Just a quick update.

I'm back after almost 2 months of hiatus. After I lost almost 22kgs (48,5lbs) I went into stall mode for close to 2 months. Changes in my personal life together with really busy work schedule are part of the reason why this happen but I also think I needed this time to actually enjoy what I have achieved so I don't really regret this months I "lost" towards my goal. I'm glad that I, at least, managed to keep my weight stable during this time.

I'm highly motivated again and ready to work my way into the 2nd part of my goal. My journey into another 20kgs (44lbs) loss starts today.

I'm also in the middle of an upper right arm (from my workouts) and left foot (from just walking with bad shoes) injuries so I'll have to try to workout around this problems so I won't make them worst.

To be continued...

Today is a big day for me! I finally did it! I broke through the two digits barrier! I weight 99,1 kgs (218,5 lbs) right now!

I started this life change goal three months ago, 84 days to be more exact and up till now I already lost 19,9 kgs (43,9 lbs)! I know this is not "over" yet. I still have a path longer than the one I travelled so far to finish but so far it has been great. I'm really anxious to keep losing weight and reach my 75 kgs goal but I know I have to be patient and just give my body the time it needs to reach that goal.

I already feel much greater and I can really feel the results. I can only imagine what I will feel when I reach my ultimate goal.

Not really in the mood to say much more. It's has been great and I finally reached one of my midterm goals so for now I'll just silently celebrate it and taste all the results I manage to accomplish so far.

To be continued...

This post comes a little late but I have been really busy in the last few days. So busy I have not manage to do my normal workout routines, actually, I haven't been able to do any workout at all, unfortunately.

Anyway, last week I posted that my results were far from what I expected and far from my normal results. I tried to figure out a group of reasons that might had been involved in the why that had happened and wanted to wait for this week to see the results and take more conclusions.. and so I did.

This week I lost 2,5 kgs (5,5 lbs). Much more than I normally do. I don't think it's an accurate value of the weight I lost this week alone, I think much of that weight was actually lost during the week before, it simply didn't show in the scale because my body retained more water than it normally does. I think the reason for that was the fact that I did weight exercises two days in a row before I checked my weight last week and this week I haven't done any exercise two days before my weight check so my muscles this time didn't retain much water.

I won't be able to do much workout during the next week. Can't do nothing about it. It's not an ideal situation but it is what is it. I'll continue to monitor my nutrition thought.

Getting closer to the two digits mark.

See ya next week.

End of week #8 and time for another month balance.

This week my results were really far from what I expected. I was expecting a result similar with the ones from the last weeks but instead of that I only lost 0,7 kgs (1,5 lbs). It is still good, every week that my weight drops is another week that gets me closer to my goal but I can't shake the feeling of wanting more.

Basically my result was only half of what I was expecting for this week. I have been thinking about the reason why this happen. My diet has been pretty much the same for the last weeks and I'm really strict with it, I write down everything I eat and I know exactly how much calories and macro nutrients I'm getting so I don't think the problem lies on my diet.
Possible reasons I see for this results: I have been doing much more weight exercises now, only did cardio once this last week. Maybe this has lower a little my metabolic rate, still, even with a coefficient of sedentary I should have lost more than just 0,7 kgs. Another reason I see is that maybe the fact that I'm doing more weights now is forcing my body to hold more water because the muscles need water to grow. I also rested less this week, only slept 5 hours today for example, I know I should rest more but sometimes there are situations in our lives that just don't allow us to sleep more and I'm OK with that although my body probably isn't. I also read in the past that when people are gaining muscle while losing weight, the weight losses are smaller than if you didn't do it so that might be another reason although I don't really understand this concept very clearly yet. Maybe it's just a combination of a little of all those reasons I said and some more I don't see.
I'll have to wait for the next week results to get more conclusive answers. If the results don't get back to what I'm expecting to get maybe I missed something important in my diet, if the results stabilize again, as I expect they should, then probably it was just water retention or something like that. I'll have to wait and see.

I'm loving doing more weight exercises now but I'll try to do more cardio this next week, maybe just 15 minutes after each muscle training session would be enough to get results from it. I'll try it.

Anyway.. it was still a good 2nd month. My weight dropped 5,23% with a total of 5,8 kgs (12,8 lbs) which makes a total of 14 kgs (30,9 lbs) so far.

