Pai's AllPros Journal (from Afghanistan!)

[thehobbes]

Re: stretching/foam rolling - sounds like you got a plan, keep at whichever program you choose and you should start feeling a lot better in a month or two. Here are the things I use in case you're looking for more ideas:

Starting Stretching Program:
https://phrakture.github.io/starting-stretching.html

Starting Stretching is very shoulders/hips/core based, so it'll work out a lot of problems in the places people commonly have trouble.

There's a lot of good info on the Flexibility sub-reddit too.

And get this (once you've graduated from the flat foam roller - it'll get boring/too easy quickly srs):
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

"Becoming a Supple Leopard" is the most useful mobility book I've ever read. They explain everything in great detail and give you many ways to fix a problem, very easy to follow too.

And a very quick way to improving your squat form is to sit down in the bottom of the squat position (body wt only) several times a day, work up to a TOTAL of 10min a day even if you have to do it 30 seconds at a time.

The main thing with stretching/rolling I've found is there is an infinite amount of ways to stretch an area. You can use any of those ways that you like, but they will all pretty much do the same thing. There are a lot fewer body parts to work on when you start to realize how many stretches accomplish the same exact thing. Keep it simple, any attempt at stretching something out is better than doing nothing, even if it seems like certain stretches aren't doing anything - they are, give it time.

[Paichka]

Re: stretching/foam rolling - sounds like you got a plan, keep at whichever program you choose and you should start feeling a lot better in a month or two. Here are the things I use in case you're looking for more ideas:

Starting Stretching Program:
https://phrakture.github.io/starting-stretching.html

This is one of the programs I'm using! I'm doing Limber 11 to warm-up, and Starting Stretching to cool down. I'm going to send it to my husband, too, he's so inflexible.

Starting Stretching is very shoulders/hips/core based, so it'll work out a lot of problems in the places people commonly have trouble.

There's a lot of good info on the Flexibility sub-reddit too.

I noticed today that I am deeply inflexible in the back clasp stretch. One side (right arm up) I can hook the fingers of my hands together BARELY by the fingertips...the other side (left arm up) I can barely brush my fingertips together. Obviously, this is an area where I need work LOL.

And get this (once you've graduated from the flat foam roller - it'll get boring/too easy quickly srs):
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Thank you! I will add that to the cart. Awesome suggestion! As of right now, the firm black foam roller at my gym puts me into a world of pain. It's hard to believe that it will EVER be easy.

"Becoming a Supple Leopard" is the most useful mobility book I've ever read. They explain everything in great detail and give you many ways to fix a problem, very easy to follow too.

I ALMOST bought this when I bought my foam roller and lacrosse ball, but I got scared off by some of the reviews that said it wasn't practical for the average user. I'll add it back to the cart for my next amazon order. I love ordering things on amazon, because there is nothing better than getting mail while deployed, even if you sent it to yourself!

Thanks for all the awesome suggestions!

[Paichka]

So, I LOVE yalls' suggestions for stretching. I stretched for a good half hour today at the gym (15 minutes before, 15 minutes after) and it was amazing.

The Workout

Warm-Up with Limber 11 (~15 minutes, maybe longer)

10 minutes on the elliptical @ a good pace
20 minutes of rowing (2:15/500m average, 4450m total)

42 sit-ups
3 x 10 leg lifts to shoulder stand
3 x 45s plank

15 minutes (maybe 20?) of Starting Stretching to cool down

The Food So Far

MIDNIGHT CHOW:
1 cup oatmeal
21g peanut butter
4 egg whites
ketchup

LUNCH:
Paratha bread (j'adore)
4oz chicken
2 cups salad (lettuce, cabbage, carrots, peppers, cucumbers)
1/4 cup red beans
1 packet of FF Italian dressing
2/3rds of a packet of sweet n' sour sauce

SNACK:
1 cup LF milk
1 scoop dymatize protein

DINNER (will be):
2oz tuna
1/2 cup rice
1/4 cup beans

Totals
1450 calories
125gP
150gC
38gF

Anyhoo. Hope yall are having great days!

[Paichka]

Today went well!

