Natty on Pennies

Training Logs
1262

Had a quite hefty nighttime snack in preparation for tomorrow’s leg session…

500g quark
500g Greek yogurt
250g Rye flakes made into a porridge
200g of berries
250g Green beans
250g Broccoli
Fish oil

That’s like, what, 2.5kgs of food. Feels good man.

Get on my level @duketheslaya :wink:

A pro tip for making your porridge/oats taste better; put cardamom, cinnamon and a pinch of salt into there, makes it taste like cinnamon rolls.

But yeah, tomorrow will be a leg session. We (me, my girlfriend and a friend of mine) are going to travel to the next town to test out a gym over there. Not because we would be joining that gym anytime soon but rather because all of us enjoy trying out new gyms and their equipment. (And for me this is a perfect time to do stuff like hack squats and ssb squats which I can’t do at my regular gym as I don’t have a plan written in stone for the volume deload)

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1263

You just wait, I’m back in the gym now :wink:

Whats cardamom? and got any tips for making eggs taste better? I literally despise eggs. The macro profile/ nutritional content is to good for me to not eat them though.

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1264

Cardamom is a spice used in cinnamon rolls and some pastries. I have no idea of wether you aussies make these pastry buns at all, at least I cannot seem to find a translation for it.

Think cinnamon rolls but just the dough baked

I like eggs so if I have them I usually just throw them o. The pan and put salt on them.

If I do get tired of them I’ll just alter the way I prepare them - make scrambled eggs for a while, boil them for a couple of days. Maybe make an omelette. If you have enough calories you could even throw cheese in any of those variations, just make sure it’s actually cheese and not just some bullshit substitute with food coloring.

That being said, I only eat eggs on my rest days, on my training days I go with red meat and nuts. You don’t reallyhave to eat eggs if you hate them. In fact that may do you more harm than good.

1265

I’ll have a look and see if i can buy some. Also i don’t think I’ve ever had a cinnamon roll

I think I’ll try switching it up everyday and doing stuff to make them taste alot better. If i end up hating life because of eating eggs I’ll get rid of them from my diet lol. They’re just really convenient tbh

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1266

How is that even possible, man, cinnamon rolls alongside croissants are the two things I really have to resists. They are just awesome.

Cooking some ground beef the night before and putting it into a Tupperware with vegetables is pretty convenient too, if you have extra time you can throw it all into a pan, if not you can just take it with you on the go.

1267

Well looks like I’ll have to try one

Ground beef is awesome! I like to make big batches of spaghetti bog with lots of veggies. Or chilli concarne with rice is my other favourite dish for gym

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1268

Definitely, if you buy it from a bakery you better be ready to become hooked

Personally I love just ground beef with vegetables, mixing some salsa in makes it even better. I also like it with just rice or pasta but I’m way too anal about not mixing carbs and fats to ever eat that.

1269

Sounds good. Real simple meal

What’s with the not mixing carbs and fats? I’ve read some stuff about it but what does it do?

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1270

@danteism what were you eating toward the end of your diet? Your nutrition towards the end looked something like,

1200 Calories
190g Protein
40g Carbs
30g Fat

were you excluding your peri-workout nutrition from that (and vegetables) or is it all accounted for?

I’m at about 2400 when everything is accounted for, and that means every single thing, fish oil, and vegetables as well. Fat loss has stalled, looking for inspiration mainly. I know the obvious places to cut away from my daily intake though but I have a long road ahead of me :slight_smile:

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1271

I don’t believe there’s any hard evidence on it and honestly it’s just a habit for me at this point. But in theory it should make it harder for an individual to gain fat as there is minimal insulin response when you don’t have carbs in a meal. (You know, insulin is the storage hormone for both fat and muscle cells and dietary fat gets stored as bodyfat pretty easily)

So in short it’s just about avoiding insulin spikes when eating fat to slow down fat gain.

Currently I’m having three solid meals in addition to peri-workout shakes. One is a protein/fat meal in the morning, other is a protein/carb meal post workout and the third is a protein/carb meal at night with fish oil in there. It’s a pretty big meal so there’s some fat in there just from the protein and carb sources.

I like it, as every meal has a specific purpose. - Metabolic flexibility and no insulin with the first meal, recovery with the second, good sleep and preparation for the next day with the third.

