Gulp!

… both figuratively and literally.

‘Memba the old saying, “Drink 8 glasses of water a day to stay healthy” … ?

Well, not so much, evidently.

If you already knew this, my apologies (it’s been out since early April). But this is the first I’ve heard of it, and I have to admit, I’m really surprised.

It won’t change my habits, mainly because I need to drink lots of water because of my gout condition. But there’s one comment that I’d like to call shenanigans on;

There are no studies that show that chugging H2O will curb your appetite.

As someone who fasts twice a week for 24 hour periods (via the Eat Stop Eat program), I can say that during fast time, I drink lots of water. I drink more when I’m feeling hungry. For me, at least, it takes the hunger more or less away, almost right away.

I think I’ll wait to see more evidence on this one, thank you very much!

Computer, Disable Ignorance Mode …

Well, I broke down and weighed myself this morning. After going off the weight-loss road last week, I’ve really been hitting it hard this week, in terms of both exercise and diet. And my work has paid off — I’m at 258 this morning, which (if memory serves) is only a pound more than is exactly the same as my last weigh-in two weeks ago. Believe me, after the emotional roller-coaster that was last week, this is a big’un accomplishment for me.

What’s more, I think I’m down even more in terms of pure fat loss. I put on a pair of jeans today I have never been able to wear (size 40s — I’m here, bitches!). And when I say I put them on, I mean I put them on to frakkin’ wear today; not just to see if they fit. So that is a major accomplishment.

I’ve also noticed a bit more definition in my arms, legs and even my abs today; that tells me I’ve probably gained even more muscle. Believe me, I’m very far away from getting a six-pack, devil ears, etc. in the ol’ abs/lower trunk area. But I am starting to actually see progress. So I got that goin’ for me. Which is nice.

Additionally, I’m in the middle of another Eat Stop Eat fasting interval today. So hopefully I’ll be down even more in time for my Smart for Life weigh-in tomorrow. But even if I don’t lose an ounce of weight between today and tomorrow, I don’t care. I’m a happy, happy camper.

All of that, plus some good news with my work/career-related stuff (that I can’t talk about right now), and I’m going into this weekend on really, really high notes. Life is (very) good.

Then on Sunday, it’s Day 1 of the Transformation Contest for me! My next post will come on Sunday, and it’ll have all of the titilating “start” stats for this next major phase of my fat-loss life. See ya then!

A “Big” Announcement

… I always hesitate using the word “big” in a blog about weight loss    .

Any-who, the big news is I’m going to join the Transformation Contest when it starts back up. Cash and prizes, plus the ultimate in accountability (a contest!) — you can’t go wrong. I’ll post details as I come across them. Click on the link to see the winners from the last contest. The winner is kinda hot, too.

Coming up tomorrow or Sunday … an update on my weigh-in this week — the first full week of Turbulence Training with some Pace Program tossed in, with side dishes of Smart for Life and Eat Stop Eat and a dash of Thintuition. Could I fit more things into my life right now? Eh, maybe. But for now, this’ll do, reader, this’ll do.

BTW – the weigh in? Let’s just say I have a really good feeling about it. After all, I’ve had a sneak peek at week-to-date results.

Quick Update

Thought I’d update quickly, especially because this marks the first time in 3 weeks it has been a Wednesdy and I haven’t been in the midst of a gout attack. Can’t tell you how happy that makes me.

Anyhow, I’ve exercised every day (Sunday and Tuesday “heavy days,” Monday and this morning “low-and-slow cardio), and am feeling fantastic. I’m down to 261, but if my lower-end Tanita scale is to be believed, I’ve lost more fat than the overall weight number indicates. Which is good — I’m about losing fat and clothing fitting even better more than watching one dumb ol’ number that doesn’t even directly relate to how I’m doing with losing fat. Yep, I feel pretty strongly about that.

To help us out with tracking more than just overall weight and fat loss, I bought a high-falutin’ Tanita scale — the Tanita Ironman BC554 (scroll down to see it). Let’s just say that this scale is so advanced, if you put jet engines on it? Yep, it’d fly.

