Dealing With the Intensity

Bigger Stronger Leaner Over 35 Lifter
1

I need some help guys - this is turning out to be far tougher than I expected. I didn’t want to post up with “I can’t do this…” or “It’s too hard doing that…” kinda stuff, but the fact is my re-entry to lifting is not going well and I’d like some input from my peers.

My last month has consisted of 2 things: examine my diet (food log), and getting back to working with weights to remember exercises, work on my form, and generally determine what exercises I can do with the limited gear I have and while working out alone (safely).

I suppose there’s a simple answer to my problems (e.g.: eat more, change up exercises, etc) but my whole program is based on stuff I’ve gathered here and it’s working for others so I am baffled as to why it’s killing me… I don’t want to just arbitrarily start changing things because I am trying to lose fat while keeping muscle, and when I “did it on my own” I lost a TON of muscle mass.

My goal:
Lose fat now, will worry about mass later.
Initially I thought that I’d be able to lose fat and build muscle at the same time, but then after a bit of reading here I decided to follow the Physique Clinic for Barti because he’s a fat guy planning to cut some weight and then build some mass.

My diet mirrors that of Bart (exactly, as far as I can tell from his Physique Clinic and his “support thread”)
My exercise routine is based on Waterbury’s Total Body Training

So what’s my problem?
Mondays are OK - decent energy, stamina, etc
Wednesdays are hard - tire quickly, headaches on occasion
Fridays - near impossible - zero energy (sapping my motivation / killing my attitude in general)

I will say that I feel like my muscles are “coming back”, and I’m definitely noticing that I’m firming up all around.

Somethings gotta change, just not sure what I should mess with because again, it’s working for others, and I want to make sure I don’t go totally catabolic.

In general I get lots of water, supps include creatine, aminos, a low-dose multi, GABA, ZMA, and Acetyl L-Carnitine.

My job is rather stressful - I try to deal as best I can.

I don’t sleep great - but it’s how I’ve always slept. 6 hours is a lot for me.

Other than the fat burners I get no caffeine - I wonder if this is not part of the headaches as I really like my coffee.

Diet details:

Here’s a sample of a workout day - this is from today and is an exception because I had a skull crushing headache and just had to have a bit more food. So, the Universal Torrent and the Protein Bar typically wouldn’t be in there (so like 300 less calories)
6:45 AM (Supplements) 2 Fat Burners

7:30 AM (Breakfast)
4 Omega-3 Eggs
1 Cup chopped Celery
Fish Oil - 4 Caps Sam’s
1 TBLSP olive Oil

12:30 PM (Lunch)
4 oz. Turkey
1 Cup Broccoli flower clusters
1 TBLSP olive Oil

2:07 PM (Supplements)
Fish Oil - 4 Caps Sam’s

4:10 PM (Snack)
Promax Protein Bar - 20g Protein

7:00 PM (Supplements)
Universal Torrent (2 Scoops in water)

7:30 PM (Dinner)
1 cup Lettuce
1 oz Tomato
Raspberry Vinaigrette (1 TBLSP)
1 TBLSP olive Oil
1 Cup Broccoli flower clusters
4 oz. Tilapia, cooked, dry heat

9:30 PM Protein Drink (Milk & Egg, Whey)
1 TBLSP olive Oil
1/2 cup chopped Celery

Calories: 1950
Cabs: 141g
Protein: 190g
Fat: 71g

For Non-workout days:
Calories: 1550
Carbs: 50g
Protein: 149g
Fat: 81g

6:30 AM (Supplements) 2 Fat Burners

7:30 AM (Breakfast)
4 Omega-3 Eggs
1 Cup chopped Celery
Fish Oil - 4 Caps Sam’s
1 TBLSP olive Oil

12:00 PM (Lunch)
4 oz. Turkey
1 Cup Broccoli flower clusters
Water, tap, well
1 TBLSP olive Oil

