Every journey begins with a single step.

[ImAVelociraptor]

Day 25: Thursday, Nov.22, 2012

So much for doing well this week and lifting today. Was looking really lean this morning then Thanksgiving came along. Hopefully I make any progress by Sunday, might drop to 1000cal and add a bunch of cardio. I really want to end my first 4 weeks with amazing progress pics and this set back sucks. Should've prepared better, now I need to try and compensate.


FUQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQ QQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQ

[ImAVelociraptor]

Day 26: Friday, Nov.13, 2012

WEIGHT: 149.5lbs

DIET-
Calories:1010
Protein:141g

Protein bars and shakes all day today. So tough to make macros with such low calories. Running low on protein and even preworkout, was really disappointed with the Black Friday sales. Thankfully I bought a 4lb tub of Pronom 23 (vanilla). Stats are a bit worse than the ON whey I currently have, and I don't know how the price compares, but I doubt I'm going to be disappointed in any way with this stuff. Pretty much everything I've read said it's amazing. Really looking forward to that. Looking for recommendations on preworkouts too, I have C4, which I've enjoyed, but am looking to expand my very limited experience of preworkouts. C4 is good but I'd like something more potent, with a bit more focus and energy. Was thinking about 1mr, but I'll have to see what Cyber Monday has for deals. Also will probably stick to 1000cals for the rest of the week, just so I'm as lean as possible Sunday. Shouldn't be too bad, I felt fine today thanks to IF. I'm only up to 149.5lbs, and that was after eating breakfast, so I guess I didn't do as much damage as I thought on Thanksgiving.

WORKOUT-
Squat: 65x8, 99x5, 99x5, 99x5.
Bent Row: 65x5, 81x5, 81x5, 81x5.
Shoulder Press: 42x5, 42x5, 42x5.
Barbell Curl: 42x5, 42x3.

Workout was alright. Parents had company over so I decided to avoid them and stay in the basement, worked out for about 2 hours. Squats felt a bit better, still working on those. I'll have to look into like that pelvis tilt thing, cause I think I have it. Bent rows, although much simpler than squats, are giving me trouble. It's such a basic movement but I can't help but feel I'm not doing it right. I just don't feel my upper back pulling the weight or flexing that much with each rep. If I go really slow with practice reps I can feel it better, but when I'm actually doing it I get nothing. Those are pretty simple though, so they shouldn't be too tough to fix. Shoulder press. Shoulder press. Shoulder press. These bother me so much. There's so many different ways to do them, and on top of that I can't seem to get any of them right. Plus, since I workout in my basement as I mentioned, the ceiling is too low to do them well. I know how sitting shoulder presses are not as good, so I did kneeling shoulder presses lol. Not sure if that's any better than sitting, or significantly worse than standing. If anyone has any info on that I'd appreciate it. Finished the workout with two good sets of curls, feels really good after a meh workout.

Tomorrow I'm actually doing to get off my azz and improve myself. I haven't done any cardio or mobility... Going to try to do some of that. Also will probably do a really light workout with the lifts I need to improve (allofthemlol) and try to get form down. I always say I'm going to improve down, and I note what I need to change, but if I try it during an actual workout I usually take too long. So yeah I figure I'll get all that shizz down tomorrow so that next week I can lift SUPER DUPER HARDDDDDD.

Feeling alright. Looking forward to Sunday.

[ImAVelociraptor]

Day 27: Saturday, Nov.24, 2012

WEIGHT: 148.5lbs

DIET-
Calories:~1100
Protein:141g

Down to 148.5ish. Not too bad. Almost down 10lbs from the start. More protein shakes/bars today to finish off week 4.

Terrible news: And I can't fuggen wait for it to get here.

Bad news: Out of ON Whey.

Meh news: Bought a 4lb tub of protein, double what I had of ON.

Amazing news: I bought Pronom 23 (vanilla)<3. Also, refer to terrible news.

WORKOUT-

Did about 45min of really light lifting to work on form. Was meh.


Feeling pretty good now, pretty excited to see how I look tomorrow morning. Can't believe it's been a whole month.

