Becoming Accountable- Going for Ideal Image With IF/Leangains!

[kels_88]

Welcome to my cut thread!

Right around this time last year I started running to lose some weight and shed off some stress. I was un-educated on proper diet, and dropped 20lbs pretty quickly in a few months time from 200lbs and 20% BF. Over the summer I ate inadequate amounts of protein and dropped some more weight as I continued to exercise. This fall I was 170lbs and around 15% BF, meaning I had dropped about 15lbs LBM I started doing P90x and pursued my bb.com account more actively to educate myself about nutrition.

Over winter break I took on the leangains IF approach to eating, and I've stuck with it, more or less- at times I break my fast early if I have an exam or I am having trouble concentrating on my assignments. Recently I started RPT as well, and running season is coming back around here in New England (I've already done 2 5k's this year and PR'd in both!) I know there are cardio haters out there, but I love the way running relaxes me.

In two months I have two high school friends that are getting married. I will be seeing some old high school friends there, and I want to look my best. Recently I've been approaching my "ideal image" when I look in the mirror, so I'm going to push through and get there- this thread is to keep me accountable. I realize that at 5'11'' and ~170lbs I may be told that I need to bulk, but I don't feel I have much more to cut until I get to where I want to be, then I'll do a clean, lean bulk over the summer.

I will be post my starting stats tomorrow morning and pictures soon as well. Each day (or after each day, when I get time) I will post my food log from myfitnesspal. For the past month and a half I have been doing my diet what I consider to be leangains recomp style, so I am switching to cutting. I've already boxed up my beer (huge craft beer fan, but all the good winter seasonals are gone) and removed most garbage food from my house. A post depicting the sup's that I will use will follow at some point, but its pretty basic-I have Jack3d, a few OEP's left, Caffeine, BCAA's and some Whey and Casein, but I prefer real food to Whey.

Without further ado, I present my plan:

Axioms:

• Maintenance at 2500cal.

• Workouts have been completed fasted unless otherwise noted

• BCAA's will not be counted for their calorie content and will only be consumed before/after fasted workout/run

• 1 mile run = 100 calories additional I get to eat (wheee)

• Meat is weighed raw

Principle of what I'm doing is based off a leangains client's comment here: http://startbeingfit.com/2010/10/18/...recomposition/

You should go for dropping fat first and then do a lean-gain. When I wanted to do a recomp Martin had me not do it and do a cut first to desired BF then do a lean bulk. Worked out great. Doing bulk now.
If your a beginner then perhaps recoup is ok.

Protein seems low. Perhaps change it to like this. But if you are cutting cut some fat and equal protein / carbs

• Protein around 300-350 on all days.

• Fat around 50 on lift days

• Fat around 80 on rest days

• Carbs around 300-350 on lift days

• Carbs around 100-150 on rest days

For me- calorie intake:

• Protein- Minimum of 250g (rest) -300g (lift)/day =1000-1200 calories

• Fat- 80g (rest) - 50g (lift)/day = 720 - 450 cal

• Carbs- 75g (rest) - 200g = 300 - 800 cal

• Lift days: Maintenance

• Off days: Maintenance - 20% (2000 cal)

On my most strenuous lift day each week (Tuesday?) I will bounce my calories to 3000.

Using RPT following this protocol outlined by a blogger who trained/interviewed with Martin http://freetheanimal.com/2010/11/lea...-approach.html :

....
From my perspective, there are four primary exercises in the Leangains method (at least in the program Martin designed for me according to my goals and abilities): Deadlift, Squat, Bench Press, and Weighted Chinups. In addition there are about 8-10 other exercises classified as assistance moves. This was a great perspective as it really focussed the goal. I had four exercises to focus on primarily and I didn't really concern myself with gains in the others. They kinda come automatically. There's an interesting push / pull dynamic with gains, and it's never linear.

The other difference is that I went from two to three workouts per week. The primary reason for this was a sea change in the way I was doing things in a circuit fashion. Martin required that I drop the number of sets I was doing and, in addition, the number of reps. In exchange, I was to lift more weight and get some rest in-between sets and exercises. Attack every set with maximal effort was the name of the game.
....

