PSMF Log -- 4 Weeks To Lean Bulk Mode (maybe)

[ChairmanWaffle]

Why PSMF: I have been eating at a 500-1000 cal deficit for ~3 months, and have lost ~20 lbs, while lifting and making novice gains. The past month, the weight loss has largely stalled. Running PSMF as a way to lose a few more pounds so I can closer to lean bulk mode, which I think is around ~205 lbs. Also, a way to mix up the routine.

Me: 35yo, 6'-3'', 230lbs, ~20% bf% (Category 2 for PSMF)
Lifting: SS-like program for a couple months, and now a UL/PPL (5d/week). No cardio now. I'll plan to continue lifting.
1RMs (based on last 8-rep sets): Squat: 260; Deadlift: 330; Bench: 210 (actual 1RMs probably slightly higher, but this works for comparison).


DAILY CONSUMPTION:

Food (1180 cal/day):
Protein: 230g (920 cal)
Fat: 20g (180 cal)
Carbs: 20g (80 cal)

​Drink:​
Water: 1+ gallon cold
Diet Coke/Coffee: 0-72 oz/day
Other Non-Caloric beverages: unlimited

Supplements:
Daily Multivitamin
Magnesium, 500mg
Potassium, 1000mg
Calcium, 1200mg
FishOil - 6g (of which 3g is EPA)
Ephederine - max 20 mg 3x/day, but I'll start with 10mg 1x/day

Things I won't be taking, though some people do:
Caffeine supplement, as I'll be getting enough from soda/coffee I think - max 200 mg 3x/day, but I'll start with none (can of coke has 50mg, 12oz coffee has 150mg; tea has 40mg, on average)
Yohimbine HCL - some people take this in place of EC stack. I won't take this.


MEAL TIMING
In general, I'm not concerned with this, aside from trying to eat everything in 2 or 3 meals/day.
Exceptions: Pre/WO/Post: 5g c, 15g p / 5g c / 15g p


​BREAKS:
​Free Meal: 1x/week I will not count calories at dinner, though will still be mindful of eating healthy (think, high protein maintenance eating). This will be a WO day.
Refeed: 1x/week, for 5 hours or less, I will eat​ a larger (enjoyable) meal that is high protein and high carb (though not high fructose/sucrose).


GOALS:
Run this for 4 weeks
Lose ~8+ lbs of fat and ~16+ lbs of weight
Slow transition (1 week) to maintenance after diet ends
Report daily on weight, food/drink/macro intake, gym performance, and general well-being

[diesel_3]

Following!
Good luck!

[TreHockey]

Good luck!

[ChairmanWaffle]

Reps for following. Thank you!

Day 1: 4/23 | AM Weigh-In: 230.4 lbs
Day 2: 4/24 | AM Weigh-In: 229.0 lbs (-1.4 lbs)

Day 1 Intake:
Food: Tuna, Egg whites, chicken, swai (fish), broc****, kale salad
Drink: Whey, Casein, gatorade (pre/WO), Black coffee (x1), Diet coke (x4)
Supps: all listed in OP (aside from Potassium, calcium, and ephederine which I will get today).
Meds: also taking Aleve and Prilosec (unrelated to this endeavor, but figured I should note here.)

Day 1 Macros: 22f, 32c, 216p = 1190 calories

Analysis: Hit the calorie target, though went slightly over on carbs and under on protein, but not by much. With 10g carbs from Gatorade on a WO day, it's hard to keep it much lower. Of the carbs I got, the other 15 were from brocc0li/kale, 4 were from the whey/casein (Elite Iso Whey/Casein), and 1 more from the MV. (I'm actually not sure if I am supposed to track the macros from the vegetable matter - McDonald's book suggested you could eat these without limit, so maybe the 20g limit for carbs is for other non-veg carbs? Doesn't matter much, so I'll just keep tracking it.)

WO: It was push day of UL/PPL. Lifts went fine, as to be expected given that I was 1/2 day into this at WO time. I consumed the requisite protein/carbs per OP in conjunction w/ the WO.

General Thoughts: Day 1 ofc, but I was definitely not hungry for the most part. I actually had to eat (force down) some stir fried (quick spray of canola oil, soy sauce, vinegar, lemon juice) chicken at 10pm b/c I was short on calories and protein. Following a strict regiment definitely changes goals regarding eating and makes it easier for me to stay on target, I think.

Notes: This is my last microcycle of this mesocycle for WO. Today is Leg day, then I'm taking 4 days off of gym (Thu-Sun), and will do a deload cycle of ~75% weight and ~67% sets. (So, if Lat Pulldown is 120lbs @ 3x15, I'll do 90 lbs @ 2x15 for this cycle.) I haven't deloaded in 3 months, so it's time.

