So this week was kind of a mess. Sunday was my "cheat" day and boy did I... I went to my favorite bar to watch some football and proceeded to drink 3 pints of beer to wash down my delicious buffalo chicken panini and french fries. It actually ended up making me sick and I gained 2lbs the next morning. What a great way to start off a new week. NOT. It took several days to re-lose the 2 pounds and then I had another set-back. This may sound odd to some folks, but I "sell my body to science" for lack of a better way of saying it. This time I was motivated by the fact that I have been unemployed since September, and with Xmas coming, I just had to do something to not become homeless for the holidays. Anyhow, I'm participating in my 3rd experimental vaccine trial. In the past, I've participated in one for Herpes and one for Dengue Fever. This go around it is Ebola. EXCITING. Sort of. Can you say you have been vaccinated against Ebola? Because I can. Anyhow, for the science nerds out there, the vaccine is a recombinant VSV (virus) whose own envelope proteins have been switched out for the Ebola envelope proteins, the hope being you produce anti-bodies against the Ebola virus. Well, the VSV is alive and well, so even though they took away the most virulent parts (so they say), you still produce a strong immune response against it. What does that mean? I got my vaccination on Wednesday, and Thursday I felt like total shit. My entire body ached and I felt feverish, much like when you have the flu. So I spent Thursday hibernating on my couch wathcing Netflix (after seeing the doctor at the Clinical Trial Center of course). For dinner, I had wonton soup aka. a bowl of sodium and egg rolls (thank goodness it was a high-carb day!). Of course, Thursdays sodium intake, caloric overload, and inactivity also showed its ugly face on the scale Friday morning. Friday I felt like a normal person again, so I've worked hard the last two days to make sure the week wasn't a total bust. Anyhow, I know that was a crazy long intro, but here are my results for the week (Sun morning - Sun morning):
Weight: -1.2lbs
% Body fat: -0.3%
BMI: -0.3
Notable measurements:
-0.5 inches in the Upper Thigh
-0.5 inches above the knee
-0.25 inches in the Bicep
My comments: I can actually see and feel the differenes that have been happening in my biceps and thighs which is a great feeling. I'm hoping to put on an impressive gun show at Xmas. Again, I have the Jillian Michael's DVDs to thank for both, with all those crazy lunges, squats and arm work. I was dissappointed there was no change in my hips and stomach this week, but with a net loss of only 1.2lbs, it is hard to expect too much. I'm not going to fall off the wagon today like I did last Sunday, so hopefully there will be a more significant change next week, assuming I don't indulge too much in Thanksgiving celebrations. Anyhow, what I am probably more proud of, is when I compare my current data vs. when I was this same weight back in May, I have more lean tissue and less fat tissue now, which means I have a better body composition, despite being the same weight. This is exciting to me, because when I got to 130lbs in the past (through Weight Watchers), I did it all through diet, and I was still a fat-skinny person. I want to be a lean, strong skinny person this go around, and it looks lilke I am doing a better job of that. Overall, another successful week, which I'm sure would have been a lot more successful if I did't have 2 major setbacks. I'm also on my way to winning the three DietBets that I am currently in, so that is something to be happy about as well.