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1272

I believe that’s a rest day, but it ain’t far from my training days either.

I was having:

  • 200g of ground beef and vegetables
  • A can of tuna, 30-50g of rice and some more vegetables
  • Chicken, fish oil and vegetables.
  • Whey pre- and post workout
  • Amino acid+maltodextrine shake intra-workout

I had some glutamine, creatine, salt and HMB in those shakes as well

That’s pretty much it if I recall correctly.

Only things I excluded from my macros were vegetables (which would’ve been about 30-40g carbs) and fish oil (5g fat)

At 2400 you’re still in a pretty safe spot. I wouldn’t recommend as aggressive diets as mine was for anyone unless it is absolutely necessary (I just wanted to get over with it really) or if it’s a mini-cut.

Keep your protein high, your fats at a high enough level (minimum for a lot of people is around 40g or so) and do most of your calorie reductions from carbs.

With carbs, prioritize peri-workout nutrition (especially intra-workout carbs) and the meal before bed to ensure good sleep. Even if you have to go really low try to keep some carbs I’m your intra-workout shake and the last meal. You can function pretty well with no carbs before or after training, but during training you need them.

As you go lower in calories, remember to take care of your fiber intake and micros, eat some vegetables, take some supplements. Just don’t go overboard and eat like five pounds of broccoli a day.

1273

Isnt there mercury in tins of tuna, i would have tuna heaps but i dont want ro get mercury poisoning or get sick

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1274

There is, but I only ate it for a hundred days in a row, I really dislike tuna and only use it when I absolutely have to.

Also, food in Finland is highly regulated so I doubt I would have any problems even if I ate it daily for years.

1275

Thanks for the reply mate. Not that you asked, but here’s my current food-intake:

Breakfast/Peri-workout (928 calories, 104.6p/105.8c/6.6f)

I workout first thing in the AM so I break my fast on pre/intra-workout nutrition:

Pre:

  • 16g whey
  • 15g maltodextrin

Intra:

  • 40g BCAA
  • 30g maltodextrin

Post+Breakfast: (this is my breakfast and what lets me hang in without any snacking before lunch)

  • 2 scoops whey (so like, 59.4 - this is the only thing I add to my shake at the office where I do not have a scale). Will usually have one scoop with everything listed below and then another one an hour later.
  • 50g oats (measured the night before)
  • 25g raisins
  • 50g blueberries (thawed overnight, yum)
  • 50g mixed fruits/berries. Some pineapple, mango, raspberries, grapes

Lunch (579 calories: 45.5p/16.5c/35.5f)

  • 10g Omega-3s
  • 200g Ground Beef 10-12%
  • 300g Frozen vegetable mix of carrots 37%=(21% orange, 16% yellow), cauliflower (15%), peas (30%), beans (18%)

Dinner (449 calories: 47.5p/16.5c/18.5f):

  • 200g Chicken Thighs
  • 300g of the aforementioned vegetable mix

Pre-bed snack (435 calories: 19.5p/8.1c/35.6f):

  • 10g Omega-3s
  • 25g almonds
  • 40g olives
  • 100g Cottage Cheese (4%)
  • 100g Saurkraut

Total: 2391 calories. 217p/147c/96.2f

At a current bodyweight of 80kg (down 16kg since April \o/), I can stand to cut a bit of fat first before I touch my carbs. I’ll probably start by exchanging my ground beef for cod (that would be a 200 calorie reduction) and exchanging chicken thighs for chicken breast (-80 calories). I don’t really have a lot of muscle to begin with but I was fat and still carrying more abdominal fat than I should. However, that leaves me at 62.6g fat so I would maybe up almonds and decrease oats and strip out raisins.

The above is just generally what I eat, sometimes I end up buying some spinach/bell peppers/kale or whatever since it’s half-price and then just feast on that.

I also take apple cider vinegar (lower blood glucose levels) and psyllium husks (for fiber) with my night-time snack but that’s 5 calories total.

