MJ's Fat-assery

[elminster]

Wow that's great. As Nath said, I wish I had someone to teach me at that age.

Also, personally I find doing weights (or any high intensity exercise) better for burning fat than cardio. The increase in muscle mass dramatically increases the amount of calories you can burn during any exercise and the "afterburn" effect (i.e. continued energy burning post-workout) is far greater than cardio. I've ran a lot recently and that still seems to be the case.

[Mighty Jalapeno]

1000 punches in 12 minutes, sped up for convenience and hilarity. Also, my arms hurt. Body looks better than I thought, though my form is still too hunch-shouldered (I wasn't focusing on footwork or posture nearly as much with this, though... just the weekly guild challenge.)

[Mighty Jalapeno]

After monitoring my weight and food intake over the last month, I have reversed my frustrated anger T why I can't seem to lose weight: I am eating a lot, and not always good for me, and usually higher in fat and sugar than strictly necessary, and more than I need to.. And I am STILL , very slowly, losing weight.

Works for me

[Mighty Jalapeno]

First MMA class tonight, with a teacher that looks an awful lot like a combination of Nath and Jay Chandrasekar.

...

Yay!

[Nath]

How'd it go? Did the one-armed state trooper teach you anything cool?

[Mighty Jalapeno]

Once we got past the moustache-ride jokes, yeah! Not too much to actually teach, I actually KNEW everything we covered. Right now he's just gauging where we're all at and helping us get to know eachother. I have to have pads and mouthguards for October, though, so I think it's gonna get ramped up soon.

[Mighty Jalapeno]

Double post for: ran my first official 5k today!

My family decided to show up after all, and they got off the bus right in front of me with 500m to go, with little handmade signs and flags

[PictureSarah]

YAYYYY! *high fives*

I'm going to try to start jogging with the baby when he's old enough to sit in the jogging stroller (and walking in the meantime), and maybe next spring we will be ready to do a 5k without walking.

[Mighty Jalapeno]

Cool! I remember Strollerfit classes back when the Mighty Spawn were babbies. Being the only guy there caused a lot of rage, so I ended up just biking in circles while the ladies did their thing.

Fourth consecutive workout with Bench / Row / OHP progress! One or two reps at a time, but after a month of stagnation (or regression), this is AWESOME!

Also my legs f***ing hurt.

Yay, posted the results! 19th out of 37 runners. I am the exact middle of the pack!

[Mighty Jalapeno]

Wow, has it really been September since I posted? Yeeesh.

Ok, so since then, I stepped up my weight lifting regimen through to New Years, and saw some great gains, especially in deadlift and bench press. After New Years, and taking about two weeks off, I... really slacked off. I was just beaten up by the previous year, the constant threat of being laid off (worst slowdown in industry history up here right now), lack of sleep... every morning my alarm would go off, and I would just decide sleep was more important.

Tried to get back into it a couple times in February and March, but not much luck.

Then we had the "Free Day" up at the Northern Sports Centre, which is a $60 million dollar sports, training and physiotherapy annex of the local university. It has two full-sized soccer fields and three basketball courts, and a track hanging from the ceiling that goes ABOVE those fields and courts. There's three weight rooms, four zones of weight machines, three exercise studios, and a boxing / MMA room. Also, my company gets me a corporate discount, my wife is half price, and at the moment my three kids are free.

So for the past three weeks I have been going M-W-F with my son at 6am, and T-T-S in the evenings with my wife, who is FINALLY trying to get into shape, coaxed by the fact that this fall she starts her environmental engineering degree which has a lot of outdoor and surveying components. I got a Fitbit for free through the corporate health plan, and she was jealous so she got a BETTER fitbit, and she tracks her food religiously so I am forced to, as well. I changed up my workouts after my free one-hour session with the personal trainer and physiotherapist, and ERHMAHGHERD my arms and legs have never burned like this before, but that's a good thing, I think! Also, so many laps on that cool track.

Protein is still a priority, I've still cut out sugar and desserts, and my weight is still stagnating, but my fitness level hasn't been higher in many, many years. My son is doing better in MMA than anyone expected, earned the fight name "Tank", which is hilariously ironic since, absolutely no bullshit, that was my nickname when I was a kid. I had a shirt that said "Tank". When my son turned four and everyone saw how big he was (height, not just weight), we each got a shirt... mine said "Tank Sr" and his said "Tank Jr". The MMA coach didn't know any of this, it just seemed like the right name. He specializes in BJJ takedowns and uses his crazy reach to force his opponents to turtle up so he can clobber the hell out of them with flurries of hooks. When they're dizzy, takedown time! It's kind of awesome.

So... that's the update, I guess. I'm not getting fired (Just had my IPD review, and they genuinely seem to love me here), I'm working out 5+ times a week, I'm eating carrots AT THIS MOMENT, and my family is really being supportive.

Cheers!

[roband]

Sounds awesome man.

[Mighty Jalapeno]

Also, sweet! There's my "little" dude with the gloves and mouthguard still on.

[Mighty Jalapeno]

13 lbs lost in the last six-ish weeks. Crushing my running goals. MJ finally has a goal worth chasing.

[roband]

Good shit man.

[Mighty Jalapeno]

259!

[poxic]

Woot!

[BattleMoose]

(I read the first 2 pages and the last page)

You seem to be making good progress.