The Workout

Day Long: 150 pushups (I forgot to mention that my office does 75 pushups per day for fun -- I missed a day this week, so I'm making up for it by doing 6 sets of 25 scattered throughout the day)

Warm-Up: Limber 11 (~15 minutes)

Squats: 9x45, 9x45, 9x140, 9x140 (very strong)
BOR: 9x45, 9x45, 9x90, 9x90**
Bench: 9x45, 9x45, 9x105, 9x105 (REALLY strong)^^
OHP: 9x65, 8x65~~
RDLs: 9x120, 9x120
Curls: 9x55, 9x55
Leg Press Calf Raise: 9x290, 9x290

Cool-Down: Starting Stretching + more foam rolling (~25 minutes)

**I had to flip-flop BOR and Bench, as all the benches were in use.
^^A friend of mine corrected my form on Monday and advised really working to press my scapulae together--I felt SO much stronger.
~~I have a vision of my future...I'm going to be repeating this weight in Cycle 2.

Food has been okay today. I'm hungry. I'm oh so very hungry. I think a cup of coffee or tea will hold me over the 90 minutes until dinner. Hopefully. I have plenty of room in my macros tonight for pasta, though, so I'm pretty psyched about that.

The Food

MIDNIGHT CHOW:
1.5 cups oatmeal (they brought bigger bowls and I totally overserved myself)
21g peanut butter
4oz chicken breast (I dropped my hardboiled eggs on the floor and felt bad taking more when there's a limited supply, so chicken it was)

SNACK:
Special K Protein Bar

LUNCH:
4oz tuna
2 cups salad
FF Ranch Dressing
1 cup chicken broth

This lunch may be why I'm hungry. It was pretty low calorie, all told.

DINNER (planned):
4oz chicken
1 cup cheese tortellini with marinara sauce

TOTALS (projected):
1460
130gP
148gC
38gF

I AM looking forward to the end of this cut. At my current pace (1.5lbs per week) I should hit 155 by the end of May. I think sub-150 will be a good place to stop and reassess whether I need to switch over to maintenance calories for awhile or continue to cut (honestly, I haven't been sub-150 since college, so I have no idea what that is going to look like on my frame). I may be able to get there by the end of June, though I imagine my rate of loss will start to slow down as I get into the low-150s.

Anyhoo. Hope yall are having a great day!

[thehobbes]

Squat and bench looks like it's going great, keep rampaging it!

I noticed today that I am deeply inflexible in the back clasp stretch. One side (right arm up) I can hook the fingers of my hands together BARELY by the fingertips...the other side (left arm up) I can barely brush my fingertips together. Obviously, this is an area where I need work LOL.

Most people aren't great at that one, and if you're pretty hammy like myself stuff like traps/shoulders/arms just gets in your way lulz. I can't get my fingertips even close to each other, it is a VERY good stretch no matter where you're at on it though.

Thank you! I will add that to the cart. Awesome suggestion! As of right now, the firm black foam roller at my gym puts me into a world of pain. It's hard to believe that it will EVER be easy.

It will, I promise it will.

I ALMOST bought this when I bought my foam roller and lacrosse ball, but I got scared off by some of the reviews that said it wasn't practical for the average user. I'll add it back to the cart for my next amazon order. I love ordering things on amazon, because there is nothing better than getting mail while deployed, even if you sent it to yourself!

Yeah for those lazy people who whine about the boredom of having to read technical stuff. Those people need to stay away from that book and the squat rack, and go watch spongebob while they draw unicorns, srs. That is really cool you guys can order things over there.

[anandagirl]

Yay for stretching and waist shrinkage!!! Glad you discovered an awesome time to work out, and I totally call shenanigans on all the slack that men get to have

[Paichka]

Evening, yall!

So today has been fine -- a good amount of work to keep me busy, and I actually took time to go to the DFAC and eat dinner rather than eat at my desk. It was nice.

Today was a light day, just some light-to-moderate intensity cardio (still low-impact) and stretching. I was only able to do Limber 11, I didn't have time to do the Starting Stretching moves at the gym. I'll try to do them in my room before I go to sleep, if I'm not too wiped. I don't know if it's psychological or what but I'm already looser and less tight in my hamstrings. My knee doesn't hurt while walking, and my back hasn't bothered me at all. So yay!

