Changing diet is a BIG stress on your body physically and mentally.
I don’t know that much about hypertrophy or strength gains …but there are lots of factors to it. Maybe you’ve improved and now you’re consolidating. Don’t know.
Have patience and you’ll be able to reach your goals. Keep your head up.
By the way what are your goals?
Cheers
[quote]Tampa-Terry wrote:
That’s a good update, jthsiao. And using the Outcome-Based Decision Making paradigm, I’d like to see you increase calories by 500 calories per day. That’s about as much as I like to jump in one week. That jump in calories, by the way needs to be IN ADDITION TO your upcoming PWO meal.
[/quote]
Will do and I’ll keep you guys posted! 
[quote]JuicyLucy wrote:
Have patience and you’ll be able to reach your goals. Keep your head up.
By the way what are your goals?
[/quote]
Thanks for the encouragement!
I’ve been skinny-fat all my life (even though I’ve been very athletic) and started to bulk up in August of last year. I ate 4000-4200 calories a day and was able to gain 16lbs in two months.
However, in the 16lbs that I gained, half was fat and half was muscle. So, after maintaining the weight for a while to make sure my body is used to the new weight, I wanted to lean down and hopefully show off some of those 8lbs of muscles that I gained. My current cutting goal is to be able to see a 6-pack in the mirror.
Actively changing my body shape/composition has been a very rewarding experience. I’m learning a lot about how my body responds to things. And I’m also pushing myself to change in ways that I didn’t know I can. And of course, having people like Tampa-Terry giving me her nutritional expertise is invaluable in this journey.
I’ve tried this recently, originally found in the Anabolic Diet thread by another person doing the Velocity Diet:
[quote]Avocado wrote:
Flax muffin
1/4 cup flax meal
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 packet splenda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 large egg
1 teaspoon of butter
Microwave 1 minute on high. Take out, slice, dip in shake and enjoy.
Serving size: 1
Notes: 1.5 net carbs
Per serving: 235 calories; 18g fat (63% calories from fat); 12g protein; 11g carbs (mostly fibre); 223mg cholesterol; 284mg sodium.
[/quote]
I thought it tasted decent, probably could have used a bit more splenda and cinnamon. This was intended to be used with a shake, so by itself, it’s a bit on the bland side. However, I think it was a great way to incorporate more flax in the diet so maybe you guys want to try it out too.
After looking over my food log for the last couple of weeks, I’m finding myself coming up short on saturated fat. I’ve added flax oil into my diet, so my polyunsaturated fat is up to where I’d want it to be. And, everything has monounsaturated fat in it. However, my saturated fat is quite low. I’m shooting for ~22g a day but am only getting ~14g.
What are some good sources of saturated fat?
I know some people are going to say animal fat like beef and pork, or even eggs. But here are the stats for them that I’m using from www.nutritiondata.com:
Beef, top sirloin, separable lean and fat, trimmed to 1/8" fat, select, cooked, broiled (per 100g):
178cal, 0C/29.3P/5.0F, 1.9Sat/0.2Poly/2.0Mono
Pork, fresh, loin, tenderloin, separable lean only, cooked, broiled (per 100g):
100cal, 0C/29.9P/8.1F, 2.9Sat/0.7Poly/3.3Mono
Egg, whole, raw, fresh
80cal, 0.4C/7.0P/5.6F, 1.7Sat/0.8Poly/2.1Mono
Basically, my sources of fat have higher monounsaturated than saturated fat. So, my monounsaturated fat has been averaging ~24g while my saturated fat has been averaging ~14g.
The only things on my menu that have higher saturated fat are butter and cheese, both of which are only used as garnish.
Are there any other sources of food that contain a higher level of saturated fat compared to the other fats to even out my fat distribution? Thanks!
Tampa Terry,
I was wondering what calculations you use to find maintenance calories?
Also, it seems that just eating fruit for carbs makes it extremely difficult to get your recommended grams for the day. Any suggestions? Thanks!
