Project Ripped

It has been lovely having a week off. Not a week off living healthily, but a week off taking photographs, blogging and having to be more particular about fitting things in. It is just what I needed to give myself the mental gap between phase 1 and phase 2.

Phase 1 was all about losing as much fat as I could in 12 weeks. I have managed to lose nearly 2 stone in weight and 1/2 my body fat percentage in this time. So I couldn’t be happier. Phase 2 is all about getting my body fat even lower. I would like to get my body fat percentage in to the single digits (so 9% or lower) and would like to see some really good definition in my body. I don’t think I will be able to add any muscle during this period but I would like to keep what I have so I will need some sort of resistance training in this phase.

It may be worth training my abs a bit more this phase so that as my definition increases I may see my abs for the first time ever!!

This week I went a bit easier with the diet but didn’t spoil it. I still didn’t eat any junk food such as sweets, crisps or take outs but let myself have a few things such as pizza.

I didn’t exercise daily but I did cycle to work on Tuesday and Thursday. On Tuesday I set a personal best with a time of 33 minutes in and 32 minutes on the way home. There was  no wind which was good. On Thursday I set a time of 34 minutes in and 31 minutes on the way home. Last year the journey in was taking me 45 minutes so this is real progress. I guess the 10 mile trip in to work is nothing compared to the 44 mile off-road challenge I completed last Sunday. 

I am thinking about including HIIT for the first time during Phase 2 but no sure what form this will take yet. I will spend the first week feeling my way in to a new programme.

Phase 2 is due to end just before Xmas so after this phase I can give myself a little break and then, all being well and targets met, start the muscle building phase in the new year.

I need to start off mentioning that I am a bit sore today after the ride yesterday. My knees are sore and I have a few pains in the legs that I can’t identify. I had thought about going for a run but I think that any exercise is out of the question today. I went swimming with my oldest daughter but that is as far as it goes.

Twelve weeks ago I never imagined that I would still be going strong today. It is normal to start out with good intentions only for life to get in the way. This blog and the community of like-minded people trying to transform their physiques has kept me going.

So, what have I managed to achieve over 12 weeks. Here are the key statistics:

• I am 5′ 6.5″ tall
• Weight: 12 st. 1.5 lbs. (169.5 lbs.) - 23.5 lbs. loss in 12 weeks
  
• Body fat abdomen pinch reduction of 33mm (52mm down to 29mm)
• Body fat chest pinch reduction of 18mm (32mm down to 14mm)
• Body fat thigh pinch reduction of 28mm (42mm down to 14mm)
• Body fat reduction of 17% (35% down to 18%)
• Fat reduction (by calculation) of 37 lbs. (67lbs down to 30lbs)

I am really pleased with my progress and that I have managed to halve my body fat. I feel like a different person. My clothes are loose again and I love the feeling of a relatively flat stomach free of swelling. I still have a lot of fat, especially around my mid-section, but this will go too given time.

Let’s take a look at what has happened over the last 12 weeks.

My weight has reduced nearly every week. On average I have lost 2lbs of weight a week. I had heard that it isn’t good to lose more than that as it can be from lean muscle and not fat. Overall I managed to lose 23.5 lbs of weight (nearly 2 stone).

My initial body fat % was quite high at 34.9% and in 12 weeks I have managed to halve that amount down to 18%. At first I thought this reduction can’t be correct but measuring my skin fat pinches they have all reduced significantly so the fat must be going.

Thankfully I was losing fat and not lean muscle mass as I was calculating my lean body mass and for the first 10 weeks I managed to increase my lean muscle mass. At the end I started to level off and even lost a tiny amount at the end. This levelling could be down to doing more aerobic exercise and not so much resistance training during the end of the phase to prepare for my mountain bike challenge. In the 12 weeks I managed to put on 14 lbs of lean mass.

This leaves the fat - the one thing that must be lost in order to become ripped and regain health. So, how much fat did I lose. Even though I lost 23.5 lbs of weight the body fat percentage calculations tell me that I had lost even more than that of fat. Overall, I have lost 37lbs of fat.

I feel a lot healthier than I was 12 weeks ago but I am not yet free from ailment. I will write more about my health over the next week but for now I will say that there a lot of things improved and the absence of swelling around my abdomen has caused me to enjoy life a lot more.

Eating raw food has been a great revelation to me. Even though I don’t eat entirely raw food I have eaten a large enough proportion to know that I feel a lot better eating it than not. It definitely has a positive effect on my physique and my mind. With autumn and winter approaching I just hope I can keep eating a lot of raw food through the colder months.

My photos tell the full story of my transformation.

Looking at my progress from the side shows the true extent of my transformation over 12 weeks. Every part of my torso has reduced in swelling. I can understand the lower abdomen reducing but even my chest has seen a reduction in swelling. My neck and face have also changed as they have become leaner. I think that my posture looks much better now.

