I’m excited because the new site will give me a lot more control and freedom to do things with NMFD, like discussion boards and polls, etc.

OK, I’ve got the new site up. It’s pretty much done, but I may tweak things over the next few weeks.

So, please change any links to http://www.nomorefatdad.com and then head on over and take a look.

Thanks!

How to Lose Manboobs

By: Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
www.TurbulenceTraining.com

You don’t have to go through life with man boobs (otherwise known as male breasts). In fact, you can burn away chest fat and get rid of your manboobs forever with just three short, but intense workouts per week.

Getting rid of manboobs is as simple as getting rid of any other fat. You need to cut back on the junk, and fill up on the intensity. Turbulence Training is the fastest fat loss workout you can do at home. You don’t need fancy equipment or a gym membership (where you’ll be too embarrassed by your man boobs to go anyway).

Listen, women love a chiseled chest, but are turned off by the site of manboobs poking through a sweatshirt. That’s why I’ve put together a fat burning program that focuses on building muscle and blasting fat with all sorts of push-ups, chest exercises, and intervals. In fact, even the Turbulence Training abdominal workouts work the chest and help convert those man boobs back into a real man’s chest in just weeks.

You can gain muscle and lose fat with short workouts. You don’t need to be training 6 days per week or spending hundreds of dollars each month on fancy (but worthless) supplements.

Soon you’ll be the guy who is first to take his shirt off at the beach. No more hiding under sweats in the middle of July, or avoiding the water because you don’t want anyone to see your manboobs.

And no matter what anyone says, you don’t have to rely on surgery. Besides, that will leave ugly scars that will leave you just as self-conscious as when you had man boobs. The only fix is a permanent lifestyle change, thanks to the 3 short workouts per week of Turbulence Training. You’ll see changes in your man boobs, love handles, and arm definition within weeks, going from male breasts to ripped abs in the process.

Turbulence Training is not like all those other aerobic, slow cardio programs you’ve tried in the past that didn’t work. And it’s not a wimpy machine circuit that just ends up being a waste of your time. Instead, Turbulence Training is a unique exercise system that you can do in the comfort of your own home, so that no one at the gym can point or stare at your chest – at least not until they are staring with respect.

The fastest way, the safest way, and the only way to get rid of man boobs is with strength training and interval training. Combine that with Dr. Chris Mohr’s sensible nutrition guidelines, and you’ll have a new body, and a new chest in just weeks.

Sincerely,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training

About the Author

Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men’s Health, Men’s Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines. His trademarked Turbulence Training fat loss workouts have been featured multiple times in Men’s Fitness and Maximum Fitness magazines, and have helped thousands of men and women around the world lose fat, gain muscle, and get lean in less than 45 minutes three times per week. For more information on the Turbulence Training workouts that will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment, visit www.TurbulenceTraining.com

I reasoned that the Belly Off! program worked so well, why mess with a good system. That’s why I decided to pick up TT. In case you didn’t know, Craig developed both the Men’s Health Belly Off! 2008 program and Turbulence Training. After downloading the files, I printed off the main ebook and eagerly read the first few chapters. This is a great continuation of what I’ve learned so far and I’m excited about getting started. I’ll start with the Intermediate workout and progress from there.

With all the different programs Craig has put in this package, I’m feeling very confident that I’ll have a body I can be proud of by the time summer roles around. Heck, I already have a body I’m much prouder of thanks to Belly Off. But I’m talking about a body that is strong, lean, tone and healthy looking. I’m talking body fat in the range of 15-18 percent (16% would be a 10% decrease from where I am now). I’m going to be my wife’s arm candy this summer!

So, as I transition to the TT workouts, I’ll keep going on this blog. It’s been a huge help in keeping me on track and I truely appreciate everyone’s support and comments. You have no idea how much it means to me. Thank you.

(fading out slowly, again in my best JM voice…)

This is the end
Beautiful friend
This is the end
My only friend, the end

Of our elaborate plans, the end
Of everything that stands, the end
…

Can someone please read over that and tell me exactly how much a PREPARED serving of this stuff would be? I think it’s supposed to be 1 cup prepared for a serving, but I’m not quite sure.

Why can’t they make it clear? Are they trying to make making healthy choices more difficult?

Of course, nothing is as accurate as a float test for body fat measurement, but this is a pretty good estimate. If you’re like me, you’ll probably put the formulas into your own spreadsheet. But if you’re just curious, you can just use the calculators on this site to figure out your body composition.

Once you have all the numbers, it’s pretty easy to figure out target weights and body fat percentages. This type of information is invaluable when it comes to setting realistic goals.

I will say, it was a bit disappointing to see my BF % number since I’ve had such great success so far. But on the flip side, I have had great success and this only helps to motivate me more. I’m carrying ~50 pounds (22.72 kg) of fat around and that’s just disgusting. So I’ll use this new found knowledge to motivate me and to help me set my goals for the next 3, 6 and 12 months.

