The First Month is the Hardest (we’ve been here before) ………….

When you change up your routines, it’s always hard to get back into the swing of things. This new Sculpting Macro is no exception. There are two new exercises I am particularly anxious about; Squat Pyramids and Bench Rows. The pyramids are very demanding; nothing like a set of 30 to 40 reps to give you a great pump…..and a bit of doubt of actually getting through the set. Right now; two sets of pyramids and I’m kaput. The challenge (and the progression) will be a third set. The bench rows are also a bit different; you really isolate the posterior delt’s. Anyway, that’s what we’re after, lots of pump, lots of isolation. And the other thing we’ll be discussing this month; fiber and weight loss. When chasing that Last 10 Pounds, you need to be a bit holistic in your approach; exercise, diet, supplements, rest, sleep, motivation………….

 

When You’re Noticed (motivation) ……………..

As I have written several times in this Blog, if you’re noticed…….you’re on the right path. This compliment came from one of our office admin gal’s; when standing in line together getting our complimentary flu shots, I was struggling with my long sleeve undershirt. When she saw my upper arm she made the comment…..’steroids?’. Initially I was thinking ‘what brought that on?’ but after spending a little time with her it dawned on me it truly was a compliment, she was commenting on my bicep. Who would have ever guessed?!?!

And now for the politically incorrect…….This last week I have been cruising Reddit, under the Body Acceptance heading. I have a hard time with the whining that goes on about how you feel bad because you’re overweight and you want society to accept you. OK, I accept you..……I just accept you as overweight……...or dare I say…...fat. If you think it is the norm to be sloppy, overweight (not the normal ebb and flow of 10 to 15 pounds) then that is your world, your business, your ‘handicap’. I personally don’t accept it. I think overweight and underweight (outside of normal) is a personality flaw. My personal opinion is that people outside of normal do not, or maybe cannot, define specific goals, cannot put an improvement plan in place and work that plan. Maybe they don’t understand or they aren’t educated in that area. If so, get educated. Maybe they are confused about how they need to present themselves to society, they want to drag you down to their level. We are talking simple details folks……a scheduled hour a day of me time running, jumping, playing plus mindful eating. As you age, as push past that 60 and 70 year mark, if you’re not paying attention, your life, or at least your quality of life will be effected. If you think you’re healthy outside of norm, think again……..you’re not.

Bottom line…….I don’t want to notice you because you are overweight or underweight. I want to notice you because you have found balance, you look normal, you are healthy.

 

Fiber, Fish and You………….

So last year, just after my annual pill pusher exam and my combined colonoscopy/endoscopy, I decided to get serious about fiber……about fish oil, e.g. Omega 3. I think the polyps that the G.I. doc removed from my colon convinced me of that. Or maybe it was the high cholesterol. Anyway, how did I respond to a year of fiber and fish oil supplements? Read on;

For a man, the USDA minimum recommended fiber intake is 38 grams a day. You can’t eat enough fruits, veggies or oatmeal to get this 38 grams, you’ll be bloated all day. For example, you would need to eat at least 10 apples to get your 38 grams, you would also add 650 calories to your diet. So how do you eat 38 grams of fiber without eating an apple an hour?

For me personally, a fiber supplement makes good sense. My choice is psyllium. Psyllium is a soluble fiber that “supports gut health”; e.g. makes you regular. It is also zero calorie. So without becoming a vegetarian in an effort to meet daily caloric intake with fiber rich foods, I choose psyllium, e.g. I like meat, I like dairy. So a psyllium supplement either as Metamucil or straight psyllium powder was chosen. Over the last year, I take 5 to 10 grams twice per day, morning and night. This last month, I have added 2 to 5 grams more at lunch. The general consensus is to take it prior to meals to ‘kinda’ fill you up and make you less hungry. I can tell you from experience, it doesn’t really matter when you take it as long as your consistent. Also, as far as name brand vs. generic, no difference. Both do the trick keeping me regular (best poops I’ve ever had) and as an added benefit……maybe weight loss.……more specifically, fat loss. However, I will tell you that if you are not exercising, any weight loss will be predominantly muscle. So before you decide to go the fiber supplement path for weight loss, you better include exercise or you may end up skinny fat or worse. The body will always ditch what it’s not using. Using muscles for work and play, the body will ditch fat. Sit on your ass all day, it will ditch muscle. It’s your choice but I prefer keep muscle. So fiber plus exercise is the order of the day.

Fish oil or Omega 3 has been another important element of my supplement list over this last year. The FDA recommends 2 servings of fish per week. At most, this would get you maybe 1 to 2 grams of Omega 3 per week. To get the benefit of lower cholesterol or to support my love handle/man pooch reduction experiment, you would need to eat fish every day. So unless you live in an area with a large fish eating population (you are an Eskimo), it would prove quite expensive as far as a grocery commodity; just check out the price of salmon lately. This leaves fish oil tablets as the only realistic option (these aren’t cheap either). The problem, to get anything near the minimum 3 gram (optimum would be 6 grams) daily dose of Omega 3 I have been shooting for, you need to take at least 10, 1200 mg fish oil tablets per day. Over the last year I have been taking 12, 1200 mg tablets per day. The Omega 3 concentration in retail (grocery store) fish oil supplements is only 360 mg’s per 1200mg tablet. As I have stated in previous posts, I’m trying to do a body fat feed and bleed (higher concentration of unsaturated fat) for faster mobilization of body fat as fuel…………sure you are (LOL). Besides cholesterol and fat loss, other potential benefits of fish oil include blood sugar control and reduction of triglycerides, maybe!!!

