Introduction

I'm a 46 year old male in generally good health. In May 2007 I weighed 196lbs. I woke up one morning and decided that I simply was not satisfied with the state of my body and that I would listen to "experts" (whom I have done my best to identify) until my next birthday (April). I started lifting weights a couple times a week and cut my caloric intake. After that I really started watching what I was eating and moved to a 40/30/30 (carb/prot/fat) diet in July 2007 at 2000 calories per day. I determined through a variety of methods that 2400 cal was my maintenance level. I followed some New Rules of Lifting programs for about 4 months, lifting 4 days a week and doing interval training on another two days of the week. I completed the programs titled Break-in, Fat Loss I, Hypertrophy I, Fat Loss II, and Fat Loss III. In mid-November I started some fitness programs by Craig Ballantyne just to shake things up. I used those programs through the end of the year and went back to NRoL in January.

By September 2007 I got down to 181lbs; however, I got stuck at a plateau for a couple of months and I thought it might be my diet. I wasn't worried too much because I figured my body was adjusting to its new weight; further, I was lifting some pretty serious weights at the time so I'm sure that I was putting on some muscle at the same time. I'm now down to about 16% body fat (as determined by the charts in Protein Power) and 149 lbs lean body weight. On my pants I've dropped my waist from 38" to 33".

By the beginning of December 2007 I met my weight loss goals:

• Weight: 168.4
• Body fat %: 13.5%
• LBM: 145.7
• Waist: 33.0"
• Chest: 40.0"

I kept lifting throughout 2008. Finished working through New Rules of Lifting by August. Really an amazing introduction to lifting — I cannot recommend it highly enough. I then completed a couple of programs from Chad Waterbury's Muscle Revolution and loved the challenge they presented. By the end of 2008 my 1-rep maxs were the following:

• Bench: 225 lbs
• Squat: 365 lbs
• Deadlift: 405 lbs

I now weigh 180 lbs and am at 14-15% body fat (by my Tanita scale). I am fully committed to eating low carb. I eat mostly meat (beef, chicken, poultry, pork), eggs, nuts, cheese, green veggies, and dark chocolate (>80% cocoa). I also lift 3-4 times per week every morning for 30-60 minutes before I go to work. I've recently started helping my wife as she begins weight lifting. I have encouraged lots of people to lift weights as part of a healthier lifestyle.

This blog will contain my reflections on lifting, nutrition, and health as I read more and try to live the healthiest life I can.