I am four weeks into my new-found lifestyle and here to report some useful trends.

Starting Weight: 207 lbs

Starting Body Fat: 23%

Total Body Fat: 47.6 lbs

Weight: 199 lbs (Wahoo! first time under 200 lbs since college)

Body Fat: 20%

Total Body Fat: 39.8 lbs

That is a change of 8 lbs overall and 3 % body fat. For all the haters out there, I use this scale:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/escali/body-fat-and-water-scale.html

I also verify the reading using this:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/bbcom/defenderbodyfatcaliper.html

They have been within 1% of each other and I have been reporting the higher body fat of the two for this blog.

So, what have we learned so far?

Commitment

Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go.

You have to commit fully to something like this. As I was approaching the 200 lb mark on the scale, I cheated and had a dinner roll one night with family. The following day I was at 202 lbs. WTF!! Some people eat garbage all day and don’t gain two pounds. What I have to remind myself is that when you are transitioning your body composition, it becomes very sensitive to irregularities. When you eat Big Mac’s all the time, your body learns to adjust and the rate at which you get fatter decreases simply because the human body is an incredible machine and doesn’t want you to be a squishy lazy thing. When you start to eat clean and diet, your nutrient uptake is high, your insulin response is altered and something as simple as a cheat donut can wreck a whole week’s worth of work.

I read a lot of fitness blogs and forums these days and I notice dozens of people a day complaining that they blew their weight loss for the week with one or two bad meals.

Remember, Abs are made in the home kitchen, not McDonald’s.

Hydration

That is actually what I look like. No, really.

Now that I am experiencing heightened metabolism and exerting more energy daily, I really need to keep up on my water intake. I shoot for around a gallon a day knowing that some days I will go under. Days where I really drop below that gallon, I am noticeably sluggish the next morning in the gym. Regarding composition, you want to be hydrated early on in something like this so that your body sees that it has tons of water available and doesn’t feel the need to hoard water. So, it is counter intuitive, but drinking more water will cause you to shed water weight.

The Work

All elevators should be “out of order.”

I don’t care if you go to the most expensive gym in the town you live or you work out in your basement, you have to put in the time. I find it hilarious that my coworkers tell me they don’t have an hour a day to workout, but then those same people sit and talk about all the shows they watch on tv daily. “Oh, did you catch American Idol, MadMen, and Biggest Loser last night?” That is a whole lot of couch surfing, but unlike regular surfing, it does not burn calories.

So, I hope to see you all out there. Keep eating clean and keep lifting those heavy things.

Be sure to tell your friends and share me on Facebook!