New Warrior

[racer]

I started this week, on Tuesday.  Some how finally made up my mind to try WD after having the WD book in the give away box.  The book was literally going to be taken to the public library the next morning by my wife.  For some reason, I grabbed out of the box and  Reread it Monday night and decided to at least give it a three week test.  I am 50 years old, 5'11" tall and just out of shape from lack of exercise and discipline.  I hurt my shoulder about five years ago and stopped exercising all together.  Prior to that I worked out at the gym five days a week for about 1 1/2 hours a day (treadmill, bike, swimming, spinning, weights.)

Now after gaining 70 lbs, I have had it.  So I am jumping back in.

Monday 10/29/2008 - 293 lbs, BP 138/83,  Pulse 73
Tuesday 10/28/2008 - 292 lbs; started WD + 30 minutes Elliptical
Wednesday 10/29/2008 - 291 lbs;  30 minutes Elliptical, 1 circuit KB exercises ( 5 exercises, 1 set, 8 reps)
Thursday 10/30/2008 - 290 lbs;  BP 115/53, Pulse 63 + 30 minutes Elliptical
Friday 10/31/2008 - 289 lbs;  30 minutes Elliptical + 1 circuit KB exercises

WD has consisted of drinking water first thing when I get up.  I have an apple around 8am.  Raw veggies when I get hungry during the morning.  Everyday except Thursday, I had a ABC juice (3 carrots, 1 apple, 1/2 beet) freshly juiced.  Afternoon snack has been an apple and 2 handfuls of almonds when I got hungry...plus water.  Evening meals have been a green salad, green vegetables, chicken or pork, then starches.  No evening snacks.

[racer]

Still on WD and slowly building up my workouts.  My bodyweight stabilized for most of the week.  I remember reading someone experiencing the same thing in week two and then the weight started dropping again.  Maybe that will happen.   I am trying to keep my aerobic workouts going at least five days a week, hopefully six days.  I am slowly adding the KB workouts, careful to not tax my left shoulder, which as been really tender on pressing movements.

Saturday,  Nov, 1st, Weight 289, No workouts.  I walked about four miles that day cheering my son who ran in the High School Cross Country State Finals.
Sunday, Nov 2nd,  Weight 289,  Elliptical machine for 45 minutes
Monday, Nov 3rd, Weight 289, Elliptical machine for 45 minutes + 1 KB Complex of 3 exercises 1 set 5-3-1 reps
Tuesday, Nov 4th, Weight 289, No workout
Wednesday, Nov 5th, Weight 291, Elliptical machine for 45 minutes + 1 KB Complex of 3 exercises 1 set of 5-3-1 reps
Thursday, Nov 6th, Weight 290, No workout
Friday, Nov 7th,  Weight 289, Just KB workout.  KB Complex of 3 exercises 1 set of 5x5x5 reps.  I was taxed at the end of that 1 set...but I felt like I had really worked out!
Saturday, Nov 8th, Weight 287,  Elliptical machine for 35 minutes.  Intensity of workout increased throughout.

Although weight stayed the same most of the week, I found that on most days, I was not hungry during the undereating phase.  I was really hungry in the afternoon on Tuesday.  I chowed on carrots and almonds  and drank water til I gurgled.  Glad to see the night meal come. Looking back, I don't think that I ate enough the night before.   I felt so much more taxed and energized by the KB routine, even though it is of such short duration that I want to really get more KB workouts in.  I am going to add more KB Swing workouts in next week.

I was glad to see that the weight dropped back down to 287.  That was my goal this week, to lose another 2lbs., which is my weekly goal. 

WD most days:  2 apples; one in morning and one in afternoon.  1-2 fresh juices a day, one around 10:00 and another around 3:00.  ABC juice, Apple, Beet and Carrot.  About 8 glasses of water and almonds.

[racer]

WEEK THREE

My ability to manage the WD diet was much easier this week.  I really wanted to push on to week three, after reading several posts from people that only made it through week two and got frustrated, then quit.  It was the easiest week so far.  I rarely was hungry during the day.  Started everyday with big glass of water and tried to stick with occasional snacks of raw veggies, not for hunger but for my continued goal to detox during the day.  I am becoming a believer in the concept that Ori mentions in the book of loading up on enzymes during the day so that the overeating phase has improved digestion from the enzyme buildup.  I am still making an ABC juice at least every afternoon (1 Apple, 1 Beet and 6-8 organic carrots)

I had long hours of work this week...so my intended aerobic workouts did not happen until late in the week.  Not to say that the KBs, when performed back to back, are making me puff and pant through the circuit.

