Journey to my first six pack - Bigcalculus Journal

[bigcalculus]

-Creating this log to track my cutting progress, ultimate goal is to get somewhere in the 7-9% BF range on this cut before I start my first serious bulk.

My Background
- Hi all, I'm currently 24 years old, I've always had some interest in fitness but only got serious here in the past year or so. I used to be a bit of a bigger kid at ~215lb until I "unhealthily" cut down to around 155lb in the span of 2-3 months, since then I've hovered in between the 165-185 range for a few years.
- I found a new passion in lifting/running around this time last year and decided to set my first big fitness goal of running a marathon in under 4 hours. Started training in October where I struggled to even run 3 miles without having to walk. On leap year day, Feb. 29 right before Corona hit, I ran my first marathon with a time of 3 hours 56 minutes.
- After the marathon, I focused more on lifting with a bit of a dirty bulk diet. Max lifts got up to - bench: 205x5, squat: 240x6, and deadlift 390x1, around where I'm currently at today. I've never actually been able to see my abs before and thought it'd be a cool goal to work towards, so this journal will be a way for me to track my diet, some workouts, and post progress pics. I'm definitely still a newbie so any workout/diet/etc. advice is greatly welcomed.

Current stats:
172.2lb, 6'0"
24 years old
~20% BF

Diet:
~1800 cal/day
~160-180g protein per day
~30-40% calorie intake from carbs

[snailsrus]

Um first time I’ve seen this here but you over estimated your body fat by quite a bit

[brit-iron]

Yeah agree with above, definitely not 20%. 1800 calories is quite aggressive cut I would think at your height and weight. I'm in for your progress though. Good luck.

[AlexSays]

Um first time I’ve seen this here but you over estimated your body fat by quite a bit

Lol agree, both with you and your assertion that this must be a first

Looks closer to 14%

[bigcalculus]

Day 2 Update:

Morning Weight: 168.4 lb

Had a lot of food the day before the diet 😁 so I'm expecting to lose a few pounds quickly in water weight over the next few days before I stabilize with weight loss. Yesterday was a just a cardio day, ended up doing a light 6 mile run in the morning.

Today's going to be a pull day (currently sipping on some pre-workout), hoping to PR on Romanian deadlifts (335x8) at they gym. Diet wise, I met my calorie intake goal but ate a bit too much protein (seems that problem is usually the other way around), mainly because I cooked way too much chicken two days ago and I'm trying to use it up. I'm not posting any photos today, I'll probably do that on a weekly basis to track progress.

Yesterday's Food Intake-

Morning
~Oatmeal w/milk - 190 cal.
~1% Milk - 100 cal.
~Protein shake - 180 cal.

Lunch
~Apple - 158 cal.
~Baked chicken - 307 cal.

Dinner
~Rice - 240 cal.
~More baked chicken - 307 cal.

Late snack
~Greek Yogurt - 195 cal.
~Miscellaneous throughout the day (coffee, gum, water flavoring, etc.) -78 cal.

Total: 1756 cal. 221g protein, 175g carbs

[bigcalculus]

Lol agree, both with you and your assertion that this must be a first

Looks closer to 14%

After doing a bit more research it looks like you're both totally right, guess I didn't have the best grasp on body fat percentages before making that estimate (: The 14% estimate looks a lot more reasonable for the photos that I've looked at.

[bigcalculus]

Yeah agree with above, definitely not 20%. 1800 calories is quite aggressive cut I would think at your height and weight. I'm in for your progress though. Good luck.

Thanks! I had honestly thought 1800 cals was a good number for me, but I'm going to keep a close eye on my strength and muscle loss and readjust accordingly as I go along.