2:00 PM (Supplements)
Fish Oil - 4 Caps Sam’s

7:25 PM (Dinner)
4 oz Pork tenderloin
1 cup Lettuce
1.5 oz Tomatoes
1 TBLSP Raspberry Vinaigrette
1 TBLSP olive Oil

10:27 PM (Supplements)
1 scoop Muscle Matrix Low Carb Protein
1 scoop Protein Powder - Milk & Egg
1 TBLSP olive Oil
1/2 cup chopped Celery

My workout schedule:

Cardio for 40 minutes on off days - moderate (keep my HR in the 140-150 range)

Mondays Sets / Reps Rest
Flat BB Bench Press 3 x 5 60 sec.
Seated Cable Rows 3 x 5 60 sec.
High-bar Back Squats 3 x 5 60 sec.
Sumo-style deadlifts 3 x 5 60 sec.
DB Hammer Curls 3 x 5 60 sec.
Standing Calf Raises 3 x 5 60 sec.

Wednesdays Sets / Reps Rest
Incline DB BP 3 x 8 90 sec.
DB Upright Rows 3 x 8 90 sec.
Front Squats 3 x 8 90 sec.
Good Mornings 3 x 8 90 sec.
BB Bicep Curls 3 x 8 90 sec.
Dips 3 x 8 90 sec.

Fridays Sets / Reps Rest
Decline BB Bench Press 2 x 15 120 sec.
Chin-ups 2 x 15 120 sec.
Step-Ups 2 x 15 120 sec.
Deadlifts 2 x 15 120 sec.
Seated Calf Raises 2 x 15 120 sec.
Lying Tricep Extensions 2 x 15 120 sec.

Am I losing weight? Yes - here’s this week:
Monday: 205.8
Tuesday: 204.4
Today: 202.2

2

Let me preface this with: I’m sure you’ll be able to find articles that are against what I’m about to say… but just from looking at your routine and what you’re saying about its effect on you…

That just seems like not much food. The old recommendation for losing was multiple your bodyweight by something between 11 and 13 and you should aim for that many calories per day when you’re dieting. For you, that’s about 2200 to 2600 kcals per day. The Physique Clinic is great but they’re really trying to maximize the fat loss with the coaches tweaking their inputs and their workouts as they go along. Those guys are on pretty low calories for their bodyweights.

If you want to be “hardcore”, then suck it up and work throught it… but if you want to make this a reasonable experience and give yourself a shot at being successful, I’d suggest adding a little bit more food in.

You gotta try to get the sleep thing worked out. I personally consider sleeping well to be very, very important to your well-being.

And… this part is probably going to step on some toes… but personally when I start feeling a bit wiped out, cardio is the first thing I cut.

But that’s just me.

3

“I don’t sleep great - but it’s how I’ve always slept. 6 hours is a lot for me.”

This is the main issue. I am near 40 and I get over 9 hours of sleep every day. If I don’t my workout suffers. No matter what food I consume.

4

Don’t know how tall you are, but Bart prob had a lot more weight to loose than you. The diet looks a bit extreme for you. Also, you are chasing two goals right now - you’d be better served by just focusing on getting back into lifting. How about adding some more carbs? Oatmeal on top of your current breakfast and some starches w/meals on your workout days would be a good start. I assume that this diet is pretty different from how you were eating before. What’s your PWO meal?

5

[quote]johnny-longtorso wrote:

I don’t sleep great - but it’s how I’ve always slept. 6 hours is a lot for me.

[/quote]

Ditto here guy. And yes everyone will tell you you need more sleep but short of sleeping pills I’ve yet to find a way to make this happen. I quit worrying about it long ago and it doesn’t seem to affect my energy levels. As for your overall energy maybe you should just slow down on the weight lose. Your body does need to get use to working with less fuel. I’m far from being an expert in this area but it seems losing 3-4 pounds of weight in 4 days, assuming its not water weight, is going to affect your energy levels. Good luck and hang in there.

