If you really want to go all in on this - I’d look at running AIP/Low-FODMAP/Low Histamine all at the same time for 3-4 weeks. It would be hella rough - but if you want to wipe it all out in one go, that’s how I would approach it. This isn’t something I’d typically recommend, due to the shear aggressiveness of it, but you said “aggressively”, and it would be a faster process that way. The kicker would be adding things back - it would need to be SUPER strategic and if you decide to go in heavy, we can work that out as you go, but you can’t just add everything all back in on day 22. It would be a one food at a time re-intro. Slow and steady to figure out what the triggers are.
The other option would be to run full AIP for 3-4 weeks, do the slow re-intro on that one. Then do a full on low FODMAP for 2-3 weeks, do the slow re-intro on that. And finally do a full low histamine diet for 2-3 weeks and then slow re-intro that. You’re looking at a 6-9 month process this way, and closer to a 3-4 month if you hit em’ all in one shot.
So, you’ve got some options - none of them great and all of them will require 100% compliance or you’ll need to start over again. It’s intense, but for the folks I’ve coached through it - life changing.
Thanks. Heavily considering my options. As you imply, it’s a big commitment but it really has dominated my life for so long. I need to get it sorted.
I’m currently 5 days 100% low-fodmap, no dairy, no gluten, no red meat, no cured meats. I think I am for the most part low-histamine, I can’t find any of the triggers in my diet. The only thing that could be argued is I cooked too large a portion of turkey mince and left it in the fridge overnight which would count as aged/leftovers. I had eggs and a tin of tuna on the first day as I was unprepared but haven’t since… so 4 days low-fodmap, low-histamine, and the other stuff.
I had a decent day yesterday but last night was rough. the only thing different I ate from the day before was half a red pepper, so will remove nightshades from now on too.
During my last cut I was doing a a half-assed version of low FODMAP and I did have a period of 3-4 days where I felt 50% better which is longer than usual. Whether that was a coincidence or not I don’t know. I’m more strict and driven in all areas of life than I was back then though so will see what I can figure out.
Definitely keep me posted on how things are going and what you’re doing. I’m here for any questions and will offer insight when and where I can. I’d love for you to get this figured out and will help you do that in any and every way I am able.
If that’s you’re goal - yeah, this is almost fool-proof. lol
Weighted neutral chins BW + 5kg
10 or 11 (a friend said I did 11, I counted 10)
10
9
Leg Press
160kg x 8
160kg x 8
160kg x 8
Chest-supported rows
40kg x 8
40kg x 8
40kg x 8 (last 2 reps not great)
Leg curls
62.5kg x 11
62.5kg x 10
62.5kg x 10
The same thing happened last time I entered a deficit, but not one this big! It must be a leverage thing. I’ve averaged around a 1300-1400 calorie deficit, the scale says 6lbs lighter in just a week (yeah I know water weight yada yada), I feel super flat…but that top set TBDL set was ezpz. I was concerned whether I could follow the progression and get 5, but 7 came with not much effort and I felt genuinely short-changed by the set. Jumping straight to the top end of the rep range is always a wonderful feeling. Because of the ease of the set and not wanting to get up towards 12-15 on the back-off set, I auto-regulated and did a 5kg jump instead of a 2.5kg and got 9 which I’m happy with. I don’t plan to have that disparity in the future (I like to do 90% of top set). 12-15 deadlift reps on an aggressive cut didn’t feel smart and I felt I could get more out of a set I could manipulate to 8-10.
Got my progression on other things except for leg press. maybe I could have pushed harder but the more I do them, the more I hate them. The gym hasn’t got the best leg press machine to be fair, meh. Switched chest-supported rows back in as despite my back feeling awesome after last weeks pendlays, the top of my forearm was irritated, and rather than muck about with form or try a different row, I just went back to the tried and trusted so I can measure how everythings going a bit better.
Just did my weekly weigh-in. I’ve gone from ~200lb to 192.3lb in 7 days That’s actually a bit insane to see. I understand/know the impact of water weight and my carbs are especially low (I get most of my carbs in before my workouts). Around 2.5-3 lbs I would like to hope is actually fat loss.
Sleeping like a baby, 8 hours uninterrupted last night.
Energy levels are high. Still managed PRs in my last workout (pressing today will be different though of course, always is).
I know I can’t count this as 8lb weight loss, but I know some people that would, end their cut and put it all back on in a couple days v_v
Machine Chest Press
87.5kg x 11
87.5kg x 9
87.5kg x 9
Rope pulldown
32.5kg x 9
32.5kg x 8
32.5kg x 7
Ez bar curls
40kg x 12
40kg x 9
40kg x 7
Went pretty much as predicted. Loss of glycogen impacting the exercises/getting less reps where shoulder stability is required… Not worried at all. The continued progression on the Machine Chest Press shows how strength is going nowhere. Maintainance of the first set on things like ezbar curls and tricep isolations lets me know I’m not losing anything too, just a little less work capacity.