[bigcalculus]

Day 3 Update:

Morning Weight: 164.6 lb

Scale dropped a good bit since yesterday, I guess water-weight losses are more substantial then I originally thought. Nonetheless, I did hit my PR on Romanian Deadlifts (335x8) yesterday morning, my reps were a bit shaky but form seemed to stay good and I can definitely feel it in my legs today. Today's a push day so I'm about to head to the gym, no PR's planned. Today's going to be a bit harder to track dieting as I'll be hanging out with the gf and we'll probably go out to eat, but I'll probably get us to go to a "healthier" restaurant, hopefully somewhere with calorie counts so I can keep track of everything.


Yesterday's Food Intake-

Morning
~Oikos Yogurt - 165 cal.
~1% Milk - 100 cal.
~Protein shake - 180 cal.

Lunch
~Sliced carrots- 140 cal.
~Baked chicken - 307 cal.

Dinner
~2 sandwiches (with turkey and cheese) - 470 cal
~Oikos yogurt - 330cal
~Miscellaneous throughout the day (coffee, gum, water flavoring, etc.) ~78 cal.

Total: 1770 cal. 234g protein, 172g carbs

[bigcalculus]

Day 4 Update:

Morning Weight: 162.2 lb

-And the scale continues to drop, looks like I've still got just a bit of water weight to lose before things stabilize out, kind of amazed that I've lost so much in water weight over a few days. So far, I haven't noticed any changes in the gym, workouts still seem to be going good and even had a few small PR's yesterday with some accessory chest workouts. Today's a leg day, may try and hit a PR on leg press as it's been going up lately pretty steadily while I've plateaued some on regular squats.

-From a hunger perspective, yesterday was really the first day that I started to feel hungry, around 10-12a.m. I was pretty busy at the time and didn't get to eat lunch till like 2p.m., but it had subsided by that point and was smooth sailing the rest of the day.


Yesterday's Food Intake-

Morning
~Oikos Yogurt - 165 cal.
~Protein Shake - 380 cal.

Lunch
~Newk's classic turkey sandwich - 730 cal.
~Bowl of fruit - 25 cal.
~Unsweet tea

Dinner
~Greek Yogurt (been eating a lot of this) - 220 cal.

Late Night Snack
~4 scrambled eggs - 280 cal.
~Miscellaneous throughout the day (coffee, gum, water flavoring, etc.) ~58 cal.

Total: 1758 cal. 175g protein, 145g carbs

[bigcalculus]

Day 5 Update:

Morning Weight: 161.4 lb

-Continuing to see the scale drop everyday, feeling just a bit leaner from all the loss in water weight but I think I'm getting close to stabilizing on day-to-day weight loss. Didn't hit a leg press PR yesterday but hit what I did last leg day (465x7) so can't complain, I was also at a different gym and I don't really like their leg press machine as much as my usual gym's. Today's going to be a quick back session in the morning and I've got a volleyball game later tonight after work, then tomorrow will be a rest day but I may do some light cardio.

Yesterday's Food Intake-

Morning
~Oikos Yogurt - 165 cal.
~Protein Shake - 380 cal.
~Energy drink - 180 cal.

Lunch
~Oikos Yogurt - 165 cal.
~Red delicious apple - 151 cal.
~Green beans - 100 cal.
~Honey wheat bread - 140 cal.

Dinner
~2 turkey and cheese sandwhiches - 552 cal.
~Miscellaneous throughout the day (coffee, gum, water flavoring, etc.) ~58 cal.

Total: 1791 cal. 159g protein, 232g carbs

[bigcalculus]

Day 6 Update:

Morning Weight: 161.6 lb

-First day that the scale hasn't dropped a large amount so I think I've finally lost the majority of my water weight. So far, I haven't noticed too many changes in the gym, my max lifts have been pretty consistent and I
haven't noticed any big changes in energy levels just yet. I did decide to save a good portion of my calories yesterday for my evening meal after work, which I may start doing as I prefer being hungry earlier in the day
and then not really having food on my mind later on. About to have a light cardio session today for my rest day and then back at it tomorrow with a pull day.

