LEAN FOR SANTA - Cutting Diary

[jamescattermole]

Hey there guys,

I did a 12 week transformation thread on this around half a year ago and I reached my goal which was FANTASTIC Afterwards I went on a nice slow bulk and gained a decent amount of size, but sadly in my second rugby training session I fractured my wrist, resulting in me spending 2 months out of the gym, and gradually ballooning up to 217lbs.

It's got to the point where I am not happy with how I look/feel and NEED a change. So I have set myself a target of losing around 20lbs before December 20th (just in time for the Xmas purge). I will need to be losing around 2lbs a week which I feel is doable, my cals/macros will be around the following:

Protein

1g x 217 lbs (Weight) = 217 g of protein p/d
- 10% (fat burning) = 195 g of protein p/d
= 781.2 Calories from Protein

Fats

0.4g x 217 lbs (Weight) = 86.8g of fats/d
- 10% (fat burning) = 78 g of fats p/d
= 703.08 Calories from Fats

Remaining Calories to be Consumed (Carbs)

Protein + Fat = 1484 Cals
Daily target intake for 2.3 lbs weekly fat loss = 2473 - 1484 = 989 Cals from Carbs
This means I should be having 247 g of Carbs in order to reach my daily target.

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I will be tracking each day's progress including my mood/nutrition/gym activity with weekly weight/fitness updates. Keep your eyes peeled if you fancy following my progress, it might help keep you motivated!!

Peace guys! Stay fit.

JC

[Womble619]

sounds good bro, you can have the most amazing refeed on christmas day to celebrate

p.s. saying "getting lean for santa" sounds like you have a bit of deep santa homo fetish :P

[jamescattermole]

sounds good bro, you can have the most amazing refeed on christmas day to celebrate

p.s. saying "getting lean for santa" sounds like you have a bit of deep santa homo fetish :P

I know mate, the Xmas period will be a very merry one

Haha! I wouldn't imagine he's my type sadly, eats far too many cookies for us to work!

Cheers for the comments bud!

[Womble619]

a bit off topic but after having your wrist fractured, is it permanenly weak now? does it hold you up form playing rugby or benching etc?

never broken or fractured anything crew checking in

[jamescattermole]

a bit off topic but after having your wrist fractured, is it permanently weak now? does it hold you up form playing rugby or benching etc?

never broken or fractured anything crew checking in

Well it hasn't even healed yet. They missed the fracture on my initial xray after I did it, then I saw a physio around 2 weeks ago. It's still very painful, I cant do a single push up or anything chest/tricep focused. I can do a bit of back, but curling motions are very painful.

All in all it is the worst injury I have had in terms of impact on gym progress...

So for the next few months it's going to be cardio and low weight high rep exercises. (it pains me to say that).

[jamescattermole]

So a quick update.

One of my housemates is on a mission to gain weight (he is fairly skinny and needs to put on some size), so my housemates have decided to place a bet on Me v Him % bodyweight change up until December 20th.

We will be doing the official weigh-in tomorrow morning which I will post, this is going to make the whole cutting process a lot better as I LOVE a competition.

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Week 0 Fitness Test

So I will be doing this every Monday, a 30 min cardio session on the bike, where i will track my Cals burnt & Distance and hopefully improve every week. Here are week 0's results:

Weight: 217 lbs
Cals Burnt: 236 calories
Distance: 14.44 km

[libtolu]

So a quick update.

One of my housemates is on a mission to gain weight (he is fairly skinny and needs to put on some size), so my housemates have decided to place a bet on Me v Him % bodyweight change up until December 20th.

We will be doing the official weigh-in tomorrow morning which I will post, this is going to make the whole cutting process a lot better as I LOVE a competition.

---

Week 0 Fitness Test

So I will be doing this every Monday, a 30 min cardio session on the bike, where i will track my Cals burnt & Distance and hopefully improve every week. Here are week 0's results:

Weight: 217 lbs
Cals Burnt: 236 calories
Distance: 14.44 km

Backload all your calories for the day and drink tons of water throughout the night.

