The chronicles of Luke the Rotund.

[lukepeter]

No scientifically verifiable number at this point. I got on one of those silly body comp scales and came out at 32%, which was probably reasonable at the time(about a month ago) gut feel relative to my strength puts me at around 30 percent still( a lean mass of 85kg - which is reasonable since I have had an actual mass of 85 kg before, very lean, but about 60% as strong as I am now at that point)

[PeteDenmark]

No scientifically verifiable number at this point. I got on one of those silly body comp scales and came out at 32%, which was probably reasonable at the time(about a month ago) gut feel relative to my strength puts me at around 30 percent still( a lean mass of 85kg - which is reasonable since I have had an actual mass of 85 kg before, very lean, but about 60% as strong as I am now at that point)

So - around 100 kg you should have a BF% of 13-15. 16 weeks, and you are there .

[TanColourHoodie]

keep up the hard work . i skimmed tru n looked at your photos. ur making a difference so keep it up. i wish i took b4 photos but i will go take photos now

[RDW101]

Hey Luke

Good to some other locals on the forum.

Your work is inspiring & you results are brilliant man.

I will be following

[lukepeter]

Thanks RDW, strength for your journey.

__________________________________

A more satisfying weigh day today - 117.7kg - down 1.8kg from last week (so the weight gain must have been predominantly water, thank goodness).

Strength has been good, minimal progression when compared to last week, but I am still happy with the weights I am shifting. I am getting significantly stiff again after each workout - a fact I attribute to Peters high rep set per exercise - so I know I am oing good work even if the weight is not climbing at a significant rate.

A note on my mood - I have been angry for the last few days with no real trigger, just a spectacularly short fuse when I am usually an exceedingly patient individual... I really have to try hard to keep a lid on it at home as my family do not deserve to be witness to pointless temper tantrums better suited to a 5 year old than to a grown man... I usually tease my wife about being a member of the more emotionally compromised sex, its... humbling... to have my emotions jump around like an excitable kid on a Pogo stick, I always thought I was better than that. It turns out I am just a sack of meat and hormones at the mercy of the phases of the moon after all

[Denfete]

So awesome! 7.7 kg left and your sub 110 - can you believe it?!

[lukepeter]

So awesome! 7.7 kg left and your sub 110 - can you believe it?!

Its believable What I often struggle to believe is that I let myself get to 145kg in the first place - its indicative of the worst kind of apathy, and the negligence that allowed me to get that far from acceptable will be a source of shame and motivation for many years I imagine.

__________________________________________________ __________________

I am looking at pull-ups as a performance metric for my back day now - 10 again today so no progress week on week, but other lifts showed some slight improvement and the mind muscle connection was great, especially during the higher volume sets.

The missus made pasta for dinner last night, so I had to trade some protein macros for carbs - I love pasta, more than is probably reasonable, but I managed to eat exactly the correct amount as per my daily plan without even going for seconds. That may seem like a small thing to most of you, but pasta is to me what kryptonite is to superman, it was a triumph of personal willpower that was ultimately rewarded with an additional 0.4kg lost

Just keep lifting fellow swolemates (yes, I said it).

[lukepeter]

Weekly macros:
Summary Protein Carbs Fat Calories
Sunday 168.1 152.9 78.2 1987.6
Monday 281.0 86.8 106.8 2432.8
Tuesday 254.2 120.6 52.2 1969.1
Wednesday 193.1 162.7 74.8 2096.5
Thursday 223.2 84.4 65.4 1818.4
Friday 169.9 215.9 59.2 2075.8
Saturday 238.9 139.2 60.0 2052.4

Average 218.3 137.5 70.9 2061.8

It has been a much better week w.r.t. adherence - I have been eating more carbs and slightly less fat as a result of conforming to home cooked meals in order to not get divorced It seems like a happy medium, one that I think I will be able to maintain.
My wife took the kids shopping with my mother in law today, leaving me to my own devices. I spent it doing manly stuff - Shooting, reloading ammunition for more shooting, and eating a meal consisting of just steak, 600g - it was indescribably delicious - there is something about flame seared and well salted beef that resonates with me, it was a pleasant addition to the harsh overtones of spent nitrocellulose

Another week gone by - I am one workout short of complete - it always seems shoulders and abs is the sacrificial lamb, but I will make it up tomorrow - even if it effects mondays chest session.

