Still, the weight loss continues unabated. I'm thinning out at a frenetic pace. Folks, I don't want to play coy with you: I feel plenty weird in my new body these days. I can feel my bones. I can count my ribs as I lay in bed in the morning. I can see the muscle splits between my quadriceps and thigh biceps. I can see big veins and striation in my calf muscles. My face is almost gaunt.
Pants I used to wear 5 months ago are completely unwearable, in either private or public settings. They simply cannot be tightened enough to stay on me, and I look plenty stupid with my plants falling down. The size XL pants I purchased a mere month ago, are now beginning to look a little long and baggy. I can already wear a pair of my brothers large-sized Addidas training pants. That's not XXL or XL; just L.
I found an old pair of size 44 Levi jeans as I was cleaning out my closet. God only knows how old they are. They may well be 17-18 years old. They may date back to my last days at UCLA. These jeans are a bit loose and baggy; not outrageously so, but they are a bit loose. I am pretty sure I can fit into 42, maybe even a 40. If not now, then wait a couple of days. The 40s will fit.
Members of the family, have looked me over head to toe, and suggested that I should slow down. "You've pretty much made it", they say, "You shouldn't lose more than 10 pounds more. You are a big, broad-shouldered guy and you won't look right at a weight lower than 210 or 215." These comment echos sentiments expressed by Dr. Quilici's PA, who declared that I should disregard the BMI index, and cease weight loss efforts around 200 pounds.
With that said, I think my ideal weight is closer to 200 than 210. This begs the question: with all of my primary goals achieved, what is the next logical goal? How do I finish this? When will I finish this? How will I know when I am finished with this?
Strictly speaking, my general practitioner has set the goal. She believes the ideal body fat percentage for a man of 44-45 is 17%. Very few men of this age in the United States can meet this stiff criteria. I am told the lion's share are over 20% body fat.
What will it take to get to 17% body fat? There are two ways to answer that question. I expect to have 150 pounds of lean mass as of the next Bod Pod. 150 /0.83 = 181, roughly speaking. I am horrified by the look of that number. I do not want to weigh 181 pounds. I think most of the people who know me would be equally aghast seeing that number.
The other way to look at is this: My body fat percentage is just about 35% right now, and I have 82 pounds of fat on my frame. Cut the percentage in half and you are just about at the bulls eye. Of course, you achieve this by cutting the fat weight 42 pounds. When these numbers were provided by the Bod Pod, my weight was 229.37. 229.37 - 41 = 188.37.
The figure of 188.37 is only slightly less horrifying than the figure 181. The lowest I have ever been in my adult life is 192, and this was fresh-faced out of Army Basic and AIT. That was more than 22 years ago.
So what goal shall I set anyhow? One thing is for sure. I want to concentrate on gaining lean mass more than losing fat weight at this point. I certainly want to raise my lean mass over 160 pounds. Perhaps it can never reach 190 pounds again, but I want to see it at 170.
There is another possible goal which I am considering very seriously. My big goal was to reduce my body mass 30% and reach 70% of my original mass. How about 60% of my original body mass? 0.4 X 330 = 132 pounds. 0.6 X 330 = 198 pounds. This would place me a scant 6 pounds over my U.S. Army training weight. This would be pretty damn good for a man 44 years old.
Whether I set course for it or not, I am headed for 60% in rocket ship. as I write this my weight is flexing between 226 and 228. It's been volatile in the last several days. I have seen this volatility many times in the past 5 months, and it usually foreshadows a big drop. Said drop usually comes within a week's time.
I could drop 7 or 8 pounds by next Friday. It has happened before.
I am expecting the next Bod Pod test to show me at 221-222. I expect my lean mass to be at 150 pounds. I expect my fat mass to be at 72 pounds. I expect my body fat percentage to drop to 32.4%
There is no doubt that I am finishing this process. The next 15 pounds will be decisive. Once the next 15 pounds come off, and my weight reaches approximately 214 pounds, no reasonable member of western civilization will see me as a fat guy. They will see me as a fairly robust Mesomorph. That will be one hell of a change.
When I reach 215 pounds, I think I am going to visit a local night club rumored to be one hell of a meat market. I don't really intend to "hookup" as they say. Rather, I want to conduct an experiment. It will be interesting to see the reaction of female shoppers to the merchandise.
I'll make a prediction for you: The first aggressor will be a Scorpio, and it won't go well.
