Last month, my beautiful, funny, sweet, wonderful three-year-old son, Jack, died.
I have not had the heart to diet or exercise, much less blog, since then.
I may come back to it sometime, but for now, NJ4NY is closed.
Right now, my wife and other children need me.
Goodbye. Continue reading
Why Friday Matters. I weigh in on Saturday mornings. Thus, what I do on Friday nights can make a big difference in how things turn out. Since 2013 began, my average intake on Fridays has been much higher than during my halcyon days of last Fall:
| Calories: | Fat: | Net Carbs: | Protein: | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug – Nov 2012 | 1606.5 | 90.9 | 93.9 | 95.3 |
| Jan – Mar 2013 | 1884.4 | 92.9 | 154.4 | 94.4 |
| Difference | +277.9 | +1.9 | +60.6 | -0.9 |
This can be attributed to many things, including events, visitors coming into town, laziness, dates with Mrs. NJ, etc. Regardless of why, however, the fact remains that adding 17% more calories and, more importantly, 65% more net carbs, on Friday nights is really taking its toll.
I have, in effect, gone from having two Free Days each week to three. This is not good.
Fasting More. Another change I’ve noticed when comparing these two periods is that I was using extended fasting at least once most weeks last Fall but not this Spring.
| Dates | # of Weeks | Days <500 cal. |
|---|---|---|
| 8/15 – 11/28, 2012 | 15 wks | 13 |
| 1/1 – 2/20, 2013 | 7 wks | 0 |
The Fix. Simple enough:
I’ve already started: my intake from Monday night through yesterday — 45 hours total — was a mere 303 calories. I felt a bit hungry Wednesday afternoon but nothing that was too intense. In fact, it felt kinds nice to remind myself that I can exercise this sort of control if I choose to.
Depending on how things work out, I’ll do another extended fast this week, skipping either today or Friday. I haven’t decided yet but I will do one or the other.
Results. Weight? Up.
| Date | Weight | BF% | BF # | Lean # |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Δ from start | -25.8 | -4.4 | -16.7 | -9.1 |
| Δ from Last | +2.5 | +0.5 | +1.6 | +0.9 |
| Week 07-3: 130216 | 202.7 | 25.3 | 51.2 | 151.5 |
| Week 06-3: 130209 | 200.2 | 24.8 | 49.6 | 150.6 |
| Week 0: 110101 | 228.5 | 29.7 | 67.9 | 160.6 |
The only good thing to say is that my lean bodyweight was up about 40% of my total gain. Still . . . blech.
Passions weaken, but habits strengthen, with age, and it is the great task of youth to set the current of habit and to form the tastes which are most productive of happiness in life. ~ William Edward Hartpole Lecky (The Map of Life)
Exercise Summary. Once again, my planned three workouts became one already done and another planned for this evening. At least I got my first workout in on Tuesday, finishing Horizontal Pulls and Hanging Knee Raises and beginning 1/2 Handstand Push-ups. That’s good.
Today, I’ll start with Jackknife Pulls and Hanging Bent Leg Raises.
Plans for This Weekend. I went out last night with Mrs. NJ; we had really good pizza and saw Warm Bodies. I got zombies, she got romance; a good time was had by all.
This morning, I had a breakfast meeting at a pancake restaurant. As you might expect, I’m a fully tanked up for now. To help make up for all this indulgence, I’ll be fasting through tomorrow morning.
Saturday should be normal but Sunday we’re taking the kids to a hockey game. It should be a good time, filled with cotton candy, peanuts, nachos . . . you know . . . all the healthy stuff they serve at arenas. 
Plans for Next Week. No much. I have Monday off so that’ll be a dietary challenge, but, other than that, it should be a pretty standard week. At least it will make things easier to get in my initial workout on Monday which will, hopefully, mean that I am finally able to get in a 3-workout week.
Up and Up. As I mentioned yesterday, I’ve spent the last three months or so hanging out between 195-205 pounds. Since this is not where I want to be, I’ve gone back and reexamined what I was doing back late last Summer and into the Fall, when I spent about four months in the Promised Land of 185-192 pounds.
I predicted that I’d see that I (a) wasn’t working out during that period and that (b) was eating a much stricter low-carb diet. I was right about the carbs but wrong about the working out.
Results. Up a little this week. I’ve weighed 200 pounds, +/- 3 pounds, for about three months now (since mid-December). Bleh. I prefer holding steady at 187 +/- 3 pounds as I did last Fall.
| Date | Weight | BF% | BF # | Lean # |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Δ from start | -28.3 | -4.9 | -18.3 | -10.0 |
| Δ from Last | +1.7 | +0.4 | +1.2 | +0.5 |
| Week 06-3: 130209 | 200.2 | 24.8 | 49.6 | 150.6 |
| Week 05-3: 130202 | 198.5 | 24.4 | 48.4 | 150.1 |
| Week 0: 110101 | 228.5 | 29.7 | 67.9 | 160.6 |
My Mission this Week. I’m going to study my blog posts and my food and workout diaries to figure out what I need to do to relive those Golden Days of Yore (end of August through mid-November).
My guess is that I am going to find that:
Oh the angst of my first-world problems.
Cardio? Sometimes I’ll have someone ask me what I do for “cardio.” My answer? Nothing.* Here’s a great explanation why:
When is Cardio a Valid Tool for Fat Loss with IF? | RippedBody.jp
I don’t have a problem with cardio, just wasted time. For those that enjoy cardio then this is time well spent; everyone has their own preferences, live and let live. . . . [But most people are] doing cardio because they wish to lose fat.
Cardio, as a tool for fat loss cardio is over-rated, over-used, and overall a very poor time investment for the I.F. user. Most people that ask me questions about cardio understand this, however there is confusion as to at what point cardio becomes necessary to get leaner.
Go read it all. Good stuff.
