I’m following the 4HB low carb diet now for more then 10 months. 

Weight: 75,7 -> 66 (lost 9,7 Kg/19,6 lbs)

Fat %: 22,32% -> 15,5% (measured with the Withings Body Scale)

Mid belly button: lost 15,5 cm/6.1 inch 

 Hips: lost 11 cm/4,3 inch

Observations:

1) It’s been a while since I posted some before & after pics. I’m really not happy with the limited progress of the last 4 months. I only lost another kg, and another inch, nothing spectacular. 

2) Last month I still kept going up and down between 67 and 68 kg. But nowadays I am around 66 kg.

3) I stuck to the 4HB diet, but it’s difficult to stay strict. On one vacation, I gained like 3 kg/6.6 lbs in one week. It took me almost a month to loose them again.

4) On the positive site, I lost almost 6 cm/2.3 inch since the previous update, 4 months ago. Guess I’m still loosing some fat, although very slowly. 

5) Have to increase my exercise routines to built up stamina and muscle.

I’m following the 4HB low carb diet now for exactly 6 months. Time for a new DEXA scan to get more accurate results.

My Results:

Weight: 75,7 -> 67,2 (lost 8,5 Kg/18.7 lbs)

Fat %: 32,2% -> 23,4% (measured with DEXA scan)

Total Fat Loss: 8,299 Kg/18,296 lbs

Arms: lost approx. 1 kg/2.2 lbs of fat and gained 250 g/0.55 lbs of muscles

Legs:  lost approx. 2.7 kg/5.9 lbs of fat and gained 1 kg/2.2 lbs of muscles

Belly: lost 5.5 kg/12.12 lbs of fat 

Bum: lost approx. 1 kg/2.2 lbs of fat 

Observations:

1) I’m still at 23% of body fat or 15.4 kg/33.9 lbs of fat. After 6 months I’m only halfway there….sigh! I secretly hoped I was already at 20%. Damn! 

2) My belly fat dropped with 14%, my butt with 8% and I’m really glad it also shows on the photos.

3) Very good news was that the amount of visceral fat, this is real unhealthy fat, was down by halve.

4) Last month I kept going up and down between 67 and 68 kg. The month before between 68 and 69 kg. So things are really slowing down. 

5) With a BMI of 22,1 I can loose another 10 kg max to stay on the healthy site of the BMI curve. Honestly, I think I’m able to loose maybe another 2 to 3 kg/ 4.4-6.6 lbs, not a lot more. I count on it that the other kgs of fat will shrink through extensive cardio and be replaced with muscles.

6) When I look back at the photos of six months ago, I can’t believe I ever looked that fat. So documenting your progress really is a motivational tool.

6) Next step is to increase the amount of exercises slowly to built up muscles and endurance during the next six months.

I’m following the 4HB low carb diet now for exactly 5 months (started Jan 09).

Results:

Weight: 75,7 -> 67,1 (lost 8,6 Kg/18,9 lbs)

Fat %: 22,32% -> 16,6% (measured with the Withings Body Scale)

Mid belly button: lost 13 cm/5.1 inch 

Hips: lost 7,5 cm/3 inch

Observations:

1) I had one fallback during a week of sailing, but it took me only another week to get back on track.

2) Lost 13 cm on my belly and 7.5 cm on the hips. This means at least 2 sizes in jeans less!

3) I try to get to the fitness like 2 times a week and really would like to develop some extra muscles ( I secretly dream of getting abs one day). Didn’t start Tim’s Geek-to-freek programme because I still have to get that fat% down first. My typical gym programme exists of:

. 20 min of cardio (stationary bike)

. Pull over 2 x 8 reps 15KG/33 LBS

. Bent-Over Barbell Row 2 x 8 reps 15KG/33 LBS

. Reverse Barbell Curl 2 x 8 reps 5KG/11 LBS

. Lat pulldown 2 x 8 reps 35KG/77 LBS

. Machine Bench press 2 x 8 reps 32.5KG/71.5 LBS

. Plate loaded leg press 2 x 8 reps 120KG/264 LBS

. Back extension 2 x 8 reps 60KG/132 LBS

. Bosu crunches 2 x 12 reps

I don’t consume that much iron yet, but I aim to slowly build up some weight. Besides the gym, I try to swim at least once a week and do an extra stationary bike session of 20 min. So for a former couch potato, I’m pretty proud of this change in lifestyle. 