See ya next week.

I'm a man of science. I have a spiritual side but I believe that ultimately science and what we see as spiritual aspects are the same. I believe the universe is ruled by the laws of physics and math and whatever we can't yet include in this two areas are just things we don't really understand yet.

In the beginning of my journey I have created a spreadsheet where I try to plan all my steps and predict the results. I try not to be very optimistic and always count rounded down. I prefer to underestimate my results than the opposite. This way I know I'll always reach the goals I set myself to. I see on the forums a lot of people talking about plateaus and other weird things like gaining weight when they were suppose to lose weight. I find this stories really hard to believe, I don't think there is any other reason for this but negligence in the planning of this diets. Anyway, I have my own opinion about this but I won't go into details about this now, maybe one day.

So today I went up to the scale as I do every wednesday morning in the same cloth and conditions (after going to the bathroom) and I have this weight in my mind (105,7 kgs) that is basically my prediction based on the calculations and records I made during the last week. I always expect a little more or less than my prediction but never nothing really different, so I step up in my scale and the result was 105,7 kgs (as I predicted)... I was like 'wow, nice'... I checked several times just to be sure it was correct.

I weight 1,6 kgs (3,5 lbs) less than the week before, so my weight is now at 105,7 kgs (233 lbs). I'm getting closer to the 2 digits barrier and getting excited about it. When I get by this barrier I would have lost almost 20 kgs (44,1 lbs), that is A LOT!! I really can't believe I had all this on me once... I notice in cloths and some activities I do but it's still hard to believe and I'm not even half the way to my goal.

I feel my life quality will keep increasing as my fitness gets better. Really happy I've decided to do this finally.

See ya next week.

After I published my last week post, I realized I have dropped my BMI bellow the "Obesity Class II". This might not be a big deal for anyone who never was obese, but for someone like me that was close to Class III when I started this journey, it's a big deal. I'm still in the "Obesity Class" but no longer in Class II. Next mark will be to leave this class for good. My projections say it will be somewhere around the begin/middle of July.

I want to talk a little about support this week. While I have a couple of people that I tell my results and are glad for me, I don't really have any support in terms of my fitness goals. It has been all me up to this point. I don't want to sound unfair. I do have people that has been supporting me in my private life, keeping my emotions in place and balanced which is great but in teams of my fitness goals, not really, at least I don't feel it. I guess that only someone that had went thought my situation can truly understand what is it, how hard it is and how much discipline and willpower it requires.
In the top of this, I keep reading people saying that extreme caloric deficits don't work. Man, this has become more than just a weight loss goal, I'm so empowered by this naysayers to show the world IT CAN be done by those that have the discipline and force of will to do it. I actually got my bad reputation here because of this. People are just too narrow minded and they can't see beyond their common mindset scope.

I have NEVER felt as strong as I do now. I actually feel my muscles engaging and wanting to show up and it has only been 5 weeks, really excited to watch the results at the end of the year. I know I just need consistence and persistence.

Anyway, the results for this week is more 1,6kgs (3,5 lbs) dropped. I said I wanted to do less cardio and more weights and that is what I have been doing but I still think cardio is great and I don't really want to stop doing it for now, at least while I still have so much weight to lose, also because sometimes I'm just to tired for weights and cardio is something that is usually easier to do. My weights routines is becoming more stable with time and I start to get a group of exercises I like to do and feel like it gets me good results. Also, I bought the ironygym pull up bar and been trying it out. I still can't do a single pull up but I feel I'm getting progresses, I learned a trick on youtube to build endurance and strength by using a chair and it has been working so far.

That's it. The show must goes on...

I wasn't really sure what would be my weight this week. This week I did much less cardio than normal, and much more weight exercises. For some reason, maybe because of the weight exercises I actually felt "thicker" this week, usually I feel lighter but not this week so I was really unsure of the result I was going to get.
I'm much more tired that normal. My quadriceps are really sore, yesterday I got my Irongym pullup machine so I wanted to try it out. I'm still too heavy and lack the strength to pull myself up so I'm using a chair to back me up (I learned this on a youtube video), it may sound as cheating but it actually isn't because you still get pretty tired and you actually push your upperbody muscles if you do it properly. After a couple of reps I really felt my quadriceps telling me to stop, even tho I was making much more pressure on my upper body. My back hurts, my biceps hurt (did bicep training yesterday) and my forearms are also sore, so today I'll probably just rest and don't workout at all. I have been doing workout six days per week for the last five weeks, for someone that didn't use to do any workout, it's tough.

