The End (Sort of.)

April 24th has come and past and I must say...

Laugh out F***ing loud.

Beginning statistics here.

Height: 5'8 (No change. Dammit.)

Weight: 156.4 (-5lbs)

Neck: 15.5" (--)

Shoulders: 49" (+1")

Chest: 40.5" (+1.5")

Stomach: 32" (-3")

Waist: 32" (-1")

Hips: 37" (--)

Left Bicep: 14.5" (+0.25")

Right Bicep: 14.25" (0.25")

Left Forearm: 11.25" (--)

Right Forearm: (11") (--)

Left Thigh: 22" (+1.5")

Right Thigh: 22" (+1.5")

Left Calf: 14"

Right Calf: 14" (-0.5"???)

In summary, I lost about 5 pounds while collectively putting an inch on my shoulders and chest. Biceps grew a little, while my thighs put on a whopping 1.5 inches each. Interestingly enough, my calfs regained symmetry at the loss of half an inch on my right. Very strange. I'm guessing this could be due to the right ankle sprain I had during this regimen period and the cessation of playing badminton. Though my hip measurement hasn't changed, there's a noticeable difference in the appearance of my glutes from all the squats I've been doing.

Overall, I wasn't anticipating a large growth in any one of these areas due to the nature of this regimen. The main component of course was the change in my midsection with the loss of 3 inches around and one inch around my waist. My waist-to-shoulder ratio has gone from 0.72 to 0.65.

Despite all this, after going to the Bodpod center, my body fat came back at a perplexing 23.9%, which was higher than my original assessment. This was clearly outrageous, in light of all the very noticeable changes:

Left & Right: Before & After

I apologize for not being able to take a more recent picture, this past weekend was a trip to LA where I decidedly freak-binged on carbs and massive amounts of alcohol like the raging alcoholic I used to be. This has continued throughout the week thus far, more or less sabotaging additional aesthetic improvements.

"Self improvement is masturbation. Now self destruction..." - Tyler Durden

I've made the decision to take a break and just eat whatever the hell I want this week. And also to get a refund from the Bodpod center for its clear lack of accuracy. As for this blog, I'm going to consider continuing it throughout the summer as I plan to overhaul my diet and workout regimen again toward different goals (gaining arm size & muscle mass, etc.). I've gotten some tips from fitness models recently that I want to experiment with and implement. And of course, there are several subjects that I still wish to write about that I haven't had the chance to yet.

Overall, these past three months have been a great learning experience. I've come to realize just how sedentary and unhealthy most of us are in our day to day routines. Issues like sleep and the types/amounts of foods we put into our bodies directly affect everything from our moods to our productivity to how healthy and radiant our skin looks. Yet so much of our population still turn to things like antidepressants, face washes, acne medication, fad weight loss diets, artificial hormones etc. to correct our issues when the real problem lies in our everyday lifestyle. As a population, I believe we need to become more educated about how our bodies respond to natural remedies such as proper nutrition, exercise and sleep before we resort to other pathways.

I digress.

I started a bodyspace page for those of you interested in looking at a better side by side comparison: Click here.

Comments and feedback appreciated. Till next time!

Sleep: Improving and Correcting Your Circadian Rhythm

Although my blog's time is near it's end, this has been an entry I've been dying to write for the past week and a half.

I have struggled with proper sleep for as long as I can remember. Ever since I was little, my parents would try to force me to go to sleep at 11pm. I would lie in bed and toss and turn and not fall asleep until much later. This gave way to college, where free reign over my own schedule led to disastrous and dysfunctional consequences. I ended up sleeping later and later until at one point in time, I was literally going to sleep when the sun rose and waking up when then sun set. Not exactly a healthy lifestyle by any means, but I'm sure anyone else that has been through college and had to cram for exams can identify on some extent.

Now that a large majority of us are working professionals, the issue of sleep becomes even more important because there never seems to be enough hours in the day to take care of our personal errands after eight hours of work. Since I started this blog, the single most difficult hurdle to overcome in my workout regimen was to wake up in the mornings and do cardio. Below is a sample chart of my current circadian rhythm to illustrate.

Click for Larger View

Millions of us suffer from this condition and it's actually a fairly common one entitled Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome (DSPS). This is a result of our internal circadian rhythms not being in sync with a regular 24 hour day. Of course, in the past before electricity and artificial light, this was never a problem because we received our cues to wake up and go to sleep from the sun. We lived outdoors. These days, we spend the majority of our time indoors, away from the sun. To exacerbate this situation further, we have LED computer monitors, TVs and artificial lighting which confuse our brains even more. As a result, we stay up later, and we wake up later. We're groggy and tired all day long. It's a vicious cycle which leads us to being less productive and less likely to achieve our health & fitness goals (or any other goals for that matter).

