Bod Pod XIV: Dreadful

So the results of Bod Pod XIV are in and they are dreadful.  Why are they dreadful?  Because I lost more lean weight than fat weight over the past three weeks, that's why.  I can't view that as anything other than a terrible results.  Without further ado, here is the summary grid showing my key changes over the past 21 days.

	10/28/2011	11/18/2011	Diff
BFP	22.8	21.5	-1.3
Fat Weight	44.56	40.18	-4.38
Lean Weight	151.14	146.718	-4.422
Total Weight	195.7	186.898	-8.802
Volume	84.781	80.731	-4.05

Just to summarize that in English, here are the bullet points.

1. My body fat percentage decreased 1.3%, which is good, but my BFP remains at 21.5% which is not healthy.  I am still more than 1.5% away from moving the check-box, and I remain 4.5% away from the ultimate goal. 
2. My fat weight reduced 4.38 pounds, which is a paltry average of 0.2 pounds per day.
3. My lean weight diminished 4.422 pounds, which constitutes a larger average of 0.211 pounds per day.
4. My total weight decreased 8.802 pounds, but most of it was bad loss.
5. My body volume decreased 4.05 liters from 84.781 liters to 80.731 liters.

Naturally, anytime you are losing lean faster than fat, you are clearly doing something wrong.  Now, I have been dealing with a shoulder injury that has kept me out of the CrossFit gym for the past 7 days.  This does not mean I have ceased my workouts.  I have continued with the ROM and the Kettlebells, and a few aerobic workouts.

I am hard-pressed to explain how my lean weight could have diminished this way at time when Kettlebell & ROM overload should be providing the stimulus necessary to make Trifecta do it's thing.  Understand I am also under the influence of a pro-hormone stack.  I should be building lean right now.

Perhaps, I am just not eating enough.  Perhaps the solution is more food, not less.

The only really positive note in this report is that my total body volume has reduced to 80.731 liters.  When I began testing in May, my body volume was 117.111 liters.  This means my volume has decreased some 36.38 liters.  That is equal to 9.61 gallons of loss.  Think of nine and a half big milk bottles coming out from under my skin and vanishing.  That's pretty impressive.

185.0 exactly, with Bod Pod XIV on the horizon

So the score this morning was 185.0 English pounds on the Tanita bathroom scale.  Tomorrow is the big day of Bod Pod XIV.  I am anticipating a weigh-in of 184.15 on the Bod Pod due to the inaccuracies & short comings of the Tanita.  The Bod Pod is always lighter.

Three weeks ago, the Bod Pod placed me at 195.7.  If everything goes as expected, I will have lost some 11.55 pounds of gross body weight since that time.  That constitutes an astounding 3.85 pounds of loss per week over the course of the past three weeks.  I thought the hay-days of 3.5 pound fat weight losses were gone forever.  This was just a phenomenon of one good summer, never to be replicated again.  

Nope!  Everything old is new again.  I credit CrossFit, and more importantly, the Kettlebells for getting the cannon balls rolling again.  This new training method is truly astounding.  I just wish I wasn't a pile of training injuries because of it.

We have yet to see how all of these facts and figures plays out in the fat/lean ratio, but hopefully, there will be a big improvement.

This could be the week where the check-box moves to the "Healthy" zone.  I just might be under 20% body fat this time.  Frankly, I should be.  Last time around, I tallied over 151 pounds of lean mass.  If I have simply maintained that much muscle, I should have only 33.15 pounds of fat left on my frame.  33.15 / 184.15 = 18.0016%.  18 < 20, and that moves the check-box to the healthy zone.

186.9...?

Just a few moments ago, the score was 187.0 English pounds on the Tanita scale.  The scary thing is that it flickered back and forth between 186.8 and 187.0 half a dozen times before rounding up, as it always does.  Never have I seen the Tanita round down; it's always up.  My scale will only display read-outs in increments of 0.2 pounds, which is sufficient accuracy for a simple bathroom scale.  Presume I am stuck in the middle at 186.9.

Naturally, this means my weight would be lower on the Bod Pod scale; perhaps even lower than 186.0.

I must say, comrade Kettlebellers, that this is pretty scary stuff.  I have never been this low in my entire adult life.  I am looking downright skinny now.  Were it not for the presence of an abundance of lose skin, I would be skinny-skinny.

This continued precipitous drop is puzzling in the face of some basic input/output analysis.

1. Do you know that I had not one but two Macho Bacon and Egg Burritos yesterday?  According to some rumors that would 2,060 kcal right there.
2. Further I had two chocolate milk protein drinks, fortified with whey & mega-3 fatty acids.
3. Further, I enjoyed the hell out of a sizable helping of nachos, with all the fixings: steak, chicken, black beans, salsa, guacamole, sour cream, cheese.
4. At approximately 151.14 pounds of lean weight, my RMR/BMR is probably right around 1,860.
5. Aaron and I did a back & biceps workout at approximately 10:00am yesterday morning.  I returned to the apartment afterward and crashed (I slept) on the couch until 2:00pm.
6. I vegged out on the couch, watching college football, until the end of the Oregon vs. Stanford game.  [What an upset!]  
7. At that time, I proceeded back out to 24 Hour Fitness where I performed a pretty damn decent aerobics work out: 12 minutes of elliptical (232 kcal), 12 minutes of Olympic rower (152 kcal), 12 minutes of treadmill (142 kcal), and 12 minutes of bike (161 kcal).  In total, this was 48 minutes of work for 687 kcal of energy.

We have only a rough approximation of my BMR/RMR.  We have only a rough approximation of my food-intake.  We have only a loose idea how much energy I expended in exercise.  Still, you would be hard-pressed to argue that those figures balance.  You would suppose I ate more than I burned.  The scale says figures don't balance.  Obviously, I lost weight.  I was in negative figures yesterday

Why such remarkable weight loss?  I have an idea about that.  Yesterday, it occurred to me that the recent cold-snap here in Los Angeles may be factoring into the equation.  In the past two weeks, the Winter has come, to the extent that winter ever arrives in Los Angeles.  We have seen dark overcast skies, lots of rain, some wind, and plenty of 50 degree weather.   That's about as cold as it gets here in la-la land.  The RKC comrades would not be impressed by these temperatures, though.

