Welcome to Week 25 of me publicly broadcasting my goal of getting down to 195 pounds every Friday until that goal is accomplished.
Quick History Of How I Got Here
2010 – Early 2015
- Used weight training to lose 80 pounds of fat and maintained a happy healthy weight around 205-210 pounds based on home/work lifestyle.
- 2015 goal to lose 15 pounds of fat that would equate to about 195 pounds (if no muscle loss)
- Challenged myself to get to 195 during 2015 Holiday Seasons (hardest time for me to lose weight)
First Six Weeks November – December 2015
Post Holiday/Winter Time Blues
Most Recent
- Countdown Week 22(click here)
- Countdown Week 23(click here)
- Countdown Week 24 (click here)
- Click Here To Check Out All The Previous Weeks
**DISCLAIMER**:
Michael could easily lose 10+ pounds of weight in a week just by going on a unhealthy super low carb diet or dehydrating himself of water. That’s not what this countdown is about! This is about fat loss not weight loss! There is a BIG difference between those two!
Truth be told, Michael doesn’t care how much he weighs. The real stat that matters to him is his waist. That’s the measurement that tells the real story about his health/fat loss. One of Michael’s other goals was to have a consistent 34.5” or smaller waist size. Since waist measurements aren’t as sexy as weight loss, he decided to focus on the scale for these countdown weeks, while looking at the waist as a secondary (but way more accurate) measurement.
WEEK 25: April 29 – May 5 2016
April 29th Stats
Scale Weight: 200.0 pounds
Waist: 33.8 inches
Week 25 Main Goals
- Drop scale weight from 200 to 198.5 pounds
- Maintain a waist size less than 34 inches
- 30-60 minute walks 2-4x a week
- Increase daily activity (especially during fasting period)
- Eat about 1776 calories a day on my off days
- For my fat loss/muscle maintenance goals that ideally breaks down to:
- 195 grams Protein
- 160 grams Carbohydrates
- 39 grams Fat
- Eat about 2556 calories a day on my off days
- For my fat loss/muscle maintenance goals that ideally breaks down to:
- 224 grams Protein
- 288 grams Carbohydrates
- 57 grams Fat
- For my fat loss/muscle maintenance goals that ideally breaks down to:
- For my fat loss/muscle maintenance goals that ideally breaks down to:
Observations & Challenges
Joint Pain
I highlighted last week, that I noticed that my left shoulder had been acting up. This past week I observed how the shoulder behaved during upper body workouts.
I attempted to do a light weight shoulder press and had no issues. On my chest day, I was able to do heavy bench presses with no pain. I proceeded to do incline bench presses, in which I had experienced pain in the previous week.
This week there was no pain while doing the incline benches. It wasn’t until I did some lying tricep extensions that I experienced pain. I also noticed pain when I did close grip pull-ups.
Both of those exercises require my shoulders to rotate slightly which causes the pain in the left clavicle/deltoid area. I will be taking those two exercises out and substituting with arm isolation exercises.
Once the left area heals and I gain mobility back, I will add more upper strength exercises back to my program.
Eating Out
I made a good step forward in becoming my old self again. While eating out, I was able to control my urge to just settle for a greasy calorie loaded entrée. I went with an old reliable Cobb salad for my dinner.
Even though I had performed weightlifting for that day, I went with a high protein/high fat meal instead of an ideal high protein/high carb meal.
When looking at the menu, the salad was easily the best choice for me to feel satisfied. Since I’m in fat los mode, my overall calories are what matters.
The salad fit my calories better than any other protein/carb combination on the menu. I even had the (super) rare beer to go along with my meal.
Food Journal
Here are my “Big Boy” food stats for the week:
End of Week 25 Stats: May 6th 2016
- Scale Weight: 198.4 lbs (1.6 lbs loss from previous week)
- Waist: 33.5 inches (0.3 inches loss from previous week)
Good week despite all the cookies on my higher carb days. The key is to be disciplined on my lower calorie days. To keep my body from fighting the change, I just have to keep pushing myself to stick to the calorie numbers. A healthy 195 is getting closer!
Upcoming Week 26 goals:
- Drop scale weight from 198.4 to 197.5 pounds
- Maintain a waist size less than 34 inches
- 30-60 minute walks 2-4x a week
- Decrease upper body activity for shoulder rehab
- Eat about 1676 calories a day on my off days
- For my fat loss/muscle maintenance goals that ideally breaks down to:
- 195 grams Protein
- 138 grams Carbohydrates
- 37 grams Fat
- Eat about 2556 calories a day on my off days
- For my fat loss/muscle maintenance goals that ideally breaks down to:
- 224 grams Protein
- 288 grams Carbohydrates
- 57 grams Fat
- For my fat loss/muscle maintenance goals that ideally breaks down to:
- For my fat loss/muscle maintenance goals that ideally breaks down to:
25 Weeks Down……3.5 Pounds to Go!
Will my shoulder pain take me off my game?
Will a walk down a grocery store aisle bring back The Cookie Monster?
I’ll be using the MicVinny Challenge to help me through the next couple of weeks.
Are you too scared to find out more about the MicVinny Challenge?
I hope to see you SIGN UP for the MicVinny Challenge, if not, tune in Next Week for the next segment of this countdown!