Yet another week of raising and lowering heavy things looms ahead - Enthusiasm for this form of exercise waned months ago, but motivation to improve myself remains, along with the habit of strapping on my gym shoes and waking up before the sun to go to the temple of pain.

Discipline fellow pilgrims

[lukepeter]

Right, since I know that the most I will get in return for this information at home is "Hm?, thats nice love... Just make sure you are not getting too big..."I will share this with those of you that have had the patience to stick with me through this journey.

My chest day went like this:

20 pushups
127x1
137x1
147x1
152x1 - spotter jumped in too early
152x1 - spotter kept his damn hands to himself

Thats where the interesting stuff stops and the normal boring routine continued... But that is a lifetime PR for me, 152kg slowly down, pause, slowly up - zero assistance. Its the first time I have tested my 1RM since I was a lad of 16 undergoing rugby fitness tests, but I know I couldn't push 100kg for more than 3 when I started in July last year. Anyone that says you cannot build muscle whilst on a deficit may show themselves out I am a pretty happy chap, huge rush of dopamine after that lift.

Happy lifting all.

[Imp81318]

That's great to hear! Congrats on the PR!

[RDW101]

Nice one on the PR man!!

[JSim83]

You are one strong dude, congrats!

That 3x100kg is pretty close to what I'm capable lifting right now, so I guess I'm just going to follow your lead and lift 1x152kg in eight months from now... (...not gonna happen!)

[lukepeter]

You are one strong dude, congrats!

That 3x100kg is pretty close to what I'm capable lifting right now, so I guess I'm just going to follow your lead and lift 1x152kg in eight months from now... (...not gonna happen!)

Honestly - considering how little training you have done 3x100 is pretty decent - If you have a goal in mind (150kg bench for example) there is no reason why you wouldn't be able to attain that, dedicated, focussed effort is the key (I may have lucked out genetically, specifically on bench press, my other lifts are pretty lame in comparison)

Edit - thanks for the encouragement guys!

[PeteDenmark]

That is an insane amount of weight - very impressive.

So i guess this concludes the bellyaching about not progressing in the gym? .

[lukepeter]

That is an insane amount of weight - very impressive.

So i guess this concludes the bellyaching about not progressing in the gym? .

We will chalk it up to three weeks of high volume sets

[Cubs68]

We will chalk it up to three weeks of high volume sets

Congrats on the new PR! Hoping I'll catch up in the next few months!

[lukepeter]

So. An update in the life of Luke the slightly less rotund....

After his victory yesterday, the intrepid hero is feeling emboldened - even cocky. It seems that despite the many lessons he has learned along this journey, there are still more lessons to be found, today's lessons were pride and humility...

Having had some success yesterday with the bench press I went into my leg day without aspirations of further feats of strength, I had just planned to get it done and go home to rest. After an acceptable, if somewhat unambitious, four sets of squats I sauntered up to my usual spot on the mats for my deadlift set. I loaded up my usual 117kg and prepared to lift, but there were a pair of 20kg plates that were calling out like sirens to adrift sailors... I put them on and decided, "why not see how things go?" 157kg lifted relatively comfortably - rush of dopamine, heart says **** YEAH, brain says hang on a minute there... Heart wins out in the end - another two 10kg plates make there way onto the bar, seemingly by themselves, what kind of sorcery is this my head asks? SHHHH say my heart, erm...? says my lower back.

And we now come to the humility segment of our heroes education... 177kg did not go well. legs locked out before torso was beyond 60 degrees, some rounding of the lower back, just messy and unnecessary - I failed big time. Thankfully the damage seems minimal - I went on to do my usual three sets of 117kg and a lighter set to finish without excessive pain, but it is often the case that we wear today's mistakes tomorrow - I will see how I feel in the morning. If I stop posting from here on out it is because my wife finally killed me with "I told you so's "

[lukepeter]

Forgive me father for I have sinned, it has been 4 weeks since my last progress photo...

