Haha yeah I certainly did learn the hard way there. I’ve taken beta-alanine before when I was lifting regularly and although I got the tingly feeling, it never affected me any other way before. I know some people are annoyed by those tingles, but it made me want to workout more for some reason. I have maybe 2 more weeks worth of that Endurox R4 to burn through with my PWO and then I’ll begin looking at a replacement recovery aiding supplement probably. Considering a BCAA supp. I may actually give it a couple weeks without anything to see if it really makes much difference for me at all.
Looks like I’ll have to hold off until Thurs for my foam roller to come in and get going on that.
My only annoyance with the melatonin usage is sometimes it overdoes it’s job for me, even though it’s only 3 mg. I’ll be really sleepy still the next morning even if it’s been 8 hours.
I’d like to make a sort of benchmark update:
Today I noticed considerable improvements in my training results performance-wise. My stamina and energy levels today were better than they’ve ever been and it seems like it’s been steadily improving since I changed my diet with the help of you guys. My bodyfat seems to be staying about level, if not even dropping a little more (at a slow/steady pace), which proved my fear wrong that I might add weight. Additionally I’ve been keeping track of my calories, protein, fat, carbs and even fiber intake for the past week and a half. I haven’t been shooting for a caloric number like I did with the initial change, but started to just listen to my body and eat when it tells me, as Peter suggested last Tuesday. My average intake for training days: 3347 calories, about 196g protein (my body weight is about 180lbs fyi), fiber 36g, carbs 270g, and fat 126g.
On non-training days it ran: 2716 average calories (based on 3 non-training days btw), 130g protein, 27g fiber, carbs 280g, fat 107g. I’m still drinking about 1.5-2 gallons of water daily, and today was my 5th and last day of loading creatine. From here out, I plan on taking creatine 10g on training days and 5g for off days.
Thoughts?
Sounds like you’re doing a good job!
I love beta-A, the tingle is usually only there if i have it on an empty stomach, but don’t mind it anyhow. AS for your diet, WHERE THA PROTEIN AT?! both your on/off days are pretty low in my opinion. Sacrifice some g’s of fat for some g’s of protein in both instances. shoot for 1.5-1.8g/lb. Buy some protein powder, toss in some berries and almond milk <–quality high protein snack. I’d rather be too high on protein than too low.
foam rollers are a god send.
as for “recovery aide”…FOOD! high carbs/high protein, no need to spend money on supps, at this point, in my opinion. Don’t forget the meal timing we discussed earlier, BIG meal post w/o. post w/o supplements are only really necessary if you’re lifting real high volume, real high intensity, etc… for the $, creatine & food should suit you just fine.
fiber…pretty much irrelevant except for maybe overall health and quality poops. haha
and the creatine… 10g a day may be a bit in excess. if you’ve already loaded, and @ your bodyweight, 5g a day both on/off days should be okay.
I’d highly suggest a BCAA like scivation Xtend, or the ones they sell on this site. The odds of you getting enough of the aminos is pretty slim. there is quite a bit of interesting research on BCAAs, enough to convince me that i WILL NOT TRAIN without them.
EightohFive:
Thanks for your input as always. I know I haven’t replied until now but I read your post the same day it was up and put it to use quickly. Eating the right amount of protein has been fairly difficult since I’m away from home from 8am until 930pm mon-thurs, but I have been typically ending up with about 250g protein daily…up to 280g when I can help it. I have just finished what was left of my Endurox R4 and will not be using another pwo recovery drink in the near future, but may consider Xtend if I can get a great deal on it. I’ve reduced my creatine intake to 5g daily as well. And yes, I’ve enjoyed the painful blessings the foam roller has brought upon me!
General Update:
So with school back in full speed, I’ve returned to normal training - no longer following my intense conditioning program. I’m still practicing via scrimmaging and technique training 2-3 days per week for 2.5 hours plus the weekly 90 min league games. I’ve reduced my daily intake to about 3,000 calories for the time being, and my energy levels have stayed fine although I am noticing my body is leaning out so I must be burning more than I’m taking in still. I suppose this isn’t really a problem until I get too lean. Our season is wrapping up though, and our last game will be April 22 I believe.
Once the season is up and the off-season has begun, I plan on returning to the weight room April 23 until June 7th to put on some usable strength. I’d like to focus on increasing leg strength for shots and long passes (the obvious), also for jumping to grab headers (as I’m only 5’10 I need to make up for my 6 ft opponents), “take-off strength” for sprinting, and I also would really like to improve my throw-in distance. I’m open to any suggestions you may have for improving these functions 
My current idea includes dumbbell bench, skull crushers, lat pull-downs and over-head medecine ball throws to improve my throw-ins. As for legs, I was thinking seated leg extensions, leg curls, calf raises, box jumps?, and an abdominal routine. The reason I’m only doing weights until June 7th is because that is when my school semester ends and I will no longer have access to a weight room 
I don’t have a gym membership since it costs valuable college student money, and during the school year, the fitness center is free for me to use. I have been saving up for a set of adjustable dumbbells at home though which will help somewhat.
That’s about it for my update for now. Sorry I haven’t posted more recently - school, work and soccer have kept me busy. I do pay attention to my notifications though so if anyone replies, I’ll be sure to check back asap. I guess my final noteworthy item is that I’m in the final competitive round for admission to Cal. State Long Beach university in the biomedical engineering program for this coming Fall should find out by May if I’m in for sure. I’ve also been invited to keep my spot on my current soccer team for next season, and I may additionally consider playing for the university’s club team as extra practice next year assuming the schedules aren’t conflicting.
Thanks guys!