My Leangains Cut

[66jzmstr]

History
6'1", 33 years old and currently 184.2lbs. I believe I'm around 13% body fat, but please chime in below if my estimate seems off. I've tried a few different diets and workout routines over the last eight or so years, usually hanging around 185 to 195, varying as greatly as 169 or 210 in that time. Workout-wise, I had always done three sets of 10 straight across, mostly isolation exercises and lots of cardio. Diet-wise, strict calorie deficits. Within the last year, I've had more substantial gains after reading Primal Blueprint, Starting Strength, and most recently Martin's blog for Leangains.


Goals
I aim to lose body fat but maintain my strength. A supplementary goal not as related to this cut is to rehab my re-aggravated lower back, which is currently having me substitute my deadlifts and squats for lunges for lower body compound exercises. Barring a couple miles walking the dog a day, I don't plan on doing cardio.


Diet
Intermittent fasting, eating two meals a day with a pre-workout shake on lifting days. I calculated my maintenance (BW x 13) at 2300 when I weighed 179 last week before my gluttonous family get-together at the ocean where much eating and drinking ensued over the course of five days. As per Martin's Leangains approach, I will go moderate fat and low carbs on rest days, and I will shoot for high carbs and low fat on my three workout days. All days aim for high protein, but perhaps moreso on rest days. Likewise, rest days will be lower calorie (1600) while workout days will be closer to maintenance (2100). Not including exercise, this should roughly equate to a 3400cal deficit per week for approximately a pound of fat loss per week. I'm calorie-counting using an app called "Carb Master" on my iPhone. It's not perfect, but it's pretty adept at adding in your own personal food items when only generic offerings are found in the app's database.


Workout
As mentioned above, three workout days: Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Again, I would love to get back to deads and squats, but I won't risk exacerbating my re-aggravated L5/S1 injury that occurred last month, but hopefully I can revisit those lifts before the end of my cut. I'll use low reps in reverse pyramid for the following: Monday - reverse lunges, weighted chin-ups, power shrugs; Wednesday - bench press, seated calves, weighted pull-ups; Friday - forward lunges, weighted dips.


Supplements
multivitamin
fish oil
EC stack
Kre-Alkalyn
TripleFlex (glucosamine/chondroitin/MSM)



6/23 - 184.2lbs

[cobaltis]

Good luck man, IF is working great for me

[luke10101]

IF for life! Good luck!

[66jzmstr]

Thursday, 6-23-11: Rest Day

I broke my fast at 2:30pm for lunch. I will work my way down to 1600cal on rest days, but I don't want to drop to that total immediately, so today I aimed for 2000cal.

Lunch: BBQ pork shoulder, hot wings, salame (think spicy prosciutto), pulled rotisserie chicken topped with tzatziki and a quarter-cup of frozen blueberries.

Macros (905cal)
10 CHO
49 F
100 P




Dinner: salmon fillet with full fat sour cream, more hot wings, half a red bell pepper, half a yellow bell pepper (with more sour cream), chunk of feta, frozen blueberries on top of almond butter, ON cookies & cream casein in almond milk.

Macros (1091cal)
43 CHO
56 F
108 P




Daily Totals: 1996cal, 53 CHO, 105 F, 208 P

[66jzmstr]

@ cobaltis & luke10101

Thanks! IF has worked great for me so far, so I'm pretty stoked to implement it into a proper cut now. Even though I've never subjected myself to a half-dozen bird meals a day (props to those who are content and progressing that way, though), but I've always enjoyed eating big, satiating meals, and IF lets me do that, even on lower-cal rest days on a cut. I might be the odd man out, as two meals a day on IF works well for me, not to mention my system never processed food well early morning.

IF FTW!

[66jzmstr]

Friday, 6-23-11: Workout Day

I broke my fast at 3:40pm for a late, small lunch. I'm aiming for a couple hundred calories under my maintenance (2300), so today's goal is 2100.

Lunch: Pretty bland, actually. three-quarters a cup of low-fat cottage cheese on top of a half-cup of brown rice. A dozen fresh raspberries for dessert.

Macros (240cal)
31 CHO
1 F
23 P


Pre-Workout: The usual - a small banana, a heaping scoop of Optimum Nutrition whey (cake batter flavor) mixed in eight ounces of non-fat, organic milk.

