Kosko, how were your energy levels throughout the day once you adjusted?
Fret's Intermittent Fasting Journey
- Thread starter FretDancer
- Start date
- Status
RioNomad said:
After the body adjustment I was fine. If anything I had more energy as your body is constant feuling itself of its fat. The first real month after the transition faze I was wired all the time and eveb had trouble sleeping some nights.
Energy was not an issue. The body is smart and it finds what it needs too keep you going. It was just important that I hit my calorie targets when I was eating just to make sure my body would be well nurioushed for the next day.
The energy rush is intense though. It's not like the fake caffine buzz. Your locked in, heart is pounding, eyes are focused, and you just want to keep moving doing something. It's a real primal feeling that's not as intense as adrenaline rushes but real close.
My theory is your body needs the activity to burn the fat and get more energy, but also that your body plays a trick that by doing your days activities it gets you closer to meal time.
Cruisen_Chubby
Woodpecker
If you are experiencing hunger pains you should look at your food choices the day before. For example:
Lean chicken breast/tuna takes about 32 hours to be fully absorbed and digested in the human body, meaning, that for 32 hours the amino acids from the ingested proteins will be released for energy use.
If you eat garbage like Doritos or slop from McDonalds that will back your system up, you will be short changing yourself in the long haul.
A simple google search will show you which foods have the longest digestion periods...They are as you think: lean proteins, legumes, etc.
I would also suggest some Casein protein prior to going to sleep. This is the slow release protein for those who don't know.
If you don't want to buy a juicer, you can do a modified IF juice fast... It's great for staying lean and optimizing hormone levels. Example:
-16-20 hours fast
-BCAA's/Caffeine/Ephedrine Pre-workout
-Lift like a mother F'er
-Protein shake PWO
-Low sodium V8 hour later
-wait a couple more hours for uninterrupted digestion... Then eat whole meals that will benefit you in the post workout environment.
-Wait until hungry again...then eat meals that will benefit you the next day during the fast (see above).
Lean chicken breast/tuna takes about 32 hours to be fully absorbed and digested in the human body, meaning, that for 32 hours the amino acids from the ingested proteins will be released for energy use.
If you eat garbage like Doritos or slop from McDonalds that will back your system up, you will be short changing yourself in the long haul.
A simple google search will show you which foods have the longest digestion periods...They are as you think: lean proteins, legumes, etc.
I would also suggest some Casein protein prior to going to sleep. This is the slow release protein for those who don't know.
If you don't want to buy a juicer, you can do a modified IF juice fast... It's great for staying lean and optimizing hormone levels. Example:
-16-20 hours fast
-BCAA's/Caffeine/Ephedrine Pre-workout
-Lift like a mother F'er
-Protein shake PWO
-Low sodium V8 hour later
-wait a couple more hours for uninterrupted digestion... Then eat whole meals that will benefit you in the post workout environment.
-Wait until hungry again...then eat meals that will benefit you the next day during the fast (see above).
Why not eat zero calorie foods instead of fasting? Much easier and probably better for keeping you focused on work without being excessively hungry and also helps with digestion.
Broccoli and cauliflower for example are zero calorie to my knowledge, as well as Konjac noodles (commonly known as Shirataki noodles, which are available in some supermarkets and on the internet).
Broccoli and cauliflower for example are zero calorie to my knowledge, as well as Konjac noodles (commonly known as Shirataki noodles, which are available in some supermarkets and on the internet).
First time I heard about IF I admit I was skeptical. Fasting is against everything I knew about nutrition. But I was wrong and IF is solid. I think I had shared earlier on the board that I lost about 10% body fat from Paleo. Well I went on vacation and came back having gained 2% body fat, sitting on 20%. I started Paleo and got down to 18% again but I was unsatisfied with the speed of progress. I began IF and in the first 4 days itself I dropped 2 pounds. The results have stayed consistently great so far. I have increased my muscle size during IF as well. There is no issue with hunger and I take no supplements. What I do is I break my fast at 1, during school hours, and my feeding stops at around 9. I workout with calisthenics sometime during that time frame because with school I don't have the luxury of training fasted unless I want to get up at 5.