[ChairmanWaffle]

Day 1: 4/23 | AM Weigh-In: 230.4 lbs
Day 2: 4/24 | AM Weigh-In: 229.0 lbs (-1.4 lbs)
Day 3: 4/25 | AM Weigh-In: 228.8 lbs (-1.6 lbs)

Day 2 Notes:

Intake:
Food: Tuna, Egg whites, chicken, broc****, kale salad, pickles, whey/casein
Drink: gatorade (pre/WO), Black coffee (x1), Diet coke (x4)
Supps/Meds: as planned

Macros: 16f, 25c, 234p = 1200 calories

Analysis: Pretty much right on the targets. I will start monitoring sodium -- McDonald's book on PSMF noted that you aim for 5g, and he seems to encourage salting lots of stuff to get there. I think I may be overdoing the salt, which would keep additional water weight on. The foods (and condiments) I'm eating have enough salt, and I'm probably over the daily target set by AHA of 1500-2300/day w/o adding any salt or soy sauce.

WO: It was leg day of UL/PPL. Lifts went fine, no impact of 2 days of this diet. I consumed gatorade and whey in conjunction w/ workout per plan.

General Thoughts: Mostly felt fine. Definitely wanted to have something w/ fat in it, but the protein + liquid is filling enough to stave off actual hunger. Went to store today to stock up on acceptable foods. Was admittedly a little hard navigating the aisles and passing all the stuff I cannot eat. Got some turkey jerky (0/4/13).

Notes: Micro/Mesocycle over, so a 4 day rest and deload microcycle coming up.

[ChairmanWaffle]

Day 1: 4/23 | 230.4 lbs
Day 2: 4/24 | 229.0 lbs (-1.4 lbs)
Day 3: 4/25 | 228.8 lbs (-1.6 lbs)
Day 4: 4/26 | 228.0 lbs (-2.4 lbs)

Day 3 NOTES:

Intake:
Food: chicken, turkey jerky, pickle, asparagas, onion, sugar-free jello, 1/4cup 2% milk, whey/casein
Drink: Black coffee (x1), Diet coke (x1), gal+ H20
Supps/Meds: as planned

Macros: 27f, 24c, 176p = 1080 calories

PMSF Macro Average: 22f, 27c, 209p = 1160 calories

Analysis: Slightly under on calories and protein. Meant to consume one last whey shake pre-bed, but forgot. Calories in line though due to a little extra carb/fat. Also, tracked salt today and I am certainly getting over 2300 mg, AHA limit, and probably close to the 5000mg Lyle McDonald recommends in his book (Why does he reco 5g anyway?) Thus, I tried today to minimize additional salt being added either as table salt or in condiments.

WO: None. No WO until Monday (Day 8)

General Thoughts: Fairly similar to before. Not overly hungry, but definitely would like to eat other things. This doesn't thus far feel noticeably different than when I was on a 1000 cal definict for a month or so earlier this year, though this diet has about ~30% more protein.

Notes: Will up ephederine to 12.5mg 2x/day starting today. Will be traveling Fri-Sun, so will do my best to stay as close as possible to this diet.

[ChairmanWaffle]

Day 1: 4/23 | 230.4 lbs
Day 2: 4/24 | 229.0 lbs (-1.4 lbs)
Day 3: 4/25 | 228.8 lbs (-1.6 lbs)
Day 4: 4/26 | 228.0 lbs (-2.4 lbs)
Day 5: 4/27 | 22x.x lbs (-tbd lbs) <--will check this in a few hrs.

DAY 4 NOTES:

Intake:
Food: Oven baked turkey, turkey jerky, tuna, pickle, celery, onion, mushrooms, whey/casein
Drink: Black coffee (x1), Diet coke (x2), gal+ H20
Supps/Meds: as planned

Macros: 22f, 22c, 197p = 1080 calories
PMSF Macro Average: 22f, 26c, 206p = 1130 calories

Analysis: All good. One protein shake under on the protein, but have a feeling I'll make up for it Fri/Sat this week.

WO: None. No WO until Monday (Day 8)

General Thoughts: Today I felt hungrier than the first three days. Also had more cravings for foods I can't eat.

Notes: Traveling now, so will be a bit tougher to log macros, but will do what I can.