Macros (300cal)
39 CHO
1 F
33 P


=WORKOUT=
Forward Lunges: 150 x 6, 130 x 7, 110 x 8
Weighted Dips: 75 x 7, 70 x 6, 65 x 5
(Notes, forward lunges are replacing squats until my re-aggravated herniated disc heals. "150" represents two 75lbs dumbbells. The weighted dips numbers represent the poundage added to my current body weight, usually by using a couple kettle bells.)


Dinner: The pay-off for the miniscule, bland lunch. Two Taco Del Mar Super Burritos, one chicken, one pork, both with a wheat tortilla, pinto beans, guacamole, green salsa, cheese, shredded cabbage, topped with my Marie Sharp's Habanero Sauce. A half-cup of Dreyers Peanut Butter Cup ice cream for dessert.

Macros (1560cal)
177 CHO
55 F
99 P




Daily Totals: 2100cal, 247 CHO, 57 F, 155 P

All in all, not bad. My heavy set in each lift above was a personal best. Diet-wise a little lower in protein than I would like, but my weekly reward of Friday night take-out makes it worth it. It's nice to be able to have big, satisfying meals despite being on a cut. (IF FTW!) Further calories reduction on tomorrow's rest day! Curious to step on the scale again already, but I will hold off for my weekly Friday weigh-in.

[Gordon Bombay]

In for food pron. Doing IF and EC as well. You got a good base as it is so it shouldn't take too long to get shredded. 13% is a good guess but IMO it's more around 11%-12%.

[66jzmstr]

In for food pron. Doing IF and EC as well. You got a good base as it is so it shouldn't take too long to get shredded. 13% is a good guess but IMO it's more around 11%-12%.

Thanks, GB - repped for chiming in with a percentage estimate, too! I just checked out your new and past blogs. Jealous of those quads, mang! Cool to hear about your time in France, too. I did a month in Nantes in high school then a year in Japan in college. Both experiences were invaluable, unlike anything else and a total adventure. Stoked you got to do it!

Some more food pr0n with tonight's upcoming post! Not incredibly different from Thursday's, but still damn tasty.

[66jzmstr]

Saturday, 6-25-11: Rest Day

I broke my fast at 1:45pm for lunch. I will work my way down to 1600cal on rest days by tomorrow, but I don't want to drop to that total immediately, so today I aimed for 1800cal. Quads, glutes, pecs and tris are nice and sore from yesterday's lifting.

Lunch: BBQ pork shoulder, hot wings, spicy organic chicken sausage, Mexican salad with pork rinds for croutons, fresh blackberries, blueberries and raspberries on top of some almond butter for dessert. (pic below)

Macros (918cal)
24 CHO
51 F
92 P




Dinner: (7:15pm) BBQ pork shoulder, organic spicy chicken sausage, salame, one orange bell pepper, chunk of milk chocolate, third-cup fresh blueberries, ON cookies & cream casein in almond milk.

Macros (877cal)
40 CHO
54 F
88 P


Daily Totals: 1795cal, 64 CHO, 105 F, 180 P


Notes Thus Far

• This is my first time running an EC stack, which I'm still phasing in on an accelerated version of the oft-referenced protocol at Hotnfit. I didn't take my last dose yesterday until the tail end of my first meal around 4pm. I'm composing these reflections at 4:30am now (although I won't post this until the evening, after my meals). I went to bed at 1am. I suppose this could work wonders when I began rising at 5am for my summer quarter teaching schedule starting July 5th, but I think I'll try to take my final 25mg E / 200mg C dosage by 2pm and only take two doses a day instead of three. Hopefully that - in conjunction with my body slowly acclimating to the stack - will allow me a full night's rest to not inhibit muscle recovery. Or, maybe I'm already awake because I forgot to crack a window after downing last night's dos burritos con habanero?
  
• I think I'm coming down with a cold. No coughing, sneezing or congestion, but definitely some post-nasal drip and a raw throat. It will be interesting to see if my body's response to the EC stack has any suppressing effect on the cold. Just my completely unscientific, layman hypothesis because OTC Sudafed's active ingredient is pseudoephedrine, while I am taking ephedrine via Bronkaid.
  
