Frauls5015's "V-diet Experiment"

Training Logs
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V- Diet started 6/17/2024

I am calling this an experiment because I won’t be following the diet to a “T.”

I mainly got into this as an “experiment” to test for a more convenient way to slim down, maintain (or build) some muscle and strength, and after reading into some of the “Family Man” edition of the V-diet, it seems like it’s worth a shot. I have loved Bioitest supplements and read T-nation almost daily (I can’t help it, have to ask - WHERE IS BRAIN CANDY!!)

I am already used to eating minimally (except high protein) during the week and have tolerated it well. So wanted to experiment with the V-diet suggestions and tools. With that being said, here we go:

day 1 6-17-24
The previous weekend (6/14-16) I had 1 shake of 2-2.5 scoops MD on these days. But did nothing very healthy except a day of cardio. This was including eating and drinking unhealthily.

Started out 6/17 retaining a bunch of water. Photos relaxed front/back and side are saved somewhere in my laptop and I will get to adding those, they have to be converted to an uploadable file

Starting Weight 217.8lbs

Measurements:

L bicep (flexed): 41.0cm

R bicep: 41.5cm

L thigh: (about 27cm from top of patella) 62.5cm

R thigh: 63.5cm

waist, 1” above navel: 97.0cm

waist at navel: 101.0cm

waist 1” below navel: 102.5cm

chest, high, relaxed: 112.5cm

Why I am here/ maybe more of an autobiography for record keeping: I started working out about 16 years ago as a teenager. I also bulked up during this time, going from about 165-170 to ~225lbs at my heaviest in 2010.

I Discovered T-Nation in 2010-2011 and followed the indigo programs when they came out. I then gradually transitioned to very low carb/cycling re-feeds at night. Have generally been eating this way since then. After college, I trended down to about 200-205lbs (+/- 5 lbs a few times for brief periods). Fast forward to 2023 when I resumed focus on hypertrophy, went from 200-205 to a solid 215-218 with minimal fat gain (though still plenty doughy). Last 2 months or so focusing on weekdays low cals (approx 1700-1900, some days ultra low carb, some with 50-100g carbs but same calories) and high protein at least 200g per day. At my “dryest” was about 212-213lbs. Looking to see how V-diet tools can help me (FYI - love experimenting with diet, training protocols, etc. so this is as much an experiment as wanting to lean out a bit)

Training:

Has changed a lot over the years, experimenting with a lot of T-Nation programs: Indigo, HFSW, Russian Strength skill, 5/3/1, and others. I ended up leaving the gym in 2019 (pre-pandemic) which served me well during COVID, as I stocked up on very limited but effective home gym equipment. I really liked Max Shank’s stuff, so I started following him and currently use his Primal Athleticism Daily mobility drills on a daily basis. These are highly recommended for anyone trying to remain athletic and young feeling (i am only 31 but I feel different than 21 lol).

Current training at a commercial gym follows a double progression model, which I was inspired to follow a few months back by Paul Carter’s instagram content.

Added miscellaneous info: I have periods of binge drinking alcohol, and was a habitual nighttime cannabis user for 10+ years. I also was binge eating a lot during these years. At the beginning of this year, I stopped using cannabis habitually which allowed me to really begin to control my binge eating. It was also the beginning of this year I began to measure/weigh my food for the first time. I recognized the power of this almost immediately, as previously I was “eyeballing” for a long time, over eating, and rationalizing that since I was eating low carb “most of the time” that nothing else really mattered. These habits have given me a decent muscle base, but with plenty of fat on top. Look good in a shirt but not so much without it. I will be honest, I still like to have a few drinks on a weekend night or two in a month but this has slowed over the years. Binge eating has also decreased (I am a FFB and the desire still lingers in my deep consciousness/subconscious)

(I have several posts I will be adding over this week from last week, and need to convert my photos into JPEG for me to upload - if you see this @TrainForPain , I am working on it)

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Day 1 weights and measurements as above.

Ratings

Stress: 3/10

Hunger 2/10

Mood 3/10 (10 being the best)

Progress 0/10 (just starting)

Hydration: 3/10 (10 being the best) - I am adding this because I struggled today to stay hydrated. I live in New England and we are having what we call a heat wave this week. I work on the road driving a lot and staying hydrated is a difficult task some days.…I can’t just chug water all day, because I’ll have to stop at the bathroom a hundred times. I use LMNT hydration packets (they have 5-10 cals per pack) which really have helped me avoid low BP and decreased electrolytes over the years. I have tried salt in my water and Gatorade Zero in the past - these never worked as well. I plan to continue use of the LMNT packs, with adjustments for calories in my HSM.

