Two weeks ago I posted about my training goals and indicated some changes I had planned. I'll keep this post quick: I switched from three long workouts a week to six short (~45 minute each), eliminated carbs almost wholesale, moved my workout to the middle of the day instead of the end, and reduced my alcohol consumption (was a teetotaler for the first week). My weight fell from 168 to 164, so 4 or 3 pounds shed (don't know how I had that much to lose). My strength continued to go up as I added reps and weight to most all of my exercises. I noticed the biggest gains in the "second half" exercises—that is, the exercises that had previously been the second half of my long days but now got their own day all noticeably improved.
Overall, I like this better. Working out in the middle of the day means that I sleep better. I also work out hungry (I eat my first meal at 2, after the workout), and like to visualize myself as a prehistoric human some 150 or 200,000 years ago, deciding that—because I was hungry—it was time to go hunt. After the workout, the hunt, I get to eat. I don't know if it's just psychological, or that it's not later at night, but I feel stronger in those workouts and am enjoying it. There is probably some benefit to a more even calorie burn day-to-day, since I'm burning a moderate amount to fitness daily and not having big spikes on workout days (and corresponding drops on rest days).
When I did cheat and have carbs, I noticed a sluggishness following. Maybe it's because when I cheated (like at my nephew's baptism brunch) I ate pancakes and syrup and scones and fruit and….
And those stubborn love handles? Still stubborn. Improved, but good lord—where did I lose weight from if not there?? My muscles are putting out the same or more strength. If a pint of water weighs a pound, and fat is less dense than water, then a pound of fat is more than a pint in volume. Here's a picture I found on the Internet: