The Fat Loss Times

Fat Loss Tip. Sprint 8 Program

I found this little nugget on the Sprint 8 program in Roger Ma's The Armchair Athlete Blog.

The gist of the program is sprint intervals of 30 seconds of all out effort with 90 seconds to recover. You would do this for 20 minutes.

I have always wanted to try sprint intervals but I have never had the guts. I have always been afraid that I would either get hurt or I was just afraid of putting out that effort.

Thirty seconds of all out sprinting would be mind blowingly painful. But, that's probably why I need to do it.

More info on the Sprint 8 program can be found here.

Fat Loss Tip: Eat Your Breakfast

Through the powers of Technorati I stumbled across this great Blog by two dude's named Doug And Dave. It's called The Crisper. When you go there you will understand why it is called the crisper.

In this post Dave "rants" about the power of breakfast. I can't agree more. If I start out with a good breakfast, I am much less likely to hit the vending machines at work. I know I am much less likely to eat everything in a 10 mile radius if I have a "good" breakfast like lean hamburger and eggs. Just keep in mind that pop tarts and donuts do not qualify as a good breakfast. Stuffing yourself at the Golden Corral breakfast buffet doesn't qualify either.

Check out The Crisper.

Fat Loss Log for 5/18/06

Yesterday wasn't a good day at all. Here are the details.

• I already admitted about my 780 calorie breakfast burrito.
• I had one protein shake
• 1 had Turkey Pastrami and Cheese rollups
• Big bowl of Raisin Bran
• 2 pints of hoods low carb milk
• A few Lime Flavored Tortilla Chips

Here is where I got into trouble.

• My wrist was killing me doing overhead squats. I bailed on them and did heavy push presses instead.
• I then hit the treadmill. My ipod decided to do its own thing and skip to the next song in the middle of a song. After 10 minutes of this I got pissed off and said "fuck it, it ain't my night" and went home.

Today's plan is to repeat yesterdays workout plans.

• Overhead squats. This time I will warm up better.
• Push Presses.
• Dumbbell Bench
• Dumbbell Rows
• 30 minutes of cardio.

My diet will be as clean as possible today. It may be 3 shakes and a can of tuna. My diet this weekend will be an Atkins style diet. Sausage, eggs, hamburger, cheese, fish, ect. I hope I can make it through this weekend unscathed.

I'm going to try to list some positives about yesterday.

• I went to the gym last night even when I didn't want too. At least I got something in.
• I learned how bad that awesome burrito is diet wise. I really need to stay away from all that stuff even when I can consider it a "free" meal.

I'm still having a productive week. I have to keep reminding myself that. I must stay positive through out this process. I just got to keep grinding.

Fat Loss Enemy...... My Breakfast Burrito

I looked up the nutritional information on my breakfast burrito from Hardees today and all I have to say is DAMN.............

• It was 780 Calories
• It had over 50 grams of fat
• 40 grams of Protein
• 30 Grams of Carbs

I think I won't do a higher carb day today. That burrito was just brutal.

Delicious but brutal.

Fat Loss Diet Log for 5/17/06

Yesterday ended up being a complete wreck goal wise. Here's the lowdown.......

• I came up short protein wise. I probably had more then I thought but I know I didn't hit the 170 gram mark I shoot for. Breakfast was eggbeaters and hood milk, lunch was a protein shake that had 50 grams of protein. Then when I got home I had Turkey Pastrami and Munster cheese roll ups (very tasty). I was going to have one of my free meals last night as outlined in Rapid Fat Loss Handbook but I went with a steak a blue cheese salad. So I still have a free meal in the bank. My carbs were low yesterday so I didn't veer off the track that much. I did get in my water.
• I didn't make it to the gym last night. I went out and had fun instead. Well, as much fun as I can have right now. Sometimes I am like a rabid dog that just needs to be put down. I am such a moody fucker right now but I'm slowly working through it. Slowly is the key word. People who put up with me on a day to day basis need a medal. I'm not sweating the gym though. Yesterday would just been a bonus. As long as I lift tonight and hit the treadmill tomorrow then everything is good. I still have some soreness from Monday's workout but its nothing crippling. Tonight will be Overhead squats, Push Presses, A row of some type and a bench press of some type. Probably stay around the same weight as Monday and on the last set see how many I can do and reevaluate for Sunday.

Today I will lift weights and walk on the treadmill for 30 minutes. I'm shooting to have a higher carb day today as well. My weight is coming off too well so I want to hit the breaks for a day. I'm not going to pig out on burgers and pizza. That's not the plan. I have already had my worst meal of the day this morning (Breakfast Burrito from Hardee's) so my next meals will look something like 2 protein shakes, tuna, and a big bowl of shredded wheat. That should be good for my hormonal system.