Anyway, so about my weight check. I drop another 1,9 kgs (4,2 lbs) making a total of 10,2 kgs (22,5 lbs) since I started this journey. Still a long way to go but quite happy about it taking in account that it has been only 5 weeks. Physically I feel great, never had so much energy. I'm not actually really tired, I wish I could keep going with my training everyday, but my muscles are sore, I need to learn my limits and keep in mind that rest is also important for muscle building.

I'm happy with my current training, I have been increasing weight exercises and decreasing the cardio. I still love cardio and want to continue with it at least twice a week, even more if I feel like it. My cardio has been usually power walking or running on a trendmill but I have started rope jumping because it is something I have always loved to do.

Well, I think that is it for now. To be continued...

It has been one month since I first started this lifestyle change journey. It has been truly a great experience and I'm loving every step of the way.

Today it has been time for another weight check. This week I started doing more weights and less cardio, I'm still trying to figure out the best weight exercises that I can do with the things I have home so my workout hasn't been as smooth as I would like, it's a work in progress, I know much more now than one week ago, so that is good. Eventually I'll have a solid plan for each muscle and I'll know exactly what to do in each day. I try to watch videos and read stuff about each workout so I can properly execute it. I think that is very important or you won't be working the muscles you are suppose to and maybe even end up hurting yourself. I also try to choose exercises that work a large group of muscles instead of more isolated workouts. While I have been losing some weight, I feel that I'm getting stronger so I think that means that most, if not all, of the weight has been fat, which is great.

This week I lost only 1,7 kgs (3,7 lbs) which I think it's great taking in consideration that my week has been a little problematic in personal terms, I had some radical changes in my life, some emotional battles and I started a new training program so it's not very optimized yet.

When I first started this journey, my plan was to lose 4 kgs (8,8 lbs) on the first month (4 weeks) but I ended up losing 8,2 kgs (18 lbs), more than double so I think overall it has been a success so far. There is still a way to go but I'm motivated and I'm sure I'll keep pushing myself further. Time is my only barrier right now, I just can't go faster than time itself. My skin has been also reacting fairly well so far and I don't recall feeling as good as this physically.

To end my weekly post I just want to leave here a video from a band that has been pushing and cheering me through my workouts in the last week. Music has always been a passion and it has been my greatest motivator while I workout.

To be continued...

End of another week. Time for some more conclusions.

A colleague told me I couldn't always lose weight like I have been doing for the past weeks. People underestimate my power of will and my self-sacrifice limits. When it comes to the mind and pain endurance, honestly, I'm a freaking stone wall. Well, maybe that is an overstatement but my point is that I have more self-sacrifice willpower and endurance than the average person. I have always been like this. I think life has at times been really harsh when it came to emotions and feelings and I had learn to be really resistant to emotional pain.
I think that another advantage I have is mind power. I've worked my mind all my life, I tried to be the best I could up there. I tried to be wise and strong in my mind. I think that when it comes to working out, mind commands the body so even if I don't have a great physic my mind compensates that by pushing it harder. Mind over matter. Many people focus to much on the body and to little on the mind.
To conclude, I know I won't always lose weight like this, first because I don't really want to lose it so fast so I'll eventually slow down a bit, secondly, my TDEE will decrease as I lose weight and so my caloric deficit so my weight loss will slow don't but still, I plan to lose at least 1 kg (2.2 lbs) every week, even when I get close to my goal.

For the results of this week. Again, it went beyond my expectations, I lost 2,5 kgs (5,5 lbs). The reason why I'm getting this results it's because I have been using an extreme caloric deficit, this is not suitable to every person but it seams to work fine with me. While I'm tired, I have been working out almost every single day, I honestly feel fine and happy about my progress, although I know that I still have a long way to go.