If you want to lose weight and gain muscle I highly suggest IF. Go onto lean gains and read up like I did, it pays off.
If you want to lose weight and gain muscle I highly suggest IF. Go onto lean gains and read up like I did, it pays off.
Panda, what does your meal plan look like? Here in BKK I have a pretty limited supply to choose from of stuff that isn't imported. Trying to get more ideas on what to eat for my meals besides grilled chicken breast, rice/potatoes/sweet potatoes/pasta, and salads/broccoli.
I bought a slow cooker for $50, and it's a big pile of shit. It boils shit like crazy even on the low setting. Fuckin Thai brands. So that pretty much fucked up my plans for slow cooked chicken, stews, chili, etc.
The imported ones all cost $150-$200 here. Gonna see if I can get some sort of fire resistant material to put between the bowl and the heating conduit and reduce the heat without burning my apartment down.
I bought a slow cooker for $50, and it's a big pile of shit. It boils shit like crazy even on the low setting. Fuckin Thai brands. So that pretty much fucked up my plans for slow cooked chicken, stews, chili, etc.
The imported ones all cost $150-$200 here. Gonna see if I can get some sort of fire resistant material to put between the bowl and the heating conduit and reduce the heat without burning my apartment down.
RioNomad said:
Man my meal plan is boring as hell. I wake up in the morning to make some scrambled eggs and sausage. I pack that along with an apple, some turkey breast and any other kind of cold meat that I have. I eat all of that during school hours at 1 o clock. I come home and have some chicken salad, the type you can get at harris teeter, with a little hot sauce to add zest. I don't eat anything else until 7:30 when I eat a couple servings of vegetables, like bittergourd or brinjal, with some form of meat. If at that point I don't feel as if I ate enough I usually have nuts.
Since you live in bangkok I would say you should get used to fish, avoid big fish due to mercury content but its just stuff like tuna and shark that you have to be worried about. Apart from fish you should be able to find stuff like mushrooms and nuts. Keep in mind that your diet is not going to represent that of most thai people, they take rice in the biggest quantities as it is the cheapest. Even though I am in a rice eating family and culture I avoid it because of the fact that it's just empty calories but if you are on a budget and want to hit your caloric need then you can eat brown rice, which is marginally better than white rice.
FretDancer
Ostrich
Hey guys, long time no update here. I see there's been some discussion going on, thats good.
I am 1 day from completing 1 month on Intermittent Fasting. However, since September 3rd I am having even more trouble since I now live in Taiwan. I live in a campus dorm so I can't cook, this makes me hard to intake my necessary daily protein, its been tough.
Sometimes I eat fish steaks for the protein or noodles with chicken, but I still fear its not enough. Counting calories is now more impossible than ever, since I don't buy the food from the supermarket, I always eat outside. I still try to eat as healthy as possible.
Regarding the fasting, I still fast more than 12 hours everyday, however its been hard to make it to 16 hours sometimes.
I have been taking progress pictures and I feel and see that I have lost some fat, specially on the abdominal area. I have no idea how much weight I've lost/gained but I will try to get the number very soon.
I'm excited on what the progress will be like after 2 more months!
On another note, I've been reading alot a website shared by RioNomad on this thread or another IF thread, its very very good and heavily recommended: http://rippedbody.jp/
Together with Lean Gains, it makes a great source of information and motivation.
Regarding my training, I am making the switch to 3 Day Reverse Pyramid Training. I will focus heavily on Bench, Deadlifts, Squats, Pullups, and maybe Overhead Press too. Only training 3 days a week. I want to give this regimen a try for 1 month and see the results.
I am 1 day from completing 1 month on Intermittent Fasting. However, since September 3rd I am having even more trouble since I now live in Taiwan. I live in a campus dorm so I can't cook, this makes me hard to intake my necessary daily protein, its been tough.