[RugbyColt]

sup, just been looking at your thread, nice progress!

I lost 3 stone in 3 months last year at 1500kcal per day and no cardio, loved it. Felt healthier than i ever have in my life and fit into jeans i hadnt fit into in years. however since my final weigh in due to moving area and family problems i have let myself go, putting on about a stone.

Ill follow you in this journey ! good progress as ive stated!

[ImAVelociraptor]

sup, just been looking at your thread, nice progress!

I lost 3 stone in 3 months last year at 1500kcal per day and no cardio, loved it. Felt healthier than i ever have in my life and fit into jeans i hadnt fit into in years. however since my final weigh in due to moving area and family problems i have let myself go, putting on about a stone.

Ill follow you in this journey ! good progress as ive stated!

Thanks man, appreciate it. I'm loving 1500cal too, seems to be just enough to make decent progress. Don't ever really feel hungry, and I can fit pretty much anything I want into my macros/cals. Still can't wait to bulk though lol.

[ImAVelociraptor]

Day 28: Sunday, Nov.25, 2012

WEIGHT: 146.5lbs

DIET-
Calories:~1500
Protein:70g lol

Fourth week is coming to a close, first month of cutting is down. Made some pretty good progress I think, excited to see where I am by next year! Had a bit of a cheat day, despite all my recent mishaps. I ate at 1500cal, +/- 100cal, but ate whatever I wanted and didn;t worry about macros too much. I'm out of whey, yogurt, chicken, eggs, and pretty much everything else that's good for protein. Need to go shopping for sure. I could've eaten like 8 cans of tuna, but I decided I'd rather reload on carbs and stuff to start the new month. Going as hard as I can as of tomorrow. Also will be buying some new supplements tomorrow morning for cyber monday, hoping for some good deals. Cant wait for my Pronom 23 to get here too lol. Saw that iForce will be back in bb.com shop soon, also saw that they have a red velvet cupcake protein. Do wanttttttttt. Hopefully that's true and I'm lucky enough that they put it up in the store lol.

WORKOUT-
Nada.

Sunday is rest day, and with my low protein I just played CoD all day as to not exert myself lol.



Here are my progress pics for the first month.
Start Pics(Oct.29):





Week 4 Pics(Nov.25):

[ImAVelociraptor]

Day 29: Monday, Nov.26, 2012

WEIGHT: 146.5lbs

DIET-
Calories:820
Protein:74g

8:10PM and still like 1000cal/100g protein to go... Couldn't do it, feeling like crap. Pretty shiitty start to week 5/month 2, but hopefully that just means it'll never get worse from here. Tomorrow is a new day.


WORKOUT-
Squat: 65x5, 103x5, 103x5, 103x5.
Deadlift: 65x5, 115x3.
Bench Press: 65x5, 115x5, 115x5.

I hate being bad at lifting. Haven't had a proper workout since like week 1, feel like I'm half-assing it... Squats felt alright, very motivated. Form was meh. Going to maintain 103lbs for Wednesday. After squats I felt realllly exhausted for some reason. Got to deadlifts and was, well, dead lol... Maybe it's just a Monday. I still hate deadlifts too. Going to drop to 65x5 until further notice. I need to get the form down. I always say that, but I never execute it. I just hate not being able to lift heavy, but the last thing I need is to fuq up my back or something while on a cut, and then not be able to bulk properly... Now is the time to learn the very fundamentals, such as form, while losing fat. Then when bulky time comes I'll qq about my weakness and focus on weight increase. Until then FORM. I'd like to build what muscle I can and make what gains I can now, but it's not worth getting worked up and even discouraged about that I can't lift heavy at this point. Blahhhh.


Urgent Update: Terrible news, just got out of live chat at the help desk and there was some critical error... I ordered my Vanilla Pronom 23 Friday when it was at low stock, thought I was getting lucky for once and would be able to order it.... Apparently it was actually on backorder..... Won't be in stock for 7-10 days + the shipping time, so I won't be receiving it for about 2 weeks.... Verrrrrrryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy y disappoint.... Major setback, hopefully I can get over it lol. Bought some Craze and Syntha 6 protein though this morning, which appear to have been listed accurately and should be here in a few days. Still so sad though.