Monday: Deadlifts and weighted chins. Make sure you get 5 mins of rest in between deadlifts and chins.

Wednesday: Bench

Friday: Squats. Make sure you get a minimum of two days of rest in between deadlifts and squats, i.e. don’t do heavy deads on Wednesday and then heavy squats on Friday.

.....

generally, 2 sets for the four core moves, 1-2 for the assistance moves. Reps differ from ranges of 3-5 for deeds as Martin pointed out (HE MEANS REVERSE PYRAMID TRAINING), to 6-8 for most of the others.

The thing to keep in mind is the range. Ideally, when you begin at a new weight for deeds, for example, it should be a weight you can get 3, 4 reps at, not 5, or it’s too light. Once you do hit 5 or more on either set, time to increase for that set on your next workout. You treat each set independently for gains and increases in weight.

However I will assume a Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday pattern. Workout highlights will be posted as often as possible.

I have not yet determined what "assisstance moves" I will be doing in addition to these, however I will likely come up with a workout sheet in the next few days.

Like I said, this thread is to keep ME accountable. Since I'm a guy and I'm not incredibly ripped, I don't expect many followers or leg-humpers, but interest and encouragement is welcome!

[kels_88]

3/28/11- I weighed 167 this morning. It appears that may be the weight I'm at now (woosh effect?) though I have not been eating well the past few days, so that may yet catch up with me!

More Axioms
A few things I did not mention in my first post:

• Fasts on off days may be extended to 18-20 hours. Since I only have 2000 calories to put in my gullet, I want to make sure I can eat big!

• Largest meal of the day on workout days will be Post workout meal, as per Martin's rec.

• Largest meal of the day on non-workout days may vary depending on the "packabilitity" of foods in my home

• I won't be sweating the small stuff like sodium intake, but I will be aiming for a minimum of 20g fiber a day.

• If I come in low on calories, I won't sweat it as long as I've hit my protein and a moderate level of fats... I am cutting afterall!

• I have a 25oz water bottle and plan on drinking a minimum of 5 of them a day for a gallon of water

• Minimal calories during the fast are not considered breaking the fast- I am partial to Sugar Free Rockstar on the go, or coffee when I have time to prepare it

Supplementation
I mentioned supplements last night and I wanted to outline that a little more:

• Workout days I will be taking a scoop to a scoop and a half with my BCAA's before my workout. I may have caffeine at some point after my workout, but not for a couple hours.

• Non-workout days I will take a burner (if I remember) when I wake up. I took the last of my OEP today, and I have VPX Meltdown on its way to give it a go. Only taking this on non-workout days will help me conserve it (60 days *4/7 non-workout days ~34 days = less than 1 bottle)

• I forgot to mention fish oil, I will be taking this and counting it in my daily calories. Quantity I will be taking... shooting for 3-4 tabs a day. Its something I sometimes forget to take quite often.

• Multi-vitamin, nothing fancy, take one daily.

I started my fast at 7PM last night and I will likely extend it to 2PM today for a total of 19 hours- only reason is because I have class at 2 and eating helps me pay attention as it keeps me off my computer!

[kels_88]

So today went relatively well. By that I mean I didn't starve myself or anything. When I was leaving work I was offered sandwich's leftover from a catered conference (the good stuff) so I took half a turkey and cheese wrap with lettuce and tomato- ate the innards and threw what was left of the wrap away- estimating it to be around 350 cal with a break down close to or lower than what is left in my P/F/C columns. Not going to sweat the small stuff.

Went for a 2.5-3 mile trail run this afternoon to defuse some stress from school.

Made a liar of myself by having 3 scoops of protein today- I tried making a fluff out of the casein and milk and egg whites but it came out more thick. I have ON's French Vanilla casein and can't wait until this tub is gone. The whey and a cup of milk was after my run- I wanted something sweet and I knew that'd do the trick.

I said I would be willing to go over my calories when I ran, but when I put the ground beef (the last thing I ate) in, my calories came out perfect and I figured that was a sign. The beef is most likely NOT 30% fat but its locally grown beef and I err on the side of caution. Still don't have "start" pics, I'll take them/get them up eventually.

