Eli's Strength Training Weight Maintenance Log

[EliKoehn]

Next week, I will shift emphasis from a long period of mild weight loss once again to serious strength training, which will not be feasible within a caloric deficit necessary for the former purpose. The danger there is to indulge the temptation to overeat in the ostensible name of hypertrophy and rapid strength gains, but from only a little bit of experience, I recognize that powerful illusions lie there about the results of entertaining this sort of idea deliberately, and that even having complacency towards it in general and undoing much former progress is dangerously easy.

For that reason, I've decided to post a maintenance log. The details of my training are recorded in another thread, so the point here will simply to be to keep a weekly tab on my weight and waist measurement so that it is in check as I undergo the transition towards eating more and training harder.

I plan tentatively to retain this emphasis on strength training for about half a year, so that meaningful gains can be made which aren't realistic on a mini-cycle. As someone who still weighs a good deal over 200 pounds and does not quite have an advanced strength level, I expect that there is still plenty of unplowed territory of strength potential for caloric maintenance training, so this will be my long-term approach.

My daily calorie allowance will be 3,500. Given the consistent rate at which I lost on 2,700, I anticipate that this will be at least reasonably close to approximate maintenance. The scale, tape measure and mirror speak louder than what I think I'm counting, but for the latter purpose I will trust the nutrition label and my faithful approximation, even though these are not especially accurate. So, I will be estimating, but if the weight or waistline start to move concerningly, I will make adjustments to either the calorie target or how I'm tracking it.

Some weight gain is going to happen immediately from sarcoplasm, glycogen, sodium, more food in my system and maybe even some hypertrophy, and this doesn't concern me. There will also be a little bit of fat gain, but so long as it is mitigated relative to my purpose and monitored, this doesn't bother me either as a small measure of it comes almost necessarily with the territory.

Right now, I'm thinking nothing more than an inch gained on the waist from a well-fed base point, which would be 39" as I fluctuate between 37-38" currently, or about five pounds beyond my well-fed waking up weight of about 238 or so, will not be tolerated. I'm less concerned with the scale as I will be with the tape measure, as it is affected by positive as well as negative factors while the latter isn't, but in any case I will be tracking both, as well as my strength progress in the other thread.

So, there's that. Cue the power metal and resume the joy of training!

[EiFit91]

In!

Did you find it harder to cut as you approached a leaner state this cut? Just asking because it's interesting to compare experiences here as we both seem to have a body that "likes" to hold a little extra fat.

I would be very happy being able to maintain at 3500 but I would end up a "bloatlord" at that many calories unfortunately lol

[EliKoehn]

In!

Did you find it harder to cut as you approached a leaner state this cut? Just asking because it's interesting to compare experiences here as we both seem to have a body that "likes" to hold a little extra fat.

I would be very happy being able to maintain at 3500 but I would end up a "bloatlord" at that many calories unfortunately lol

Actually and to my surprise, no for the most part. The fact that I'm still at least 15-20 pounds away from the lower echelons of "lean" by this forum's standards means that even now that I am at a healthy bodyweight, I still likely never experienced any of the pangs of real hunger one undergoes when they are already there. I somewhat know what that feels like from a semester in college when I was living almost broke supporting myself and didn't have much money for food - got down to the 160s at my current height IIRC.

This time around, there was a difficulty at first from breaking out of the pattern of habitually overeating. I actually think this has been most of it. (Another big factor is alcohol, and reducing this has made a notable difference, as well.) Some of that habit was actually created intentionally by thinking I needed to eat copious amounts of protein and food overall in order to make meaningful progress, and some of it was doubtless just an endorsement of the pleasure of lazy hedonism. Fortunately, I no longer crave a big, rich meal more than once or twice a week, so hopefully my appetite has been successfully moderated for the long run to better accord with what I actually need. Also, I now actually enjoy and am satisfied by a wider range of wholesome foods, which further helps this. So, actually, I am less hungry in the lower 230s than I was at any time when I was heavier.

