Another Newbie with a fat loss log!

[garlan5]

So I've decided to start a log to get advice and criticism for my fat loss goals. I started in the gym in late Feb 07 and really got in a rythym and started a clean diet in late March 07. My starting weight was 265lbs @ 5'10''. I'm now right around 251lbs as my new pics will show a body fat or at least 30%. My goal is to be 10-12% bodyfat and a lean 200lbs by May 2008. Hopefully that is realistic. My diet consists of lean protein chick/eggs/tuna/beef/whey isolate/casein and good carbs beans/whole wheat bread/veggies/long grain brown rice. I'm keeping track of my caloric intake on fitday.com. I started running 1 mile 3x a week but have recently changed over to HIIT cardio via run 30sec/walk 60 sec. I'm waiting to see if my results are improving. Any advice and recommendations are more than welcome.

[exnihillo]

Best wishes...

[blueyedevil]

It sounds like you are off to a good start. You may also want to change up your cardio on a two week flip.. week one one high intensity and two low
week two two high one low then flip the schedule... Might want to try an eca stac two... if you can handle stims....

[garlan5]

sat 5/19
lifted at 7am worked back
8am HIIT cardio. only 12 minutes. I sprinted for 30sec and walked 30sec. I was doing a 30/60 split but decided to try 30/30. Man was i whooped. felt good though. I typically would have saturdays off, but friday i worked all day and was too exhausted to go to the gym at 8pm. I tend to think i got a better workout after getting good sleep and doing things in the a.m as opposed to after work training. The only downfall to yesterday was the fact I did not get my calories in the right way. I ate 1700 cals of good clean food, but had a few beers and 2 shots of whiskey last night. After adding it all up I actually hit my calorie goal of 2500. Unfortunatly I understand that not meeting my caloric intake not healthy, nor is the alcohol, but I do need a social life and once or twice a month is not too bad. Plus I did it in moderation and I made it into work early this morn! I in no way was intending on using alcohol to reach my caloric goal for the day, it just happened that way. Also i got in more exercise yesterday after attending a local cancer benifit (relay for life), where we had to walk for a couple of hours.

I'll be sure to hit my goal for the day today, and complete low intensity run tonight after work. I think i'm gonna take some peoples advice (from here) and limit myself to 2 HIIT workouts week and do low intenstiy cardio on my (former) off days.

[garlan5]

It sounds like you are off to a good start. You may also want to change up your cardio on a two week flip.. week one one high intensity and two low
week two two high one low then flip the schedule... Might want to try an eca stac two... if you can handle stims....

what exactly is a eca stack. my only supplements are whey/casein powder, animal pak muliti's, and creatine monohydrate. I bought some yohimbe extract that was "supposed" to be good "jumpstart" prior to working out. but i didnt find it to do anything. what fat burners would you recommend or suggest?

also i was taking ON's liquid amino acids (fruit punch) but I dont know if it was worth it either. I figure that i'm getting sufficient aminos through my diet and protein supp, plus animal pak has lots included.? any thoughts on this?

[The Director]

what exactly is a eca stack. my only supplements are whey/casein powder, animal pak muliti's, and creatine monohydrate. I bought some yohimbe extract that was "supposed" to be good "jumpstart" prior to working out. but i didnt find it to do anything. what fat burners would you recommend or suggest?

also i was taking ON's liquid amino acids (fruit punch) but I dont know if it was worth it either. I figure that i'm getting sufficient aminos through my diet and protein supp, plus animal pak has lots included.? any thoughts on this?

ECA= Ephedrine Caffein Aspirin

If you can get pure ephedra, even better, but ephedrine is the only choice, and its under the counter at any pharmacy.

[VegasTiger]

Be careful with the ephedrine brother, I will be looking forward to how good this comes out. Good Luck, I'll be following!

