Nutrition

Fighting the Fat, part IV: The return of the Starbucks Belly

In Fighting the Fat, part I, I wrote about my quest to find out why so many endurance athletes, triathletes in particular, were overfat. With all of the calories being burned during the race season, you would think we would have some very buff individuals out there. Obviously, exercise is only part of the equation. The off-season training would be a perfect petri dish to experiment with nutrition and exercise to maximize fat loss.

In Fighting the Fat, part II: Background, I shared some of my personal history related to this topic so you would know a bit about my challenges and where I’m coming from in my approach that I will outline below.

Fighting the Fat, part III: Starbucks is Liquid McDonald’s encouraged you to read an article on nutrition theory by Tony Gentilcore.

Now, as my hero Nacho Libre would say, “Let’s get down to the nitty gritty.”

Since October 2006, I have gained about 10-12 pounds, depending on what week it is. I am a couple pounds shy of where I was a year ago when I started this journey, although I think and feel that my bodyfat is lower and I’ve hopefully gained a few pounds of muscle.

Yes, the Starbucks belly has returned.

From this point forward, it’s time to add some science and measurement to this. Here’s where I am today:

I don’t think my bodyfat is really 19.8%, but it could be. What we’ll be looking for is the overall trend and I hope that number is decreasing.

Decreasing to where?

I’m glad you asked. By July 1 of this year, I want to step on the scale and weigh in at 165 lbs. When I stick the FatTrack II calipers on my bod, I want to see 10% bodyfat on the display. What that boils down to is me losing 18.3 pounds of fat and gaining 7.3 pounds of muscle within the next five months.

Could be a tall order. Tomorrow, I’ll tell you how I’m going to do it.

Related posts:

1. Fighting the Fat: The (Pseudo) Finale July 1 has come and gone and how close did...
2. Fighting the Fat, part V: The plan Between now and July 1, I have to go from...
3. Fighting the Fat: April update Well, things are not moving as quickly as I had...
4. Fighting the Fat, Part II: Background OK…before I get into the specifics of the nutrition experiment...
5. Fighting the Fat, Part III: Starbucks is Liquid McDonald’s Man, I love that line. Take a read of Tony...

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