[ImAVelociraptor]

Day 30: Tuesday, Nov.27, 2012

WEIGHT: 145lbs

DIET-
Calories:1340
Protein:150g

Protein and Craze will be here tomorrow hopefully. Meh.



WORKOUT-
Meh form stuff meh.

Been on SS for a full month and I've just been spinning my wheels. Going to keep doing it, but probably with really light weight and only for form. Not expecting to make gains in a deficit anyway, and as you can see from the pics I don't think I have that much lbm to lose. Not entirely sold on the whole catabolic thing when cutting. It's only for another month or so, and I really want to be lean enough to bulk by January.

[ImAVelociraptor]

So I only have about 2 servings worth of C4 left, but luckily my Craze and Syntha 6 got here today. Again bb.com awesome with shipping time.

Product Review Time
bb.com Shaker Cup:
Got a free bb.com shaker cup with my order, and although it was free I was a bit anxious considering the reviews I'd seen about it. The one I got had a broken cap kind of, like a little piece of the tab thing was chipped off. Still worked amazingly though. Mixes reallllllly well and didn't leak. Really couldn't ask for more in a shaker, pretty happy with that free addition.

BSN Syntha 6(Chocolate Milkshake):
I used the shaker cup to make a protein shake. 47g of Syntha 6 and 2 cups of 2% milk. First thing I noticed was obviously the container. It's transparent red plastic with a shiny label, and looks cool as hell lol. Also noticed 5lbs is A LOT of protein. Hard to believe I'll single handly be consuming that whole tub lol. Anyway, after I removed the cap I could smell it - even through that protective seal thing. Smells awesome, knew it was going to be good. Profile is a bit worse than ON whey, but I've gotta say the chocolate taste is significantly better. Taste better than pretty much every chocolate milk I've ever had, and had a good consistency despite being mixed in a lot of milk. Will mix with water next time. Also might try to make some other recipes than protein shakes with it, that could be interesting.

DS Craze(Berry Lemonade):
Alright, first time using Craze was kinda mehhhhhh. Do not like the taste at all, tastes like grapefruit. Pretty bitter. Though taste isn't that big a deal with preworkout, I mostly care about protein taste if anything. Didn't feel all that much. Didn't get tingles, does Craze have beta alanine?? I'll have to check the profile lol. Energy and focus were average. Pumps were pretty good, not as good as C4 though I'd say.

In Craze's defense I only took a 3/4 scoop, whereas I'd been taking 1.5-3 scoops of C4. Plus I wasn't really paying too much attention to the effects as they were happening. I think I'll take a scoop tomorrow morning to wake me up for school and really observe how I feel. I did that with C4 and was really able to note how it affected me; 1st period gets boring and I tend to look at the clock a lot so i know how it feels 5/10/15/20/30min after I take it lol. Not so good for my math, but good for my understanding of how the preworkout. I also took Craze on a semi-full stomach, as I took that protein shake like an hour before.




URGENT UPDATE: Also my Pronom 23 is finally on it's way. Really excited for that now. I'll have 9lbs of protein lol, going to try to conserve it for when I'm bulking.

[ImAVelociraptor]

Day 31: Wednesday, Nov.28, 2012

WEIGHT: 146lbs

DIET-
Calories:800
Protein:67g

Bad.

WORKOUT-
Form work.

[ImAVelociraptor]

Day 32: Thursday, Nov.29, 2012

WEIGHT: 146lbs

DIET-
Calories:~1000
Protein:71g

Bad. Overhauling my diet tomorrow. Surprisingly it's not bingeing/over eating/hunger that's a problem... It's not eat enough cals/protein. Going to start eating breakfast probably and increase the size of my lunch, so that way I'm not at 800cal left in the evening. Protein dense foods are not very calorie dense, so getting my 130-150g of protein requires I eat A LOT. Don't know how I'm going to bulk lol....

WORKOUT-
Going to start doing core work on off days.

