I will run it through a blender to make it into a soup just to die on this hill! Haha.
ha ha, you would also need to add more liquid to increase the liquid to solid ratio. This would then in turn, change the nutritional value per ounce of āsoupā consumed. Unless you were already a sumo you are probably getting full before you get fat. ![]()
Overdue replies:
@SvenG oh the Mrs and I are actually both big LOTR fans. Iāve read everything Tolkien put out, just iconic.
This is a bit of a stretch, just with the wedding and grad school payments, but we can put a pretty decent amount away. As it stands now, we have enough invested to probably live off of for 10+ years, but we are trying to save all that for retirement. If Iām being realistic, we likely COULD get by on just my salary if she stayed home, which would mean pretty much no more retirement savings, but with our returns we would still be alright come 65. Issue is more, we both want to do some pretty cool stuff with our kid, so itās partially the cost of the lifestyle we want. Everythingās a trade off at some level, so I think we just need to decide which trades we want to make.
So on the ship, I lived on caffeine. 2-3 energy drinks a day, plus probably about 6 cups of coffee, and pre workout before a lift. Been doing that for so long that itās kind of my baseline. Worked hard to cut back these last few months, down to 1 160mg energy drink (vice my usual 300mg) and pre workout on lifting days. (I like the tingley skin. I know I knowā¦.) I need to get a coffee maker. Iāve got a French press that was gifted to me, but Iāve literally never used it and donāt entirely know how lol. Iām sure like a 12 second YouTube video would fill me in.
Oh Iāll definitely try this lol. I tried some Gordon Ramsay trick that was supposed to help, and thought it worked, and then just started bawling halfway through lol.
Ooh, post saved, definitely checking this out!
You know, Iāve never really looked into him before. Seen you reference him a lot, but never checked him out myself. Checked him out after this, and letās just say there were some VERY erotic images that I was VERY unprepared to show up on my phone while standing in line at Costco ![]()
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Honestly? This is a goal. Keeping my super slow cut right now, but once Iām happy where Iām at? I feel like the best thing I could do long term to prevent weight gain is just get my body used to burning a stupid amount as a baseline.
I did that on the ship once for a wrestling tournament, and actually won my weight class. But, youāve seen most people in the Navy, so not a major win there haha. Iāve got some decent BJJ experience too, but honestly Iād love to learn more striking. I think adding some Muay Thai would be a ton of fun. Actually, Iāve talked with the Mrs about your whole family doing martial arts together, and we both think thatās a pretty awesome idea, so maybe that could be my ticket back in!
Hahaha, okay, confession time here. I donāt know things. A few topics in my life I can reasonably call myself an expert, nutrition just isnāt one of them. So Iām wondering around the veggie isle, see carrots, go to grab, look left and see multi colored carrots and thought āeat a rainbowā and grabbed them instead. Similar with the bay leaf, idk what bay leaf tastes like. Idk when to use it. But Iām standing in the spice isle, see bay leaves, and think āfancy soups always have leavesā so into the cart it went haha
I can send you a photo of me shirtless eating soup and you can this win the arguement with your Mrs.
I had to look this up. It actually seems like it would be a pretty health conscious meal? They must just eat massive quantities
Other news:
- okay, finalized word on social media stuff. YouTube VLOGs are done, but I can still post videos of my lifts, just a few restrictions I gotta follow. This forum is fine, not dipping out anytime soon.
- I have been scooping two ladles of my stew onto my monster mash, and it is fantastic. Was boasting of this to my wife, and she informs me I just made a poor manās pot roast. She isnāt wrong.,
- Had my first cheat meal in 5 weeks on Thursday. Been 100% compliant other than that, but made the decision earlier in the week to do so. Nice little refeedā¦was the plan. Then I got food poisoning and spent all Thursday night hugging my toilet seat. A rare day when you have a cheat meal and wake up 4lbs lighter, but there was NOTHING in my system after that lol
15Feb25: Cycle 2 Week 1 Day 4
Seated BTN press:
110x10 3.5 RIR
110x10 3 RIR
110x10 2 RIR
Wide grip Lat Pulldown:
140x10 4 RIR
140x10 4 RIR
140x11 3.5 RIR
DB Incline Press:
60x10 5+ RIR
60x10 4 RIR
60x12 4 RIR
Db chest support row:
55x10 4 RIR
55x10 4 RIR
55x10 4 RIR
Superset:
Db fly: 25x10, 25x10, 25x10
Tricep rope pushdown: 45x12, 45x12, 45x12
Barbell curl:
65x10 4 RIR
65x10 3.5 RIR
65x10 3 RIR
Db lat raise: 20lbs, 40 reps, 3 RIR sets
15, 12, 13
Conditioning:
20 min LISS run, 5.3 mph
Notes:
- May have kicked off a tad heavy on the BTN press. Did a lot of rotator cuff work before starting. Shoulder felt great, and I was actually able to probably lower the bar an extra inch below my ears pain free, but it definitely added some difficulty to the movement with the extra ROM.