6

Persistence and perseverance will win out. Take a second to read one of the Physique clinic logs and read what Chris S tells them about imagery. I don’t agree with him in allot of area’s but I think he is pretty spot on about this. Take measurements & pictures and keep that food and exercise log going. Keep posting here and reading others logs, it always motivates me to see other guys hitting it hard!

Stay Strong!

7

I would definitely shorten up those long periods you have in between breakfast and lunch and later in the day between 2pm and 7pm. My experience has been that you need to eat every 2.5 to 3 hours. Taking the advice of some of the others 10am and 5pm would be a good place to add another “clean” meal which would also up your calories.

8

I think you are over analysing things and it’s causing stress. Your stressful job, lack of sleep, a workout that may be a little ambitious, trying to lose weight with a program that may be a little ambitious, etc, all accumulate as stress and limit your recovery. You need to get a handle on what works for YOU, not Bart.

Take steps to get your stress under control. Lower the intensity of your diet and the workout until you feel in control and then gradually increase it as you feel able.

Stu

9

Thanks for the input guys.

I neglected to mention that:

  • I’m 6’3" tall
  • I am, in fact, splitting these meals such that I eat (and supplement) about every 2-3 hours. It’s just too much of a PITA to log it (using VidaOne Diet & Fitness) as separate events.
  • I’ve never done a workout with a “timed recovery”; I may need to just ease the pace on those days that it’s a bitch.

When I do a lot of huge leg stuff my heartrate will peak well into the 150s…

[quote]The Pencil Neck wrote:
That just seems like not much food.
…
If you want to be “hardcore”, then suck it up and work through it… but if you want to make this a reasonable experience and give yourself a shot at being successful, I’d suggest adding a little bit more food in.[/quote]

[quote]HoratioSandoval wrote:
The diet looks a bit extreme for you.
…
How about adding some more carbs? [/quote]
That’s really what I thought - this diet regimen is too hard-core for me as-is. I ran my body weight through the “suggested calorie intake” calculator for the Velocity Diet and the numbers pretty much mirror where I am now - between 1500 and 1700 day. I may have been able to “build” to this level, but jumping in head first was prolly not my smartest move so far.

I will add some carbs, but I have some room to bump protein as well. I do want to keep the fats up as that seems to be what stimulates “the burn”.

[quote]HoratioSandoval wrote:
I assume that this diet is pretty different from how you were eating before. [/quote]
Extremely so. I logged for a good 2 weeks or so, eating what I’ve always considered to be a “reasonably healthy diet”. It was shite. I averaged about 2500-2800 cals a day, and it was mostly carbs and fat. Protein was very low.

[quote]HoratioSandoval wrote:
What’s your PWO meal?[/quote]
Well, it was BCAAs and Universal Torrent or a Whey/other (more complete) protein drink immediately when I come up the stairs, followed by dinner ASAP. I have always been a believer in getting real food within 30 minutes of my workouts.
However, because of the crazy carb restriction on this diet (50-60g max!) I cut out the PW drink/protein. I believe this will be the first place I put some nutrition back into my plan.

[quote]The Pencil Neck wrote:
You gotta try to get the sleep thing worked out. I personally consider sleeping well to be very, very important to your well-being.[/quote]

[quote]sawadeekrob wrote:
…I get over 9 hours of sleep every day. If I don’t my workout suffers. No matter what food I consume.[/quote]

[quote]hel320 wrote:

[quote]johnny-longtorso wrote:
I don’t sleep great - but it’s how I’ve always slept. 6 hours is a lot for me.[/quote]

Ditto here guy. And yes everyone will tell you you need more sleep but short of sleeping pills I’ve yet to find a way to make this happen.[/quote]

Well, the issue is that I can offset my sleep all I want but my body clock moves with the same index. If I go to bed at 9pm I will wake at 3am. My dad was the same way. I should note that it’s not too often that I “feel” tired, but there are times when my energy drains quickly while lifting.