Need to fix my treadmill so I can add a bit of cardio. Also doing direct core work as I think it's limiting my lifts a bit.



Terrible week so far. At least I'm losing weight though....

[ImAVelociraptor]

Day 33: Friday, Dec.1, 2012

WEIGHT: 146lbs

DIET-
Calories:1000
Protein:70g

Meh.

WORKOUT-
Light lifting.


Meh.

[ImAVelociraptor]

Day 34: Saturday, Dec.2, 2012

WEIGHT: ~145lbs

DIET-
Calories:~1500
Protein:67g

Ate more than I should've today I think. Awful diet this week, at least I'm fuqing up my macros and not really my calories. Still losing weight. Doesn't seem to be that much though, no visible change this week. I'm guessing I'll be 145.75lbs tomorrow. Feeling really meh about this week, need to apply myself next week. I really wanna be ready to bulk by January, but I think I'll probably have to go all the way until February...

WORKOUT-
Off.

Really sore today.


Was ~145 this morning but I think I'll be going up by tomorrow morning. Hopefully progress pics look better than I'm expecting. Still in a rut, hoping to get back into things next week. Pronom got here which is a good start, stuff is amazing. Need some cool recipes I can make with protein for it.

[ImAVelociraptor]

Day 35: Sunday, Dec.3, 2012

WEIGHT: 144.5lbs

DIET-
Calories:~1500
Protein:85g

Meh still losing weight. Feeling hungry a lot lately. Also tried making a Pronom cupcake. Turned out gross lol.

WORKOUT-
Really light lifting for form. Finished my calories by 6PM and needed to occupy myself. Plus lifting helped me sleep lol.

Finished my calories by 6PM and needed to occupy myself. Plus lifting helps me sleep lol. Still really sore, especially my abs. Can't cough or sneeze because it hurts lol.



Here are this weeks pics:




Actually pretty please with this week, the pics at least. Wasn't expecting the pics to look very good and REALLY wasn't expecting to be down to 144.5lbs. Think this week turned out right. Going to try to take what I failed in this week and improve it next week.

[ImAVelociraptor]

Day 36: Monday, Dec.4, 2012

WEIGHT: ~145lbs

DIET-
Calories:1230
Protein:137g

Did pretty well on diet today. Back in it.

WORKOUT-
Lifted moderately

Had a good workout for the first time in awhile. Got a massive boost from Craze. Motivation and focus were way up, and energy was pretty solid too. It's really different from C4, like a "cleaner" energy. I hesitate to say cleaner because C4 is by no means like dirty energy, but you can definitely feel the difference in stims.


Feeling better today, looking forward to tomorrow. Going to make this an awesome week.

[ImAVelociraptor]

Day 37: Tuesday, Dec.4, 2012

WEIGHT: ~145lbs

DIET-
Calories:1200
Protein:146g

Need to start eating more during the day, can't handle eating 1000+ cals at 8PM lol.

WORKOUT-
Lifted moderately

Awesome workout. Big pumps. Things looking up finally.


Feeling goooood about this week, can't wait to see how I look Sunday. Also noticed a bit of fat loss facially, pretty cool stuff.

[gregorymcm]

The fat is most definetly coming off, and the muscle definition is prominent! Keep at it bro. Good things come to those who wait.

[ImAVelociraptor]

The fat is most definetly coming off, and the muscle definition is prominent! Keep at it bro. Good things come to those who wait.

Thanks man, appreciate it. Pretty much the only thing that motivates me in the morning to get up is seeing how I look before I shower lol. It's really encouraging to see the difference each week. On a day to day basis I feel like I'm not going anywhere, and I think that's one of the most frustrating/demotivating things about losing fat. But when I can actually see myself compared to how I was 7 days before it always reminds me that I am actually moving forward. And yeah, the waiting is definitely the hardest thing. The thought that I still have a month or two left to cut is pretty daunting, yet when I think about it I'm already over a month in and it feels like it's only been a week.

[ImAVelociraptor]

Day 38: Wednesday, Dec.5, 2012

WEIGHT: 144.5lbs

DIET-
Calories:640
Protein:22g

Feeling like chit, no appetite whatsoever.