Sometimes I eat fish steaks for the protein or noodles with chicken, but I still fear its not enough. Counting calories is now more impossible than ever, since I don't buy the food from the supermarket, I always eat outside. I still try to eat as healthy as possible.
Regarding the fasting, I still fast more than 12 hours everyday, however its been hard to make it to 16 hours sometimes.
I have been taking progress pictures and I feel and see that I have lost some fat, specially on the abdominal area. I have no idea how much weight I've lost/gained but I will try to get the number very soon.
I'm excited on what the progress will be like after 2 more months!
On another note, I've been reading alot a website shared by RioNomad on this thread or another IF thread, its very very good and heavily recommended: http://rippedbody.jp/
Together with Lean Gains, it makes a great source of information and motivation.
Regarding my training, I am making the switch to 3 Day Reverse Pyramid Training. I will focus heavily on Bench, Deadlifts, Squats, Pullups, and maybe Overhead Press too. Only training 3 days a week. I want to give this regimen a try for 1 month and see the results.
Resistance training and IF is a winning combination towards serious body recomp. Good luck.
The secret to burning fat all the time whether you're fasting or not is to keep your glycogen stores low. So basically, don't be afraid to take a protein-heavy "cheat-day" or even two or three cheat days to eat several pounds of beef, pork, or chicken if you can find it.
It helps break the monotony of intermittent fasting and can reduce the likelihood of potential adrenal fatigue issues you might get. If you eat enough protein and fast hard enough you might just drop into straight keto. I did a few times.
Nobody ever got fat from eating lots of protein (protein is muscle sparing, while carbs are muscle and fat-sparing) and the thermogenic and muscle-sparing quality of protein itself is going to ensure that your metabolic rate (and LBM) stay very high.
I also used to drink a small amount of heavily salted butter (about a tablespoon) in my morning coffee during my intermittent fast if I really felt like shit. Sometimes I think that bodyfat itself is resistant to being burned and a more available fat in the form of butter is going to keep the fat-burning hormones rolling but it will provide you with a more available form of energy.
My other guess is that dehydration occurs during the night, not enough water can impede lipolysis to the extent that your system is starving for fat but none can be released from your fatty tissues, so it responds by lowering your energy. It's like a hangover.
Keep this in mind as well, salt is your friend during fasting, it can help keep your energy up and weirdly enough I had almost no appetite to break a fast without it. Once I started eating the salt that I craved (and pissing gallons) I quit sleeping that miserable "always-tired" 11 or 12 hours a day and went right back to 7 or 8 and feeling more rested.
This is also going to sound like bullshit, but the reason you get "drunk munchies" during a night out is because alcohol destroys your glycogen stores. Low glycogen (or blood sugar, or whatever) causes hunger and activates the burning of fat.
You can take advantage of this phenomena by taking about two to five stiff drinks of clear liquor about two hours after a meal and right at the beginning of a fast to flush all the glycogen out of your body and burn fat almost immediately (once you're done processing the alcohol of course). Couple that with a little slightly tipsy bodyweight resistance training or a quick session of HIT and you're going to burn a stupid amount of fat. I did this a few times for a "crash fast" when I was just fucking around after a night out on a Wednesday (skipped the sandwich shop) but the hunger can be uncomfortable and that much liquor can disturb a good night's sleep.
The secret to burning fat all the time whether you're fasting or not is to keep your glycogen stores low. So basically, don't be afraid to take a protein-heavy "cheat-day" or even two or three cheat days to eat several pounds of beef, pork, or chicken if you can find it.
It helps break the monotony of intermittent fasting and can reduce the likelihood of potential adrenal fatigue issues you might get. If you eat enough protein and fast hard enough you might just drop into straight keto. I did a few times.
Nobody ever got fat from eating lots of protein (protein is muscle sparing, while carbs are muscle and fat-sparing) and the thermogenic and muscle-sparing quality of protein itself is going to ensure that your metabolic rate (and LBM) stay very high.