During this time, I haven't changed my wardrobe that much at all.  I have taken to wearing an Under Armour shirt under my football jerseys, but I am still wearing shorts and a jersey these days.  Yeah, it's a little chilly without my fat-layer to protect me, but I have not caved in.  After the U.S. Army performed unethical human medical experiments on me Germany back in 1990, I swore I would never say it was cold in California again.  Quite frankly, it isn't.

The kiss of this chilly weather may be the explanation for my recent weight loss.  Thermo-energetics are terribly important in biology. They are more important in weight loss than most people would ever admit.   The kcal is just a measure of heat energy, by the way.

Ordinarily, I do lose weight in Winter time.  I know many people are the opposite:  they put on weight during winter.  Not me, I usually lose a few pounds.  Prior to gastric bypass, I was like a bear.  I would fatten up in summer, and lose fat during the winter.

I think half of this long-term pattern continues right up until this moment.  If so, I am pretty excited.  The cold weather--such as it is--should help me to make my ultimate body fat goals a reality.

187.2 and the week without a Bod Pod

The score a few moments ago was 187.2 English pounds on the Tanita scale.  The digital read-out wavered between 187.0 and 187.2 several times before rounding up, as it always does.  Let's presume that I am 187.1, and the 2/10ths digital display simply cannot indicate that fact.

The Bod Pod would place me somewhere 186.2-186.25 this morning.  That is without any special prep.  I did not do an extensive areobic workout last night.  I did not do 30 minutes in the saunas at 24 Hour Fitness.  I did not purge my intestines with Magnesium Citrate.   An official prep for the Bod Pod would put me lower this morning.

I mention all this, because this is the end of another two week Bod Pod cycle, and I have officially missed the test.  It was a tough week of finishing Jury Duty and trying to catch up at work after 8 days out of the office.  I never found a spare moment between 9:00am and 5:00pm to call the California Health and Longevity Institute to make an appointment.

I mention all of this because two weeks ago, my body weight was 195.7 pounds on the Bod Pod scale. The indication is that I have lost some 9.45 pounds in the past two weeks.  This is shocking.  When last I blogged on this subject, we were speaking of the point of inflection.  We were speaking of that moment when my body weight would cease decreasing, and begin increasing... hopefully with lean-mass only.  Low-and-behold:  we have a massive 9.45 pound decrease in gross body weight at the end of this cycle.

God only knows what this did to my Body Fat Percentage (BFP).  I wish I knew.  I bitterly regret not having a test this week.  It might have been a dandy. Presuming that this was all fat weight, my body fat would have dropped from 44.56 pounds to 35.11 pounds.  35.11 / 186.25 = 18.85%.  This is astounding.  I might actually have moved the check-box to Healthy territory, and I might be just 1.85% away from my final and ultimate medical goal.

This is all the more shocking because I have largely abandoned the aerobics machines that have brought be most of the distance.  I only walked on the tread mill once last week.  I only got on the bike twice last week.  I only got on the Elliptical Cross-Trainer once last week.  I only did the Olympic Rowing Machine twice last week.

To make matters more interesting, I did ZERO CrossFit workouts last week.  Now why the limited amount of work?  Because I encountered a substantial training injury to my right shoulder doing head-stand push-ups last Saturday at the CrossFit gym.

I did train last week.  I did a dumbbell workout with Aaron on Thursday, and I did a killer WOD routine here at the apartment with my ROM machine and some Kettlebells that I have recently purchased.  Those were brutal workouts.  My heart rate went over 170 during the Kettlebell swing, I am sure.

I am going to add one more piece of complexity to the picture for you:  I have fallen in love with the Del Taco Macho Bacon and Egg Burrito all over again.  According to one source, this burrito contains approximately 1,030 kcal per shot.  That's a load of kcal energy, buddy.

Yet at the same time all of this has been going on, I know my strength has been increasing.  I am officially swinging, cleaning, and rowing the 20 KG kettlebell, doing orbits with 16 kg, and doing the Turkish Get Up with the 8 KG bell.

The Kettlebell has become my new obsession, and a powerful one at that.  If you were to read Enter the Kettlebell! by Pavel Tsatsouline (an August 23, 1969 Virgo guy from Russia) you will find that a simple regime consisting of 5 minutes of Kettlebell Swings and 5 minutes of Turkish Get Ups done once every other day is all he recommends for a beginner.  Don't count reps, go for 5 solid minutes with good form.  He claims that is enough to get your strength moving northward and your body fat moving southward.

Evidently, the Kettlebell Swing and the TGU are the two master exercises in the Kettlebell regime.  They are just as important in Kettlebell training as the Deadlift and Squat are in the Powerlifter's regime.  These are the two exercises a Kettlebell student must master and perform all the time.

Further, this two exercise regime will trigger plenty of fat loss without "the dishonor" of aerobic exercise.  Pavel is very derisive of those metro-sexual machines.  Men should be playing with cannonballs, not girly bikes and treadmills.  The comrade-ladies should also be using Kettlebells to meet their fitness needs.

It sounds preposterous, I know.  That just can't be enough work to get the job done.  However, in this week of recovery from injury, I seem to have inadvertently proven his point.  Now, I did more than that.  There were other Kettlebell exercises.  Further, there was the good 'ole ROM machine.  However, the Kettlebells in my living room were the big, big, big change item.
I am in love with Kettlebells!

189.4 and I feel cold

So it's a bit late for this sort of entry, but the score this morning was 189.4.  It would seem that I am now officially below the 190 point, and it looks like this is gonna stick.  If it does, this will constitute the lowest fixed weight of my adult life.

CrossFit is having an impact.  I nailed a CrossFit workout on 6 of the 7 days of this past week.  I kicked it off with the Dark Horse CrossFit group on Sunday hit four in a row on Wednesday.

On Thursday, recovery from Diarrhea and my evening attempt to get out of jury duty caused me to miss both the 4:30pm and 5:30pm classes.  I did an old-fashioned bike/elliptical workout for 45 minutes, netting 617 kcal, so Thursday was not a day of rest.

