Lotus,
The formulas are in Shugart’s Velocity Diet thread. They will help you figure out minimal and maximal calorie intakes. Congrats on the 200 mark!
Stay strong,
Dan
Moon Knight,
I must confess this since you started it: Four pizzas, one day, and that was only four of the eight meals!
In my weaker days,
Dan
Wait, Strongman, you had 4 pizzas in one day, and then had 4 other meals?
Tell me I read that wrong!
No you didn’t read that wrong Lotus… hell I’ve put away one and a half large pizzas in a meal…
But back to what we SHOULD be focusing on… the fat fast…
Day 13(I got this twinge… “bad luck” when I wrote that)
I made it through last night and this morning alright. My shipment came in around noon with no problems, though some “interesting” inserts with this. Please bear in mind this was shipped from a supplement wholesale/retail site, not Biotest for those that might be confused.
First we have a free sample of Stacker2 XPLC. I am not one to complain about anything free, but, I found it mildly silly at first that the three capsules they enclosed were packaged in a little vial. “How ‘extreme’,” I thought. However, on writing this I’ve come to consider “How else would they have packed 3 capsules?” and “Well it is a cool vial”. I tend to be a bit of a hypocrit, and that is what I realized just now. If Biotest, or some other company that I had a bit more respect for were to give me a free sample in a vial, I would find it a rather neat idea. Even if the supplements are lousy(and I’m not saying these neccesarily are, I have not researched the ingrediants) I have to give them credit for really neat marketing. Same goes to other supplement makers with good ad campaigns and marketing.
Second thing to be found in the box that I did not order was a thick multi-fold brochure for Syntrax. It unfolds eventually to reveal a rather nice poster on one side. I really wish the rest of this marketing scheme was not silly as hell. Their slogan seems to be “Syntrax, Not Just For Superheroes”. Going on, they imply that superheroes, despite their superpowers, are nothing without Syntrax, and that the Incredible Hulk and Spiderman, both personally endorse their product. I literally laughed out loud reading their blurb on this. They also have a catalog picturing their products and the supposed benefits of them. I’m not going to judge most of it without actually looking into the company but, one thing caught my eye. Amongst "Essence"s “advanced sustained-release blend of superior quality proteins” we find SOY PROTEIN ISOLATE. Yeah, I’ll be buying some of that real soon. The superhero angle would have been cool if they had not ridiculously taken it to the level they did. Ontop of that, I have little respect for a company that makes use of soy. Even if one dismisses the body of scientific and anecdotal evidence regarding soy(especially this form) then one has to consider, in whose twisted world is soy protein a superior form? Maybe that is the variety of protein Bizzarro uses… which explains why he never quite measured up to Superman.
ANYWAY…
I decided to hit the gym mid-afternoon today. Set some PRs, and managed to make myself look terribly silly when trying the back extension station instead of the machine I usually use. I had no trouble with muscle strength, the issue was a matter of feeling awkward on the setup. This station was setup so that the only thing keeping you from falling head over heals, were two pads you rested your thighs on(its on an incline coming upwards from the base). I am not the most balanced person and I also have a fear of heights which is especially active when feeling unstable. In addition, I do high intensity workouts right now, and was getting tired of trying to get into just the right position on the thing. All in all, I’m sure I looked like a total lifting newb. Thankfully, the old lady taking up the backextension machine finished up her 30 pound sets while I was busy looking silly, so I went and did my real work set there.
Its been a good day, and I’m feeling good. No cravings, no energy lows, and everythings running smooth. And I have a cool new vial 
Well, like I said, a moment of weakness, a BIG moment. They were four for $10 Tombstone frozen pizzas (I did cook them first!), and it was a very long day. I feel so ashamed:/
However, in another time and place and having sold my soul to the Low Carb Grow! gods, I have been making great progress with the Fat Fast and plan to continue doing so. The shakes are getting old, so I may try some of Shugart’s recipes.
Stay the course, gentlemen, and may you never find yourself cornered by your fleshly desires for Italian cuisine.
Stay strong,
Dan
I hope everyone is still with us! I haven’ tseen any posts for a while. I lost another inch off the stomach, but the weight is staying the same or down only a pound or two. It is hard to tell what with normal fluctuations. My energy is good, just getting really sick of shakes. I am seriously considering one solid meal a day consisting of nothing but Tombstone pizza, er, I mean protein!
Stay strong,
Dan
Stay strong man! Heh.
Anyway, while I’m not cutting just yet I soon will be.
What about variations along the lines of…
- partial switch of oil for seeds?
- using ice instead of water?
- vanilla with no-carb fruit flavors?
- adding heavy cream to your shakes?
- make extra thick and freeze?
- add carbonated water to iced shakes?