Higher intial weight, easier to lose a % of it

[jamescattermole]

Day 01
Week 0

Nutrition

Been easing into the new diet over the past few days, today has been the first proper day of hitting the macros and I feel great so far. Obviously experiencing some serious cravings for junk food but I just glug down bottle after bottle of water to get me through. All in all macros have been good!

Workout

Today was a light cardio session on the cross trainer, nothing special, just trying to ease myself back into the swing of the gym (being out for 8 weeks has had a rather adverse effect on my fitness...)

Cross Trainer

Time: 20:00 - Cals Burnt: 235

Mood

Well I have been in a great mood all of today, the change in diet has really lifted my mood after the days of mood swinging due to Dominos and Thai Food (working in Central London really gives you far too much choice when it comes to lunch...). Feeling very optimistic for the next few months, determined to transform my body! (and to also beat my housemate in this competition )

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If you have any requests/suggestions/ideas, please do drop into the thread & sub!

Peace guys. Good luck in achieving whatever your goals might be.

[baffledgenius]

Haha! I wouldn't imagine he's my type sadly, eats far too many cookies for us to work!

Whats wrong with us cookie lovers? :-P

Congrats on the competition with your friend! Makes it a heck of a lot more fun

[TNF1986]

So TDEE of like 3600 at 217 lbs? must be nice!

[jamescattermole]

Whats wrong with us cookie lovers? :-P

Congrats on the competition with your friend! Makes it a heck of a lot more fun

Nothing's wrong with you guys, just bad influences I love cookies far too much.

[jamescattermole]

Day 02
Week 0

Nutrition

Stuck to my macros today! Porridge for breakfast with a green tea, had some nice meatballs and sweet potato with veg for lunch, and then curried veg with tuna for dinner - went down a treat

Workout

Was a rest day today, as I have two job interviews tomorrow (nervous as hell!). Going to try and do back and biceps tomorrow to try and gauge what exercises will be ok to do with my wrist - wish me luck

Mood

Been in a great mood again today, just been revising for these interviews, they're the bane of my life at the moment haha. All in all my motivation has been high, I've been feeling very optimistic and can't wait to see what I look like after this cut, can't wait

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If you have any requests/suggestions/ideas, please do drop into the thread & sub!

Peace guys. Good luck in achieving whatever your goals might be.

[baffledgenius]

Nothing's wrong with you guys, just bad influences I love cookies far too much.

Haha yeah i can understand the bad influence part. Ill be nice and not describe how a warm sugar cookie just melts in your mouth with soft buttery yumminess ;-)

[tmartin89]

Head over to this weight loss motivation thread http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=156659233

Everyone welcome!

[Voxmusculus]

a bit off topic but after having your wrist fractured, is it permanenly weak now? does it hold you up form playing rugby or benching etc?

never broken or fractured anything crew checking in

Actually, having broken many parts of my body (including my wrists), they heal back stronger.

I broke my right wrist as a kid, and ironically my left wrist is the weaker one now. In fact, just this past weekend I hurt both my wrists and I find that I need a support brace for my left but my right is healing much more quickly.

[jamescattermole]

Day 03
Week 0

Nutrition

Another good day for Macros I've come up with a nice recipe for a curry substitute (I LOVE curry) - I mix chopped tomatos, onions, kidney beans and tuna together, and add in some cumin, coriander and some garam masala and put it in the oven, tastes like curry and is healthy - serve with a sweet potato and you have the perfect lunch/dinner

Workout

Was going to go in to the gym today but after a day of interviews and running around London sweating buckets I've decided to take one more rest day off as I am completely F****D Going to hit it hard Fri/Sat/Sun to make up for it!

Mood

Well today has been mental, had two job interviews which have just drained me mentally, but feeling good after having some food and lots of water! Looking forward to getting home and putting my feet up, as I am beyond tired.

Official Competition Weigh-In

So here is the official results for me and my friend (I'm cutting, he's bulking):

Me: 216.1 lbs
Him: 150.7 lbs

Let the competition begin! Will be posting weekly updates to both our progress and announcing weekly winners!

