intofitness.net

Background:
Back in March 2008, I had been in a weight-loss plateau for three months, weighing in at 193 pounds and having a body fat percentage of 15%. Despite my intense exercise routine, I was not able to lose the desired remaining weight consistently; however, my body fat percentage was also decreasing slowly.  I suspected that I had been eating too many calories for weight loss, and was simply maintaining my weight.  I knew that if I wanted to go below 10% body fat, I could lose about 20 more pounds.

Results Summary:
I started using MyFoodDiary.com (MFD) on March 31, 2008 and reached my goal of 175 pounds and under 10% body fat on August 6, 2008.

What is it?:
MyFoodDiary.com is a web-based calorie counter and exercise log designed to be used as part of a weight management program.  Most users of this online service use it to assist with weight loss.  The site tracks calorie intake (diet) and calorie expenditure (exercise).  Then based on the user’s physical statistics and goals, it calculates how many calories must be consumed and/or burned to either lose one to two pounds per week, maintain weight, or gain weight.  Users can monitor on a daily basis two factors involved in weight management: food intake vs exercise.  MyFoodDiary.com supports the basic weight loss premise that one must consume less calories than the calories expended.  For example, in order to lose one pound per week, one should create a calorie deficit of 500 calories/day.  Over the course of seven days, the deficit would be 3,500 calories, which is approximately equal to one pound of weight loss.

You can watch a video overview here.

Target audience (Who is it for?):
MyFoodDiary.com is best suited for the disciplined person.  Ideal users are those who are willing to record what they eat on a daily basis (using the site’s online database of over 50,000 food items), record nutritional information for the foods not in the database, and record calories burned through activity and exercise. Users should be goal-oriented, motivated, determined, and persistent.  The service is best applied by those who want to change to a healthy, active lifestyle.  I would not recommend this service to people looking for a quick fix to their weight problems or those who just want to change their diet without exercise because losing weight in a healthy way is not just about food or “starving yourself”.  Additionally, I believe the service works best in conjunction with the use of a heart rate monitor during exercise to monitor the exact number of calories burned.

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I’m really enjoying the new “Power Phase” workouts my trainer (Murray) has me doing.  I think the terminology he uses is based on the Optimum Performance Training (OPT) model from his NASM Certification.  He’s taking me through the OPT Model for Sports Performance Clients — on the previous link, see the cool diagram at the bottom of the page.  Since I’ve worked with him the last four months, I’ve gone through the Stabilization and Strength phases, so now I’m learning some new workout routines in the Power phase.

What’s nice is that my workouts are only 8 exercises for each of three routines: Upper Body, Lower Body, and Total Body.  So far I’ve tried the Upper and Lower; today at the gym, I plan to do the Total Body workout for the first time.  The weight/sets/reps philosophy behind this phase is heavier weights at fewer reps performed in 3 - 5 sets.  Murray says I should expect to gain about five pounds in weight during this phase with about 1.5 pounds of it in new muscle mass.  He says the rest of the weight will be water weight.  What’s exciting about this weight gain is that he says I should also see my body fat percentage decrease.

**Don’t tell Murray: he doesn’t want me to be in the gym for more than an hour per workout, but I added an ab workout to the routines, so I’m in there for two hours at a time.**

I have to admit that it’s difficult for me to not to FREAK OUT about gaining weight.  I’ve already gained one pound above my previous limit; currently, my weight is 176 lbs.  I’ve been advised not to weigh myself every day, but I need my body weight to enter in the correct info for my heart rate monitor (HRM).  As a compromise, Murray said he would take weekly skinfold measurements with the calipers so I can measure my body fat percentage weekly.  I think this will ease my mind as I see the pounds go up on the scale; I expect some decrease in body fat.  Last week’s caliper measurement yielded 9.1% body fat, which probably means that if I were to take a hydrostatic measurement (under water), I’d probably be at around 7% body fat.  So granted, I don’t have much more fat to lose; I think the healthiest lower limit is 6%.

What’s new about my results just from two workouts is that I’m experiencing muscle soreness.  I think it means that I’m breaking down muscle fibers during the workouts, which should translate into new muscle growth and density.  To that end, I’ve also started taking a creatine supplement before and after workouts, as well as, ensuring that I eat a glutamine supplement with my post-workout protein shake. 

Along with the new workout routines, I’ve just started a running program.  So far I’ve ran two times, the latest run was last night for about 3.2 miles.  I completed the run just before sundown in 28 minutes, which is about an 8:45 min/mi pace.  I think that’s okay for a novice runner at my age.  I had some slight discomfort during the run.  My quads, hamstrings, and glutes were really tight, and limited my range of motion as I was running.  I did take time to stretch before the run, so I was surprised at the tightness.  I hope it goes away before my next run on Friday.

Per Joe Thorn’s recommendation, I’m trying out an electronic running journal called Running Ahead.  Although I like electronic journals, I only plan to use it for running.  I record my exercise in the gym in a traditional notebook journal called The Body Minder.