[quote]jdr23 wrote:
Tampa Terry,
I was wondering what calculations you use to find maintenance calories?
Also, it seems that just eating fruit for carbs makes it extremely difficult to get your recommended grams for the day. Any suggestions? Thanks![/quote]
I’m not Tampa-Terry, but I’ll give it a shot. I’m sure she’ll have a better answer once she gets around to replying.
I don’t think she uses a specific calculation per se. Her favorite “Outcome Based Decision Making” has you start at a reasonable stage, and then adjusts as you monitor your progress. As long as you pick something reasonable (BW * 14?), you can go from there. I think the reason is because everyone is different.
A simple formula may not work for everyone. You’d have to see how your body reacts to a certain calorie in-take and go from there.
And, fruits aren’t the only source of carbs. Things like yogurt (good for digestion) and additives (flavoring for my turkey breast) all have carbs. My diet still has ~150g of carbs on non-training days (meaning no starchy carbs). But in general, I don’t think she’d have you fret over the number of grams of carbs you’re taking in, as long as your protein, fat, and total calorie are in check.
Now Tampa-Terry, go ahead and set me straight and let me know where I’m wrong. This is my trail-by-fire method of learning. 
I saw those flax muffins, and I’ve been planning on trying 'em! Maybe even tonight since you were kind enough to post the recipe. (grin)
If you’d like to raise your saturated fat, reduce your olive oil a tad and add in some coconut oil. Coconut oil is 90% saturated fat and has it’s own unique set of health benefits, in addition to having a high(er) smoke point than olive oil and imparting a whole lotta flavor.
I was wondering what calculations you use to find maintenance calories?
Maintenance calories is different for everyone, jdr23. jthsiao is dead on the money!!! (grin) It depends on a person’s age, activity levels, hormonal status, the amount of LBM they carry and even genetics to some degree. Determining your maintenance calories is really one of those “trial and error” kinda things. You make your best guess, stick to your numbers for one week and make note of what the scale does. If you lose weight, go up a tad. If you gain weight drop your caloric intake a bit.
15 times body weight is supposed to be maintenance calories, but once again, the number of calories it takes to maintain your weight is highly individual.
Also, it seems that just eating fruit for carbs makes it extremely difficult to get your recommended grams for the day. Any suggestions?
Help me out a little bit on this one, jdr23. I actually don’t make specific carb recommendations. What I do is recommend that people consume 3 servings of fruit (1 serving = 80-100 calories) and a serving of beans (1 serving = 1/2 to 1 cup, depending on body weight) and make that a part of their daily requirements. From there I tell people to eat unlimited amounts of fibrous green veggie carbs because those carbs are self-limiting in nature. In other words, if you are active, you’ll eat more, and if you’re not active, you’ll eat less.
Great answer, jthsiao!!! I learn a lot from seeing how other people explain things. Answering questions really is trial by fire. The more you help people with their body composition challenges and the more you answer their questions, the more you’ll learn!
Thank you Jthsiao and Tampa Terry!
The reason I asked about the carbs was in order to hit calorie requirements for the day. 1 gram/lb. for protein and .4g/lb for fat leaves about half my calories to carbs. I guess upping the protein is a viable option as well as the fats to some extent.
[quote]jthsiao wrote:
I thought it tasted decent, probably could have used a bit more splenda and cinnamon. This was intended to be used with a shake, so by itself, it’s a bit on the bland side. However, I think it was a great way to incorporate more flax in the diet so maybe you guys want to try it out too.
[/quote]
Sounds good. I might give it a try as well.
Thanks.
Jthsiao, I tried the flax muffins, and they were awesome!!! (grin) I added salt, about 4 times more Splenda and 50% more cinnamon.
jdr, it sounds like you’re bulking. If that’s the case, just make sure you weigh and measure every week. If you are making slow and steady progress towards your goals, keep your carbs where they are. If progress is too fast or non-existent, adjust accordingly.