Week 30(120.6kg) - week 34(116.5kg)

An acceptable loss for the time period.





week 30 to 34.jpg

[PeteDenmark]

Man - i know that during a deficit diet, you have to find something that motivates you to go on, since it's just an unnatural thing, to not eat enough. But you have such a short time to go, compared to how long you been lugging around all those extra kg's, before you reach your goal weight. By that time you can give your body the optimal nutrition and cals, so it is able to keep itself in an anabolic state. THAT is the time for HEAVY PR's .

If you really feel like testing out your strength, do it on equipment that supports you, or where the failure will never come from a joint. It's hard to hurt yourself doing face pulls, shrugs, lat pulldown or weighted pull up for example. But when close to failure in bench, elbows flare out, while the shoulders are of the bench, so no support. In squats, knees turn inward, and upper body leans forward. Deadlift, upper back rounds, glutes give out, and the lower back has to hold down the fort. It just all leads to snap city.

I love being strong as much as the next guy, and weights are such a convenient way to compare yourself to others. But nobody cares, at least not for very long. So ultimately we do it for ourselves - we try to be the best "us" we can be.
Powerlifters take copious amounts of PED's, and exorbitant amount of food, to be the strongest the can be - dead, bench and squat - those 3 numbers are their metric for excellence. But are they healthy?

We are trying to lose fat, and when we have to lose fat, we lift weights. We don't lose fat from being great listeners, awesome photographers or skilled knife makers. So we try to be ok weight lifters. It's a skill that is forced upon us. So we look for inspiration in people that are truly immersed in the sport, and emulate their goals.

But man - i think we both find this weight lifting business pretty tedious. It's not like i've ever trained for an hour, and felt a little sad is was over. I have never during a set of bicep curls thought to myself: " this is soooo much fun, i'm afraid i won't be able to stop".

From what i understand, you have no aspirations of becoming af bodybuilder, powerlifter or crossfitter. You just want to look decent, be pretty strong, and be in ok shape, so you can do alright in open water swimming etc. Well Luke - congrats - you are there. Sure you have some bodyfat, but even if you benched 70 kg, deadlifted 50 kg, and did bodyweight squats, you wouldn't lose any gains, during the last stint of your diet, if your macros where right. Regular people that do the insane 800 cal PSMF and don't train very much, experience very little muscle atrophy, so you are seriously in the clear, and i'm pretty sure you could kick most of the other dad's asses, so in the "my dad is stronger than your dad" thing, you are also fine .
I get the feeling that when it comes to the weights, you feel like a lot of people do when it comes to their calories. They feel as though the 1000 cals they ate over maintenance yesterday, made them gain 2 kg's of fat today. Conversely - if you miss a training session, or haven't been able to progress for a while, it must be because you are losing gains and overall strength. You KNOW that is not the case. Consider how long you didn't lift, and how short a time it took to get ok strong again.

You are chasing numbers, that are not particularly healthy for your joints - not even the ones you can do with proper form. That just seems counter productive. You've said it yourself: Before you chased a low bodyfat percentage, and did insane amounts of cardio, and crashed. Now you are lifting heavy, but you have no real reason or goal, other than because and more.

Your 1 rep max, or 10 rep weights are not your weakest points. So if you want to chase fitness goals, and you are bored with your training, take a break from the weights, and do some bodyweight movements. You won't lose gains. Your CNS might not be as primed when you do the next weight lifting session, but that will return in 2 weeks.

What is your goal with this weight loss thing? What is the reason? Do you see 4 times training a week fitting into your life forever? Would you rather have a 48 cm bicep or a 44 cm bicep and great knife making skills? What are your real life goals? What is the long term? You don't have to answer any of these, if you don't want to. As long as you know the answers.

For me the plan has always been to reduce my pain, so i can talk a long walk in Rome with my wife, swim a couple of km's in my lake, and make things. If i look good in a t-shirt, that would be cool as well. I try to keep my goals in my mind, and check myself (and especially my ego) when i begin to do stuff, that takes me of that "path".

I realize that what i'm writing can be perceived as overly familiar, and entitled, considering i don't really know you, so i hope you can receive it in the spirit it was intended: As support.

[PeteDenmark]

Forgive me father for I have sinned, it has been 4 weeks since my last progress photo...

Week 30(120.6kg) - week 34(116.5kg)

An acceptable loss for the time period.