But - I will make an effort to get more rest where possible. I do love a Sunday nap…

HEL -
I will say that I just started taking GABA and it’s improving the quality of my sleep. I tried taking half the recommended dose and got nothing, but I now take a gram before bed and I decidedly fall deeper asleep faster, and fall back asleep with more regularity (a real issue given my water intake and required overnight trips to pisser). Placebo effect? I don’t think so, but if it is I’m not one to argue the power of the mind. I buy in bulk from NutraBio.

[quote]The Pencil Neck wrote:
And… this part is probably going to step on some toes… but personally when I start feeling a bit wiped out, cardio is the first thing I cut.
[/quote]
Actually, I am gonna cut it on workout days. It’s insane to burn 700 calories on a day that I only eat 1700 (on top of my base metabolic burn)

[quote]Colin Wilson wrote:
Persistence and perseverance will win out.
…
Stay Strong! [/quote]
Thanks for the pointers Colin. I do a bit of visualization now - sadly the mirror rips me back to reality :slight_smile: But I think once I get a bit more fuel I’ll be able to bring the intensity back up without feeling like my head is gonna fall off.

[quote][b]stuward wrote:
I think you are over analysing things and it’s causing stress. Your stressful job, lack of sleep, a workout that may be a little ambitious, trying to lose weight with a program that may be a little ambitious, etc, all accumulate as stress and limit your recovery. You need to get a handle on what works for YOU, not Bart.

Take steps to get your stress under control. Lower the intensity of your diet and the workout until you feel in control and then gradually increase it as you feel able.[/b][/quote]
Thanks Stu. I didn’t really believe that I was over analyzing my activity - that’s the reason I basically copied from sources I thought I was closest too (if, for no other reason, because I’m a lazy sot). But I agree that it’s probably a bit ambitious for me out of the gate. I don’t perceive that my stress level is elevated, but obviously I’ve given some mental cycles to my “transformation”. Taking a step back and a few deep breaths aren’t going to slow me in the long run.

And as far as pics, etc - yeah, I am going to start a “real log” here shortly. I was going to wait until I got things “all nailed down” on routine and diet, but I think that if I wait for that I’ll never get one started. I’m a little bummed that I don’t have any pics from 30 pounds ago, but I certainly have a ways to go to “buff”, so pics will be a must.

When I do start logging none of you 5’9" guys are allowed to poke fun at my workout weights! With yard-long arms and a 38" inseam I’ve got some wicked physics to deal with.

I really appreciate your support.

New plan:
Add some needed calories
Find a nap here and there
Keep hittin’ it hard!

Don

10

Don’t worry Bro, no one’s gonna poke fun at what you’re lifting. Nothin’ but hard work and motivation around here. I’ve gotta get 8-9 hours of sleep, and eat every 2-3 hours or I don’t feel myself.

11

Hello johnny-longtorso, I’ll through my little bit in here. I live for high intensity and endurance. So here’s some food for thought.

Diet
If you are looking to lose weight and then build up, first get that fat out of your diet. You can replace the Omega 3’s with salba seed for now (thirty dollars a pound, you’d much rather have steak, later on that.) Increase your fiber intake for this reason. The longer excess food stays in your body the more time the body has to store it as body fat. Use what you need and shit out the excess.

Way more carb calories, the burning off of body fat takes energy, short on carbs the body attacks it’s muscle mass for the energy to burn the fat. The carb should be in the form of whole grains. They burn slow and steady and have lots of fiber to help move the excess out.

My breakfast has not changed for so long it’s not funny.
Smoothie; 1 1/2 cup no fat yogurt, 3 bananas, 1 cup frozen raspberries, 1 cup frozen blueberries, 3 level Tbs salba seed, 2 heaping Tbs Hemp nut seed, 1/4 cup gr. flax seed, 1 scoop choc protein powder. Lots of fiber and all your fruit.