I also just plugged in my starting numbers (from Jan 7th) and it looks like I’ve done a good job of maintaining lean body mass while losing body fat. Here’s a before and after look at my body composition numbers:

So, looking at those numbers, I’ve lost a total of 14 pounds from my starting weight. Of that weight loss, 12.34 pounds has been from fat loss and a little under 2 pounds has been from lean body mass. Of course, I want to avoid any LBM loss and I think my diet has had something to do with it. Now that I know I’m not eating as many calories as I should, I can fix that issue and hopefully see my LBM stay the same and all my loss will come from fat only (is that is even possible).

As the old saying goes, “Knowledge is power”. With these calculations, I know that if I hit a weight of 180 and have a 32 inch waist, I’ll be at about 13% body fat, and I’ll take that any day of the week. I also know, that at those targets, I’ll be at about 156 pounds of LBM and I’ll be carrying around 20 pounds of excess fat. I’m OK with that number, I can’t see myself ever being in the single diget body fat percentage realm, but who knows. With this info, I at least know what I’d have to do in order to achieve those types of results.

I’m going to keep eating like I have been for a complete week, tracking it in FitDay so that I can get a baseline of what I’ve been doing. Once that is established, then I will tweak my diet so that I’m taking in the right amount of energy.

It’s actually pretty amazing that I’ve done so well this far with such a huge calorie deficit. I know if I tried to keep it up at this pace, I would have hit my plateau and had a hell of a time busting through it. The other amazing part is that I’m really not that hungry on how much I’ve been eating. I can’t believe I have another 700 calories I can take in over the course of a day and still lose weight. I actually looked at my numbers, re-checked my figures and had my wife look at my math a few times because I couldn’t believe that I need ~2400 calories a day to lose weight.

The flip side of that is, MY GOD, how many calories was I taking in each day to put on this weight? I guess being pretty sedentary helped, but I know I was probably hitting 4000+ calorie days quite a bit and that’s scary when I think about it now.

Over the course of the next few days, I’ll be putting together a little script page that will help you determine your BMR, your TDEEs and your calorie requirements. Once it’s done, I’ll post a link.

In the mean time, here is the material I got my calculations and information from. Read up, and when I have the calcs page done, you’ll have a good idea of what to do and what all the numbers mean and the science behind the numbers.

So, why a rough week? I don’t honestly know, but it just seemed like I was operating on cruise control and that made it seem like I had a bad week to me. I did all the exercises and the Bodyweight 350 + Bodyweight 100 challenge on the weekend. I ate pretty good as far as I could tell, though I did increase the amount I was eating a bit because I thought I might not have been eating enough previously. I’ll talk more about that in the food section.

Looking back, it wasn’t as bad of a week as I have thought. I did the exercises, still ate good foods and got out for a great walk with my oldest son and our dog out at the Cleveland Metroparks, which is a beautiful area to go walking/jogging/cycling in.

Another good sign was that I put on a suit I haven’t worn in a while to lector this week and I had to take it off and change suits. It looked HUGE on me. And I know I was a bit lighter when I bought the suit a few years ago but this program has re-shaped my body to the point that a suit I used to look real good in now looks like crap on me. And all my pants/jeans are falling off. So it’s time to go shopping I guess.

Overall

I guess I covered quite a bit in the opening, so I won’t go into too much detail here. As much as I have it in my head that this was not a good week, when I look back at what I did I can’t honestly feel that way. I think a big part of that feeling is that this has become a way of life now instead of being new. That shift in perception is probably the difference. Something that seems routine doesn’t have the same feeling to me as something new and exciting. But taking the time each week to reflect on the previous week really gives me time to realize that I’m still chugging along doing all the right things. So I guess it’s good that this is only an 8 week program because not only does the body adapt and get used to routine, apparently so does the mind.

Food

As I was saying earlier, I think the food is what messed me up the most this week. Why? Well, I have just been eating sensibly, using portion control and choosing natural foods. I haven’t been keeping track of my calorie intake or my nutrient ratios. I’m doing this because I’ve been a fiend before during my weight loss kicks. I’d measure everything, plot everything, analyze everything. That wasn’t sustainable and in the long run, it was more work than anything should have been. So with this program, I’m just trying to be sensible and not get too involved in the numbers.

That said, I started playing with how much food I eat last week. I had it in my mind that I might not be eating enough so I added an extra fruit or protein to my meals. I did not do this based on any hard facts, just a guess. It turns out, I probably should have kept track of my food for awhile before deciding to increase my calories. Making changes without knowing your baseline is probably not a good thing to do. I have no idea what my daily calorie requirements are, no idea how many I was eating and no idea how many I increased it by.