I keep forgetting to do pull-aparts which is annoying me. I was in the habit of doing at least 50-60 every other workout.
Leg extensions
72.5kg x 15
72.5kg x 14
72.5kg x 12
One-arm dumbbell row
40kg x 10
40kg x 10
40kg x 10 (right side dropped 2sec rest to get 10th out)
Almost didn’t go today. Playing football last night I had a twinge in my groin/down through the front of my quad so was a bit apprehensive squatting. I did a few more warm-up sets and they were hurting. In the moment I made the decision which could have been stupid to go through with my top set anyway. Managed to get through it and the back-off set with no aggravation. Like, it hurts… but no more than it did when I woke up this morning.
Just as mentioned in my last log entry, dropping off in the latter sets is absolutely fine for me because of the low calories, so I expected that with the pulldowns. What I didn’t expect was to add 2.5kg to leg extensions and pretty much mimic what I did last time for reps. Nice.
I had a bit of a binge for valentines day last night, and by binge I mean I added a 198cal jacket potato to my dinner. Diet staying strong.
I’m finding this cut a little too easy right now. Currently on 660cals, 85g protein and it’s coming up to 7:00pm. I’ve also got 11,000 steps in today. Energy is high.
Will probably have 60g of protein with dinner and then finish off the day with maybe a scoop and a half of protein which I’m digesting well at the moment - leaving me on 1200cal/175-180g protein. With the walking I’ve done that deficit would probably have me close to 2000cals. I could probably have anything I want for dinner but I’m not struggling so may just profit from how well I’ve done so far today. It would be a massive deficit but I feel that still being quite a bit over 15% it won’t hurt me if I have such a low-calorie day. A lot of the science says that 2% of body weight a week is a good place to be in a minicut if carrying a lot of body fat (which may not quite be me), and for a 200lb man that would be 4lbs/2000cal deficit. That seems too risky for me though so trying to stay closer to 1.25-1.5%. There will be good reason that a lot of the coaches don’t recommend quite that high.
I dunno, see what the missus carries in with the weekly shop in the next few mins.
I did go to the gym yesterday and will post my workout when I next have a moment on my phone.
After 12 days of extreme diet restriction (I didn’t even eat that venison I mentioned above as I have eliminated red meat - I opted for the blandest of chicken sausages that were just 60cals, 10g protein each instead). That was a bit of a pointless act though because I actually had a slip-up yesterday. My girlfriend has a cold and ordered a pizza. After barely eating for so long I told myself I deserved a cheat day to then attack the next 8 days (or 14 if I extend it). I feel so dumb, not because of the cheat day or the calories, but because I’ve been so regimented and consistent with all these eliminations going on trying to figure out my digestive issues.
Anyway… had a takeaway double burger, no cheese, only lettuce and cucumber as a topping. Oh bollocks, the reflux was so painful. Even a couple of hours later I was still burping up sour big masses of the food that should have been making its way through the rest of my system by then. Pounded 2-3 Gaviscon Advance tablets before bed and still feel sore this morning, it’s like someone has held a juiced-up cigarette lighter throughout my whole GI. When I return the bulk I’m going to try to do it with only lean meats, potentially no red + mostly chicken - it’s gonna be tough after I’ve relied on ground beef for so long.
On the plus side, yesterday’s calories have made me feel a bit pumped today. I was feeling super flat and skinny-fat, and now I’m feeling really positive about my body composition.
Chest supported rows
40kg x 8
40kg x 8 (last 2 fatigued, poor ROM)
40kg x 9 (dunno where that came from, maybe last rep not great)
Another TBDL Rep PR but wasn’t happy with the set. Due to weight loss I went an extra 2 holes down on the belt, I should have stuck to one though because it was a bit tight. Don’t feel like I had a full brace and rounded my back a bit - ended the set due to discomfort rather than fatigue. Back-off set felt way better with belt adjustment.
Not much different to last week which is good . Continue to eek out progress on the machine chest press.
Now I messed up a bit. On Thursday my dog is having his balls chopped off so I may have to go in tomorrow instead. Problem is I was stuck on autopilot and trained biceps when I got RDLs and rows to come. Not sure whether to just give myself an extra rest day and hit it Friday or go in anyway.
