Stalled

I feel like my workout schedule is an old gas lawnmower, and I keep pulling the cord, hopiong the engine will start up... but it only sputters. Sometimes I think it's going to work, and it even runs for a second or two. But it just blows out dirty, smelly puffs of choking black smoke, sputters and lays still once more.

I got sick last week. The only thing that would make me feel better was about a billion gallons of orange juice, and a whole lot of mint chocolate chip ice cream. Unfortunately that kinda screwed up my diet, and I couldn't very well go lifting while I was in bed sniffling. My momentum died. I haven't been to the gym in almost two weeks.

Now, since I haven't worked out in a while, I'm tired. And since I'm tired, I don't have the energy to go work out. DAMN these vicious circles!!! Damn them!

I must overcome.

C2.W2.D6
Current: 186 lbs, 14.5% BF

Okay, I haven't really been following the plan to the letter. My diet isn't strict BFL, but it's close, though I am taking waaaay too many free days... ;-)

The good news is that I overestimated my body fat percentage. It turns out I am currently about 14.5% BF, according to my nifty digital caliper. :-) At a current weight of -- checking the bathroom scale -- 186 pounds, that means I am lugging around about 27 pounds of fat on me, and I am 159 pounds of lean mass.

Okay, so to get down to 8 percent body fat, I have to lose 14 pounds of fat, thus bringing me to about 173 pounds. That is doable in 2 months. Or, I can gain a pound of muscle and lose 13 pounds, bringing me to about 174 pounds. Either way, I'll be at 8 percent BF and hopefully be able to see my abs. :-)

C2.W1.D1

Well, this is it. Challenge 2, Week 1, Day 1. For the third time. The reason I keep sputtering out is, up until now, I have had tons of other things to do. First study for the LSATs. Then write the law school essay. Then fill out the applications. Now, however, I find myself with a load of time when I come home from work. I plan to fill much of that time with getting back in shape.

It's not that I'm out of shape -- I can still run 3 or 4 miles without stopping to walk too much -- but I am not in as good a shape as I was during the height of my first Body for Life Challenge. Nor do I look as good. I am eager to get all of that back.

So today I begin. I went shopping last night for healthy food, and today I have had a protein drink, handful of grapes, and a turkey sandwich. Tonight I will do upper body, and probably take my Before picture. In a couple of days my digital caliper is coming, and I will be able to know exactly what my body fat percentage is.

I'm currently 187 pounds, and I'm guessing 17 percent body fat. My goal is to get down to 8 percent body fat. Assuming I gain 3 pounds of muscle, in order to have an 8% BF level I will have to weigh 172 pounds.

So in other words, my goals are:
1) Lose 18 pounds of fat
2) Gain 3 pounds of muscle

I think, if I achieve those two goals, that will mean everything else will have fallen into place.

Now, let's do the weekly breakdown:

Day 0: Jan 6 - 187 lbs, 17% body fat
Day 7: Jan 13 - 186
Day 14: Jan 20 - 184
Day 21: Jan 27 - 182
Day 28: Feb 3 - 180
Day 35: Feb 10 - 178
Day 42: Feb 17 - 176 lbs, 11% body fat
Day 49: Feb 24 - 175
Day 56: Mar 3 - 174
Day 62: Mar 10 - 173
Day 69: Mar 17 - 173
Day 77: Mar 24 - 172
Day 84: Mar 31 - 172 lbs, 8% body fat

(Those last few weeks are where the lost fat and gained muscle cancel each other out.)

Hmmm... If I could get down to 172 by the end of March, that would be really good. The thing is, I *know* this is very doable, as I lost even more weight last time. It just surprises me that March 31 is only 12 weeks from now, and I can actually make such a transformation in that time. Hmm....

OK, time to get back to work :-)