Full Body or Circuit?

That’s a cool snapshot of your adjustments. You weren’t counting your calories, just hitting ballpark targets?

Pretty much. Once I hit around 12% body fat, I did start counting macros a bit more precisely. I’m happy to share the rest of the spreadsheet if you’re interested.

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Yeah I’d love to see it. I’m always interested in what people are doing nutrition-wise.

Really like the excel spreadsheet idea. I think you’re right, that would help me to stay consistent as that’s been my biggest issue, with eating anyways.

Cool man, good luck! Once you get on autopilot things will get rolling and you won’t have to stress the small stuff anymore.

Stressing the small stuff is definitely one of my biggest hinderances.

Don’t have much to spend on additional supps, but I think I’m gonna grab some fish oil. I’d love to get plazma again, but I wouldn’t be able to use it exactly as recommended if I did cause then that’s like $70 for two weeks of servings.

Here’s up to date. Last few weeks have been a roller coaster with reintroduction of creatine, indigo, and other supplements I wanted to try out while super lean. It’s not really specified in my spreadsheet, but Pro has consistently been ~250g/day and Fat I keep capped at 50g. 250 is just an easy number because I know it’s 2 lb of lean meat plus a protein shake.

Week Date Weight Weekly changes
0 2/18 197.6 No more food after work, no more carbonated drinks, no more dates, target less sodium
1 2/25 195 Less fatty meats, healthier fat sources, more carbs (150/day)
2 3/3 192.8 working out 5x from 4x a week: legs/ push/ pull/ lower/ upper
3 3/10 193.2 less sodium, bump intervals from 10-12 min, no eating out, 2 a.m bed time, target ~100g carb/ day
4 3/17 191.4 good week, no changes
5 3/24 188.8 great week! gym closed, training at work, walk to and from work in place of cardio, try first cheat meal
6 4/2 188.2 Stick with set up until true stall, give yourself time to adjust to cheat meal
7 4/9 188.6 Ok real stall. Drop carbs on off days, add 5 min on bike post workout, watch sodium, ordered green tea extract
8 4/16 186.4 Back on track, keep it up, use 2000mg green tea every morning now
9 4/23 185.4 Looking and feeling leaner, pants very loose. No diet change, bump to 10 min on bike PWO
10 5/1 182.4 Big drop! Target big cheat meal tonight. No change but play it by ear.
11 5/8 182 Very little drop but look leaner all over. Before dropping carbs for the last time, switch 10 min on bike to 30:30 intervals–30 sec moderate, 30 sec high.
12 5/15 183.4 Holding water, strength levels were still good in the gym. Drop carbs to 50g on training days, bike 15 min (non HIT), experiment with shorter workouts this week.
13 5/22 181.4 Back on track. No changes.
14 5/29 180 Success! Start brainstorming maintenance strategies/supplements. Drop biking to 10 min, 50g carbs on all days now.
Maintenance
1 6/5 177.2 Holy shit! Looks like it took a few weeks for wave to catch up. Drop biking to just 5 min. 100g carb per day. Order new supplements.
2 6/12 175.6 Damn! Drop biking to zero. 150g carbs per day. Start pre-workout stack and evening ALA, Fish OIl, and Resveratrol. Wait until we hit turning point to introduce C3G and forskolin.
3 6/19 178.8 Somewhat expected with intro of creatine. Look just as lean and muscles are fuller. Stick with 150g carbs, start carbolin 19 and I3G. Drop green tea extract in lieu of indigo. Quick leg work today, move to 6 day P/P/L starting Sunday. Cheat meal Saturdays now (more of an “off” day, no counting, stay smart until evening meal)
4 6/27 176.6 Good stuff, definitely getting fuller and leaner. Bump carbs to 200g, inc HBCD with pre-workout
5 7/4 178.6 Change nothing, as long as we stay <180. Only add carbs when weight drops, and subtract if >180.

FWIW, here’s a pic of start/middle-ish/current just to give myself some credibility hopefully lol. Not just some faceless know-it-all giving unsolicited advice haha. No fat-burners, unless you count green tea extract half-way through. Didn’t even use caffeine. Crazy how much of a difference the last few lbs make in appearance. -12 lbs between #1 and #2, but only -8 lbs between #2 and #3.

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Thanks for posting that. Very impressive cut.

It’s interesting to see you drop another few pounds once you switched to maintenance. Like you said, it’s probably still feeling reaping the benefits of you earlier drops, but it speaks to the patience.

I assume you more or less eat the same thing every day? So that your adjustments are pretty “clean,” so to speak?

Man, again with the supplements! Lolol. Here, I will give you a “magical” pre-workout formula that is will cost you pennies/day if you MUST use something to get your head in the right space.