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If you have any requests/suggestions/ideas, please do drop into the thread & sub!

Peace guys. Good luck in achieving whatever your goals might be.

[jamescattermole]

Day 04
Week 0

Nutrition

Productive day today, went to the market and bought some DENCH sweet potatoes and peppers etc, very cheap and deffo worth it, going to bang them into some sort of feed tomorrow for dinner/lunch! Bought some rice crackers for snacks and some low cal greek yogurt to get me over the sweet cravings. All in all, going well

Workout

So went did weights in the gym today for the first time since I fractured my wrist, decided to do back and biceps as a pulling motion is not NEARLY as close to painful as pushing. I was obviously weaker since 8 weeks ago (around an average of 20% weaker on all exerises) but it felt good to be back in and lifting again!

Back & Biceps

Cable Rows: 3 x 10 (45KG)
Lat PD Machine: 13 x 10 (60KG)
Row Machine: 3 x 8 (45KG)
Cable Lat PD: 3 x 10 (40KG)
Supernated DB Curls: 3 x 10 (12KG)

Treadmill: 15 mins (102 cals)

Mood

Really good mood today, was buzzing (Friday feeling), found out I didn't get one of the jobs I went for yesterday, so was pretty gutted, but got some great feedback and was down to the last two so you've got to take the good away from that Looking forward to the weekend!

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If you have any requests/suggestions/ideas, please do drop into the thread & sub!

Peace guys. Good luck in achieving whatever your goals might be.

[jamescattermole]

Day 5 & 6
Week 0

Nutrition

The weekend has been successful in terms of nutrition and water intake, hitting all my macros and getting all the water I need in. Living off a healthy diet of chicken, veg and sweet potato Using black coffee as a pre workout instead of my standard one, and also re-introduced protein shakes post-workout.

Workout

Saturday

Treadmill:

20 Minutes (202 cals)

Cross Trainer:

10 Minutes (88 Cals)

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Sunday

This was the real test for me as the pushing motion is the most excruciating pain with my wrist still being dodgy. I knew my strength would have decreased over the past 8 weeks obviously not having gymed, but also due to the wrist. On average I lost around 25% strength on all exercises, but I don't mind, just happy to be back lifting tbh!

Chest & Shoulders

Incline Chest Machine: 3 x 12 (40KG)
DB Lat Raises: 3 x 10 (6KG)
Machine Flye: 3 x 12 (50KG)
DB Shoulder Press: 3 x 10 (8KG)
Flat Chest Machine: 3 x 12 (40 KG)

Cross Trainer:

10 Minutes (123 cals)

Mood

It's been a lovely weekend, very relaxing. Cooked all my food for the week, did the housework (like a good boy). Our internet has been (and still is) down which is MASSIVELY annoying. Oh well, feel like I've gone back in time!

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If you have any requests/suggestions/ideas, please do drop into the thread & sub!

Peace guys. Good luck in achieving whatever your goals might be.

[jamescattermole]

Day 7 - WEIGH IN
Week 1

Weight : 212 lbs

Nutrition

Today has been a strange one, had my weigh in this morning and was 212 (5lb loss since the beginning which is AMAZING) obviously a lot of that will be water weight from my increased water intake, so I would say I have lost around 2lbs which is exactly what I was aiming for. But I also had some great news (see Mood), so I celebrated the loss of weight and the news with a big mac and ice cream! I worked my macros so I had enough left for both of them which is great, and it was nice to have that food as a nice gift to myself.

Workout

Week 1 Fitness Test

So I will be doing this every Monday, a 30 min cardio session on the bike, where i will track my Cals burnt & Distance and hopefully improve every week. Here are week 1's results:

Weight: 212 lbs
Cals Burnt: 251 calories
Distance: 14.62 km

Mood

Today has been eventful, firstly I GOT THE JOB I APPLIED FOR (hence the big mac and ice cream), so I was amazingly happy. Secondly, me and my housemates went to see The Book Of Mormon which was AMAZING (you have to go watch it if you have the chance) - I am a massive fan of South Park so it was perfect. All in all a great day and can't wait for tomorrow (may go for an early morning run...).