• I just ordered some Lean Xtreme and Controlled Labs REDuction PM (tablets for the latter, but the apple cinnamon shots sound tempting) and will add those to my stack in the original post once they arrive.
  
• Tapered chiropractic visits for the bad back to just twice a week. I want to return to deads and squats sooner than later but will have to approach with caution.
• Will taper down rest day calories to my basement of 1600 for tomorrow. I haven't been that low before, but doing so 1) in the context of IF, 2) eating plenty of satiating meat from the local butcher shop, and 3) splitting those calories between just two 800-calorie meals while on an EC stack shouldn't pose much of a challenge, I hope.

[hydrogod]

I've been on if for about a week... and i must say its ****ing awesome.

literally even when i eat too much i still have yet to gain. before IF i would literally weigh an extra 2-3 lbs the next day... but not on IF.

jelly about ec stack... i dont believe they sell bronkaid in ohio

[66jzmstr]

I've been on if for about a week... and i must say its ****ing awesome.

literally even when i eat too much i still have yet to gain. before IF i would literally weigh an extra 2-3 lbs the next day... but not on IF.

jelly about ec stack... i dont believe they sell bronkaid in ohio

Glad to hear IF is working for you, too! When I get Bronkaid, it's always behind the counter, so I have to ask for it when I go to Rite Aid or Walgreens. Have you tried this? If not, there's always ebay, but the prices are pretty inflated there.

[hydrogod]

Glad to hear IF is working for you, too! When I get Bronkaid, it's always behind the counter, so I have to ask for it when I go to Rite Aid or Walgreens. Have you tried this? If not, there's always ebay, but the prices are pretty inflated there.

lol i went to rite aid before and asked and they said they don't sell it. i went online and when they wouldn't ship it to ohio i just figured you couldnt buy it... anyways i just called walgreens and they have it... i'm so stoked........ lol gotta go buy some now +rep!

[66jzmstr]

lol i went to rite aid before and asked and they said they don't sell it. i went online and when they wouldn't ship it to ohio i just figured you couldnt buy it... anyways i just called walgreens and they have it... i'm so stoked........ lol gotta go buy some now +rep!

NICE - stoked for you, mang! I actually have a cold right now, but it's hardly noticeable with the ephedrine, even though I'm only taking it twice a day (instead of three times). The appetite is definitely muted on the EC stack, too. Apart from the cold, if this is the shape of things to come, I'm looking forward to going deep into this cut. Best of luck, hydrogod!

[hydrogod]

NICE - stoked for you, mang! I actually have a cold right now, but it's hardly noticeable with the ephedrine, even though I'm only taking it twice a day (instead of three times). The appetite is definitely muted on the EC stack, too. Apart from the cold, if this is the shape of things to come, I'm looking forward to going deep into this cut. Best of luck, hydrogod!

yup i already had some tta in route, so i'll stack the tta with EC and see how that goes.

[Gordon Bombay]

Thanks, GB - repped for chiming in with a percentage estimate, too! I just checked out your new and past blogs. Jealous of those quads, mang! Cool to hear about your time in France, too. I did a month in Nantes in high school then a year in Japan in college. Both experiences were invaluable, unlike anything else and a total adventure. Stoked you got to do it!

Some more food pr0n with tonight's upcoming post! Not incredibly different from Thursday's, but still damn tasty.

A month in Nantes? Nice. Highschool exchange? A year in Japan sounds like it'd be nuts and definitely more of a culture shock than France. The exchange rate was terrible in France but it must've been worse in Japan. Where in Japan did you stay?

[66jzmstr]

A month in Nantes? Nice. Highschool exchange? A year in Japan sounds like it'd be nuts and definitely more of a culture shock than France. The exchange rate was terrible in France but it must've been worse in Japan. Where in Japan did you stay?

I'm an old man, so the exchange rate was like 8 francs (!) to the dollar in spring of '94 at the tail end of my sophomore year in high school. It was pretty good when I was in Kumamoto for my junior year of college ('98 to '99): something around 125¥ to the dollar, so it worked to my advantage then, but now it's around 81¥ to the dollar. Crazy talk, mang.

Just did an arse-load of yard work. More food pr0n for tonight's blog entry, too - stay tuned!