However, I have also found that "pushing the envelope" as I've made more progress has a bit more backfire than it did when I was carrying more fat, which is to be expected, of course, but I think this takes more of a form of legitimate hunger rather than eating for a "fix." Intense squats and deadlifts almost always flare my appetite strongly for a day or so, but then it levels out. That said, my TDEE does seem to be on the high end for my activity level, and I'm still regularly eating plenty of calories overall.

[EiFit91]

Actually and to my surprise, no for the most part. The fact that I'm still at least 15-20 pounds away from the lower echelons of "lean" by this forum's standards means that even now that I am at a healthy bodyweight, I still likely never experienced any of the pangs of real hunger one undergoes when they are already there. I somewhat know what that feels like from a semester in college when I was living almost broke supporting myself and didn't have much money for food - got down to the 160s at my current height IIRC.

This time around, there was a difficulty at first from breaking out of the pattern of habitually overeating. I actually think this has been most of it. (Another big factor is alcohol, and reducing this has made a notable difference, as well.) Some of that habit was actually created intentionally by thinking I needed to eat copious amounts of protein and food overall in order to make meaningful progress, and some of it was doubtless just an endorsement of the pleasure of lazy hedonism. Fortunately, I no longer crave a big, rich meal more than once or twice a week, so hopefully my appetite has been successfully moderated for the long run to better accord with what I actually need. Also, I now actually enjoy and am satisfied by a wider range of wholesome foods, which further helps this. So, actually, I am less hungry in the lower 230s than I was at any time when I was heavier.

However, I have also found that "pushing the envelope" as I've made more progress has a bit more backfire than it did when I was carrying more fat, which is to be expected, of course, but I think this takes more of a form of legitimate hunger rather than eating for a "fix." Intense squats and deadlifts almost always flare my appetite strongly for a day or so, but then it levels out. That said, my TDEE does seem to be on the high end for my activity level, and I'm still regularly eating plenty of calories overall.

Wow 160 that's incredibly low for your height! What happened after that, did you quickly gain weight?

Hunger didn't become a problem for me until I hit about 175 lbs/17% ish body fat. When I got past that point it was like a "difficulty switch" was flicked and it just got way harder to push further. Until that point it was relatively easy.

[EliKoehn]

Wow 160 that's incredibly low for your height! What happened after that, did you quickly gain weight?

Hunger didn't become a problem for me until I hit about 175 lbs/17% ish body fat. When I got past that point it was like a "difficulty switch" was flicked and it just got way harder to push further. Until that point it was relatively easy.

That was actually most of my whole sophomore year of college, although I had begun to gain back a little bit in the spring semester. I had more money for food for the rest of the year, and ended up gaining from about probably 170 or so by the semester's end to the lower 200s by the end of 2017. It was a deliberate bulk, with lots of fast food and "collegey" eating, although I was still careful not to totally overdo it and gained a decent amount of fat and muscle over that time and got to some decent numbers in the gym (benched 225 for 7, could lat pulldown the whole stack, got a 405 deadlift January of 2018, etc.). While I actually looked pretty cut before I started gaining, I was very weak and don't regret gaining the weight and the strength.

I have a photo of me from March 2017 where I weighed about 170 and look lean. I might find it and post it later. I got fat at 15-16, rapidly lost weight at 17 from running and eating basically just oatmeal and small portions of what was for dinner, but at the end of that looked like a skinny runner without muscle, started doing "bro" machine workouts and curls regularly at 18 and began to look pretty good even though I had very little strength with conventional exercises, then at 20 unintentionally cut, then deliberately bulked at 20-21, at the end of which I was in pretty good shape and much stronger if sort of bulky, then at 22-23 I became fat again, 24-25 leaned back down lol...

[paulinkansas]

Go climb Mt Kilimanjaro. It took me 3 weeks. My mom picked me up at the airport when I came back. The first words out of her mouth were "You've lost weight."

[EliKoehn]

Quick update: I delayed beginning my program until Monday. I can assume glycogen levels are higher due to better overall lifting performance in the interim since ending my cut, but I have been drinking and eating at restaurants too much, which means any kind of accurate estimation is essentially awash.

Woke up 237 this morning but haven't measured my waist. I suspect it has gone up a little bit. Will keep the weekly log beginning Monday.