Weight: 161.2

The Workout

WARM UP: Limber 11

30 minutes on the elliptical (~235 calories by the machine, 3.5 miles @10)

10 sets of 1 rep pull-ups/chin-ups. (I alternated one pull-up with one chin-up)

The Food

Oh, my FOOD SCALE came. SO EXCITED.

MIDNIGHT CHOW
55g Kashi cereal
1 cup LF milk
4 egg whites
1 tbs ketchup

LUNCH:
126g baked fish
129g fried rice
94g steamed broc****
42g carrots
54g cucumbers
25g celery

DINNER:
homemade carrot cake muffin (estimating ~180 cals based on size)
4oz chicken breast
4oz veggie lasagna

SNACK (PWO):
Special K protein bar

Totals
1500
135gP
177gC
42gF

My waist is down a bit more this evening, to 31.9 inches. I can also see some ab definition coming in at the top of my abdomen. Still a long way to go, but I'm liking the progress!

[Tpocalicious]

Late to the party but IN! :^D

[Paichka]

Late to the party but IN! :^D

Welcome!

[Paichka]

I got my new, stim-free preworkout in (HemaV02 Max) along with a smallish thing of Con-Cret. Pretty psyched!

I haven't taken the Con-Cret yet (I want to see how I do on just the HemaV02 Max first before I add the next supplement). The HemaV02 Max tastes AMAZING, though. If they made "Rainbow Sherbet" a Gatorade flavor, they'd never keep it in the stores. SO good. The mixability was also excellent.

That said, I took one scoop before my workout, and I was moderately underwhelmed. I didn't feel the MASSIVE PUMPS or whatever that were advertised. I did feel focused and not as fatigued at the end of my workout, which was nice, but it would've been nice to have that really strong feeling you get from a good PWO. Back in the day, I used to take Ready4War, which I think has been discontinued -- it tasted like straight death in a bottle, but it made me feel like ripping the roof off the gym.

I liked the focus, though, so I'm definitely going to take the full bottle.

Weight: 161.0 (a little disappointing, I was hoping for lower)

The Workout

WARM UP: 15 minutes of Limber 11

Squats -- 125
Bench -- 90
BOR -- 80
OHP -- 55
RDLs -- 120
Curls -- 50
Calf Press -- 80

I also did 5 sets of 1 rep chin up again, and about 15 minutes of abs (shoulder stands, planks, weighted sit ups).

COOL DOWN: Starting Stretching and Moar Foam Rolling

So don't get me wrong, the weights today felt REALLY easy -- that could have been the HemaV02 Max talking. I think the poor supplement had an uphill battle to fight today anyway -- I trained fasted because I forgot to eat my snack before I went and I didn't get much sleep last night. I've felt pretty dehydrated all day, so I'm aiming for 1.5 gallons of water. It's starting to get kind of hot outside.

The Food

MIDNIGHT CHOW:
55g Kashi Dark Chocolate Karma
1 cup LF milk
4 egg whites
1 tbs ketchup

LUNCH
4.3oz tuna
55g whole wheat tortilla
~4oz lettuce/carrots/cucumbers
1 packet honey mustard dressing

SNACK
4 pieces of candied pineapple (20g)
1 York mini

So between the wrap, the cereal, and the sugary snacks, I'm at 147g of carbs for today. Whoops. I have 60g of protein to make up and ~20g of fat (if not slightly more, I'm only at 18g so far today). I need a good dinner idea. I think they have steak at the DFAC tonight -- we may be looking at steak and...I don't know...broc**** or something just to meet my macros.

[adriannec]

Late to the party here too, and catching up! Disclaimer: I'm all about the food and trying new things. I came to a screeching halt with paratha bread and began furiously googling. Now on my Must Try List.

https://www.finedininglovers.com/rec...aratha-recipe/

[Paichka]

Late to the party here too, and catching up! Disclaimer: I'm all about the food and trying new things. I came to a screeching halt with paratha bread and began furiously googling. Now on my Must Try List.

Welcome! I'm glad you stopped by. Paratha bread is SO FLIPPIN GOOD. The little sign at the DFAC says it's 180 calories for two pieces, and they give you one piece, but I'm firmly convinced that sign is a blatant falsehood. It tastes waaaay too good and has waaaay too much butter/ghee on it to be 90 calories for the size piece they give you. The way they do it at the DFAC here, it comes out sort of like a crepe -- about that thin, with toasty bits from the grill. It's almost translucent, and is just this wonderfully crispy chewy buttery delicious thing that I am 100% going to learn how to make when I get home. HANDS DOWN it is the best part of my week.

