Final Day

202.0 lbs. 21.5 lbs (1.5 stone) lost in total.

I worked out like a maniac for the first 4 weeks, and then slowed a little during the last 3 weeks due to injuries (shin splints and now a pulled thigh muscle.) However, I continued to lose weight because I maintained a pretty good diet- no bread, pasta, pizza, burgers, chips, crisps, sweets etc.- and the diet is really the key. I'm confident I can remain around this weight, although as my poker volume continues to increase (I'm planning on getting 1.5MM VPPs and SNE for the 4th year running) it will get a little harder.

As far as poker goes, I played just under 400,000 hands (343 hours) during this 7-week period, and made a little under $50k profit, despite a miserable downswing over the past two days. I also gave out abuse to about 200 players- many deserving, some not. Going forward, I think I'm going to try and curb my competitive nature as far as this side of my game goes. But maybe not.

Peace out, Mother Funksters.

Day 44

205.4 lbs. 18.1 lbs lost. My shin splints have continued to handicap my ability to work-out, so I'm quite pleased that I've managed to remain at 205 lbs. I don't foresee a recovery before I turn 40 next week, so I'll be happy if I can stay around this weight for now. Once I can put in some proper cardio again, I'll probably see if I can get as low as 200 lbs.

On the plus side, I've been putting in close to 10k hands a day at poker at a decent win-rate.

Day 39

Well, it's been a while since an update. In part it's because I've been injured (shin splints) for the last week and so I have been unable to do any cardio. My diet has remained pretty good though, so I've at least managed to maintain my weight-loss, even though I've not been able to lose any additional weight.

On the plus side, I've been focussing the extra time onto my poker and that has been going very well. I've been averaging around 10k hands/day

I plan to restart my cardio sessions today, and so hopefully I'll be able to loss a couple of more pounds before I turn 40 on the 23rd.

Day 25

205.6 lbs. 17.9 lbs lost after 24 days. So I've pretty much reached my goal of getting down to 205 lbs, but I can still lose a little more. New goal: 200 lbs. 4 weeks to go...

Day 22

210.0 lbs. Three weeks gone and 13.5 lbs lost. I'm confident of getting down to 205 lbs now, as I still have several pounds of excess fat that likes to hang out around my stomach. I'm trying to apply a sustainable weekly routine regarding exercising and diet, something that I can maintain- or close to it- after my 50 days is up.

I managed an average of three exercise sessions last week from Monday to Friday, but I decided to do little at the week-end, and instead put more hours into playing poker. I also think it's more optimal to get some rest rather than risk feeling fatigued. That is now my plan going forward, but it will still be at least 15 exercise sessions a week. In addition, I'm also going to try to get in a session of stretching exercises every day.

6 sessions in the gym (5¼ hours)
2 sessions of football (3¾ hours)
7 sessions of boxing (42 rounds)

Poker-wise, I managed 45k hands which is a little short of my 50k goal, however I spent several hours analysing my game away from the tables which has enabled me to make some +EV adjustments. Total profit for the month (including bonuses) is $16,750

 

Before and After Pics for Weeks One, Two & Three

Day 18

209.8 lbs. 13.7 lbs lost in 17 days. I've gone on a hot streak during the past 4 days and dropped 4.5 lbs, so I've now reached my original goal of 210 lbs. The last time I was sub-210 was 2001.

I've increased my exercise since last week a little. I upped my rounds on the bags from 5 to 6, and after I hit them tonight I'll have completed 13 sessions of exercise in the past 4 days.

Day 17

211.3 lbs. 12.2 lbs lost after 16 days.

The lighting is a lot more complementary in the second photo, but even so there's still quite a contrast.

Day 1 vs Day 16

Day 15

213.5 lbs. 10 lbs lost in total.  1.4 lbs lost during Week 2. The weight is coming off much slower now. I put in a total of 15 sessions of exercise during Week 2:

5 sessions in the gym (4¼ hours)
4 sessions of football (4 hours)
6 sessions of boxing (35 rounds)

Before and After Pics for Weeks One & Two

 

Despite the appearance, my skin is the same shade now as it was two weeks ago. I've not been using the sun bed! 

Poker

I caught up a little on my poker volume, and managed to get 56k hands in. My total profit for the two weeks is $12,400 (with bonuses) although I haven't been playing very well.

Click Image to Enlarge

So my time spent exercising took a bit of a hit due to the increased volume I put in at the poker tables. 14 hours of exercise + 48 hours of poker + 8 hours of preparation and travelling = 70 hours total.

During Week 3, I'm going to aim for 20 sessions of exercise and 50k hands of poker...

Day 12

214.4 lbs. +0.6 lbs since yesterday. My exercise routine and diet haven't changed at all, so I'm not concerned with the natural day-to-day fluctuations. I'll probably just update every 2-3 days from now on.