Maybe you’ve tried them, I don’t know. I know I haven’t yet, but I’m imagining after two or three weeks I’ll start hallucinating if I don’t find out some method of disguising these things.
Hey vroom, nice to see you around these parts since we all know how much you need to hit the gym! HAHAHA (I couldn’t resist!)
I get quite a bit of my fats from capsules, and the rest come from milled flaxseed. I think that was what you were suggesting.
I would use ice, but most of my shakes are used at work. I am living out of my cooler! As for adding other flavors through drinks, I’ll have to go shopping and see what I can find; I like your ideas though.
Stay strong,
Dan
Heading in to the final week myself. I am not quite sure I got what I wanted out of it, but regadless its nice to k now that I can survive cravings and have a damn liquid diet for 28 days. Day 22 now, and I think I would’ve lost a lot of weight had it not been for MAG-10. HOT-ROX never really has done all that much for me but I think it all accumulates in the big picture.
I am adding 2 tbs of natural peanut butter this week so it makes the conversion a little easier. Just adding 250 calories a day because I want the calorie jump to be real slow. This friday I am going to have a few slices of pizza b/c visiting the girlfriend, but not going to do anything crazy.
I think my re-entry in to normal life again will consist of a graduated increase of 500 kcal a week while on something along T-dawg style diet. Slowly add carbs back in until I am on a nice maintenance diet, or a little below to keep cutting away much more slowly the fat. I think once I get to about 3000 kcal i’ll stick there for a while. I believe my maintenance is around 3800 or so.
Also, i’ll be incorporating 3 days of HIIT still to make sure I keep the bf% off. Still haven’t measured. I gotta get less lazy.
Okay quick update here.
When my computer crashed over xmas time, I got a new one, and evidently never backed up my old pictures. DAMNIT.
I did write down my measurements though.
After 3 weeks of fat fast I went from:
214 lbs to 202 as of today.
Arms: 16 3/7 to 16
Chest: 43.5 to 40.5
Stomach: 34.5 to 32
Legs: 27.5 to 25.5
BF% started was 16.2 and currently is…I don’t know I haven’t taken it DAMNIT.
Lifts…Bench has gone up 25 lbs
Squats stayed same
Deads went up 20 lbs
1 week left, but going to ramp it down a bit so i can transfer into a solid food diet sometime in the next few weeks.
In one week I’ll post pictures.
Awesome progress, Lotus! To lose all those inches and still go up in strength is great. You sound like you’ve got a great exit strategy as well. Just watch out for that greedy little monster in your stomach when you eat that pizza!
Stay strong,
Dan
Day… 16
Math, or counting, sucks with the mental fogginess.
Still going strong. Fat seems to continue to get in gear though I wish I had a better way of measuring then just eyeballing how much I hang when standing in front of mirror for rear laterals on my non-gym days. My scale, like many things, is still in storage following an apartment shift I made a bit ago. I don’t have a car so getting things out of storage has been tricky. I HAD calipers, but they seem to have disappeared.
My best estimate is that my pre-diet stats were something like 200lbs, and 20-25% bodyfat. Bodyfat is probably closer then weight in accuracy. Weight might have slid up a bit. I also know from my jeans, that my waist was barely 34 inches before this diet. Its down to 33 or slightly less. I’ve been at 32 before and have hopes for that again. Despite the low sounding waist measurements, my fat has grown over the years down more then it has out. The point where the fat rolls over is pretty low, and I’m thus left with a layer of fat up my front that makes me deceptively thin standing, and too fat sitting down.
Well… enough about that… the problem is being taken care of. Meanwhile, energy has dipped just slightly during the day(due more to stress and trouble sleeping) but has been good enough to continue to progress in the gym.
Since everyone is talking about exit strategies now, and I don’t have a major update, I guess I’ll share mine.
I plan to take this diet the full four weeks, which will take me into the first week of next month. Between work, a bit trouble getting enough sleep, and the heavy intense lifting, I think I’m starting to feel I’m getting dangerously close to being overtrained and/or have used the current lifting program to its limits for now. For that reason, I’m going to take next week off, completely.
After that, I will finish that month with three weeks at maintenance(or possibly slightly below if I wish to cut further) on my normal paleo-eating(relatively low carbs anyway). During this time I am not sure of my exact workouts yet, but they will focus on GPP.
After those three weeks, I will continue eating paleo-lithicly, but will be upping the amount, and adding extra protein/carbs during/postworkout for bulking purposes. At that time, my workouts are going to follow the Russian Bear variation detailed by Mike Mahler, if I can ever figure out what the rest scheme is supposed to be like
Anyone got updates? Lost another pound since posting but besides that, just hanging in there until the end. How’s everyone else doing?
