July 2010 Summary

Another month of exercise complete and some surprising insight, changes and learnings. While the month started slow due to being overseas there was consistent exercise from 5th July to the end of the month with 1 day taken as a break. My target of 12,000 kcals was reached and there was reasonable progress on the weight & body fat loss.

Key highlights for the month are:

• P90X - I came across P90X and have tried 15 sessions. I formally start the proper program on Monday 2nd August.
• HRM - I've started using my HRM monitor again and from 1st August onwards my daily, weekly and monthly summaries will utilise the HRM kcal readings rather than those on the cardio machines.
• Nutrition - Overall my nutrition this month has been good with little or no junk food, alcohol etc. The last 4 days I've upped my daily protein intake to 40%+ and although this may be coincidence the last few days have seen the biggest change in weight and body fat loss.
• I've now lost a total of 8.8kg and 5.9% body fat since I started on this journey on the 7th March.

Month Summary
Starting stats: 78.9kg, 21.5% body fat
End stats: 76.7kg, 19.5% body fat
Weight lost: 2.2kg
Body fat lost: 2%

Days exercised during Month: 26 days
Elliptical calories burnt: 10,624 kcal
Recumbent bike calories burnt: 1,981 kcal
Total calories burnt: 12,605 kcal

Year to Date Summary
Weight lost: 8.8kg
Body fat lost: 5.9%

Days exercised during Year: 87
Elliptical calories burnt: 32,508 kcal
Recumbent bike calories burnt: 12,356 kcal
Total calories burnt: 44864 kcal

July 31st 2010 Daily Update

Another month comes to an end and I'm seeing good results through nutritional discipline, P90X workouts and my standard cardio exercise regime. It is easy to see that I've not just lost weight, but I'm also making progress on becoming toned.

Saturday is Yoga X day.. not entirely sure I'm looking forward to it as I'm not very good, however the general feedback is to persevere, and I also know I am not very flexible so I need to bring it!

We spent the majority of the day at a local shopping mall, so after 90 minutes of Yoga X called it a day hence no Sprint 8 in the evening.

Morning

• Sprint 8 elliptical = 230 kcal (276 kcal, 148/160 bpm, 00:39, 12:47, 06:41)
• Jump rope
• Hula

Afternoon

The second time I have completed Yoga X and noticed some improvement in terms of balance but predominantly in at least knowing what move to undertake based on the name being said. This results in slightly better form as less need to try to see the move being demonstrated on the TV. Also wearing fingerless gloves as find my hands slip and slide on many of the floor positions required.

• P90X Yoga X (289 kcal, 94/122bpm, 46:08, 00:00, 00:00)

Summary


230 kcal on the machines (12,605 month to date)
565 kcal total recorded on HRM

Weigh In - 31st July 2010: 76.7kg; 19.5%bf

WOW! the last few days have seen the body fat really drop from the plateau I had reached. The only change I have made to my diet/exercise regime was to switch to a higher protein diet while keeping the calories at the same level, and that was on the 28th July - 3 days ago. Maybe it was co-incidence however it seems to have made a difference.


Morning weigh in was 76.7kg and 19.5% body fat which is a reduction of 0.5kg and 1% body fat since the last official weigh in 7 days ago on the 24th July.

Total loss since 7th March 2010:
Weight: 8.8kg
Body fat: 5.9%

Dumbbells & P90X

Just had a call from the UPS letting me know that the dumbbells will be delivered on Monday. If all goes well I will therefore be formally starting P90X on Monday 2nd August. I will likely have some business trips during the next 3 months so will need to determine how best to approach the times I am away.

So far this week I've completed the first 5 days of P90X as a trial run although without the full selection of dumbbells I'm having to use my existing weights that for some exercises are too light or too heavy.

Bring It!

July 30th 2010 Daily Update

Corrected a typo from the last two days' entries that had the weight as 78.x kg rather than 77.x kg... OOPS! Thanks to my wife for noticing!

Jumped on the scales this morning and they really did show 77.0kg 19.5% body fat.. WOW!! Let's hope this continues for the official weigh in this weekend as both the weight and body fat have decreased. Would be great to be at 76.9kg 19.5% at the weekend!

12,000 kcal reached and passed!

Morning

My best reverse work out so far in terms of time spent in Zone 3 (08:54), an increase of just over 2 minutes. My target is to reach 15 minutes in Zone 3.

• Sprint 8 elliptical reverse = 198 kcal (278 kcal, 148/159bpm, 00:47, 10:25, 08:54)

Afternoon

• P90X Chest & Back (474 kcal, 119/155bpm, 43:33, 12:06, 00:08)
• Sprint 8 elliptical = 236 (279 kcal, 148/160bpm, 00:52, 11:24, 07:55)

Summary

434 kcal on the machines (12,375 month to date)
1031 kcal total recorded on HRM 

July 29th 2010 Daily Update

Weight measured in at 77.4kg and 20.0% body fat. Not concerned with the slight weight increase as that will just be a natural daily variation and I was up earlier this morning than normal. Good to see the body fat down to 20.0% for the 2nd day in a row however need to have 3 consecutive readings before I formally record it.

Morning

No morning exercise today. Left the house at 6:30am as was presenting at an early morning meetings at work. Should be back to normal for tomorrow for morning exercises.

Evening

I enjoy the Kenpo X session of P90X however I am very uncoordinated! My punches and kicks probably wouldn't harm a gnat! I'm told my co-ordination will improve, so patience young Jedi!

• P90X Kenpo X (448 kcal, 116/150bpm, 43:02, 07:33, 00:00)
• Sprint 8 elliptical = 255 kcal (294 kcal, 152/166bpm, 00:43, 05:41, 13:52)
• Sprint 8 elliptical alternating = 229 kcal (281 kcal, 149/164bpm, 00:41, 13:07, 06:40)

On the Sprint 8, the first session was in a forwards direction, the second session alternated between forwards and backwards every interval repeat. A number of my more recent Sprint 8 workouts have not pushed me as much as I would like, probably due to some level of tiredness, however this evening's first session was back to a good, hard workout.

Summary

Progressing well overall and I remain on target for 12,000 kcal this month of cardio on the machines (59kcal to go!).

484 kcal on the machines (11,941 month to date)
1023 kcal total recorded on HRM

July 28th 2010 Daily Update

Weight measured in at 77.3kg and 20.0% body fat. Not concerned with the 0.2kg increase as that will just be a natural daily variation. Good to see the body fat down to 20.% however need to have 3 consecutive readings before I formally record it.

Morning

No morning exercise today. Early morning meetings at work and wanting to balance the amount of exercise and not over-train.

Evening

• P90X Shoulder & Arms (300 kcal, 105/146bpm, 47:53, 01:37, 00:00)
• P90X Ab Ripper X (82 kcal, 107/123bpm, 15:13, 00:00, 00:00)
• Sprint 8 elliptical = 222 kcal (266 kcal, 144/158bpm, 01:15, 15:20, 03:50)

Summary

222 kcal on the machines (11,457 month to date)
648 kcal total recorded on HRM 

I changed my nutrition (more fish/chicken) as below.

date	protein	carb	fat
27th July	26%	54%	20%
28th July	40%	38%	21%