ERFL experimentation

[vinilzord]

Hey

I've done PSMF in the past with good results. This time I'll try to do an ERFL, which is a PSMF paired with 4-8h of brisk walking for 4 days in a row. Lyle himself says it's expected to lose 3kg of pure fat, plus some water weight. When it's finished I'll eat at maintenance for two days and then proceed to give RFL another try for 3-4weeks.

Due to lack of time, I won't be able to do this cardio for more than 4 hours per day.

Gonna post my first day details in the evening!

Minor update - Right after I finish this ERFL (it'll be on Tuesday) I'll transition to the RFL, a cycle that will last 17 days, totalizing 21 days of cutting. No cheat meals, just refeeds to regulate hormones levels and such.

Refeed will last 5h every Saturday, after I train with weights, and I'll be consuming 300-400g of carbs in this time span. Protein intake is the same paired with minimal dietary fat (20% of total calories).

Stats - 1,69cm, 74kg, 18-19% bf
Protein intake: actually 160g because I understimated the amount of LBM I have
Supps: Multivitamin, around 3g of EPA/DHA, caffeine pills and salbutamol

[vinilzord]

Day 1 (29/07)

I'm content with my muscle gains, so I wanna test the water with this ERFL approach that will last 4 days. The only daunting thing is the absurd amount of cardio. Lyle recommends 8h of brisk walking, but it's impossible to do this much, so I'll be doing my best and see how far can I go.

I'll be happy if I lose 1-1.5kg of fat in the next days, cause I'll transition to a RFL right after I'm done. Given I'm starting today I'll have a carb load in the next Saturday following the guidelines of Lyle's book, I'm a cat 2.



3:45hs of walking at 6km/h

Meals: skinless chicken breast, tuna and some spinach. My protein intake is 160g

Mandatory supps: 3g of EPA/DHA, Caffeine pills/EC stack, multivitamin, lots of salt

Notes: the sole of my left foot is aching. I'll put on some bandaids and try to get 4h of cardio tomorrow. Didn't feel hungry, fasted until 2PM and I'm totally good.

[Dorich]

Lyle himself says it's expected to lose 3kg of pure fat, plus some water weight.

Do you have any link where he discusses this? It sounds interesting.

[vinilzord]

Do you have any link where he discusses this? It sounds interesting.

Yep - http://imgur.com/jYm46dP

Straight from the ebook version of ERFL.

[Dorich]

Yep - http://imgur.com/jYm46dP

Straight from the ebook version of ERFL.

Thanks.

[vinilzord]

Day 2 (30/07)

Cardio: 3:40hs of uphill/downhill walking at around 6kmh

Meals: skinless chicken breast, tuna tuna and tuna, some egg whites, 75g of broc****
Supps: Just had 200mg of caffeine and 8mg of salbutamol, and multi. I remembered the EPA/DHA is not necessary during these four days. Lots of salt on food
Protein intake: 162g


Notesfelt hungry post lunch, and lightheaded/nauseous after my 2nd cardio session. I'm not giving in though.

[vinilzord]

Day 3 (31/07)

Meals: tuna, chicken breast, a slice of low fat cheese

Cardio: 4h of moderate pace cycling (enough to break a sweat but don't get me tired)

Notes: I'll be honest. This amount of cardio has been grueling. I almost puked in the morning. If this and RFL doesn't drop my bf then nothing will. I'm putting all my willpower and faith in this approach. I know genetics is a lame excuse but my metabolism is stupidly slow. Been chubby for my whole life, but this ends now.

Btw I may be going a bit insane, I'm honestly looking forward to my carb refeed.

[vinilzord]

Day 4 (01/08)

Cardio: 1h of cycling and 10 mins on the treadmill
Meals: tuna, chicken breast, egg whites

It's finally over. I'm moving to maintenance for 3 days. Will do an ABC split (my routine is described in the other log) with 1h of LISS post workout.

Target macros: 160g of protein, 20% fat and rest carbs

Notes: I look the same in the mirror, except for my back and shoulders. My last weigh-in was of 73.2kg with clothes on etc, I use the digital scale of the gym. I will have caliper measurements and another weigh-in (underwear only) on Saturday during the appointment with my coach. Let's see how my body responds to the carbs + lifting again.