I did weigh myself this morning. I said I wouldn't but I can't help myself. I was 254.8. That's an even 5 pounds since Monday morning.

Overall, yesterday could have been better but it was decent. I have to be careful today because I can easily fall off the cliff and destroy any progress that I have made in the past few days. We shall see what happens.

Fat Loss Log for 5/16/06

I had another good day yesterday. I am starting to build some momentum which I desperately need. So here are the details....

• Eggbeaters with salsa and pint of hood low carb milk
• Protein shake. 50 grams of protein worth
• Few slices of turkey pastrami
• Grilled Jerk Chicken breast and 1/2 pound of steamed shrimp.
• Protein Shake. 50 grams of protein.
• Drank well over a gallon of water

I went to the gym and did the hill program on the treadmill for 45 minutes. I start at a level 5 and work it up to a level 10. It was moderately difficult but not a killer.

I almost bailed on going to the gym last night but I became focused on me walking off the plane in Las Vegas @ 19 percent body fat. I have visualized that during the past 2 workouts and it has help tremendously. I am making an effort to use positive visualization as a tool in my fitness plan.

I am pretty sore from lifting Monday. I plan on lifting again tomorrow so I hope it goes away some. I'm really glad that I went light to start off with because I probably would have trouble walking today. However, I am not sore enough to not go to the gym tonight. I think I'll do intervals on the elliptical tonight. I will start off easy and do 3 rounds. That should only take about 20 minutes so I will walk on the treadmill for another 20. Maybe I will row? It really doesn't matter as long as I get in my 30 minutes of exercise.

What went wrong yesterday? The only thing that I can think of is that I missed my fish oil caps in the morning.

What went right? I ate more real food yesterday. I hope to keep that up.

Overall a damn good day. I will take 12 more in a row just like it.

Fantastic blog post on the importance of protein.

I found this post on the importance of protein while scrolling through the blog roll on Billy's Beer Belly Blog.

Check out Weight of the Evidence.

Is the overhead squat the perfect fat loss exercise?

The main weight lifting exercise in my fat loss program right now is the overhead squat.

Here is a decent picture of the exercise. Basically you pick up a weight with a wide grip, put it over your head, and squat down to the ground and come back up.

Sound easy? Well it's not.

Here is an article on the overhead squats by Dan John. He states that the overhead squat makes you one piece, it makes you an animal. I always liked that quote.

I think it may be the perfect fat loss exercise because it is difficult to build up to a heavy enough volume to cause over training while on a fat loss diet. You literally uses hundreds less pounds on this exercise then you do on the regular back squat. However, don't be fooled by the light weight. This exercises as Dan John says, "builds Dad strength".

My goal on this Fat Loss cycle is to work up to 3 sets of 15 on the overhead squat and slowly add weight. If I can do this then I hope that I can really burn off a ton of fat.

Look over Dan John's site. There is a lot of cool stuff on there.

Fat Loss Workout Log 5/15/06

I had my first good workout yesterday in over a month. Here are the lurid details....

• Overhead Squats. 45x8, 65x8, 65x8
• Standing presses 65x8, 65x8, 65x8
• Seated Cable rows. 90X8, 90x8, 90x8
• Treadmill set on hills for 30 minutes. I perceived the exertion as 6 out of scale of 1-10. It was uncomfortable at times but not difficult. I'm not a big believer in heart rate training. I walked of course.

Overall, the workout was brief and not very difficult. That was what I was shooting for because I don't want to burn myself out the first day. I have a habit of using way to much volume early in the training cycle and frying myself in the process. I chose overhead squats because they are difficult and you cant use much weight. My calories from my Fat Loss Diet will be much too low to have alot of volume over the next 2 weeks.

I love the overhead squat. I will post more on that later.

I plan to do 45 minutes on the treadmill today. If the weather stays nice I may try to do something outside too. Maybe some 50 yard sprints? I will have to think about how much training volume I can stand. Too much, too soon is a recipe for disaster.

I am pleased with yesterday. Let's hope I can build on this trend.

Fat Loss Diet Log 5/15/06

Today was a good first day on this 2 week fat loss micro cycle.

• I got in a little over 170 grams of protein. The only bad thing is that the majority of them came from protein shakes. I need to eat more solid food tomorrow.
• I drank well over gallon of water today.
• I avoided all fat food.
• My carbs were really low today. I would guess that I had less then 50 grams of carbs.
• I have taken all my vitamins, fish oil, and fiber.
• I went to the gym tonight and I did a light weight workout. I will post the details of my workout tomorrow.

Things to improve tommorrow

• Eat more whole food. Don't depend on protein shakes as much.

Overall, it was a great day. I will take 13 more just like today.