This month’s weigh in had me at an Empty Weight of 195.
Hoof! that’s a 10lb in a month increase where the previous three had me consistently between 185 and 190. That anomaly got me thinking.
On the minus side of the ledger, I’ve eaten out more last month than usual. Most of that is a social thing, but I haven’t been eating as smart as I could. I got into the habit of a good burger meal for lunch on Fridays. Friday, the Girl cooks dinner which is usually modest and healthy. Typically steak and veggies. I also started taking the higher dose of Lyrica for my facial nerve, one of the side effects of which is weight gain.
On the plus side, the few days where I haven’t been as diligent about diet, I’ve tracked my calories and I still was around 2000/day. I’m higher on carbs, but a lot of that is fruit.
I’ve been super diligent about working out. I have veins and muscle definition in my arms that I’ve never had. Same with my calves. I’ve packed on muscle to my shoulders, chest, and lats. This is from switching from lat pulldowns to the assisted pullup/dip machine. It’s shrunk those embarrassing ‘bat wings’ on my arms.
My deadlifts are up to 160, Squats at 140, bench is stuck at 110 as I’ve been backing off when my repaired rotator cuff starts complaining.
My stomach is firming up. My pants are still loose and I don’t have much of a gut. A lot of that ex-fat guy skin is going away. Go figure. The only clothes that are snug are the slim cut jeans the Girl bought for me. But that is in the calves and thighs, not the waist.
I only use two machines at the gym. One is a cable pull I use for rows, which is a good rotator cuff exercise. The other is a sit-down military press (sort of). My repaired shoulder is still weak on the upward movement and I’ve gone nowhere on that machine. Last week I tried the barbell only for an actual military press. Couldn’t. At. All. I had to use a smaller bar, which was painful. So, I’m at ground zero for that exercise.
Free weights are important. There are a ton of small stability muscles to strengthen that don’t get worked with a machine. I could feel this with something as simple as barbell curls. My rotator was screeching by the time I got to curls last week, so I had to lighten up. But as I worked on my range of motion, I could feel all sorts of muscle lighting up in my torso.
So I’m an even more fit 61 year old than I was, but need some work.
The extra ballast is prolly a combination of good and bad. I’ll ditch the Lyrica and reel in my diet in June and see how it goes.
Inspected By Pat 