12 lbs in 12 weeks (Weeks 11 and 12)

I’ve been sick with a cold these past couple of weeks (the change in the weather here in upstate NY does that to me), which seems to have wreaked havoc with my weight-loss plan:



I don’t really think my weight climbed up this high; it's probably due to drinking tons of water.  I’ll continue to monitor my weight and post updates for the remainder of the year.

I haven’t even hit the gym, since when I get home from work I pretty much check out and just go to bed.  I had pneumonia a couple of times, due to the fact that I simply didn’t take care of myself when I was sick.  These days I put my health first, so that means not going heavy on the dieting or exercise.

All told though, my weight-loss plan wasn’t a total disaster, since I did lower my weight by about 10 lbs, which is nothing to complain about.  I think I’m past the worst of my illness, so starting next week I’ll continue my plan.  I’d like to lose another 4 lbs or so by the end of the year. 

12 lbs in 12 weeks (Week 10)

Another good week: I lost 1/2 lb, which brings me to 1/2 lb under my target weight of 161 lbs.



Note that I consider any week in which I lose weight a “good” week.  Yes, it’s “only” 1/2 lbs, but as long as the trend is downward, then it doesn’t matter much how much weight you actually lose, as long as you’re losing weight.  Take the 1/2 lb and be happy, because you’re still guaranteed to reach your target.  (Yes, you might not reach your target as quickly as you would have liked, but so what.  In a few weeks you’re not going to remember that it took you 13 weeks instead of 12 weeks to reach your goal.)

The weight training is going well too.  I managed 26-27 push-ups, and now use 55 lbs as my base weight for the bench press.  I also have been making progress on the overhead press: I was able to do a few reps of 45 lbs, which is incredible to me, since I’ve been stuck at 30 lbs max for what seems like forever.

12 lbs in 12 weeks (Week 9)

This post is actually a week late.  I was extremely busy last week, so I simply did have time for blogging.

But no matter: better late than never, as they say.  During Week 9 of my “12 lbs in 12 weeks” challenge, I lost 2 lbs, which put me 1 lb under my target of 162 lbs:



I also hit another milestone last week: I can now do 25 push-ups.  So my weight-training has been working too.

12 lbs in 12 weeks (Week 8)

My weight is following a kind of see-saw pattern, it seems.  This week I weighed-in at 163 lbs, which matches my goal weight:



I wish my weight loss followed a more smooth pattern, but the trend is downward so I’m not really complaining.  As I learned in music school, you have to trust the process: if you have a procedure for reaching some goal, then just follow the process, until you reach your goal.  Either the process works, or it doesn’t.

I am at my goal weight (well, I think I am) so I need to be careful about my eating habits.  If I were under my goal weight then maybe I could cheat a bit about eathing, but that’s not the case now (unlike, say, a month ago), so I need to be very diligent.  I think that’s the hardest part about dieting.  So much temptation!

On the exercise front, I’m just shy of being able to do 25 push-ups: this week I did 23-24 each time I went to the gym.  I’ve been playing around with some of the other machines (they say novelty is good, when weight training), and I added tricep-curls to my strength-training regimen.   I boosted my overhead press too by 5 lbs, and I can now do 25-30 lbs comfortably.  For some reason that exercise is difficult for me, and I’ve been stuck at around 30 lbs forever.

On Lincoln’s Sexuality, and Poisoning the Well

The argument here quoted in an article about Lincoln’s sexuality is so obviously wrong I cannot let it go without comment:

“We are getting closer to the day that a majority of younger, less homophobic historians will at long last accept the evidence of Lincoln’s same-sex component,” John Stauffer, chair of Harvard University’s Department of American Civilization, told Gay City News, adding, “We’re already seeing the beginnings of a trend that will amount to a major paradigm shift.”

This argument is an example of a rhetorical fallacy known as poisoning the well.  The implication above is that historians who reject the arguments that Lincoln was homosexual reject them because the historians are homophobic!  But that’s wrong, since historians might reject the claim simply because the evidence is wrong or just unconvincing.  The homophobia among the historians who reject the claim is simply assumed in order to advance Stauffer’s pet theory.

We could turn this argument on its head (not unreasonably, given the article’s provenance), and argue that the only reason why some historians believe Lincoln was gay was because those historians are themselves gay.  So now the arguments for the claim are get tainted in the other direction.

If you make an argument, then it’s up to you to adduce the positive evidence for your claim.  You cannot simply assume the alternative hypothesis, and then try to shame those who assume the null hypothesis as the default into accepting your preferred alternative.  The claim that Lincoln was gay must stand or fall based on the evidence, not because of any putative anti-gay bias among historians.  This is a bald attempt to shift the burden of proof from the historian making the claim (who has the burden to show the claim is true, which is proper) to other historians not making the claim (who are now supposed to assume the burden of show that the claim is false, or worse, having to demonstrate that they’re not homophobic).

