100 Days of weight loss - continued.

My trusty Honda Accord (113K on the clock but paid for) was a little dirty but working just fine last Friday.  Then I took it in for some routine maintenance: an oil change and to fix a leaking air-conditioner inlet pipe.  I did not know the specifics in advance, all I knew was the air-con was kaput.  Got it back $500+ later, and now the rather alarming 'check engine' light comes on every time I start up. WTF?  So now I have to take it back there, listen to some inane apology, and have them fix something that was never an issue in the first place.  Shoddy service.  Why is it that one has come to expect it in the American workplace nowadays? 

But back to more pleasant things. 

It's amazing how quickly the body responds to a bit of TLC.  One day of avoiding excess calories from sugar and alcohol, and I'm down 2 pounds.  No I haven't just fallen off a digital scale.  I know it is mostly water weight lost overnight and I will eventually gain it back towards the end of the day.  Nonetheless it is nice to start with a bang!

It is very early days yet but I am 100% committed to make this program work: even went on an early run this morning due to a social obligation this evening!

Exercise for the day:
5 mile easy run with Leopold and Lewis.  High humidity so I was sweating and they were mouth-breathing big time.
45 minute workout with PT:  A few squats and lunges, lots of pushups (4 different types), chest presses, two other shoulder and chest exercises with belt fixed to a stationary resistance machine.  Upper arms and shoulders definitely fatigued. 

Breakfast: Steelcut oats with soy milk, half a banana; 1 slice whole wheat bread with Marmite.  For the B-12, of course.  Easiest way to prepare steel-cut oats?  Pre-toast 2 cups of steel-cut oats aka groats (not too $$$ when you buy it in bulk from Whole Foods) in the oven for 30 minutes or so and then cook it with plain water and 1 tsp salt in the pressure cooker for about 25 minutes. Voila.

Mid-morning Snack:  left-over edamame and corn
Lunch: Brown rice and Cuban black beans
Afternoon snack: Baked Asian tofu

Dinner will be at a country club tonight; I might not get much - if anything - to eat.  Maybe salad and rice.  Too many restaurants in this town assume that vegetarians  must have a lot of grease and cheese on anything: salad, pasta, whatever. Put more cheese on it, load up on the olive oil. Oh and don't forget the bacon. 

100 Days of weight loss: Day 2
Weight this morning:  171
Body fat percentage:  22% ugh

Where is the speed coming from?

On Tuesday night at Rice University track I cranked out the first of three mile repeats at a pace of 6:29 which is about as fast as I've run a mile in many years. It was nearly 95F so conditions were not ideal, not that it matters that much just for one mile.  The other two were considerably slower at 6:38 and 6:51 - clearly by then fatigue was setting in.

Even so, I am thrilled with just one fast mile: something is working.  Clearly the weight loss is a major factor but it is not the only one. Strength workouts with the personal trainer is another, as are the Airrosti treatments which include some significant stretching of amongst other the quads.  I'm also starting to suspect that the daily 45-minute walks with Daisy (at a very very brisk pace of 15 minutes per mile) is strengthening my upper legs which also boosts running speed. Pure guess on that one, but having run for 40 years I can definitely feel the difference.  Of course I'm also in the middle of a marathon training cycle so overall fitness & endurance is much higher than it has been for months.

Almost halfway into Week 11 of the Hal Higdon Intermediate II marathon training program.  This will be the first of three 50-mile weeks (week 11, 13 and 15) before the taper starts on week 16.  Somehow or other - mostly with the help of running friends who are graciously supplying SAG support on Sundays for the long runs - a few of us are actually training trough this streak of 100F weather which has now reached 17 (probably 18 by the end of today) days in a row, and a few in July as well.

Weight is the same this week as last - 161 - but body fat percentage is down to 15%. 

Measuring progress

I am now 2 weeks into my '155 or bust' program, and I honestly have not made much progress.  On the positive side, I am tracking my calories for most meals (things tend to fall apart by dinner-time...), I am running or at least walk-running 5 or 6 days a week, and I have halted any additional weight gain.  Also working out with a trainer regularly, 3 times last week and once already (on Monday) this week.  So things are happening and my abs, back and shoulders are definitely getting stronger.  I just need to shed a considerable amount of subcutaneous fat for any kind of muscle definition to show up. 

The scale can be deceiving.  It appears that my weight fluctuates by several pounds on a daily basis, depending on the time of the day, degree of hydration, and so on.  So just to add another 'wrinkle' to the mix, I am dragging out my nearly forgotten Accu-Measure set of fat calipers, which trainers use to measure body fat.  So as of this morning, before I set off on what will hopefully be a 6-mile effort, the depressing reality is that my skinfold measurement at the supra-iliac (about an inch up from the hipbone) is just under 30mm.  This is on the high side of 'average' which means that I am about 2 veggie burgers and fries away from being 'over fat'.  Quel horreur!

Weight today:  172
1 mile walk, 1 mile easy run with Daisy, 5 miles EZ along the Bayou
Very little residual pain in the calves.