182.4... Holy crap!

The score a few moments ago was 182.4 on the Tanita bathroom scale.  Of course, this means my actual weight would be lower, according to the Bod Pod.  Probably somewhere in the 181.6 zone...

...and I am not even trying!  Holy crap!

I must have shook something loose.  I was not expecting anymore periods of significant weight loss after a brick solid month of stability.  However, something began to shift a few days ago.  I am not sure how or why.  Here are few ideas:

1. Beans:  I've already explained how I've added beans to my diet, but I sure didn't eat any yesterday.
2. Prolonged cortisol secretion:  There is a stress hormone called cortisol produced by the adrenal glands.  It has many functions related to restoring homeostasis when your body is under high metabolic stress.  High metabolic stress includes surgery, trauma, and nutritional stress.  If this goes on too long, the body can cling tenaciously to it's fat reserves.  You weight loss will stop.  Cortisol levels must be reduced for fat loss to resume.  I may have broken through this barrier.
3. Kettlebells and 5/3/1 barbells:  I've already described how I have modified my workout to focus on strength training over aerobics.  This may be having some interesting and unexpected effects.

In any case, I think it is time to schedule a new appointment for the Bod Pod.  I should have a look at my body composition.

183.4 and I hope I am not loosing my muscle

So the official score a few moments ago was 183.4, and that is a tad scary. During this post-surgical weight loss period, I touched 181.9 pounds once, but it bounced right back up again. 183.4 is an awfully low figure. I hope I am not losing my muscle.

Lately, I've been cruising around 184.8 to 186.9. That is approximately a 2 pound range. That is a normal oscillation factor. This can be accounted for by body-water and body-waste. I've been bouncing around in that range for more than one month.

But this was before I learned how to cook beans...

What is the big deal about beans? It turns out that beans, all kinds of beans, constitute a diet super-food. Just about every "get-ripped" diet focuses hard on consuming beans. If the rhetoric from countless certified dietitians is to be believed, beans are a magic weight-loss food. They deliver a pretty solid nutrient pop, whilst being low in calories and high in fiber. They deliver a lot of mass with a very small calorie load. You can eat your fill of beans and wind up with a low calorie total... Even if you have a big stomach. If you have a 90% surgically reduced stomach, as I do, your fill of beans constitutes almost nothing in terms of calorie load.

My family never ate much in the way of beans as I was growing up. Bean dishes were frowned upon as "poor-man's food." This fact may well be implied by my former body weight. Consequently, on those rare occasions when I attempted to cook them, it didn't work out well. I didn't know how to cook them well.

It doesn't help that 8-24 hours of soaking is called for my many recipes. That's 8-24 hours of soaking before several hours of simmering. It doesn't help that the "speed method" involves boiling and resting for one hour before pressure cooking. All of these methods are long. In stark contrast, rice can be prepped in 12-30 minutes if you use the speediest methods.

It turns out there is a rapid method. You put 8 oz of raw/dry/hard beans (by volume) in 32 ounces of clean water, and you pressure cook for 31 minutes. My Cuisinart electric pressure cooker needs 31 to do a masterful job. Your pressure cooker may need less. Once the beans are done, you discard he water by draining them in a colander. You then dress them like salad: Olive oil, a tab of butter, some balsamic vinegar, a dash of Tabasco sauce, and a generous amount of sea salt gets the job done.

If you pressure cook the beans with some fresh Thyme, Bay leaves, and Rosemary, you will like the results better. You also need a bit of oil in the brew to prevent foaming.

Speaking of salt, salt was the absolute key factor in my past failures with beans. No salt until they are done pressure cooking. No salt when you soak. No salt when you boil. No salt when you pressure cook. No salt until they are done.

This is contrary to all culinary laws, and highly counter-intuitive. Still this is correct. No salt until they are done. The answer lies in the chemical composition of the bean skin. The bean's skin reacts chemically with the salt. It hardens enormously on contact with salt. This will prevent the bean from cooking. What you get is a rock-hard bean that is inedible. If you forgo all salt until they are done, they come out fine.