Day 11

213.8 lbs. 9.7 lbs lost in total. An increase of 0.6 lbs since yesterday. As mentioned on Day 1, I felt that I would experience a bit of a plateau once I reached this point:

"The first week will be very easy, and I should drop a lot during this time. I could even be as low as 216 lb by next Monday. Once I reach that weight I expect my loss to slow dramatically, before reaching a plateau for several days."

I would expect to see small fluctuations from now on, but hopefully I will still be able to shift about 2lbs during the next week.

Day 10

213.2 lbs. 10.3 lbs lost.

Day 9

213.5 lbs. 10 lbs lost in 8 days. I suppose I should have had my body fat measured before I started this plan. It would have enabled me to set a more accurate goal as to what I can achive, rather than set a somewhat arbitrary target. E.g. Supposing I had 20% body fat when I started (223.5 lbs) then a reasonable goal may be to get down to 10% body fat, which would put me at 205 lbs. That's probably a fairly accurate estimate, so as of right now I'm aiming to get down to 205 lbs.

Any muscle that I put on at this time is going to be pretty negligible, as I'm quite sure I'm not capable of adding more mass through natural means. There are many regulars at the gym who take one form of performance enhancer or another in order to bulk up, but I'm not interested in getting bigger and potentially hurting my long-term health. I'd estimate that more than half of the male adults at my gym who take working out at least as seriously as me aren't natural.

Rather disturbingly, I think my penis may have got a little smaller during this past week, although it's hard to be certain. Here are a couple of photos for comparison, but it may just be part of my imagination.

I'm going to see a Sports Therapist friend of mine on Friday. I need some advice on improving the many "imbalances" that my body has. I've had bad back problems since before I was an adult, and that has always been a massive impediment, especially when I was playing football competitively back in England. I also need to became more flexible and to stretch far more. Last year alone, I had three hamstring pulls in the first six months, followed by a pulled calf muscle. My posture also suffers because of it. I've been advised to take up Yoga or Pilates, something my mum has been encouraging me to do for a long time. So I guess I'm going to have to go shopping for a leotard...

Day 8

End of Week One...

214.9 lbs. So, after Week One of my 50-Day Countdown, I have lost 8.6 lbs. I put in a total of 20 sessions (14 hours) of exercise:

7 sessions in the gym (6 hours)
4 sessions of football (4.5 hours)
9 sessions of boxing (50 rounds)

Before and After Pics for Week One

Poker

I'm behind pace with my target of 50k hands per week. I only managed 36k, although I didn't play on Monday as I was still setting up my new PC. I played 32 hours altogether and made a profit of $6,500 (with bonuses) which is a little over $200/hour. I did run well though.

Click Image to Enlarge

So, that's a total of 46 hours spent working/exercising, but at least another 10 hours of preparation and travelling. (And 168 hours of dieting!) During Week Two, I expect to maintain the same amount of time spent exercising, but I need to increase my poker volume by 50%.

Day 7

215.5 lbs. Move along, there is nothing to see here.

Day 6

215.5 lbs. After dropping 8 lbs in the first three days, my weight has remained constant for the last two. That's not a reflection in any change in my diet or work-out routine over that period. I predicted on Day 1 that I would lose weight quickly initially, and then see a dramatic decrease in weight-loss once I reached 216 lb.

As you can see from my photo, I've already started to lean up:

Day 5

215.6 lbs. I put on 0.2 lbs since yesterday despite another day of fairly intense cardio and gym work. Total loss is now 7.9 lbs. My diet has continued to go well, but I'm disappointed with my meal from last night. I went out for a healthy meal at a local Japanese restaurant- at least that was my intention. A little sushi plus Habachi chicken, vegetables, with some rice and noodles, and a salad. Unfortunately there were just too many unhealthy ingredients thrown in, so it turned out to be a bad choice. When I let the chef know that I wasn't too happy, he took the news very personally.

 The chef commits Hari-Kari

Today I did my 6 rounds of mitt work earlier than usual. I ate breakfast beforehand but I felt light-headed so I couldn't push myself as hard as usual. I then played football for 75 mins. I decided to delay my trip to the gym until the evening, as I was feeling a little weak to put in a decent session. I may take a day off from working out this weekend if I feel it to be beneficial, although I'll most likely still do cardio both days.

Day 4

215.4 lbs. 1.9 lbs lost yesterday, for a total loss of 8.1 lbs in three days. I did 4.5 hours of cardio/weights yesterday, which is a little excessive, and my poker volume has taken a hit as a result. So far I have only put in 12k hands in the last 3 days, so I really need to step that up. My game isn't too good right now, and I need to put in some work away from the tables which I very, very rarely do. Fortunately I've been running above EV though:

Click image to enlarge