Posted by Chris on January 8, 2010
Progress!
Im down to 209lbs and just over 18% body fat
By my math i have ~21lbs to go to reach my current goal of 8%.
My extremely clean and probably a bit to low calorie diet is taking its toll on me though. During
the first week it was especially tough to finish the workouts and use the same weights.
But now my body is starting to get used to the low carb, low calorie diet and things are looking up.
My exercise routine is the same as the one i posted last but I'm much more dedicated to it and make sure i don't miss any days. My diet is also the same except I'm sticking to it and don't add random junk.
Posted by Chris on December 29, 2009
The holidays are over !
I managed to hold my weight at 211. I dipped down to 208 just before xmas but the 3 days of candy and good food took their toll.
Time to get serious!
There should be no reason not to have steady loss now. New years isn't really a big deal to me and i wont be pigging out. Its all downhill straight to 8 - 10% body-fat from here on out.
I will be supplementing one meal per day with protein shakes. (most likely lunch). Exercise regime will be the same as before with some extra cardio.
Posted by Chris on December 10, 2009
Another week another lb. Still taking it slow. With the holidays all around it is considerably harder but i am making slow progress non the less. I had a few work related bad lunches that set me back a bit. I was down to 209 at one point but now back up to 211 for the weight in. I think it will stay this way until after Christmas but i will try my hardest to stay at least on a downward trend. Then once the holidays are out of the way things should go much faster.
Posted by Chris on November 30, 2009
So far the progress is meager but that was to be expected with thanks giving in the first weeks.
Ive lost 1lb down to 212lbs so at least i made some progress and I'm still in phase 1. I'm getting ready for phase 2 so i cleaned up my diet completely for this up coming week. I should be able to post some real results within the next few weeks. I still take Jack3d and protein every day to keep my muscle while loosing the fat. My goal is fat loss not weight loss. As of today I'm still +-1 20% Body fat.
Posted by Chris on November 17, 2009
Time to get started. I found my calipers and it seems my Body fat% is getting dangerously close to 20%. I have been eating a lot and working out a lot to make good gains. But my diet wasn't anywhere near clean. So it was expected that i would gain some fat. In any case i don't want to shock my body and start cutting calories like crazy from one day to the other so I'm going to shift down in Phases.
Phase 1(this week) i will cut out most junk food while keeping calories slightly lower than before.
Phase 2 I will reduce calories by about 500 and cut out all junk food except on exceptions or 1 cheat day per week.
And Phase 3 i will adjust the calories up or down depending on the results of Phase 2.
The exercise side of thing will stay similar. I will still do my set of exercises mentioned in the last posts but i will add them to a modified P90x calendar so that i have the cardio covered.
Oh for reference as of writing this post i am 213lbs. I am taking pictures for self reference that i might post when its all done.
Posted by Chris on November 6, 2009
I'm trying to find my body fat calipers so i can get an accurate measure of my body fat %. I'm making steady weight gains and i know I'm gaining quite a bit of fat too(diet isn't as clean as i wish it was). I want to see what the relation between muscle and fat gain is and i don't want to cross 20% body fat.
They look something like this:
Sequoia Fitness Metacal Body Fat Caliper, 1 Caliper
After 2 days of looking i still cant find them. I may have to buy some new ones. Good thing they only cost like 5$.
Anyways, once i find them i will be able to measure my BF% and can make a decision on when to start my CUT. As things are now i will start right after Thanksgiving. For any of you that want to loose weight those will be some interesting posts.
Posted by Chris on October 29, 2009
As with my Polyphasic updates I had to skip one week but to make up for it I have finalized my current workout routine
I have decided to do a quick clean Bulk until late November. My reasoning is that I had put on quite a bit of fat in the past few months and I don't want to let it go to waste.
It is much easier to gain muscle with a bit of a fat pad. More muscle = a faster metabolism. And of course a faster metabolism means faster weight loss.
For those of you unfamiliar with the term bulk, its is basically just a switch to gaining muscle. So I increase my caloric intake and Lift heavy weights in the 8 - 10 rep range to gain muscle(and usually a little fat).
So here is my current exercise brake down:
the first number after an exercise is the Sets the second and third the rep range.
Monday:
Chest/Tris/shoulders
Bench 4x 8-10 (increasing weight each set)
Incline Bench 4x 8–10 (increasing weight each set)
Chair Dips
Triceps Isolation (various exercises)
Shoulder Presses
Y Presses.