Attachment 8593861

Amazing progress - your arms look swole, and your upper ab area has been reduced significantly - impressive. A little disappointed you didn't give us a pose, but i guess you are chicken. That's ok - no shame in being shy .

[lukepeter]

Pete, and I mean this very genuinely, you consistently lay a lot of down to earth wisdom on me - to be honest - it makes me feel like an egotistical kid, and I welcome that reality check with open arms

You are pretty much spot on with your diagnosis above, my strength goals are arbitrary, my lifting somewhat directionless - my only consistent driver is simply more, and less (more weight on the bar, less bodyfat). I think I adopt that mentality partially out of laziness since those are both easy things to measure and are more or less aligned with my murky goal of being fitter, stronger, improving my ability to engage in physical activity, and more aesthetic.

In my line of work, when a derelict plant is taken over the directive is pretty much "make this place work better", the scope of that change is huge and it makes it very much more traceable to start with small measurable goals that align in the big picture with the overall directive. It is somewhat natural that I would take a similar tack in dealing with my personal deficiencies.

My life is very constrained with respect to hobby time - be it shooting, time at the forge or grinder, reading, guitar playing, sports, training, study, motor biking (the list goes on and on, I have a stupid amount of passionate interests). I find that I just dont have time to do all the things I want to. Gyming slots into my schedule far more easily than any of the other things as a result of the proximity to my workplace - Yes, I do see myself training 4 times a week (for an average of 3 total hours a week) until I cant anymore - not because I derive particular enjoyment from the process, but because I get satisfaction from the results, it fits into my life with minimal compromise, and it is a positive habit.

The weight loss was triggered by a recognition of apathy in myself, I realized that I got so out of shape because I had stopped caring about the shape I was in - it was effecting my play time with my son, my ability to enjoy sports like squash and waterpolo, even my ability to do manly things around the house (so much is just more difficult when you are so tremendously fat). More than anything, the breakdown of discipline was monumentally offensive to me, and the recognition that I represented a ball(literally and figuratively) of wasted potential. I want the ability to basically do anything that I am reasonably required to without significant physical re-conditioning. My season spent on the rugby field two years ago resulted in significant injuries as a result of poor physical condition - I dont ever want to experience that kind of physical inadequacy again.

My bicep size is mostly a non issue (aside from our previous discussion about my strength being an integral part of my identity), there are plenty situations in life when appearing less than you are is advantageous - so I will never pursue purely aesthetic goals (for similar reasons I cant fathom why a fashion industry even exists), so no, I would not sacrifice reasonable skill development in exchange for an additional 4cm on my biceps.

My life goals distill very simply:

Be a good husband and father - a functional family unit with well raised and educated kids.
Work for myself by the age of 35, doing something that makes use of my skills in an area that is of interest to me.
Excel at the hobbies that I have maintained consistent interest in over the last 5 years.
Retire comfortably by the age of 50 - with a body that does not restrict me physically from doing the things I love (read: have the space, freedom and resources to build and make whatever I want)

I still struggle with my ego, I recognize that it is vanity and serves about as much purpose as a logo printed on an otherwise unremarkable cotton shirt, but it is very difficult to cleave the need to be better at stuff than my fellow man, and the derivation of pride from succeeding in that endeavor, from my psyche. Hopefully I grow out of it, and into enlightenment, but I am doubtful... I enjoy competition too much.

I have never shied away from personal questions here before - no reason to start now Feel free to hit me with your wisdom hammer at any point - it has served as a tool for introspection on more than one occasion since I stumbled onto your log.

[lukepeter]

Amazing progress - your arms look swole, and your upper ab area has been reduced significantly - impressive. A little disappointed you didn't give us a pose, but i guess you are chicken. That's ok - no shame in being shy .

I fell like I haven't earned the right to flex for the camera until I am at least below 20% I do do plenty of surreptitious flexing when nobody can see me do it - its like eating food from the pot - it doesnt really count

[lukepeter]

Weekly macros.