Monday, Nov 10th, Weight 289, No workout
Tuesday, Nov 11th, Weight 287, Only KB workout 24 kg interval circuit, 5x5x5 swings, snatches, C&Js
Wednesday, Nov 12th, Weight 285, Only KB workout 16kg, 5x10x10 swings, snatches, C&Js
Thursday, Nov 13th, Weight 286, Only KB workout 24 kg 3x5x5 swings, snatches, C&Js
Friday, Nov 14th, Weight 286, Elliptical 40 minutes + 16kg 3x5x5 swings, snatches, C&Js
Saturday, Nov 15th, Weight 285, Elliptical 45 minutes
Sunday, Nov 16th, Weight 285, Elliptical 45 minutes + 24kg swings and snatches 2x5x5

I met my target weight loss of 2lbs this week, hitting 285 for the week ending today.  Feeling good being on the WD and wishing that I had kept up a routine of elliptical each day.  I think I did too much KB this week and need to give my shoulder and elbows a days rest between each KB workout.  Will try that this week.  I will rest on exercise on Monday as I have a long business travel day tomorrow from 5am early plane flight and arriving back at 11pm Monday night.  Wondering how I am going to get a good WD meal in tomorrow night.

Since this is still relatively new to me...if anyone has comments to what I am doing, please let me know.  I am always open to learning.  I hope the log is helping.  The logs that others post are helping me learn.

[racer]

Current WD status:  7lbs lost and 2.5% BF% drop

Week Four:
Not much change this week.  I have actually gained and sustained 1 lb. this week to remain all week at 286.  That was disappointing to not drop weight.  This is the first week that I have not lost weight on the diet.  However, I checked my weight and body fat % compared to last week and I am showing 1.5% body fat % drop over the prior week average.  So that is significant. Hopefully, I lost fat and gained a pound of lean muscle!

What changed? 
Sunday and Monday I did not WD correctly.  I ate a large dinner salad with beans and salmon at lunch on Sunday with Family and a large dinner salad with salmon on Monday at a business lunch job interview that I felt uncomfortable not eating with the other two individuals.  On both days, I ate a healthy normal meal at night...not the overeating size meal.  I hope this was not the cause of my plateau.

Tuesday thru today, I was back on the WD.  I primarily focused my undereating this week on drinking water and coffee in the morning and drinking a 12 oz fresh ABC juice each afternoon.  Added raw carrots or almonds if I got hungry...but most days I did not. Tried to limit fruit during the day.   Overeating meals were always started with a green salad.  I would then eat whatever my wife prepared for the family, which is usually one green vegetable, chicken, pork or fish along with rice and beans.  Only Friday night, did I have to add to the meal, so I prepared a two egg omelete with black beans.

I exercised most days with 30-40 minutes on the elliptical or a 3x5x5 KB workout.  I did not work the KB as hard this week as my left shoulder pain returned and I did not want to push it hard. 

I am going to try changing my workout routine this coming week.  I am going to focus on KB swings, which don't seem to impact my shoulder and Deadlifts.  I am also going to try Tabata Protocol on the Elliptical for the first time this week.  I have read up on this over the past two days and seems to be a better way to burn fat.  I need to torch a lot off my body.  Hard for me to imagine that a 4 minute routine is going to do more than 30-40 minutes of cardio...but I am open to experimenting and learning.  It is tough trying to get a 50 year old body back in shape after layoff of exercise for five years. 

I should be excited about the body fat % change...but I am still bummed that I did not meet my body weight loss goal this week.  I will press on!

[elaine0808]

Hi Racer!

I think you should be super excited about the drop in the BF%!  It is so much more important then the scale number.  I was talking the other day to my sister-in-law about how two people can be exactly the same weight yet one looks completely different then the other.  Like myself and her.  I work out quite a lot and she doesn't at all yet we are the same scale weight.  Our body fat is what makes us look so different and why our clothing sizes are not the same.  I also knew a 5'4, 145-150lb women who you would assume at that weight would be average size I guess.  Not at all.  She was very, very lean with a bf% of 10 or something crazy like that.  Don't let the scale get you discouraged!