[vinilzord]

Day 5 (02/08)

LISS for 30mins

Macros: P 160g, F 39g, C 201g
Kcals = 1832

Feels good to have carbs again.

[Dorich]

Be careful with too much tuna due to mercury.

[vinilzord]

Day 6 (03/08)

Fasted cycling for 1h (LISS/MISS)
Back/bi's/traps in the evening

My strength dropped a bit.
Gonna do a full body split 2x a week during RFL.

Macros: P 170g, C 250g, F 57g
Kcals: 2173

Unfortunately I filled my carb intake with some sugary stuff (Twix and chocolate powder), rest was via pasta/fruits/milk

I'll jump onto RFL tomorrow after finishing a depletion workout which I didn't plan yet, gotta check the book out for that.

[vinilzord]

Day 07 (04/08)

Rest. Gonna hit chest/shoulders/tri's tomorrow morning, then 1h of bike/treadmill LISS

Meals: pasta, milk, chicken breast, low fat cheese, tuna and some toast to fill up the carbs
Macros: P 165g/F 47g/C 242g
Kcals = 2051, slightly above maint

I'll be honest, this carb up has done wonders to my muscles, they really look like they're filled with glycogen, instead of looking flabby.

[vinilzord]

Day 8 (05/08)

Hit only chest/shoulders, and 1h of LISS post workout

Meals: ate regularly, didn't care about tracking calories


Day 9 (06/08)

Worked on my shoulders, bi's and lats

Meals: ate regularly at around maint

Day 10 (07/08)

Rest

Meals: maintenance calorie consumption

Starting my RFL tomorrow. Gonna fast until 4/5 PM. God help me with this attempt to shed fat for once and all

Day 11 (08/08)

Rest

Meals: 350g of chicken breast + 200g of chicken breast with zero calorie BBQ sauce
Protein intake: 165ish
Supps: multi, 8 caps of omega 3


I'll be honest, 'twas a tough day. Lacking energy to do stuff and I felt hungry around 6PM, which is far from dinner time. Anyway, I'll get down to Category 1 by September, it's a promise.

[vinilzord]

Note: Maintenance days were good while they lasted. It'll be a bit of a pain in the ass to get fat adapted again, but once in ketosis I'll be just fine.

The main deal is to trust the program, because stalls can and will happen, and squishy fat can be very misleading.

Stay tuned!

[vinilzord]

Day 12 (09/08)

Full body workout, following the book's guidelines!

Meals: 300g of chicken breast "soup" + 200g of chicken breast w/ mustard
Supps: multi, 8 caps of omega 3, 8mg of salbutamol
Protein intake: 164g

Feeling good. Coffee helped a lot throughout the day

[vinilzord]

Day 13 (10/08)

Rest

Meals: 200g of chicken breast, ~250g of chicken breast, 8 egg whites
Supps: multi, 8 caps of omega 3, 8mg of salbutamol

Sipping coffee during the morning helped tremendously, once again. Hungry in the evening but Diet Coke fulfilled me a bit

[vinilzord]

Day 14 (11/08)

Rest

Meals: 275g of chicken breast, 230g of chicken breast soup
Supps: multi, 8 caps of fish oil

Hunger was under control, didn't sleep very well

[vinilzord]

Day 15 (12/08)

Due to social demands I had to consume some extra fat and carbs and ended up having alcohol, it was a small meal btw

So, I guess that's 1-2 days out of ketosis?

Meals: 300g of chicken breast, 2 cans of tuna, protein shake before bedtime
Protein intake: ~160g

Note: yesterday I had my stats checked, dropped 1.5kg of fat after ERFL+Maint+RFL.

The scale says I'm at 71,1kg

Caliper measurements:
a) Torso - 91,5cm (-3,5)
b) Waist - 80cm (-3,0)
c) Abs - 84,5cm (-4,5)
d) Hips - 99cm (-1,0) *My most problematic area

Visually speaking, I think I'm looking like at 17% bf right now

Next weigh in will be on Saturday

[vinilzord]

Day 16 (13/08)

Rest, and that was it. Pretty boring Sunday

Meals: tilapia filet, protein shake, 2 cans of tuna
Protein intake: ~161g

It's kinda annoying to keep up with two logs at the same time. I'll post here every Saturday's weigh-ins and possibly pics