4) I tried to experiment with cold showers to increase my fat loss. But after one week I stopped with it. I guess I ‘m still to big a pussy for cold ;-)

5) Next month, I plan to do another DEXA bodyscan to get a more accurate state of my progress (6 months). I will also post some new before and after pics then. 

Last week I went sailing. Now as you can imagine, cooking is not evident on a boat. Especially on a small 8 foot yacht without a freezer and only 2 small cooking gas pits. 

We tried to keep up with the 4HB diet, but this was no easy task. For example, I discovered that when I ate eggs, I tend to become seasick. So far for the eggs.

To avoid seasickness, you also have to eat regularly small snacks (we used to eat a piece of fruit, a cookie, etc…) and I didn’t found any good substitutes for that yet.  

After a day on the water, you’re so exhausted that you don’t feel like cooking much so you tend to prep an easy meal like pasta.

So despite all good intensions, I ended up with a lot of cheating and gained some extra weight (1 kg/ 2.2 lb).  

On the positive site, my fat % didn’t rise… an we had a LOT OF FUN!

Hope this week I lose those extra pounds again ;-)

Brown adipose tissue (BAT), also known as brown fat, is one of two types of fat humans and other mammals have - the other type is known as white or yellow fat. Human newborns and hibernating mammals have high levels of brown fat. Brown fat’s main function is to generate body heat.

The fat that builds up around our waists and thighs is the white type, while brown fat is mainly found around the neck areas (front and back).

Scientists are only now just beginning to understand what the functions of brown fat are. From what we can tell so far, main differences between the two are:

• White fat is the result of storing excess calories. When we consume too many calories, the body converts them into a contingency energy reserve in the form of white fat.
• Brown fat generates heat by burning calories. When it is cold, brown fat’s lipid reserves are depleted, and its color gets darker.

People who are thin appear to have more brown fat than people who are overweight or obese, and the brown fat in thin people appears to be more active in burning energy. BAT seems to start cranking out the heat when the temperature gets cooler.

Exposure of humans to cold activates thermogenic activity in brown adipose tissue (BAT). So taking cold showers could help to loose extra weight.

Taking a cold shower is definitely not unhealthy, although it might be very unpleasant. Nothing to loose right? I  started 2 days ago with taking a daily 3 min cold shower. I’m curious if this will effect my weight loss in the next weeks.  If one of you has any experience with this, please share.

I came across this article in the LA Times which explain in a clear way how carbohydrates intake work and how carbs are converted to fat storage.

A growing number of top nutritional scientists blame excessive carbohydrates — not fat — for America’s ills. They say cutting carbohydrates is the key to reversing obesity, heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and hypertension.

All carbohydrates (a category including sugars) convert to sugar in the blood, and the more refined the carbs are, the quicker the conversion goes. When you eat a glazed doughnut or a serving of mashed potatoes, it turns into blood sugar very quickly. To manage the blood sugar, the pancreas produces insulin, which moves sugar into cells, where it’s stored as fuel in the form of glycogen.

(note: This is what usually happens in the body. You eat a carb-ful meal and your glycogen stores are empty. So first, your body fills up your glycogen to the max, then it eventually tips over into your fat stores. Any glucose in excess of the needs for energy and storage as glycogen is converted to fat. Fat is stored predominantly as adipose tissue throughout the body and is an energy reservoir. )

If you have a perfectly healthy metabolism, the system works beautifully. However, over time, as our bodies get tired of processing high loads of carbs, which evolution didn’t prepare us for … how the body responds to insulin can change. When cells become more resistant to those insulin instructions, the pancreas needs to make more insulin to push the same amount of glucose into cells. As people become insulin resistant, carbs become a bigger challenge for the body. When the pancreas gets exhausted and can’t produce enough insulin to keep up with the glucose in the blood, diabetes develops.

# source LA Times

I’m following the 4HB low carb diet now for approximately four months.