I went straight back to work on Friday 5:30pm, nailing my best workout of the week.  I was back in the gym 14 hours later for the 9:30am class this morning.  Unfortunately, today's workout was the worst of the week.  My own personal jump rope snapped on the first exercise of the "Buy-In" phase.  This was an ill-omen.  In the workout phase, we attempted to perform hand-stand push-ups.  This advanced calisthenic was categorically out of the question.  It killed my right shoulder.  I might need Dr. Bachner to O-Scope my shoulder before I can do a workout like that.

Easy come, easy go.  You win some and you lose some.  This morning's travesty was one bad workout among many good ones.

The upshot is complicated:

1. I am working out a lot less than in past months.  The clock-time of the WOD seldom exceeds 20 minutes, and is often less.
2. The intensity of that workout is vastly higher than in past months.  A typical WOD is more intense than even a full-cycle ROM workout.  If you work hard at it, you will be out of gas by the end of those 20 minutes.
3. I spend a lot more time in recovery than working out.  I need to spend time cooling off, stretching, warming up, on the roller, in a hot shower, in the sauna, getting a foot massage, etc.
4. I was forced to begin a second cycle of LG Sciences Trifecta stack.  This is a prohormone stack that is the next best thing to illegal steroids.  It should be noted that Trifecta is totally legal and over-the-counter at your local Vitamin Shoppe.  It works almost as well as Dianabol, according to some experts I know.  Pink Magic wasn't cutting the mustard.  It just wasn't possible to recover between workouts, and sustain the intensity of CrossFit without Trifecta.  I really appreciate what Trifecta did for me last summer now.
5. Even with Trifecta, the aches and pains are rife.  No pain no gain.  Usually, where there is pain, there is gain.  I must be doing something right.  I am absolutely improving in all of the different exercises, especially the 200 meter and 400 meter sprints.
6. The girlies are checking me out in the CrossFit gym.  I caught two of them examining me as I was doing pull-ups the other day.  Pull-ups really show my wing-span.  Both of these girls looked away with a degree of embarrassing when I caught them. There were big glowing smiles on their faces prior to that moment.
7. This morning, the ambient air temperature here in Woodland Hills/Canoga Park was around 50 degrees.  I felt the cold very sharply.  In fact, I felt it all night long.  I now lack the insulating fat layer that used to protect me from such mild cold weather.  This reminds me of my time in Europe, immediately after Army Basic and AIT.  After dropping to 192 pounds, I found myself in Mannheim West Germany (when there was a West Germany) right around the time when the weather began turning cold.  That first winter in Germany almost killed me.  You take a California kid, strip him of his protective fat layer, station him in the snow, and I guarantee you he will freeze.  

I hesitate to even mention this, but the guys at work decided to roll out the Halloween video from 2010, and they were showing it yesterday.  The court room was dark this Friday, so I was back at work for a single day.  This video captured me in all my glory at 330 pounds.  That was more than 140 pounds ago.

A certain Pisces dude named Eric (3/12/1981) decided to show me the video on his iPhone.  Just as many have commented, he said I am now unrecognizable.  Although I have known Eric for some four years now, he mentioned that it is hard to believe I was ever that large.

Looking at the video sent cold chills down my spine, and made my hair stand on end.  How did I ever live and survive at that weight?  I don't know how I was able to move around at all and carry that weight on my bad knee.  No wonder I can run now.

Someday, after taking some high def video of me performing a CrossFit WOD, I may put that Halloween video up for display here.  I'll put it side-by-side with the CrossFit video so you can get a before and after look.  You will find it shocking, I am sure.

189.8 Revisited

For the record, my weight this morning was 189.8 pounds on the Tanita scale.  Naturally, it would be lower on the Bod Pod.  May hap even 188.9.  I am not particularly concerned about this for... errr... embarrassing reasons.

Sometimes I forget I am a gastric bypass patient and I mistake myself for Superman.  Such was the case last night.  I had some movie popcorn and some Crunchabunchas together.  This was a bad mistake.  It resulted in a horrendous case of diarrhea.  This forced me out of bed in the middle of the night twice.  Fortunately, it was over and done by the time court resumed this morning.  I am stuck on jury duty, incidentally.

The moral of the story is that I still have relatively sensitive digestion, and I need to be very careful when combining junk foods in odd ways.  The sharp reduction under 190, is probably a temporary phenomenon due to the fact that I was fairly dehydrated this morning.  People dehydrate sharply due to diarrhea.  In some parts of the world, they even die due to dehydration and electrolyte imbalances.  It happens.

I won't speculate about Bod Pod XIV based on these temporary findings.

191.6

So the score a few moments ago was 191.6 English pounds on the Tanita scale.  This would probably put me somewhere around 190.7X on the Bod Pod this morning.

Jury Duty continues to disrupt my workout schedule and my diet.  I have had no noon-time workouts during the past 5 work days.  I won't get one in today either.  Worse still, I had Burger King for lunch yesterday.  It was among the worst meals I ever ate.  It made my stomach hurt, and I haven't had that kind of discomfort in several months now.

The good news is that I have hit 3 consecutive days of CrossFit workouts, starting last Sunday.  The Halloween workout was particularly brutal.  Coach figured only the most hardcore yahoos would show up for a CrossFit workout instead of going to a Halloween party.  He naturally tried to kill us with a cardio workout that would take-out a triathlete.

The big news is that I am adapting to the stress of the CrossFit workout really well.  When I first started doing CrossFit, I was sore in all kinds of places I hadn't felt in 20 years.  My right knee and my right foot were sore and swollen as hell.  I am told this is all perfectly normal.  Whenever anyone starts doing CrossFit, said individual usually goes through these types of adjustment problems.  I am getting the pain and the soreness under control now.

Just how do you control the pain and the soreness of the CrossFit workout?  This is how I have done it:

1. You have to take the warm-up exercises super-seriously.  Go all-out during warm-ups.
2. You have to do cool-down stretches.
3. During cool-down, the foam roller is your best friend.  You must roll-out your hamstrings and calf muscles.  Your calves will be shot to pieces by the jump rope.  Your hamstrings will be shot to pieces from over-head squats, thrusters, and wall-ball. If you don't roll them out immediately after the workout, you will be sore the next day.  The foam roller works wonders.
4. You must take a recovery drink immediately after the cool down.  That recovery drink must contain carbohydrate.  Further, it must contain more carbohydrate than protein.  It cannot be a pure protein drink.  Iso-Pure 50 won't get it done.  If you don't restore your muscle glycogen, you will be sore the next day.
5. I head down the street immediately after the CrossFit work-out and spend 30 minutes in the saunas at 24 Hour Fitness.  I spend 15 minutes in the Steam Sauna and 15 minutes in the Dry Sauna.  I shower-off with the coldest water possible between Saunas.  Alternating heat and cold helps flush lactic acid out of the muscles.