I highly recommend it, is I guess the basic gist.

[Paichka]

Ah yes, I forgot to update -- so the DFAC didn't have steak. They had PIZZA. I did not get the pizza. I sighed and looked longingly at the pizza, but I have macros to stick to, so oh well. Maybe tomorrow.

I ended going with 6oz of barbecue chicken breasts, a pile of steamed cauliflower with a little marinara on it, and a half-cup of cucumber slices. I'm going to eat my last packet of peanut butter here in a minute, which will round up my fats that were crazy low today for some reason.

DINNER
6oz baked chicken
1.5 cups steamed cauliflower
1/4 cup marinara
21g peanut butter

I'll be over my protein totals for the day, but who cares. My fats will hit somewhere around 32g, protein around 130g, and carbs in the 160-170g range. I'm starting to second guess my macro ranges -- my fats are just SO much lower than we typically recommend on this board. According to the 0.4g/lb minimum, I should be eating DOUBLE my current intake (~64g). I asked my coach (who is a dietician) about that and her response was that I've been responding well to this diet so far (which is true) and I'm not losing weight crazy fast, I'm still having success in the gym, etc, so she's keeping me where I am in terms of intake. I'm getting close to the end of this cut, and this IS why I'm paying her...ugh, I dunno. I'm reluctant to mess with something that seems to be working, but I also don't want to cause problems for myself down the road.

Anyway. Hope everyone is doing well!

[anandagirl]

HemaV02 Max - sounds delicious and if the weights all felt easy despite training fasted, sounds like a win to me!

Sorry there was no steak Way to adjust!

[Paichka]

It IS delicious! The true test will be tomorrow, when I try for my heavy weights at 10 reps. Proof will be in the pudding about my cut, too -- if it's too deep, I may fail on the 10 reps. Or I may not. We'll see. WHO KNOWS WHAT WILL HAPPEN.

[Paichka]

Hello friends!

So anyhoos, I did some cardio yesterday, and today is a rest day. Fairly standard and boring. I did 40 minutes on the stair stepper just to give my knee more of a challenge without actually running -- it felt fine. I'm going to try an actual run (short duration, maybe 2 miles) on Tuesday to see how it does. If I make it through that run with no pain, I'll do two runs the following week, and three runs after that, and so on. We'll just have to ramp up the mileage slowly -- I think I jumped into it too quickly last time. I have plenty of time to train -- the marathon isn't until January and I don't count the Tough Mudder as that's really more of an interval thing anyway. You run a bit, then do some batchit cray obstacle, then you run some more, etc. I'm still looking for a half marathon to round out my fall season, but again, plenty of time to train. I have to make sure I'm smart about this!

Saturday's Weight: 160.0

Saturday's Workout

WARM UP: Limber 11

40 minutes on the stepper

No cool down because I ran out of time. Must do a better job planning!

Saturday's Food

MIDNIGHT CHOW:
55g kasha chocolate karma cereal
1 cup LF milk
2 whole hardboiled eggs
2 egg whites
ketchup

LUNCH:
3.3oz chicken
1 cup cauliflower
110g cornbread stuffing
Salad
FF Italian dressing

DINNER:
3.3oz chicken
50g cheese tortellini

Ugh, this was terrible. I had planned all day for pizza, and there was no pizza. #firstworldproblems Then the broc**** was COMPLETELY overcooked and mushy and I just can't with that. So dinner was dire. Can't really complain because there are starving people all over the world and really, the fact that I have hot chow in Afghanistan is a minor logistical miracle, but still. I'm thankful for the food. Not so thankful for how it tasted last night.

SNACK:
Special K Protein Bar
2 York mini peppermint patties
1 mini Cadbury crème egg

Totals
~1460
120-ish P
170-ish C
30-ish F

I logged this in MFP and forgot to write it down before I came to work, so you just get my guesstimates. You'll have to take my word for it that I met my targets.

