Mindflayer's looking for abs Log

Day 64 of 75 hard. Last post was supposed to be 63
2026-03-09. Last post was supposed to be 08
Wt: 166.6 again
Steps 20,666

1) Water 1 gal: Completed
2) Progress Pic: see below
3) Reading: The Psychology of Selling Brian Tracey P110 The Good Earth Pearl S. Buck P 75
4a)Outdoor exercise: Completed
4b)Indoor exercise: Completed
5) Follow meal plan: Completed
Macros: 158g protein - Calories 1475 (ate two protein bars as snacks.)

Today's mood: Slept for 11 hours! , late walk. Feeling better.
Outdoor Pic, Progress pic; .. Food Pic

Day 65 of 75 hard.
2026-03-10.
Wt: 165.7
Steps 21,086

1) Water 1 gal: Completed
2) Progress Pic: see below
3) Reading: The Psychology of Selling Brian Tracey P120 The Good Earth Pearl S. Buck P 90
4a)Outdoor exercise: Completed
4b)Indoor exercise: Completed
5) Follow meal plan: Completed
Macros: 159g protein - Calories 1650

Today's mood: Found out that I am not doing the 75 hard correctly.
Was watching a whole bunch of people's vids on doing the 75. Virtually all of them explain the details.
One thing that was in one of the videos that is not in almost all of the other videos is that there is supposed
to be at least a 3h gap between the first and second workout.
For a long while now, I have been doing 20k steps and the majority of the workouts are short 10-15 minute sessions every 1h-90 minutes.
Only the morning outdoor exercise is a continuous 45-75 minute workout.
My mother is 93y this year and she has about 10% of her vision left. She was a big, reader. She used to read 50-100 pages per day of mostly fiction novels from the library
After seeing my eyedoc a few years ago, and complaining that my eyesight is getting gradually worse, the doc recommended that I get up every hour or so
from my computer, walk and give my eyes a break. That is when I started walking and measuring my steps. So now, I never take a 3h break from exercise.
Every 60-90 minutes, I get up and do some exercise. Also the two exercise 45 minutes are supposed to be continuous. ie. 3 x 15 min does not equal 45. Sigh.
Will keep posting as If I am doing this right.

Outdoor Pic, Progress pic; .. Food Pic

Day 66 of 75 hard.
2026-03-11.
Wt: 165.5
Steps 22,010

1) Water 1 gal: Completed
2) Progress Pic: see below
3) Reading: The Psychology of Selling Brian Tracey P130 The Good Earth Pearl S. Buck P 100
4a)Outdoor exercise: Completed
4b)Indoor exercise: Completed
5) Follow meal plan: Completed
Macros: 123g protein - Calories 1700

Today's mood: Cold and lightly snowing. Thankful I am not living in late 1890-early 1900 Rural China and Starving (The Good Earth)
Outdoor Pic, Progress pic; .. Food Pic

Day 67 of 75 hard.
2026-03-12.
Wt: 166.2
Steps 20,078
Shoulders

1) Water 1 gal: Completed
2) Progress Pic: see below
3) Reading: The Psychology of Selling Brian Tracey P140 The Good Earth Pearl S. Buck P 110
4a)Outdoor exercise: Completed
4b)Indoor exercise: Completed
5) Follow meal plan: Completed
Macros: 120g protein - Calories 1550

Today's mood:
Outdoor Pic, Progress pic; .. Food Pic

Found this in my old physical health/fitness- blood test reports etc. file.
1992 I was probably at my fittest. Separate page says VO2 max = 49 ml O2/kg-min.
Impedence 469 ? I think they ran a current thru my body and measured the resistance and used a chart to give the 15% body fat.
Not sure how good the equipment used was to measure my fat back then, but it says 15% body fat.
I looked at photos of 15% body fat, and my abs were not that good back then.
My guess it was more like 18-20%
I was 163 in 1992 then 156 in 1993

2026 Sub 160 lbs. is my goal.

Also it says lean is anything that is not fat and I am not sure if that is how body fat % is calculated now... ie. water and bone is counted as lean mass?!?
We will see what the DEXA Scan says in 1 week from now.

Day 68 of 75 hard.
2026-03-13.
Wt: 166.6
Steps 25,424

1) Water 1 gal: Completed
2) Progress Pic: see below
3) Reading: The Psychology of Selling Brian Tracey P150 The Good Earth Pearl S. Buck P 120
4a)Outdoor exercise: Completed
4b)Indoor exercise: Completed
5) Follow meal plan: Completed
Macros: 146g protein - Calories 1470

Today's mood: One more week. Friend made me buy some of his kid's cookies. Will have to wait a week to have one.
Encouraging my friends (in my Whatsapp Fasting group) to start and do 14 days of this Challenge once I start my second set.
Outdoor Pic, Progress pic; .. Food Pic

One of the tricks of doing a 75 hard is actually posting here every evening and checking off all the items on the list.
I found that I forgot to take my progress pic in the morning like I usually do and so had to take it in the evening
before bed time. I am wearing my PJ bottom!