I also used to drink a small amount of heavily salted butter (about a tablespoon) in my morning coffee during my intermittent fast if I really felt like shit. Sometimes I think that bodyfat itself is resistant to being burned and a more available fat in the form of butter is going to keep the fat-burning hormones rolling but it will provide you with a more available form of energy.
My other guess is that dehydration occurs during the night, not enough water can impede lipolysis to the extent that your system is starving for fat but none can be released from your fatty tissues, so it responds by lowering your energy. It's like a hangover.
Keep this in mind as well, salt is your friend during fasting, it can help keep your energy up and weirdly enough I had almost no appetite to break a fast without it. Once I started eating the salt that I craved (and pissing gallons) I quit sleeping that miserable "always-tired" 11 or 12 hours a day and went right back to 7 or 8 and feeling more rested.
This is also going to sound like bullshit, but the reason you get "drunk munchies" during a night out is because alcohol destroys your glycogen stores. Low glycogen (or blood sugar, or whatever) causes hunger and activates the burning of fat.
You can take advantage of this phenomena by taking about two to five stiff drinks of clear liquor about two hours after a meal and right at the beginning of a fast to flush all the glycogen out of your body and burn fat almost immediately (once you're done processing the alcohol of course). Couple that with a little slightly tipsy bodyweight resistance training or a quick session of HIT and you're going to burn a stupid amount of fat. I did this a few times for a "crash fast" when I was just fucking around after a night out on a Wednesday (skipped the sandwich shop) but the hunger can be uncomfortable and that much liquor can disturb a good night's sleep.
FretDancer
Ostrich
Thanks for the advice Hades. Are you still doing IF? If so, how long have you been doing it so?
FretDancer said:
I quit for the last eight months or so, the reasons being outlined in these threads.
Must have lost the link to this one because I was going to reply to these guys, but yeah, in short, adrenal fatigue and what to watch out for --
http://www.rooshvforum.com/thread-20334.html
Here is another great tip on how to burn a little more fat. Drink buckets of ice-cold water, it's thermogenic; I did some math as well --
http://www.rooshvforum.com/thread-26671-post-506839.html#pid506839
With fasting I went too hard, too quickly and ruined my hormones for a while due to lack of food.
I bust ass all day at a manual labor job and lift more weights now so fasting isn't for me at the moment. Leanness is not a huge immediate concern with winter coming anyway and I'm slowly getting leaner as it is.
FretDancer
Ostrich
Thanks for the links Hades. I haven't experienced any fatigue whatsoever since I started fasting. Actually I realized I can fast for a pretty long time without realizing it when its after 1pm or so.
Also it seems that the gym here in the campus doesn't have a flat bench rack, just an incline rack. There is a smith machine that I could do flat bench with but I've never liked smith machines. I saw some guys the other day putting a flat bench in the squat rack and doing flat bench press like that but I am not sure if I wanna try that. I guess I should call tough luck and stick with incline press?
Also it seems that the gym here in the campus doesn't have a flat bench rack, just an incline rack. There is a smith machine that I could do flat bench with but I've never liked smith machines. I saw some guys the other day putting a flat bench in the squat rack and doing flat bench press like that but I am not sure if I wanna try that. I guess I should call tough luck and stick with incline press?
FretDancer said:
No, use the smith machine. If you're doing incline bench, it's good to do flat with a smith. If you're militantly opposed to that, you could always do dumbbell presses on a makeshift flat bench like an appropriately sized table. You can even do it on the floor for partial flat bench presses.
From there, you can move on to doing decline presses. Without a bench that can go decline, you can do decline presses with a smith machine and flat bench just by propping your legs up and holding your back up at a 45 degree angle, so long as you keep the weight at a moderate level.
FretDancer
Ostrich
Update
I am currently on my 6th week and almost 7th week of being in IF. I have taken many pictures on every month since I started (August 19th 2013) until now.
