Progress:
We’ve passed the half year mark of my journey toward fitness. I check in with you now at 34 weeks. It’s been 5 months later since my last blog post. There’s been some ups and downs. I laid off the alternate day fasting about the time of my last post on the subject. You can imagine what happened. I gained back 12 lbs. over the next 12 weeks. My waist went from a trim 36 inches back up to 38 inches. Now that is not as bad as it sounds. A lot of that regained weight turned out to be muscle. Although I stopped the fasting, I still tracked my weight, caloric intake and bodyfat percentage. In this period my weekly calories minus exercise went up to up to 2000 a day from 1700.
I had started the Stronglifts weightlifting program about the same time as intermittent fasting. And unlike the fasting which I put on pause, I continued pumping iron. So, I got stronger.
Strength Gains:
- Squats added 120 lbs.
- Deadlifts added 150 lbs.
- Press added 60 lbs.
- Benchpress added 120 lbs.
- Row added 110 lbs.
Now, I am getting back on the fasting tip and looking to reach my goals.
Progress since March 3rd.
On March 3rd, I hit my highest weight for the year at 212. That was kind of the wake up call. I decided I wanted to be on the downswing again and resolved to restart fasting and a more committed weight-lifting schedule. My workout partners had not been the most committal, so I resolved that I would be making my workouts whether or not my partners could make it. At the beginning of March, I started fasting two days a week. After two weeks I was back to three times a week. I started losing quickly. Losing 3 lbs. a week. At the same time, I started being more diligent about making my three workouts a week in the gym. Lo and behold, I starting progressing in weights. I even starting throwing in a run every week. Things are progressing. I set a milestone for myself as well. When I first started IF in August, I set the obvious milestone of 200 lbs. as an intermediate goal. This time I set one a little lower. My goal is to be down to 195 by the time I go on vacation on June 6th. This milestone aligns perfectly with my goal to be 185 lbs. on my birthday, the one year anniversary of the start of my fitness initiative.