Peace out guys

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If you have any requests/suggestions/ideas, please do drop into the thread & sub!

Peace guys. Good luck in achieving whatever your goals might be.

[jamescattermole]

Day 8
Week 1

Nutrition

Today has been great for Macros. I am starting to debate whether I should start using MyFitnessPal to start tracking my caloric intake again, I seem to be doing fine guesstimating at the moment, I think I will wait until after next weeks weigh in and see if I loose my target 2lbs, if not then I guess it's time to start tracking, if I do, well the saying is "If it ain't broke don't fix it!".

Workout

REST DAY

Mood

I have been buzzing all of today, firstly I handed my letter of resignation into work which was nice and sad at the same time as I do love my job, secondly I got VIP tickets to Never Mind The Buzzcocks through work (Guys not from the UK - it is a panel show about music with various comedians/musicians on each week), Jack Whitehall hosted which was amazing (Once again, to the guys not from UK - he is a posh comedian who captures the self-mocking humor perfectly). I went with my GF which was lovely as I haven't seen her in a week. So all in all, my mood has been amazing, nutrition going well, and life in general is just good at the moment

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If you have any requests/suggestions/ideas, please do drop into the thread & sub!

Peace guys. Good luck in achieving whatever your goals might be.

[RobbenH]

Hey man,

Fantastic post, I've been reading the forums for a while, but I thought i'd register after seeing this.

The same kinda thing happened to me, I was bulking and the broke my hand (needed an operation and wires) then ballooned to 239lb. I've started cutting using the guide written by Wave_Length, which seems to be doing the trick, as I've lost about 2lbs since starting (about a week ago).

Anyway, good luck, and keep it up!!

[jamescattermole]

Hey man,

Fantastic post, I've been reading the forums for a while, but I thought i'd register after seeing this.

The same kinda thing happened to me, I was bulking and the broke my hand (needed an operation and wires) then ballooned to 239lb. I've started cutting using the guide written by Wave_Length, which seems to be doing the trick, as I've lost about 2lbs since starting (about a week ago).

Anyway, good luck, and keep it up!!

Hey man!

Thanks a lot for the positive words, I really appreciate it! Yeah any hand/wrist injury is a massive ball-ache for when it comes to the gym.. Sad times!

Ah nice one mate, how is it going? What sort of caloric intake are you working with atm? Are you still lifting after your injury? You should start a forum post like this mate, it's really good for staying on track and then you get to meet others following the same journey like yourself!

Peace man!

[jamescattermole]

Just remembered that I will start adding a 'Workout Tune of the Day' for each workout day. These songs will be any tune that in particular gave me that adrenaline buzz and helped be push out that last rep. I work in the music industry so music is a massive part of my life, and subsequently, a massive part of my gym routine!

I will do a weekly playlist at the end of the week of all the tunes used, maybe even a link to a Spotify playlist for you guys! Let me know if that would be of interest.

[RobbenH]

Hey man!

Thanks a lot for the positive words, I really appreciate it! Yeah any hand/wrist injury is a massive ball-ache for when it comes to the gym.. Sad times!

Ah nice one mate, how is it going? What sort of caloric intake are you working with atm? Are you still lifting after your injury? You should start a forum post like this mate, it's really good for staying on track and then you get to meet others following the same journey like yourself!

Peace man!

I'm trying to aim for around 1770 calories (ish), as I'm trying to aim for just general weight loss.

I broke my hand a couple of months ago, so it's pretty much healed now. But I tried to lift about 7 weeks after it broke, which wasn't the best idea! Haha!

Yeah, sounds good, I might get one started.

The song thing sounds like a really good idea too! Let me know mate!

[jamescattermole]

I'm trying to aim for around 1770 calories (ish), as I'm trying to aim for just general weight loss.

I broke my hand a couple of months ago, so it's pretty much healed now. But I tried to lift about 7 weeks after it broke, which wasn't the best idea! Haha!

Yeah, sounds good, I might get one started.

The song thing sounds like a really good idea too! Let me know mate!