[EliKoehn]

Visited my family yesterday for Easter and so will use the tape and scale measurements from yesterday morning before I left, and count them for today. While the swing in water-weight is fine and was to be expected, I'll be red-flagging any upward movement in excess of about a few pounds on the scale or an inch on the tape from now on. Today's the first day of my 6 week strength program which I ran last year with plenty of success.

04/18/22: 239.0 & 38.5"

[EliKoehn]

04/18/22: 239.0 & 38.5"
04/25/22: 243.2 & 38.25" (+4.2 & -0.25")

Perhaps the weight gain is benign, as my waist is slimmer and I don't appear fatter. Either way, there can't really be any more slack at this point. Week two of this strength program is high-volume and intense, so I won't reduce calories right now, but need to keep everything closely in check.

[EliKoehn]

04/18/22: 239.0 & 38.5"
04/25/22: 243.2 & 38.25" (+4.2 & -0.25")
05/02/22: 242.7 & 38.5" (-0.5 & +0.25")

[EliKoehn]

04/18/22: 239.0 & 38.5"
04/25/22: 243.2 & 38.25" (+4.2 & -0.25")
05/02/22: 242.7 & 38.5" (-0.5 & +0.25")
05/09/22: 246.3 & 38.75" (+3.6 & +0.25")

[jaxqen]

Not much to say, only "Good luck, man, hope you get the results you want"

[EliKoehn]

Not much to say, only "Good luck, man, hope you get the results you want"

Thanks - weight is climbing up, but all of it is on my watch, so I can only hold myself accountable. Still overall progress relative to last year. It's really difficult to chase powerlifting numbers and not overeat.

[EliKoehn]

I visited my family last night for a postponed Mother's Day celebration, and their scale is out of battery, and I don't have my tape measure. Will measure when I get home and assume it could be a few pounds more relative to not being first thing in the morning. Strength is going up but I'm looking more soft, as well.

I retest my maxes next week, after which I am considering a 3 or 4 week mini-cut at about 2,700 cal/day. The way that usually goes, I should expect to lose about 10 pounds of fat, and likely 15-20 on the scale.

[EliKoehn]

04/18/22: 239.0 & 38.5"
04/25/22: 243.2 & 38.25" (+4.2 & -0.25")
05/02/22: 242.7 & 38.5" (-0.5 & +0.25")
05/09/22: 246.3 & 38.75" (+3.6 & +0.25")
05/16/22: 245.4 & 39.5" (-0.9 & +0.75")

Was expecting to come back weighing more, which is promising, though I'm hoping the waistline has more to do with the evening measurement than anything else, but perhaps not. Time will tell. That's the point of keeping a track record of this, after all.

Set a squat 4RM today, and strength has been climbing across the board.

[EliKoehn]

04/18/22: 239.0 & 38.5"
04/25/22: 243.2 & 38.25" (+4.2 & -0.25")
05/02/22: 242.7 & 38.5" (-0.5 & +0.25")
05/09/22: 246.3 & 38.75" (+3.6 & +0.25")
05/16/22: 245.4 & 39.5" (-0.9 & +0.75")
05/23/22: 249.6 & 39.5" (+4.2 & +0.0")

It's max out week now. I'm disappointed by my upwardly crawling weight, but seem to be carrying it well as it shocked me to see my weigh in relative to how I look in the mirror. Body composition is better than it was last time I weighed this, but this is still above what I am content with and nobody but me is responsible for that. Going to keep tracking and being transparent about it.

Strength is still increasing! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiygNhNzvdY

[EliKoehn]

04/18/22: 239.0 & 38.5"
04/25/22: 243.2 & 38.25" (+4.2 & -0.25")
05/02/22: 242.7 & 38.5" (-0.5 & +0.25")
05/09/22: 246.3 & 38.75" (+3.6 & +0.25")
05/16/22: 245.4 & 39.5" (-0.9 & +0.75")
05/23/22: 249.6 & 39.5" (+4.2 & +0.0")
05/30/22: 252.4 & 40" (+2.8 & +0.5")
06/06/22: 249.6 & 39.5 (-2.8 & -0.5")

Missed tracking last week, but think I remember the number from that morning. Body comp is better than last time I was here but I'm not content to maintain at this weight. Anyway, carrying on...