Lunch, sandwich (whatever you like) lots! of sprouts, 2 apples or raw veggie.

Supper, well I’m single. Chile for one week lasagna for the next. This eating works for me. Home made oatmeal cookies for snacks.

Cardio, LSD (long slow distance) speed will not increase your calorie out put enough to make it worth while. Slow, just inside your heart rate target zone. This should be done every day until you make your weight. Consistency will train your body to burn energy at a constant rate.

Having said all that I’m sure to get some very supportive replies. Is all I can say is, six foot 168lbs 8.7% bf. My workouts speak for themselves.

What ever happens johnny-longtorso the best of luck, give’er hell and stay strong, this is for life!

12

[quote]streamline wrote:

Diet
If you are looking to lose weight and then build up, first get that fat out of your diet. You can replace the Omega 3’s with salba seed for now. [/quote]

I don’t know. His diet is already pretty low in fat, and the fat it does contain, are all healthy, good fats. Certainly a man needs to keep his hormone production steady, especially when dieting, and you need these healthy fats for that. And why would you want to replace his Omega-3’s? Are you talking about the fish oil or the eggs?

hijack

Also, I googled salba seeds, and I found that they are a really good source of Omega-3, better than flaxseed, but still not as much as fish oil. I also found that Salba is the seed of the plant Salvia hispanica L. So is chia seed. Yeah, ch-ch-ch-chia, pet! The nutrients are the same in both chia and salba, but chia seed is 6 dollars a pound, as opposed to 30 bucks for “salba”. So am I risking my life with the chia seeds? You can PM the answer, unless others want to know.

hijack over

13

I’m new, starting over again, but I’ve spent a lot of time in the gym, and around athletes. I’ll throw my two cents in.

Sleep-you’ll be amazed at what 7-8 hours a night will do for you.

Food-somebody spank me if I’m wrong, but that is a LOT of supplements. My opinion, but all these supplements are worthless, advertised by bodybuilders who are taking supplements that can’t be legally advertised. Take that money your spending and buy some real food-chicken breasts, steak. I noticed that your taking in very little carbs, and you are saying you have no energy. Eat some oatmeal in the morning, and have some carbs with every meal. Carbs are not the killer-it’s the type of carbs you eat, white bread etc,

I worked with a trainer, who told me if you take a good creatine/glutamaine mix, a multivitamin, that is all you need.

14

[quote]mutigers wrote:
Food-somebody spank me if I’m wrong, but that is a LOT of supplements. My opinion, but all these supplements are worthless, advertised by bodybuilders who are taking supplements that can’t be legally advertised. Take that money your spending and buy some real food-chicken breasts, steak. I noticed that your taking in very little carbs, and you are saying you have no energy. Eat some oatmeal in the morning, and have some carbs with every meal. Carbs are not the killer-it’s the type of carbs you eat, white bread etc,

I worked with a trainer, who told me if you take a good creatine/glutamaine mix, a multivitamin, that is all you need. [/quote]

Personally, I’m not a big fan of supplements.

But… if used right, they’re great. If they’re used as a supplement to replace something that you’re not getting in your regular diet, it’s great.

Take creatine/glutamine as an example. I don’t see a big need for that, personally. I eat a lot of meat and that’s where you get creatine and glutamine. I’ve tried creatine and glutamine several times and seen absolutely no benefit. Like you, I trained with a guy who swore by glutamine but it seemed like a waste of money to me.

OTOH, I have a friend who’s a bodybuilder kind of lifter (although he started off powerlifting) and… he’s Vegan. He got his size and strength before he was Vegan and he acknowledges that the Vegan lifestyle isn’t particularly conducive to bodybuilding. He lost size and strength when he went on the diet and he’s been slowly working his way back up to the levels he had before. For him, creatine is almost like taking steroids. He gets a huge effect from it because his diet leaves him deficient. His lifts really improved dramatically when he was taking creatine.