Haha cheers mate, I try to wrangle music into everything I possibly can - I'm sad like that.

1770 cals is way too low mate, for me I weigh 212 and I am currently aiming for around 2400, so you should try and calculate exactly what you should aim for.

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Here is how I calculated mine mate, punch your numbers into is:

[9.99 x 98 (kg Weight)] + [6.25 x 190.5 (cm Height)] - [4.92 x 22 (years Age)] + 5 = 2061 Cals

Then I multiplied this by my activity variable' to give me my TEE

2061 x 1.5 (Moderately Active (Moderately daily Activity & Moderate exercise 3-5 days a week)) = 3092 Cals

Now, to calculate how many cals I need to cut back from my TEE I reduced by 20% (618.4 cals), giving me a daily calorific intake of = 2473 Calories p/d.

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Try that and let me know what you end up with mate!

[RobbenH]

Haha cheers mate, I try to wrangle music into everything I possibly can - I'm sad like that.

1770 cals is way too low mate, for me I weigh 212 and I am currently aiming for around 2400, so you should try and calculate exactly what you should aim for.

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Here is how I calculated mine mate, punch your numbers into is:

[9.99 x 98 (kg Weight)] + [6.25 x 190.5 (cm Height)] - [4.92 x 22 (years Age)] + 5 = 2061 Cals

Then I multiplied this by my activity variable' to give me my TEE

2061 x 1.5 (Moderately Active (Moderately daily Activity & Moderate exercise 3-5 days a week)) = 3092 Cals

Now, to calculate how many cals I need to cut back from my TEE I reduced by 20% (618.4 cals), giving me a daily calorific intake of = 2473 Calories p/d.

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Try that and let me know what you end up with mate!

Ahhh, when I worked it out I must have missed the 1.5!!!

It now works out at around 2613.96 P/D.

That seems like a more realistic number.

I've been feeling tired recently, so that is probably the reason!

I'll give that a try then.

Cheers for the advice mate!!

[jamescattermole]

Ahhh, when I worked it out I must have missed the 1.5!!!

It now works out at around 2613.96 P/D.

That seems like a more realistic number.

I've been feeling tired recently, so that is probably the reason!

I'll give that a try then.

Cheers for the advice mate!!

Haha yeah no wonder mate I would not be able to function on that amount of cals! Let me know how your day of eating goes now mate, you will still loose a good amount of weight and will feel MUCH better.

ALSO quick pointer (if you care haha)

Do yourself a massive favor and drink like 4 liters of water a day, honestly, you will loose a lot of weight through staying hydrated as your body won't hold onto water weight, and it will keep you fuller longer (yes you will piss a LOT more but trust me it is worth it mate).

Lecture over!

[RobbenH]

I will do!

I've been drinking around that much already, and yeah, i've been pi**ing like a race horse haha!

Keep me updated with how your doing anyway! Any little bit of motivation will help!!

[jamescattermole]

I will do!

I've been drinking around that much already, and yeah, i've been pi**ing like a race horse haha!

Keep me updated with how your doing anyway! Any little bit of motivation will help!!

Will do bro!

[jamescattermole]

Day 9
Week 1

Nutrition

Another great day for nutrition, snacked on carrots with some hummus when I was hungry, and had some really nice Greek yogurt with honey, was amazing! Hitting the macros and caloric intake so all good!

Workout

Back & Biceps

Cable Rows: 3 x 10 (4KG)
Cable Lat PD: 3 x 10 (62.5KG)
Row Machine: 3 x 8 (45KG)
DB Row: 3 x 10 (18KG)
Supernated DB Curls: 3 x 10 (12KG)

Mood

Had loads of energy today, was buzzing the whole day for some reason - I'm not complaining though, I'm loving it Feeling very healthy and a few people have said that I look like I have lost weight in my face which is AWESOME to hear as well

Tune of the Day

Hermitude - HyperParadise (Flume Remix)

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If you have any requests/suggestions/ideas, please do drop into the thread & sub!

Peace guys. Good luck in achieving whatever your goals might be.