I'm extremely curious to try a chili recipe out some time, I've really been underexposed to chili my whole life - parents' taste buds are pretty anti-exciting.

My only concern is that I don't like making multiple meals worth of food at once. I find it's harder to be as OCD as I like to be about counting calories/macros.

Nice dude, are both of those pics today? The lighting is crazy different.

Yeah, you have to have at least a little flexibility when you're batching meals. I calculate the whole pot then make up a bunch of 2 cup tupperware containers and divide appropriately. Pretty sure I get close. And its really really tasty. And nice to have something you can freeze and bring out in a week and it's even better than the first time.

Yeah, both today. May have moved closer to the mirror or something. ****ty bathroom lighting anyway, prolly replace the bulbs with those more natural white ones before I take any more pics.

Sunday, January 27

Weight 208.8

FFFUUUUUUUUU!! Really thought I'd be more around 207. No worries. Gonna give 2300/d one more week then add in running 4 miles 2-3 times per week if I don't like my weight loss cause there's no effing way that I'm going lower than 2300/d average. Pretty optimistic that there are still weird water swings going on, but I'm definitely going down overall so I can be a little patient. Oh, and had to work 12 hours today so taking the day off from lifting. Just gonna shift that to tomorrow.

Add running??? Maybe some light stuff because otherwise you are going to lose some precious muscle.

Your bodyfat is probably lower than you think. The excess skin from your fatty days probably makes it look higher. I personally think its sexy. Battle scars. I have some stretch marks between my pecs and delts.

Okay, probably a stupid question, but is there really a difference in lean mass retention if I create a 7k weekly deficit by adding some running vs simply eating less? And I may end up with extra skin, but right now there's definitely fat hanging in there. Distribution may be somewhat skewed because of former fattiness, but I definitely still have blubber to lose. Oh and if I hit single digit bf and still have extra skin, am definitely getting a tuck.

Assuming adequate protein and decently heavy lifting, I think by far the biggest influence on LBM retention will be the deficit itself. I don't see too much of a difference between less cardio/less food vs more/more. With that said, a 7k deficit -> single digits will definitely cause some LBM loss, since that's a pretty strong deficit even for higher levels of BF.

This is mostly from the ebook on the Protein Sparing Modified Fast (which I won't be doing now because it's not a good idea if your thyroid is busto). It seems to say that caloric restriction (with enough protein) + weight training (and no cardio) will preserve as much Lean Body Mass as possible during a cut. But if you add in a bunch of cardio (even with more calories), then your body with no longer give muscle priority. I don't remember what the mechanism involved is supposed to be (nor, obv, can I vouch for the guy knowing what he's talking about). But that's what he says.

Pretty sure there are multiple articles where Lyle discusses how cardio
ends up consuming LBM.


I don't think its worth it ook. Slow cut IMO and pray you somehow gain some muscle on the way.

Plus in your recent pics, I think you can be described as being skinny bro. You are certainly on your way to being a tinybro.

Alright, let me look through Lyle's articles to see if I can find that. Defnitely do NOT feel like a skinny bro. I mean I'm over 200 lbs. Pretty sure that automatically disqualifies me. And I'm guessing 16-17% in those pics.

Saw - I had figured that I'd have to lose some lean mass (calculated 70/30 fat/lean loss) and figured I'd hit my goal BF% around 184. Is it really possible to lose all or nearly all fat and retain the muscle mass when you cut down to single digits?? Have no idea, I've never tried anything like this before. If a slow cut would actually let me keep all my lean mass, I could be done closer to 191-192. That'd take 4 more months but would obv be worth it if I don't have to lose 7+ lbs of LBM.

Monday, January 28

OHP - 120x10, 115x10, 115x7/3
DB Incline Flies - 30sx10x3
Machine Flies - 132x15x2
Reverse Machine Flies - 96x15x2
Cable Crossovers - 40x20x2
Side Raises - 12.5x20x2
Pronated Cable Tri Pushdowns - 130x20, 120x20
Supinated Cable Tri Pushdowns - 70x20x2
Straight Bar Curl - 60x15x2
DB Curls - 25x10x3

2117/199 today. BTW yesterday was 4189/143. Okay, not great gym day. Had to go around 5pm on a Monday. **** that ****. Still ******edly busy. God, I'm not sure if I'm getting anywhere on these lifts. Huge pain in the ass. About to give up and restart 5/3/1 next week for OHP and BP.