Sunday's Weight: 160.0 (no change)

Today is a rest day, but I'll be walking around a fair bit because I'm doing laundry and I may go visiting a different office which will require some additional walking. I try to have ice cream or something on Sundays as my relaxed meal, but I'm not really feeling it right now. We'll see if something strikes my fancy at the DFAC today, but I'm feeling very meh about my food options.



(if only)

Hope yall are having a great day.

[anandagirl]

It IS delicious! The true test will be tomorrow, when I try for my heavy weights at 10 reps. Proof will be in the pudding about my cut, too -- if it's too deep, I may fail on the 10 reps. Or I may not. We'll see. WHO KNOWS WHAT WILL HAPPEN.

THE SUSPENSE!

Ugh, this was terrible. I had planned all day for pizza, and there was no pizza. #firstworldproblems Then the broc**** was COMPLETELY overcooked and mushy and I just can't with that. So dinner was dire. Can't really complain because there are starving people all over the world and really, the fact that I have hot chow in Afghanistan is a minor logistical miracle, but still. I'm thankful for the food. Not so thankful for how it tasted last night.

Way to go on the cut and I'm glad the knee is feeling better! That sucks though that you have no idea what they are making for dinner. It's a shame they can't put out a schedule like they did for hot lunches at school. You know, Monday is Meatloaf, Friday is Pizza Day, the best day of the week!

[Paichka]

THE SUSPENSE!

Way to go on the cut and I'm glad the knee is feeling better! That sucks though that you have no idea what they are making for dinner. It's a shame they can't put out a schedule like they did for hot lunches at school. You know, Monday is Meatloaf, Friday is Pizza Day, the best day of the week!

That's the worst part! They DO have a schedule. Friday is steak night, Saturday is pizza night, Monday is Chinese, Tuesday is Indian, etc. They just didn't have the pizza I was expecting! That's okay, though, there's always this week.

[Paichka]

I felt the cut today. I'm definitely going to have to increase my pre-workout to 1.5 or 2 scoops to see if that makes an impact, as I took it again today and didn't notice a difference. It still tastes great, though. The weights felt good on my first set, but definitely tough on the second set -- I have the strength, but with the deficit, not much gas in the tank. That's okay, though, I knew what I was in for. It just confirms my notion that I need to cut down to the low 150s and then bulk so I can build some additional muscle.

What I DON'T know is actually how far down to cut. I haven't stalled yet -- in fact, if anything, my weight loss has sped up -- so I don't know if I cut down as far as I can go until I stall and THEN rebuild, or if I pick a weight (say 152) and then bulk back to 160 before cutting again. It's possible I could cut into the 140s before I stall, which would give me more room to play with. This will be the first time that I do an actual bulk (I'm not going to say I'm a chronic under-eater, but I am a chronic eat-100-cals-below-your-maintenance eater), so I want to make sure I have a good plan in place that I can stick to. I also need to make sure I stay well below my Army table weight -- bulking can be hazardous when the Army literally measures my butt twice a year.

Anyhoo, just random thoughts on this Monday afternoon.

Weight: 159.2 this morning. My starting weight last Monday was 161.8, which means I lost 2.6 lbs this week. I'd like to see where my weight stabilizes before I freak out, because I was super dehydrated when I woke up this morning, and I didn't eat midnight chow last night before I went to bed. My stomach was emptier than it usually is, so it's possible that played into the new low.

Just because I like numbers, my average weight the last week of April was 163.2, and my average weight last week was 160.8. So a 2.4 lbs difference, which indicates that the weight loss was NOT a fluke and I DO need to up my calories.

Based on MFP, my average calories last week were 1516, with 36P, 175gC, 126gP. The cool thing here is that my TDEE is higher than anticipated based on my rate of weight loss, probably somewhere around 2500-2600. Given how sedentary I am during the day (aside from the walk to and from chow and to and from my hooch), that's kind of fun. I'm thinking another package of peanut butter per day would be just what the doctor ordered -- that would add 12gF and a little protein. I'll talk to my dietician/coach about it today.