- 45 in the gym today, so nice to be above freezing lol
- The db flys are honestly just as much to get a chest stretch as they are to actually train anything. Going light and very deep
- Runs are feeling great. Easy, I feel refreshed after. Want to crank the distance some more, purposely holding onto the reins to try and really conditions the shins slowly
So I had a lot of fun today. Took some time warming up. Weather was nicer. It was raining outside, and Iāve got two windows in my garage to see the rain. Absolutely BLASTING Creed while throwing around iron, in my own gym, surrounded by memorabilia my wife and Iās military unit flags, and I thought ādamn, 12 year old me would think this is the coolest thing in the worldā. Then I thought about it a bit more and thought āwell hell, 28 year old me still thinks this is about the coolest damn thing in the world hahaā
Funny how regional Google is:
Sounds like youāre in a great place and youāll make great parents. You may need some trades and without knowing what youāre thinking in terms of lifestyle itās difficult to comment, but from the 15 years of parenthood Iāve done this far, Iād say you can do plenty of adventurous cool things without spending a ton (not nothing obviously) shopping around and being flexible helps a lot, as does finding the fun cheap/free stuff.
Haha quite possibly the simplest way to make coffee - itās pretty much all I use, weāve had a Gaggia in the past, mocha pot, aeropress, weāve got a pod machine, but honestly I prefer coffee from a French press.
Step 1 - find a coffee you like, step 2 put some coffee in press (I usually go about 1 heaped dessert spoon per cup), step 3 add just slightly off boiling water, step 4 wait a few minutes and press (slowly - if you press hard itāll shoot out and grinds will go everywhere), step 5 pour and enjoy (black with no sugar).
Feel your pain here, I keep frozen diced onions in stock and use them any time a white onion is required. I use red onions in my mixed roast root(ish) veg they tend to be easier on the eyes.
Great news!
Silver lining, to a crappy cloud!
Justin Harris and Robert Sikes refer to this as ābuilding the metabolismā, and itās absolutely the goal of the reverse diet phase. The higher you can build that BMR, the easier the fat loss phase becomes. But, in turn, itās worth appreciating that itās exactly a āreverse dietā phase and not a ābulking/gainingā phase. Too many dudes do the former thinking theyāre doing the latter.
My bad on not giving you the NSFW warning for Jamie, haha. I forget not everyone āknowsā Jamie. But when you get past that, heās got a ton of great stuff.
So awesome to hear that the fam and I could inspire you! Muay Thai is a blast. I REALLY miss striking training like that. Boxing was great too that way. Were you an Academy Grad? I know Westpoint and USAFA require boxing for their grads: didnāt know if you had that experience.
And the sumo are DEFINITELY big eaters, and apparently drinkers as well, but they ALSO consistently rank in as athletes with the most lean body mass, even compared to bodybuilders. Theyāre just plain different.
Neither my wife nor I are really materialistic. Iāve often said that if I won the lottery, Iād buy a nice Tacoma, and thatās about it lol. Really itās more, I never want my family to be stressed about money, and I want to be able to share adventures. Vacations overseas, going to a play and nice dinner, sending the (hypothetical) kids to college. Nothing insane, but not nothing either.
Iāll definitely give this a shot!