I am sensitive to (incorrect) arguments like this, as theists perform this rhetorical legerdemain all the time, assuming theistic beliefs as the default position and then demanding that atheists “be willing to admit”  the existence of “higher realities” or some such.  Creationists have been telling us for years that "intelligent design" (and before that, "scientific creationism") is a major paradigm shift in our thinking about evolution.  Puh-leez.  For example, here is a statement of the purpose of the Templeton Foundation:

We are trying to persuade people that no human has yet grasped 1% of what can be known about spiritual realities. So we are encouraging people to start using the same methods of science that have been so productive in other areas, in order to discover spiritual realities.

The argument being made here is that the reason we don’t know about spiritual realities is because we can only grasp 1% of what can be known!  But that argument is wrong, since one reason to deny that such realities exist is either that “spiritual realities” is a meaningless phrase, or that no sufficient evidence had been presented to accept their existence.  Templeton, like most theists, assumes the existence of God (for which “spiritual realities” is just a euphemism), and then works backwards to give reasons for holding that belief (and in the case of the Templeton Foundation, by also undermining scientific authority).  But scientific claims don’t work that way, and existence is always predicated on evidence.

I don’t know whether Lincoln was gay, nor do I much care.  But please, if you’re going to claim he was, then leave the personalities of those who disagree with your argument out of it.  (Yes of course religious fundamentalists are going to deny Lincoln’s homosexuality, the same way they deny the atheism of the founding fathers, but that’s not what we’re talking about here.)  If you are an advocate of gay rights or other issues, just realize that arguments like the one above don’t help your cause.

12 lbs in 12 weeks (Week 7)

I actually had a bad weigh-in this week: my weight climbed back up to 165 lbs, which is 1 lb over my goal weight of 164 lbs:



My college reunion took place last weekend, and there was the usual eating and drinking, so perhaps that threw off the weigh-in value this week.  (I like think so, anyway.)

The problem is that there appears to be wide swings in my weight.  I can understand swings of 1/2 lb or perhaps 1 lb, but 2 1/2 lbs seems excessive.  I simply don’t know what my weight is, which means it’s hard for me to correct my life-style habits.  (I determine what is an appropriate amount of food to consume in a negative way: if I'm not losing weight, then it means I'm eating too much.  The problem is that I don't know whether I'm losing weight.)

We’'ll have to see what the story is on my next weigh-in.  If my weight drops back down to my goal value then I’ll consider this week’s weigh-in value as spurious.  Otherwise, it would mean my weight-loss plan isn’t working, and I’ll have to make some adjustments.

The good news is that I’ve been going to the gym, and have made progress on my weight training.  I can comfortably bench-press 60 lbs, and I was able to do around 21-22 push-ups every day.

12 lbs in 12 weeks (Week 6)

Another good week.  I lost 1.5 lbs from last week, which puts me at 162.5 lbs, which is 2.5 lbs below my goal weight for this week, 165 lbs.



I was rather busy last week with some work-related projects, and I didn’t get to the gym as often as I would have liked, but in spite of that I was able keep my weight loss on target.

Note that weight loss is effected by a combination of dieting (consuming fewer calories) and exercise (consuming more calories).  I’ve been watching what I eat, so I’m able to lose weight without necessarily exercising too.

However, weight training definitely depends on how often you, er, actually train with weights, so you cannot expect to cheat and make progress on increasing your strength.

For upper body, I divide weight training into two classes of exercise: pulling weights vs. pushing weights.  I do pushing exercises on one day, and then pulling exercises on the next day.

Pushing exercises include bench press (chest), overhead press (shoulders), and tricep curls.  Pulling exercises include lat pulldown (back) and bicep curls. 

I try to do each kind of exercise three times per week.  If I miss a day, I give priority to chest exercises, since I think it’s true that a bench press actually works many different muscle groups.  I can bench press around 50-55 lbs.  Ideally I would like to be able to bench press my own weight, but that’s going to take awhile!  In the meantime I’m satisfied to add 5 lbs per month.  I figure that by the end of this 12-week fitness program, I should be able to bench press 60 lbs.

Although push-ups are technically a pushing exercise, I try to do them every single day, as I use this as a broad measure of my upper-body strength.  This week I did 20-21 push-ups, so there has been consistent progress there as well.

I remember a few years ago I was able to do 29 push-ups, but I was never able to do that again, and I stayed stuck at something like 10 push-ups.  I think the key to making progress has been to both get myself on a proper weight-training regimen, and do push-ups every day.  I’ve been adding 1 or 2 push-ups per week, so by the end of the 12 weeks I should be able to do 30 push-ups or so.  My ultimate goal would be to be able to do 100 or more push-ups.  (I just read that Herschel Walker does 750-1500 push-ups every morning.  Yikes!  I obviously have some work to do…)

12 lbs in 12 weeks (Week 5)

I had a good weigh-in on Monday: 164 lbs, which is 2 lbs below my target for this week (166 lbs):



To remind those of you on a weight-loss program: the important thing is the overall trend (which should be heading in a downward direction), not the value for any particular week.  With the vagaries of one’s diet, it’s hard to know what your actual weight is today, but you can say something about your weight over time.

I have been doing both cardio exercises and weight training at the gym, several times per week.  This week I did 18-20 push-ups, around 40-55 lbs for bench press, and 20-30 lbs for overhead press.  I can feel the difference in my triceps already.