The Workout

WARM-UP: Limber 11

Squats: 10x45, 10x45, 2x135, 10x155, 10x155**
Bench: 10x45, 10x45, 10x115, 10x115^^
BOR: 10x45, 10x45, 10x100, 10x100 (felt strong)
OHP: 10x70, 9x70 (failed on the last rep)
SLDL: 10x135, 10x135~~
Curls: 10x60, 10x60
Calf Press: 10x100, 10x100

**Squats felt fine, but I have a sneaking suspicion I wasn't going low enough. On Wednesday, I'm going to put a low box under my butt and make sure I feel my shorts hit the box each rep.
^^My last rep was UGLY.
~~I used the thick bar like a doofus, so my grip failed on the second set. Note to self, use the normal sized bars next go-round. The weight was fine though.

The Food (So Far)

BREAKFAST:
Egg white omelette with turkey, cheese, and vegetables
1 cup melon
69g whole wheat bread

LUNCH:
4oz tuna
1 packet full-fat honey mustard dressing
2 cups salad (lettuce, carrots, cabbage, cucumbers, peppers)

SNACK:
2 York minis
0.25cup Crunch n' Munch


I'll be back later to update! If anyone has any thoughts on my cutting situation (like, how far down to go), I'd love to hear them!

[anandagirl]

That's the worst part! They DO have a schedule. Friday is steak night, Saturday is pizza night, Monday is Chinese, Tuesday is Indian, etc. They just didn't have the pizza I was expecting! That's okay, though, there's always this week.

So they screwed you on steak Friday as well!

As far as weight loss goes, I'm pretty much just jealous. I know some of my jealousness is frustration, but I would be stoked to be losing 2+ pounds a week! How tall are you and what's the top end of your army table weight?

[Cardioconvert]

In but late to the party!

Awesome job on the cut so far - very impressed. I giggled out loud at your comment re: overcooked broc**** as that really would have tipped me over the edge too (my MIL makes a special brownish green variety which I am convinced has been bled of any nutritional value).

Keep up the great work and I agree on not freaking until loss stabilizes

CC

[thehobbes]

You're killing it on the weight loss! You gotta figure out what's best for you as far as the cut wt. If you are around my height 5'6" I'd think going into the mid 140s would be fine. I have done that before when I was more starting out with lifting and it was not too hard to cut to at that height. If you only have a 10-15lb difference between where you start to cut and where you start to bulk that can drive you crazy because of how water weight can throw you off pretty quick. A 5lb difference in water weight can happen really easily in a day from a minor change.

1516 cals a day is really freaking low, don't be afraid to up it a bit if you get to the point where you're rage-hungry. Ah and I see you mentioned adding some pb to close that gap, awesome, eat and prosper.

[Paichka]

So they screwed you on steak Friday as well!

As far as weight loss goes, I'm pretty much just jealous. I know some of my jealousness is frustration, but I would be stoked to be losing 2+ pounds a week! How tall are you and what's the top end of your army table weight?

I'm really excited to be losing weight -- especially since I am now in what I consider my "normal" range, which I haven't seen in at least three years, maybe if I'm honest with myself as long as eight (since before kids, anyway). The rate sort of makes me go "hmm" because I DON'T want to lose muscle...but it's hard because I DO want to lose fat, and the faster I get where I'm going, the faster I'm done with this cut. (And from reading your journal, I know you've got a plan, so I know some of that frustration is going to bleed away here shortly.)

I'm 5'8.5, so my upper end table weight is 174. I'm well below that now, which is awesome, but I'd like to stay well below that even while bulking.

I'd say I am in the neighborhood of "lean-ish". I have a defined waists and you can see the faint outlines of my upper two abs, as well as the outlines of some of my ribs. You can also see my hip bones (but not scarily so). I have a little quad definition near my knee, but otherwise no muscle separation, and I have loose skin/fat around my belly button. I'm guessing probably in the 22-24% body fat range, just based on pictures I've seen on the internet, so I have a little ways to go.

In but late to the party!

Awesome job on the cut so far - very impressed. I giggled out loud at your comment re: overcooked broc**** as that really would have tipped me over the edge too (my MIL makes a special brownish green variety which I am convinced has been bled of any nutritional value).