I really liked a lot of it, actually some of my favorite stuff was the history deep dives he does in some historic lifters
I was, and we definitely boxedā¦. If you could call it that. I absolutely LOVED our boxing coach, crazy old Irish guy, but he said day one āI have you guys for one semester. You arenāt going to become a good boxer in one semester. But I can make sure you win any bar fight in Annapolis in a semester.ā So most of our boxing training included stuff like āhey, itās illegal to grab a guy by his hips and throw him, but it works great if you do it like this, and really fucks him up if you chuck him into a cornerā or āhereās a great opportunity to throw a headbutt if he gets in close.ā
For our āfinalā, me and another guy had to do 3 rounds live. We both left with broken noses, and coach begging us to join the boxing team lol. Also the only two guys in our class (as in classroom, not like my year) who he gave an A to lol.
Ahh, in another lifeā¦.
Cycle 2 Week 2 Day 1
SSB:
245x10 3 RIR
245x10 3 RIR
245x10 3 RIR
245x10 3 RIR
RDL:
175x10
175x10
175x10
175x10
Notes:
- todayā¦. Didnāt feel good. The weight actually moved alright, but it just didnāt āfeelā good. The moment I put the SSB on my back, I just wanted it off. Got the work done, but definitely one of those workouts I was focusing on just getting through.
- Kind of giving up on trying to get pretty SSB form. Iāll hit depth, and try to keep my knees tracking well. But in terms of the bar falling forward, or some upper back rounding, Iām just going to muscle through that shit.
- Swapped good morning for RDL, just couldnāt deal with more spinal loading.
- Just called it there, actually felt a little ill, not sure whatsup with that. Got some work, better than nothing
Fuel well, rest hard and feel better soon!
18Feb25: Cycle 2 Week 2 Day 2
Incline bench:
155x10 3.5 RIR
155x10 3.5 RIR
160x10 3 RIR
160x11 2.5 RIR
Barbell row:
145x10 3 RIR
145x10 3 RIR
145x10 2.5 RIR
145x10 2.5 RIR
Db Bench:
65x10 3 RIR
65x10 3 RIR
65x10 2 RIR
Chin Grip Pulldown:
145x10 3 RIR
145x10 3 RIR
145x10 3 RIR
145x10 3 RIR
Overhead Rope Extension:
45x12 3 RIR
45x12 3 RIR
45x12 3 RIR
Inc DB Curl:
20x11 3 RIR
20x11 3 RIR
20x11 2.5 RIR
Lat raise:
20x18, 20x13
Conditioning:
23 min run, 5.3 mph
Notes:
- feeling a bit better today. Realized yesterday that Iād been shorting my food since I got sick Thursday, most days were ending up like 1600 calories, which is almost 1000 shorter than my usual cutting diet. Think that may of been why I had no push in me yesterday.
- Getting a little bored in the gym. This volume stuff, just not my jam, regardless of how effective. Last cycle of this, then moving into some more focused strength work. Making this 4 week cycle instead of 5, since the wife is moving here on what would be my 5th week (so damn excited for this), so life giving me a deload there. Which just means I have one less week of building to try and hit those goals I wanted for this cycle. Thinking a 4 day split, Upper, lower, then 2 full body days. Squat 2x a week, bench 2x a week, press once, deadlift 1-2x. More specialization.
- Incline felt good. Barbell rows felt pretty good. Using my bench width grip, really lighting up my rear delts when I hit these.
- I get some elbow pain with the chin grip pulldowns, but only if I let my arms extend all the way straight with shoulders overhead. Cutting it with just a slight bend in my elbow makes it feel significantly more joint friendly.
- Leaning out a bit, waist getting trimmer, dropped a few more lbs. Iām not the leanest Iāve ever been by a long shot, but I am amazed at how lean I am at this bodyweight. Iām mid 230s, with similar body fat to what is generally lower 220s for me. That whole 2024 bulk seems to have paid off. Iām thinking I want to get leaner than even that, but may decide to stop this cut around 210 depending on how that looks on me. Trying to be āleanā but not going for ādicedā by any means, keep enough body fat that endurance and performance isnāt affected, but as lean as I can get until that happens. (May scrap that and just get as lean as possible for the wedding, someone depends on where we honeymoon lol)
Another Atlas Rant: (AKA, old man yells at clouds)
When did menās shirt sizes start making absolutely no sense? To put things in perspective, I am normally a large. I donāt try many shirts on. I just get a large. And it fits. It fits at 205, it fits at 240. Large just fits. Normally.
