New job
I’m looking forward to my new job as an ethical hacker. This has been my dream job for quite a while.
Low Carb Paleo Diet Day 77
Today is day 77 of my low carb Paleo diet. I am down to 219lbs for a total of 24lbs lost.
Lessons Learned From My Last Meet
I didn’t know what to expect going into my meet last weekend, but after my performance that day, I am glad I decided to not compete at the Arnold. I have to adjust to my new lighter body weight. At this time a year ago, I weighed 260lbs and I weighed in at my meet last weekend at a body weight of 218lbs. I weighed 220lbs first thing Friday morning. I wasn’t sure how close my scales would be compared to the scales at the meet. In the past when I have competed in a NASA meet, I had two to three hours to travel prior to weigh in and couldn’t accurately compare the two scales. I weighed before I left the house and I know now that my scales are in sync with the NASA scales.
Considering my weight loss, I didn’t do too bad. Although I wasn’t happy with my performance, but I now have a point of reference to start from and I can start training for my next meet. My next meet will be USAPL Raw Nationals in August. I have 20 weeks to train and I know what I need to do to improve.
I have been analyzing repeatedly why I squat so much more the heavier I am. It might seem self explanatory, but I don’t think it’s that cut and dry. I have done a good job maintaining muscle mass. My legs didn’t lose much size at all. I did lose about 6 inches is my waist and there lies my problem. At the bottom of a squat, I had my gut to push off and it was easier to stay upright at the bottom of the squat. There are two things I need to do to compensate for this. The first one is to work my core harder. Stronger abs will give me more stability. The second thing to compensate for the lack of a gut, is speed. I have to be fast out of the hole on the squat.
I am going back to the modified Sheiko that I was following, which is the same routine I used training for the Arnold. My squat was the best it has ever been and my deadlift was the best ever in a meet that doesn’t use a deadlift bar. The Sheiko routine worked great for my bench press also. It took me 8 weeks the first time I used it to hit and easy 402lbs bench press. My only alteration for the bench portion of the routine, is to include the use of a Slingshot to help me improve my weakness, which is the lockout. I wasn’t following the deadlift portion of the routine and made good progress, but I wasn’t training my deadlift optimally. I think following the deadlift portion of the routine will help me improve my deadlift.
I used to be very consistent with cardio, but have gotten out of the habit of doing cardio. It will help improve my diabetes control and help my conditioning. I can tell from morning walks that they should improve my strength in certain areas. My adductors have been sore as well as my hips, knees and tibialis muscles. I am walking in New Balance Minimus shoes to get the benefits that you would receive from walking barefoot.
Along with my accessory/supplemental exercises, I will overhead press twice a week, and work back twice to three times a week. Also I will be working my abs frequently to help build stability in my squat and deadlift. I also continue stretching, foam rolling, and doing corrective/prehab exercises. The glute activation work I was doing training for the Arnold last year helped a lot and I will be including that as well.
Low Carb Paleo Diet Day 60
Yesterday was day 60 of my low carb Paleo diet journey. This is the most successful diet attempt and with the quickest results I have ever experienced. I have done low carb diets in the past, but I would eventually get off the diet going back to my old ways of eating and gain the weight back.
I have lost 21.5 lbs of body weight and now weigh 221.5 lbs down from 243 lbs. My body fat has decreased by 4.8% and is currently 12.4%. My diabetes control has vastly improved. My fasting blood glucose levels have gone from 160 mg/dl to under 110 mg/dl. My hemoglobin A1C has gone from 7 to 5.6. I went from my size 38 pants fitting tightly in the waist to a size 36 fitting comfortably in the waist. I am leaner and feel healthier than I have in over 8 years. The Paleo diet is not just a diet for me anymore, but a part of my lifestyle. I finally have conquered my cravings for sugar and high carb foods. I now crave the foods I eat on my low carb Paleo diet.
This is really just the beginning and one of my goals is to reverse my type 2 diabetes. My holistic doctor has been trying to get me to eat this way for the past 8 years. I had to totally commit to this diet and use what I learned from my past mistakes, such as not looking at this short term solution, having regularly scheduled cheat meals that turned into cheat days and then off the diet all together. I also have to be strict to not fall back into my old way of eating. I also make sure to always have something at home to eat that complies with my diet.
After seeing how well the first 60 days have gone, I look forward to seeing the longer term affects of my new way of eating. When I went into this, my main objective was to reverse my diabetes and improve my overall health, but I do look forward to the positive affects this will have on my performance in the gym and on the platform. Low carb diets have a positive affect on my testosterone levels and being a 46 year old natural strength athlete, this is even more important.
My daughter’s team won their second bout!
The Muertas Locas beat the Hickory Street Hooligans 129 to 82. The Muertas play again on April 28.
Low Carb Paleo Diet Day 56
I lost another 1.5 lbs, for a total weight loss of 21.5 lbs. This is the lightest I have been since 2003. Last Sunday I started implementing a carb load day, I plan on one carb load day per week. It appears to have helped my weight loss. I have 1.5 lbs to go for my meet on 3/10.