Since I moved to Taiwan stuff got a little complicated by I am slowly getting the hang of it and try to improve my progress, which might be a little slow. I weighted myself and my current weight is approximately 65.8kg which is roughly 146lbs, which is almost the same as my starting weight. I really have no idea how much my body weight has fluctuated (ignoring water retention) since I moved here.
I do feel I have lost some fat on my abdominal area and obliques. Also I feel my chest has grown a little bigger.
Regarding more concrete progress, here are some observations:
On another note, I have started measuring my progress differently now, according to this page. This means I now take my measurements in my limbs, chest, hips and stomach, I enter all this data measurements in a spreadsheet I am gonna be keeping from now on. I probably started doing this a little late but better late than never.
I am gonna post this spreadsheet after a few weeks until I have more data to share.
This is a progress picture for October:
Abs are coming out slowly, but I am confident in a few more weeks the results will be much better.
I am currently on my 6th week and almost 7th week of being in IF. I have taken many pictures on every month since I started (August 19th 2013) until now.
Since I moved to Taiwan stuff got a little complicated by I am slowly getting the hang of it and try to improve my progress, which might be a little slow. I weighted myself and my current weight is approximately 65.8kg which is roughly 146lbs, which is almost the same as my starting weight. I really have no idea how much my body weight has fluctuated (ignoring water retention) since I moved here.
I do feel I have lost some fat on my abdominal area and obliques. Also I feel my chest has grown a little bigger.
Regarding more concrete progress, here are some observations:
- My strength has increased in all 4 excercises (Deadlift, Pullups, Squats, Bench Press). This happens with more weight in some or more reps in others (with top weight)
- Deadlift form and Squat form (ass to grass) has improved alot. I have ripped 2 boxers from deadlifting and squatting so I made a switch to boxer briefs on my training days.
- Amount of pullups have increased alot and it feels I can do them with less effort. This is why I now do pullups with extra weight.
On another note, I have started measuring my progress differently now, according to this page. This means I now take my measurements in my limbs, chest, hips and stomach, I enter all this data measurements in a spreadsheet I am gonna be keeping from now on. I probably started doing this a little late but better late than never.
I am gonna post this spreadsheet after a few weeks until I have more data to share.
This is a progress picture for October:
Abs are coming out slowly, but I am confident in a few more weeks the results will be much better.
Looks like you are on track! I myself did around 6 weeks of IF this spring. I stopped doing it over the summer because of too much travel but just restarted IF/ leangains. My usual schedule these days is to get up around 8 in the morning, and to work out around noon. What really made a difference for me was starting to ingest 5g BCAA directly after waking up, both for general well-being and to prevent falling into a catabolic state.
PompeyChris
Robin
Fret, any updates?
FretDancer
Ostrich
Wow, it's been almost a year since my last post here.
I am bumping this thread because I have a minor update, but mainly because I will be updating it more.
A brief explanation on what happened after the last post:
During this time, I fasted around 16 hours, some days I fasted even more. I managed to get around maybe 11-12% body fat. However I was not tracking my calories whatsoever. I would eat outside and I would always have a guess of how many calories and macros I was consuming. I was probably underestimating calories, so I never got any leaner. But I didn't gain any more weight/fat either, I stayed the same pretty much all this year until now.
I got used to this kind of eating, and like I said, I neither gained nor lost any more weight.
Fast Forward to September:
Fast forward to August, I came back from a trip to SEA which I might have lost 1 or 2 pounds, I came back and it's been almost 3 weeks since I have been tracking my calories and working out consistently 3 times a week, using RPT (Reverse Pyramid Training), Fasting from 16 - 20 hours.
I made September 02 2014 a new starting point. I probably calculated my maintenance calories too low and also my deficit was probably too low (~35%). But that is different starting from yesterday, but I will get to this later.