[kels_88]

Had a great workout this morning and a busy day overall.

Got caught up with work with classmates this evening (thus the two builder's bars) and ended up extended my feed for an hour (to about 8:15 instead of quitting at 7) so I will extend my fast tomorrow accordingly (not an issue.)

Overall I'm pretty happy with the numbers I hit today. Cal's are a little higher than I would have liked, but they're an estimate... at least on the steak for dinner (twas good though!)

Broke my fast with this (and an Orange)


2 whole wheat English muffins with 1 egg and 2 oz of ham and 2 oz of chicken each
2 Cups of sugar snap peas cooked up with garlic
1 cup milk with ON cookies n cream whey

[kels_88]

Stressful day. Managed to submit a 35 page lab report 3 minutes before it was due. But no one here cares, haha, this is about NUTRITION!

Okay, despite my hectic schedule- started my fast around 8:30 last night. Wednesdays I walk dogs around midday while fasted, which fits good with this recommendation: http://www.leangains.com/2010/06/int...born-body.html and I broke the fast around 1:15 PM.

My calves are still sore from my run on Monday in my FiveFingers, and my mid-section is raw from weighted situps yesterday, so I might skip those tomorrow- bench press day!! I foam rolled my sore areas when I got up this morning and I'll do the same tonight.

Here is my log for the day came in a little under my fat and protein, had a whiskey late in the day, about an hour and a half before my final meal so the alcohol had enough time to pass through- I'm not a teetotaler and I made it fit!

[kels_88]

Weight at 167 still. The day is young and I'm eating my first meal as I type. I had some free time this morning so I took some pictures. So without further ado:





I have slight skin issues, as can be seen here:




I'm slightly turned here, so you cant really see the fat I'm carrying over my lower abs... it was difficult to get this shot and this was the best of the ones I took.


Flexed:


Unflexed:

[kels_88]

Just hit the grocery store before this week sales period ends and picked up ~10 lbs of chicken breast. It goes on sale for $1.99 once every three weeks ago, so hopefully that (plus whats in the freezer) will tide me over. I've been pretty hungry today- had a good workout this morning.

Tomorrow I start house sitting, which will hinder my ability to go to they gym Saturday, so I might go do my squats tomorrow AM. Contrary to my intuition, I did moderate ab workouts today, so if I do squats tomorrow and moderate "assistance moves" I think I can be in and out of the gym fairly quickly and efficiently. Haven't quite finished eating today. My eating periods have been running to 9 hours or so every few days, however I always follow up with at least a 16 hour fast ( this is for the people who ask all the questions about the 16/8 schedule!!!) My take is that it is NOT the length of the daily eating window that matters (thus why I have no qualms about eating 9 or 10 hours if I have to)the important part is the 16 hour fast, and I re-adjust my eating window the next day so that I finish at my normal time.

Here are my foods for today.

[kels_88]

Didn't lift this morning. Life got in the way.

I'll start by listing my food journal, because I'm going to talk about it.



Fasted til 1:30 PM today. Was out and about, so I settled for some beef jerky to break the fast. Around 4 I was able to eat again and I ate pretty steadily til about 7 PM (meal two). Next you see Jim Beam Red Stag- Oh nozzz, alcohol.

So I'm doing leangains, and figure I'll try everything leangains. Namely this: http://www.leangains.com/2010/07/tru...nd-muscle.html

What this policy generally entails:

The rules are as follows:

* For this day, restrict your intake of dietary fat to 0.3 g/kg body weight (or as close to this figure as possible).

* Limit carbs to 1.5 g/kg body weight. Get all carbs from veggies and the tag-along carbs in some protein sources. You'll also want to limit carbohydrate-rich alcohol sources such as drinks made with fruit juices and beer. A 33 cl/12 fl oz of beer contains about 12 g carbs, while a regular Cosmopolitan is about 13 g.

* Good choices of alcohol include dry wines which are very low carb, clocking in at about 0.5-1 g per glass (4 fl oz/115ml). Sweet wines are much higher at 4-6 g per glass. Cognac, gin, rum, scotch, tequila, vodka and whiskey are all basically zero carbs. Dry wines and spirits is what you should be drinking, ideally. Take them straight or mixed with diet soda. (No need to be super-neurotic about this stuff. Drinks should be enjoyed after all. Just be aware that there are better and worse choices out there).