Day 69 of 75 hard.
2026-03-14.
Wt: 166.2
Steps 20,091

1) Water 1 gal: Completed
2) Progress Pic: see below
3) Reading: The Psychology of Selling Brian Tracey P160 The Good Earth Pearl S. Buck P 130
4a)Outdoor exercise: Completed
4b)Indoor exercise: Completed
5) Follow meal plan: Completed
Macros: 131g protein - Calories 1725
Today's mood: Cold is better than Raining

Outdoor Pic, Progress pic; .. Food Pic

Day 70 of 75 hard.
2026-03-15.
Wt: 166.2 Same
Steps 20,594

1) Water 1 gal: Completed
2) Progress Pic: see below
3) Reading: The Psychology of Selling Brian Tracey P170 The Good Earth Pearl S. Buck P 140
4a)Outdoor exercise: Completed
4b)Indoor exercise: Completed
5) Follow meal plan: Completed
Macros: 153g protein - Calories 2000
Today's mood: Mom's 93rd birthday. Ordered salt and pepper wings. + 3x fruit Went over 1800 cal, but stuck to 2000 limit.

Outdoor Pic, Progress pic; .. Food Pic

Day 71 of 75 hard.
2026-03-16.
Wt: 165.7
Steps 20,722

1) Water 1 gal: Completed
2) Progress Pic: see below
3) Reading: The Psychology of Selling Brian Tracey P185 The Good Earth Pearl S. Buck P 160
4a)Outdoor exercise: Completed
4b)Indoor exercise: Completed
5) Follow meal plan: Completed
Macros: 120g protein - Calories 1940 over again but under 75 hard limit. Will have to semi fast next few days to hit 164.

Today's mood: forecast is for Atmospheric River. Did NOT want to go out in the Heavy Rain. See extra outdoor Pic.
5 minutes into my morning 45, my feet felt like I was jogging on freezing wet sponges.
I have some friends who think this is easy for me. Really?!?
I usually pass 20-30 joggers/dog walkers in the AM and maybe 15-20 cyclists. This morning there was ONE jogger and ZERO cyclists in 45 minutes.
I guess this is better than being in a Eastern Snowstorm.

Outdoor Pic, Progress pic; .. Food Pic. I made spaghetti and meatballs, but only had 3 meatballs and 3 tomatoes. No pasta.

Day 72 of 75 hard.
2026-03-17.
Wt: 165.7
Steps 20,621

1) Water 1 gal: Completed
2) Progress Pic: see below
3) Reading: The Psychology of Selling Brian Tracey P200 The Good Earth Pearl S. Buck P 170
4a)Outdoor exercise: Completed
4b)Indoor exercise: Completed
5) Follow meal plan: Completed
Macros: 122g protein - Calories 1330 High Protein only, (no lunch semi-fast to make challenge specs. )

Today's mood: Getting Close to the end. Costco Day. Can't have steak all the time.

Outdoor Pic, Progress pic; .. Food Pic.

Costco Protein Haul and portioning 6.6 lbs. of ground beef.

Day 73 of 75 hard.
2026-03-18.
Wt: 165.1
Steps 20,064
Chest Day

1) Water 1 gal: Completed
2) Progress Pic: see below
3) Reading: The Psychology of Selling Brian Tracey P218 Finished. The Good Earth Pearl S. Buck P 185
4a)Outdoor exercise: Completed
4b)Indoor exercise: Completed
5) Follow meal plan: Completed
Macros: 139g protein - Calories 1545 High Protein only, (no lunch semi-fast to make challenge specs. )
Skipped lunch, had almonds, pepperoni and high protein yoghurt and a protein bar as snacks.

Today's mood: Pouring rain in the morning. Eating Less, weigh less, Finish Strong: Tomorrow is DEXA scan #4.

Outdoor Pic, Progress pic; .. Food Pic.

Day 74 of 75 hard.
2026-03-19.
Wt: 164.9
Steps 20,200
DEXA Scan Day. Will post results tomorrow

1) Water 1 gal: Completed
2) Progress Pic: see below
3) Reading: The Good Earth Pearl S. Buck P 195. New Book We Who Wrestle with God Jordan Peterson P introduction i-xxv
4a)Outdoor exercise: Completed
4b)Indoor exercise: Completed
5) Follow meal plan: Completed
Macros: 145g protein - Calories 1865 Had breakfast with friend at restaurant. Hold the toast and hashbrowns.