Recently I have been reading that weight work is more important than cardio when you are losing fat. After reading explanations why I think it makes sense. I have been doing mostly cardio and a little of weight exercises during the three past weeks. Cardio is something that is relatively easy to do and you actually feel your body burning calories, I don't really feel that when I'm lifting weights but that doesn't mean I don't burn them so... for this next week, I'll try to progressively increase my weight training and decrease my cardio, I'll try this and see how it works out.

To finish this week post, I just want to say that I have been reading the "The Body Fat Solution" book by Tom Venuto since I started this journey. I'm in about 65% of the way and I honestly have to say that this book is worth. This guy has the right mentality that a bodybuilder should have. I started reading this book after seeing it recommended by Scooby in his website and I don't regret buying it.

Today is the end of week #2, time for another weight check. I was
sceptical about my last weight loss and I was curious to see how much I
would get this week. I knew my today results would allow me to take some
conclusions.

I checked my weight again in the morning after I get up, with the same
conditions and identical clothing to avoid variations by other factors
other than my real weight. I have to admit I was surprised with the
results. I lost again 2 kgs (4,4 lbs) so now I have 115 kgs (253,5 lbs).

With this week results I started taking some conclusions and doing some
calculations. This results tell me that I had lost indeed 2 kgs last
week and the fact that I did again this week is actually not so
surprising because I followed the same diet and exercise types as the
last week and my BMR/TDEE is not so different now.

However, I also can't avoid whorying, I wonder if I'm losing weight to
fast ? At this rate, if I keep up with the same strategy I have been
following until now and taking in account my new BMR/TDEE values as the
weight drops, I would reach my goal of 75 kgs (165 lbs) by middle of
August, far from the end of the year deadline I planned when I first
started this goal. Maybe this is a little too fast for the body to
adjust in a healthy way? I'm worried specially about my skin, I don't
want to damage it more than I already did in the last 10 years of my
life when I gained all this weight.

Physically I feel good and I try to control my arterial pressure once in
a while to make sure it's all good. I can't say I'm not hungry
sometimes but it's not something I can't control. I think it's normal
since I made big changes in my diet, my body was use to eat a lot more.

I had to get a 2200 kcals deficit per day to lose this weight at the
end of a week. I think I have been eating around 1200 kcals per day so
that makes my TDEE of something around 3400 kcal per day.

I don't know. I'm happy with the results but scared at the same time,
maybe I should slow down a bit. The only thing that actually makes me
not want to slow down is that my BMI is still in the "Class II Obesity"
and I wanted to get into Class I fast but maybe that it's just a stupid
reason.

This entry is a little overdue but it's better later than never.

I planned to lose 1 kg per week until my goal is reached somewhere at the end of 2012. I was really anxious for my first weekly check. I'm not obsessed about the number but it's always nice to see little results that motivates you and shows you are in a good path. Also, the numbers help me figure out if I'm doing right.
I know that it might happen that I lose weight but the weighting doesn't show that because the body can retain more water than normal. I'm mentally ready for getting those kind of results sooner or later so I won't give up and lose confidence if one week I get the same results as the week before. I see this as a lifestyle change and not something I'm doing temporarily so if I don't get it one week, I'll get it in the next one. However, I'm still very demanding with myself so I'll try to get results every week.

 I completely changed my nutrition. I took out everything that had little nutritional value or was too caloric. I found a nice advice from Scooby Workshop that is: "Don't drink your calories". It's actually a very nice advice since food helps you to stay satisfied longer than drinks so I try to drink only water now and sometimes no fat milk with my protein powder. Also, I tried to eat food that has good proteins ratios and low fats and HCs.

I know I need to have a deficit of 7710 calories per week to lose a kilogram so I calculated my BMR and my TDEE with a sedentary multiplier to figure out how much calories I could take to reach my weekly goals.

Now, about the workouts, I'm trying to do 30 to 60 minutes of cardio everyday, with 1 or 2 day offs a week depending on my free time (I work during the day and study at night). Besides the cardio, I'm trying to start with simple and easy weight exercises just to get my body muscles to work a little.

I'm taking things at my pace. I'm not trying to establish any record or amaze anyone. The goal is set and I plan to reach it. I'll improve my nutrition and exercises along the way.

I started with 119 kgs and at the end of the first week I was 117 kgs. I reached my goal and went beyond. It fell like a little victory but it is just the beginning.

I'm currently in the middle of the 2nd week and I hope to end it with 116 kgs.