* Eat as much protein as you want. Yes, that's right. Ad libitum. Due to the limit on dietary fat, you need to get your protein from lean sources. Protein sources such as low fat cottage cheese, protein powder, chicken, turkey, tuna, pork and egg whites are good sources of protein this day.

* For effective fat loss, this should be limited to one evening per week. Apply the protocol and you will lose fat on a weekly basis as long as your diet is on point for the rest of the week.

Looking at this:
1) I failed to keep my fats at .3g/kg: @ 167/2.2*.3=22.8g fat- I consumed twice that.
2) I effictively killed the carbs at 1.5g/kg: @167/2.2*1.5=113.9g carbs- I ate about half that (if you take out DF as carbs, I don't usually but I wanted to be able to say half )
3)+20*9-60*4=-60 cal... I can out 60 cals low on the list of no-no's... What difference this makes? No clue. Time will tell.
4) I hit my protein today. Shoulda skipped that jerky and Builders Bar
5) I'm drinking Jim Beam Red Stag and Pepsi Max- only bringing 6 oz with me cause I'll have to be able to drive home after a few hours.

Hope everyone has a good night- I'll let you know how it goes (esp if I try and hit the gym in the AM)

[Shazriki]

Didn't lift this morning. Life got in the way.

I'll start by listing my food journal, because I'm going to talk about it.



Fasted til 1:30 PM today. Was out and about, so I settled for some beef jerky to break the fast. Around 4 I was able to eat again and I ate pretty steadily til about 7 PM (meal two). Next you see Jim Beam Red Stag- Oh nozzz, alcohol.

So I'm doing leangains, and figure I'll try everything leangains. Namely this: http://www.leangains.com/2010/07/tru...nd-muscle.html

What this policy generally entails:


Looking at this:
1) I failed to keep my fats at .3g/kg: @ 167/2.2*.3=22.8g fat- I consumed twice that.
2) I effictively killed the carbs at 1.5g/kg: @167/2.2*1.5=113.9g carbs- I ate about half that (if you take out DF as carbs, I don't usually but I wanted to be able to say half )
3)+20*9-60*4=-60 cal... I can out 60 cals low on the list of no-no's... What difference this makes? No clue. Time will tell.
4) I hit my protein today. Shoulda skipped that jerky and Builders Bar
5) I'm drinking Jim Beam Red Stag and Pepsi Max- only bringing 6 oz with me cause I'll have to be able to drive home after a few hours.

Hope everyone has a good night- I'll let you know how it goes (esp if I try and hit the gym in the AM)

I've applied this protocol rigidly, and loosely a second time. You're going to be eating a lot of protein on this day depending on how hard you're cutting, so I recommend spreading out your meals more than you usually would if you have any issues with bloat. Going out bloated is not fun and can kill a night making you wish you never bothered going out in the first place!

Also be reasonable and don't expect fantastic results, the few nights I went out on my cut I always woke up heavier the next day. Not sure why but it usually tapered off after a few days. Whiskey/diet pepsi is a good combo, I swear by it in fact. The main thing to be on guard from are the dreaded drunken munchies. Avoid these and you'll be fine.

[kels_88]

I've applied this protocol rigidly, and loosely a second time. You're going to be eating a lot of protein on this day depending on how hard you're cutting, so I recommend spreading out your meals more than you usually would if you have any issues with bloat. Going out bloated is not fun and can kill a night making you wish you never bothered going out in the first place!

Also be reasonable and don't expect fantastic results, the few nights I went out on my cut I always woke up heavier the next day. Not sure why but it usually tapered off after a few days. Whiskey/diet pepsi is a good combo, I swear by it in fact. The main thing to be on guard from are the dreaded drunken munchies. Avoid these and you'll be fine.

Thanks for the input Shazriki! I'm not too concerned about bloating- as long as I don't change up what I normally eat, I don't seem to have an issue. It was a good night- I ended up having a beer at the end, and I obliged a friend to try his homemade mango salsa on homemade chips (just a little, twas delicious) and it was all alright- those extras amounted to no more than an extra 300 cal.