15

Just a quick question and I may be a puzzled here but you say you are 6’3" and weigh 202 lbs? What is your body fat %? 200 lbs at 6’3" is not what I would consider “fat” unless of course your BF% is really high. Hell even if you are 20% BF, at 6’3" I would be tempted to call you a skinny bastard instead of a fat bastard :slight_smile: <–smiley face thing.

I would bump your calories up to 2500 per day and train hard and regularly. Eat clean, eat some fruit for god’s sake (your above diet lacks fruit) keep a food log but don’t analyze it to death. Do this for a month and see what happens. Learn to enjoy this exercise/nutrition thing otherwise your going to get pissed off and quit completely.

16

[quote]streamline wrote:
I live for high intensity and endurance. [/quote]

lol - that’s an understatement! I’ve read your workouts and I drop a pound just reading them. If I can muster half that much intensity by summer I’ll be a figure model by fall.

[quote]streamline wrote:
If you are looking to lose weight and then build up, first get that fat out of your diet. You can replace the Omega 3’s with salba seed for now (thirty dollars a pound, you’d much rather have steak, later on that.) Increase your fiber intake for this reason. The longer excess food stays in your body the more time the body has to store it as body fat. Use what you need and shit out the excess.[/quote]

I wish I had posted up sooner - seeing all the comments on my diet really made me realize how bad it is. And I didn’t even mention not taking a dump for 3 days.

Haha - busted on my salba seed quote! Ya know, 15 years ago I’d have dropped $30 in a bar (and still come home alone) so perhaps I can give a pound a try…

[quote]streamline wrote:
My breakfast has not changed for so long it’s not funny.
Smoothie; 1 1/2 cup no fat yogurt, 3 bananas, 1 cup frozen raspberries, 1 cup frozen blueberries, 3 level Tbs salba seed, 2 heaping Tbs Hemp nut seed, 1/4 cup gr. flax seed, 1 scoop choc protein powder. Lots of fiber and all your fruit.[/quote]

God that sounds good right now. And you don’t have issue with ingesting all that? Or this is for a couple morning meals?

Thanks man - I’m really glad you pitched in.

Yo Momma!
Ch-Ch-Ch-CHIA? No kidding? I wondered about that when I was looking up the salba seed. Will have to investigate. If nothing else, I can grow grass on a few doorknobs… {snicker}

As far as supplements - I don’t think aminos are out of line. They are cheap, and if nothing else will insure that I have what I need. And, as I said, I have noticed a marked effect with the GABA. It’s working for me. I’ll not be falling pray to any of the popular quackery that’s on the Internet, but some basic supps fit well in my plan IMO.

[quote]iluminatae wrote:[b]
Just a quick question and I may be a puzzled here but you say you are 6’3" and weigh 202 lbs? What is your body fat %? 200 lbs at 6’3" is not what I would consider “fat” unless of course your BF% is really high. Hell even if you are 20% BF, at 6’3" I would be tempted to call you a skinny bastard instead of a fat bastard :slight_smile: <–smiley face thing.

I would bump your calories up to 2500 per day and train hard and regularly. Eat clean, eat some fruit for god’s sake (your above diet lacks fruit) keep a food log but don’t analyze it to death. Do this for a month and see what happens. Learn to enjoy this exercise/nutrition thing otherwise your going to get pissed off and quit completely.[/b][/quote]

Damn - where are all you insightful Canadians coming from?? Heh - yeah - I am currently a “skinny-fat” bastard. I have a “classic computer nerd” physique - thin frame, huge doughy middle from 10+ years of sedentary living. When I looked my best I was in the low 190s.
My current body fat is 21% according to my Health-o-Meter scale. It is likely a little lower in reality, but I have a definite paunch that is going to take dedication to eliminate.

At my best I am likely to be lucky to look like streamline - I don’t know that I’ll ever get down to <10% BF, but I also know that short of making lifting and eating a full-time career it is not likely that I will ever be huge. But my goal is a realistic one - lose the fat and “balance” the rest of me with some discernible muscle.