The Science:

In the back of our eyes, in addition to the rod & cone photoreceptors, there's another type that scientists have recently discovered (well, more like 10 years ago) called 'melanopsin' photoreceptors. These photoreceptors lie on the edges of the retina and have but one primary purpose, which is to absorb a specific wavelength of blue light. Any guess as to what this wavelength of blue light looks like? This should come as no surprise when I tell you it is the color of the clear blue sky. When this type of blue light hits these photoreceptors, it initiates a cascade of hormonal reactions in your brain that cause you to WAKE UP.

Not sleeping well? Feeling groggy in the mornings? Can't go to sleep at night? When was the last time you saw the blue sky for, oh I dunno, 15-20 minutes per day in the mornings? Never? Me too. What's more is that artificial indoor light provides almost none of this wavelength of light.

Fortunately for us, the lovely people over at Phillips have created a solution to this. It is a simple device called the GoLite BLU that emits a ton of blue light from this wavelength. The great things about this product are:

1. It cues your body to have a natural hormonal response instead of artificially ingesting hormones like melatonin.

2. Light therapy for correcting sleep overlaps with correcting jet lag and Seasonal Affective Disorder (People who get moody during the winter months)

3. It is proven to work. I just received the item in the mail last night so I can't testify to its effectiveness yet, but over 200 reviewers at Amazon.com giving an average of 4.5 stars saying how this device has turned them from chronic night owls to morning people can't be all wrong. In addition to this, Timothy Ferris of 4 Hour Body quotes this to be the singularly most effective corrective sleeping tool in his arsenal. Check it out here.

Ultimately, if you have problems sleeping, one of the first things you should analyze are your light cues. Respect the fact that your body's internal clock is sensitive and reacts to light. How much natural sunlight are you getting when you wake up? How much artificial light is keeping you up in the evenings (Computer monitors, TVs, having all the lights on)? Are you sleeping in complete darkness? Do you use curtains to block out the sun so you can sleep until noon? These are all things that can mess up your circadian rhythm.

For more information and a test/chart to see how off your internal clock is, check out this website:

Circadian Rhythm Test

I wish you a sound night's sleep!

Final Stretch: On Supplementation

With just one week left, it doesn't look like I'm making anymore visible progress. The stubborn thin layer of fat that is left around my midsection doesn't seem to be going anywhere despite everything I've done. There is very slight separation in my rectus abdominis (which really pisses me off) and it's really only visible in certain angles of lighting. If I had to estimate, I'd still say I'm between 10-15% body fat.

I've put some thought into what I'm going to do after April 24th and I've decided to take a week off to take a step back and reevaluate everything. Everything I've been doing these past few weeks has been pretty taxing, but I also feel like I'm getting into the groove of it and making it a habit.

I stopped swimming for a while now because of hectic scheduling but once I get a day off I think I'm going to permanently sign up for that Master's swim class. There was a noticeable difference in my physique after just one session.

Ultimately, I believe that my current cardio intensity isn't taxing enough.

With that said, I've thought about my blog as a whole recently and contemplated subjects that were missing that a curious fellow fat loss individual might be interested in. Supplementation immediately came to mind as something I have not touched on yet. When training as much as 4 days a week and then doing cardio on top of it, the body quickly wears down if not given the proper nutrients to keep it going. Some examples include glutamine deficiencies (an important branched chain amino acid that is rapidly depleted after weight training), wear and tear on joints and ligaments, the all important protein powder to address muscle rebuilding, as well as just general micro-nutrient deficiencies because of the increased stress on your body to rebuild.

Without further ado, here are some of the supplements I'm currently taking to address these issues:

100% Optimum Whey

I've been using this protein powder since college and I can't really say anything bad about it. Fast absorbing and fairly standard and cheap if you buy a 10lbs bag that lasts you like a year. I take this post workout mainly, and occasionally in a smoothie as a meal replacement in order to get my daily protein requirements. I try to eat solid foods as much as possible though, as this doesn't usually provide the same feeling of satiety as a good meal would.

100% Optimum Casein

Another type of protein derived from milk that is taken right before bed. Casein has been highly underrated but studies have shown that when taken in combination with whey, it can accelerate fat loss. The primary idea behind why you take casein is that it is a slower digesting protein that is slowly released throughout the night while you are sleeping. As a result, your body never goes through a serious fast while you are sleeping and it has the necessary building blocks to regenerate while you sleep. When taken, casein reacts with your stomach acids and actually gels and coagulates giving you a stronger sensation of satiety than whey. Very useful, but needs to be taken in moderation and at the right times. Taking too much could lead to digestive issues.