The gym went fine today. I PR'd on my squat (255x5) and took it easy on the other things. I'm house sitting right now- every time I place a BB.com order, I always buy the sample packs of white flood, purple wraath and some creatine, so I took those this AM to avoid toting around my tubs of stuff. I think the white flood is a double dose in that sample pack, cause I got the tingles!

I'll update with my food for the day in a bit. Not done eating yet

[kels_88]

Okay done eating. Lifting today went great. Stopped drinking last night around midnight, broke my fast around 3 PM this afternoon. (15 hours) and just finished eating at 7. Ate some junk/snack food today but ate some good stuff as well. I'm satisfied with my consumption.

Note: I didn't eat this stuff all at once like the log reflects.

[kels_88]

Don't feel very healthy after what I ate today, good thing Arctic Zero is too expensive to eat on a regular basis. Moving back to my place tomorrow after dog sitting this weekend, so I'll get back into a routine.

Took my VPX meltdown this AM when I got up, walked for about an hour around 10 (dog walking, so I got paid for it!) broke my fast around noon (17 hour fast). Food not in exact order.

Tomorrow will be my first day of 2000 cal only back to back with another 2k day (today)- hopefully it won't be too difficult! I'm going to try and push the fast to ~20 hours, we'll see though.

Here's today.



Lifting 3 days a week and eating maintenance those days, I should be on track to lose about 1/2 lb a week. I haven't weighted myself in the past few days, but I know I started at 167. I probably won't re-weigh til Tuesday AM before I hit the gym. Tomorrow I plan on getting back on the veggie train, cause I dropped the ball on eating healthy this weekend (though I did eat a ton of salad.)

[Shazriki]

Looks good, but can I suggest setting rigid macros that you aim for daily. It makes planning your meals for the day so much easier. Unless you just ad hoc all your meals which is fine, but during my cut the days I went over my limit were the days where I did no planning and it ended up being "ahh another 40 grams of this won't hurt, etc etc." IMO go for a definite fat, protein, and carb goal for each day and stick to it. Also adds an element of consistency to your diet so you can observe changes over time and see where adjustments are necessary if you stall.

[kels_88]

Looks good, but can I suggest setting rigid macros that you aim for daily. It makes planning your meals for the day so much easier. Unless you just ad hoc all your meals which is fine, but during my cut the days I went over my limit were the days where I did no planning and it ended up being "ahh another 40 grams of this won't hurt, etc etc." IMO go for a definite fat, protein, and carb goal for each day and stick to it. Also adds an element of consistency to your diet so you can observe changes over time and see where adjustments are necessary if you stall.

Thanks for the advice. Whenever I have found around, I pretty much always have my computer as well, so its not too difficult to just put in what I'm eating. My first meal of the day I always go protein heavy, but generally eat what I want (first meal is also Post WO meal on WO days.) I basically only have health-ish foods around my house, so its not difficult for me to make good decisions. Been loving the Clif Builder's bars cause they're on sale right now (about the same price as candy bars, might as well enjoy it!)

My macro goals were spelled out above, but they have changed a little. Everyday I'm trying to go 250+ for protein, WO days goal=50g fat, 200g carbs, non WO days goal=80g fat, <100g carbs.

Edit; altering this- doing 85 workout days and 100+ non workout days cause my sex drive blows and I feel like ****- I've gone through this before and I need to stop being stupid and listen to my body



With the exceptions of keeping my fat intake down on WO days, I haven't had much of an issue. More to follow, I didn't log yesterday and I'll post in a minute.

[kels_88]

****ty day. My life isn't bad or anything, and I realize how lucky I am to have my health, education, and accessories, but school is really starting to bum me out. Taking things one day at a time and I have a **** load of work to do everyday.

Anywho, managed to do 2k calories 2 days in a row, wasn't easy! Broke my fast after 20 hours, ate for 3.5 and jumped right back on the train. Here's the log.