And yeah - I’ve got 2 bags of apples and a bag of carrots that have been taunting me for a week. The “getting pissed off and quit completely” sums up my last 2 years (see my intro thread) and that’s why I’m doing things this time with some support.
Unfortunately it’s taken me a week to realize this - but the way I feel is exactly how I felt when I tried Atkins for a couple weeks 2 years ago. It ended with me coming home from work, head aching, and toasting and eating an entire loaf of white bread.

Big shocker - over the course of the day I crashed. I noticed my 'nodes swelling, and have little doubt that I’ve got a fever as we speak. So, the diet is over. I start my day tomorrow going back to my beloved oatmeal. Hopefully this bug is to be short lived.

Again, really appreciate the support.

Don

17

Sounds like you’ve got the right track—add calories, nap if possible, and stay strong.

My 2 cents is–

This is what I saw reading your original post:

7:30am
12:30pm
7:30 pm
and another shake after this.

That’s too freaking long in between meals. I know you said that it’s a PITA to log them as separate events, so if you’re eating FULL meals every 2-3 hours then ignore this. But I think you are not. 4 caps of fish oil does not a meal make. And if you take fish oil on an hungry empty stomach you’re going to use it for fuel, instead of inflammation fighting.

Even on the V-diet you have 5 equally sized meal/shakes a day. You have written down 3, maybe 4 with a nightly shake/supp. Your calories are too low (you know this already)–I’d say just keep a calorie deficit of 400/day or so, not much, just ease into it. You need a full meal around 2:30-3pm every day, and a midmorning snack (anything low cal/protein oriented–like beef jerky) around 10:30. This will help you a lot.

So now it should look like
7:30am
10:30am
12:30pm
3pm
shake/train
7:30 pm
10pm

Also, if you’re using cheap fish oil–remember to keep it in the fridge once you’ve opened the container (for any fish oil really), and take more than 4 a day. Old rule of thumb is 6-10 grams a day, but I’ve found that going higher is very beneficial personally. There’s really no downside to tons of fish oil intake.

I think even if you stuck with 2500-2800 calories a day and just changed to completely healthy/clean food (like you logged in your “Diet Details” section) you’d still lose fat simply from the changeover to healthy protein and lots of veggies/good stuff.

But if you don’t want to, at least keep a smaller calorie deficit to ease yourself into dieting. It’s very mentally demanding to be doing such a severe restriction, so there would not be much buffer zone to deal with job/training, etc.

18

Also, a lower calorie deficit is best because you’re “skinny-fat” as you yourself put it. A small deficit is better for introduction, acclimation to the diet, as well as psychologically easy on you.

In addition, however, a smaller deficit is likely to allow you to regain your lifting status quo sooner, and will likely allow you to recover better leading to better progress and eventually better fat loss because you’re not sick/injured/fatigued all the time. There’s a time and a place for severe calorie restriction, but I don’t think you’re at that level.

19

[quote]streamline wrote:
My breakfast has not changed for so long it’s not funny.
Smoothie; 1 1/2 cup no fat yogurt, 3 bananas, 1 cup frozen raspberries, 1 cup frozen blueberries, 3 level Tbs salba seed, 2 heaping Tbs Hemp nut seed, 1/4 cup gr. flax seed, 1 scoop choc protein powder. Lots of fiber and all your fruit.

God that sounds good right now. And you don’t have issue with ingesting all that? Or this is for a couple morning meals?

Thanks man - I’m really glad you pitched in.

[/quote]

I my smoothie every morning at 5 am hit the gym by 6am, except sat. & sun gym opens later,lazy bastards. Mainly I needed away to get all that fruit in me. You can change the fruit, I use the blueberries for there anti-inflammitory properties. It tastes so good and goes down real easy.

I’m trying to track down the scientific research on salba, University of Toronto. I’ll let you know what I find.

Best of luck in your quest, stay strong.