wildernessVoice

Okay, I’ve been gradually losing weight for the past few months. Actually, since September 2009, I’ve dropped from a high of 225 lb. to a low of 194 lb. And I’ve done this without any attempt to diet. It’s just from training.

Over the past couple of months, my metabolism has been in the stratosphere. I was averaging a pound a week of weight loss on a 5,000 calories a day meal plan. So I could definitely not be accused of restricting calories.

Now I’ve hit a bit of a wall. But the irony is that I’ve added cycling back into my regimen to increase my cardio and to help me lean out a little more. But instead, I’m actually gaining weight back. I can literally see the differences from day to day. If I skip a day of cycling, my body will return to 195 lb. If I bike, I’ll weigh in at 197 to 198 lb.

I know, I know, it’s probably just water weight. My body sees the cycling and is saying, “Whoa!!! What the…”. I know all that. But it’s still a bit frustrating to see it happen.

On the plus side, I feel as if my cardio hasn’t been this good since I was in the Navy, which is saying a lot since I went back on the asthma inhalers for the first time in 6 years. Just gotta keep plugging away.

Now, you may be wondering why I even care about dropping weight if I’m not trying to diet. Well, there’s a goal I’ve been trying to get to. And it’s been tied to being more competitive in my Jiu Jitsu. In the Colorado State Championships, this past May, I weighed in at 197 lb. The weight class went from 190 lb. to 210 lb. One of my opponents dieted down from 235 lb. And the guy was utterly ripped. So I figured that rather than come in at the bottom of my weight class, I’d come in at the top.

But this is where things get complicated.

Since my last competition, several things have changed, which is making me wonder whether hitting 189 lb. is really a great goal. For example:

• I’ve added the cycling to further drive my cardio and my endurance
• I’ve been dealing with shoulder injuries for the past 2 years. But via physical therapy, my right shoulder is 100% and my left shoulder is operating around 80%. In fact, I’m actually starting to lift the heavy weights again.
• Going through heavier weights has the adverse effect of increasing muscle mass, which increases ones weight. And this can be counter productive to a weight goal.
• Then I looked at the weight brackets for the Grappling-X tournament in July only to find out that I’d meet the same goal of topping out my bracket if I don’t try to drop at all. In this promotion, the Master’s Light-Heavyweight division runs from 181 lb. to 200 lb.

It was this last observation that got me thinking I should just let things be. The downside of this mentality is that competing in both Masters and Adult divisions will be difficult. 195 lb. tops out the Cruiser weight bracket in the Adults division. It’s amazing what a mere 2 lb. can make.

I suppose I’ll just register under my current weight and just see what happens. This is definitely not something I need to worry about.

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BJJ, cycling, grappling-x, mike young