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1276

I assume there isn’t much difference between how heavily our markets are regulated (I’m from Sweden, hello neighbour), and under that assumption I’d have to say that you are placing too much trust in the Finnish Food Authority (Evira) when it comes to tuna. Actually, here’s what they have to say on the matter: https://www.evira.fi/yhteiset/vierasaineet/tietoa-vierasaineista/raskasmetallit/elohopea/ https://www.evira.fi/yhteiset/vierasaineet/tietoa-vierasaineista/kalan-syontisuositukset/

Our facsimile, Livsmedelsverket, warns that eating canned tuna more often than once a week is a risk and that eating fish and shellfish more often than three times a week (even when consuming varied sources, i.e. different types of fish) is also a risk.

I’ve read that by supplementing with selenium (or consuming Brazil nuts that contain selenium) the risk can be mitigated) but it just seems easier not to eat fish all the time.

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1277

if you don’t like tuna then your safe from mercury poisoning regardless haha. I don’t think food in aus would be as highly regulated as finland so I’ll probably avoid it.

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1278

You could always contact the Australian Food and Grocery Council Contact Us - Australian Food and Grocery Council

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1279

Do you train immediately after that whey shake or like an hour or so afterwards?

If you have a bigger gap in there I’d take the maltodextrine out and up the whey (probably even add some almonds) to avoid blood sugar from crashing.

Also, do you consume salt in your intra? If not, try adding even a teaspoon or so

I’d add some cottage cheese here to get a bit more protein in this meal (if you can eat it, downing huge amounts of that stuff ain’t easy)

Overall, I think your meal plan looks good. You do have plenty of fat in there, a man of your size could probably manage with 60-70 grams. So don’t be scared to cut calories from there

In my opinion, 62 grams is plenty, of course this is a matter of opinions; if you like to have more carbs and less fats, just go ahead. They are pretty interchangeable to a degree.

Probably not, hello to you too!

It may well be, reading through that link I got to say I’m glad I haven’t been eating more tuna.

Aren’t Brazil nuts quite expensive as well? (Like, nut-expensive, as nuts are always pretty expensive)

1280

Yeah, canned tuna is the one food I cannot stand. Like, everything with it is wrong, how can a fish even be so dry and grainy?

Horrible.

1281

I train 15 minutes after, sometimes the delay is a little longer if something comes up before I get out of the door. I try to follow these two articles as much as I can What You Don't Know About Workout Supplements - Diet and Nutrition - COMMUNITY - T NATION Post-Workout Nutrition is Dead

Not yet, just ran out of sea salt (actually only just learned how important sodium is) but definitely will.

More cottage cheese you mean? I might make it a cottage cheese/quark blend over time.

Trying to stay with 1g per kg of bodyweight as long as I can, I’ve never noticed before that I’ve gone over that limit. Got it from here: The Complete Guide to Bulking and Cutting - Diet and Nutrition - COMMUNITY - T NATION I appreciate your feedback. I actually made a program that tallies out calories and macros using the guidelines in that article. You input your starting weight and how many weeks you want to go at it and out you get

DIET_BITCH
==============================================================================================================
Week 1: 84.5-148.4g of carbs, 79.6g of fat, 175.1-199.0g of protein (max=210.6). Between 1755-2106 calories
Week 2: 83.7-146.9g of carbs, 78.8g of fat, 173.4-197.0g of protein (max=208.5). Between 1737-2085 calories
Week 3: 82.8-145.4g of carbs, 78.0g of fat, 171.6-195.0g of protein (max=206.4). Between 1720-2064 calories
Week 4: 82.0-144.0g of carbs, 77.2g of fat, 169.9-193.1g of protein (max=204.3). Between 1703-2043 calories
Total change after 4 weeks: -2.36kg (-2.97%, -1.0% bodyweight change per week). Now weighs: 77.2

Week 5: 81.2-142.5g of carbs, 76.5g of fat, 168.2-191.2g of protein (max=202.3). Between 1686-2023 calories
Week 6: 80.4-141.1g of carbs, 75.7g of fat, 166.5-189.2g of protein (max=200.3). Between 1669-2003 calories
Week 7: 79.6-139.7g of carbs, 74.9g of fat, 164.9-187.4g of protein (max=198.3). Between 1652-1983 calories
Week 8: 78.8-138.3g of carbs, 74.2g of fat, 163.2-185.5g of protein (max=196.3). Between 1636-1963 calories
Total change after 8 weeks: -5.41kg (-6.79%, -1.0% bodyweight change per week). Now weighs: 74.2