A Good Multi Vitamin

This is probably a given, but it's always good to cover all your bases even if you are getting the necessary nutrients in your diet. Statistically speaking, the average American diet is highly nutrient deficient, which turns this into an essential. In addition to this, weight training usually causes your body to rapidly utilize massive amounts of B vitamins so it's important to choose a high performance vitamin which gives you higher doses of these and other nutrients, than to choose a normal one generally designed for sedentary people. I use Kirkland's Premium Performance multivitamin. It's cheap and you can get it at Costco, but for those more serious, there's also Optimum Optimen which is a high performance multi that bodybuilding.com produces that is very popular.

Fish Oil

The all important omega-3 supplement. It does everything from providing the building blocks to your brain to lowering your cholesterol and triglyceride levels as well as balancing out your hormones. As mentioned in a previous post, Our diet skews essential fatty acids away from omega-3s making us highly deficient. This isn't really hard to get as there's just billions of types out there. I like Coromega because it tastes like pudding and has more effective absorption, but I'm also currently taking Blue Ice Royal Vitamin Butter & Cod Liver Oil at the suggestion of Timothy Ferris of The 4 Hour Body. Vitamin butter not only contains omega-3s, but it also has substantial quantities of vitamin A and D plus CLA (Conjugated Linoleic Acid) which supposedly has additional fat loss and beneficial properties. Ultimately of course, it's your choice as there's a plethora of fish oils to choose from and most of them are very good quality.

Joint Supplementation

This applies specifically to those who have previous sprains or joint aggravations. I take Move Free which is a great product that not only contains glucosamine and chondroitin (the two main ingredients to help joint lubrication and flexibility) but also a 2,000 IU supplement of all important vitamin D3 that I discussed in a previous post. The D3 in the multi usually isn't enough.

Other optionals:

NO-Explode

A pre-workout supplement that I probably wouldn't be taking if it wasn't given to me. (Thanks Stephanie!) But this has made a HUGE difference in my ability to be consistent with working out. There's been many times where I've just felt like shit or felt too tired to workout even though it was my day to go, but after taking this beforehand, I can get through my workouts with higher intensity and faster speeds. Really an amazing effect on focus and energy without adding to caloric intake. A general concoction of caffeine, BCAAs and creatine.

Fat Burners/Thermogenics

This is getting into questionable territory and not recommended usually if you're not already at a certain level of fitness. These usually manipulate some sort of hormonal response including but not limited to thyroid hormone conversions, adrenaline release, in addition to added caffeine. I'm experimenting with one called OxyElite Pro right now, and I'm interested to see the effects, but definitely not something I plan on taking long term.

That's pretty much all I have for now. Questions, comments or responses are welcome.

Stay tuned!

Two Weeks Left

For those of you who don't know, a quick reminder that my goal date of April 24th is coming up in two weeks now. That date will mark the end of my self imposed three months to lose as much fat from my body as possible.

I've already scheduled my Bod Pod appointment in two weeks for Friday, April 22. From the looks of it, I don't think I'll be anywhere near 6% as I've now realized that it takes me more than just diet and exercise to have body fat percentages that low. I do believe that I am genetically predisposed to a higher body fat percentage, but I think my goal of cutting to under 10 is still within reach. I'm experimenting with a thermogenic supplement that was highly recommended by reviewers. I'm pretty skeptical about it so I'm taking it very slow.

The question comes to mind of what I'll do after April 24th, since this has been such a focus of my life these past three months. Should I continue my journey? Attempt to make this a permanent lifestyle change? Or veg out and eat pizza and wings all day long while I play starcraft II for five hours straight? And let's not forget going out to drink massive amounts of alcohol.

On the flip side, summer is coming, and it would seem ass backwards to throw away all the hard work right when the season has come to show it off.

What to do, what to do...

Why You (YES YOU!) are Vitamin D Deficient

Do you work in a building?

Do you live in an area where it's been raining a lot and you haven't seen the sun in a while?

Do you wear sunscreen every time you go out?

Do you fear skin cancer like a person living in 14th century Europe fears the bubonic plague?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you are probably vitamin D deficient!

For those of you unfamiliar with vitamin D, it is divided into two types: D3 and D2. D2 is more or less useless to humans and usually found in plants and fungus, so for all intents and purposes, references to vitamin D will specifically refer to D3.

So! Back to why you are deficient...