5g creatine
3g beta alanine
6g l-citrulline malate 2:1
3g l-carnitine tartrate

Google the benefits of each of these. They’re very well researched to improve athletic performance. You can find these all in bulk for super cheap. Mix them with gatorade if you need carbs during your workout.

This is another example of stressing the small stuff haha. I mean you could throw a banana, a scoop of peanut butter, and protein powder in the blender and that would make a great pre-workout meal, too. Worry about hitting your diet consistently. Not trying to be a dick, but your at a point where supplements you’re asking about won’t make a damn difference. It’s like worrying about what finish to put on your hot rod before you’ve even built the engine.

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For sure man. Anyone who tells you it should be linear is full of shit. I remember reading awhile back about how fat cells will hold extra water in a last ditch effort to resist the change, and after a few weeks will finally give up and be like “Fine! Have it your way!” and drop a bunch of weight. Any cut I’ve ever done the drops will always come in big waves regardless of how consistent everything else is.

I’m not sure if you’ve read about Thibs neurotypes, but I’m definitely a 2A. I need variation. I can’t eat the same foods even 2 days in a row, and you can see I changed my weekly split 3 times just in the duration of my cut lol. One week out from the one physique competition I did 7 years ago, my coach had me eat planned out meals for the final stretch and just one week of it almost drove me mad lol. To be honest, I think the variety is what keeps my stress levels low and stay consistent when dieting. My daily caloric intake probably has a standard deviation of 200 cals everyday because of that, but it has always worked for me. Saturday nights are cheat night and I sure as shit don’t worry about counting a damn thing :stuck_out_tongue:

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Absolutely. The few times I’ve gotten moderately lean (other than wrestling, but that was different), I’ve definitely had the couple of weeks of “nothing is working!” followed by a big drop.

I have read about the neurotypes. I know everyone is not in love with the concept, but I think that’s more because they see folks using it as an excuse to only do what they want. I’m a 1A or B depending on how much I’m overestimating my athletic abilities on any given day. I have a tendency to eat nothing all day until I’m starving, then binge eat because I think I deserve it… so basically eat like an American. I like your approach here because you kept yourself accountable without going insane counting everything; for me it’s cool because it’s like every week had its own mini-challenge. It’s pretty slick.

Wow, so you don’t even plan out your meals? I hope to make it to that eventually, but right now I definitely need more structure. That was an awesome log. Nice to see basically everything’s youve said backed up. I’ve struggled slightly with getting enough protein the last few days. I think I may have to start doing meal prep to make sure I consistently get enough.

Damn, I have trouble limiting my protein to 250g! Without keeping it in check I’d have no problem eating 400g/day. I legit enjoy protein shakes, meat, and fish way too much. I think 200g is a good target for you and shouldn’t be too daunting if you just think of it as:

2 scoop protein shake
1 pint of cottage cheese
1 lb of lean meat (my go-to’s are 99/1 ground turkey or 96/4 ground beef)

Tilamook has a zero sugar beef jerky you should check out! A 6.5oz bag has like 90g protein. Quest bars could be worth considering too if your gut can handle them.

Sounds like you’re prime candidate for IF :smiley:. Your username makes sense now if you’re a 1A/B haha.

I appreciate your positive feedback. I’ve been inspired by the Kaizen way to self-improvement, only instead of 1% a day it’s even less daunting at 1% a week lol.

To be honest, back in 2013 I was on this forum alot and started coaching a few people for free thinking I might want to take off with that as a side gig. But then I got a job as a trader in Chicago, which I’m still at and happy :slight_smile: But recently I’ve been catching the bug again and want to start coaching some people on the side. I wouldn’t even charge at first, just looking to build up credibility.

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I keep trying it, because it is appealing to me on paper, and not doing well. I think my problem is I don’t plan for it at all. I just see how long I can go without eating, and then eat everything in sight at dinner.

We’ll call the username unfortunate! I thought I was tough when I first signed up here. If only I knew username’s were supposed to be hilarious…

Financial? And you’re not stressed to death? That’s pretty great! I’m in Cincinnati, so fellow Midwest here.

I definitely think you should try your hand at coaching a little if you like it. You have immediate Instagram credibility with your pictures!

Seriously, I totally get you on building your resume a gratis. The problem is people seem to equate the value with their spend. So even though you’re likely much more valuable than the local Planet Fitness trainer, your clients will, on some level, think you’re worth what they’re paying… then they don’t implement your advice, and there’s nothing you can do. Maybe if it’s a good friend or someone that already has some discipline and just needs help getting to the next level that would be an easier fit.