If you will do all of this, you will be tired the next day, but you won't walk like a crippled man.  You will be okay and ready to do it again 24 hours later.

198.0 Exactly

This morning the score was 198.0 according to the Tanita scale in my bathroom. You know this means the Bod Pod would have me at 197.15. This means that I have hit or surpassed the 40% mass reduction point. This should also mean that I very, very close to going below the 25% body fat level.

This also indicates a loss of 6.59 pounds during this cycle with two full days to go. I had 55.912 pounds of fat on my frame as of the last test. If all 6.59 pounds of that loss come from my fat weight, I will now have 49.32 pounds of fat on my frame. 49.32/197.15 = 25.017%. I am so, so, so close! The moment I go below 25% BFP, they will officially move me from the high risk category to the moderate risk category.

The weight mark, the BFP, and the risk category are all major milestones in this process. Bod Pod X is shaping up to be a major landmark in this process.

I need to re-double my efforts in these last three evenings. A major, major milestone is in sight, and I can't miss it this time. Especially not when I had 15 day in this cycle to bring home the trophy.

60 minutes, 6 miles, 938 kcal, all on the elliptical cross trainer

So I just blasted 60 minutes of aerobic exercise on my LifeFitness Elliptical Cross Trainer. I traversed 6.13 virtual miles, burning 938 kcal @level 15. I used the mountain pattern. I nailed in blocks of 22, 23, and 15 minutes respectively.

I also blasted a full ROM cycle, first thing this morning, doubling up on the abdominal rows. This was a good start to the day.

I feel good. I have thoroughly revved up the metabolism. Everything is clicking. I think I am going to walk down to the local McDonalds and have a burger. Then I will walk back and do some biking. Why? Because I can.

I have had very little to eat today. I got 100 grams of protein and about 500 kcal in the form of two protein drinks. I also ate half a chicken burrito from LaSalsa. That probably provided something like 400 kcal. Let's call it 450 for safety's sake. This means I have consumed 950 kcal total today.

My BMR/RMR is currently rated at 1,830-1,860 kcal. I just burned 938 kcal more. Forgetting about the ROM and forgetting about the RMR elevation effect of exercise (something you cannot do) I am at -1,818. I think you can toss in 300 kcal for the ROM and the escalation effect. This would mean I am at -2,118.

Such a heavy deficit is not a good thing. As a rule of thumb, you don't want your deficit to be larger than your total BMR/RMR. That is effectively a starvation diet. This is what leads to losses of lean mass on the Bod Pod test. You know we wouldn't want to see that on this coming Friday, now would we?

Besides that, I will probably get the chicken sandwich and I won't be able to finish it all anyhow. I will see you at McDonalds.

212.0 before and after the pool party

Yesterday morning I weighed in at 212.0 on the Tanita scale. This morning I also weighed in at 212 on the Tanita scale. This was before and after the pool party yesterday.

I manned the grill at the pool party. This was a lot of fun, as I rarely get a chance to cook these days. The items on the menu were not of my choosing, but the standard sort of pool-party fare: hot dogs, hamburgers, a bit of Kielbasi, and a few steaks. A good time was had by all, and they liked the way I seasoned the steaks.

Next time, we will do a Paella.

Of course, manning the grill means quality control work. This taste testing. I ate a lot more at this party than I would normally eat in a day. I was quite surprised at the easy with which I consumed hot dogs, hamburgers, sausages, and steak. Normally, I wouldn't have had more than one of those items in a day, and I would never mix. The more complex a dish, the more difficult to digest. Ordinarily a variety of complex proteins, eaten at one time, gives me trouble. Not yesterday. Who knows... maybe I crossed another threshold yesterday.

I wasn't too concerned about my weight this morning. I presumed that eating all that protein was a good thing. I am trying to gain back my lean weight. I did not consume a bunch of worthless candy, cake, cookies and ice cream calories. Nevertheless, I was... interested in the score this morning.

Evidently, the drop down to 209.34 was just a preview peek, and not a real or immediate achievement. I wonder if the 2.556 pounds of lean weight was just water weight, lost to dehydration. Of course, the Bod Pod would score me at 211.15 on both of these past two days, and this is 1.81 pounds higher than the Bod Pod test on Friday. This suggests that I may have lost a little lean weight, but it is not as bad as I originally thought. Just 0.746 of a pound, or less than 12 ounces.

I ran into a former employee of my current firm at the party. He hadn't seen me since the days of 320. He had no idea I had the surgery. This is a big-time Chicago Bear fan who had purchased Walter Payton and Dick Butkus jerseys back in the days when I was building my collection and organizing shipments from China. He flipped out when he saw me.

It turns out that a female cousin of his just had the surgery Friday. I also had my surgery on a Friday. His cousin was in a pre-diabetic stage, and needed the surgery to prevent this long-term terminal condition. It was interesting seeing the look in his eyes and watching his mind boggled. I don't need ESP to know what he was thinking. He was considering the magnitude of transformation his cousin was about to experience. He looked downright inspired.

That was the most memorable moment of the pool party. It must have been a divine appointment. He'll probably go visit with his cousin and tell her my story. This will serve as encouragement to get her through the early days of surgical recovery, which can be a little bit rough.

Bod Pod VIII: Victory spoiled

So today was Bod Pod VIII day. Just what were the results?

• My body weight went down from 220.348 to 209.34.
• This is a loss of 11.008 pounds
• 8.452 of those lost pounds were fat
• 2.556 of those pounds were lean tissue.
• My fat weight dropped from 70.865 to 62.414 pounds.
• My body fat ratio dropped 2.4%
• My official BFP is now 29.8%
• I am now over 70% lean.
• My body volume dropped from 97.356 liters to 92.042 liters
• This is a loss of 5.314 liters of body volume
• For what it is worth, my BMI is now between 29 and 30. Few medical professionals take BMI seriously.