Yesterday's Food Intake-

Morning
~Oatmeal (with milk) - 185 cal.
~Protein shake - 380 cal.

Lunch
~Red delicious apple - 158 cal.
~Tuna (in water) - 100 cal.

Dinner
~96/4 Lean ground beef - 560 cal.
~Cheese - 135 cal.
~Rice - 280 cal.
~Miscellaneous(gum, water flavoring, etc.) - 85 cal.


Total: 1791 cal. 183g protein, 166g carbs

[safcpaul]

In on thread will be following keep doing what you're doing. Glad you enjoyed your 'red delicious apple' haha

[bigcalculus]

Day 7 Update:

Morning Weight: 161.0 lb

-Scale dropped a bit this morning, I ended up doing a light 8 mile run yesterday morning so that probably burned a few calories, definitely felt hungry later on in the evening. I've got a pull day planned for this morning, not planning on trying any PR's but just maintaining my deadlift maxes. I'm going to post a new set of progress pics tomorrow since that'll be one week apart from the last ones.

-So far the cut hasn't been too bad, there have been waves of hunger here and there but nothing too extreme, and it definitely helps to stay busy since it keeps my mind off of wanting to eat while I'm working. I have noticed that I am a lot more focused whenever I'm losing weight too which is interesting, I'll pretty much get into this focused "zone" while working and look up from working and 3 or 4 hours have passed.

Yesterday's Food Intake-

Morning
~Oatmeal (with milk) - 185 cal.
~Protein shake - 380 cal.

Early Snack
~Oatmeal (with milk) - 185 cal.
~Red delicious apple - 151 cal.

Lunch
~2 turkey and cheese sandwiches - 470 cal.
~Greek yogurt - 66 cal.

Dinner
~Ground Turkey - 395 cal.
~Miscellaneous(gum, water flavoring, etc.) - 48 cal.


Total: 1785 cal. 167g protein, 199g carbs

[bigcalculus]

In on thread will be following keep doing what you're doing. Glad you enjoyed your 'red delicious apple' haha

Thanks safcpaul! And yeah apples are definitively one of my favorite fruits haha

[bigcalculus]

Day 8 Update:

Morning Weight: 161.2 lb

-Happy Thanksgiving everybody! Overall, scale has continued to show a downward trend with some day-to-day variation as expected, so I'm happy with what I've seen. So far, I've completed my first week of cutting, so I've attached some update progress pics to this post (note that these are "flexed" photos, I'm tracking some relaxed photos on my phone). Most (if any) changes are probably due to all of the water weight that I lost at the beginning of the cut but I am happy with what I'm seeing so far nonetheless and I could definitely tell that I'm lighter on my 8 mile run a few days ago.

-Just a note, I probably won't post for the next 2 or 3 days, not planning on tracking calories for these upcoming days since I'll be staying at the family's house for the holiday. My main plan is to just use a reasonable judgement and eat below or close to my maintenance and then pick back up on the diet as soon as I'm back home.

Yesterday's Food Intake-

Morning
~Oatmeal (with milk) - 185 cal.
~Protein shake - 380 cal.

Lunch
~Ground turkey - 350 cal.
~Red delicious apple - 137 cal.

Dinner
~Almond butter - 190 cal.
~96/4 Lean ground beef - 560 cal.
~Miscellaneous(gum, water flavoring, etc.) - 88 cal.


Total: 1794 cal. 217g protein, 105g carbs

[brit-iron]

Got some great definition there bud. Six pack is popping. Enjoy your family time!

[bigcalculus]

Day 13 Update:

Morning Weight: 165.2 lb

-Finally back and had a full day of tracked food intake after Thanksgiving. Definitely ate a little more than I should have over the holiday but should be able to get back on track pretty easily. I'm planning to jump right back into the diet and workout routine and go from there.

Yesterday's Food Intake-

Morning
~Oatmeal (with milk) - 185 cal.
~Protein shake - 380 cal.

