The Numbers: January 2010

I was so busy this month that I did not know when the month started and ended! Time just flew. As I mentioned in my previous blog this quarter I am trying to get rid of some of the fat that I gained during my bulking phase from October to December 2009. The goal was to lose 1 lb of fat while gaining 1 lb of muscle during the same time. Basically replace fat with muscle pound per pound.

Here are the raw numbers for the month of January

• Weight: 124.26 lbs
  
• Fat %: 10.99%
• Fat: 13.66 lbs
• Lean mass: 110.60 lbs
• Weight change: -1.34 lbs
• Fat % change: 1.51%
• Fat change: -2.04 lbs
  
• Muscle change: 0.7 lbs

The program did not go as planned. I lost 2 lbs of fat which is great! But on the flip side I was able to gain only 0.7 lbs of muscle instead of the planned 1 lb. The main reason is that I got very busy at work and could not give enough attention to my diet. I ate only when I felt hungry. However I did not miss a single workout during that very busy month.

I have to be more careful from next month. Eat a bit more yet be slightly below my daily calorific requirements so I can continue to lose fat.

Filed under: exercise, fat, lean mass, muscle, numbers, reps, stats, weigh

Before and After Pics: Sep 2009 – Dec 2009

Another transformation picture session. In three months I gained a lot of weight and a lot of fat too. Sorry the after picture isn’t clear.

Date: 26 September 2009 – Weight: 117.5 lbs – Fat: 10.34%

Date: 26 December 2009 – Weight: 126 lbs – Fat: 15%

I see some changes. Not a lot. I gained some fat that is very visible in the after shot and some muscle too. I can still see the ab definition ever so slightly. Overall I am not very satisfied with the amount of change I see in 3 months. I hoped I would have more muscle and look a lot bigger. Oh well I have to remember that I am an ectomorph and every little helps.

Filed under: before after pictures, fat, lean, muscle

The Graphs: December 2009

Here are the weight and fat graphs for December 2009.

Body Weight Graph

Since I reached my goal of 125 lbs for the end of december I tried to maintain the same weight while I tried to reduce the fat. So I started eating the right number of calories that I need. As can be seen from the graph I was maintaining my weight for a while but then it started dipping for no apparent reason. I increased my calories a bit and it stared going up quickly. It is quite hard to keep track of the exact amount of food to eat.

Body Fat % Graph

While I maintained the same weight I started to see an increase in body fat. I was not sure why that would be the case. Am I losing muscle so quickly? A small increase in weight causes the fat to shoot up quickly while a stable weight still increases it slowly. The only option left to loose fat is to loose weight? I don’t like the idea at all. I am also doubting the fat monitor. It tends read the fat changes a while after the weight has changed. So if I increase my weight today it will be a few days before I see the increase in fat. Same goes when I loose weight. I think it may have something to do with the way I store water in my body. Have to investigate.

Filed under: body fat, graph, muscle, muscle loss, weight

The Numbers: December 2009

Time for some numbers now that december 2009 has come to an end. Not just the month, but the year and decade as well have come to an end. In december again I have gained a lot of fat while I gained very little weight. The reason mainly is because I reduced the amount of calories to a more “maintain weight” level.

Body weight and fat gain for the month of December, 2009

• Weight: 126.00 lbs
  
• Fat %: 15.51%
  
• Lean mass: 106.46 lbs
  
• Weight gain: 1.46 lbs
  
• Fat % gain: 1.48%
  
• Lean mass gain: -0.61 lbs

It is indeed strange that I have lost muscle. Unfortunately since I am doing slow tempo reps I am using lower weights so I cannot be sure if I really lost muscle or it is just an error in the body fat analyzer. I have a theory that my body fat analyzer has a lag in noticing the fat% change. When I gain weight I usually don’t see a quick gain in fat. It comes after a few days of the weight increase. So I am assuming I will see the fat reduction will come a little later after the weight has remained constant for a while. Only time will tell.

Ever since I started using a slower tempo I am unable to lift a lot of weight for the same number of reps that I used to do. Here are the latest numbers.

Exercises

• Squats: 150 lbs, 9 reps
• Deadlift: 185 lbs, 8 reps
• Bench Press: 100 lbs, 7 reps
• Pull-ups: 120 lbs, 9 reps
  
• Overhead Press: 70 lbs, 6 reps
  

All the weights have gone down, but I am getting a better pump. I would like to continue this on for a few more weeks and then I will switch to strength training. That is it for this post. Not a lot of improvements but I am closer to my target than when I started three months ago.

Filed under: exercise, fat, lean mass, muscle, numbers, reps, stats, weight

The Graphs: November 2009

Here are the weight and fat graphs for November 2009.

Body Weight Chart

For the first few days the weight gain was slow, but after a couple of weeks the weight went down. Clear indication that I was not getting enough calories. That was when I increased my calories from 1800 to 2000. See my previous post for more details about it. As soon as I increased the calories I saw a sudden and quick weight increase for a couple of weeks and then it started dipping. I am not sure of the reason, but it could be because I was over training. I rested for the first week of december so that should give enough time for my body to recover.

Body Fat % Chart

The flip side of gaining weight is the fat. I have been constantly gaining fat. Even during the time when I could not gain any weight I was still getting fat. Perhaps over training, muscle loss and calorie deficiencies could be the reason. I have to take better care of my body. We will see how december goes.

Filed under: body fat, graph, muscle, muscle loss, weight

Before and After Pictures – Sep 2009

Here is the transformation from February 2009 to September 2009. This is after I bulked up from March to end of May and then leaned from June to end of September.

February 2009

September 2009

There are some changes that you can notice. During that period I could only gain 0.4 lb of muscle, but lost 3 lbs of fat. Since I took the second photo at my lowest body fat percentage of 10%, you can see very light ab definition in there. Very exciting! But now that I am bulking again the ab definition is slowly disappearing.

Filed under: before after pictures, fat, lean, muscle

Graphs for Oct 2009

For the sake of posterity, here are the weight and fat graphs from last month

Body Weight Chart

Body Fat Chart

The graphs start from my lowest weight and fat points which was on September 23, 2009. I was about 117.3 lbs at 10.2% body fat at the time. I started eating more calories from there on and now after 5 weeks I am 120.8 lbs at 12.2% body fat. After about 2 weeks of eating a lot I started seeing that my body fat % was moving faster than my weight gradient. So I decided to cut back a little bit, but then I lost weight (and fat) quickly. And then again I increased my calories.

Here are the gains I have made last month:

• Body weight gain: 3.5 lbs
• Body fat% gain: 2%
• Body fat gain: 2.8 lbs
• Muscle mass gain: 0.7 lb

I fell very short at my muscle gain, adding just 0.7 lb of muscle while putting on a lot of weight.

Filed under: body fat, graph, muscle, weight