[garlan5]

Be careful with the ephedrine brother, I will be looking forward to how good this comes out. Good Luck, I'll be following!

i dont know if i'll be using ephedrine. i'm not much on stimulants. maybe if my progress is not going as planned. just trying to be strict on my diet, but not too strict. between 2000-2500 cals a day with cardio and my lifting. we'll see where that gets me. thanks for the replys

[liGymRatt]

i like this post!!!!!! i'll be back! lol

[garlan5]

5/21 monday-

5:30am 4 eggs and 1/2 cup oats with prunes and 1 scoop whey+5g creatine monohydrate

6:30am Lifted weights. worked my chest on 3 diff exercises (3X10)
I also did 40 situps and worked my triceps afterwards.

this might sound gay, but i hit the tanning bed before working out. must rid that farmers tan!!

7:30am post workout i had 2 scoops of whey isolate+5g of creatine monohydrate

10:00am cut up a cooked chicken breast and made a sandwich on whole wheat bread/double fiber. chugged down some H20

this is the part of my work schedule that gets tricky.. i just got off dayshift yesterday (sunday) and i have to turn my sleep around and go back in tonight. So I will be trying not to eat too much for the rest of the day due to the fact i have to go in and work 12 hours tonight. I'll get off at 7am tomorrow morning. My body is now getting used to eating every 2-3 hours and it's gonna be hard to make it thru today and tonight. Hopefully i'll get a nap in today prior to work.

also i weighed this morn at 248lbs. i also felt weak on my lifts today. maybe its because i'm cutting and just introduced this HIIT for my cardio. plus i'm finding it harder to get 2500 calories in now. I think i averaged 2120cals last week. I'll see how the rest of my week goes in the gym and keep ya posted

[garlan5]

well i got a couple more hours of work left and i hit my daily calorie goal right on the money.

Total: 2537 calories
grams calories total%
Fat: 60g 540 22%
Sat: 14g 125 5%
Poly: 9g 81 3%
Mono: 18g 160 6%
Carbs: 233g 790 32%
Fiber: 35g 0 0%
Protein: 292g 1168 47%

i also got my protein numbers up. the only thing questionable that i ate today was Green Giant baby vegetable medley. 120 cals, but it had 12g sugar. I'm not sure how much of that was from the carrots and peas but all in all it was a healthy mix of vegetables. cauliflower, carrots, peas, and something else from the frozen section. just not sure about the sugar and the so called "seasoning".

[garlan5]

tues. 5/22
8:00am went to bed

4:30pm got up

5:00pm did 15 HIIT cardio via 30sec run 60sec walk splits. also did this on an empty stomach. i was rather fatigued afterwords. my lower back was bothering my and so was my left heel. i have 2 slipped disc in my lower back from a car wreck. some days it gives me a fit. i feel like it affects my running somedays. check, i know it does.

6:00pm finished cooking dinner and left for work

7:00pm- ate a steak.(chuck round) what part of the cow that's from i dont know. it tasted and looks similar to a ribeye. a little more lean but not as tender. it was good though. i can cook a steak. ate 1 cup mushrooms seasoned up. 2 small sweet potato's with cinnamon and a little splenda. that meal was double my calories for one usual sitting and had more fat than usual. but oh well. it was awesome.

8:00pm 1 Animal Pak vitamin supplement. note- i wont be reordering those horse pills. I just cant take 11 huge pills in one sitting everyday. Prob going back to mega man or somthing similar. suggestions anybody?

[heathershubby]

and damn almost 300g of protien with 2500 cals you are the man . keep it up I would rep ya but I am all out for the day subscribed though and I will get ya soon.

[garlan5]

and damn almost 300g of protien with 2500 cals you are the man . keep it up I would rep ya but I am all out for the day subscribed though and I will get ya soon.

thanks for taking an interest. i'm not sure what "rep ya" means. i'll look into it and take it as a compliment. (hopefully). i checked your page out. keep up the hard work. its great how this site keeps me motivated. i can always count on good advice.