[66jzmstr]

Sunday, 6-26-11: Rest Day

Woke up today and yup, cold confirmed. Lots of colorful gobs shooting out of my face after waking and finding the Kleenex box. Achy all over, not just from Friday's lifts. I popped my EC stack and voilà - good to go! Almost scary how that ephedrine works on a cold. Walked the dog for an hour and did about four hours of work outside throughout the day to steadily reclaim the yard from it's current au naturel look (i.e. overgrown jungle). As mentioned in the first post, I'm not doing any cardio, so these (normally) short bouts of walks and work are it for me.

I broke my fast at 1:30pm for lunch for the first day of many at my 1600 calorie limit for rest days. I wasn't expecting any food pr0n for today, but there were too many goodies to pass up at the local butcher shop, so you're getting a two 'fer today.

Lunch: BBQ pork shoulder (last one!), three organic eggs on a bed of spring mix and topped with aged cheddar and season lamb/beef ground breakfast sausage. 10 raspberries and six ounces of almond milk with some ON cookies 'n' cream casein, not just for dessert but to keep protein up. (pic below)

Macros (812cal)
14 CHO
45 F
84 P





Dinner: (9:00pm) Kalbi flank steak, hot wings, tomatoes and spring mix and six ounces of almond milk with some ON cookies 'n' cream casein. (shown below)

Macros (802cal)
24 CHO
31 F
103 P





Daily Totals: 1614cal, 38 CHO, 76 F, 187 P


Notes Today

• My first day at only 1600 calories! I was reluctant to go this low when mapping out my cut last week, but so far so good. IF'ing with just two meals not to mention my stack certainly didn't hurt breezing through this deficit today. I just hope sore arms from today's yard work don't compromise tomorrow's workout.
  
• The full eight hours of sleep after last night's 3.5 was nice. I think my body is slowly starting to adjust to the caffeine in the EC stack, which I've decided to run just twice a day instead of three times.
  
• The EC stack has definitely muted my appetite, which is nice considering my rest days are about 700cal under maintenance. I'm curious to see if this suppression is even more pronounced once my Lean Xtreme and REDuction PM arrive.
  
• I'm feeling great despite the cold and ailing back, and I'm pretty damn tempted to weigh myself, but I'm going to exert some willpower to keep my weigh-ins to Fridays only. I used to weigh myself daily but often found myself drinking less water just to best my previous day's weight.

[vipervin]

These pictures are awesome. Making me hungry man! haha keep up the log!

[66jzmstr]

These pictures are awesome. Making me hungry man! haha keep up the log!

Glad to hear it, vipervin - will do!

[DLEHMA]

Looking at the pictures of your meals reassures me why IF/Leangains is godly.

Subbed! Looking lean already can't wait to see where you end up.

[66jzmstr]

Looking at the pictures of your meals reassures me why IF/Leangains is godly.

Subbed! Looking lean already can't wait to see where you end up.

I hear ya'. I've never done the half-dozen bird meals, and I couldn't imagine doing so on my current rest day deficit. Just by how I like to eat, I know I would never want to, so IF has really been working for me.

Thanks for the motivation, too - repped!

[GettingfitAgain]

Great food porn pics in here! I like how you present your meals! hehe

As for the EC stack, ephedra is used for chest congestion so thats why it works wonders on the sinuses

[Step Beyond]

Seems to be a lot of people leaning towards IF. This is totally new to me, but I am intrigued, as I just started my 'six bird meals' a day plan last week.....lol. It works for me, but am curious to learn more about IF.

Happen to have any decent articles or links you can share???????

And great job - looking lean !!!

[66jzmstr]

Great food porn pics in here! I like how you present your meals! hehe

As for the EC stack, ephedra is used for chest congestion so thats why it works wonders on the sinuses

Thanks! I think you're right on regarding ephedra. I looked at a pack of Sudafed that I bought last year, and its active ingredient was "pseudoephedrine." Interesting how taboo ephedra is now. (Oh, those rambunctious meth labbers! )

Seems to be a lot of people leaning towards IF. This is totally new to me, but I am intrigued, as I just started my 'six bird meals' a day plan last week.....lol. It works for me, but am curious to learn more about IF.

Happen to have any decent articles or links you can share???????

