If you read this blog, you know I've developed a little triathlon habit. Actually, it's a pretty big habit (six races in 2011.) Anyway, this habit is still new to me -- I began training for my first triathlon in January 2010.
At that time, my weight at a minimum was around 208. I say at a minimum because I was careful only to get on the scales completely naked and after a bowel movement. So most of the time I was probably carrying more weight around.
Now I have a body composition monitor and a nifty little Google Docs set up where I smooth out the noise from my measurements. My trend weight today is 180.8 and my body fat percentage trend is at 13.2%. So I'm carrying around about 24 pounds of fat or a little less than one pound of fat for every three inches of height. 24 pounds sounds like a lot, but I'm a relatively tall dude.
I've lost at least 27 pounds. For the sake of argument, let's assume I've only lost fat and not put on any muscle. Of course, that's ridiculous, but we can establish a boundary. I've lost more than half of the fat I was carrying around. That's cool. But I was carrying at least fifty pounds of fat. Wow. My body fat percentage was at least 25%. If a surgeon had to work on one of my organs, they probably would have had to cut through more fat than the volume my organ occupied.
I'd like to lose another eight pounds of fat. That would take me down to 9.2% fat if I also lost eight pounds of weight. I don't know that I'll lose eight pounds of weight, though. I want some more explosiveness so I'm going to start some strength training. Assuming I gain a few pounds of muscle, this fat loss would probably take me down to about 8% fat. So the carnivorous aliens won't want me for their dinner plates.
Anyway, this hasn't all been exercise. I eat a fairly high-fiber diet that is mostly plant-based. I have some chronic health issues that suggest I should limit my animal consumption. I also try to limit my crap calorie consumption to immediately after a workout. That way the extra calories are more likely to go to replenishing my glycogen stores rather than being converted for long term storage (i.e. fat.) Of course, the weight loss and diet changes have basically made the health issues go away. I'd like to keep it that way.