[garlan5]

yesterday's notes: 5/24 thursday.
got in 2300 calories. the last 300 came from a few shots of whiskey at the watering hole. like i said before i'm not giving up my social life, just cutting back some. if i feel like a 2-3 times a month i do have a few shots of the good stuff is hurting my goals then i will cut it out all together. so far i havent gone overboard with the booze where it affects my workouts. i'm staying under my calorie goal of 2500/day maximum. (without skipping meals). so we'll see. I'm also down to 246-247lbs.

today friday 5-25;

the fedex lady came just as i was bout to have a preworkout shake. so i got to try out ON's bannana's and cream protein. that ****s tha bomb! also got NoExplode and my dextrose. that was a first for the NOExplode and it seemed to be helpful. will continue to monitor it's effectivness. Also a first was the dextrose in my Post workout shake. I will trust the folks on this site that spiking my insulin after workout it the way to go. I'm not a fan of sugar and didnt like the sweet taste it gave my shake. but since it's dextrose corn sugar and not "house" sugar i'll keep using it pwout.

And just a side note:
I have quite an assortment of protein in my cabinets. i like a little change so i bought a few different brands the last few months. I read the reviews on diff brands and bought 2 that were "high" quality and more expensive. one being GFpro and the other WPI. watermellon and cherry. the reviews said they mix the best and provide great recovery. recovery maybe, but the mixing and taste was far below ON 100% whey and EXTREMELY below ON Casein. and no i dont work for ON. those are the only 3 brands i have tried. that damn GFpro will absolutly not mix without clumps and its horrible in the blender. the **** gets air bubbles that wont settle out even after putting it in the fridge for 10-20 minutes. That just proves you have to use your own judgment and dont trust reviews. other people's opinions are just what they are. just throwing that out there if anybody was going to try one of them.

[garlan5]

i havent logged anything on here all week so i will post my stats for the week ending june 2 2007 that i keep on fitday.com ......

5/28 2200cals in 3300 out rest day
5/29 2000cals in 3600 out (lifted weights/chest)
5/30 2000cals in 3700 out (ran 2 miles)
5/31 2100cals in 3750 out (ran 1.5 miles and walked .5 miles)
6/01 1700cals in 3800 out (lifted weights back/legs)
6/02 3300cals in 3200 out ..extra calories from the brews i had at a party

as of 6/1 my wieght is down to 243lbs. getting into difficult times with vacation trips coming up. plus its summer and lots of parties.!! will have to find alternatives to the beer.

[garlan5]

5:30am got up
5:45am 2 scoops noxplode
6:00am tan
6:20am lifted
3x10 bench
3x10 dumbell flys
3x10 used curl bar with overhand grip and pulled up from waist to chin
(don't know the name of exercise)
2x10 decline situps- couldnt do as much as i wanted due to slip disc
3x10 curls w/straight bar
7:15am breakfast- 5 scrambled eggs (no cheese. hot sauce only)
2 slices of whole wheat bread sugar free
shake (1scp whey iso, 1tsp Dextrose, 5g creatine mono
plus 1cup of milk)
total of 69g protein 43g carbs and 33g fat 750 cals total.
prob could have lowered those numbers but hey i was hungry. plus i wont be able to eat for a while.

[garlan5]

havent logged on this in a while. this summer has been hectic. a couple of vacations. One in June and one in July. I hit a plateau sorta. i've hit 233 once on the scale but mainly i've been around 236-240. depending on the time of weighing. but thats not really my concern. my body fat % is the main thing. I'm back hitting it hard cause those two week vacations have leveled me out i think. For a while i was eating more carbs and had lowered my protein back (daily). I still kept my total calories at 2500 for the day, but reduced prot back to 200g. That and the two weeks off are the main culprits of my plateau. But i havent gained any weight or fat. My muscle tone seems to be a small amount better. i posted some new pics as of Aug 1st. They show how little my progress has been since May. But the next few months will prove how much will power i have. I have a few trips planned and we shall see how i do. Not planning on giving in, i just have to figure out how to get my workouts in and how to get my macros correct for the day.

peace