Summary Protein Carbs Fat Calories
Sunday 195.3 94.7 74.9 1833.5
Monday 194.8 98.4 109.2 2155.0
Tuesday 248.6 111.7 75.8 2230.9
Wednesday 238.1 175.5 127.7 2781.9
Thursday 247.0 102.7 83.3 2148.8
Friday 260.6 157.8 151.6 3038.0
Saturday 220.2 254.5 137.5 3136.1

Average 229.2 142.2 108.6 2474.9

Energy a bit high, Friday is really the only major concern - I ate more chocolate than was reasonable. All still under maintenance (just barely).

[Imp81318]

Weekly macros.

Summary Protein Carbs Fat Calories
Sunday 195.3 94.7 74.9 1833.5
Monday 194.8 98.4 109.2 2155.0
Tuesday 248.6 111.7 75.8 2230.9
Wednesday 238.1 175.5 127.7 2781.9
Thursday 247.0 102.7 83.3 2148.8
Friday 260.6 157.8 151.6 3038.0
Saturday 220.2 254.5 137.5 3136.1

Average 229.2 142.2 108.6 2474.9

Energy a bit high, Friday is really the only major concern - I ate more chocolate than was reasonable. All still under maintenance (just barely).

I try to focus on the bolded part when I look at my calories on a day-to-day basis. I have a goal that is set for a particular weight loss rate, but really as long as I am keeping my intake below my maintenance level I am still making progress toward my ultimate goal. Good job continuing to progress!

[PeteDenmark]

Weekly macros.

Summary Protein Carbs Fat Calories
Sunday 195.3 94.7 74.9 1833.5
Monday 194.8 98.4 109.2 2155.0
Tuesday 248.6 111.7 75.8 2230.9
Wednesday 238.1 175.5 127.7 2781.9
Thursday 247.0 102.7 83.3 2148.8
Friday 260.6 157.8 151.6 3038.0
Saturday 220.2 254.5 137.5 3136.1

Average 229.2 142.2 108.6 2474.9

Energy a bit high, Friday is really the only major concern - I ate more chocolate than was reasonable. All still under maintenance (just barely).

Do you still lose 1 kg a week? Your metabolism really responds well to your training - that bodes well for maintainability of your weight loss. I mean - if you can eat around 3200 cals a day when you achieve your weight loss goal, that is a very reasonable amount of food on average, even if you still can't go overboard every day.

BTW - have you noticed people trying to sabotage your weight loss?
What i mean is, that most people don't do it maliciously, but actually out af affection. Like your wife saying "don't get to jacked" or a friend saying "dude - you shouldn't lose anymore weight now - you look fine".
I really don't mean it in a whiny way, but being very overweight is very bad for you. But i seem to notice, that some people in my surroundings disconnect my weight from my health. They purely see it as a fashion statement, and if they don't like the accessories i choose, they chime in.

Even though extra fat is a "lifestyle disease", it really wasn't something i chose. I did know that too man calories would make me gain fat, but that wasn't the consequence that won the subconscious argument in my head. I just ate too much food, because it made me feel... good? Something anyway. Suffice it to say - it was a very unbalanced and in some ways debilitating way to live.

If somebody was recovering from an injury they sustained from something wholesome like snowboarding, would people be like "dude - i like you better when you are in the wheelchair", "Honey - i like they way the leg brace feels when we have sex, so don't worry so much about the medicine" or "Man - don't go to so much rehab - the limp makes you look cool".

I know listening to us recovering chubbies can be tedious. But damn - if a friend that wasn't able to walk, discovered a cure, of course he is going to talk about it a lot .
The overwhelming consensus seems to be, that we brought this on ourselves, and therefore shouldn't expect too much sympathy or help - we knew what we did. But so did the snowboarder.

Again - the subtleties of my points get lost in the translation from danish to english, but i hope i comes across that i don't blame people for the "sabotage", but just that we should be aware that it is there, and remember to tell ourselves just how f***ing awesome we are for doing this - it's damn hard. This forum helps .

[Imp81318]

BTW - have you noticed people trying to sabotage your weight loss?

Only from the first day that I decided to start trying to lose weight. I told my wife I was going to *try* to get back down to 180 lbs, which has kind of been my standard goal since I put on weight after college, and then maybe go a bit lower than that if/when I hit 180 to, say, 170 or 160 depending on how I felt and looked. Her response was "I think 180 is right for you, any lower and you'll just look too skinny."