Weight: 75,7 -> 68,2 (lost 7,5 Kg/16,5 lb)

Fat %: 22,32% -> 17,5 % (measured with the Withings Body Scale)

Mid belly button: lost 9 cm/3.5 inch

Hips: lost 5,5 cm/2.2 inch

Observations:

1° Last month, I found it difficult to follow the diet strictly. So I allowed myself some little “guilty pleasures” from now to then. For example one chocolate biscuit once a week, drinking a cappuccino (I don’t like coffee without milk), eating a small chocolate once in a while…. all by all quite innocent with seemingly no real impact on the weight loss.

2° Since the use of PAGG, weight gain after cheat days seems more under control then before. 

4° When I’m feeling hungry, I tend take an extra meal (ex. chicken, or a salad of avocado’s with beans, tuna, olives and tomatoes,…). But it is not a daily routine.

5° I finally broke the 69 kg barrier (Yehaa, pants are starting to fall down!!). I fluctuated between 69 and 70 for more then one month. This was really hard to keep up motivation but last week, I felt like I was back on track.

I recently added this 2 exercises to my weekly routine. I’m fitting them in my programme twice a week. Let me know if you also perform them and what the results are.

Movement 1: The Myotatic Crunch

I began my analysis by looking for common attributes in exercises that hadn’t worked. The shared feature of all the dominant exercises, in particular the floor crunch, is that they used no more than half of the full range of motion (ROM) of the abdominals. If you were to imagine yourself sitting in a chair, the prescribed exercises all took you toward your knees (crunch, floor sit-up) or brought your knees toward your chest with a straight back (roman chair, reverse crunch). I decided to ignore that fetal range of motion altogether for eight weeks and focus on the stretched position achieved with full back extension.
The result was the myotatic crunch, so named because it leverages the fully stretched position and the resultant reflex (myotatic reflex or stretch reflex) for a stronger contraction than I had been able to achieve otherwise. It didn’t take eight weeks to see a difference. It took three.
Since this exercise is also effective for recruiting the transverse abdominis (explained next), if you have to choose one exercise, choose this one. If a BOSU ball is not available, use a small Swiss ball (45–55 centimeters in diameter) or a pile of firm cushions. Using a BOSU or Swiss ball, ensure your ass is close to the floor, usually no more than 6” off the ground.

Then follow these steps:
1. Start with arms stretched overhead as high as possible (I overlap my extended hands as if in a diving position). Keep your arms behind or next to your ears for the entire exercise.

2. Lower under control for 4 seconds until your fingers touch the floor, the entire time attempting to extend your hands further away from the ball.

3. Pause at the bottom for 2 seconds, aiming for maximum elongation (picture 3).

4. Rise under control and pause in the upper, fully contracted position for 2 seconds. The arms should not pass perpendicular with the ground.

5. Repeat for a total of 10 repetitions. Once you can complete 10 repetitions, add weight to your hands. I tend to use books of different sizes. If female, I don’t suggest exceeding 10 pounds in added weight (see “Hourglass” sidebar on page 179).

Movement 2: The Cat Vomit Exercise

This exercise is dedicated to my ex-girlfriend. I want only the best for you, Angelina Jolie.
Unless you purchase a corset at the same time, doing crunches will not pull your abdomen in. The muscle fibers of the six-pack (rectus abdominis) run vertically. The muscle you want to target instead is called the transverse abdominis (TVA), the deepest of the six main abdominal muscles, which is composed of fibers that run horizontally like a belt. The TVA is nicknamed the “corset muscle,” and if your abs have ever ached from laughing or coughing, you’ve felt it working.

Unfortunately, laughing repeatedly in the gym will get you a straitjacket or a plate to the head, so here is the alternative:
1. Get on all fours and keep your gaze focused either directly under your head or slightly in front of you. Don’t arch your back or strain your neck.

2. Forcefully exhale from your mouth until all air is fully expelled. Your abs should be contracted from this forceful exhale. Full exhalation is necessary to contract the transverse abdominals, and you’ll use gravity to provide resistance.

3. Hold your breath and pull your belly button upward toward your spine as hard as you can for a target of 8–12 seconds.

4. Inhale fully through the nose after the 8-12 second hold.

5. Take one breath cycle of rest (exhale slowly out the mouth, inhale slowly through the nose), then repeat the above for a total of 10 repetitions.


There you have it: the myotatic crunch and the cat vomit exercise. Heave, groan, and be merry.

via Gizmodo

#source Thefourhourbody