[quote]Tampa-Terry wrote:
Jthsiao, I tried the flax muffins, and they were awesome!!! (grin) I added salt, about 4 times more Splenda and 50% more cinnamon.
jdr, it sounds like you’re bulking. If that’s the case, just make sure you weigh and measure every week. If you are making slow and steady progress towards your goals, keep your carbs where they are. If progress is too fast or non-existent, adjust accordingly.[/quote]
Thank you for the suggestions. I’ve read many of your posts, and you give a lot of great info.
My pleasure, jdr!!! Let me know how it goes. It sounds like you’re really dialing things in.
[quote]Tampa-Terry wrote:
Jthsiao, I tried the flax muffins, and they were awesome!!! (grin) I added salt, about 4 times more Splenda and 50% more cinnamon.
[/quote]
In addition to the recipe, I also added some Grow! Whey protein powder and a tiny bit of milk. And of course, lots more Splenda and cinnamon! The result is a smoother and sweeter tasting flax muffin!
If you want to add some more protein and make it into a full-blown meal instead of a snack, I’d suggest giving the above addition a try.
P.S. Don’t over do it on the milk. I added 91g just to make sure I have enough moisture. The next time around, I’d probably add a bit less, like 50-60g. Adding milk (which has carbs) would push this right to the borderline of acceptable carb levels for a P+F meal, so make sure you’re careful!
Duh! Why didn’t I think of that?!?! I’m going to try this out for my next meal.
You’re just full of good ideas, Jthsiao!!! (grin)
This is an update on my current dieting effort. I ended the Velocity Diet on April 9th and today marks 4 weeks after the diet. Here are my changes (4/9, 4/15, 4/22, 4/29, 5/6):
Weight: 169.5, 168, 166, 165, 162.5
Calories: 1435, 1822, 1993, 2144, 2184
And, here are my measurement changes (4/9, 5/5, difference):
Chest: 40", 39" (-1")
Left Upper Arm: 14, 14 (same)
Right Upper Arm: 14.5, 14.25 (-0.25")
Waist (belly button): 33.5", 32" (-1.5")
Left Thigh: 23", 23" (same)
Right Thigh: 23.5", 23.25" (-0.25")
Left Calf: 15.5", 15.25" (-0.25")
Right Calf: 15.75", 15.75" (same)
Here’s my current diet:
Meal 1, 7:00
6 slices of turkey breast
~50g of celery
~75g of white mushroom
~50g of green pepper
~85g of spinach
~60g of tomatoes
1 yogurt
1 apple
502 cal, 77g Carb, 41.9g Prot, 4.4g Fat, 10.8g Fiber
Meal 2: 10:00
2 serving of Metabolic Drive
~85g of broccoli
~110g of zucchini
1 orange
314 cal, 33.8g Carb, 45.6g Prot, 3.5g Fat, 8.4g Fiber
Meal 3: 11:30 (Peri-workout)
1 serving of Surge
340 cal, 45g Carb, 25g Prot, 1.5g Fat, 0g Fiber
Meal 4: 13:00 (PWO)
~120g of chicken breast
80g of brown rice
~135g of strawberries
496 cal, 85g Carb, 33.9g Prot, 3.7g Fat, 10g Fiber
Meal 5: 18:00
~200g of beef top sirloin
1 tbsp of flax oil
6 Flameout softgels
562 cal, 0g Carb, 60.8g Prot, 32.8g Fat, 0g Fiber
Meal 6: 21:00
2 whole eggs
8g of coconut oil
229 cal, 0.8g Carb, 14g Prot, 19.2g Fat, 0g Fiber
Total:
2443 cal, 241.5g Carb, 221.2g Prot, 66g Fat, 20.1g Sat, 19.7g Poly, 14.8g Mono, 30.3g Fiber
As I am still bringing my calories up slowly, here are some ideas I plan to try:
Add in a flax muffin in the mid-late afternoon. This would curb my late afternoon hunger and give me another source of polyunsaturated fat.
Continue to tinker with my fat intake to adhere with BW * 0.4g guideline. Right now, I’m a little bit under in the fat intake and still trying different food out to get it just right.