The reason I bring up weight loss……fat loss, is that this month I have seen the scale at 190, down 2 more pounds since last month and almost 12 pounds since the 2015 Sculpting Macro. And the only consistent change to my diet has been fiber and fish oil supplements. And the only change to my basic workout routines has been NO cardio. And even with a creatine cycle thrown in, I really can’t explain the weight loss other than the combination of fiber and fish oil. Of course there could be a CO2 connection. I will discuss that in the paragraphs below so read on.

As far as cholesterol, I won’t know until my next pill pusher appointment. Supposedly, if you are a dedicated fiber user, your cholesterol should drop. The reason has to do with bile production. Bile is used to emulsify fats and allow fat absorption through the gut. A good portion of bile is also reabsorbed (like 85% reabsorbed) along with the digested fat. Bile is produced through cholesterol metabolism so if you are always producing bile, you are reducing cholesterol………..maybe? To hedge my bet on a better cholesterol profile, I’m also hoping that the mega dose of Omega 3 also supports the equation. We’ll see. And even though my pill pusher prescribed Lipitor last year, I have not used the prescription. I have also let my supply of niacin (vitamin B3) run out. Basically this will give me a clean shot as to the effects of fiber……and or fish oil…….supplements on cholesterol for my next appointment. Keep your fingers crossed, let’s see if we can get closer to that 200 mark that I’ve been shooting for.

 

CO2 and You..................

Several months back (maybe a year or so ago) I had written about the potential effects of elevated CO2 on carbohydrate metabolism, on sleep and on blood sugar. Since that time I have modified my homes ‘Fresh Air System’ to operate for a longer period during the night (from 2 hours to 4 hours, midnight to 4:00 am) and operate during the early evening hours (2 hours, 6:00 to 8:00 pm) prior to my normal bed time. I completed this modification basically by changing the original analog timer that came with the house to a programmable digital unit. I also had to replace the systems inlet damper, it apparently hadn’t been working for quite a while. I did all of this work in the July/August time frame. Has this done anything other than increase my heating/AC bill (LOL)? Mechanically, the answer is YES; I dropped the CO2 levels in my bedroom, with all of the windows closed, from well over 1000 ppm to 500 to 600 ppm while I sleep. Has this impacted weight loss through a better carbohydrate metabolism while I sleep, has it lowered my fasting (morning) blood sugar? I’m not sure. However, I’m pretty sure it has improved my sleep quality. As I stated above, since the start of my 2016 Endurance Macro, I have dropped at least 10 pounds. There is the fiber connection but with no cardio, I would assume there should be a canceling affect. It just seems awful coincidental that about the time I modified my homes ventilation system I noted a steady drop in weight. Could there be a connection?

As far as blood sugar, I’ll wait until my pill pusher checkup. He’ll pull an A1C (3 month average) and if it’s below 5.7 (what it’s been for several years), then I would say there is more than just a coincidental connection.

I plan on modifying my homes ‘Fresh Air System’ further and tie in a CO2 detector that will be located in the bedroom. The system would control based on CO2 levels instead of a time. This should keep CO2 levels well below an 800 ppm threshold (my selected limit) during sleep and hopefully be more economical than a timer controlled system.

 

Monthly KPI’s…………….

So for this year’s Sculpting Macro, instead of a random selection (more like confusing array) of exercises, I decided to stick with a basic squat and back sequence. I am still attacking arms and chest, just not as a priority.

October Best
Exercise	Sets	Reps	Total Weight Moved
Squat Pyramid	2	32	8420
Press Combo	4	16	8320
Bench Row	4	8	3680
Masculine Feelings (Scale 1 to 10) = 9
Cardio; Daily Job Site Walks
Notes; Lower; Squat Pyramids. 6 front light, 4 front heavy, 4 back light, 4 back heavy, 4 back light, 4 front heavy, 6 front light. This is one set (32 reps) with no rest. 2 to 3 sets with 4-minute rest between sets. The Challenge……3 sets.   Upper; Press Combo. 8 reps Wide Grip Guillotine press, followed by 8 reps Narrow Grip press and 4/5 Neutral Grip pullups with L-Sit.   Back; I will be using the Bench Row as an indicator as far as back work. Just note that I am also completing pullups, lat pulls, face pulls, etc… to supplement.

 

Summary………..

The first month of the 2016 Sculpting Macro was a bit easier to get into as compared to the 2015 macro. It was planned better. And I am still being complimented for my physical condition……at 61, or maybe just a sign of respect for my efforts. Now if the fiber, fish oil and CO2 investments pay off, I may be able to finally catch and eradicate that Last 10 Pounds!!!  

 

MMJennings