The numbers: February 2010

This has been a short month, but I did make some good progress. Still not getting the muscle I hoped for, but it is what it is.

Here are the numbers for February 2010

Weight: 123.74 lbs
Fat %: 10.07%
Fat: 12.46 lbs
Lean Mass: 111.28 lbs
Weight change: -0.57 lbs
Fat % change: -0.92%
Fat change: -1.20 lbs
Lean Mass change: 0.63 lbs

So I lost 1.2 lbs of fat. I planned to lose 1 lb of fat per month, so it is pretty close. But then I also wanted to gain 1 lb of muscle, which did not happen. Unfortunately I could only gain 0.63 lbs. This does prove that losing fat and gaining muscle at the same time is not easy. Everything has to be just right. So far I am totally depending on my hunger signals to determine when to eat, which is usually every 3 to 4 hours. And each meal is a small 200 to 350 calorie meal with protein, carbs and fat, although the percentages are not optimal. Almost always have 6 meals, sometimes 5 meals, but never less than that.

I had lesser work pressure this month, so I was able to concentrate more on my food and exercise. But lately I have noticed that my fat loss is slowing down. May be I am reaching or have reached my natural body fat %. Which means to lower the fat anymore, either I will have to eat clean or add cardio or both. I will let one more week go by with my bad food habits and decide what to do.

I am in no hurry to go to 7% body fat. Want to take it slow and steady. Keeping the muscle is my first and foremost goal.

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Stats for Oct 2009

So it has been a month since I started bulking up. How am I doing so far? Here are the raw numbers Exercises Squats: 170 lbs, 8 reps Deadlifts: 185 lbs, 10 reps Bench Press: 110 lbs, 4 reps Pull ups: Body weight + 25 lbs, 7 reps Overhead Press: 75 lbs, 6 reps I am doing well in all exercises except bench press. The exercise that is already closest to my goal for end of december is my pull-ups. I can already do 7 reps with 25 lbs hanging off my waist! You can check out my previous post for the goals I have set. Body weight and fat Weight: 120.8 lbs Fat %: 12.2% I am able to add weight as expected. But my body fat % shot up too much. My goal for end of december was to weight 125 lbs at 12% body fat. But I am already over the limit for my body fat %. So I have to lower it and at the same time increase my weight. Very unlikely. I might have to revise my goals, but I will see how it goes and hope to make better predictions for my next bulking phase. It is not at all easy to ke...

The Story so far...

It is now 2 months into 2013 and wanted to give a little update on the fat %. Just like the weight gain phase that ended with me unable to add any more weight after touching 138 lbs, the fat cutting phase is similarly causing problems. I was able to lose a bit more fat since the end of 2012, but not by much. The 3 site Jackson/Pollock method puts me at 7.02% about 0.5% less than my previous best at the end of 2012. Even so, I feel like I am somewhere between 9-10% by looking myself in the mirror. And here are some pictures to prove it (sorry about the grainy pictures, they were taken in low light). Since I was stuck at 7.02% for a while now, I decided to start the bulking phase again. This time with a twist. I will try and keep my body fat to less than 10% and see how much weight I can gain and how long it is going to take. More updates towards the end of the year :).

For an ectomorph, illness is always followed by weight loss

As I mentioned in my last post, I got sick last weekend. I have allergies which means from time to time the runny nose and sneezing can take a toll on the immune system. The scenario gets even worse if an antihistamine is taken right after a heavy bout of exercise during a season of flu. The antihistamines suppress the immune system further, allowing viruses to attack the human body. This is the sequence of events that took place last week and is usually the sequence that leads to me getting sick often during flu seasons. Anyway long story short, I contracted this flu from a co-worker when I was at my weakest on Thursday evening last week. I did not feel too bad on Friday morning, but come nightfall I was totally exhausted and running a slight fever. Matters got even worse on Saturday. I was only fully recovered by Wednesday. However the damage is already done. I worked hard forcing myself to overeat a couple of weeks ago which gave me an impressive 1.4 lbs gain (body weight is 124.6...

Skinny to Strong

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