Keep up the great work and I agree on not freaking until loss stabilizes

Haha thanks! Overcooked broc**** is the WORST. Honestly, this is the first time in my life I've made this kind of progress so quickly, and it makes me nervous. Sometimes I think we underestimate the psychological factors that may cause us to avoid losing weight -- or at least, I do. I don't know if I SHOULD be concerned about losing weight this quickly, or if this is perfectly fine and my inner fat chick just wants me to eat cupcakes. (tongue in cheek here, slightly)

You're killing it on the weight loss! You gotta figure out what's best for you as far as the cut wt. If you are around my height 5'6" I'd think going into the mid 140s would be fine. I have done that before when I was more starting out with lifting and it was not too hard to cut to at that height. If you only have a 10-15lb difference between where you start to cut and where you start to bulk that can drive you crazy because of how water weight can throw you off pretty quick. A 5lb difference in water weight can happen really easily in a day from a minor change.

1516 cals a day is really freaking low, don't be afraid to up it a bit if you get to the point where you're rage-hungry. Ah and I see you mentioned adding some pb to close that gap, awesome, eat and prosper.

I'm 5'8". I don't think I've seen the 140s since puberty -- do you think I could get there before I start to bulk? You have a point about the water weight. I could aim for the mid-140s instead of the low 150s, that's only a few additional weeks.

Maybe the BEST course of action for me is to cut until I stall, or until the mid-140s, whichever comes first. Ugh, who knows.

IT'S PARATHA BREAD DAY. I'm off to eat some carbs!

[Partyrocking]

You could hit the 140s before bulking, but you may want to end your cut at 150.

It sounds weird but you can actually get too lean before bulking. Everyone has some range of body fat where they are their strongest and feel their best. For men, this is usually somewhere between 12-17% and for women it's higher, around 18-24%.

When you get leaner than that, your body starts to fight back. Leptin levels drop. You get weaker (due to muscle loss and fatigue) and will likely get an urge to binge eat. This is why competitive bodybuilders diet down for their shows instead of staying stage lean (or close to it) all year round.

Given your numbers now, my guess is you'll be around 18% body fat at 150lbs, and IMO it's not worth it to get leaner than that if you don't have a competition/photo shoot, etc. You're body's just going to rebound and put on fat as soon as you start bulking anyway, so you may as well stop right before the cut gets really sucky.

[Paichka]

You could hit the 140s before bulking, but you may want to end your cut at 150.

It sounds weird but you can actually get too lean before bulking. Everyone has some range of body fat where they are their strongest and feel their best. For men, this is usually somewhere between 12-17% and for women it's higher, around 18-24%.

When you get leaner than that, your body starts to fight back. Leptin levels drop. You get weaker (due to muscle loss and fatigue) and will likely get an urge to binge eat. This is why competitive bodybuilders diet down for their shows instead of staying stage lean (or close to it) all year round.

Given your numbers now, my guess is you'll be around 18% body fat at 150lbs, and IMO it's not worth it to get leaner than that if you don't have a competition/photo shoot, etc. You're body's just going to rebound and put on fat as soon as you start bulking anyway, so you may as well stop right before the cut gets really sucky.

This is really helpful, thank you. I don't think I have the muscle mass to carry a lower body fat range without looking stringy, though eventually I'd like to get there, and I don't have any reason to cut lower than 18%. I'd like to post pictures to get an honest assessment of my body fat levels, as I may be underestimating mine (using a tape measure a couple of weeks back I came it at 26, but visually I THINK I look leaner, and in any case my waist measurement has gone down since then) -- I think I look like I'm 24% on the high end, but that could just be wishful thinking.

Unfortunately I had a bad experience posting pictures on the forums, so I probably won't do that again. (Some Soldiers in my unit found them and were passing them around -- they were just pictures of me in a bikini, but it became a whole THING.) My post at home has a bodypod or a dexa scanner in our health facility, so I may make an appointment for that when I'm home, though that's a few months away. In the meantime, I guess I stick with the measuring tape. :-p

I'll just keep an eye on my progress, how I'm feeling, and all of that to decide when this cut will end. It'll probably be a moving target!

[Paichka]

I realized I forgot to update this with my cardio workout from yesterday!

So I haven't run in a week, and I decided to try it out SLOW-W-W-LY yesterday as part of my larger workout.

Weight: 158.4, so moving right along.

The Workout

WARM-UP: ~8 minutes of foam rolling

1 mile run @ 6mph

This felt fine. My knee twinged a little, but overall it was okay. I'll try for two miles next time, see how that goes. I think the foam rolling and stretching is helping.

