My PSMF experience was as such:
The plan was 1k cals, 200g protein, only trace carbs and fat, one refeed after two strict weeks, and a refeed once every week from then on. My routine was wake up, drink two cups of strong coffee, a bunch of water, lift heavy weight/low reps at low intensity with a shake about two hours after. Strength went up after every refeed and didn't go down throughout the week, but I was definitely gassed trying to complete the workouts.
The first week was absolute hell. I was ravenously hungry and I tore through an entire pot of 1lb 1% fat ground turkey and 1/4 head of cabbage stew a day and STILL felt hungry.
The second week I could barely stomach anymore egg whites, chicken breasts, and ground turkey and lethargy was getting intense. I began having extreme difficulty getting my 200g of protein and 1k cals. At the end of the second week I saw nothing in the way of results, in fact I looked worse than when I started. I was flabbier and softer with zero definition. That Saturday my family came to visit and I took them out to have Sushi and I ate a TREMENDOUS amount of sushi, hibachi, and everyone's leftovers. I felt extremely sleepy, like I was going to pass out in the parking lot as I was leaving the place from all the carbs. When I got home that night I drank and four bottles of beer and ate a massive kebab before bed. I went to bed feeling horrible about myself. When I woke up the next morning my skin looked thinner and my muscles fuller, veins were beginning to show, and my motivation was rekindled.
On the third week I was literally getting physically ill trying to stomach the lf/lc/hp foods and I began supplementing my meals with protein shakes to make them smaller. That Saturday I had another massive carb-filled cheat meal and woke up even leaner on Sunday.
Against the advice of a LOT of people, on my 4th week I began simply drinking nothing BUT protein shakes throughout the day supplemented with potassium (LoSalt) and Orange Triad+Greens vitamin mix. I anticipated this making me very hungry because everyone said it would, but it actually never happened. My energy began to go up and I looked leaner every single day. After my refeeds I would whoosh a MASSIVE amount of waterweight from my fat and the visual difference was absolutely stunning. I did this for two weeks with a refeed every Saturday. My energy levels began to take a nosedive, but the fat was just FALLING off and I didn't want to stop. Finally at the end of that 5th week I binged out BIG TIME for three solid days and ended up leaner than I've ever been.
These are my results over those five weeks:
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Results 1 to 30 of 54
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08-06-2015, 10:30 PM #1
- Join Date: Jan 2011
- Location: Houston, Texas, United States
- Age: 34
- Posts: 40
- Rep Power: 0
My cutting results on PSMF with photos.
Last edited by Mahk; 08-07-2015 at 06:48 AM. Reason: Photos
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08-07-2015, 02:22 AM #2
- Join Date: Jul 2014
- Location: North Carolina, United States
- Age: 33
- Posts: 398
- Rep Power: 292
Way to stick with it! Nice work man!
I just did my 2nd refeed in my low carb diet. Seeing my muscles fill out again with all that glycogen and watching the fat slip away is a great feeling. With all that protein and the same old foods, I FEEL YOUR PAIN!
Way to go man!Evil doers beware... You face: THE TICK!
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08-07-2015, 04:29 AM #3
Thank you for making a thread on this. I myself is doing PSMF right now. I have a few questions if you could answer them.
My current weight is around 216 (6th day on PSMF). My questions are:
1. I am on 1200-1300 kcals, is it too much?
2. i am targeting atleast 250 grams of protein, is it too much again?
3. When you were on the diet what happened to your vascularity? I think low water and carbs will certainly decrease vascularity.My PSMF log: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=168884103
Weight loss so far on PSMF (RFL)
07/09/2015: 232 lbs
Week 1: 223.0 (-09.0)
Week 2: 217.0 (-15.0)
Week 3: 215.3 (-16.7)
Week 4: 222.6 (-09.4)
05/10/2015: 217.7 (-14.3)
06/10/2015: 213.5 (-18.5)
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08-07-2015, 06:30 AM #4
- Join Date: Jan 2011
- Location: Houston, Texas, United States
- Age: 34
- Posts: 40
- Rep Power: 0
1. Personally I stuck between 900-1100, and that is with an EXTREMELY active job that involves walking up and down stairs and moving heavy equipment twelve hours a day. I can't really say if it's too much for you, but I knew that if 1000 was too little I would feel better having to go back up than I would having to go back down. I kept this number throughout the course of my experiment.
2. I didn't lose any muscle at all while doing 200g of protein and sometimes even down to 180g. I think the 1g/pound protocol is perfect for me when it comes to preservation of muscle mass and protein synthesis.