What I did in this 3 weeks period (Sept. 02 - Sept. 22):
So I calculated my maintenance calories and macros, and settled for a -35% deficit. Here's layed out:
Height: 5'7
Weight: 143lbs
Calories
Maintenance: 2079 calories
Workout Day Calories: 2079 calories
Rest Day Calories: 1330 calories
Deficit: 36%
Weekly Deficit: 2994 calories
Macros
Workout Day:
As you can see my calories for my rest days are miserable, with such a high deficit. Although I didn't have a problem with that much. I would weigh myself every week and analyze my results after 3 weeks in order to make adjustments.
My weight fluctuated a lot during the weeks, as I expected. The problem was the fat loss was stalling (something I also knew it was likely to happen) and after 3 weeks (today) I still do not know how much fat loss occurred. With a -36% deficit there must be some fat loss right?
At this point I was not sure what to do, I knew water weight or something else was messing with me, and that was fine but I needed an accurate measure, since the idea is to make adjustments after every 3 weeks (if needed), the adjustment is key.
Take a look at the chart above. The key measurements here are every Tuesday, so that would be:
Sept. 02: 142.8 lbs
Sept. 09: 143.8 lbs
Sept. 16: 142.4 lbs
Sept. 23: 141.8 lbs (today)
So that means I only lost 1 pound of fat. It could be that the fat loss is still stalling and maybe a few days from now it will drop even more. I really do not know.
So, I started reading some great information from Lyle McDonald about high deficits, [2]. basically they can hurt your fat loss.
So I decided to make an adjustment, in this adjustment however I am raising my calories. It seems a little contradictory, and it might be. But after reading the data I linked, I really want to give it a try. Likewise, just 3 more weeks.
September 22 - Beyond
A forum member posted a link to this website on another thread. and I decided to check it out. I took a look at the IIFYM Calculator and examined my results. According to the calculator, my Maintenance calories are actually ~2205. That is 200+ calories from the previous calculation.
This time I wanted to settle for a more flexible caloric deficit, -15%. This is how my new macros look now:
Calories:
Maintenance: 2205 cals
Workout Day: 2205 cals
Rest Day: 1875 cals
Deficit %: 15%
Weekly Deficit: 1323 cals
Macros:
Workout Day:
As you can see Protein is high on both days. And I consider it high because this is aprox. 1.5g of protein per pound of mass (not LBM).
Sometimes I cannot hit my macros exactly how they are layed out, sometimes I eat 10 more grams of fat or sometimes I don't hit the 93g of carbs on my rest day. But I always hit my Protein number.
Additionally, I now track my calories. And I do this in two ways:
1. Meal Plan Spreadsheet
I created an Excel spreadsheet where I put all the foods I find and that I want to include in my diet, with all it's macro-nutrient information, like this:
As you can see I have separate spaces for Rest Days and Workout Days, each with their own Total values. I can change the quantity number and the nutrition values will update according to the quantity I input. This way I can see the totals and try to match it according to the values I calculated and listed before.
Every time I encounter a new food, I add it's data and try to see if it works in my meal plan or not.
Some foods however (like the Chicken Breast and Tilapia) do not provide their nutritional information, so I have to base my values on data provided by Google, CalorieKing and similar websites.
2. Using MyFitnessPal
I use this pretty handy app to help me track my calories and macros as well. I simply create my foods in the app using the exact numbers in my spreadsheet, and add them to my daily diary according to their quantity.
At the end of the day, the total calories and macros that the app displays should be very similar to what the spreadsheet says:
With this app I can also track my daily/weekly weight. I weigh myself every end of the week, so on this day I will input my weight. The app will store all these entries and will create a chart that shows the weigh changes. This is the chart I showed before.
Result Pictures
Here are some pictures I took today (Measurement: 141.8 lbs)
See more pictures here.
Final Thoughts
I feel this time I can really get down to where I want. I really like my body, I'm not a big guy by any means and I don't really want to be, although I will most likely bulk once I hit my desired BF%.
It is just a matter of tracking results, and making adjustments based on them, and being very patient. I hope with this new adjustment things will go better even though the calories are higher. If not, I'll just end up lowering them again...
