Day 28 : "Fourth weekly weigh-in -- the results"

So, I've arrived at the half-way point.  The home stretch lays before me.  That feels good... as it doesn't seem that long ago that I was in my first week, and 8 weeks seemed like such a long, insurmountable, way away.  It also feels great to be able to say that I've now been to the gym every single day for 4 weeks, and that I've not touched a drop of alcohol for 28 days.  (I remember going tee-total in the summer of 2009 for 32 days when on a previous health kick - the longest I've gone without a drink, probably, in my adult life - so I've just got another four days of sobriety to go to top that!)

My Sunday gym visit usually consists of just 30 minutes on the cross trainer.  However today - partly because I skipped my cardio on Friday following my dental treatment, and partly in penance for consuming too many nuts yesterday - I spent 60 minutes on the cross trainer instead, and then threw in 20 minutes on the rowing machine for good measure (after only eating a banana for breakfast). Following on from a big legs workout yesterday morning, my legs are now stiff as planks.  It kinda feels good... even though I'm walking like I just shit myself.

Anyway, the regime seems to be paying off.  Here are my results from this afternoon's mid-way weigh-in:


                         Week 0                Week 1               Week 2              Week 3             Week 4

Body Fat            32.8%                   29.4%                 27.4%                26.7%               25.6%

Muscle Mass      33.9%                   35.2%                 35.8%                36.2%               36.6%

Weight               16st 7lb                15st 7lb              14st 11lb             14st 9lb            14st 6lb



Yep, I've lost another 3lb this week, breaking through the 2 stone total weight loss barrier!! And my body fat continues to drop rapidly - a 1.1% percentage point decrease this week! - as my muscle mass continues to grow.  Rock!

A couple of people have asked me what my gym regime consists of, so I thought I'd take this opportunity to post my usual weekly work-out plan.  I'm no expert, but I've tried to combine a mixture of weights (6 days a week, for burning fat and building muscle), cardio (6 days a week, for burning fat and conditioning) and - since the beginning of week two - 5 stomach sessions a week (as, one day, if I eventually manage to get rid of all the fat, perhaps there'll be a muscle lurking under there somewhere...)  I also (apart from today) take it a bit easier at the weekend, so that I can look forward to the weekend a bit more, and don't totally run myself into the ground...

Mon:  Chest workout, stomach & 30 mins cardio
Tues:  Biceps workout, stomach & 30 mins cardio
Weds: Shoulders workout, stomach & 30 mins cardio
Thurs:  Triceps workout, stomach & 30 mins cardio
Fri:  Back workout, stomach & 30 mins cardio
Sat:  Legs workout
Sun:  30 mins cross trainer

For cardio on Mon-Fri, I sometimes use the exercise bike or rowing machine, but mainly cross train as it burns off more calories (personally, I hate running / running machines, so don't put myself through that!)

Anyway, I'm off to a charity quiz night tonight - time to see if all that fish has paid any dividends to my brain!

Coming up:  Another 4 weeks of hell !