[lukepeter]

Do you still lose 1 kg a week? Your metabolism really responds well to your training - that bodes well for maintainability of your weight loss. I mean - if you can eat around 3200 cals a day when you achieve your weight loss goal, that is a very reasonable amount of food on average, even if you still can't go overboard every day.

BTW - have you noticed people trying to sabotage your weight loss?
What i mean is, that most people don't do it maliciously, but actually out af affection. Like your wife saying "don't get to jacked" or a friend saying "dude - you shouldn't lose anymore weight now - you look fine".
I really don't mean it in a whiny way, but being very overweight is very bad for you. But i seem to notice, that some people in my surroundings disconnect my weight from my health. They purely see it as a fashion statement, and if they don't like the accessories i choose, they chime in.

Even though extra fat is a "lifestyle disease", it really wasn't something i chose. I did know that too man calories would make me gain fat, but that wasn't the consequence that won the subconscious argument in my head. I just ate too much food, because it made me feel... good? Something anyway. Suffice it to say - it was a very unbalanced and in some ways debilitating way to live.

If somebody was recovering from an injury they sustained from something wholesome like snowboarding, would people be like "dude - i like you better when you are in the wheelchair", "Honey - i like they way the leg brace feels when we have sex, so don't worry so much about the medicine" or "Man - don't go to so much rehab - the limp makes you look cool".

I know listening to us recovering chubbies can be tedious. But damn - if a friend that wasn't able to walk, discovered a cure, of course he is going to talk about it a lot .
The overwhelming consensus seems to be, that we brought this on ourselves, and therefore shouldn't expect too much sympathy or help - we knew what we did. But so did the snowboarder.

Again - the subtleties of my points get lost in the translation from danish to english, but i hope i comes across that i don't blame people for the "sabotage", but just that we should be aware that it is there, and remember to tell ourselves just how f***ing awesome we are for doing this - it's damn hard. This forum helps .

Right - an uncomfortable truth is to be told, it appears the times of undiminished TDEE are over and I will have to restrict a little more, or at least adhere strongly again... I am 1.4kg heavier this weigh day than last week - I am not outrageously disappointed, as my high energy days included substantially more carbs than normal and water weight must come along with that, but its still ****ty to see the number climb... I suspect when the carb weight goes back to normal I will have lost between 0.3 and 0.5kg.

I am struggling to fit normal home food into my daily caloric limit while chasing my protein target, Its hard to explain, but it feels like I am not getting enough food (energy values do not suggest this) as a result of decreased volume from increased caloric density. Its getting harder to stay under 2000kcal for the day.

The sabotage - aside from my wife still occasionally asking me to start doing steady state cardio (In order to make my muscles smaller... ?!) I have had predominantly positive opinion from those around me, I suspect that will change as I get into lower body fat percentages (My face gets somewhat gaunt when I get lower than 15%, the change is drastic, and people assume I am unhealthily thin). In order to preempt negative feedback I tend not to talk to people in the real world about my fitness and weight loss goals, for the most part they dont want to hear about it beyond a certain point anyway (when people ask how I lost weight and I reply " by lifting and eating a macro balanced diet", as opposed to cardio and banting/keto - seeing their disbelief, I now just say "yup, Ive been doing pushups and stuff and dieting").

I have dealt with sabotage before though, and it is maddening - on top of my lowered tolerance for idiocy when I am in a deficit, being persistently offered more food after politely declining because "you are losing too much weight" is enough to make me furiously angry, it has the potential to ruin your day completely if you let it. Thats where having this outlet helps - as you say, wee need to dish out pats on the back and encouragement where it is due as there is very little to be found in the real world.

Thanks for stopping by.

[PeteDenmark]

That weight gain sucks - it kicks your as everytime.

You never post your body measurements, but you do track them don't you? If so, what is the measuring tape telling you?
Even though your cals has gone up a little, you are still eating below your TDEE, so you are NOT gaining fat.