Today's mood: Pouring rain in the morning again. No fun.

Outdoor Pic, Progress pic; .. Food Pic.

Bonus Pic: Weather forecast and new book.

guessing we'll get more improvement on DEXA result.

Day 75 of 75 hard. (officially over, Will try to re-motivate and continue..?!? will see)
2026-03-20.
Wt: 165.3
Steps 20,656

1) Water 1 gal: Completed
2) Progress Pic: see below
3) Reading: The Good Earth Pearl S. Buck P 200. New Book We Who Wrestle with God Jordan Peterson P introduction (finished intro - P6)
4a)Outdoor exercise: Completed
4b)Indoor exercise: Completed
5) Follow meal plan: Completed
Macros: 127g protein - Calories 1710. Egg Salad wraps.

Today's mood: Meditating on if I even want to continue. If I do, I think that I will have to modify the Diet.
(and after seeing my DEXA results, will have to push/pull/lift more.

Outdoor Pic, Progress pic; .. Food Pic.

Won't say much except that I need to lift more.

Congrats on finishing it and...while I was probably expecting more weight loss and fat loss, you've got pretty decent results in terms of body fat reduction.

It does seem overly punitive for physical results and I'd be sure that if you wanted to, you could commit to another 30 or 60 day diet and exercise plan with fewer calories and more lifting, you would lose more weight and fat.

You certainly have a ton of discipline and willpower. Well done

Day 1 of 60 easy. I have to post while I am motivated or I will never stick to this.
My 60 Easy...

No daily progress pic,
No reading requirement. (can read just fiction if I feel like it- No requirement to read non fiction or self improvement)
No requirement to exercise outside.
No requirement to get 120g protein. (I will modify this)

Will Continue to drink 1 gallon of water. (less on certain days is ok too, as I am having guests stay in my home and I don't want to go to the bathroom in front of them 10-15 times per day when they are here)
Will continue 20K steps/day/ on doctor's advice get up from the computer and walk for a few minutes every 60-90 minutes to rest my eyes: does not need to be continuous 45 minutes, nor outside.
Will continue to diet. and try to get 120g protein, (not a strict minimum) -
I can do a 36h water fast if somehow I get the urge to. (I only felt like this once during my original 75. I still ate and drank all my protein, but did it between 6-10pm.)
1800 Calories max/day. (not a strict maximum)
I can also go out and have a meal with friends and not be having to order salt and pepper wings, Eggs and sausage, or Sashimi only. I look forward to ordering some regular sushi!
Will Continue to log my meals and calories on my spreadsheet. Tracking Calories and drinking 1 Gal of water had the biggest impact on my results.
Will Post only once per week: My weight and any significant updates; Extra posts only if required.
Will Post DEXA scan #5 and #6 results and a progress photo on those days.

Will add 5 days of weights or body weight exercises.

Shoulders-Back
Chest
Abs
Arms/Grip
**Legs-core. .. Also will work on hanging from a pullup bar.

(not sure If I want to do Legs in addition to 20k steps, The good, I will have to go to an outside Gym to do DL and Squats.. I do not have a squat rack at home)
The bad.. or good. not sure.... The last time I stopped doing DL and squats, my legs/quads had problems fitting into my Levis 501s.
The good. It will definitely add muscle to my body.

Why do 60 Easy?
Well I prepaid for 2 more DEXA scans. One for April 20th the other 20 May, roughly 60 days from now when this will finish.

What is my goal for this next 60?
Lift More. Add more muscle.
Hit 159.9lbs. or less; even if I have to fast on Day 59 to hit is on DEXA Scan #6 day. (Overall, keep drinking water/ and modify diet)

FYI.
On my week off, I hit one 2460 Calorie day and one 2610 Calorie day. The rest were under 2000. During this last week, I had around 14 cookies, 14 candies, and two slices of bread.
14 Cookies = 1050 Calories, 14 Candies = 420 Calories. !!!

2026-03-27.
Wt: 165.5
last 7 days : Steps 144,073

2026-04-04
164.4 lbs

Have been experimenting with my exercise.
1) went to the gym for the first time since before Covid.
(bought my company's gym equipment when they did not renew their lease.
downsized to half of the sqf. The office had 2 kitchens and a gym... sold all the
equipment. Went from 70 full time office to maybe 20 full time and 50 work from home.
New place had 10 senior office staff (walled offices) and two areas with 2x20 open work stations.
(they also gave each of us a lab top to plug in when we came to work)

I used to do Squats, but the machine that I bought from my company does not
have any way to replicate the squat motion.
So I went to my old gym with the express intention to to squats and have a trainer
check my form. Did my first 3 sets with waaaay less weight that ages ago and I could
really feel it in my legs for 2-3 days after that lift. I also ate more on those 2-3 days.