There are reasons to be excited, there are reasons to be disappointed

• I was hoping to go inside 60 pounds of fat.
• I was hoping to go inside 28% BFP
• My BFP dropped 2.4%, which is 0.4% more than we would expect under the benchmark average.
• I lost 1.452 pounds more fat than we would expect under the benchmark average
• This came at a high trade-off, as I lost 2.556 pounds lean more than I should not have lost
• I also failed to gain new lean, increasing the negative.
• The net difference in terms of body fat percentage is negligible. If I had simply kept my lean and been 2.556 pounds heavier, my BFP would be only 0.34% lower.

As always, I was hoping for better. To make it short and sweet, it was an exciting week of rapid loss, spoiled at the very last minute by lean weight loss instead of lean gain.

The next Bod Pod will be on my 45th Birthday. Yep, that's right folks. We are officially 2 weeks away from the moment when Dave turns 45 years old. Shocking, isn't it? Where has that ocean of time gone? How have I dissolved half of 90 years already?

The Dumping Effect

For those who have Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery, the dumping effect is probably single most fearsome side-effect.

Just what is a dumping effect or dumping reaction? A dumping effect/reaction occurs when you pocket stomach releases carbohydrate--most often refined carbohydrates--into the lower intestine too quickly. Remember, the first three feet of your upper intestine are gone. The carbos go straight into the lower intestine.

Biologists don't understand why, but for some reason, this wreaks havoc on your metabolism. You begin to sweat profusely. Your sweat has a strange and abnormal stench to it. The smell is disturbing. You get cold chills. Your body can't heat itself. You may feel cramps in various and sundry places. You heart races. You get nauseated. You feel gas pressure in your gut. You want to throw up, but you can't. You just gag. Perhaps you will burp a few times, if you are lucky.

I am told it feels like you are having a heart attack. The symptoms are said to be similar. I wouldn't know. I have never had a heart attack. I don't plan to have one either. Given my level of fitness, I doubt I will.

When the whole thing is over, you feel like you have been through the ringer.

Believe it or not, forcing yourself onto the exercise bike will make you feel much better. Elevated blood sugar is one of the several reasons for this reaction. Reducing your blood sugar by burning it helps you to recover quite considerably.

Based on what I have been told, the dumping effect only occurs during a relatively brief period of time between 5 and 12 months after the surgery. My first dumping effect occurred earlier than that.

I had a minor dumping effect last night, which was very strange. I just had my last one this morning. It was pretty fucking awful. One of the worst yet. It lasted more than 2 hours.

Let me tell you about two things that will cause a dumping effect; things you will probably never hear about anywhere else. To the best of my knowledge these two substances appear on no Gastric Bypass post anywhere.

1. Liquid or foaming Dawn dish washing detergent
2. USPlabs Jack3d (Pre-Exercise CNS-Carnosine-ATP Augmentor)

I happen to rely on both these substances quite a bit. Dawn is my detergent of choice for all my dish washing needs. Jack3d is my most preferred pre-workout drink. Still, you have to be careful in how you use them. Let me tell you about it.

This morning, when I began prepping my breakfast protein drink, I realized that I hadn't run a load of dishes in a few days. I don't have many dishes to do, so this isn't unusual. Unfortunately, I didn't have any clean Magic Bullet mixing cups left in the cupboard.

I decided to do a quick rinse job on one of the dirty mixing cups. This involves a little water, a squirt of liquid dawn, and a little time on the bullet blender. This should disinfect the cup.

Unfortunately, I was not as diligent in rinsing the cup clean as I should have been. I should have rinsed it several times, and wiped it down with a paper towel. Trances of the detergent remained in the cup, and gave my protein a funny taste. No matter, I thought. Liquid Dawn is a inert and non-toxic. I should be fine.

Less than 10 minutes later, all manner of unpleasantness ensued. This was the second worst dumping event ever. It was pretty terrible.

Never has a protein drink invoked a dumping reaction. I've been living on Muscle Milk for 6 months now, and it has never given me a problem before this event. It had to have been the traces of soap that upset my delicate digestive system.

The moral of the story is simple: Use the dishwasher. If you wash manually, rinse very clean. Any traces of soap will upset you something terrible.

USPlabs Jack3d is one of the best workout energizers available on the market today. It works so well that the FDA is considering taking it away from us. The fucking bastards... If you ask people around your gym or vitamin shop for advise on a pre-workout drink mix, Jack3d is sure to get a lot of favorable reviews.

There's just one problem: By design it is meant to clear the stomach and dump into the intestines quickly. This is not a problem if you drink it by itself, as it is meant to be used. Mix it with a protein drink or some source of carbohydrate, and you will get an instant dumping reaction. It's a ferocious dumping reaction as well. Worse, if you should drink Jack3d too close to a meal, you could trigger a dumping reaction of sorts.

My first, and the worst ever, dumping effect was created in this manner. I was using the Watermelon flavored Jack3d at the time. This is a particularly offensive and unpleasant flavor for me. I tried to sweeten it and add some carbos by putting a teaspoon of vanilla sugar in the mix.

This was a serious mistake. Within moments of drinking the compound, I felt like I had been poisoned. I swear I must have sweat off 2 liters of fluid in the following hour. I couldn't stop shivering and groaning. My heart pounded away the whole time. That was agony. It ruined the whole day.

Use it, but not with any source of carbohydrate.

Bod Pod VII: The Return of the Lean

About 12 weeks ago I began Bod Pod testing for one reason: If you gain 1 pound of lean and lose 1 pound of fat, the scale will say you made Zero (0) progress. Today's Bod Pod was a good proof of this theory. As you well know from my prior posts, my weight increased this week after reaching a low point of approximately 217 pounds. I was bugging out last night when it reached 224.

Two weeks ago, I weighed in at 221.272. This morning, the Bod Pod measured me at 220.348. That's a paltry change of 0.924 pounds. Reason to scream bloody murder? Nope. Under the hood things were cooking. My fat weight dropped from 75.655 down to 70.865, a loss of 4.79 pounds. My lean weight spiked upward from 145.617 to 149.482, an increase of 3.865 pounds.