I'm glad you are doing this log and I hope you keep it going.  It's always helpful to know what others are doing.

Personally, I love the WD.  This is my 3rd? maybe 4th week.  I don't weigh and measure myself consistantly because I don't want to get down about it but I feel better in my own skin and my stomach looks more defined and I'm happy with that.

I'll be watching your post.

[Hunter]

Man, I think you are doing great.  Keep it up.  I would not worry with straying a couple of times for social reasons.  This happens to all of us.  If you keep the eating cycles most of the time, the body will adapt those cycles and stay on track even when you stray.  Your consistent workouts are looking good.  You might even want to try the KB circuit before the elliptical training every now and then.

[racer]

Thanks to both Elaine and Hunter.  I appreciate the support and the thoughts on how I can continue to improve.  I really like the WD and find it easy to stay on it. 

Elaine, don't you find that it is easier now in the third or fourth week to make it through the day while undereating?  I thought it would be much harder.  How are you managing the undereating phase?

[racer]

WEEK FIVE UPDATE:

I hope this weekly log is helping others.  I still find that there is a lot to learn about the WD and how it impacts each person individually.  I believe that some people are more pre-disposed to vegetarian diet versus others that are more meat and starch.  I am continuing to drink fresh juices 1-2 times per day, one in morning and one in late afternoon as I feel like that my body can detox best with the juices. 

Summary:  I remained again at 285 lbs. this week.  Another week with no weight loss.  However, once again, my average body fat % for the week dropped again.  That is good.  The average weekly body fat % has dropped over the past three weeks from 41.9 % to 40.3% to 39.6%.  I am really pleased with the fat loss.  It now looks like that all of the weight that I have lost has been fat.

Prior Sunday was 285 lbs.
Monday, 287 lbs., NO WD today.  Business lunch somewhat busted my undereating today.  Workout with KB 24kg 5x3x1 complex of four exercises.  Left shoulder still tender.
Tuesday, 288 lbs., Back on WD, Workout with KB 24kg 5x3x1 complex of four exercises.  Left shoulder still tender.
Wednesday, 287 lbs., Full Day of WD, Did not make time for workout.
Thursday, 286 lbs., Full Day of WD,  I did 45 minutes on Elliptical and then Deadlifts of 175# 5 sets of 5
Friday, 286 lbs, Full Day of WD, I did 30 minutes on Elliptical and KB Complex of four exercises 3 sets of 5 reps.
Saturday, 285 lbs., Full Day of WD,  24kg Ladder of 100 Swings and then Ladder 100 Snatches; then KB Complex 16kg 3 sets of 5 reps for four exercises (snatch, cleans, rows, swings)
Sunday, 285 lbs., Full Day of WD, No workout.

I drank three fresh juices a day on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  I am also finding that I am enjoying salads with a variety of raw vegetables on the salad more and more.  Sometimes, I want more salad after the first bowl at night.  I started changing up the fresh juices from my normal Apple-Beet-Carrot-Ginger routine.  I added Sweet Potato and/or Daikon Radish to the juices.  I read that Daikon Radish has been an Asian secret for detox cleansing and removal of excess fat.

I also downloaded the e-bood on WD Fat Loss on Sunday.  I have been on the WD diet based on the original book.  I found the insight into the Fat Loss to be better explained and a little different that the way that I have been implementing the WD.  I have not been doing any kind of meal rotation, ie. Hi Protein day, Hi-Carb day, Hi-Fat day type of meals for overeating.  I am going to go back to the e-book recommended week one of WD and focus on detox this week, by changing my overeating meals to be more vegetarian this week.  I think I may have been over-doing the almonds during the day, so I am going to experiment with cutting those way back this week.

Although my progress has been good with body fat % going down, I feel like I am on the verge of another weight and fat drop.  Can't explain why, but I may be about to break the plateau of total weight that I have had for the past three weeks.  It is funny how you can feel when your body is changing.

