Project Ripped

After my last week containing a couple of tough bicycle rides I thought how disappointed I would be if I didn’t lose any weight this week. After the weigh-in this morning I am pleased to say that I am absolutely delighted with my progress and had nothing to worry about.

This week my key statistics are:

• I am 5′ 6.5″ tall
• Weight: 12 st. 12.5 lbs. (180.5 lbs.) – 4 lbs. loss in the last week
• Body fat abdomen pinch reduction of 5mm (42mm down to 37mm)
• Body fat chest pinch reduction of 5mm (30mm down to 25mm)
• Body fat: 25.3%

My biggest surprise was the 4 lb. weight loss in this past week. I was a bit worried that I had been losing muscle and not fat but looking at the statistics it looks like I have actually put on some lean mass in this last week. I have been taking body fat pinches each week and using a formula to calculate my body fat percentage. I have to admit that there is probably a degree of inaccuracy in this process but it has been done consistently and the results should be comparable week on week.

So, here is a review of my first 6 weeks on Phase 1. Firstly I will take a look at my weight loss. About 4 days before starting Phase 1 I weighed in at 14 stone and 1 pound. By the time I had started Phase 1, and lost ‘fluid’ weight I was 13 stone and 11 pounds (193 lbs). Today I am 12 stone and 12.5 pounds (180.5 lbs). So in 6 weeks I have lost 12.5 lbs of weight. My biggest question was how much of this was fat?

On a weekly basis I calculated my body fat percentage. I started off at 34.9% and today I am 25.3%. So in 6 weeks I have reduced my body fat percentage by 11.4%.

Taking this figure I could then work out how much of my body is lean mass and how much is muscle. I started out with a lean mass of 125.6 lbs. and today I have a lean mass of 134.8 lbs. So in 6 weeks I have added 9.2 lbs. of lean mass (hopefully mostly muscle). I have been extremely pleased that this has increased each week.

Which leaves fat. How much fat have I lost in the last 6 weeks? Weighing ourselves can’t tell us how much fat we have lost because we weigh fat, muscle, bones, organs, etc. all together.  According to my calculations I started off with 67.3 lbs. of fat. Today I have 45.6 lbs. of fat. So in the last 6 weeks I have lost 21.7 lbs. of fat. This is the key figure that I have been interested in. I am delighted to have lost so much fat in such a short space of time. 

Right now I am feeling pretty good about myself. My resistance training is keeping, and increasing, my lean mass and my regular exercise combined with my predominantly raw food diet has helped my body to use fat for energy.

On the downside I am a little frustrated with my waist. Although it has reduced a little it is still only 1.5 inches less than it was 6 weeks ago. I knew that the fat around my waist will probably be the last to go and as I am still a far way off from that point then it is hanging around a bit longer. I can detect my legs being a lot leaner than they were and also my upper torso. The fat around my mid section is reducing and it feels different, and looser, than previous but the tape tells a different story.

Here are my progress photos.

In my side shot my torso is now so much thinner and less swollen than it was 6 weeks ago. I am really pleased with the side view as it shows that I have started to transform my physique. My belly now doesn’t overhang the shorts anywhere near what it did.

From the front there is also a clear reduction in the waist area. There is still a bulge at the sides, but the bulge appears to be reducing from the bottom upwards.

At the back the whole of my back area appears narrower than it was 6 weeks earlier. The creases, which I have come to hate, are now starting to fade. They are still there but are showing signs of diminishing.

Tonight I am going to go for a run. I haven’t run for a while and have never managed to get enough fitness to enjoy it in the past. I have been inspired to give it another go by joining a challenge set by Lilla. I have ordered a Nike+ sports kit for the iPod Nano and will use it to log my runs once it arrives. I don’t imagine that I will get that far tonight but I have to make a start. 

Only last year by entering the ‘end to end’ mountain bike challenge did I realise that I never cycled fast enough. Cycling by myself I was always content with the speed I was going and used to ride at below my capacity, therefore never getting any faster. Today I am a lot faster a cyclist because I know I have to push myself harder, but I also know that I can cope with a faster pace. I am going to see if I can apply the same principle to my running. I have never managed anything faster than a jog so tonight I am going to run fast. I may not get far but I think I am better running fast and walking (interval style) than just jogging along for ever (not that I can do that either).

The last thing to do this evening after the kids are in bed is to plan my next 6 weeks of resistance workouts. I will post more when I have finalised the plan.

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