20 minute upright bike -- hills. I peddled hard on the hills and relaxed between them, so this ended up being an interval workout. Felt solid, without destroying me.

Then I practiced chin-ups, and I got two in a row on two sets! Whoo hoo, moving on up. I did six sets of 1 or 2 (sometimes 2!!), with 10 pushups between each set.

Then some abs. Kind of boring, but necessary.

COOL DOWN: Limber 11 and Starting Stretching

The Food

Honestly, who knows. I met my macros (~130gP, 170gC, 40gF, or so) but I can't remember what I had for lunch. Probably chicken? Ugh. I should've written it down. I logged it in MFP but I can't remember what I logged.

Today is medium weights day. Also, we're going out for lunch to a local Afghan restaurant, so that should be interesting. (It's here on base, I'm not going into town) I'm sure they have kabobs. Everyone loves kabobs.

Back later to update!

[thehobbes]

I'm 5'8.5, so my upper end table weight is 174. I'm well below that now, which is awesome, but I'd like to stay well below that even while bulking.

I didn't realize you were that tall! Yeah I agree maybe stop at 150 or barely get into the 140s. You should be able to look pretty jacked at 160 ultimately though. I'm surprised they only give you up to 174 for your height. I understand somebody at 174 who doesn't lift is going to look way different than someone at 174 who powerlifts, do they take muscle into account? Or do they really not want people running around with huge muscles because it isn't as useful for what they need people to do?

[anandagirl]

I'm really excited to be losing weight -- especially since I am now in what I consider my "normal" range, which I haven't seen in at least three years, maybe if I'm honest with myself as long as eight (since before kids, anyway). The rate sort of makes me go "hmm" because I DON'T want to lose muscle...but it's hard because I DO want to lose fat, and the faster I get where I'm going, the faster I'm done with this cut. (And from reading your journal, I know you've got a plan, so I know some of that frustration is going to bleed away here shortly.)

Having a plan doesn't mean the plan will work or that frustration will dissipate BUT I am super excited for you!

[Paichka]

I haven't been so great with the logging the past couple of days! I got a little busy, but I kept up with my workouts.

Weight: 158.4, 158.4, 157.4

The Workouts

WEDS:

15 minutes of Limber 11
Squats
Bench
BOR
OHP
RDL
Curls
Calf Raises

Medium weights for 10 reps. This wasn't as bad as I was expecting. I used two scoops of my preworkout, which STILL didn't lead to pumps, but I do think I felt more focused. I'll try a different PWO next time, but I like this one okay.

THURS:

40 minutes of cardio (25 minutes on the bike, 15 on the stepper)

I also did chin-ups here for 5 sets, and I actually banged out two sets of 3! In a row! From a dead hang! I even did two pull-ups in a row before my arms and back were like, nah. If I could do multiple sets of five from a dead hang, that would be baller.

FRI:

Same as Weds, with light weights and 10 reps. Squats felt a little weak -- my form was on point, but my legs were definitely tired. I'm looking forward to my rest days. Everything else felt great -- bench was super easy at this weight (90) and same with OHP (55).

The Food

I ate slightly higher in calories for the last two days -- 1600-1700, with ~130gP, 180gC, and 40gF. I felt great in the gym today, so hopefully this will pay off. I'll be interested to see where my weight goes tomorrow, given that today is pizza day at the DFAC.

Hope everyone is well!

[Paichka]

I didn't realize you were that tall! Yeah I agree maybe stop at 150 or barely get into the 140s. You should be able to look pretty jacked at 160 ultimately though. I'm surprised they only give you up to 174 for your height. I understand somebody at 174 who doesn't lift is going to look way different than someone at 174 who powerlifts, do they take muscle into account? Or do they really not want people running around with huge muscles because it isn't as useful for what they need people to do?

No, they sure don't take muscle into account. It's a bummer.

Ugh I just noticed that a mod deleted my signature. F-ing amazing, esp. since I was tracking my weight for the April/May Fat Loss Challenge. What a pain.

Having a plan doesn't mean the plan will work or that frustration will dissipate BUT I am super excited for you!

Haha thanks! I have faith in your plan.