Getting Down

Brihgt and early this unseasonably warm Sunday morning, I started (or restarted) training for ANW. The fact that I learned yesterday that there probably won't be another Sasuke tournament to qualify for is not, for the moment, derailing me. In fact, it's good to have such a sobering thought before starting on this quest. Hear news like that three weeks in, and you're tempted to take a break from training. And as anyone who's ever been in a relationship knows, taking a break means breaking up.

So I started nice and easy, with a six-mile run. The hard part today, though -- and this will only get harder -- is the dieting part.

See, my goal for First Stage is primarily to slim down to what I've decided is an appropriate weight for cliffhanging and spider jumping. So I've had to take a long, hard look at myself (boy, that came out wrong) and determine what needs to change.

So last night I took my weight and body fat using the Tanita scale. I waited two hours after last eating and made sure I was plenty hydrated. The results? 209.4 lbs., 12.5% body fat. Not too shabby for your typical fortysomething dad. But such men never reach the buzzer on the First Stage. I know this, because Sasuke's full of jokers like that, guys who are in it to wipe out. I ain't goin' out like that.

I'd like to get to 8% body fat. If my calculations are correct, that would mean losing ten pounds of body fat. My experience with calorie-counting, though, tells me that I can't reliably lose more than a pound a week for any sustained period. If that holds, then I'll lose six pounds by the end of the First Stage, which will put me at about 9.5% body fat. 

I count calories using LoseIt!, a website with a companion iPhone app. There's plenty of these on the market, but this one's good enough -- and free, if I recall. You set up your stats and goal, and it tells you how much you can eat each day net, after factoring in your workouts. And that's my one saving grace. It might prove that, by working out six days a week, I can burn more than 3500 calories (1 pound) a week. Whether that's the case, I certainly couldn't do it without the app.

So how do you lose a pound a week of just body fat? Near as I can tell, you reduce your carbs and increase your protein intake. But you still need to eat enough carbs to fuel your body, especially if you're working out. I don't trust any diet that wants you to eliminate or radically reduce your carbs, or any other element of a balanced diet, for that matter.

So how will I do it? Protein First is the mantra. Internet consensus appears to be that you need as many grams of protein in a day as you weigh in pounds to maintain or gain muscle while losing fat. So I'll shoot for at least 150 grams of protein a day. If I hit that, then everything else can be the usual mix of grains, fruits, and veggies.

This is far from scientific, I know. But I'm far from a scientist. This is a crude but usable approach, so I'm going to use it.

And after lunch on Sunday, I've got to say it's so far, so good.