I'm Determined to Lose Another 10 Pounds and This is How I'm Going to Do It

I Weighed Myself Four Days Ago. I weighed 200 lbs. 

Since October, I have been steadily gaining weight, and it's probably not mostly muscle. While I fast most days (fasting spares muscle), I have not been following a strict keto diet. Heck, since I've adapted to a diet that is very fat-centric, I have not been strict keto.

Overall, I would like to reverse the trend of losing muscle. Most, if not many, people start to find themselves losing about one pound of skeletal muscle every year beginning at the age of 40. I am hoping that I can at least maintain much my muscle mass well into my 70s. I know that it would be virtually impossible for me to keep most of my muscle if I eat maintenance calories or be in a slight deficit. Currently, I don't think that being in a (caloric) deficit would do much for helping me reach my fitness goals. It will probably be the implementation of strategic exercise routines that will help me reach my goals most efficiently.

Dietary fat has been good to me.

One gram of (dietary) fat is nine calories, while 1 gram of carbohydrate is only four calories. I typically eat at least after 4:00 PM on most days. Sometimes I may fast until 7:00 PM--and eat whatever I want (note: usually I want nutrient-dense food) during my four- to six-hour feeding window. Ultimately, I eat less and have zero food cravings. Ever.

While I go to a float tank and workout at least twice per week and, until recently, I had not been doing my daily high-intensity cardio routines six-days per week.

Well, let me take a step back and describe my ideal week of working out:

• Mornings
• Monday through Saturday, I would be doing a six-minute high-intensity cardio workout
• the typical (iHeartGains) HIIT Cardio Workout
• 20 seconds of jumping jacks
• 10-second active rest (plank)
• 20 seconds of pogo jumps
• 10-second active rest (plank)
• 10 seconds of (lefty) warrior-one yoga pose
• 10 seconds of (righty) warrior-one yoga pose
• 10-second active rest (plank)
• 20 seconds of mountain climbers
• 10 seconds active rest (plank)
• repeat this set two more times
• Evenings (Monday - Friday)
• 20-45 minutes of resistance training with free weights
• Saturdays
• Morning
• swimming (fasted)
• 2 x 100s
• 4 x 50s
• 2 x 100s
• sauna (20 minutes)
• Evening
• 30-50 minutes of weight training at the gym 
• lifting moderately heavy
• slow-controlled movements
• Sundays (mostly)
• 1 hour in the float tank
• mobility training
• since I have a history of injuring my shoulders (they dislocate), I find that specific resistance band exercises help prevent mild shoulder discomfort when I am up and about, walking around

I have to admit this may seem like a lot. I swam and played football in my teens, and I did triathlons and mid-distance running races for fun in my early thirties. I pretty much stick to simple exercises that are familiar to me, so this does not seem like that much.

You can imagine how that much exercise might lead to a lot of weight gain if the eating habits don't change to match the decreased activity. 

After Four Days, I Weigh 195 lbs.

When I am completing at least 1/2 of the above workouts, I am a consistent 190 lbs. After four days of following of implementing a new fitness strategy, I lost five pounds.

Don't get me wrong, I understand that there are consequences to rapid weight loss. There was one point, though, during the last few days, where I lost three pounds in one day. To fix it, I put in an extra meal to keep the weight loss trajectory more steady.

Just in the last few days, I have experienced the most effortless five-pound drop in weight. I am not sure why it been so easy this time around, but I will enumerate what I am doing differently:

• I make sure that I take Vitamin D (at least) twice daily
• I take zinc along with Vitamin D 
• for me, zinc and Vitamin D work better when taken together
• I take folic acid twice daily (once in the morning, once in the evening)
• I take CoQ10 daily
• I drank chicken broth for its anti-inflammatory properties
• I eat a salad every day (I try to get 7-10 cups of salad greens per day)
• I sleep 1.5 hours more than usual (I average about 4 hours of sleep per night--my monthly average is about 4.5 hours of sleep per night) [honestly]
• I have been sleeping mouth-taped (if you have not heard of mouth taping google it, I know it sounds weird, but I have experienced some amazing benefits) 

be fit. be well. be strong.

be stronger.

grasp.

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