Tag Archives: weight

Day 17: Visioning is believing

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day 17

  • Weight: 125.4 lbs.
  • No workout today
  • Total inches: 118.3
  • Protein: 156 g (38 g over target)
  • Calories: 2,345

A fear seems a little less intimidating when said aloud. I’ve already named a primary fear of this project: getting fat. The daily weight pendulum has suddenly begun to swing in the correct direction.

weight Sept. 17, 2012

Hooray for excess calories. The real trick is adding more pounds of muscle than fat.

Why focus on fear when I can focus on what I want? I can illustrate it much better than trying to describe it …

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Charles Atlas ad

The beach bully, the original one, not the new one.
Who wouldn’t want to be the villain in a comic book ad?

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Rosie the Riveter, We can do it

Rosie says I can do it.
I can do it! (Look at that bicep!)
If I had been running the riveting factories …
we’d all be speaking German now. 

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Tough cat eats pain for breakfast

All I want to know is how much protein is in pain.

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Mike Tyson

Tyson, the early years. Note the lack of tribal facial tattoo.
Also, how much protein in a human ear? Asking for a friend. 

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Homer eats Powersauce Bars, which unleash
the energy of six different types of apples.

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I’ll be a brick …

 

 

 

 

house.

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Cue the montage.

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Fading out …

Day 15: When in doubt, bake

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day 15

  • Weight: 123.2 lbs.
  • Workout A: 20 min., 42 sec.
  • Total inches: 117.4
  • Protein: 140 g (22 g over target)
  • Calories: 2,799

If this project is about vanity, the biggest concern I have is having a gut. (Not guts. Gut.)

I’ve always had a small pot belly, which doesn’t jump out when the first thing people notice is how skinny I am.

So besides looking foolish, my bigger concern is coming away from all of this with nothing more than a giant gut. That little nagging voice in the back of my mind may be my built-in appetite suppressant. And for me, it’s always worked.

Having never counted calories in my life, I started checking today. To maintain current weight (given my height and gender) requires roughly 1,700 to 2,100 calories a day.

“The 4-Hour Body” [Amazon | iTunes aff. links] assures the reader that one won’t transform from average human to muscle-bound freak overnight. It is implied that one won’t also explode around the waistline either. But the fear lingers.

The obvious answer for my workout Saturday: Bake.

I’ve made Nestlé Toll House chocolate chip cookies all my life. They’re easy, and I rarely vary the recipe. I’m always trying to get the perfect finish, chewy and moist.

I don’t have that many out-and-out sweets in the house, so baking some fresh temptations should make it easier to indulge. Each standard cookie has 110 calories and 2 g protein.

I had four with my protein shake for breakfast dessert, if that’s what you want to call it.

I never imagined 2 weeks in that I’d be struggling with putting on the pounds. The tiny voice is laughing.

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Nestlé Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies

  • 2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 cups (12-oz. package) semisweet chocolate chips
  • 1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes 5 dozen cookies

Note: 1 cookie has 110 calories, 2 g protein.

Day 12: Drink or shrink

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day 12

  • Weight: 123.0 lbs.
  • No workout today
  • Total inches: 116.1
  • Protein: 165 g (47 g over target)

Most days, I start out with a simple protein shake, featuring my old nemesis, milk. (shakes fist)

It has gotten a little easier to digest it each day, and it certainly has made it much easier to hit the protein goals.

But I may still be lagging on calories and volume.

weight Sept. 9, 2012

Weight chart, through Sept. 12

My weight seems to be stuck at 123 pounds, so I’m going to slowly build my caloric intake. In other words, eat more each day.

The kitchen is loaded with protein-rich foods, so now it’s up to me. I think I’ll celebrate with some ice cream and trail mix and granola and pork and …

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Protein Shake
“The 4-Hour Body” [Amazon | iTunes aff. links], page 207

  • 3 cups milk (2 percent or whole organic)
  • 30 g whey protein isolate (chocolate recommended)
  • 1 banana
  • 3 heaping tbsp. almond butter (no added sugar, maltodextrin or syrups)
  • 5 ice cubes

Blend.

Notes: 970 calories, 75 g protein.

I use 2 percent milk, Isopure dutch chocolate whey protein isolate [aff. link] (lucky for me, on sale last month) and boring peanut butter (cheaper).

Day 8: A week’s worth of progress

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Day 8

  • Weight: 123.6 lbs.
  • No workout today
  • Total inches: 116.3
  • Protein: 119 g (1 g over target)

I can’t detect patterns over a day. But over a week, maybe.

The first indicator of progress is gaining weight. “The 4-Hour Body” [Amazon | iTunes aff. links] suggests shooting for an increase of 2.5 pounds a week, and I’ve gained 1.8 pounds in the first week.

I trust my digital scale for accuracy and consistency. I weigh myself each morning right after waking up. I can increase my poundage with some minor adjustments to my daily menu. No need to track calories yet, just eat more protein and food in general.

Who knew the easiest part would be gaining weight? But this indicator shows that I don’t have any physiological defect such as the so-called “leaky gut syndrome,” which would make it far more difficult to gain weight, even with bigger meals.

The second indicator is murky: total inches, my combined measurements for my arms, legs, waist and hips. It has increased from 113.6 inches to 116.3 inches, jumping 2.7 inches.

I’m not putting as much faith in this number yet, because my tape measuring skills are so-so, and the individual measures have jumped back and forth daily. In theory, more muscle will mean a higher total inch count by the end of the month.

Let’s hope it’s not simply a giant increase in my waistline. No Cartman “beefcake” results, please.

Eric Cartman, Weight Gain 4000

Beefcake?

The third indicator is my collection of workout data. But at this early stage, I’ve completed Workouts A and B only once each, and failed to complete reps on Workout A once. Not much to go on at this point.

The telling sign will be a steady increase in lifting weights and completion of target reps. I’m guessing it may take an entire month — eight workouts in all — to gather enough data.

A pattern is emerging. These three indicators will help determine its shape.