[ChairmanWaffle]

Day 1: 4/23 | 230.4 lbs
Day 2: 4/24 | 229.0 lbs (-1.4 lbs)
Day 3: 4/25 | 228.8 lbs (-1.6 lbs)
Day 4: 4/26 | 228.0 lbs (-2.4 lbs)
Day 5: 4/27 | 227.2 lbs (-3.2 lbs)
Day 6: 4/28 | 226.0 lbs (-4.4 lbs)
Day 7: 4/29 | 224.0 lbs (-6.4 lbs)
Day 8: 4/30 | 222.2 lbs (-8.2 lbs)

DAY 5-8 NOTES:

General: Was traveling so some of the macros and food choices suffered, but did pretty well.

Macros:
Friday (cheat meal day): 120f, 27c, 174p = 2461 calories (some alcohol here, too)
Saturday (carb refeed): 134f, 278c, 227p = 3544 calories (+alcohol)
Sunday (PSMF normal): 29f, 29c, 154p = 1020 calories
Monday: 28f 23c 202p = 1050 calories

PMSF Macro Average (non cheat meal/carb refeed): 25f, 26c, 195p = ~1080 calories

Cheat Meal: @ Steakhouse. Ate a 22oz bone-in ribeye which was pretty amazing after having eaten nothing like that all week. Had more fat in that meal than I had in the 5 days prior.
Carb Refeed: Was travelling, so did best I could. Carbs came mostly from bread (not ideal, but ok), and it was hard to pack away 3500 calories, though I didn't mind the challenge. Ate pizza, cold cut sub, smoked sausage, fried chicken. Still attempted to keep macros somewhat in line and not just go nuts. Actually ended up a bit shorter than anticipated on the carbs.

WO: Will resume tomorrow.

General Thoughts: Today (Day 8) I've felt incredibly tired/worn out. Will try to get some extra sleep tonight and hope some of the fatigue is from travelling/sun/plane/dehydration/etc. Still, given that I'm down 8 lbs this week, pretty happy w/ the progress. I'm guessing I'm down to 18-18.5% bf, having started at 19.5-20%.

[diesel_3]

Down 8 in 8? That's awesome.
Don't let the mind win!

[ChairmanWaffle]

Down 8 in 8? That's awesome.
Don't let the mind win!

Thank you thank you. It actually hasn't been that hard so far. I feel as if I've overcome the urge to eat extra stuff.

[ChairmanWaffle]

Day 1: 4/23 | 230.4 lbs
Day 3: 4/25 | 228.8 lbs (-1.6 lbs)
Day 5: 4/27 | 227.2 lbs (-3.2 lbs)
Day 7: 4/29 | 224.0 lbs (-6.4 lbs)
Day 9: 5/01 | 222.6 lbs (-7.8 lbs)
Day10: 5/02 | 221.6 lbs (-8.8 lbs)

DAY 9 NOTES:

General: Resumed UL/PPL This week. Ended up taking an extra day off, and just went back to the program I'd been doing. I had planned on doing a 70% weight/70% rep week, but after 5 days off felt that wasn't necessary.

Macros: 22f, 56c, 205p = 1240 calories. (Not really sure why the carbs ended up so high. Some gatorade with the WO and I guess just everything had a little carb and it adds up. Will be more careful. I am counting all the veg carbs, though.)

PMSF Macro Average (non cheat meal/carb refeed): 24f, 30c, 196p = ~1120 calories

WO: Did Upper of UL/PPL. Progressed either reps or weights on everything aside from OH Press. This has always been my weakest (imo) lift. Used same weight as 10 days ago, but was 3 reps lower on set 1. Overall the workout was very tiring. It definitely took a bit more mental energy to stay focused and plow through. More sweat produced than I'm used to during the WO, whatever that means. Possibly related to travel and being a little dehydrated? Wasn't a big deal, but I noticed it.

General Thoughts: Continue to feel pretty slow/lethargic in the afternoon/evening hours. Ended up getting 9+ hours of sleep last night, which felt great. Typically I'm in the 7-8 range, closer to 7.

[ChairmanWaffle]

Day 1: 4/23 | 230.4 lbs
Day 3: 4/25 | 228.8 lbs (-1.6 lbs)
Day 5: 4/27 | 227.2 lbs (-3.2 lbs)
Day 7: 4/29 | 224.0 lbs (-6.4 lbs)
Day 9: 5/01 | 222.6 lbs (-7.8 lbs)
Day11: 5/03 | 221.2 lbs (-9.2 lbs)

DAY 10/11 NOTES:

Macros: Mostly in line with where these have been.

PMSF Macro Average (non cheat meal/carb refeed): 26f, 29c, 198p = ~1140 calories

WO: Did Lower of UL/PPL. Progressed on everything, but definitely felt totally beat after the workout. Also much more soreness the day after, which could be in part due to the break, but i think mostly due to a higher average RPE due to caloric restriction, and probably the body's inability to repair itself as fast. Pull/Push/Legs coming up, so could be interesting, though the refeed should help.