Notes today: I came off a mini-bender last weekend with alcohol, shitty food and poor sleep. So I didn’t feel my best. Did manage 2 walks (less brisk than I’d like, as I walked with my gf and our dog, and walked more for leisure) of about 20-30min each. 4 shakes were good, with AM, lunchtime, mid afternoon, and before bed. The HSM wasn’t really healthy - my girlfriend cooked and was supposed to make food for a guest who never showed. So out of respect, I ate the food she made, which consisted of chicken tenders with butter and Ritz crackers baked onto them. I estimated calories about 600-700 with at least 50g protein and not really sure what else. Just tried to keep the calories accounted for as best I could. Supps were 2 Flameout in AM and 3 with dinner, creatine in AM shake, a probiotic, Elitepro before bed, and a multivitamin. The MV and probiotic are not Biotest supplements. I also take OMEGA MAN 1x/daily

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Day 2 6/18/24

weight down to 212.7 (I retained a ton of water from my weekend binge which I shed today, per usual for me once I cut carbs)

Stress: 5/10

Hunger: 1/10

Mood: 5/10

Progress: 2/10

Hydration: 1/10

Notes:

AM workout of chest/shoulder/tricep dominant. I am not sure how much detail to add here, I track my own workouts, I can share more as interested/ But basically trying to take 4-5 sets to failure (total) using 3-4 exercises per day for above groups. Example: Incline DB press x 2 sets failure, fwd and lateral raises x1 set each to failure, dip machine x 1 set failure. That’s it. Got one walk in and played golf in the afternoon - by the time I got home and made HSM, I was toast, plus really dehyrdated. Called it a day. I skipped the nighttime shake as I had 7.5 scoops MD in my first 3 and abut 100g protein in the HSM. HSM today was a “scramble” of sautéed onions, peppers, 4 whole eggs, a can of chicken (about 46 g protein) with 1/2 tbsp butter and a small fat free no sugar added yogurt (added another 15g protein). Cals for meal were 660 and minimal carbs. I struggled with hydration, as I left the house around 845am and got home about 845pm. I had 1.5 liters of water during the day, another liter on the golf course, and a gatorade zero (i know, its not calorie free, but I was dying of thirst) plus 3 LMNT packages. Still couldn’t quite keep up. i also had an afternoon black iced coffee around 430pm which didn’t help matters and I think kept me awake too long

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Day 3 6/19

Stress: 4/10

Hunger: 2/10

Mood: 4-6/10 (it fluctuated as the day went on, lol)

Progress: 3/10

Hydration: 4/10

Notes: Was really, REALLY sore from my workout yesterday. I missed a workout for this muscle group last week, and I tend to get more DOMS when I do this, but I think my recovery was not as good in general. I didn’t exactly sleep amazingly well, maybe due to the afternoon caffeine yesterday. I was also sore from golfing, which doesn’t usually happen, so i think I just missed the mark on the recovery boat. Skipped a workout (pushed to tomorrow) because of this. As the day has gone on, I am feeling better. Did a morning walk with my lady and the dog, wearing a 25lb weight vest (trying to offset the slower pace with increased resistance) and later in the afternoon a 15-20minute walk at 3.2-3.4mph with the vest on a 3-4 incline.

Taking in my shakes is easy. Supplements easy as well. Hydrating still an issue with the heat and humidity here, but better today. I rescheduled a work visit to another day as I was a bit off, this should also help recovery. HSM today: “keto pizza” I ate 3/4 of this is which is about 615 calories: 1lb shredded chicken, 1/2 cup mozzarella, Italian seasoning, salt to taste (mix in bowl, round into a ball of “dough” and flatted on parchment paper, bake 20mins at 400degrees) when this 20min is up, spread 3/4 cup Rao’s low carb Marinara, 1/2 cup low fat Cheddar on top (sauce and topping) and bake another 10min at 400F. Was really good and satisfying. I also ate a cut up green bell pepper (this was really refreshing eaten raw due to the water content). Plus 3 hydration packets. (These add 15-30 cals in the day, FYI)

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Day 4 6/20

stress 3/10 (better)

Hunger: 5/10 (this often happens on leg day)

Mood 6-8/10

Progress: 4/10 (I struggle to rate this, my mind wants it to be better everyday but I know some days are not as good as others, so I guess its just my perceived progress

Hydration: 7/10

Notes: Felt generally better, more well-rested. We (my girlfriend and I) hit legs this morning. I definitely hit a wall a little earlier than usual; this is likely due to lower carbs last 2 nights, but also, I think my body adjusting to the very little solid foot, lower fat, etc. I feel I will have some serious DOMS in the adductor magnus (the adductor muscle that also helps your squat) but after a brief morning walk, it felt a bit better and less inflamed. Did better with hydration and rest via a couple power naps (work schedule allowed for it today) and generally improved mood. Feeling like my fat is holding less water, which helps subjectively… “Healthy” solid meal: ate with my girlfriend who currently is not dieting, but will eat keto some nights, so just keeping it simple and having meals with her, trying to watch the processed foods on carb nights: 2 jalapeño cheddar burgers, 1oz American cheese, 1 onion roll (this equates to about 1100 calories) with onions, peppers, pickles. It is a bit higher than my target of 600-700 cals but I have been really active and leg day always leaves me a bit depleted. Or I am rationalizing like a FFB…. tomorrow is another lift day (back/bis) so I wanted to have some glycogen available anyways. today 30 extra calories from the LMNT packets. One more leisurely walk this morning for about 15 min but trying my best to keep the NEPA up during the day.