Week 9: 78.0-136.9g of carbs, 73.5g of fat, 161.6-183.6g of protein (max=194.3). Between 1619-1943 calories
Week 10: 77.2-135.5g of carbs, 72.7g of fat, 160.0-181.8g of protein (max=192.4). Between 1603-1924 calories
Week 11: 76.4-134.2g of carbs, 72.0g of fat, 158.4-180.0g of protein (max=190.4). Between 1587-1904 calories
Week 12: 75.7-132.8g of carbs, 71.3g of fat, 156.8-178.2g of protein (max=188.5). Between 1571-1885 calories
Total change after 12 weeks: -8.33kg (-10.47%, -1.0% bodyweight change per week). Now weighs: 71.3

Week 13: 74.9-131.5g of carbs, 70.6g of fat, 155.2-176.4g of protein (max=186.7). Between 1555-1867 calories
Week 14: 74.1-130.2g of carbs, 69.9g of fat, 153.7-174.6g of protein (max=184.8). Between 1540-1848 calories
Total change after 14 weeks: -10.45kg (-13.13%, -1.0% bodyweight change per week). Now weighs: 69.2

MASS MONSTER
==============================================================================================================
Week 1: 431.3-471.3g of carbs, 63.7g of fat, 127.4-175.1g of protein (max=175.5). Between 2808-3159 calories
Week 2: 433.5-473.7g of carbs, 64.0g of fat, 128.0-176.0g of protein (max=176.4). Between 2822-3175 calories
Week 3: 435.6-476.0g of carbs, 64.3g of fat, 128.6-176.9g of protein (max=177.2). Between 2836-3190 calories
Week 4: 437.8-478.4g of carbs, 64.6g of fat, 129.3-177.8g of protein (max=178.1). Between 2850-3206 calories
Total change after 4 weeks: 1.20kg (1.51%, 0.5% bodyweight change per week). Now weighs: 80.8

Week 5: 440.0-480.8g of carbs, 65.0g of fat, 129.9-178.6g of protein (max=179.0). Between 2864-3222 calories
Week 6: 442.2-483.2g of carbs, 65.3g of fat, 130.6-179.5g of protein (max=179.9). Between 2879-3239 calories
Week 7: 444.4-485.6g of carbs, 65.6g of fat, 131.2-180.4g of protein (max=180.8). Between 2893-3255 calories
Week 8: 446.6-488.0g of carbs, 65.9g of fat, 131.9-181.3g of protein (max=181.7). Between 2908-3271 calories
Total change after 8 weeks: 2.83kg (3.55%, 0.5% bodyweight change per week). Now weighs: 82.4

Week 9: 448.9-490.5g of carbs, 66.3g of fat, 132.5-182.2g of protein (max=182.6). Between 2922-3287 calories
Week 10: 451.1-492.9g of carbs, 66.6g of fat, 133.2-183.2g of protein (max=183.5). Between 2937-3304 calories
Week 11: 453.4-495.4g of carbs, 66.9g of fat, 133.9-184.1g of protein (max=184.5). Between 2951-3320 calories
Week 12: 455.6-497.9g of carbs, 67.3g of fat, 134.5-185.0g of protein (max=185.4). Between 2966-3337 calories
Total change after 12 weeks: 4.49kg (5.64%, 0.5% bodyweight change per week). Now weighs: 84.1

Week 13: 457.9-500.4g of carbs, 67.6g of fat, 135.2-185.9g of protein (max=186.3). Between 2981-3354 calories
Week 14: 460.2-502.9g of carbs, 67.9g of fat, 135.9-186.9g of protein (max=187.2). Between 2996-3370 calories
Total change after 14 weeks: 5.76kg (7.23%, 0.5% bodyweight change per week). Now weighs: 85.4

SUSTAIN MOTHERFUCKER
==============================================================================================================
199.0-238.8g of carbs, 99.5-119.4g of fat, 127.4-175.1g of protein (max=175.5). Between 2201-2730 calories

However, I’ve been able to lose fat eating more than what those calculations yield (high activity levels or maybe just a decent BMR) and as such I’ve let myself eat that much so that there is more room for restriction later.

Don’t know, my grocery store does not carry them

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