Marcus D's Melancholy Hopeful, giving it a listen now and trying to relax.

Plateau Busted

This morning I weighed 88.2kg. I have finally broke through my plateau at 89kg. Now if only I could update my MyFitnessPal stats, I can't however because it's being a piece of shit and not loading the CSS by the looks of it.

Because of this recurring error I have barely been logging food the past week. Still, I seem to be able to monitor what I eat and gauge calorie content by eye now so it's not too bad.

Vain Progress Photograph Update

Here are a couple of vanity shots of my weight loss progress.

Front Flex
Front Flex 2
Front Shot
Sort of Side Flex

I'm not very good at flexing but it was a fun way to do progress photographs for this month.

April 2012 Photos

Here are April's progress photos. I have been following the Starting Strength program, so I've been lifting weights, doing squats, deadlifts, benchpresses, barbell shrugs and the like. I really enjoy it so far.

Front Photo

Side Photo

Weight still hovering around 89kg. Waist has gotten smaller though, at 88cm now.

March Photographs

A bit late but here are this months progress shots.

Progress Report 4/03/12

Weight yesterday was 87.5kg, which is a massive drop from 89kg! I purged my body (used the bathroom!) before stepping on the scales this time though, and took off most of my clothes.

I had a big cheat meal yesterday, I went to a chinese restaurant with my family as my grandparents are visiting from overseas. I usually put off these kind of things as I just know I will go over my calorie budget, as the food is so tasty and not completely filling unless you eat a heap (at least in my experience).

My grandparents won't be around forever, and the most this one cheat meal will do is make my weight loss a bit slower, so I don't feel guilty for pigging out at all. Though I will note for the rest of the night I did feel like shit, my stomach was bloated and even after that I still felt a bit unwell. I am mostly feeling fine now though.

I also signed up for Fitocracy but I'm not sure how much I'll use it as I already use Myfitnesspal. They both do different things but I am not sure if I can be bothered to use two sites to track fitness goals, I guess we'll see. I have been doing bodyweight exercises lately, but no cardio as the weather has been rubbish and some areas around me have flooded.

27/02/12 Progress Report

Today's weight : 89.3. I seem to have broken through my 90kg plateau and am now going down, something I am pleased with. This last week I have done almost zero cardio, I think I went for one walk, and I still went down from 89.9 to 89.3.

Will try to do some more cardio this week, as well as some strength training. I started the convict conditioning program but I stopped doing tat. This poor weather doesn't do wonders for morale.

Still using Myfitnesspal, finding it an excellent tool. My pant size keeps getting smaller too.

There were times when I thought my progress wasn't going as well as I thought, then I saw someone on my Facebook make a post about having lost 10kg in a year, which people thought was really good. I have lost much more than 10kg and it hasn't even been a year for me yet, so I think my progress is going quite well.

That's all for this week.

Progress Report 21/02/12

It's been a while since I posted, but as of last weigh in I am at 89.9kg. I've finally beaten the plateau of stuck at 90 (only just) and hopefully I can keep beating it.

The weather has been terrible and work has been a bit busy so I have found it hard to be motivated to go out for a bike ride or a run, but I have been doing more pull ups. I beat my old record by three. Don't know if that's getting stronger or just losing weight.

Calories have been on track but food hasn't been the best as I have grandparents over and they buy a lot of really tasty (and high in calorie) food and sometimes it's hard to resist. I have still counted calories though and kept within my budget.

Progress Photographs - February 2012

Progress Report 29/01/12

I have been jogging and cycling lately. The scales yesterday read 91.1kg, down from 92 last week. Perhaps it was water weight.

The bike I have has a problem where the brakes rub against the wheel so that I have to put a lot of effort into cycling, I have a hard time coasting that's how bad it is. I will try getting my dad to show me how to adjust the brakes soon, failing that I might just buy a new bike, It's up in the air at the moment.

I went for a ride with a friend and tested out his bike and found it was much easier to pedal and much more pleasant to ride. I had been thinking I was having an easier time jogging and using my stationary bike than my bicycle. I could tell my brakes were rubbing but I didn't think it affected it too much, but it turns out it does.

It was almost a two hour ride with a friend I haven't seen in a while and it was quite enjoyable, I was surprised I went for so long. If the brakes didn't rub it would have been a lot easier, getting past the 1hr was a bit tough but I made it home.

I also did a backflip yesterday, I somehow got over the fear to try them not on a trampoline. Granted I landed on my hands and knees but it still counts to me.

Progress Report 23/01/12

Scales this morning said 92kg, so I've gone up from 91.3 to 92 in a week. I have been logging my calories and doing cardio every other day, eating around 1900-2000 cals a day, but lately strictly 1900 according to myfitnesspal. I will chalk it up to a plateau and nothing to worry about.

I will just continue using myfitnesspal, I have found it to be much more effective at logging calories than using a spreadsheet which I was using before.

I bought a bicycle from a friend and just went on a 40 minute ride, and It was way better than the stationary exercise bike I bought not too long ago. I think it could be better if I had some music but I will wait until I am a bit more experienced at riding my bike before I plug earphones in as I cycle.

There are some ok bike paths near my house, the only thing is that in town there isn't really any bike paths so I will have to ride on the road which I am a bit apprehensive of. On the way back from my ride I noticed a path that goes under a bridge and runs parallel to a river me and some friends used to explore back in high school, so I might follow that next time I go for a cycle.

Progress Report Tomorrow

I forgot to weigh in this morning so I will have to do that tomorrow. I've stopped using a spreadsheet to count calories lately and have been using some different apps on my android phone before settling on myfitnesspal. I have had it for a while but I never used it.

My username on myfitnesspal is dbfuru.

So I will update tomorrow with my weight.

Progress Report, 11/01/12

This progress report is a bit late.

The scales on Saturday read 91.4, so an increase of 0.4 kg. Nothing to worry about, my diet slipped a little as I had increased social activity and as such was not able to accurately gauge calorie intake, and I did a bit less cardio too.

I've tried counting a bit better this week, however there have been a couple of days where I guessed, as I was not at home to make my meals, and I was not at home until past any sensible hour to work out, so I just went straight to bed.

I'm looking forward to the end of the holidays, and am keen to get back to work. I need the routine again, as it causes me to eat better and exercise more, as I am at home at sensible hours a lot more.

That's all for this week, hopefully when Saturday rolls around I have gone under 91kg, but I can not say at this point.

Progress Photographs, 4/01/12

Here is a link to my previous photographs.

And a couple of comparisons from my earliest photos to my latest:

New Year, Progress Report 3/01/12

I didn't go too overboard over the Christmas week, and thankfully I did not gain any weight. I didn't lose any either, I stayed at 91kg on the scales.

I didn't eat too much, and my cardio was very sporadic as was calorie counting, I would probably count half a day, then when I went somewhere and couldn't measure my food I just guessed. Jelly beans are also a culprit in this, very high calorie content in those things. I must have eaten at around maintenance.

Now the major problem with cardio is that it's too damn hot to use my exercise bike or my skipping rope. I have to have a fan pointed at me and even that is still not enough. I might have to start using the pool, but I have gotten used to the exercise bike and the fact I can watch an episode of The Office as I exercise.

I should be putting up a photograph tomorrow, if I remember.

In summation, this past weeks calorie counting wasn't up to scratch and cardio was very sporadic. I did not gain any weight, or lose any, I plateaued this week. Which is good for Christmas and I am not upset about it.

August the 4th will mark one year of calorie counting and exercise.

I also need to start lifting weights regularly again, I have had a couple of weeks break due to it being hot and once I've finished cardio I just want to jump in the shower and cool off.