The net effect is that my body fat percentage dropped 2% (exactly). In terms of body volume, I lost less than one liter. I find this very strange. I was told lean muscle occupies 33% of the volume of fat, weight unit for weight unit. You can't prove that statement by me. The numbers don't add up.

I defied the laws of physical science again by adding lean and removing fat at the same time. My lean is now at the highest point since I began testing. I got my customary 2% change in body fat, but all scales would tell you I lost less than 1 pound of total weight. Without the Bod Pod, I would be a very upset gentileman today. With the Bod Pod test, I am mildly pleased.

Two weeks ago, I vowed I would tollerate no further losses of lean weight. Further, I vowed I would recover what I had lost. By God, I did it. I got it all back, and some. Further, I still managed to trim-off a healthy portion of fat at the same time. I have a cocky snicker on my face right now. I can call my shots and hit them.

On the dark side of the fence, I lost less than 7 pounds of fat. As you know, approximately 0.5 pounds of fat per day, or 3.5 pounds per week, or 7 pounds in two weeks, has been my average throughout this process. My fat loss was very slow during this past two week cycle. Furthermore, a continuation of the 1% per week rate of progress naturally means it will take me 15 weeks to complete the course. That takes me all the way out to November.

With that said, I would still be happy as hell with a repeat performance. If I dump another 4.79 pounds of fat and add another 3.86 pounds of lean in these next two weeks, I will be a happy camper.

Another interesting thing: My BMR is now projected at 1,899 kcal, down from 2,589 calculation I was given by Dr. Saedi at the beginning of the gastric bypass process. The reason is simple: It takes much more energy to haul 330 pounds around than 220. As you can see, my window for weight loss is shrinking. My margin for error has dropped some 700 kcal per day. This means it is going to get harder to lose, not easier. My shrinking BMR will eventually lead to a stabilization of my body weight.

Much worse is the fact that I am considerably behind my projections in terms of performance. I am now under-performing. My projections indicated that I should be at 210.138 today. Instead, I am at 220.348. This is a difference of 10.21 pounds. Now the good news is this: My projected lean weight was 147.95. Instead, my lean is 149.482. In terms of lean weight, I am ahead of schedule by 1.532 pounds. In fairness I can subtract the extra lean from the gap. Ultimately, this means I am packing 8.678 pounds of surplus fat I should have lost by now.

This is a bitch. I could have been 4.49 liters slimmer for my first visit to Club Minaj in Pasadena this weekend.

I shouldn't worry, though. Two weeks ago, I could say without boasting or fear of contradiction that I was the prettiest guy at Informa Research Services. Now I've gone way beyond that. When you see me naked, you will use profanity. That is how jealous you are going to be. I am far beyond hyper-sexy when I get buck naked now.

Start

------------------------------------------------

Starting weight := 330

Weight on surgery day := 309.4

Today's Weight := 220.348

Today's Lean Mass := 149.482

Total Fat Mass := 70.866

Fat Percentage Today := 32.16 %

------------------------------------------------

Moderate Fat Percentage := 25.00 %

Moderate Body Weight := 199.309333333333

Healthy Fat Percentage := 20.00 %

Healthy Body Weight := 186.8525

Ideal Fat Percentage := 17.00 %

Ideal Body Weight := 180.098795180723

Ideal Fat Mass := 30.6167951807229

Distance from Ideal Weight := 40.2492048192771

Ideal Weight Date := 10/26/2011

Ideal Weight Date Revised := 10/24/2011

------------------------------------------------

Days since Start := 196.436111111111

Days since surgery := 182.040277777778

30 Days Post-Surgery on := 3/6/2011

45 Days Post-Surgery on := 3/21/2011

60 Days Post-Surgery on := 4/5/2011

75 Days Post-Surgery on := 4/20/2011

90 Days Post-Surgery on := 5/5/2011

------------------------------------------------

Total weight loss := 109.652

Weight loss since surgery := 89.052

------------------------------------------------

Loss per day (overall) := 0.558206937511489

Loss Per day since surgery := 0.489188442728639

------------------------------------------------

Mass reduction percentage := 33.23 %

Completion Percentage := 110.76 %

Pounds to Half Way Mark := Already Done

Days to halfway := Already Done

Half way point := Already Done

Projected Easter Weight := Done 268

Projected Easter Revised := Done 268

Projected Weight 5/5/2011 := Done 262.6

Revised projection 5/5/2011 := Done 262.6

------------------------------------------------

Weight at 90% mass := 297

Weight at 80% mass := 263.4 on 5/3/2011

Weight at 70% mass := 231 achieved 7/7/2011

Weight at 60% mass := 198

------------------------------------------------

Date for 90% mass := Already Done

Date for 80% mass := Done 5/3/2011

Date for 70% mass := Done 7/7/2011

Date for 60% mass := 9/19/2011 10:28:49 AM

------------------------------------------------

Fat Percentage at 90% mass := 49.67 %

Fat Percentage at 80% mass := 43.38 %

Fat Percentage at 70% mass := 35.29 %

Fat Percentage at 60% mass := 24.50 %

------------------------------------------------

Revised Date for 80% mass := Done 5/3/2011

Revised Date for 70% mass := Done 7/7/2011

Revised Date for 60% mass := 9/18/2011 10:28:49 AM

Distance from 60% mass := 22.348

------------------------------------------------

Visit San Francisco Date := 6/11/2011

Days until San Francisco visit := Already done

San Francisco visit projected weight := Done= 245.338

San Francisco visit revised projected := Done= 245.338

Total loss before San Francisco visit := 84.662

Projected Body Fat Percentage := 40%

------------------------------------------------

Penultimate Quilici appointment date := 3/28/2011

Days since penultimate appointment := 17.152

Penultimate weighin at Quilici's office := 281

Loss since penultimate appointment := 21

------------------------------------------------

Most recent Quilici appointment date := 6/28/2011

Days since most recent appointment := 37.9366782407407

Penultimate weigh-in at Quilici's office := 237.5

Loss since penultimate appointment := 43.5 actually 47.5

------------------------------------------------

Next Quilici Next appointment date := 9/29/2011

Days past surgery (appointment) := 237.104166666667

Projected appointment Weight := 193.411381943862

------------------------------------------------

222.2?

So I just stood on the bathroom scale a moment ago, and the digital read-out flashed 222.2. That is 222.2 English pounds. That's damn close to 100 metric kilograms, exactly.