[EliKoehn]

04/18/22: 239.0 & 38.5"
04/25/22: 243.2 & 38.25" (+4.2 & -0.25")
05/02/22: 242.7 & 38.5" (-0.5 & +0.25")
05/09/22: 246.3 & 38.75" (+3.6 & +0.25")
05/16/22: 245.4 & 39.5" (-0.9 & +0.75")
05/23/22: 249.6 & 39.5" (+4.2 & +0.0")
05/30/22: 252.4 & 40" (+2.8 & +0.5")
06/06/22: 249.6 & 39.5" (-2.8 & -0.5")
06/13/22: 250.7 & 39.0" (+0.9 & -0.5")

[EliKoehn]

I'm going to start logging back here on a regular basis. Instead of ordering it in a list, I'll just post my weight and waist measurement for whatever that day is and can scroll up or down for the timeline.

For my height, I'd like to be about an inch below 50% WHR, which for me is 36. I'm nearly five inches above target right now. I was at 37" at 230 back in November, so somewhere in the 220s is likely where I'll land.

[EliKoehn]

09/12/22: 261.7 & 40.5"

Aiming for 210 by March. This first week I will ease into it with a daily calorie allowance of 3,000 and add in some legit cardio which I've not done in a while. Will possibly keep to that a second week, and thereafter reduce it to 2,700 for the long haul. I've lost weight consistently at both amounts so I know that it's not too close to my maintenance. Want to remain able to train competently so will be intending for a deficit about 300-500 below.

[EliKoehn]

09/19/22: 260.4 & 41.0"

The waist measurement was either 41.00" or 40.75" but when in doubt, I want to be erring on the conservative side and call it the worse of the two. I'm also taking unflexed front, side and rear photos and might montage them at the end of this or include a progress comparison after a while. Both of these changes could be noise movements and are too insignificant on their own to make much of. Gym performance has improved (getting 8 clean pullups at such a heavy bodyweight is gratifying!) and keeping that at a premium is definitely the idea, so keeping at this pace for half a year ought to preserve it.

[EliKoehn]

10/03/22: 255.3 & 40.25"

[EliKoehn]

I'll be picking this back up, with a new measurement on Monday. I was reading back on the group log from earlier this year where I made it below 230. I looked trim, was at a relatively close strength level even on a deficit, and was a stone's throw from my original goal of 215. Makes me sad that I slacked off and undid so much quality progress which was the slow work of more than half a year. I was hitting all of the basics, and lo and behold, they worked... Nothing fancy was required; just got in my protein minimum, maintained a consistent, slight deficit, trained sensibly and comprehensively at a lower overall volume, and allowed for a few measured indulgences. I had some disappointing life news towards the end of that progress which tempted me to stop caring, but, that was still ultimately my decision. Time to reverse that.

The good news is, I have actually gotten stronger in the meantime. Now I can rep 315 on the bench I previously was not able to do that last time I weighed this much. I can still do 10 clean pullups. Deadlifts are the same as they were. My chest still is more prominent than my belly in a shirt, and for whatever weird reason, my face seems leaner than at the same weight before, even though I've clearly gotten fat. That's just not something I'm going to be content with.

I'll be out of the US for a few months starting next week, so what training and life stability overall are going to look like will be up to question and I'm heading into a lot of unknown. Still though, I'm leaving my desk job, so it's a perfect opportunity to replace that 40 hours a week of sitting down with a lot more activity living in and experiencing another country.

Unsure at the moment what timetable to set for this, but I want to get to where I'm waking up at a consistent 215, give or take only a few pounds, as a lifetime thing. Given my measurements and what I looked like at ~230, that's probably going to be 15-18% for me, which is a healthy weight to maintain for life now that I'm completely done growing and content with the amount of hypertrophy I've achieved.

Any support or encouragement is appreciated. I don't normally talk like a miscer, but if I start backsliding or slacking, neg me (srs).