WORKOUT-
Rested.

Was feeling really sore today and kinda sick. Did squats and then I had to stop. Hoping I feel better tomorrow. I also might switch to a bicep/chest/bicep split. loljk, probs a push/pull/legs split. SS is awesome, and I'm sure I'll catch some flak for even suggesting I'd do otherwise as a beginner, but I'm getting tired of it and I don't trust myself to do deadlifts at home. Need to switch it up I think.


Mentally feeling good, physically not so much. Looking forward to Sunday. When I look at last weeks progress pic I feel like I'm no different, or even worse, than how I was in it. It's strange though every Sunday I seem to improve a bit anyway. Strong psychological aspect of cutting. Hoping to be down to 143ish by the end of the week.

[pizzarrhea]

Keep it up man you got this and feel better!

[ImAVelociraptor]

Keep it up man you got this and feel better!

Thanks dude, I'm trying lol.

[ImAVelociraptor]

Day 39: Thursday, Dec.6, 2012

WEIGHT: ~144.5lbs

DIET-
Calories:~1500
Protein:~100g

Sick and sore as hell, phone was dead all day so I didn't count. I don't think I went over maintenance though. Mehhhhh.

WORKOUT-
Rested.

Absurdly sore. Couldn't cough, sneeze, or breathe deeply without pain in some part of my body. Sucked.



Bad day, just want it to be Sunday so I can figure out where I am.

[ImAVelociraptor]

Day 40: Friday, Dec.7, 2012

Sick.

[ImAVelociraptor]

Day 41: Saturday, Dec.8, 2012

Sick.

[ImAVelociraptor]

Day 41: Friday, Dec.9, 2012

Haven't updated for a few days because I've been pretty sick. I almost never get sick and when I do it's not usually bad, but now that I'm cutting of course I start dieing. Felt like ****t around like Thursday, and it really only went downhill from there. Thought I had mono or something but I went to the doctor and tested negative. My white blood cell count was pretty low which evidently indicates I had some type of virus. Got some antibiotics and am now feeling much better. Soreness finally faded and I think if I get a lot of sleep tonight I'll be back to normal by tomorrow.

Really pissed though because I constantly felt tired, hungry/thirsty, and weak so I ate maintenance if not significantly more each day. Didn't bother tracking it. Looking fat and bloated, and probably up to around 147ish. So no progress pics. Really, really disheartening and frustrating. My goal time is June and I can't afford setbacks like this on a cut. Thankful it was only a few days of illness and not like a major injury that set me back, but nonetheless it blows to be behind. I probably should've at least tried eating less and healthier. Week 7 is going to be my week, no more excuses. Diet and workouts WILL be absolutely on par. Probably going to have to cut until February but I'm going to make it.

[ImAVelociraptor]

Day 42: Monday, Dec.10, 2012

WEIGHT: 152lbs

DIET-
Calories:~1500
Protein:~100g

Fudged up my diet a bit. Had left over orange chicken from the weekend and I HAD to eat it or I know it would've screwed me up in the future. I only ate that, some grilled chicken, and yogurt today so although I don't know my calories exactly, I don't think I could've gone over 1500. Had to sacrifice a bit of protein but it's worth it to get that temptation out of my refrigerator.

WORKOUT-
Lifted.

Might move to that push/pull/legs split. I really can't deadlift safely at home and I feel like that's such a massive part of SS. Also feel like some of my muscle groups are inhibiting my big lifts, like I know for sure my bench suffers because I have weak arms. We'll see. Almost didn't lift today due to a migraine (long day, didn't get nearly as much sleep as I wanted), but I decided to push through it lol. Me: 1, Failures While Cutting: ~25.


So we're "fitness" testing in gym at school. They take body weight with a digital scale... I'm up to 152... So sad. I think a lot of it was water weight/food from the weekend though. I'll weight in in the mornings when I can and see if I even out. Hoping not to be actually over 145lbs fat wise.