[Renegade]

Hi Racer,

Great results! Interesting to read about daikon, too. I eat it quite often here in Japan, so I might try juicing some. Sounds like it might be a bit fiery, though! Also, I haven't used any form of carb/fat rotation method since I started WD, and haven't had any big problems. My body fat has stayed consistently low, and I have lots of energy, but it might depend on your body type. I have quite a slim frame, great for keeping my weight down, but I find it almost impossible to gain any muscle mass. Maybe a shift towards fat fuels would change this, I don't know. And, like Hunter said, I wouldn't worry about the odd day here and there of eating during the day. Just do the best you can when you can,

Keep it up .

[racer]

Renegade,

On the Daikon Radish, I added about a 2 inch slice to my first Apple, Beet and Carrot Juice.  That was a bit strong.  I have since cut back to about 1 inch slice of daikon radish added to my juices.

Racer

[racer]

Week Six Summary -

Total Weight - 280 lbs.
Height - 5'11"   (Still at that height...has not changed with WD...LOL)
Total Weight Lost - 13 lbs.

If you read last week's post, I had maintained the same weight for the previous two weeks, but continued to lose in body fat %.  I purchased the e-book written by Ori on Losing Stubborn Fat.  After reading the book, I learned a number of new things that I needed to adapt to my WD...one of which was to incorporate the various phases of detox, hi-fat, hi-carb and hi-protein.  So, I changed my diet consumption this week and implemented the detox phase.  This basically meant that the undereating this week remained consuming water, coffee, fruit and raw veggies, but I cut out the almond intake during the day.  At night for the overeating phase, I continued eating a large salad, then veggies.  I cut back on the meat proteins by switching to beans.  I had been consuming brown rice and beans regularly but this week I cut out the brown rice.  I also had been consuming 1-2 handfuls of nuts, which I stopped doing this week.  So my intake of salad, veggies and beans increased for the overeating.

I also mentioned in last Sunday's post that I felt like my body was on the verge of another weight drop. I couldn't explain why other than just that my body felt it.  Well sure enough it was true.  I last five pounds this week with all of it being fat!  I am shocked at how it just fell off this week. 

MONDAY, 285 LBS, FULL DAY OF WD, 40 MINUTES ELLIPTICAL, 16KG SNATCH 5 SETS OF 10, 24KG 3 SETS OF 5, KB CIRCUIT
TUESDAY, 285 LBS, FULL DAY OF WD, 16 KG KB COMPLEX 5X5 SNATCH, C&J, DOUBLE ROW, DOUBLE SQUAT
WEDNESDAY, 283 LBS, FULL DAY OF WD, 30 MINUTES ELLIPTICAL, DEADLIFTS 175# 5X5
THURSDAY, 284 LBS, FULL DAY OF WD, DEADLIFTS 205# 3X5, FLOOR WIPES 3X20
FRIDAY, 282 LBS, FULL DAY OF WD, TABATA ELLIPTICAL
SATURDAY, 280 LBS, FULL DAY OF WD, 40 MINUTES ELLIPTICAL, KB 16KG COMPLEX 5X5
SUNDAY, 280 LBS, Ate out with family today at chinese restaurant for lunch, SHOVELED SNOW FOR AN 1 1/2 HOURS.

Undereating Basic items each day:  2 Glasses of filtered water when I get up.  Apple around 8am.  Fresh Apple, Beet, Carrot, (Ginger or Daikon Radish) Juice for lunch, Fruit around 3pm, raw carrots as needed. 

Overeating basics:  Large salad of organic lettuce, bell pepper, black beans, apple or grapes, carrots; steamed broccoli, spinach or kale; black beans or pinto beans.

This coming week, I will be switching to a hi-fat diet all week, adding only 4-6 ounces of meat protein, 1-3 handfuls of nuts and no starches.  This will be interesting as I have never consumed nuts like this and I am not sure how my body will enjoy it.

Hope this helps.  If anyone has any questions or suggestions...I am open to your thoughts!

[racer]

SUMMARY OF WD WEEK 7

TOTAL WEIGHT - 278
TOTAL WEIGHT LOST - 15 LBS SINCE STARTING WD

This week, I focused my WD lifestyle on a hi-fat week.  I minimized the bad carbs, ate more good carbs (green veggies etc) and finished each meal with 2-3 handfuls of nuts.  I did lose weight this week, but I did not feel has energetic as prior weeks.  My workouts were not as frequent and even though I tried to switch more to Tabata style workouts, I did not feel any big change in my body.  After reading some other posts, I think that I need to have a hi-carb day  or two to change up my intake of carbs. 