Yea I mean I've never cut down to single digits myself either, so I'm not sure myself. But then again even if either of us had, still N=1. I guess I'm not sure about absolutes, but I have to think a larger deficit would cause MORE lbm loss than a smaller deficit, and I also have to think that that difference would be even more pronounced as you get leaner. I think the gym can be a good metric too - if you don't get weaker, then you're likely maintaining most of your muscle.

My OHP never went up on that type of training. And my bench marginally went up. And this was for 6 months!!!

You should ship both of them over 5/3/1 ASAP. Its not like upperbody work burns that many calories anyways. You are not going to miss anything by doing 5/3/1 on OHP and Bench.

And I think you are lower than 17%. You might be 14%. Its hard to know with the excess skin. But you clearly have visible abs and with lighting that is not conducive to seeing them. You need to learn some loco advanced photography for after pictures. Just have the background be darkness and the light facing you. Take picture. Look great. Impress friends. And then when they see you at the beach, "WTF, you gaining weight already." LOL. Not me though. I weighed in at 151. I must be all metabolic now because I can't eat enough to stop this downward spiraling train.

Nice log and great results, I'm going to try a similar program in an effort to drop some fat fast over the next few months.

Thanks, deaders. I like it. Pretty easy to follow, just not as encouraging when you don't see regular PR's. Alright, Loco. Gonna start 5/3/1 immediately for OHP and BP. Just gonna do OHP on the day I do dips and BP on the day I do OHP 3x10 so there's a little variety. Kinda halfway tempted to go back to SS style squat routine but I'm buying in to this whole metabolic training for now. End of February if I'm not seeing any leg progression, then I'm back to 3x5 with linear progression on squats and probably running HIIT/MIIT 3x per week. For some reason love 4x10 on DL *shrug*.

Last 2 days were a disaster. General work and life stress beat the hell out of my WIM and I ate piles of delicious, greasy food. Back to normal now although I'm gonna have at least some tasty food for the Super Bowl. Did get to the gym today, so that's something. Was chatting with some bros and mentioned that I'm 100 lbs lighter than I used to be. He actually asked me "So how did you get so small?" Lolol. Huge compliment imo. Maybe I am headed toward small bro status after all.

Wednesday, January 30

DL - 235x10x4
Pendlay Rows - 145x10x4
Hypers - +25x12x2
Wide Pronated Pulldowns - 120x15x4,110x15
Seated Rows - "10"x20,"9"x20
Inverted rows - 8,5
Shrugs - 75x15x2
Straight arm pulldowns - 70,60,50x10 with no rest

All the cardio hate is getting kinda ridic, especially attributing something to Lyle. Some cardio is definitely a plus for anyone. Lyle has also specifically said cardio might help with fat oxidation at low BF levels, so yeah. http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat...t-loss-qa.html

Being more of a badass is plenty good enough reason to throw in some intervals in itself.

FWIW my friend went down to roughly 10% BF doing a metric **** ton of cardio (it's his sport) along with lifting twice a week. LBM loss didn't seem particularly high, strength levels about equal or even higher. Don't be a hater.

Some cardio is fine. I do a little cardio. But I don't know if you know this ookook guy, he is pretty extreme.

His definition of light cardio is 5 mile runs in half an hour. 4x a week.

Shrug, sounds fine to me if he can take it.

Sunday, February 3

BP - 170,190,215 x 3
OHP - 110x10x3 (last set 6+4)
DB Incline Flies - 25sx10x3
Machine Flies - 132x15x2
Reverse Machine Flies - 108x15x2
Cable Crossovers - 40x20,50x20
Side Raises - 12.5x20x2
Pronated Cable Tri Pushdowns - 120x20x2
Supinated Cable Tri Pushdowns - 70x20x2
Straight Bar Curl - 60x15x2
DB Curls - 25x15x2

Monday, February 4

1.75 miles (9 min/mile)

Okay, small melt down there. Looking back, I think I cut cals enough that I needed to stick to unprocessed foods. But then I ate processed foods so I was always hungry. Unsustainable ldo. Today the diet's solidly back. Gonna just eat paleo for a week then count cals again. Have been lifting consistently, just nothing interesting. Started 5/3/1 back on Friday with OHP 110,130,145 x 5. Surprisingly tough grind on that last rep. ****ing weak. Also have started running again.