What's the problem with that? Nearly two weeks ago, the Bod-Pod indicated that I weighed in at 221.2. We know the Bod Pod is 0.85 pounds lighter than the Tanita. Put that all together and it would appear that I have had two weeks with zero (0) progress. Not looking good.

Over and against this fact is the fact that all my clothing has loosened up tremendously in the past two weeks. Remember those 17 year old jeans from UCLA I told you about? The size 44x30 pants? I tried them on a few minutes ago, and I couldn't wear them in public. I would sag like a ghetto gansta-biache in those jeans. I am probably between size 40 and 38 right now.

I wore my throw-back Eric Dickerson jersey and blue shorts yesterday. The whole outfit was baggy. It wasn't baggy a mere two weeks ago. It was just about perfect two weeks ago.

I know that I know that I know, as sure as I am sitting here, that there has been a substantial contraction in my body volume this time around. I would be surprised if I measure in at anything above 92 liters tomorrow morning.

This may be the first-ever two-week cycle in which I make zero (0.0) progress on the weight front, but I doubt I have stood still. Most of these omens foreshadow a pretty sizable gain in lean weight, and a loss of fatty tissue. If I am extremely lucky, it will be a 7/7 situation. That is 7 pounds of lean gain, and 7 pounds of fat loss.

I know that sounds preposterous, but understand this: Muscle memory can raise your lean tissue weight in a snap, and I know my lean was higher than 145.2 pounds once upon a time. Further, 7 pounds of fat loss in two weeks is strictly average to below average for me.

Let's hope for the very best. I hope all the following happens tomorrow:

1. I get a sudden drop in weight tomorrow morning
2. My lean has increased 6 or 7 pounds
3. My fat weight has decreased 7 to 8 pounds.

If so, it will be a happy day of great progress.

Bod Pod VI: I am very displeased

Today was the sixth in my series of Bod Pod tests. We don't know how many it will ultimately take, but I intend to keep testing until I reach 17% body fat.

Without further ado, during the past 2 week cycle

1. My body volume dropped from 102.111 down to 98.176. This is a loss of 3.351 liters of body volume. of course, this brings me well inside 100 liters. Over the past 70 days, I have lost very nearly 19 liters of body volume.
2. My body fat has dropped from 82.163 pounds down to 75.655 pounds. This is a loss of 6.508 pounds of fat.
3. My body lean also dropped; it went down from 147.207 down to 145.617 pounds. This is a loss of 1.59 pounds of lean weight. I remain one paltry pound above where I started, but this very far from ideal.
4. My overall body weight has dropped from 229.370 down to 221.272. This is a total loss of 8.098 pounds in the past two weeks, but I got that figure the wrong way.
5. My body fat percentage dropped from 35.8% down to 34.2%. This is meagar drop of 1.6% in the past two weeks.

In terms of body composition change, which is the absolute name of the game, this is my worst result yet. This is not at all what I was expecting or looking for. I was expecting lean gains, not further lean losses. I was expecting a much greater fat loss also. I projected my body fat today at just about 32%. I missed that mark by a full 2.33%. That is bad, very bad.

There are clear-cut warning signs that the current exercise and diet regime has stopped working. As a gastric bypass patient, I should never lose less than 3.5 pounds of pure fat per week, or 7.0 pounds of pure fat in two weeks. I underperformed that goal by 0.5 pounds. Now, I could see one of those remarkable 3 pound drops tomorrow morning, of course. If so, this becomes a semi-moot case. We'll just say Bod Pod VI suffered from unfortunate timing.

It's time to blow-up the ship, and reoganize both the time and exercise budget. Minutes and calories need to be shifted around, and redeployed to other efforts. Aeroblic exercise is going to have to take a deep-backseat to strength training. Pumping iron is going to have to become the prime focus of my workout. I need to learn kettle bell techniques. No more lean losses will be tollerated. Lean gains from here on out.

Also, I have not been particularly careful about my diet. I have not been counting protein grams closely. I have relied on protein drinks and protein bars to provide the lion's share of my calories. When I don't consume these things, I have not been particularly careful about what I eat. I think it is time to start regulating this intake. It might even be time for the much-dreaded fish-meal to enter my diet.

So in the spirit of reformation, I think it is important to announce the following reform package:

1. Aerobic exercise will take place every other day, not every day
2. Weight training days will take place every other day.
3. Weight training days will begin with the shake weight and ROM in the morning, just to get me out of the morning grog.
4. I will purchase 1 book on the subject of nutrition for power lifters. I will digest it, and do what is ordered therein.
5. I will add three fish meals to my diet each week, no matter how repugnant this notion may seem. The focus will be a fish called the Barramundi, which is a sustainable aquaculture fish native to Austrialia. This fish is reported to contain high levels of Omega-3 fatty acids, and tastes 'good' also. We shall see.
6. There will be an emphasis on trying to get to bed by 11:30pm and trying to get 7 hours of sleep. My workout schedule, at night, has been so intense that I frequently gotten to bed at 1:30am. This means short sleep. This not conducive to lean weight growth.
7. I need one of those ab glider machines that Elizabeth hocks. I need to start working on mid-body and core. This is one of the biggest areas where I can make lean-improvement.

I'm sorry I don't have a photo of the Bod Pod documentation to share with you today, but I left it at the office this weekend without taking a photo. My enthusiasm was fairly low after the test. I will make take a picture of the documents on Monday and share it with you then.

Very little time for blogging right now

Just a few words before heading out to the gym for an all-out baking session in the sauna.

Between my attempt to organize a successful job transition, my introduction to social media, and the increasing duration and intensity of my workouts, it's been very difficult to find a few minutes to blog. I have a thousand things I'd like to talk about, but so little time.

Right now the pressure is on to make weight for Bod Pod VI. I am only 35 hours away, and the bathroom scale says I am stuck at 224. As we all know, the bathroom scale is not as accurate as the Bod Pod. Further, mine is shy to the heavy side. I figure I have 35 hours to shed 3 pounds. With the help of some good Magnesium Citrate, and heavy dose of steam and dry sauna time, I just might make it.