I'll try updating this thread with progress every 3 weeks. With new data and possibly pictures.
Meanwhile you guys can still ask me any questions you have.
I am bumping this thread because I have a minor update, but mainly because I will be updating it more.
A brief explanation on what happened after the last post:
During this time, I fasted around 16 hours, some days I fasted even more. I managed to get around maybe 11-12% body fat. However I was not tracking my calories whatsoever. I would eat outside and I would always have a guess of how many calories and macros I was consuming. I was probably underestimating calories, so I never got any leaner. But I didn't gain any more weight/fat either, I stayed the same pretty much all this year until now.
I got used to this kind of eating, and like I said, I neither gained nor lost any more weight.
Fast Forward to September:
Fast forward to August, I came back from a trip to SEA which I might have lost 1 or 2 pounds, I came back and it's been almost 3 weeks since I have been tracking my calories and working out consistently 3 times a week, using RPT (Reverse Pyramid Training), Fasting from 16 - 20 hours.
I made September 02 2014 a new starting point. I probably calculated my maintenance calories too low and also my deficit was probably too low (~35%). But that is different starting from yesterday, but I will get to this later.
What I did in this 3 weeks period (Sept. 02 - Sept. 22):
So I calculated my maintenance calories and macros, and settled for a -35% deficit. Here's layed out:
Height: 5'7
Weight: 143lbs
Calories
Maintenance: 2079 calories
Workout Day Calories: 2079 calories
Rest Day Calories: 1330 calories
Deficit: 36%
Weekly Deficit: 2994 calories
Macros
Workout Day:
- Protein: 222g
- Carbs: 195g
- Fat: 32g
- Protein: 183g
- Carbs: 62g
- Fat: 53g
As you can see my calories for my rest days are miserable, with such a high deficit. Although I didn't have a problem with that much. I would weigh myself every week and analyze my results after 3 weeks in order to make adjustments.
My weight fluctuated a lot during the weeks, as I expected. The problem was the fat loss was stalling (something I also knew it was likely to happen) and after 3 weeks (today) I still do not know how much fat loss occurred. With a -36% deficit there must be some fat loss right?
At this point I was not sure what to do, I knew water weight or something else was messing with me, and that was fine but I needed an accurate measure, since the idea is to make adjustments after every 3 weeks (if needed), the adjustment is key.
Take a look at the chart above. The key measurements here are every Tuesday, so that would be:
Sept. 02: 142.8 lbs
Sept. 09: 143.8 lbs
Sept. 16: 142.4 lbs
Sept. 23: 141.8 lbs (today)
So that means I only lost 1 pound of fat. It could be that the fat loss is still stalling and maybe a few days from now it will drop even more. I really do not know.
So, I started reading some great information from Lyle McDonald about high deficits, [2]. basically they can hurt your fat loss.
So I decided to make an adjustment, in this adjustment however I am raising my calories. It seems a little contradictory, and it might be. But after reading the data I linked, I really want to give it a try. Likewise, just 3 more weeks.
September 22 - Beyond
A forum member posted a link to this website on another thread. and I decided to check it out. I took a look at the IIFYM Calculator and examined my results. According to the calculator, my Maintenance calories are actually ~2205. That is 200+ calories from the previous calculation.
This time I wanted to settle for a more flexible caloric deficit, -15%. This is how my new macros look now:
Calories:
Maintenance: 2205 cals
Workout Day: 2205 cals
Rest Day: 1875 cals
Deficit %: 15%
Weekly Deficit: 1323 cals
Macros:
Workout Day:
- Protein: 214g
- Carbs: 240g
- Fat: 43g
- Protein: 214.5g
- Carbs: 93g
- 72g
As you can see Protein is high on both days. And I consider it high because this is aprox. 1.5g of protein per pound of mass (not LBM).
Sometimes I cannot hit my macros exactly how they are layed out, sometimes I eat 10 more grams of fat or sometimes I don't hit the 93g of carbs on my rest day. But I always hit my Protein number.