Nomzies????


Eat your veggies, please come back to us. Its not too late.

Oh I'm still around. Sick, nomzies, stressful **** in real life galore. Sucks. Have still been hitting the gym and at least making some effort with diet. For the next 3 weeks am committed to lifting 4 times per week, running 10+ miles per week and eating paleo every day until my birthday (3/6).

Sunday, Feb 17

OHP - 115,130,145 x 5
Dips - +25x10x3, BWx10x2
DB Incline BP - 35x10x3
Lat Raises - 12.5x12x2
Front Raises - 10x12,5x12
Face Pulls - 120x12x2
Cable Curls - 80x20x2
Cable Overhead Ext - 80x20x2

OHP was easy. Just starting back at the beginning of 5/3/1. Gonna use 170 OHP and 240 BP as my maxes to calculate off of and go up 5 each cycle - well, maybe 10 per cycle on BP for the first couple cycles. Skipped upright rows because my right shoulder has been wonky and I don't want to do anything that might possibly exacerbate that. Stopped at 3 sets on DB BP. may add back guillotine cause those were kinda fun. Maybe even incline guillotines ...

ETA - what are y'all doing for shoulder prehabs. Haven't been doing anythign but my right shoulder started messing with me about 4 weeks ago... Little pain when I'm extending on OHP, little tweak when I'm doing incline BP and I'm getting fatigued. Pain is a/c ish in location. No pain on side/front raises or flat BP.

Thursday, Feb 22

DL - 240x10x4
Pendlay Rows - 135x10x4
Hypers - +25x12x3
Seated Rows - 100x20x2
Wide Pronated Pulldowns - 120x15x3
Supinated Pulldowns - 100 x 15 x 2
Shrugs - 75x15x2

No chest or back pain!! URI/sinusitis has just about cleared up, thank God.

Do these before every chest/shoulder workout. And a couple of sets of
external rotations.

Yeah, I already do shoulder dislocations with a thin PVC but that's it. BTW that dude is HYOOOOOOOOGE! Holy ****. Shoulder is a little better today. Tiniest bit wonky but not bad. Will add in some external rotations. ****ed up my OHP. Went full ****** and thought I had 110 on the bar. Wasn't sure why it was so hard. BP was easy. Diet was good. Paleo all week with one cheat meal. Will start counting calories tomorrow.

BP - 155,185,205x5
OHP - 120x10,8;105x8
DB Incline Flies - 30sx15x2
Machine Flies - 132x15x2
Reverse Machine Flies - 96x15x2
Cable Crossovers - 40x20x2
Side Raises - 12.5x20, 10x20
Pronated Cable Tri Pushdowns - 120x20x2
Supinated Cable Tri Pushdowns - 70x20x2
Straight Bar Curl - 60x15x2
DB Curls - 25x10x3

Sunday, February 24

Squats - 3x5x135
Random shrugs
Some pull ups

Weight: 215 Meh. Cant' be too upset. On the plus side I've moved my fat weight from 220-230 to 210-220. Diet is going well. Made some more delicious chili. Bought and subsequently ate a delicious rotisserie chicken. Am very much enjoying Cuties and pineapple right now. Am going to stat squatting SS-style 2x per week instead of all the high volume leg stuff and then throw in some running. Did a pitiful job of running this past week, but my birthday is coming up in 2 weeks and I'd really like to be down at least 100 lbs (aka 210 or lower) on my birthday since it is the 3rd anniversary of me starting to lose weight.

Tuesday, February 26

OHP - 120,135,155 x 3
Dips - +25x10x4, +25x8
DB Incline BP - 30x10x3
Lat Raises - 12.5x12x2
Front Raises - 10x12x2
Face Pulls - 120x12x2
Cable Curls - 80x20x2
Cable Overhead Ext - 90x20x2
2 miles 17:55

Pretty good. Pretty, pretty good. Started the workout with 2x10 shoulder dislocations, pull aparts and external rotations. Shoulders feel a lot better. Scrapping upright rows completely. Will consider scrapping side raises if I continue to have problems.