Does flour do anything for pancakes that protein powder can't accomplish?

Hmm. A bit of googling tells me that the heating process might ruin the protein...?

dwarrior, us haters gonna hate imo

Yeah. It makes it taste like not-****. Come on. You actually think that's a good idea?

I sometimes have late evening cravings. I've been trying to follow Martin's advice for meals, so i've tried his lowfat cottage cheese with some berries "dessert". not bad, very satisfying in terms of hunger, but at least in the beginning i'll have to mix in some jam or something. tastes really sour.

can anyone recommend anything else? do you do cottage cheese + stevia avoid sugar calories (something that google brings up from bb.com forums)? does cottage cheese mix well into milkshakes?

In theory, I think it's a great idea (and will try them tomorrow morning). But I don't consider them a substitute to regular pancakes; rather a substitute to a random healthy meal.

Jesus God that sounds awful. Take pictures of your vomit when you're done.

I tried it once, it didn't go well.

Hehe.

The almond flour looks good though!

I find that cinnamon helps a lot to make cottage cheese palatable.

sounds like it would help, if i liked cinnamon. LOL FML. but makes me think, maybe cocoa powder. thanks!

I find that sometimes just a bowl of oatmeal (instant oats, no sugar added) with a little Splenda and some cinnamon is quite filling, and only 140 calories. You can make it with skim milk for a little more protein and a few extra calories.

+1 on protein powder sounding terrible in pancakes...

also +1 on using nut meal (you can chuck a bag of nuts in a food processor to make your own).

Ive made protein powder pancakes. with chocolate powder no less. They turned out the same texture/size. Taste was a little off, but certainly not terrible. Using unflavored protein powder, would be just very similar to flour.

What kind of berries are you using? Strawberries would almost certainly be too sour. Blueberries might actually be okay, I've never tried it. I was initially really reluctant to try it because it looks weird, but cottage cheese + pineapple is quite good and plenty sweet. Pretty popular too from what I hear. I use splenda when I want to sweeten without sugar. Is stevia better?

A few questions (currently weigh 205):

1: Tonight I squatted 220 which is the heaviest I've lifted so far. On the second set, 5th rep I think I went a little too far down and REALLY struggled to get up, to the point where I thought I might not make it. I made it and my third set went ok, a bit slow. I believe Thursday I'll try 220 again and see if the bar speed is a little better.

My question is as the weight gets heavier I don't know how to properly "ditch" the bar on squat if I get stuck. Its giving me a little anxiety to the point where it is psyching me out before the set. Is there a proper way to "ditch" or should I start resetting?

2: Why the fk does my bench suck so bad? I finished 175 last workout and even though it was a bit slow I didn't need any help. Today at 180 I failed on the first set, fourth rep. My brother benches 255 at 170 lbs and our body structure is pretty similar. Plus his diet is HORRIBLE

3: Finally, do I need to take more drastic measures to lose fat? I've definitely felt my body composition change and I've definitely gotten a lot stronger. I just have a lot of loose skin and flab around my belly and my pecs that I would like to lose. I'm currently on a diet of chicken, brown rice, lean steak, fish, and milk. I'm consuming approx. 2000 calories a day, and I've been on this diet for about a month now. Am I on the right track and do I just need to be a bit more patient?

Thank you for your replies.

1) Do you lift in a power cage/squat rack with safety pins? If so, just lower yourself until the bar rests on the pins. No biggie. Try it with a low weight if you want to.

2) With a 220 squat, a 175 bench isn't low at all. Your brother is likely a bench monkey bro, has been training for years, cheats on the form or is a genetic freak. Or a combo of the above.

3) Losing fat while gaining strength/muscle mass is basically impossible for anyone that isn't a rank novice. What is your goal? And brown rice won't help more than white rice for losing weight. Not that you shouldn't eat it, just saying.

Eat some more vegetables and probably more chicken. Read "A Guide to Flexible Dieting".

I really appreciate the replies.

I have been meaning to pick this book up I just never get around to it.

Also, I eat chicken for breakfast and lunch, for dinner I just need some variety or I'll go insane.

1) Without safety pins, you can't really dump the weight unless the gym has bumper plates and a platform that won't be hurt by the weights. If this isn't the case you'll just have to work far enough below failure that you won't fail. It's a bitch though.

2) Well there you go - if he's been training for years and you haven't why wouldn't he be much stronger than you? As long as you're doing Everything Right you'll increase your bench.

3) If I were you I'd concentrate on "finishing" SS first, then cutting down. By finishing I mean going up as far as you can on a decent surplus (say 500-1000 at the tail end), not eating 5-6k cals like Rip advocates to milk out the last 50 lbs or whatever on the squat. You'll probably stall pretty soon eating 2k a day and there's no point in spinning your wheels.

Would very much appreciate a bench press and DL form check, because I suck at both (plus bonus squat sets (feel free to comment these as well!)):

Bench 92x3x5, DL 115x5, (Squat 86x3x5)

Bench:
- I need to stop raising my hips between reps (?)
- Get wrists more in line under the bar
- Different camera angle(s)?
- Anything else?

DL:
- Lower back is not flexed enough?
- Need to look a bit more down.
- Anything else?
- Could any errors be a result of grip beginning to be a limiting factor?
- Should I repeat the same weight next time or continue adding weight while focusing on improving form?

Bench:
- Film angle: a bit closer, 5/7 o'clock instead of 4 o'clock.
- No/bad arch
- No/bad leg drive

DL looks pretty good, although you're breaking at the knees too early on the descent (see the bar path).

Squat looked very good.

I got the TK knee bands today, put them on instantly and my knees feel lovely. I'm hoping that if I never take them off, they'll become part of me, with skin developing over them. Putting them on is a painful experience with the hairs on my leg being ripped off occasionally.

Soulman, you're perhaps the best/most helpful non-poker-related poster on 2+2!

It's damn hard to arch the back on the bench!
Yeah, come to think of it, I def didn't focus on getting proper leg drive.

Can see that my DL bar path is off. Will fix that.
My lumbar is def. not in extension throughout (I'm obv one of those who struggle to get it in full extension even without significant weight): something to be concerned about?
Proceed to add 5kg next time (in 2/3 workouts' time)?

Do you have an (old) injury etc? What is the reason for you to wear those bands?