3. Vascularity certainly decreased toward the end of every week as I became more and more carbohydrate depleted. My muscles would gain a softer flatter look and my veins were largely unnoticeable except in my forearms. However, during refeed days I could literally watch my veins filling up like water hoses and feel my blood pressure rising in a good way. It was unlike anything I had ever seen. I told a friend who was curious about my weight loss (everyone noticed and lots of people asked because it was happening so quickly) about it and he thought I was exaggerating, so I wore a t-shirt to dinner and showed him and he was shocked. During the last two weeks I began taking Hemavol in the morning and it would keep me very vascular all day long. On the Hemavol I would have veins poppping out in places I didn't even know I had them, carbed up or not. Upper chest, lower stomach, on top of my shoulders. It was freakish to me because I had never experienced it personally in years of training.
Screenshot_2015-03-12-05-32-59~2 (2).jpg
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08-07-2015, 09:50 AM #5My PSMF log: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=168884103
Weight loss so far on PSMF (RFL)
07/09/2015: 232 lbs
Week 1: 223.0 (-09.0)
Week 2: 217.0 (-15.0)
Week 3: 215.3 (-16.7)
Week 4: 222.6 (-09.4)
05/10/2015: 217.7 (-14.3)
06/10/2015: 213.5 (-18.5)
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09-23-2015, 06:50 AM #6
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09-23-2015, 07:47 AM #7
FUARRRRK!!! Looking good bro! I'm tryna' get shred but got the last few pounds of fat to lose, which is the hardest.
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09-23-2015, 07:48 AM #8
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09-23-2015, 03:59 PM #9
I'm jealous how u had the will power to have 12hour shifts and eat 1000 cals. Also it looks like you kept all the muscle right?
I am curious on the training you did. I too am cutting and on a PPL split and strength is maintaining.
On days when you felt weak did you keep the same weight rep&sets?
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09-26-2015, 11:50 AM #10
- Join Date: Apr 2013
- Location: Colorado, United States
- Age: 43
- Posts: 416
- Rep Power: 448
nice job OP - update?
down but not out
starting again means starting, again
................never give up.................
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09-28-2015, 10:35 PM #11
That pump in pic 5 makes me want to try PSMF immediately. Thanks for sharing bro!
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04-04-2016, 04:56 PM #12
- Join Date: Jan 2011
- Location: Houston, Texas, United States
- Age: 34
- Posts: 40
- Rep Power: 0
Ribs, corn bread, cabbage, fried shrimp, steaks, sushi, okra, kebabs, pizza, mashed potatoes, beer, pecan pie, ice cream. As much as I want. I'm serious.
It was hard. Some days I felt like I was climbing Mt. Everest just trying to go up the stairs, but the days when I felt like that at the end of the week were the ones where I saw the HUGE changes after a refeed. I actually went up in strength during the course of the cut which everyone told me I wouldn't do. My training was basically three exercises per muscle group, 3x5reps per each exercise, two muscle groups per day. I didn't do "chest monday" or anything like that. If I worked out shoulders on Tuesday and on Thursday they weren't sore, I hit them again. I just listened to my body and if it wasn't hurting, it got worked. I pushed for around 90% max for working sets. On the days I felt weak I simply went to failure, but I never decreased the weight.
Edit: One other note, don't run or do any high intensity cardio. I would recommend speed walking or an elliptical if anything. I have heard that HIT will mess you up on this diet, and based on my experience I believe it.Last edited by Mahk; 04-04-2016 at 05:08 PM.
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04-04-2016, 05:22 PM #13
Nice Job!
I'm currently doing PSMF and my bf % is a bit high, do you think I need to do refeeds or no?
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04-04-2016, 05:31 PM #14
so just so I understand this correctly this diet basically means you only eat your protein requirements and nothing more? then once a week you eat whatever you want?
I'm just expressing what I've experienced.
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04-04-2016, 05:47 PM #15
- Join Date: Jan 2011
- Location: Houston, Texas, United States
- Age: 34
- Posts: 40
- Rep Power: 0
My first two weeks were strict PSMF with no refeeds, then a refeed once a week from then on.
From what I've seen most people who practice "true" PSMF still count calories and macros on cheat days to keep from going overboard. When I did it I discovered that I could eat literally whatever I wanted and as much of it as I wanted once a week and actually benefit from it instead of being hurt by it. I didn't see any fat gain during any of my refeeds and the psychological edge it gave me was worth any progress it may have stalled, if any.
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04-04-2016, 06:02 PM #16
most people should be able to reach their protein by 1000 or less and most people tend to cut on 2000 so hypothetically you could be restricting 6000 calories a week then binge to about 4500 - 5800 (not eating at a buffet, not smoking weed, most people wake up late on Saturdays which gives you less time to eat)
so it's possible you just made up a weeks worth of calories in one day which could be equal to cutting in a normal deficit
might try this when I'm single digitsI'm just expressing what I've experienced.