The reason for this is because vitamin D is one of the only nutrients (the only?) that your body synthesizes solely from your skin's reaction with sunlight. It's also interesting to note that because D3 is produced in the body, it isn't actually a vitamin so much as it is a hormone! Ah the constant references to hormones in this blog tickle me silly. Are you beginning to see a pattern behind why hormonal balance is so important to our bodies regardless of our health goals?

Anyways, I digress.

Vitamin D3 is a very important nutrient/hormone precursor because of its vital role in bone health, calcium absorption, and the prevention of osteoporosis. In addition to bone benefits, vitamin D3 also plays a wide role in overall health and immunity as well as your sense of well being. Symptoms of deficiency can include any of the following:

-Depression,

-Fatigue,

-High Blood Pressure,

-Bone Pain,

-And in the case of severe deficiency, Rickets.

What's more is that deficiency has also been linked to obesity, insulin resistance and heart disease. Not to mention that because it is so centrally involved in calcium absorption, and calcium has been shown to promote fat loss, it ties in nicely with the theme of this blog. (Yeah, I bet you were wondering why I was writing about this.)

I first became aware of this deficiency after a routine blood test I took with my doctor. Of course, I was deficient. But it wasn't until I did a little research that I realized what a common and easily preventable deficiency it was. The current recommended daily intake of D3 (400-600IU) is so low that people taking these amounts through a multivitamin are still possibly not getting enough. The new revised recommendation has been upped to 2,000 IU. For people taking calcium supplements, it's also important to make sure that your calcium supplement has D3 paired with it. Because of the importance of D3 in the function of the body's absorption of calcium, you're basically spinning your wheels if you're taking calcium while being D3 deficient.

Overall, if you're experiencing any of the above symptoms, especially depression, it's important to consider whether your body has micronutrient deficiencies before considering pharmaceutical products such as antidepressants. A great little resource to use is SpectraCell Laboratories. These clinics go to the extreme and measure specific micronutrient and vitamin deficiencies in your body. Sessions run around $300 but give you valuable information on what your body might be missing.

Stay healthy people!

Pumped: Blood Flow & The Illusion of Muscularity

It's interesting to see the difference in your body before and after a workout. This was taken Wednesday, April 6th 2011 right after my chest & tricep session. You'll notice an immediate difference between this picture and the picture in my last post just 4 days prior. My chest and shoulders look much more developed, and this is simply due to blood engorging the area afterwards. I've discovered that all fitness models utilize this "pump" effect in their photoshoots by lifting weights just prior to photo taking. Word to the public: they don't actually look like that on a day to day basis! I'll try to demonstrate this to full effect one of these days by going through a full circuit workout (working every muscle group) right before taking a photo.

Progress is coming along nicely and I estimate this to be around 12-13%BF as rectus abdominis definition becomes more pronounced.

The secret ingredient? Master's swimming classes.

Actual informative posts to come this weekend. (I apologize to those tired of looking at my vanity pictures.)

Stay tuned.

Diminishing Returns (Week 10)

I haven't had a progress picture in a while so I thought I would take one. The above picture was taken without the high contrast lighting that I used last time. Though it's not as clear, the beginnings of the rectus abdominis are starting to become visible as the layer of subcutaneous fat over my midsection becomes thinner and thinner. If you compare this with the picture from three weeks ago there is a slightly less smooth appearance. The difference however isn't as profound as compared to my beginning picture.

With just three weeks left until my self imposed goal date I find it harder and harder to make visible progress. I joined a master's swimming class this past week and did 400 IMs which completely destroyed me. I woke up the next morning literally 5 lbs lighter and more cut than I ever was in my life.

Then I drank some water and ate and the results disappeared. :(

I reevaluated my diet this past week and decided to eliminate all dairy and as much fat as possible. Yes, I was still consuming dairy in the mornings in the form of cheese in the occasional Egg McMuffin and Lunchables (because I hate waking up in the mornings and I never seem to find time to eat this important first meal). I'm a fraud, don't hate me.

The results have been quite interesting as my sex drive and general vigor for life has dropped and my mood has become more complacent and blasé. For those of you who don't know, cholesterol and fats are the primary building blocks for sex hormones in our body, and I suspect this is the main reason why this has happened. (Yes people, fat is necessary and good for you in the right amounts.) I plan to slowly reintroduce small amounts of healthy fats into my diet through raw nuts, avocados and a larger consumption of fish such as salmon and tuna... but for now, I'm somewhat interested in seeing just how far I can push my body to the dark side by nearly depleting all fat from my diet. Masochistic? Maybe. *Insert evil laugh here*

Stay tuned.