Because of my results this week, I’m going to actually keep track of my calories for a week. I’ll figure out my BMR and see where I’m coming in at the end of the week. Using that information, I’ll be better prepared to make any tweaks to what I’m eating instead of just guessing. I’ll use FitDay to keep track for one week. I’ll go back to how I was eating before this past week and use that as my base. Knowledge is power, it’s time to get some knowledge.

Exercise

I’m really enjoying being active. My time at the gym is a welcome break from my day and the workouts are still challenging enough. I added some weights to the workouts two weeks ago and feel I need heavier weights now. I checked out the price on a weight vest and WOW, they’re expensive. I think Dick’s wanted $130 for a vest that can go up to 70 pounds. I’ll stick with what I have for now.

I finally got my chin-up bar and I definitely need to do more work on that. I started using the assisted pull-up machine at the gym after my Tuesday & Friday intervals, but it’s a whole different game when you’re working on bar hung in your door. The kids like hanging from it and have tried a few pull-ups themselves and so has my wife. I think this entire change is starting to rub off on the family.

As I mentioned in a previous post this past week, I’m going to be changing up my intervals. The treadmill just seems too easy so I’ll be adding in the rower, stationary bike and maybe the elliptical.

As I get more fit, I keep looking for things to do. So far I’ve decided on the Peddle to the Point bike ride (~70 miles), a Triathlon sprint in July and the Navy Seal Fitness Challenge in May.

Results

So how do the numbers look for this past week? Let me share:

• Weight – 194 lbs / 88.18 kg (195/88.64)
• Chest – 39″ / 99.06 cm (39.25/99.7)
• Waist – 38.75″ / 98.43 cm (39.25/99.7)
• Biceps – 12.5″ / 31.75 cm (12.25/31.13)
• Thighs – 22″ / 55.88 cm (22.75/57.79)
• Calfs – 14.25″ / 36.2 cm (14.5/36.83)

So while I only lost 1 pound, my measurements continue to go down. This has to mean I’m putting on muscle at the same time I lose the fat, and I’ll take that.

I’m posting from another computer this morning, so I don’t have my pics put together yet. I’ll get those up a bit later today.

Goals for this week

Ok, it’s crunch time. Two weeks to go and 4 pounds to lose to reach my target weight for the 8 week period. So this week I will track my calories using FitDay, get 4 interval sessions in using at least 2 different machines and get one 500M swim in.

By the end of this week, I want to be at 191 pounds, so I’m shooting for a 3 pound week.

Stay tuned, the end is in sight. Of course, the end is really just the beginning of something new.

I haven’t tried it yet, but what a powerful motivator. Now, since I was a skinny twig at one time, I think I’ll just use one of my wedding pictures as a visualization of what I can look like (again).

If anyone tries this service out, let me know and it would be fun to see the before & after pics that you get back.

My regular workout partner couldn’t make it to the gym today so since I didn’t have someone to chat with as we ran, I decided to jump on the rowing machine instead of the treadmill. I strapped my feet in, checked out how to get the thing going and started rowing. I set the system up for a 20 minute interval session. I don’t know if I set the intensity correctly, but the workout I got from that 20 minutes was hard. I think my average strokes per minute during the recovery period were around 3.2-3.3 while my sprints were in the 4.2-4.3 SPM range. It seems as if time goes much slower on the rower than it ever did on the treadmill. Those 30 second sprints felt like 30 minutes.

About half way into the session, my arms and legs started burning. This was going to be a fight to the finish. I don’t know how good my form was, especially on the sprints, but I sure felt it and am still feeling it. This was a much more complete body workout than the treadmill, that’s for sure.

When the 20 minutes were over, I wasn’t sure how much of an interval I had actually done. Going from 3.3 strokes per minute to 4.3 didn’t seem like a big enough jump to me (even though I was spent) so I jumped on the stationary bike for a quick 15 minute interval session (5 sets). Needless to say, my legs are done for today. And not only my legs, but I can feel the afterburn in my back and arms too. It’s not painful, but those muscles are all warm and have that feeling of getting a good workout.

Now that I think about it, I hope I didn’t work out too hard the day before our Bodyweight 350 + 100. We’ll see how I feel tomorrow morning and if it’s that bad, I’ll do the challenge on Sunday.

I did learn something from this. And that is I need to get outside of my comfort zone and change things up a lot more than once every 6 weeks. At least with my intervals. So now I think I’ll rotate between the treadmill, the bike and the rower and maybe the elliptical (though I hate those things). As the weather gets better here in North East Ohio, I’ll take some of the running outside and do some sprints/walks up and down my street. Between these changes, adding my swimming and now biking (gotta get ready for the Peddle to the Point and a possible Triathlon sprint) to my routine, I should keep my body from getting too comfortable which should help to keep the fat burning going at an optimal level.

Besides, the rowing should get me ready for this summer when I get a kayak and hit Lake Erie and some of our rivers around here.