199.6?

As a preface to this blog entry, I just want you to know I am struggling with the new blogger text editor this morning. Evidently, they have changed everything... this morning. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. The little window for text editing wasn't particularly great. It wasn't exactly terrible either, though. Ah, I hate feeling lost!

So the score this morning was 199.6 pounds on the Tanita Scale. This means the freshly re-calibrated Bod Pod would place me at 199.131. There is now an estimated 0.469 pound difference between my scale and the Bod Pod. The Bod Pod continues to be lighter. 

This is a full week after the Bod Pod weighed me in at 196.731. This is an increase of 2.4 pounds in just one week. This was after a partial day of rest... If you call weigh lifting and 30 minutes of swimming a day of rest. My first reaction was simple "What happened?"

I've been a little lax about weighing in these past several mornings. Since moving the check mark to moderate risk, I seem to have relaxed a bit.. about weighing in, not about working out! If anything, I found ways to intensify the workout this week.

I'm hitting it much harder in the mornings these days, doing the Elliptical Cross Trainer every day. I am "rowing crew" on the Olympic rower at lunch. This is the briefest and most intense exercise form I can do at the neighborhood gym. It fits my lunch hour. I come home and squeeze out 50 more minutes. I started keeping a workout journal in Excel this week, and I burned the following numbers of calories during exercise this week.

• Saturday {bod pod day} 670, 49 min
• Sunday 1,175, 88 min
• Monday 1,451.60 kcal, 100 min
• Tuesday 1,052 kcal, 83 min
• Wednesday 995 kcal, 68 min
• Thursday:  814 kcal, 86 min
• {partial day of rest:  No aerobics.}

Now I did change my diet this week.  With a little information from a former boss, I decided to give raw food a go during this past week.  I am eating a lot of raw fruits, nuts, whole-grain crackers (like Triskets) , and cheese.  Protein drinks continue to be my staple, though.  The raw foods have done great things for my energy and for my digestion.

Although these are high-energy foods, and therefore somewhat dense in calories, I don't eat a lot of them.  I doubt I am getting many more calories than before.

So what gives with the weight gain?  There are the usual suspects:  water retention (due to sodium in the crackers), possible excess fecal matter in the intestines, etc.  However...

As I write this, I am not particularly panicked.  I am optimistic, and looking forward to the next Bod Pod.  There is a visible difference in my physique this week.  I have developed a considerable amount of definition in my arms, back and chest.  Rowing crew every day will do that to you.  My muscles feel hard.  I'm not particularly soft anymore.  There is some serious vascularity and striation showing in my arms and calves.  The swimming is having a remarkable effect on my core.

I have reason to believe my lean weight is rising.  The anabolism is being fueled by the nuts, fruit, grain and cheese.  These are all good growth foods.

Until proven otherwise, I believe this next Bod Pod is going to be something special.  I think my lean weight is going up.