From the front I can now see a huge difference. The photos almost look as if they are a different size but they are not. Each part of my physique lines up exactly. My face is a lot leaner, my shoulders look more defined and athletic and my lower abdomen is clearly a lot less swollen now. I still have fat rolls around my waist but they are greatly reduced (4″ waist reduction around my navel).

At the back the thick fat coating seems to be gone. I didn’t realise just how much fat I must have been carrying on my upper back but I am so much leaner in that area now. The bulge around my waist, although still annoyingly there, has reduced significantly. The part that pleases me most though is that the creases that were in my back at the beginning, and for quite a few weeks after, have now faded to the extent that it virtually vanished on the right and not far from gone on the left. Seeing those ‘folds’ for the first time in Week 1 made me sick. I will never let that happen to me again!

What is next? I am going to have a week ‘off’ before I start my next phase. Phase 2 is going to take me from 18% body fat to a single figure body fat percentage. I will still exercise and eat clean over the next week but I need a little time now to recharge the blogging battery and establish my next set of goals and methods to take me there. What has happened so far has worked. It has been succesful at helping me lose fat and I haven’t been hungry either.

I need to remind myself that it is difficult to build muscle while losing fat. The best I can expect is to maintain my lean mass and that is what my resistance training is for. It is difficult to have a good resistance workout on a raw food/low energy diet.

Knowing this lets me be content with building muscle during Phase 3. Phase 3 will begin in January 2009 and, providing I have hit 9% body fat, I will increase my food intake and resistance training in order to build some muscle.

Thanks to all of the shredders for your support over the last 12 weeks. I have been reading most of your blogs on a regular basis and it has inspired me to carry on.

Today brings me to the end of my Phase 1 - my first 12 weeks of body and health transformation. What better way to round it up with a challenging mountain bike ride.

Here is the challenge:

• Ride from the northern most tip so the southern most tip of the Isle of Man
• Where possible take an off-road route
• Try to follow as close as possible the competition route (that is happening tomorrow)
• The course has no fewer than 8 significant climbs
• The weather has been bad and there is a lot of thick mud, deep puddles and waterlogged ground

I tried this last year and got 1/2 way in 4 hours. I was exhausted and it took me days to recover. The only difference this year is that I have done some cycling during the past 12 weeks and am probably about 2 stone lighter than I was last year.

I have included a video to show the route I followed. The video makes it look a lot easier than it actually felt. Some of those climbs are long and steep (and stoney!).

A higher quality video is available on youtube.

The first 10 or so miles are relatively flat until you hit Ballaugh. It is at that point any sense of flat stops and it is a roller coaster of climbs and descents for the remainder of the trip. The weather was a bit overcast and cold at the start. I arrived at the Point of Ayre just after 9:00 am ready for the off.

 (you can click on the pictures to see full size ones)

It took me about an hour to get to Ballaugh and then another two hours to cover the hills to get to St. John’s. It took me 4 hours to get there last year and it took me 3 hours and 8 minutes to get there today. Nicola and the kids met me there and I stopped off for 10 minutes to have some lunch and refill my water bottles. As I descended down towards St. John’s the sun came out and it stayed out for the rest of the day.

After St. John’s was new territory to me. I don’t think I have ever cycled past 3 hours, especially on a course as gruelling as this. The first obstacle was Slieu Whallian, a steep climb up the side of a tall hill. This climb felt like it was going on and on for ever. After that was a descent down through a plantation which was enjoyable to ride.

There were many climbs and descents to take me to the bottom of the island but the best was saved for last with a road section to take you to the very southern most point. This road is extremely steep and long and for the first time in a long time my thighs started to cramp as I tried to get to the top. I did get to the top and enjoyed the final descent down to The Sound. I arrived in 5 hours and 48 minutes and was delighted. I had done it. I had doubts in my mind as I hit each new climb but I persevered and made it to the end.

Nicola collected me in the car and we drove home for a shower, I was very muddy, and then a long soak in the bath. I think that I must have caught the sun as I was scrubbing my legs trying to get the mud off what looked like a tide line where my shorts had been. It wouldn’t come off and it turned out to be sun burn. I was tired but I still managed my final daily picture of Phase 1.

Finally, thank  you to all of those people that have sent me messages to with me good luck with the challenge. I wonder how I will do next year.

Today is Friday, the last day of the week during my first week back at school. It has been a good week, everything has gone as well as can be expected and my classes so far have, on the whole, been excellent.

I just can’t believe how tiring it has been. Tonight I feel the most awake I have been all week although there were a few minutes where I sat in the armchair when I got home and was on the verge of having a nap.

The weather forecast looks good for tomorrow and I shall take part in my own personal challenge - to ride the length of the Isle of Man on my mountain bike taking in the same hilly route as the End to End Challenge. I haven’t done a lot of technical preparation as I feel that the bike should be fine and I just need to ensure I have enough food and water to last me up to 6 hours. Nicola has arranged to meet me at approx. 1/2 way to check I have enough water for the last part of the trip.