SUNDAY, WEIGHT 280 LBS.;
MONDAY, WEIGHT 282 LBS.; TABATA ELLIPTICAL + 24 KG KB COMPLEX 3X5+5, 16KG KB COMPLEX 3X5+5
TUESDAY, WEIGHT 280 LBS.
WEDNESDAY, WEIGHT 279 LBS.; 
THURSDAY, WEIGHT  278 LBS.; 20 ELLIPTICAL INTERVALS, TABATA SPIN CYCLE, 24KG SWING LADDER, DEADLIFTS 204# 3X5
FRIDAY, WEIGHT 277 LBS.; 30 ELLIPTICAL INTERVALS + 24 KG SWING TABATA
SATURDAY, WEIGHT 278 LBS.

Pretty sad workout week.  I am going to focus on structured workouts everyday this week.  With the holidays coming up, it will be difficult to be consistent on workouts while visiting family in two locations.  I also don't want the WD to freak the families out with diet restrictions that they can't comprehend, so I am going to do a detox week this week and then have two weeks of hi-protein/hi-carb day rotations to make it easy on the families.

[TheUsurper]

Keep up the good work man!

    It's been inspirational reading this blog of sorts and I really think I'm gonna try to push my parents to start the warrior diet as well.
   I understand it can be difficult eating in social settings and following the warrior diet.  What usually works best for me at the lunchtime setting is to order a salad and then just not eat very much of it and come up with a b.s. excuse like "I had a HUUGGEE breakfast" or something.  People don't usually ask to many questions.  If you are worried about the money going to waste, you can always ask to box it up and save it for the overeating phase.
    And your idea for rotating fuel sources is very smart as it has worked very well for me.  I dont think this past workout week was terrible at all either.  At first, you are going to be very enthusiastic about getting back into shape and want to work out every single day, but as you get into better shape, your workouts are going to become more intense and you are going to need the extra rest to perform at your maximum level.  Remember that the more muscle you build, the easier the fat will come off(so long as your diet remains consistently good).  15 lbs in 7 weeks is incredible.  I really want to use this post as motivation for my parents so I hope you stay strong and keep the posts coming! good luck!

[racer]

Still on WD.  I only missed WD two days during the holidays.  I lost three pounds in two weeks and body fat % dropped during that time.  I only got in four workouts in two weeks, so I feel good that I lost more fat.

[racer]

Well it has been some time since my last update.  I am still on WD.  Have progressed with weight loss, now at 25lbs as of this morning.  Workouts during undereating phase are stronger and stronger; I feel my overall physical conditioning coming back after about four years of basically little or no exercise.  My workouts are made up of the following:  KB complex with 16kg and 24kg.  Tabata Swings with KB. KB workouts are MWF.  I try to do 20-30 minutes of elliptical work or treadmill work 4-5 days per week.  On TT, I have added a 8lb medicine ball core workout 10 exercises at 20 reps each.

I am traveling a lot on business right now, so making fresh veg. juice has been impossible.  I miss the 2 fresh carrot, apple and beet juice,, which I made daily during the first 10 weeks of WD.  The fresh juice was a realy hunger buster.  But my undereating is still going well with either a small bowl of blueberries and strawberries at breakfast or an apple around 10:00am.  I usually have either a clementine or raw carrots in the afternoon.  Water and coffee throughtout the undereating.  I seem to do better by not eating nuts during undereating.

My overeating phase meal has been generally the following:  fresh green salad red lettuce, baby lettuce or spinach with tomato, mushroom, carrots, red onion, bell pepper, small amount of olive oil dressing; next is steamed brocolli, carrots, cauliflower, sweet peas; next black beans and equal amount of rice (about 1 cup of each) and either broiled fish or chicken.  Sometimes, I eat the "AlwaysBelieve Dessert" - Greek Plain Yogurt mixed with some crushed pecans or crushed walnts.

I workout about 30-45 minutes before the main meal.  I use the main meal as my post workout meal.  Supplements twice per day:  Multivitamin, Fish Oil, Bee Pollen, CLA, Milk Thistle.