I find, that when i start to zero in on 25% bodyfat, my interest in the fat loss lifestyle starts to taper off. I'm on the brink of looking "normal" with clothes on, and I start to function as before, so there isn't any "in my face" reasons to push on.
That is when i start to allow foods into my diet, where the calorie contents doesn't match the feeling of satiation i need in order to be compliant. Meal prep goes down a little, since there is now a much larger selection of easy to prepare food to choose from. Instead of chicken breast, i eat a chicken spring roll or some nuggets. I keep tracking, and sticking to, my macros, but i just start to feel hungrier.

So i think you are onto something when you say, that there is no room for "normal" food - there really isn't. First of all. In regular cooking, the macros are just off, when you are in such a serious deficit as you. And as you said, you then have to cram those macros into your other meals, and they then become unsatisfying, because you've used up your allotment of food "fluff".
Eating regular food also makes it harder to pin down what combination of nutrients prompted the water retention, or the accumulation of waste in your bowels. Water weight or waste accumulation doesn't mean anything fat loss wise, but it just makes it hard to keep track of where your TDEE is at, and seeing the scale go up just sucks energy out of the fat loss train.
For me bigger amounts of cruciferous vegetables makes me gain weight (not fat). Larger volumes of those veggies, just doesn't agree with my digestion.
So if i'm at a plateau, i try to eat "clean" and the same thing every day for a while. Invent a couple of new dishes containing the same ingredients, and stick to it. You will feel fuller, there won't be any "make up macros" meals (and never mind powders), and it gets you back in the dieting frame of mind.
Never mind sustainability - objectively speaking, you are on an extreme diet, so that isn't a consideration for now. 1000 cal deficit, and 150 kg bench is extreme. So accept that you are in an unusual situation . You shouldn't see yourself as a person who is cruising off some fat at a steady rate by tweaking your diet and training regimen. You a f***ing training for the fat loss olympics.
1 kg of pure fat a week, plus gaining strength takes a very determined effort, and diet is WAY more important than weight lifting.

I'm saying this to myself as much as i'm saying it to you. It's such a mental game this fat loss thing. If you weigh 110 kg, but you are gaining weight, you feel more lost than if you are 125 kg, but losing. So it becomes a matter of resetting your brain, and getting to the point, where today is the first day of your fat loss effort.

That being said. You are competing with the person weighing 116 kg and benching 150 kg of yesterday. Compete with the 145 kg and benching 60 kg from 10 months ago for a while. You've come extremely far.

[lukepeter]

I don't track my measurements (other than the holes on my belt), it may help, but I am mentally OK with my current tracking methods, still very much a fatty so lots of visible progress to be made before I reasonably plateau I have found that the fanatic interest in this process has dwindled significantly, it has always been thus with me - I move from hobby to hobby every 6 months or so, but the good habits are now coming into play and I am still acutely conscious of what I am eating, and my workouts are still meticulously tracked, progress pictures still taken weekly etc. I am determined to make this a permanent life change.

In support of my other hobbies, my IPSC belt that I ordered in the wrong size at the start of last year fits perfectly now, and my love handles no longer interfere with my pistol draw It is becoming more difficult to conceal my carry firearm as my "tactical shelf" is receding, but I will take the good with the bad

I appreciate the support Pete, you are right, we are accomplishing a lot at the rate of targeted weight loss, and on top of that my strength has responded far better than I had even hoped when I started this process, there is much to be thankful for, and proud of.

___________________________________

Weekly macros:
Summary Protein Carbs Fat Calories
Sunday 179.8 156.3 140.5 2608.5
Monday 112.9 117.4 133.4 2121.7
Tuesday 192.8 84.5 91.2 2036.9
Wednesday 186.1 154.8 57.5 1881.0
Thursday 186.6 209.2 78.7 2291.3
Friday 227.6 86.1 67.2 1859.4
Saturday 258.2 302.4 151.3 3604.3

Average 192.0 158.7 102.8 2343.3

It was a really good diet week, my adherence was great - 3600 kcal last night was an anniversary dinner with the missus (7 years on monday), burgers, ribs, tater tots and ice cream Its the first time I have been properly full for a long time, and I have thus far not been hungry this morning (I usually am ready to eat the desk in front of me by breakfast time). Aside from the awesome re-feed, this new place is now my favorite rib joint, so one day, when I am allowed to bulk, I will return with careful glee.

[Imp81318]

Congrats on the anniversary! Definitely a solid reason to forego the weight loss for a night.