We also took all of our tax refund (plus a little extra, but not a lot), and bought an elliptical for the house. With this, we’ll be able to dump our gym memberships and save money in the long term. Plus it’ll save us travel time in the morning, which, if you live in DC or have heard about our traffic, can be considerable.

We got this bad boy: the Octane Fitness Q47e. If you could exercise and sweat your you-know-what off and do it all in a Cadillac at the same time, this would be the machine that would do it. Oh. My. God. I’ll tell more about its virtues after we get it delivered. 

Quitting the gym isn’t a big deal, though. Since I’m doing Turbulence Training, it’s all bodyweight and dumbbells, and we have those already. Don’t need a gym for that. And when my wife’s knee gets better, she can either do TT or combine our old Bowflex with the Q47e.

Sweet!

By the way, we’re Eat Stop Eating again tonight. Wish us luck!

Eat Stop Eat, Update

Wanted to quickly update on my experience with my first fast, via the Eat Stop Eat program. And I’ve gotta say, wow!

I didn’t think I could make it. But with just 40 minutes left, I can say it was easy. The key to success is to time the 24 hour period so that you actually are eating every day of the week; you’re just fitting the 24 hour period in around it. So, for example, we started at 6 PM yesterday (and essentially skipped dinner), but we’re picking up today after 6 PM (and eating dinner). So we only truly fasted 16 hours, as we slept for 8 of them. And even though we “fasted” on Sunday and Monday, we ate on those days, too!

Another key is to eat normally (whatever that is for you); don’t gorge yourself before or after the fast period.

Brad explains it all (and explains it well) in his book. And it doesn’t cost a lot of scratch, either. I don’t want to give away too much here, because he’s a good guy and I want to see him succeed with this book. So if you’re interested, I suggest you go to his site and buy it. I get no money for referrals, either — I’m just happy to help. Seriously.

Niiiiiice

Just wanted to quickly alert y’all to a comment in the post immediately below this one (here’s the link to it, in case you’ve stumbled across this post and not the whole blog). It’s from Craig Ballantyne, the guy who came up with Turbulence Training. I’ll let the post explain it all. Enjoy!

UPDATE: Well, aren’t I becoming *the* magnet for health, workout and nutrition celebs! First, Craig comments at this blog. Then I get a comment from over at the ttmembers.com message board from Eat Stop Eat writer Brad Pilon. I’ve actually put that comment in the comments section from the above-referenced posting, since it directly relates there.

So, this blog post has been upgraded from “Niiiiiice” to “Very Niiiiiice”!

An Update, then An Update, and Finally an Update

First, weigh in. I weighed in at Smart for Life at 262 – I’m essentially at 65 lbs. lost. Pretty snazzy. I’ve got to admit, though, the weight is getting tougher and tougher to drop. I’m wondering if this plan has run its course with me, in terms of effectiveness. My body really needs different stimuli to “shake things up,” and I think that 5 months on S4L may be the max for it. Believe me, I love S4L and would recommend it to anyone. But as you read so often, “No diet works 100% of the time,” and you need to do the ol’ “Shake things up” thing.

Second, Eat Stop Eat. My jaw almost dropped to the floor when my wife said, “yes,” she’d do it with me. So we’re doing the fasting thing as a trial. We’re starting today at 6 PM, and not eating again until Monday at 6. Wish us luck! I’m also hoping that combining this with S4L will be the “shake up” thing I need the next few months. I’ll update how it went tomorrow night.

Third, Turbulence Training. I’m back on it as of today. I’ll be going to work out this afternoon, marking my return to my original schedule of 2 heavy days (Sunday and probably Wednesday) and 4 light days each week. Don’t want to burn myself out! After a few weeks, it goes up to 3 heavy days a week. Can’t wait for that. Seriously!

New to the Mix …

Eat Stop Eat … ? I’m seriously thinking about it. Have to get it past the wife unit (who is also S4L’ing with me).

The bigger question is, can I fit all of these different philosophies into one way of life? Actually, I think I can!