I'm not stressing much over these results as:

1. I have already achieved my primary goals & objectives
2. I am already the prettiest guy at Informa Research Services.
3. My cousin Diana says I look gorgeous
4. Melinda is my facebook friend
5. I am fairly sure my lean weight has been rebounding big-time during this two week cycle

Still, I would like to at a solid 220 this weekend. I am headed back to my hometown to visit with my Aunt & Uncle who have not seen me since Easter Sunday. I was around 265 at that time. I think 45 pounds should make for a hell of a visible (even shocking) difference.

According to the state of the art estimates, human body fat has a similar density to SAE 10W-30 motor oil. This would indicate 1.93 pounds per liter. This is very close to my own estimate of 1.90 pounds per liter. The variance may be accounted for via my lean weight gains.

If I can knock it down to 220 by this weekend, I will have reduced the volume of space my body occupies by some 23.31 liters. The next time you hold a 1 liter water bottle in you hand, contemplate 23.31 of those things being knocked off your body.

Boggles the mind, doesn't it?

As Marshall Faulk says, do be afraid to be great.

Until next time, you can rock out with the following groovy tracks that have kept me going during the workouts lately.

A major milestone is getting ready to fall

So, yesterday was another murder day. I woke up with a little shake weight and ROM action. I went to the gym at lunch for 45 minutes of treadmill and bike. I returned to the gym in the evening for another 47 minutes of treadmill and bike. I also hit the dry sauna for 12 minutes. I would have done the wet sauna, but the goddamn steam generator was broken again.

This morning I visited the bathroom, as is my morning custom, and after conducting a little business, it was time to weigh in. The Tanita said 239.6. I am officially under the 240 mark. I have officially lost more than 90 pounds now. Further, we know the Bod Pod gives a lighter weight by approximately 0.85 pounds. My estimated Bod Pod weight this morning 238.75.

I've gone from Nose Tackle size to Linebacker size between Feb 4 and June 18. It's been rapid.

All this adds up to one fact: The first major milestone is about ready to fall. I began this entire process because Dr. Evan Bachner, my knee surgeon, looked me dead in the eye and told me I needed to lose 30% of my body mass or I would sit down in a wheel chair sometime in the next 5 to 7 years, and never come out of it. The math is simple 30% of 330 pounds is 99.0 pounds. Bachner was telling me I needed to lose 99 pounds.

Today's measurement indicates I have lost between 90.4 and 91.25 pounds. The big marker is damn close; maybe 14 days away, maybe less. It should be noted that my rate greatly accelerated this week. On June 10th, the Bod Pod declared my weight to be 245.338. This morning, it would probably say 238.75. That is a difference of 6.588 pounds in just 8 days. That is a big loss; far faster than team Quilici would ever recommend.

It does indeed look as if I will hit that major milestone by the 4th of July. This was the predicted date according to the simple math I came up with a couple of months ago. It looks like my stats were and are right on the money.

I'm going to have a visit with Dr. Qulici's team in just 10 days. I hope I can hit 230 by that time. They will be shocked by the Bod Pod data. I am fairly certain I am outperforming my cohort. I don't think my surgery mates can lay a glove on me.

I did some fairly conservative hypotheticals in Excel based on the data I have accumulated, and you can see a snapshot at the top of this blog entry. If accurate, I will probably reach a so-called "healthy" body fat percentage by my next birthday.

This summer is going to be very interesting.

The Bod Pod, Round 3

I had my 3rd encounter with the BodPod last Friday, June the 10th. The absolute bottom line is this: I did not outperform the outperformance, but it was a good performance nonetheless.

Over the last 14 day cycle I reduced my fat mass by 7.385 pounds. I increased my lean by a paltry 0.19 pounds, and I reduced my body volume by 3.644 liters.

In one sense, this is a real victory. I had a bad start to the week with a mild knee injury, but I still lost more fat mass than my gastric bypass surgeon would recommend during a two week cycle. At the same time I not only preserved my lean mass, I increased it mildly. This defies the laws of biology. I am proudly defiant.

Still, it was not all I had hoped. Since I lost the first 4 days of this next cycle on vacation in San Francisco, I am uncertain of what this next 2 week cycle will bring. I did check my weight the second I arrived home today, and the results were good. The Tanita said my weight was 242.4 when arrived home this evening around 5:00pm.

Remember, the Tanita is a tad high; approximately 0.85 pounds high. The BodPod would probably say I weigh 241.55. This would indicate a loss of 3.788 pounds already. Is such a thing possible? Well... yes. I suffered a case of food poisoning on Sunday night in San Francisco. I vomited and suffered diarrhea all Sunday night and Monday. I was barely fit for travel this morning when it was time to leave.

Of course, the dehydration that comes with food poisoning is a temporary thing. My weight could snap up again as I recover.

Nevertheless, there is progress. I continue to hear strange rumors brothers and sisters. I will give you two examples. On Saturday morning, I got a text message in my hotel room indicating that a certain female at work [I will code name her M] told several co-workers (on Friday) that yours truly looked like Gerard Butler of 300 fame.

Of course, this struck me as totally preposterous. So stunned was I by this news, that I immediately shot a picture of myself in the Hotel Room Mirror. I was trying to figure out how such a crazy, crazy claim could turn into office gossip. You can see the photo right here on this blog. Incidentally, that's fresh out of the shower, no makeup, shot with an Android phone.

I fired the photo off to my aunt and my mom, and got a nearly immediate reply from my Aunt. She said she had to do a Google image search for Gerard Butler, because she didn't know who he was, but after studying the photos, she totally agreed. She's now telling people her nephew looks like Gerard Butler.

Ask a stupid question and you get a...

Old King Leonidas is one hell of a man. You know, I was once turned down by girl who was totally obsessed with Gerard Butler. This happened back in 2007. I have often thought that if I looked more like that Gerard, my life would be happier. To hear this kind of talk is a little bit more than ridiculous.

It got worse. On Sunday night, my brother and I cooked dinner at Jamie Wong's place in San Francisco. Jamie is my brothers former (?) girlfriend and a longtime reader of this blog. I mentioned this preposterous rumor circulating at work and she said.

"You do look like Gerard Butler, but with a little Sean Connery mixed in."

Well, at least Sean is a Virgo like me. I guess I really look Scottish. You guys better quit or I am going to get a fat head.