Well its day 2 of the WickedFire.com Body Transformation Challenge and I thought I would check in. Today I’m going to go over some of the goals I have set for myself as well as some changes I plan to make to achieve those goals. I’m also going to talk about a cool gadget I picked up to help me track my progress. For those of you that have trouble reading (lol) I’ve included a video!

After calculating my BMI and double checking my results in a mirror (heh) it seem I could probably stand to drop about 25lbs of fat so that is a major goal I’m setting forth for myself during this competition. I also would like to put on 5-10lbs of lean muscle mass over the next 90 days if possible as well. Here are a few changes I’m making to help accomplish these goals:

Rule 1: No more high calorie beverages.

As a SEO it’s really no surprise that I consume a good 3rd of my daily calories in the form of energy drinks and canned/bottled coffee. This is probably the easiest area for me to cut my calorie intake so it’s going to be the first thing I’ll tackle. From now on I’ll be sticking to low-cal sugar free redbulls and 0-cal sugar free AMPs for my energy drinks and supplementing them with 0-cal SoBe lifewaters in between.

Rule 2: Apple before every meal.

When you are trying to lose weight, portion control is a big deal. Unfortunately reducing the amount of food you eat by a drastic amount almost always leaves you feeling hungry. For those of us that aren’t huge fans of suffering… this isn’t exactly ideal. To combat this I will be eating 1 apple 30 minutes prior to every meal. Apples are high in fiber which help you feel full. This will help with portion control. Additionally apples are essentially calorie neutral – meaning they use up almost as many calories to digest them as they contain. Win-win.

Data Tracking

The Body Bugg from 24-hour Fitness

The man with the most information usually makes the best decisions. Knowing this I decided to pick up a Body Bugg from 24-hour Fitness today. This little device will allow me to track the amount of calories my body is burning every day. The device relies on 4 sensors to collect data.

• Motion: The armband contains an accelerometer that measures motion from multiple perspectives.
• Steps: The accelerometer counts steps by measuring the distinct patterns created by running or walking.
• Galvanic skin response: When you sweat, your skin becomes more electrically conductive. This measurement helps the device understand how active you are.
• Skin temperature: There’s an electronic thermometer inside your armband that monitors how hot you are.
• Heat flux: When you move, your muscles produce heat. Your armband measures the heat that’s flowing from your body into the environment.

Apparently all this data when combined produces my caloric expenditure with over 90% accuracy. Not too shabby. Additionally online software tracks this data against my inputed calorie intake and lets me know what my caloric deficit or overture is. This data is extremely useful for planning and executing a specific weight loss plan over a set period of time. If you can afford one I highly recommend you pick one up!

Well thats all for today folks. Check back in tomorrow for more information/updates!

STATS:

Reason for joining the completion:

I’ve got 1 year till I’m 30. I’ve really let myself get out of shape since I left the army back in 2005 and I miss what I used to look like. I know that in terms of metabolism, it’s all down hill from here so I want to create a great baseline to maintain while developing some healthy habits I can take with me through the rest of my life. Though the competition is only 90 days long I plan to use the entire year (April 13th 2010 – April 13th 2011) to create a body that is beach- worthy. The competition was just the nudge I needed to get off my lazy ass and take action.

Photos:

April 15th - Start Weight @ 194lbs

Front Shot - Relaxed

Front Shot - Flexed

Side Shot - Relaxed

Side Shot - Flexed