I have an appointment to meet a trainer in 2 days and will work on Squats and pull ups.
My other upper body workouts have been sidelined for Squats and pull ups. Also
stretching my quads and getting into a ATG position is new for me. I have runners legs
and there are a lot of 'other ' leg muscles that get worked on during squats.

In addition, I have been doing all of my workouts in one long session in the AM
usually 8-11am. 2h 30 on the treadmill and ending with a Norwegian 4x4. Then 30 min
squats, pulldowns (other body part) and/or stretching.

I have also varied my treadmill workout with my weighted vest 10 min with vest then 20min no vest: repeat x 4
If I do that, i don't do a 4x4 at the end.

I think I can still get below the 160lb. goal And add some muscle (mostly going to be quads and shoulders/back)

My new bread 7g of protein per slice. (good alternate to spinach wraps)

2026-04-20
167.5 lbs

After a good coaching session 2.5 weeks ago to correct my quat form..
Been doing squats and pulldowns for the last 2.5 weeks.
Could feel my quads and hamstrings rip at the bottom of the squats.
I am not lifting heavy but my legs and back have gotten bigger.

I do not believe the DEXA Scan numbers are correct. See following post for DEXA Scan results.
I asked the technician if water is considered lean muscle mass. He said yes.
If you check my numbers, it says I put on 1.5kg of muscle. I estimate the
actual number to be 0.5-0.75kg ie. 1 to 1.5 lbs of muscle and 1.5-2lbs of extra water.
It would be nice if I actually put on 3 lbs of muscle mass in 30 days, but i doubt it.

My Quads already got much bigger and I can feel my pants are tighter around my
quads, so I am going to focus on pull downs and less on squats now. See if I can get up to where I can
do 3 full pull ups. (working on my machine to get pull downs from current 110lbs 6 sets of 7 ...
to 160lbs. one set of 5.)

Other than that, my main goal now is to cut again and to stay on track for 160lbs by May 30,
I will post my progress pic and food pics. No more outdoor pic as I am in a good morning routine now.

Up early, after chores
15 minutes stretch
15 minutes weights. (focus on Pulldowns, but can do other body parts)
150 minutes on treadmill.

Alternate with

15 minutes stretch
120 minutes on treadmill.
28 minutes (Norwegian 4x4)
(4 minutes run at 160bpm , 3 minute walk heart rate drops to 120bpm) x 4

When I swapped to 2.5h workout every morning, my feet took a beating. Blisters etc. but my feet have toughened up.

DEXA Scan Results April 20,. 2026.
Says my lean mass is higher than when I started on Dec 20, 2025, but I think 50% of that (1-2 lbs of the 3 lbs) is water.
The good is that my fat mass is still dropping.

Day 1 of 30
2026-04-20.
Wt: 167.5
Steps 20,167
Norwegian 4x4

Water 2 gal: Completed
Reading: finished a bunch of books, including a gold mining guide in British Columbia. Currently reading The Odyssey by Homer
and Tools of the Titans by Tim Ferris. Jumping around to read what other successful people do and think (routine etc.)
Macros: 118g protein - Calories 1730. No set diet. Will try to keep under 1700 cal, and over 120g protein but no guarantee.
On May 19 I expect to have to do a 0 cal, 0 protein, 36h water fast to hit my goal.

Day 1 of last 20 Leaving on June 13 for vacation.
2026-05-23.
Wt: 169.0
Will be doing strict 1500 calories and 4hours of exercise/day for last 20 days.
Did weights 28 out of the last 30 days. I can feel my chest and shoulders are bigger.
Wife says she can see a difference. Goal is to be able to wear a white linen button down shirt with shorts and sandals on the pool deck.
Steps 23,491 Have been doing 3h/day + weights + stretch. no days off for last 30 days.
Trying to get 30k steps per day. Takes around 4h... did a few of those in 1 session 4h straight, but
ended up with hot feet and bad blisters. Have to break it up into multiple sessions.
Still drinking 3800 ml of water per day. I have totally adjusted and usually drink about 2000 by noon now.
Finished reading the Odessy. Reading Discipline is Destiny by Holiday.

This week's results. I believe the non fat mass now, gained back all the muscle I lost in first 3 months.
Looks good compared to the first Scan. No scans planned but will probably do one in August to keep myself accountable.

Day 2 of last 20
2026-05-24.
Wt: 167.9
Chest Day
30,130 steps
1 gallon of water.

1476 calories
155g protein

well...20 days of 30k steps & less than 1500 cals should help with the weight loss

hope it goes well