My dog came down with something yesterday and is now on antibiotics so the ball chopping has been delayed until March 1st. I could have gone in today but my head already had it that I’m probably going to have an extra rest day/be gym-free for 2 days. I convinced myself it was okay not to go in today. I’ve been carrying a very very minor cold (the girlfriend had it too, seriously the weakest cold we’ve ever had… it’s a bit weird) so maybe it’s smart rather than lazy. - as usual I do my overthinking as if my muscles are gonna disappear overnight. It doesn’t matter how many times I get in this situation, know the facts, and have a backlog showing that even when having a week off due to illness and undereating it makes close to no difference… my brain doesn’t seem to learn. Just that little voice in the background saying “don’t forget you’re in a big deficit though”.
Scale said 187.4lb yesterday morning. Down around 13lbs in just 16-17days. Mental. I’m still finding the diet okay but I’m getting to the point I miss progress. I’m in three minds on whether to extend it to 4 weeks on the same diet, to up my calories a bit so the deficit isn’t so big in the last week just shaving off another pound or two, or to get right back to the bulk.
For anyone who’s been following my digestive updates (sorry btw), things haven’t changed much. I’ve been having a lot of loose stools, still a lot of reflux and gas albeit not as acidic. I haven’t discovered a massive amount as of yet in these almost 3 weeks, except perhaps that overly fatty red meat should be off the menu given my extremely painful reaction when I had that slip-up with the double burger. It’s a baby step, and I’m not better at all but at least I got something out of this massive elimination diet to be able to at least maybe figure that out. To me that can mean nothing else but a victory when having a long-term vision. The war is not won but a small battle may have been.
I’ve managed to remain 100% dairy-free, grain-free, allium-free (onions and garlic), and except for that burger, gluten and red meat-free. My baseline symptoms have been mostly the same. I haven’t been as FODMAP-free as i’d like as sometimes in a pinch I’ve been limited on certain vegetable options, I’ve had things like decent-sized portions of broccoli. Nightshades and histamine foods I only stayed away from 80-90% of the time as baked salted crisps/chips were often great pre-workout boost of carbs and sodium.
I will likely drop the lactose-free whole milk for semi-skimmed during the bulk to further keep those fats lower. I will continue with the eliminations for however long this cut goes on for, be it a few more days or another 9-10. When I return to the bulk for I dunno, 6-12weeks depending on how I get on, I will definitely try new eliminations in my next cut.
Random question but you’ve not been previously to any country in Asia have you? Reading your digestive issues made me think of a friend of mine who spent years trying to solve his issues but they were linked to a virus he picked up in Thailand but very similar issues but took the doctors a couple of years to solve.
Narrow pulldowns
80kg x 12
80kg x 10
80kg x 10…ish
Leg extensions
75kg x 13
75kg x 13
75kg x 11
One-arm dumbbell row
40kg x 10
40kg x 10
40kg x 10
Was wondering when my squat would drop. All is good as I expected it to, it felt almost like i’d never got under a bar before, was so unstable! RDLs and everything else remain consistant though which is nice. If there’s ever anything to say “Hey mate, don’t get discouraged, you’re not losing strength or muscle, it’s passive stability. You’re doing great” it’s still progressing on the non-multijoint exercises.
The last day of the planned cut (3 weeks) is today. From 200lb starting weight to 187lb which I’m very happy with. I expect water weight will stabilize me to just above 190lb, so I’ll call it an 8-10lb loss. I’m not worried about accuracy with that.
Rubbish sleep last night due to lots of noise outside, Wales vs England Rugby last night and I live in a border town so everyone decides to get drunk. Feeling drained right now. It’s about time I got a day like this though isn’t it? My energy has been surprisingly high through this cut so it’s almost like I planned to come off it perfectly which I can trick my brain into thinking “Nice one”.
As mentioned before, I’ve been tempted to extend it to 3.5-4 weeks, but feeling as I do today and spending yesterday tinkering with my programming planning for the next bulking phase, I’m not sure if I want to. Continuing to eat low calories I’m finding it super easy which is great knowing that when I want to shave 8-12lbs off I can do it without much bother. If anything, I could eat like this for a bit longer so maybe I’m being silly not to give it more time. I’ll give it some more thought and decide tomorrow.
Going to the gym now for an upper session. Gonna take it easy… 2-3 reps from failure kind of stuff on the compounds. Not a deload as such but if I plan to up my calories Monday and get back to the bulking grind Tuesday it’ll be very welcome. If I decide to extend the cut then meh, one lightish session ain’t gonna be the make or break when it comes to maintaining muscle.
Overhead triceps extension (rope)
27.5kg x 7
27.5kg x 7
Cable curls
30kg x 14
30kg x 12
So I errr… didn’t do what I said at all. When I turn up to the gym I always feel like a different person and hit it just as hard as I did last week. Lost a rep for each week i’ve been cutting on both bench and db presses.
I have a bunch of really lean meat left to eat so I will continue on until at least Wednesday.