Additionally, I now track my calories. And I do this in two ways:
1. Meal Plan Spreadsheet
I created an Excel spreadsheet where I put all the foods I find and that I want to include in my diet, with all it's macro-nutrient information, like this:
As you can see I have separate spaces for Rest Days and Workout Days, each with their own Total values. I can change the quantity number and the nutrition values will update according to the quantity I input. This way I can see the totals and try to match it according to the values I calculated and listed before.
Every time I encounter a new food, I add it's data and try to see if it works in my meal plan or not.
Some foods however (like the Chicken Breast and Tilapia) do not provide their nutritional information, so I have to base my values on data provided by Google, CalorieKing and similar websites.
2. Using MyFitnessPal
I use this pretty handy app to help me track my calories and macros as well. I simply create my foods in the app using the exact numbers in my spreadsheet, and add them to my daily diary according to their quantity.
At the end of the day, the total calories and macros that the app displays should be very similar to what the spreadsheet says:
With this app I can also track my daily/weekly weight. I weigh myself every end of the week, so on this day I will input my weight. The app will store all these entries and will create a chart that shows the weigh changes. This is the chart I showed before.
Result Pictures
Here are some pictures I took today (Measurement: 141.8 lbs)
See more pictures here.
Final Thoughts
I feel this time I can really get down to where I want. I really like my body, I'm not a big guy by any means and I don't really want to be, although I will most likely bulk once I hit my desired BF%.
It is just a matter of tracking results, and making adjustments based on them, and being very patient. I hope with this new adjustment things will go better even though the calories are higher. If not, I'll just end up lowering them again...
I'll try updating this thread with progress every 3 weeks. With new data and possibly pictures.
Meanwhile you guys can still ask me any questions you have.
Nice one FretDancer.
I started Leangains about 3.5 weeks ago. I have similar stats to you and saw similar progress and am sticking to similar macros. Last week I weighed 67.2kg, going down from 67.8kg the previous week. My strength has gone up in all exercises except the overhead press (if you have any tips on how to improve on OHP let me know because I've been stuck for a while).
Fortunately my new job involves a fair amount of walking, so I'll be doing some low intensity cardios in the morning hours, and should be able to fit in a workout at around 2pm.
I was on a ketogenic diet for a couple of months before leangains, and as lyle mcdonald said the caloric deficit (easier to have when in ketosis) screwed with my fat loss. Since upping my caloric intake I've noticed increased fat loss. I think carb cycling + intermittent fasting is great for an endo-meso like me.
I probably read the same resources as you, but here's something that was quite useful for me: https://www.dropbox.com/s/fdpfgq3csty0gvl/31minutes' AMA for r_leangains.pdf
- from an ex Berkhan client. The macros seemed a little off for me; carb intake seemed a little high so I cut down. Hope it helps and thanks for the info.
I started Leangains about 3.5 weeks ago. I have similar stats to you and saw similar progress and am sticking to similar macros. Last week I weighed 67.2kg, going down from 67.8kg the previous week. My strength has gone up in all exercises except the overhead press (if you have any tips on how to improve on OHP let me know because I've been stuck for a while).
Fortunately my new job involves a fair amount of walking, so I'll be doing some low intensity cardios in the morning hours, and should be able to fit in a workout at around 2pm.
I was on a ketogenic diet for a couple of months before leangains, and as lyle mcdonald said the caloric deficit (easier to have when in ketosis) screwed with my fat loss. Since upping my caloric intake I've noticed increased fat loss. I think carb cycling + intermittent fasting is great for an endo-meso like me.
I probably read the same resources as you, but here's something that was quite useful for me: https://www.dropbox.com/s/fdpfgq3csty0gvl/31minutes' AMA for r_leangains.pdf
- from an ex Berkhan client. The macros seemed a little off for me; carb intake seemed a little high so I cut down. Hope it helps and thanks for the info.
- Status