General Thoughts: Feel very similar to last few days. It's not hard not to eat at this point (no real food cravings), I'm just generally tired and a bit irritable. Also looks like weightloss has slowed, which is to be expected of course, but is still psychologically tough. (Down just 1 pound since 4/30, thought on a normal diet I guess that'd be cause for celebration....) Let's see where we get to by 5/7, after the refeed has cycled thru.

Good news: Tomorrow will likely be a free meal for dinner; Saturday night will be carb reload and some Korean BBQ where I will likely overdo fat as well, but will also get plenty of protein.

[ChairmanWaffle]

Big Update:

Day 1: 4/23 | 230.4 lbs
Day 5: 4/27 | 227.2 lbs (-3.2 lbs)
Day10: 5/02 | 221.6 lbs (-8.8 lbs)
Day15: 5/07 | 223.0 lbs (-7.4 lbs)
Day20: 5/12 | 219.8 lbs (-10.6 lbs)
Day24: 5/17 | 217.4 lbs (-13.0 lbs)


GENERAL NOTES:

Macros: 5 days a week (i.e., non-carb reload or diet break meal days), I have kept these fairly consistently to <30f, <30c, ~200p = ~1160 calories.

WO: Lifts have progresses still, increasing weight or reps on almost every lift. The compounds are progressing the slowest at this point, probably a combination of the fact I've been doing them for longer than some of the more iso-type lifts, and that they require more energy making them tough on such a deficit. OH Press is the only one that really stalled though.

General Thoughts: Debated throwing in the towel on this mid last week when I wasn't losing weight for a number of days. However, made it through a wedding weekend with essentially no change, which included some overeating (during carb refeed and diet break meal), and specifically way too much fat. That seemed satisfying when I weighed in yesterday, so I'll stick to my original goal of 4 weeks.

Body Comp Change:
Day 1: 230 lbs, 19.5% bf estimate --> LBM: 185 lbs, FM: 45 lbs
Day24: 217 lbs, 17.5% bf estimate --> LBM: 179 lbs, FM: 38 lbs.

These are very rough bf% estimates of course, but overall I'm down 13 pounds, of which 7 is fat.

My initial 4-week goal/estimate was a loss of 16 lbs, of which 8 lbs would be fat. Seems fairly on target.

Going forward: I'll run this through the end of the week. At that point, I'll either continue, or go to a more normal high protein, low carb diet w/ a deficit of 500-1000 calories/day. Goal is still sub 15% (and maybe more like 12%) before I eat at maintenance +200 calories or so. I'll revisit that as I get to 15% bf.

[overMotivated]

This is an awesome overview, thanks for that

[ChairmanWaffle]

4 Weeks of PMSF Complete:

Day 1: 4/23 | 230.4 lbs
Day 5: 4/27 | 227.2 lbs (-3.2 lbs)
Day10: 5/02 | 221.6 lbs (-8.8 lbs)
Day15: 5/07 | 223.0 lbs (-7.4 lbs)
Day20: 5/12 | 219.8 lbs (-10.6 lbs)
Day25: 5/17 | 217.0 lbs (-13.4 lbs)
Day28: 5/20 | 215.6 lbs (-14.8 lbs)


GENERAL NOTES:

Macros: stayed at approx <30f, <30c, ~200p = ~1160 calories for entirety of non-refeed/free meal. Free meals/refeed I definitely overate fat (often red meat or fatty sauces were included).

WO: In general, workouts were hard and very draining weeks 2-4. But lifts progressed almost across the board. (Only been lifting 4+ months).

Body Comp Change:
Day 1: 230 lbs, 19.5% bf estimate --> LBM: 185 lbs, FM: 45 lbs
Day28: 216 lbs, 16.5% bf estimate --> LBM: 180 lbs, FM: 36 lbs.

Overall I'm down 15 pounds, of which 9 is fat. Or something like that.

Going forward: Debated running this a 5th week, but decided not to. I ate what I wanted the last 36 hours, and my last lifting session was the best/easiest in 3+ weeks, which was nice. The plan now is to eat at slightly below maintenance (500 cals or so), 200p/200c/90f or so for a few weeks, until weight stabilizes around the 215 where I ended PSMF. I'll have a quick increase the next few days with the extra food/carbs, and also will be loading creatine (as of Sunday), so it will take a few weeks to get back to 215. Once there, I'll run this again for ~3 weeks, and then should be where I want to be to start a regular lean/slow bulk.

[~Hades~]

Good work man. I’m interested.