[kels_88]

I was apprehensive about having a big workout after two days of only 2k calories. I did homework til midnight, slept poorly, and got up to go to the gym (I know I know, enough with the sob story) and my workout went great! I was super energetic. I PR'd both my heavy compound lifts (Weighted chins- 5@50lbs, managed 4@45 last week, deadlift 4@275, up 10lbs from last week.) Wasn't even too famished afterwards. Had my second dose of BCAA's around 1.5 hours after I finished lifting, then broke my fast an hour later while finishing a lab report.

Had a small snack mid-afternoon and really needed a beer, so I picked up one 24oz SN pale ale. I've been finding that I have a hard time keeping my fats down on workout days, and the beer fit the bill nicely, along with the trader joe's salmon patties (1 lb of patties for $4.7X, little bit of Grey Poupon and you'll love me forever.)

Tomorrow I don't have class!.... Cause I had a lab on Monday and I have a lab report to write for it....I'll be walking the dogs I'm responsible for around 11AM. Game plan is as follows:
-Get up as late as possible, have 2 VPX meltdown and cup of Coffee.
-Be productive- I have to go to the Post Office, maybe wash some dishes
-2 more VPX meltdown as I start my walk
-Break fast when I feel like it after that (16 hours is up at 11 AM) and I'm feeling eggs and turkey bacon.

Here's today's log.

[kels_88]

Tomorrow I don't have class!.... Cause I had a lab on Monday and I have a lab report to write for it....I'll be walking the dogs I'm responsible for around 11AM. Game plan is as follows:
-Get up as late as possible, have 2 VPX meltdown and cup of Coffee.
-Be productive- I have to go to the Post Office, maybe wash some dishes
-2 more VPX meltdown as I start my walk
-Break fast when I feel like it after that (16 hours is up at 11 AM) and I'm feeling eggs and turkey bacon.

Didn't quite follow this plan. Walked the dogs and took the VPX as I said I would, but I broke the fast with a hamburger on a whole wheat English muffin with turkey bacon- you mad?

Other than that, pretty standard day. Broke the fast around 2:30 (19:30 fasting) and resumed just now at 8 PM meaning I'll be going to noon tomorrow. Also managed to make fluff tonight- whipped 2 egg whites, added scoop of casein, scoop of Hershey's baking cocoa, 1/4 cup milk and 50g blueberries. Tomorrow I might up the blue berries a little bit if I make again (I probably will)

Here's today.



[img]

[Shazriki]

Lower fats on WO days can be a pain lol. It's like, I need more calories, but I can't get them from peanut butter exclusively, wut? Get yourself some cereal and pop tarts if you're having trouble. Those carbs are meant to be enjoyed!

[kels_88]

Haven't been feeling so hot lately, might try dropping the carba a little and upping the fats some more. I might start shooting for 85 on workout days and 100+g on non-workout days.

On that note, I worked out this morning sans bcaa b/c I was half asleep when I left home. I'll be taking same when I get home at 11 but I got called in to dog walk. I'll do that before I break my fast, but I'm eating 3k today.

[kels_88]

Alright, so I was being a bit of a bitch earlier, but I'm seriously upping my fats on a daily basis cause I've been feeling so ****ty. Answering questions in the NF, I am always telling people to up their fat intake. Gotta do as you say (i.e., "The Coaching Paradox") http://www.leangains.com/2011/02/how...your-true.html

Now I know I'm not in a coaching position, but damn, restricting calories is tricky business. Considering a bodybugg, just cause I'm a fan of gadgets Opinions on BodyBugg? - if it blows I can always turn around and sell it and only take a small hit.

Anyway, food log for today. I did bump my calories to 3k like I mentioned I might do in my OP, it was needed. I was "re-comping" for about a month and a half at 3k-on, 2k-off and making gains and leaning up... I just want to cut a little bit before I go back to that, cause I did enjoy it (eating 3k/day 3x a week was fun!)

[Shazriki]

Your fats look fine. If anything carbs look low which could be why you're feeling shiit. Your body might be at that fine line between low carb intake and ketosis which leaves everyone feeling blah.

[jessepangg]

Great log buddy (: subbed!
Keep it up! I'm starting to do IF as well, hope to see good results for you!