I’ve lost three pounds since beginning roughly two weeks ago, so I’m down to 179. Lifts are suffering a bit, but one area where I compromise is with a half serving of Surge before, during and after my workouts (for a total of 1-1/2 servings). I have to, or else I feel like I’m in a trance and it’s tough to then get motivated to go to the gym. Godammit, FedEx, where’s my SPIKE!?!?!?!?!
MicroSlash: “Now proudly able to wear his size 32 leather pants again, to the delight of female fans everywhere…”
MicroSlash, you are too funny!
I am down to 266 from 274 in three weeks, which doesn’t sound fantastic, but my strength levels are up and getting even better! I have also lost two inches off the stomach and 1 1/2 off the waist. I think I have an odd propensity toward gaining muscle and losing fat when I am on crazy diets.
On another note, I just joined a gym that has an actual power lifting platform; of course, there was a guy skipping rope on it. Unbelievable!
There is also a large number of hot high school girls working out when I get there. Very distracting.
Stay strong,
Dan
Strongarm,
MicroSlash likes high school girls the way Homer Simpson likes doughnuts…(mmmmm, doughnuts…). Great work and stay strong…this is brutal, but worth it.
Microslash - “Telling state troopers everywhere ‘honest, officer, her driver’s license said she was 18’ since 1988…”
I’d say don’t worry about the rope skipper. Either he just needed to do it “somewhere” and he knows noone uses the platform or he’s clueless. Either way, I’m sure you can convince him to move if you need it.
As for the hot high school girls… that brings up something I saw where I workout the other day. I lift at the Y, so the free weights, machines, and cardio stuff is all crammed into the same room, with pilates and balance ball crap going on right up against the cable station. So, anyway, this girl is in there, and all she does is some walking on the treadmill, some biking I think(I wasn’t paying too much attention) and some backextensions. That was it. I could be wrong but it seemed like the backextensions were just kindof tossed in there at the end. I figure maybe she read in some health or fitness magazine that they’re good for the butt. Thing was, she had a nice sized butt already. I don’t really get why she was bothering doing them when they did not seem to be part of an overall strength training program.
Then there was the guy that was going around teaching his girlfriend? how to do set upon set of 10 or so machine leg exercises, none of which were a leg press.
Right… now that the nonsense that I just posted is out of my system…(has anyone else noticed a downward trend in my posting on this diet? Its the low carbs and Sudafed I swear)
Day 18(I think)
Mental fogginess is up, energy is back up though, as goes my mood. Unlike some others, I think my fat loss has been more of an upward curving adventure then a spike and then a more moderate loss. I’m back to not really caring about food, after having a couple days where I was rather hungry, but felt no cravings per say.
I would write more but I have to be getting to work. I’ll update further after tommorow’s gym session, or if someone mentions hot high school girls again.
Well, 11 days in and I’ve lost 6.5 pounds, and about an inch around my belly. My lifts have not been affected, and in fact have gotten slightly stronger. I’ve been lifting heavy just for that purpose.
Fat Fast Group-
I’ve been keeping up with the thread and noticing a HUGE weight loss right off the bat, most likely 50-60% water, but none the less. Then I’m seeing a general tapering of fat loss across the board - typical to most keto diets. I do like the fact that many of you are able to at least maintain strength, even gain here and there. However, the cravings and all out binges are telling me that there is a TREMENDOUS amount of will power involved, like mental suicide-gassers if you will. Not to mention, having to rely on a multivitamin for 95% of your micronutrients scares me.
Mean while, I have been using the T-Dawg 2.0 religiously, with one healthy carb-up day a week. I’m down from 236 to 224 in 3-1/2 weeks. I have noticed a definite loss of an inch to 1-1/2" in my waist. I’m not hitting PR’s in the gym, but I’m still strong.
First week I started out consuming about 2200-2300 cals, second dropped another 100-200, now down to right around 2000. Getting 225-250 grams protein, maybe 40 carbs from veggies on non-W/O days and about 90 on W/O days, PWO only, and the remainder in fats. Cardio is at 3 sessions per week of 30-45 min. The shorter sessions are either HIIT or steep incline walking. The longer ones are lower intensity elliptical intervals. I just do what I feel I’m up to on that day, which is nice.
My point is that the slight fat loss edge some of you may have on me doesn’t quite seem to out-weigh the extreme nature of the Fat Fast and the intense cravings to binging that results much of the time. So, I was considering the FF, but I may stick to the T-Dawg 2.0 after seeing such solid results. Starting this Sunday I will be hitting EDT for 4 weeks, then Meltdown 1 for 4 more, restricting to 1800 cals, but with a little prohormone assistance.
Keep up the good work, you frickin’ “losers”! 
TopSirloin