But then I got that carhartt large shirt like 2 weeks ago, and it dwarfs me. Shoulders are super wide, sleeves super long, chest is baggy, just definitely too big. Which I kind of like for the gym anyway, but itās large enough that I wouldnāt wear it out.
My wife got me another tshirt for Valentineās Day. This one from one of those cool, graphic tee, lifting/veteran/ āinsert the current lifestyle fad hereā type companies. (It says my dog thinks Iām strong, and I love it lol). This thing is a XXL, because itās the only one my wife found at whatever store. Why does this thing actually fit? Good cut on the shoulders, hugs my arms and makes me look jacked, nice taper on the waist. If it werenāt crazy long, this would actually be just about perfect.
How is this XXL smaller than a Large? I think part of it is āfitnessā companies cutting sleeves and shoulders comically tight to make guys think they are filling out bigger sizes for ego reasonsā¦. But dammit, Iāve been a large in ever brand since freshman year of high school. Donāt make me start learning brand specific sizes lol
lol, thanks! Did exactly that, and i did indeed feel better
I wore mediums into my 40s. Now Walmart mediums would fit a Northern California forest giant.
Made another round of stew (soup? I donāt actually know the difference.) really like it, especially on a cold day mixed with monster mash lol
Otherwise, rest day
21Feb25: Cycle 2 Week 2 Day 3
Hi handle trap bar:
420x8 3.5 RIR
420x8 3.5 RIR
420x8 3 RIR
420x8 3 RIR
Hatfield squat:
245x10 4 RIR
255x10 3.5 RIR
265x10 3 RIR
265x10 3 RIR
45 back raise:
20x11
20x11
20x11
20x11
Heels elevated goblet squat:
60x11 3.5 RIR
60x11 3.5 RIR
Superset:
Face pull: 45x15, 45x15, 45x15
Side bend: 60x10, 60x10, 60x10
Conditioning:
35 min treadmill ruck. 45lb, 3.3mph, 5 Incline
Notes:
- I feel like RIR is kind of misleading on lifts like deadlifts where you can really grind out reps. I think Iāve got 3-4 reps left in me, which on paper makes these sets sound easy⦠but Iām still blowing out blood vessels in my traps as I push to finish the set. Hell, much younger me may of thought this effort was 0-1 RIR. Itās a lot tougher in person than on paper lol
- Been feeling a little under the weather all week. Got home from work yesterday, took a ton of cold medicine and slept like 13 hours. Feeling better today. Kinda general fatigue, but it turned on when I started lifting
- Hatfields felt great. Did these without knee sleeves too. Kind of want to see what a cycle of doing these heavy (5ish reps) would do. Think I could overload the living hell out of my squat.
- Volume work squats and deads in the same workout is an absolute killer.
- I canāt say that rucking gives me the same benefits as some more fast paced cardio, but watching tv while walking on a treadmill is actually very enjoyable lol. I get why thatās half of what people do at planet fitness.
RIR requires a very honest assessment of yourself, Iāve been using it now for a pretty long time and I find itās the best but it takes some time. The issue with percentages I found was that Weekly Training Maxes fluctuate way too much. Maybe for a Beginner or Intermediate itād work since fatigue isnāt going to be a huge factor in recovery which = a pretty solid baseline week per week, but for an advanced lifter, hell yeah itāll be an issue.
RPE is pretty similar like RIR but I still think RIR gives you a more accurate assessment since youāre able to actually visualize and attach your effort using a number, which also sets up a goal for next time. Videos come in handy (doesnāt need to be every session), so if youāre feeling unconfident that youāre overestimating or underestimating yourself, iād record for a session to see if itās mental or physical holding you back by judging bar speed.
Sorry for the rant lmao
@KonsuTheTraveller rant away, I welcome the opinion of those bigger and stronger than me lol.
I completely agree with you on RIR. I do still videotape my top sets, donāt post them, but itās useful to me seeing the form and bar speed. Sometimes my āRIRā is really more āreps I can do with flawless form and tempo without any compensating muscles working at allā but thatās more for the minor isolation stuff than the big lifts.
I just donāt understand RPE, because it seems so vague. Kind of like going to the doctor. āOne a scale of 1 to 10, how much does this hurt?ā Well shit doc, Iāve never been set burnt alive, so Iām not sure what a 10 really is lol. I feel RPE is similar. Especially doesnāt make sense on lifts Iām less strong. I know an RPE 10 deadliftā¦. But I also know what going for a max reps set of lateral raises is like, and somehow those just donāt both feel like they should be described as RPE 10. RIR works better for my mental planning.