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Day 5 6/21

Stress 3/10

Hunger: 4/10

Mood 7/10

Hydration: 7/10

Notes: Nothing significant to report today, other than the unexpected amount of DOMS from my leg workout yesterday. Back workout was pretty good this morning….

I am thinking about tinkering with shake timing and/or increasing scoops Post workout. Before the V-diet, I used to take in post workout shake of 1 scoop whey, 2 scoops casein (24g protein rom whey, 48g from casein) and did not seem to have as much DOMS as I am experiencing this week, with the same workouts.

So I wonder if post workout I should shorten the time between morning and midday shake. Hunger really isn’t an issue. Maybe I need to take some pre-workout protein but this would be very new for me - I have been training in the mornings fasted for almost a year now without this type of DOMS, so I am not convinced the fasted state has much to do with this - prior to V-diet I was taking in about a tablespoon of heavy cream in my coffee and IMO this would not stop muscle protein breakdown in any significant way. I also was pretty low calorie on lifting days - some days 1700-1800cal total with keeping protein high. So I guess will just keep an eye on things.

“Healthy” solid meal (very low carb) - about 2/3 lb chicken breast, a ton of veggies, tossed with some olive garden Italian dressing, grated parmesan cheese - shredding some fresh parmesan on the top in a baking pan - baked 30min at 425 degrees in the oven - this was incredibly delicious. I estimated bout 1000-1100 calories in this meal. While still over my target of 700-800 cals, I was feeling kind of beat up from workouts this week and it also had minimal carbs….

Tomorrow will be less strict with my diet choices but intent on getting in a walk, doing a bunch of walking during the day, and maintaining high protein. There will probably be some alcohol involved….but this day was planned by my girlfriend for us to have a nice day in twon together. So in the spirit of maintaining a lower stress lifestyle - we are going for it….

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Glad to see you rolling! @T3hPwnisher’s “family man” version is my favorite iteration, and I think it allows this to become more of a longer-term diet than a short-term intervention.

I appreciate the honesty in your posts. Is the drinking a concern for you?

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Thanks for the post.

The drinking in and of itself does not concern me, at least not at the moment. I recognize it does nothing to help me. But straight up I enjoy throwing a few back and having a good time with buddies of mine!

The part I am concerned with has more to do with personality traits, one of which is my generalized anxiety. When I like something, I tend to do it - a LOT. This includes healthy and unhealthy habits.

I am in therapy for my anxiety as of the beginning of the year and this is defintely helping. I am working now on moderation - in many areas of my life. I am hopeful this will continue to improve. But I’d be lying to myself (and anyone reading here) if I said I don’t expect to have a few on the 4th, or in an upcoming golf tournament.

So, it’s part of the “experiment,” if you will…

And yes - the lifestyle adaptaion I think is what I was looking to test out.

I appreciate you checking in brother

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Day 6 6-22-2024 - morning weight 212.2lbs

Stress: 2/10

Hunger: 0/10 (there was no real ‘dieting’ going on today)

Mood: 7/10

Progress: 5/10 (realizing I forgot this one a few times)

Hydration

Today will be 2 shakes (AM, and before bed) but everything else between is a toss-up. My girlfriend planned a whole day in the city and I want to spend it with her, present in the moment. I’ll keep myself from really overdoing it (believe me, it’s a big thing for me) but it’s not going to tbe the healthiest

Reflection: there was a bit of alcohol involved and not-so-healthy food sprinkled in throughout the day. I opted for lower carb, sugar free drinks as able, and didn’t use any of this as an excuse to pig out…… Got a good amount of steps in, about 16k, and ended up going to bed at a reasonable time, so tomorrow will be better on track.