I spent this evening checking my maps. I know most of the route but there were a couple of places where I have never ridden before and couldn’t find any route on the map. A quick check on Google Earth and I could see that there was a track worn into the landscape.

I need to try and get a full night’s sleep this evening as I have an early start. I would like to try and get going by 9:00 am but I will have to see how things pan out. As long as I am away for 10:00 am at the latest than I should get to the far side of the island by 4:00 pm.

I had planned to enter the End to End mountain bike challenge on this coming Sunday but, as I mentioned in an earlier post, the entries closed early due to overwhelming demand. Looking at how muddy the track is I think there will be quite a few no-entries on Sunday.

Providing the weather is suitable I am going to follow the route on Saturday. A reminder of this fact gave me the spark to get out for a cycle tonight. I followed my regular Sulby Bridge, Andreas, Leodest Road, Jurby route which is 15.5 miles and it took me 58 minutes. I could easily have fallen asleep at 6:30 pm but I managed to motivate myself enough to get up and get out. I needed this ride as a last opportunity preparation ride before Saturday. I want to rest tomorrow to preserve me legs for Saturday. I estimate it is going to take me about 6 hours of hilly and muddy riding.

Now that I am back from the cycle I am so glad I went. I feel more alive and I am glad to have taken my photographs and to start blogging again. I do wonder if I had managed to get out on my cycle on Tuesday could I have broken the negative pattern earlier.

I can’t believe that my start back to work has revolved around a really bad sleeping pattern. Work is going very well but I am struggling to get up in the mornings and am feeling exhausted in the evenings. If I remember back to the start of Phase 1, while I was still working before the summer break, sleep was a major factor in my well being and it seems to be becoming an issue again. 

My tiredness has prevented me from exercising and taking my daily photos for the last few days and I am starting to feel two things:

• I feel a little bad/guilty that I haven’t had my exercise. This is a probably good thing as I think my subconscious mind now requires exercise to feel normal.
• I also feel I am on the edge of not exercising again. The break of routine combined with the tiredness has given me the thoughts that “One more day of rest won’t do any harm”, knowing that one day turns into another, then another, and so on….

I had planned to cycle to work this week but, other than the first day, I haven’t been able to wake myself early enough to either do some early morning exercise or cycle to work. Instead I have taken my motorcycle.

No photograph again today but knowing how I feel I must break the bad routing tomorrow.

First day back at work with all of the children in. I have met my new tutor group for the first time and they all seem great. I just hope I am saying the same thing at the end of the term.

I didn’t sleep well last night after getting my sleeping out of sync and after getting home this evening I was exhausted and good for nothing.  I suppose that although I am feeling bad due to an overwhelming desire to go to sleep I am giving my knee injury a rest so it should repair fully by the time I run again.

Although I am disappointed to say it - no photos again today.

Being the first day back at work was a bit of a shock to the system. It was probably just a late night trying to get ready followed by an early morning but I was exhausted.

After getting home from work and having tea I fell asleep for several hours. I awoke really stiff and sore in the legs as if they were repairing themselves.

After all that the day was over - sorry, no picture today.

I awoke this morning to an upset stomach and so decided not to go for the bicycle ride. I thought I might get out later in the day but listening to my body decided to rest completely today and let me body recover.

I have lost a couple of pounds of weight over the last week and for the first time my body stats tell me that some of that weight loss is from lean body mass (just a tiny bit!!). There is not a lot of other change but for some strange reason my thigh is 0.5″ smaller than it was last week.

While all of the running and cycling has been good I need to get back to resistance training and abdominal training this week.

The side shot still shows the most progress.

You would think that these two photographs were a different size but they are not. After 11 weeks I really can see a big difference from the front now.

These two also look vastly different. I still have fat deposits around my waist but the rest of my back is so much leaner.

Looking at these photos with just a week left of Phase 1 makes me think that Phase 2 is going to be all about getting rid of those fatty deposits around my waist.

Today, day 77 of Phase 1, takes me to the end of my eleventh week out of twelve. To be honest, I didn’t think I would make it this far. Although twelve weeks doesn’t sound like a lot it is the best part of a quarter of a year. So I am pleased to still be entering daily logs of my progress.

I went for my run this afternoon as I want to make sure my legs get a little more rest before my cycle in the morning. With the railway track still being waterlogged I went for another circular road based run. The shortest circuit I could do was about 2.5 miles. My knee started to bother me more today than it has  the past. I looked it up and it looks like it is something called Iliotibial Band Syndrome. So it looks like I need to do a little stretching, rest, ice and anti-inflammatories. So no run for a few days then!

I have a cycle scheduled at 9:00 am in the morning. It seems a bit early for my last day off work so I will see if I am up in time. If I don’t make it for that ride I have a backup plan.