Tuesday:
Abs/light Cardio
Wednesday:
Back/Bis
Deadlifts 4x 8-10 (increasing weight each set)
Chin ups and pull ups
Bicep Curls ( lots of variations 8 -10 rep)
I sometimes throw in a few Rows but so far the heavy deadlifts leave my back pretty shaky so i don't want to over do it.
Thursday: Abs/Cardio or rest
Friday:
Legs/back
Squat 4x 8-10(increasing weight per set)
Leg Raises
Pull Ups Chin Ups
Calf Work (various exercises)
Saturday:
Rest or Cardio
Sunday:
Rest
I throw in some different muscle groups here and there if i feel up to it. Like some Chest Flys on Fridays or Bench.
I have Increased my Protein and Calorie Intake to match my Goal of gaining some weight.
My diet changes a lot and isn't 100% steady but it seems to work ok.
I gained a few lbs these past 2 weeks putting me at 206lbs. All of my Free weight exercises have increased dramatically. But i have a harder time with body weight exercises (lost 1 rep on my pull ups)
My current plan is to Gain weight for a few weeks and then Start a P90x+ 90 day modified routine to loose the fat for next spring.
If you have any questions leave comments.
Posted by Chris on October 14, 2009
I lost another lb down to 201 lbs.
The shippment of my supplements from bb.com arrived last week on Tuesday just as i expected
USPlabs Jack3d, 225 Grams, Lemon Lime
So i was a bit surprised by the size of jack3d it was smaller than i expected. But after trying it for a week i realized it doesn't matter at all. The scoop is proportionally smaller and the results are great.
Comparing jack3d to Sp250.
Jack3d has more of a clean feeling to it. Not as jittery and more focused. Sp250 has a bit more of a pump but jack3d is very comparable. Overall i like jack3d better now but SP250 is still a great supplement.
Dymatize Elite 12 Hour MRP, 20 Packets, Fudge Brownie
The Dymatize MRPs dont mix very well so i recommend a shaker or a blender. They taste ok, a bit like a blended up protein bar. It wasn't the best tasting experience but the price and nutrition is right.
CytoSport Muscle Milk, 2.47 Lbs, Cake Batter
And of course the muscle milk cake batter tastes great. A bit sweeter then i remember but still one of the best tasting protein powders around.
So with my new supplements i increased my workouts steadily over the week and I'm making good progress once again. The velocity diet at lunch helped a lot and i decided to keep it up for another 7 days. Its very convenient to just drink a shake instead of having to pack a lunch.
Since my workout schedule is stabilizing more i should be able to post a full example of it next week.
Posted by Chris on October 6, 2009
I lost about 1 lb and my lifts and cardio are improving. My diet is getting cleaner every day but I'm still to hungry around lunch time. So I decided to do a partial velocity diet.
The velocity diet is pretty simple. You drink a protein shake/mrp(meal replacement) for every meal and that's it. Its a way to loose some quick weight and shrink your stomach while still getting enough protein and other beneficial ingredients to maintain muscle.
Long term this diet is of course bad. But short term or even just replacing 1 meal its actually a good idea. So my plan for this week is to replace all my lunches with protein shakes/mrps. That should cut down on lunch hunger after that week is over and make it easier to eat smaller healthy portions.
My new supplements and protein should be arriving today.
I ordered:
CytoSport Muscle Milk, 2.47 Lbs, Cake Batter: Best tasting protein powder ever. I eat it with my oats in the morning or if I want to enjoy a shake and not chug it.
USPlabs Jack3d, 225 Grams, Lemon Lime: My Sp250 is running low so I ordered some of this to replace it. I haven't tested it yet but I have heard great things about it.
Dymatize Elite 12 Hour MRP, 20 Packets, Fudge Brownie
These are great for days when I don't have time to make a certain meal. Provides all the nutrition I need without all the junk around it. Also needed for the velocity diet.
Posted by Chris on October 1, 2009
Week 1 is over. So far i have 0 change in weight. My cardio and strength have improved somewhat. And i do feel much better all around. Not eating junk food and getting regular exercise definitely has its benefits. So far my current workout routine is a heavily modified P90x/+ . I start Mondays with chest and back(replaced most of the push-ups with dumbbell bench) and then i added another bench day(barbell) toward the end of the week after i had recovered. I also had 1 Leg/shoulder day mixed in. The rest of the days i did cardio. This was only the first week and I'm still working on a good routine that i can stick to.