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Facebook/Vy Singh
Instagram/Vy.Singh
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04-04-2016, 06:24 PM #17
- Join Date: Jan 2011
- Location: Houston, Texas, United States
- Age: 34
- Posts: 40
- Rep Power: 0
I don't think my body just stored all those cheat meals. The key isn't in the caloric deficit alone unlike traditional diets, it's in the glycogen depletion coupled with severe caloric restriction. A calorie = a calorie is a lie. Timing and the type of calorie matters a lot. I've done plenty of conventional dieting on even sub-2000 calories with no cheating at all for months on end and never have I ever gotten results as dramatic as I did with PSMF.
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04-04-2016, 08:02 PM #18
On day 25 here. Lyle's RFL recommends that if you're cat 2, you either do a few hundred under maintenance or 500-1000 over for refeeds. Try to get 2x your weight in carbs and you're golden (while keeping fat under 50g and sugar under 50g). The most I've gained after a refeed is 0.2 lbs.
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04-04-2016, 08:13 PM #19
Anyone know where I can get the book for free?
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04-04-2016, 08:18 PM #20
OMG. I read the book just because I wanted to take an "aggressive" two week cut, which for me is 1200 with a refeed. Obviously in no way the PSMF. I felt like death last week. I don't know how you did this for 5 weeks.
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04-04-2016, 08:21 PM #21
Did you take the EC stack?
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04-04-2016, 08:33 PM #22
- Join Date: Jan 2011
- Location: Houston, Texas, United States
- Age: 34
- Posts: 40
- Rep Power: 0
Not telling you not to read it, but I didn't. I just saw what some people were doing and said "Nah, I'm not doing that." I can't weigh meals and count calories. When I was eating real food on PSMF I ate the same three meals that I already knew the macros of over and over. Yeah, it gets old, but it's the only way I knew I would succeed. My first "cheat day" was honestly me giving up on the diet the day after I finished week two, but after I saw myself in the morning after that cheat day I thought "Hmm, maybe I'll try it another week".
Activity, activity, activity. I never let myself sit around idle. If I did I began obsessing over my hunger and the food I could easily have if I just walked down the street. When I stayed busy I didn't have time to sit around and think about how hungry I was. I've never been one to eat before any type of strenuous activity, so having a day full of activity kept me from feeling sorry for myself. On top of that, if I did think about food I wanted, it was always in terms of "Oh man, those tacos are going to taste so good after I finish up three more days of this." That's why I say that having unrestricted cheat days also gave me a mental edge. The first two weeks were terrible because it was like "Is this even going to work, or am I just torturing myself?" but once I woke up looking like a different person after a cheat day, I was hooked.
Edit: I did take the EC stack for one week, but stopped because it didn't really do anything for me but make me feel extremely hot. I ended up just drinking lots and lots of coffee.
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04-04-2016, 08:55 PM #23
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04-04-2016, 09:18 PM #24
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04-04-2016, 09:31 PM #25
- Join Date: Jan 2011
- Location: Houston, Texas, United States
- Age: 34
- Posts: 40
- Rep Power: 0
This. Once your body adjusts and the fog clears from your head you'll feel sharp and quick. Under normal (not working) circumstances I could actually feel the difference in how light I felt walking and moving around compared to just a few weeks prior. My pullups quadrupled. Does it suck? Yeah, of course. Is it worth it? That depends on what's important to you. It took a lot of willpower, especially for me. I LOVE cooking good food and I LOVE eating out and booze. Regardless, to me it was still worth it. The entire experience made me a lot more mentally tough I think, and to me that's as valuable if not more valuable than the physical transformation.
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04-04-2016, 09:35 PM #26
Last question before I start tomorrow. What supplements I need to take and can I take my protein which has carbs. It's like 130 cals, 30g of protein, and 4g carbs.
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04-04-2016, 09:45 PM #27
- Join Date: Jan 2011
- Location: Houston, Texas, United States
- Age: 34
- Posts: 40
- Rep Power: 0
Avoid carbs entirely. I used ON Whey isolate for this purpose. I took Orange Triad + Greens (powdered, not pills) and continue to take it because I know I don't eat as much vegetables as I should and I definitely didn't while on PSMF. If you are doing prolonged periods of PSMF without a refeed some recommend supplementing with potassium (No Salt, or some other low-sodium salt substitute) to maintain the functionality of your muscles. I started off using it, but after thinking about it I realized that there was no way I was going to run myself into hypokalemia with as much stuff as I ate on my cheat days, so I quit using it. It tastes like ashes. Hemavol helped give me great pumps even when I was completely depleted.
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04-04-2016, 09:47 PM #28
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04-04-2016, 09:53 PM #29
Almost forgot some. The amount of protein I take is per LBM or my weight? I don't know if I should be take 130g of protein or 177g of protein.
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04-04-2016, 09:56 PM #30
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