Well, I jsut bought a gee-whiz-bang full body monitor type scale, rated up to 440lbs; and guess what?
I recalibrated the old scale based on the new one, and man was I shocked. It turns out, checking the differences between the two, that I started off this whole thing 25 or so pounds lighter than I thought.
Yup, I was 415, not 440; and as of just after lunch (which weighed in at 20oz itself, plus a 32 oz coffee), I weigh 410.2lbs, or probably 406.8, naked and on an empty stomach.
So I've dropped about 8 lbs in the last 10 days; and if you look at my revised calorie burn numbers; based on what I've been eating, and my newly figured starting weight of 415; they come out to within a pound of what I expected.
It's good to know the math is working out huh.
And this morning, further proving the math is working out, my weight is...
Wait for it...
406.6lbs
So, as I wrote yesterday, I've lost somewhere between 8 and 9 pounds in 11 days.
And for those of you who doubt the power of thermodynamics, I point you once again to the math. Read the spreadsheet, and look at the results.
Oh, and for those of you who doubt my claims as to muscle mass or bodyfat, I'mna point you to a measurement on that spreadsheet under the "weights and measures" sheet.
The last time I worked out in any serious was was in the spring and summer of 2003; when I managed to get down from 345 to 295 in two months, and from a 46" to a 38" waist; by restricting myself to a 2000 calorie diet, circuit training twice a day for 45 minutes, and riding the recumbent lifecycle twice a day for an hour.
That was when I was last recalled to active duty; but I was way overweight. They were making me retest on bodyfat every six weeks (they REALLY wanted my fat ass back in blue). I made the pushups, and the situps, but not the pullups, the running, or the tape; and they were determined to make me get it. Of course even if I made the tape my knees wouldn't hold up, but hey, their numbers would be good right.
Anyway, that wasn't training for strength or size. The last time I did ANY powerlifting or heavy weight training, was in about 1997-1998 or so, soon after my first serious knee injuries.
So let's call it 8 years.
At my peak, training for strength not size or shape, I had 24" arms; at around 12% bodyfat.
Right now, 8 years since any serious training, and 3 years since any training at all, I have 21" upper arms, and 16" forearms, with less than 1" fat pinch. My calves are 22" with absolutely 0 pinch.
Almost all my bodyfat is around my middle, my bitch tits (I'm gynocomastic, and always have been, ever since puberty, even at 7-12% bodyfat), and on my upper thighs.
In the "biggest" condition of my life, at around 12% bodyfat (which to a bodybuilder is obscenely high, but for a powerlifter is quite low) I weighed 285 lbs, had a 38" waist, 54" chest, 32" thighs, 26" calves, 24" biceps, 18" forearms, and a 21" neck; all with less than 1/2" pinch, mostly 0" pinch. I used to split the thigh seams of pants, and rip the shoulder seams on shirts.
It's genetics. There's no other explanation. I've had bodybuilders tell me that it took them 10 years to get up to the size I am naturally. Now of course they had far more definition and symetry; but in most gyms, size is king.
At one point, I was so massy, I had my basal burn rate up to around 14-16 calories per pound per day; even on a non-workout day. That's 4000+ calories just on a maintenance diet, at 285lbs. Workout days, I had to eat as much as 6500 calories to keep up (I knew guys who were even bigger than me, who would train 5000 calories a day, and eat nearly 10,000).
When I was 17 years old, I was nearly as big as I listed above; and one gym session I managed to incline leg press (80% range of motion - the strength press) 22 plates on a 50 kilo sled (1040 kilos); which was every single plate we could fit on the thing in every position (it was only designed for 20 plates total, the last two were not very stable); and it broke the sled. It actually split the bushings the sled rode it's rails on. In that same time period I was able to do a 12 plate full range of motion press (590kilos); which is only about 75 kilos short of the unofficial world record. When I did, I popped some capilaries in my eyes; and I wasn't able to walk properly for several days afterwards
When I was in high school, I used to bet guys that I could leg press the back end of their pickup trucks off of jackstands . It's actually easier than it looks (though just as stupid and dangerous). I made as much as $100 bucks on a single bet, until people wised up.
As recently as 2003, I was able to do a 16 plate (770kg) strength press, and a 10 (500kg) plate full range of motion press once; but subsequently I was only able to manage 8; and I couldnt walk properly for two days afterwards.
So that's what I'm working with; and also that's what I'm comparing myself to. I don't know if you understand how frustrating it is to have been so big, strong, and fit; and now to be a weakass fatbody in comparison (though I'm still a hell of a lot stronger than the "average" guy).
Actually, it's not even strength. It's a matter of once being a top achiever in ANYTHING, and then in a matter of a few years, not even being on the board.
This has happened in several areas of my life now; and while I won't ever be able to get all of them back; I can get this particular one back, at least most of the way.
I may never do 90% of the things I've done when I was in my teens and early 20s; but I'm damn sure going to get myself back to the standard of strength and fitness that I want to be at (even if it isn't even close to what I was like before).