Also since I mention my gym class I now find it hilarious how absurd it is. I knew it was kind of dumb before, obviously it's high school gym, but still lol. Now that I'm somewhat educated about fitness because of bb.com I actually realize truly how ridiculous it is. I genuinely believe I could teach the class better the teachers. I'm probably just being arrogant though. Still, I don't know where the teachers get certified, even some of the sports coaches so are dumb. My teacher was telling us the importance of measureing heart rate to find your "fat burning zone" when doing cardio, to maximize your fat burning and boost your metabolism. Because cardio is how you lose weight. And teaching literally quarter-rep squats because if you go too deep it will wreck your knees, and you'll never walk again. They constantly bitchh and moan about me not wanting to run and thus I will not achieve my fitness goals, yet they don't say a single word about nutrition/macros/caloric intake. All these kids wonder why they're not going anywhere even though they're running 3 miles a day, adhere to the sacred principles of FITT, and do half rep squats/bench press/abs 3 times a week. Kind of frustrating to understand now how much time I'm wasting there, now that I'm no longer so ignorant.

Now that I'm started I'll also mention I lol every morning during 1st period. A group of girls I sit with is always talking about how they went to "workout out" or running last night, and yet they're still fat. I find it hilarious though because almost every day they come in with a breakfast something from Mcdonalds, or a massive starbucks ice coffee, which is likely double the calories they could've expended running. Calories in vs calories out is such a simple concept, I can't believe how oblivious people are. Even I too was ignorant not that long ago, though. It's just so simple and the info is readily available. Another kid in that class brings a massive lunch box and a ton of food every day so that he can eat every two hours, because you need to eat 5-7 small meals a day to lose weight/gain muscle. The joys of high school lol.

[ImAVelociraptor]

Day 43: Tuesday, Dec.11, 2012

WEIGHT: 147.5lbs

DIET-
Calories:1050
Protein:~100g

Want to get back down to 143 so I'm going low cals.

WORKOUT-
I even lift.

Lifted lightly, looked around at some push/pull/leg splits. I like.

[ImAVelociraptor]

Day 44: Wednesday, Dec.12, 2012

WEIGHT: 146lbs

DIET-
Calories:~1000
Protein:~100g

Low cals for the week. Slowly but surely getting back down to where I was. Really anxious for progress pics this week, I still look fat as fuark...

WORKOUT-
Rest.

My sleep is broken, I've gotten like 8 hours between the last 2 days. I'm just not tired at night, I can relax and lay in bed for HOURS but I just won't go under. Dreading tonight now kinda... I'm hoping I solved the problem though. I think I was taking too much Craze and at bad times. Yesterday I lifted from 5-6PM, which is like 3-4 hours before I go to bed and I took 2.3333333 scoops of Craze. I'm guessing it's that, because I did the same thing the night before too. If it's not though I'm screwed. I barely made it through today.


Going to try meditating and getting a ****t ton of sleep tonight. I need it so badly. Oh and also I have strep throat. Like wtf. I just got over whatever I had last week and now this happens. Idk if it's exactly strep or what, but I've had strep A LOT in the past and know how it feels. Last night I started feeling soreness on the right side of my throat a bit, and all through the night I could feel it spreading and getting worse. By the time this morning rolled around it was pretty bad. Fortunately though it doesn't inhibit my ability to lift, and it makes cutting easier because it hurts to eat lol. So yeah, not too worried. And yeah I think I'm gonna go on a stim break maybe for a few weeks, then drop my dosage of Craze. I know even 2 scoops is A LOT for the product. Not sure how to lift without pre workout, and really gonna miss the pumps, but sleep>lifting.

[ImAVelociraptor]

Day 45: Thursday, Dec.13, 2012

WEIGHT: 146lbs

DIET-
Calories:~2500
Protein:~140g

Fuqd up, what am doing with my lifeeeeeeee.

WORKOUT-
Rest.


Meh.

[ImAVelociraptor]

Day 46: Friday, Dec.14, 2012

WEIGHT: 146lbs

DIET-
Calories:~2600
Protein:~140g

Fuqd up, what am doing with my lifeeeeeeee.

WORKOUT-
Rest.


Meh.