I actually do like percentage programs for a lot of stuff, but especially with me doing all these variations, it requires knowing your 1rm, which I donāt. So I canāt say ādo this many at xxxā, but itās pretty easy to say āIām lifting this weight until I feel about this many left in the tankā
Feb22: cycle 2 week 2 day 4
Seated BTN press:
115x10 3.5 RIR
115x10 3.5 RIR
115x10 3.5 RIR
115x11 2.5 RIR
Lat pulldown:
150x10 3.5 RIR
150x10 3 RIR
150x10 3 RIR
150x10 2.5 RIR
Db Inc press:
65x10 3.5 RIR
65x10 3 RIR
65x10 3 RIR
65x10 3 RIR
Db chest support row:
55x12 2.5 RIR
55x12 2.5 RIR
55x12 2.5 RIR
Superset:
Db fly: 25x14, 25x13, 25x13
Rope pushdown: 45x13, 45x13, 45x13
Barbell curls:
65x11 3 RIR
65x11 2.5 RIR
65x11 2 RIR
Lat raise:
20x18, 20x18. 20x15
Conditioning:
24 min run, 5.3 mph
Notes:
- felt good today. Strong. BTN press moving great. Lat pulldowns feeling strong, nice pump there. Good day overall.
- A little elbow anger on the curls. Barbell curls tend to end like this for me. I like them for a few weeks, and then my elbow gets angry. Supination is tough for me. But, I think I get a lot out of the movement, so I ordered a cheap EZ curl bar on Amazon. Nothing fancy, but itās just for curls and skullcrushers, so I donāt need fancy lol. Should help the elbow.
- Conditioning felt great. Iām holding myself back here, and itās kind of killing me. I want to run longer , or faster, but doing the slow and steady route for the shins. I think itās the smart move⦠but mentally hard to hold back.
- On a very related note, I feel the exact same about my diet. One one aspect, this is the easier diet Iāve ever followed. Iām down 8lbs now, and i legitimately have not felt hunger once. Iām very strict on what foods I eat, but Iām eating so much clean food that it almost feels like Iām bulking. Food volume wise, this is about what I did for my bulk, Iām just getting lower calorie for volume foods now. But on the other hand, this is one of the hardest diets Iāve done, because itās so slow. 1lb a week is impossible to track on a day to day basis, and my daily fluctuations of 2-3lbs means any given day, it can look like I just undid 3 weeks work, and I gotta look at weekly averages to notice āwow, my average is down 8lbs.ā And since Iām not hungry, itās tempting to say āfuck it, Iām gonna cut another 500 calories and start dropping weight faster.ā Mentally tough to hold onto the reins.
@T3hPwnisher and I had a chat about this once. For those of us on here, moderation IS our extreme. Seems you are experiencing that on the running and diet front.
Or videos and a coach who knows you always overestimate by at least 1. LOL
Cycle 2 Week 3 Day 1:
SSB Squat:
255x10 3 RIR
255x10 3 RIR
255x10 2.5 RIR
255x10 2 RIR
255x10 2 RIR
RDL:
185x10
185x10
185x10
185x10
Db BSS
25x11 2.5 RIR
25x11 2.5 RIR
25x11 2 RIR
GHR:
11, 11, 11, 11
Superset;
Face pull: 45x15, 45x15,
Cable crunch: 60x15, 60x15,
Conditioning:
35 min ruck, 45lb pack, 5inc, 3.3 mph
Notes:
- stopped stressing form as much of the SSB and just went into the lift thinking āaggressiveā. Worked like a charm. Little uglier? Maybe, but damn the weight moved a lot better. Still hitting depth, knees tracking how I want, just letting myself muscle the weight up a bit more.
- I think cutting it short last week was a good idea. Hit 10lbs heavier for an extra set, and it took less out of me than last week did lol.
- RDLs felt good. Movement is feeling strong overall.
- Worst part of BSS is finishing a grueling set, and then realizing you have to do the other legā¦
- Weather warmed up a ton, actually opened the garage door today. Felt so nice to get some sunlight, really does a ton to boost energy levels. Much better than just overhead lighting.