And great job - looking lean !!!

Thanks, SB! And no disrespect by any means on the half-dozen mini-meals, as it can really work for some, not to mention it has been the traditional way to go in bodybuilding circles for decades now. If it proves to be a manageable and sustainable method for you, go for it! Anecdotally, I think there seem to be many multi-mini-meal converts to IF, as they only have to prepare two or three meals when IF'ing and can get along with their life and get things done with the half of their fasting window that doesn't involve sleep.

As far as I understand it, IF is just keeping a short feeding window, so people consume their two or three meals of the day in an eight-hour window, give or take. This means virtually no calories are consumed in the approximate 16 or so hour fasting window, but trace amounts won't do you in. (I have seen a study or two that suggests metabolism even receives a slight but detectable boost once you're 14 or so hours into the fast.)

I'm adopting a Leangains approach to IF'ing, which involves IF but also calorie and macro cycling. This is a good introductory link to using IF for a body recomp: Leangains Approach. More detailed articles from Martin Berkhan can be found at his blog here.

[Step Beyond]

LOL...no offence taken at all.....appreciate the feedback......I did the traditional 6 meals three years ago in a major weight loss transformation and it worked, so I have just gone back to the drawing board again tohopefully replicate my success. Not opposed to new idea though and I keep seeing IF popping up all over the place, soit has me interested and certainly cant argue with the results it seems to garner for most. Think both methods still require a great deal of motovation and will power, but guess at the end of the day its what works for ya. Think we are all creatures of habit and to think outside the box and go against the grain of those traditional 6 meals may be too much for some to digest (no pun...lol). Anyway, thanks for the links - will definely read up on it and maybe give it a try. Getting through a day without eating until 4pm or so just seems wicked tough though....lol.....guess we'll see.

thx again !!!!

[tenchichrono]

Wow. I'm starting IF today... but man those are some good eating meals there. Mouth is watering. LOL. So what kind of foods should one be eating for IF?

[66jzmstr]

LOL...no offence taken at all.....appreciate the feedback......I did the traditional 6 meals three years ago in a major weight loss transformation and it worked, so I have just gone back to the drawing board again tohopefully replicate my success. Not opposed to new idea though and I keep seeing IF popping up all over the place, soit has me interested and certainly cant argue with the results it seems to garner for most. Think both methods still require a great deal of motovation and will power, but guess at the end of the day its what works for ya. Think we are all creatures of habit and to think outside the box and go against the grain of those traditional 6 meals may be too much for some to digest (no pun...lol). Anyway, thanks for the links - will definely read up on it and maybe give it a try. Getting through a day without eating until 4pm or so just seems wicked tough though....lol.....guess we'll see.

thx again !!!!

I just saw your blog and will definitely keep an eye on your progress, SB. Best of luck!

Wow. I'm starting IF today... but man those are some good eating meals there. Mouth is watering. LOL. So what kind of foods should one be eating for IF?

Thanks, tenchichrono! My newfound butcher shop only a couple miles away always has the goods, both in the chilled display case as well as on the hot shelves with the cooked meats, so it's hard to go wrong.

As for the kinds of foods on IF, anything you want, really. If one wasn't trying to cut/bulk/recomp, you could honestly just eat dirty and still call it IF as long as it all occurs in the feeding window. Leangains supports mostly wholesome stuff, but even Martin concedes to eating cereal and ice cream every week, so it's healthy eats for the most part but not dogmatically so. Kind of a "everything in moderation, including moderation"-type perspective, which I appreciate and find effective. Have fun with your new IF! Your head might be a little foggy or you might have a few hunger pangs the first few days, but my transition was surprisingly easy months back. Here's to hoping yours will be, too.

[66jzmstr]

Monday, 6-27-11: Workout Day

Woke up and concerns confirmed, arms are sore from swinging around a hedge trimmer like Bruce Campbell for three hours yesterday. Immediately curious to see how that would affect today's weighted chin-ups.

Lunch: Broke the fast at 2:45 today. Nowhere near as food pr0n-worthy as yesterday's eats, but I'll toss up the fottergraf anyhow. A can of wild Alaskan salmon seasoned with lemon juice and Mrs. Dash then topped with tzatziki, half-cup of brown rice, dill pickle, 1/4C blueberries, 1/4C blackberries, 1/4C raspberries. (shown below)

Macros (397cal)
32 CHO (net)
10 F
39 P



Pre-Workout: The usual - a small banana, a heaping scoop of Optimum Nutrition whey (cake batter flavor) mixed in eight ounces of non-fat, organic milk.