Since I learned how to cook them, I have fallen in love with beans. I eat a lot of them now. They are great in pesto sauce also. Coincidentally, beans in pesto makes for a very nutrient rich mixture, especially if you use spinach and mixed nuts to make the pesto. The calorie load goes up a bit, but it still isn't bad. They are delicious together.

This remarkable drop into the 183.4 just might indicate that the bean diet is working.  On the other hand, it may indicate I am losing my muscle.  I sure hope the latter isn't the case.

Bod Pod XIII: The point of inflection

So, Bod Pod XIII went down yesterday morning around 9:00am.  I had no Jury duty due to the super-confab of Superior Court Judges that happened down town yesterday.  The Court schedule was dark. What were the results of the test?

1. There were only 13 days in this cycle.
2. We did reach the point of inflection
3. My total body weight increased from 190.664 to 195.7 pounds.  This is an increase of 5.036 pounds.
4. My lean mass increased from 146.95 to 151.14 pounds.    This is an increase of 4.19 pounds.
5. Shockingly enough, my fat weight also increased from 43.714 to 44.56 pounds.  This is an increase of 0.846 pounds,
6. Interestingly enough, my body fat percentage decreased from 22.9 to 22.8.  This is a reduction of 0.1% percent.  Yes, it's paltry, I know.
7. My body volume increased from 82.627 liters to 84.78 liters.  This is an increase of 2.153 liters

	Fate %	Fat Weight	Lean Weight	Body Weight	Volume
10/15/2011	22.9	43.714	146.95	190.664	82.627
10/18/2011	22.8	44.56	151.14	195.7	84.78
	-0.1	0.846	4.19	5.036	2.153

Of course, I am not happy about picking up 0.846 pounds of fat, but the 4.19 pound gain of lean was downright thrilling.  I have finally exceeded 150 pounds of lean mass.  Not only this, I have finally exceeded the 151 I was hoping for weeks ago.

This is an excellent sign.  It indicates several things.  First and foremost, it indicates that the CrossFit training is working extremely well.  It also means that the weight lifting sessions with Aaron are also working.  This sets me up for much better and more rapid weight loss in the weeks to come.  The more lean mass you have, the higher your BMR/RMR.

Now for some reality noise:

1. This morning, my weight dropped to 192.6 pounds on the Tanita scale.  As you know, it would be lower on the Bod Pod.  
2. Yesterday the Tanita vs. Bod Pod variance was very high, the highest figure seen yet.  The Tanita said 196.6.  The Bod Pod indicated 195.7.  This is a variance of 0.9 of a pound.
3. This means I lost 4 pounds over night.
4. This is enough to annihilate nearly all of my lean gain.
5. This was the first Bod Pod test that I did not prep for.  
6. In each of the 12 Bod Pod tests prior to this one, I would do extensive preparation the night before the test.  I would do my longest and best workout of the cycle.  I would do 30 minutes in the dry and steam saunas to shed excess water weight. I would get a massage and pop two Tylenol tabs to bring down inflammation further.  I would purge my intestines with Magnesium Citrate.
7. My brother's band played at The Mint in West Los Angeles Thursday night.  Rather than prep for the test on Thursday night, I went to see him play.  This little adventure is a story I will tell you about some other time.

All of this casts doubt upon the results of Bod Pod XIII.  Without the normal prep before the test, there is no telling how much of this weight increase is just water retention and fecal matter.  On other hand, you could argue that these test results are more reflective of David on a normal day, not less.  Ergo, they are more valid and not less valid.  Still, the rapid drop this morning casts doubt on the entire weight figure.

In short, if we were in a court of law, we would have more than a reasonable doubt about these results.  I may have simply tested on an exceptionally heavy day. Further, I think this is clearly the case.  194.4 seems to have been my most common weight over the last several weeks.  196.6 and 195.7 are clearly exceptionally heavy weights for me these days.

Nevertheless, one thing is exceptionally clear:  We have reached the point of inflection.  The sign of the trajectory on this curve has flipped.  It has been negative, trending down.  It is now positive and trending upward.  Regardless of whether my weight is 194.4 or 192.6, my weight is now higher than it was 13-14 days ago.

I am not worried about this, as the indicator points towards a big increase in lean weight.  This is good and wonderful, and precisely what I have been looking for.