I know a lot of people who have had very good success with a high fat diet. And there are an increasingly number of doctors/scientists who are advocating a high fat for health. And are really challenging the notion of what is healthy, especially after what happened after we vilified fat in the 50s and what happened to the populations health thereafter. Your doctor may very well disagree.

There are practices that are currently treating diabetes with a high fat diet and being successful.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCGDAwp-y0o

And scientists actually really getting into the nitty gritty of what is healthy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eREuZEdMAVo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0GSSSE4l8U

The main reason why it works so well for weight loss particularly is that fat and protein are highly satiating. So you can feel more full while eating fewer calories. It doesn't depend on willpower and you should (ymmv) feel full while losing weight. There's a lot of detail that you can go into, especially regarding blood sugar and insulin.

And you can find very many personal success stories at this blog.
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/going-pr ... z39Op4f2I8

It sounds far too good to be true. Eat meat, particularly fat, eggs, vegetables (lots), dairy (if you can) , eat as much as you want, be healthy and lose weight.

For your consideration.

[Bekah]

blah blah blah...

you are kicking serious ass that is not very well represented here.

[Mighty Jalapeno]

I am trying to evade the CIA. Hush.

[Bekah]

awww shit, I screwed that up...CIA if you're watching this isn't who you think it is.

[Mighty Jalapeno]

Wow, been a while since I've been HERE, but...

...

I weighed in at 238.3 in Vegas, and got my Biggest Loser fight. And here it is.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Lots of swearing, especially from Rude Jude and Dingo. Also, watch for Forrest Griffin and Uriah Faber in the background!

[Mighty Jalapeno]

Glad everyone enjoyed that?

Anyhoo... long story short, it's out of the world of fake fights and into the world of the 2016 Tiger Balm Internationals. Starting putting together a plan with my coach and the rest of the fight camp. Right now all seven of them are in five-week high-gear go-nuts mode for two events next month, INCLUDING A TITLE FIGHT FOR THE ASSISTANT COACH which is going to be SWEET, and bringing that particular belt to Prince George for the first time ever.

Consequently, they don't really have time for ME, since they're actually, you know, nationally-ranked fighters preparing for major bouts on the same card on short notice. BUT, there was plenty of talking, and it broke down thusly:

1.) The weight needs to come off. This is the biggie, so to speak... I need to get down to approximately my fight weight so I can TRAIN at my fight weight, and I simply can't train as hard as I am capable of if I am lugging around 40 extra pounds of fat (especially if it's preventing my knees and ankles from making much progress). I also need to get down to this weight as SOON as possible, but in a sustainable recoil-free manner. This is going to mean another huge dietary shift... basically January all over again. And January kind of sucked. However, I will have the added bonus of sunshine and outdoor activities, which was a huge help the last time I dropped a bunch of weight. So... July-August, SHED THE FAT. As much as possible. Slower weight loss September through December, with my hopeful "fight weight" achieved in January to give me eight solid weeks of over-training and two weeks of pre-fight prep.

2.) Identify deficiencies in my fitness. Right now a lot of these are weight-related, but they come down to three specific areas: upper body strength (specifically pull-downs, IE, the "clinching" muscles), core strength (front, sides, and lower back... pretty much all of it), and knee range of motion. I realize that's pretty much my ENTIRE body, but it sort of gives me places to focus on. My endurance is actually pretty good, especially considering my size (I can out-band most of the less-experienced but much fitter people at my gym).

3.) Identify deficiencies in my technique. I am a striker, first and foremost. I am 6'4" with a big frame, I can throw head kicks at my own height just fine, have tremendous range with my jab, and have great parrying reflexes. My striking deficiencies are mostly spinning kicks (which are coming along nicely!), checking with sufficient speed (I often just eat kicks because I know I'm not going to make it), and ducking/dodging/head movement. Again, almost all of those are just due to my size and my knees, both of which will improve when the weight comes off. Also, I need a lot more sparring, with lighter gloves for increased speed. I tend to panic and turtle, and I basically need to beat that reflex out of me. My wrestling is pretty good, when I ever use it, but I only know a very small number of techniques and often have problems getting swarmed and properly responding with my arms AND legs. As for jujitsu, I... suck. I really do. This is 99% related to my weight, my lack of core power, and my inexperience that usually ends up with me pretty much handing a joint lock to my opponent. I always just try to strike and end up twisted and choked out. SO... in the Fall, I will be coming back to JuJitsu nights at the gym. *shudder*

So! A more detailed design and schedule is going to be created in the coming week, with goals and milestones. I'm making a schedule, and I'm going to stick to a schedule. For nine frickin' months. For (hopefully) three fights in two days.

...

Thanks for listening.

[Samik]

I watched your fight a while back MJ. Sorry I didn't comment - I come back to this subforum every now and then but there's just not ever really anyone here.

Anyway, good stuff. You pinballed him pretty good. (Though I have to agree with them about the superman punch...)

[Mighty Jalapeno]

I JUST THOUGHT IT WOULD BE FUNNY!!!

*sobs and runs away*

[Samik]

Well, you made him quit inside of two minutes. I suppose you earned the right to showboat a little.

[Mighty Jalapeno]

He didn't want to quit, but the ref gave him a standing 8 count and said he couldn't go on. We were both a little bummed out, and I probably should have gone a little bit easier on him, to make the fight more fun. Ah well. Good times. And I do like the Tracy Lee pics!













Every time I get a little down on myself, these pictures kinda pick me back up.

[CorruptUser]

Congrats man!