Macros (282cal)
32 CHO (net)
1 F
31 P


=WORKOUT=
Reverse Lunges: 160 x 6, 140 x 6, 120 x 8
Weighted Chin-Ups: 55 x 6, 50 x 5, 45 x 4
Shrugs: 410 x 5, 380 x 5, 360 x 6
I was pretty satisfied, as I thought I might under-perform due to all the soreness from yesterday's yard work on top of the cold I've caught. All heavy (first) sets of my RPT are personal bests, so no complaints.
(Notes: reverse lunges are replacing deadlifts until my re-aggravated herniated disc heals. "160" represents two 80lbs dumbbells; 6 reps is each leg. The weighted chins numbers represent the poundage added to my current body weight by using a couple kettle bells to chained weight belt. The shrugs are done standing at a "shrug machine" that you load with standard barbell plates.)


Dinner: This is pretty close to my standard post-workout meal, except after Friday workouts when I usually splurge with some takeout that fits my macros. Fillet of Alaskan cod topped with lemon and light sour cream, a handful of rotisserie chicken topped with tzatziki, a cup of mashed potatoes, Greek salad (spring mix, cherry tomatoes, feta chunks, tzatziki, some lemon juice and balsamic vinegar), half-cup of brown rice, and for dessert, 1/2C of peanut butter cup ice cream and 3/4C of Drumstick ice cream (both Dreyers Light). I sneaked a scoop of cookies 'n' cream casein mixed in some non-fat milk for protein between dinner and dessert.

Macros (1433cal)
132 CHO (net)
48 F
107 P




Daily Totals: 2112cal, 213 CHO (196 net), 59 F, 178 P


Notes Today

• I felt some honest hunger today! Having been on IF for the last three or so months, I either never experience hunger, or I do so for only a couple minutes, then it goes away. Not today, as I felt a deep-seeded hunger in my belly for almost a half-hour around noon. I chalk it up to yesterday's 700-calorie rest day deficit, possibly compounded by the three or four hours of yard work the same day. I stuck it out, and hours later lunch tasted that much better. Hopefully my system acclimates to the deficit so this doesn't become regular occurrence, though.
• Sleepy as nuts this morning. I woke up without issue yesterday despite the previous day's 3.5 hours of sleep from a late EC dosage. Any sort of sleep deprivation always seems to exact its toll on me 48 hours later instead of 24 hours. I certainly felt it this morning.
• Still slogging through achy muscles and joints as well as phlegmatic mornings from a cold I caught days ago.
• I still love my Carb Master app, but it's a chore to calculate total carbs as opposed to net (i.e. minus fiber) carbs, so the separate meal totals from here on out will only feature net carb sums. The daily totals in blue will show both net and total carbs, though.
• Stoked on 1400cal meals on a cut: IF FTW!

[66jzmstr]

=FOLLOW UP TO THE LAST POST=

I'm beginning to second-guess my calorie totals. The Katch-McArdle Formula for daily maintenance caloric needs found here is supposed to be pretty accurate, especially for leaner individuals. Plugging in even modest starting numbers put my daily maintenance at 2600, not the 2300 I'm currently using. This means my average daily deficit is 700cal or more, not the 500cal or less that I had planned. I'm not going to bump up my calories yet, though. I'll stick it out with my current numbers - 1600cal on rest days, 2100cal on workout days - for two solid weeks and see how it goes. Only if my strength in the gym takes a dive would I bump my calories up sooner, but considering today's workout was all personal bests . . .

For better or worse, I'm even more curious for Friday's weigh-in now.

[Gordon Bombay]

Heavy ass shrugs and those chin-up numbers are impressive man. BTW, I was reading a thread in the losing fat section and someone posted up a link to a scientific study claiming that if you surpass 33 calories/lb of fat deficit you will start going catabolic so keep a close on eye on your diet. Preaching to the choir but hell I thought I knew what I was doing and now I am second guessing how low I need to go.