12 lbs in 12 weeks (Week 4)

As suspected, my weigh-in last week undervalued my actual weight, so today the scale is telling me that my weight is 166.5 lbs.



I’m still meeting my target goals (167 lbs was my target for this week), so no big deal.  As long as my weight is trending down, then I’m happy.

I know I can do better about eating.  I have observed myself eating while knowing that my body has told me that I’ve already had enough to eat.  I need to manage my portions better.

I have been going to the gym regularly, and so my strength-training is yielding improvements.  I can now do 16-17 push-ups.  I had given myself a goal of adding 1 push-up per week, but so far I’ve been improving at a rate of about 2 per week.  I can bench press about 50 lbs.

It’s funny, because in the past the number of push-ups I was able to perform stayed constant (something like 10 total).  I could never figure how to boost that number.  This time around I’ve been doing bench- and military-presses regularly, and doing push-ups every single day, and that combination seems to have been the key.

For this week (well, for every week!), I’m going to have to be very disciplined about my eating, since I’m only slightly below my weight-loss target.  I’ve been doing exercise regularly, so the critical adjustment I need to make in my life-style in order to lose weight is to consume less food.

12 lbs in 12 weeks (Week 3)

Well, another good week.  I managed to lose another 2 lbs, so I'm down to 164.5 lbs.  Here’s today’s chart:




I don’t know how much I trust this result, since I still think I’ve been eating too much for my evening meal.  I watch what I eat but I haven’t exactly been abstemious.

I’ve been doing my usual routine in the gym, and the strength-training is going well.  This past week I managed 12-14 push-ups per day, so there’s been definite improvement.

One frustrating thing is that with all the salt in my food (our chef uses lots of it for flavor), I retain water and so it’s hard to know what my actual weight is, since it can fluctuate so much.  I find that I have to be careful about what I eat (that is, watch the salt) a day or two before my Monday weigh-in, so the results aren’t thrown off.

12 lbs in 12 weeks (Week 2)

Well, today is Monday and that means I had my weigh-in this morning.  The news was good: I lost 2 lbs from last week and so I’m down to 166.5 lbs.  Here’s a plot of my actual weight compared to my weekly goal weight:



I think I’m still eating too much.  They say that you should eat slowly, and stop when your body tells you it has had enough.  My tendency is to fill my plate with food, and then eat whatever is on my plate.  I’m good in the sense that I haven’t been going back for seconds, but bad in that I often take more food than I really need.

In the evenings, I have a light meal.  I know that on some days, my meal isn’t really light enough.  (Hey, I love to eat, what can I say…)  Note that you only need food to supply the energy you need to get through the day, so it’s smarter to front-load your meals: a larger mid-day meal, and a smaller evening meal.  It doesn’t make a lot of sense to have a large meal at the end of the day, since the day is almost over.  I think my eating habits have improved but I know I can do better.  (If it were otherwise, then I wouldn’t be writing this post!)

I was good about hitting the gym.  I think I only missed one day (and that was because I had to work late).  I sometimes dread going, and can think of a thousand reasons not to go.  But you know what?  After I go for a workout, I’m always glad I went.

At the gym I have a loose schedule of activities: 20 min. of stair-stepper, 20 min. of treadmill, and about 20 min. of weights.  I’ve been doing chest and shoulders on one day and arms on the next.  I begin the strength training part of my routine with crunches and push-ups.  The past week I managed about 10-12 push-ups per day.  (I’d like to be able to do one extra push-up per week.  At the end of this sojourn I’d like to be able to do 25 push-ups.)

12 lbs in 12 weeks (Week 1)

Last time around this year I gave myself the goal of getting my weight back down to 160 lbs by the Thanksgiving holiday.  I succeeded in that goal, but since that time, my weight has crept back up, so it’s time to begin the process again.

My current weight is about 170 lbs, and Thanksgiving is about 12 weeks away, so this year’s weight loss goal will have as its theme “12 lbs in 12 weeks”.  My target weight is 158 lbs.

Here’s my current weight plotted against my goal weight:



I do my weigh-in every Monday morning, so expect a new blog post on that topic every week.  Giving myself a schedule, and advertising my progress, keeps me honest about actually achieving the goal I have set for myself.

I have no excuse for re-gaining the weight I lost last fall.  Part of the problem is that I now work for Google, and my new employer provides our meals every day.  I’m not complaining, of course, just saying that all that good food tempts me to eat more than I would have otherwise, when lunch was just a tuna sandwich and a banana.  I just need to re-calibrate how much I eat, and have a little more discipline.  It’s easy to slide back into bad habits.

Last year I also was very aggressive about daily exercise.  I am a YMCA member (Google even subsidizes my membership fee), and I live just down the street from our local chapter, so I have really have no excuse for not going.  Besides the health benefits, going to the gym also gave me time to get some reading done.  (I’m a big fan of the stair-stepper machine, which allows you to read while exercising.)  I plan to incorporate exercise into my weight-loss regimen this year as well.  Yesterday I went to the gym for 20 mins of stair-stepper, 20 mins of tread-mill, and 20 mins of weight-training.