Easter has come and gone and my weight remains at 170lbs ( 77 kilos ) or 12 stone 2lbs, so a little short in terms of reaching the  six pack abs target by Easter Sunday. I think I am still a month or so away from it,  I just have underestimated what I need to lose to get to my target. Even if I had lost another 2lbs to make a 7lb loss, which was my original target, I would still not have made it, I think I will need to be around 166lbs but it is hard to know exactly, so I will just keep going until I can see  my abs properly. I am going in the right direction, and I will get there, but the time frame I set in relation to my current lifestyle  was just was too short.  I can see my abs if I tense up, but that is cheating ! .

My BMI is currently 24.37 , so at the top end of the normal range.

So in the first 3 months of 2010 I have lost another 5lbs of fat , certainly nothing to be upset about, I had set what I thought was a  realistic goal of 7lbs in 12 weeks, and managed 5lbs so I am happy with that. As always this was done  without changing or giving up anything that I eat and drink , but just focusing on consuming  a little less and  trying to keep my calories at my BMR level.  I will look to get the comparison pictures online in the next few days.

Thanks for all the emails with questions about weight loss. I have noticed a couple of common themes running through them, so my next few posts are going to be talking about those, rather than just my own situation. One main theme I want to talk about is our expectations of weight loss, my own belief is we expect too much and then get discouraged when things are slow, but how do you determine what is fast or slow ?  take my current case here, is 5lbs of fat lost over 12 weeks slow or not ?  So more on that subject in the next few posts.

In the meantime as always, if you want to email me you can reach me via retireddieter[at]gmail.com or just leave a question in the comments.

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So today is the mid point since I set myself of the goal of getting  six pack abs by Easter Sunday. I have 6 weeks to go.

So do I think I will now get Six Pack abs In 6 weeks ?  Well  I can certainly see a change in the first 6 weeks of going for this, but more on my chest and arms at the moment. My waist has reduced, because I am now in the very last hole of my belt.

I did take some pictures at this half way point just to record the progress, and see how they will compare, but I won’t put these up before the end of this experiment.

No question the new bodyweight workouts have added some muscle, but the body fat still needs to go lower. Saying that, I think with a few extra changes, It is possible to get my abs showing in 6 weeks.

On days when I am fasting, if I tense up, then yes I can see my abs, but currently they are still hidden by a layer of fat. The focus for this next 6 weeks is to increase the fat burn.

I try not to focus too much on the scales these days, as I say I go more by the mirror and my clothes, but the scales are saying I still weigh 175lbs. My body fat % is down from 12.4% to  11%, so I have lost some fat and gained some muscle, but I also know I am going to have to do more.

If I look in the mirror, I would say I still need to lose about 7lbs of fat, so that certainly is possible in 6 weeks.  You may wonder what am I going to change ?  Well only one thing, eat a little less  !

My problem now is not controlling my weight, I have that under control for the last 4 months, what I have to do now is make some extra changes to help lose the final bit of fat. I need to just watch a little more the amount I eat.

My bodyweight workout is challenging me, and it changes every week, so currently there is no need to alter anything there, but food wise, I am going to reduce down a little more, using the eat 10 calories per llb of body weight as a guide.

This means I am giving myself a target of 1750 calories per day over 7  days which equals 12250 for the week. I track calories over the week, not by the day. So now I have to figure out based on my normal weekly lifestyle where this works.

I will start with Beer. Usually I  have 10 pints on a weekly basis, on most weeks, these are  on a Friday and a Sunday, yes it’s  more than the government suggest I drink, but I don’t listen to them, besides on  my recent medical, my Doctor says I am healthy, and I have a fitness age of a 25 year old, so I am not giving up the beer, I like a visit to the pub,  and even in this quest for the six pack abs, I have to stay true to my beliefs. My whole point for doing this experiment is to show I can get abs even though I am in past forty and  without giving up the visits to the pub.

10 Pints of  an average 4% ABV beer is around 2000 calories.  So that leaves around 10,000 calories.

How a typical week can look for me

Sunday  3,000

Monday 1,250

Tuesday 1,000

Wed      1,250

Thursday 1,250

Friday  2,500

Saturday 2,000

Sunday is the biggest calorie day for me because it includes my family Sunday lunch, plus the Sunday evening pub quiz.  The weekdays are very easy for me to cut down calories , so that is what I will do.

Breaking the calories down in this way does show me why the progress in the first 6 weeks has been slow. I do have to remember I am not  going from 231lbs this time, and dropping body fat at 175lbs is going to need a little bit more effort. The goal for me is to do that , while still staying true to my retired dieter principles of not giving up the foods I love  and not exercising like a madman for 2 hrs a day.

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