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Day 7 6-23-2024

Stress: 2/10

Hunger: 4/10 (probably some rebound low blood sugar and/or decreased sleep quality - but nothing out of control)

Mood: 8/10 (playing golf well helped)

Progress: 6/10

Hydration: 2/10 (another hot day and hard time keeping up)

Back to more structured routine. All shakes today as planned, but we had a meal of chinese food and a couple low carb drinks for me for dinner. I felt pretty good energy-wise, played golf, got about 12k steps in. Beside the non healthy solid meal and drinks, everything felt on track

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Day 8

6-24-24

Stress: 4/10 (back to work/Monday vibes)

Hunger: 3/10

Mood: 5/10

Progress: 5/10

Hydration: 7/10

Nothing crazy to comment on. Back to the routine. Tweak in my lower back, that I ended up aggravating throughout the day was the only real mood killer. I ended up taking ibuprofen because it was really making me miserable and I don’t like to be that way around my girlfriend (and her family who we saw in the evening). HSM consisted of a nice meal she made me - “ Keto” about 1/2 cup pizza cheese, 1 cup 1& fat cottage cheese, about 1/2 lb 88-12% ground beef with spices and low carb marinara. I estimate about 1200 calories.

Reflecting (again) I am feeling leaner especially on the extremities and feeling less water retention on my midsection and love handles area than last week. I will weight in tomorrow (tuesday AM will be my weight in days, as I anticipate weekend watershed will be complete by then) and update.

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Day 9 6-25

Stress: 3/10
Hunger: 2/10 (maybe up to 3 or 4 at its worst before my midday shake)
Mood: 8/10
Progress: 6/10 (I don’t really like this category, as I feel progress is slowly added up over time vs. a day to day measurement and this doesn’t compute very well with my brain on a day to day rating)
Hydration: 5/10 - really ramping up now that I am home for the night

Weight in AM (forgot to do this first in AM, so was post workout before my shake)
214.7lbs
After my HSM this evening, was back down to 212.3lbs.

So probably have gone down more, considering I ate a decent amount of food just now. I knew I was retaining water this morning, just goes to show how much I really retain…

Workout this AM was chest/shoulders, hit a weight PR in smith machine OHP and rep PR for lateral raises.

Today’s HSM was low carb/keto, about 600-700cals (back in my desired range): 4 scrambled eggs with about 1/2 cup of melted low fat cheddar cheese, 2 “zero net carb” tortillas (they are 7g of fiber each) a green pepper, and about 1/5th of the meal leftover from yesterday. Shake pre-bed with elitepro.

Generally feeling pretty good, energy-wise. And weights in the gym still going up. So this is a nice psychological boost. I’ve been trying to get at least 8k steps in daily, ideally with weight vest for a couple thousand steps, today got this and >11000 steps for the day. My clothes are definitely fitting more loosely and I can see some more vascularity in the arms. All good signs.

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That’s great!

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Following along and enjoying the reflections. This in particular strikes a chord:

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Glad to hear - appreciate the follow!

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Day 10 6-26
Stress: 6/10 (was pretty exhausted today, not really stressed, but crashing after work hours)
Hunger - mistimed my midday shake which became a late afternoon shake so hunger up to a 5/10 before this - generally a 1-2/10 today
Mood: 6/10 (fatigued and was kind of cranky upon coming home lol)
Progress: 7/10
Hydration: 5/10 (the longer I go keto, the less hydrated I become, even with electrolyte replenishment, I have always noticed this)

Not weighing consistently, but wanted to see where I was at again after being keto a couple days - PM weight 209.4lbs

I usually have a caffeine hit in the afternoon, I skipped this today, so could also explain the crash I felt. But I’ve also only had 6 hrs sleep the last two or three nights, can’t remember how many. This is typical during the week for me as I try to be up 430am on training days and 5 or so on non-training days.

Today’s “healthy” solid meal - 5 chicken tenders which were fried (yes, breaded and fried) in avocado oil, coated with egg/light milk mixture, bread crumbs and romano cheese. This is what the girlfriend wanted to eat tonight, so I ate.

Looking forward to leg day tomorrow.

P.S. - I reported some serious DOMS following last weeks training on first week of the V-diet experiment - thus far this week I have only done chest/shoulders and DOMS was not nearly as bad as week 1…just an observation for now.

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Fell a little behind with late work days and other stuff. Updates:

Day 11 6-27
Stress 4/10
Hunger 3/10
Mood 7/10
Progress 6/10
Hydration 5/10
Notes:
Switched up leg and back day…we got a late start, and leg day always takes the longest. In order to preserve time for our morning walk, we switched the two. Pretty solid lift included chest supported DB rows, a hybrid row/shrug (basically you shrug/partial row DB with chest supported on the bench set to about 60 degrees - great upper back/rhomboid exercise) and supine low trap raises with dumbbells. each 2 works sets to failure. I was a bit lighter on the rows this week vs. previous, as last session I felt a ton of tricep activity and wanted to get a better back contraction. Nothing else crazy.

This evening meal was keto-ish, I don’t exactly recall what we ate but it was packed with protein and moderate amount of fat and about 1000cals.

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