Lunch
~Baked Chicken - 350 cal.
~Red delicious apple - 137 cal.

Dinner
~Casein Protein Shake - 190 cal.
~96/4 Lean ground beef - 560 cal.
~Miscellaneous(gum, water flavoring, etc.) - 88 cal.


Total: 1782 cal. 190g protein, 125g carbs

[bigcalculus]

Day 14 Update:

Morning Weight: 164.2 lb

-Slowly seeing the scale go back down to where I was pre-Thanksgiving, I think I've still got a few pounds of water loss that I'll see here in the next few days. I had a pretty good chest workout yesterday morning, actually have been continuing to gain strength on most of my lifts so far and hit a few PR's so I'm planning to continue with the calorie intake and macro distribution that I've been working with.

Yesterday's Food Intake-

Morning
~Oatmeal (with milk) - 160 cal.
~Protein shake - 180 cal.
~Milk - 290 cal.
~Coffee energy drink - 160 cal.

Lunch
~2 Turkey and Cheese Sandwiches - 470 cal.

Dinner
~Red delicious apple - 137 cal.
~Baked chicken - 299 cal.
~Miscellaneous(gum, water flavoring, etc.) - 68 cal.


Total: 1763 cal. 154g protein, 191g carbs

[bigcalculus]

Day 15 Update:

Morning Weight: 162.8 lb

-Scale continues to go back down, probably just have a little more water weight to lose again to stabilize my day-to-day weigh ins. Had a pull day yesterday, PR'd on some lat pulldowns and dumbbell rows so I'm pretty happy with how I'm doing in the gym. Today's going to be a rest day but I'm going to do some light cardio before work.

Yesterday's Food Intake-

Morning
~Oatmeal (with milk) - 190 cal.
~Protein shake - 180 cal.
~Milk - 120 cal.
~Green Tea - 120 cal.

Lunch
~Vegetable Stir Fry - 245 cal.
~Baked chicken - 299 cal.

Dinner
~Oatmeal - 390 cal.
~Casein Protein Shake - 215 cal.
~Miscellaneous(gum, water flavoring, etc.) - 35 cal.


Total: 1794 cal. 157g protein, 229g carbs

[bigcalculus]

Day 16 Update:

Morning Weight: 162.2 lb

Yesterday's Food Intake-

Morning
~Oatmeal (with milk) - 205 cal.
~Protein shake - 303 cal.
~Green Tea - 60 cal.

Lunch
~Honey Wheat Bread - 210 cal.
~Baked chicken - 299 cal.

Dinner
~Oikos Greek Yogurt - 330 cal.
~Baked chicken - 299 cal.
~Miscellaneous(gum, water flavoring, etc.) - 35 cal.


Total: 1736 cal. 226g protein, 164g carbs

[safcpaul]

Loving the consistency great job

[bigcalculus]

Day 17 Update:

Morning Weight: 162.0 lb

- Very happy with the current trend in my scale weight and what I'm seeing in the mirror, will probably post some update pics in a week or two. Had a strong pull day yesterday and upped the weights on romanian deadlifts (340x7), then hit some PR's on bench this morning (190 at 4 sets of 5 and 3 reps on the 5th set). I will be traveling for work this weekend so probably won't post for a day or two, but will keep up the diet and update when I'm back.

Yesterday's Food Intake-

Morning
~Greek Yogurt - 210 cal.
~Protein shake - 240 cal.
~Green Tea - 60 cal.

Lunch
~Oikos Yogurt - 220 cal.
~2 Turkey & cheese sandwhiches - 470 cal.

Dinner
~Whey Protein bar - 350 cal
~Baby carrots - 175 cal
~Miscellaneous(gum, water flavoring, etc.) - 50 cal.


Total: 1775 cal. 147g protein, 236g carbs

[bigcalculus]

Loving the consistency great job

Thanks! Definitely planning to keep it up!