Random:
- I wear camo fatigues to work 90% of the time, which is somewhat comical because I now work with many civilian coworkers who are all in suits or nice blouses. But, new job has me in my dress uniform like 10% of the time today. I confess that I enjoy the days I walk in with my slacks and double breasted suit. Job doesnāt really change at all, but I feel so much more professional dressed up all fancy lol.
- I feel like I have two alternate personas. There is āblue collar Atlasā who grew up working on farms and ranches in the summer, likes doing home construction and carpentry, hunts with the family and drinks bourbon on a truck tailgate around a bonfire. Then thereās āprofessional Atlasā who went to a competitive undergrad, has been published twice, certified nuclear engineer, naval officer, who has a dedicated library room in his house and goes to fundraising events on the weekends. Iām kinda comfortable with this dichotomy, feel no need to āpickā either one, but it is VERY interesting when someone who meets me in one aspect of my life sees the other. Particularly, lots of people who have met āprofessional Atlasā are very shocked when I show up to a social event in flannel and cowboy boots lol. And yes, This has absolutely nothing to do with lifting, at some point I should just start a damn journal haha.
- Speaking of surprising, I may as well share a story from last Friday. At work, helping some guys move around some furniture (AKA, wasting time.) started working a little harder, so I took off my fleece jacket and camo fatigue shirt, so I just had a Tshirt. I havenāt really done a good physique update, so maybe I should do one soon, but measurements clocked me Sunday at a 36 inch waist, with 18inch flexed no pump arms. I look pretty damn good In a well fit Tshirt, but you donāt really tell with my baggy fleece. Well, the gal at the desk across from me kinda gasped when I took off my jacket, and when I laughed at her she said āI just didnāt expect you to look like that.ā So if any of you need to get a hold of me, Iāll be riding my high horse for the next few weeks.
@simo74 lol, this is very true. Thatās why I like having my PR sets at the end of every mesocycle, Iām pretty good at going all out for one set, and it lets me know a gauge of where the rest of my stuff should fall.
@unicornsandrainbows you know, this is so true. I actually notice it a lot in other aspects of my life lol. Iām terrible about hobbies. Get into almost none, because whenever something interests me, I get so in depth analyzing every aspect of how I can do my hobby so intensely that I then decide itās too much commitment. For example, I ride my motorcycle. At this point, Iāve settled on it just being a commuter and a few fun ridesā¦. But for years I was wanting to build my own bike, make a bike collection, get into racing, everything you could imagine motorcycle. Being married helped me curb that one lol. But I tend to want to just go all in, a bit of a āanything worth doing is worth overdoingā mentality that sometimes can be to my detriment.
For reference, this was my diet yesterday, which is about identical to my diet probably 6 days a week, with one day where I may do some substitution.
0700: Fairlife Nutrition Shake
0800: Zoa Energy Drink
1100:
- LMNT carbonated drink
- Monster mash (8oz 93/7 ground beef, 1 cup basmati rice, 1/2 cup spinach)
- 1 cup carrots plain
- 1 serving lightly salted almonds
1445:
- Fairlife nutrition shake
- 1 orange
1700:
- monster mash again
- Vegetable stew
1900:
- monster mash again
- 2 soft boiled eggs
2100: 1/2 cup fat free cottage cheese
All in all, the macros for that comes out to
2566 calories
262 grams protein
82 grams fat
197 grams carbohydrates
So looking at the macros, for a guy my size and activity, thatās a decent day for a slow cut. But in practice? This feels like Iām eating all the time. Maybe a little hungry before lunch, but really this works out to slamming a protein shake on the way to work, then morning meetings and such straight into lunch. After lunch Iām pretty dang full. The cup of carrots really adds volume there. Couple hours later I have some carbs and protein before I workout, then after the gym itās another meal, this time with my vegetable and potato stew that again is pretty filling. Shower off, do a few things around the house, eat dinner part 2, then relax for a bit before my pre-bed meal. I basically feel like I am constantly eating once I hit lunch, so mentally itās really easy for me to think that I could be eating less, because eating this much is already a bit of an effort. Whenever I stop cutting, I think Iāll just swap to some more nutrient dense foods, because idk if I can handle too much more food volume lol.