Overall, I like my progress so far. In addition to the weight on the scale changing, I’m noticing my appearance in the mirror. And, my pants no longer fits so I’ll have to go buy some new pants.
My lifts in the gym have been pretty constantly. I’m not setting new personal records but they’re not dropping anymore. Considering I’m on a diet, I guess that’s not too bad. Although, my gym performance does make me look forward to eventually bulking again when I’m done cutting.
Please let me know if you have any suggestions if I’ve overlooked something. Thanks!
Impressive!Good work. Very committed, indeed.
Do you think you have lost any muscle while dieting?
[quote]JuicyLucy wrote:
Do you think you have lost any muscle while dieting?[/quote]
Without having an accurate bodyfat test, it’s hard to tell. I know my measurements have gone down, but I’m not sure how much of that is fat versus muscle. The only indication that I have are from my lifts at the gym, and after the bad week after transitioning off of the Velocity Diet, I haven’t noticed any decline in gym performance. I think I “look” more built, at least with the shirt off.
I just love numbers!!! (laughing)
First off, I agree with Lucy!!! Your results are impressive. A little more information with the data you provided.
You were dieting at 08.5 times body weight the first week
You were dieting at 10.8 times body weight the second week
You were dieting at 12.0 times body weight the third week
You were dieting at 13.0 times body weight the fourth week
You were dieting at 13.4 times body weight the fifth week
If the goal was to maintain your current weight and lean up a little more, I probably should have recommended that you go up in increments of 500 calories per day on any week you lost a pound.
I don’t know where you store your fat, but I’m betting you store some on your back. That’s going to account for the drop in chest measurement. What I particularly like, though, is that arm and thigh stayed pretty much the same, while you lost inches on your waist.
John Berardi recommends 0.4g to 0.5g of fat per pound of body weight, so in your case, I’d recommend the higher number.
For hunger and calories, add in a serving of beans (1/2 to 1 cup) daily. You can have it in a soup, chili or in the form of hummus.
Additionally and finally, I’d like to see you with a fun, tasty, only quasi-healthy cheat/treat meal every week.
I bet you’re seeing some nice vacularity at this point. (grin) If you can find an old time body builder (someone who has competed), get them to take your body fat. Make sure it’s 7 point or 9 point, which is supposed to be more accurate than 3 point.
Equally accurate is BodPod – www.bodpod.com – hydrostatic weighing and DEXA.
Good job, jthsiao!!! (grin)
Thanks for all these suggestions!
[quote]Tampa-Terry wrote:
If the goal was to maintain your current weight and lean up a little more, I probably should have recommended that you go up in increments of 500 calories per day on any week you lost a pound.
[/quote]
My goal for right now is to be leaner than I’ve ever been. I was skinny before, but never really lean. I haven’t decided at what weight that means, but for now, I’m thinking of slowly going down in weight still. I think I dropped a bit more weight than I’d like this week, and I plan to continue up’ing my calories.
[quote]Tampa-Terry wrote:
I don’t know where you store your fat, but I’m betting you store some on your back. That’s going to account for the drop in chest measurement. What I particularly like, though, is that arm and thigh stayed pretty much the same, while you lost inches on your waist.
[/quote]
Yes, this is possible. I’m not fretting over the loss in my chest measurement as that is what I attribute it to, fat loss. My chest still looks the same from the front and my gym numbers haven’t gone down, so I think I’m losing fat from my back.
[quote]Tampa-Terry wrote:
John Berardi recommends 0.4g to 0.5g of fat per pound of body weight, so in your case, I’d recommend the higher number.
[/quote]
I find that coconut oil has a very strong, “interesting” taste. I haven’t quite gotten used to it yet. Then again, I only started using them with my eggs in the past couple of days. In the future, I plan on adding them with the flax to see how the muffin would taste.
Do you have any other suggestions for saturated fat? I tried looking it up in nutritiondata.com, but most of the suggestions are animal fats or lard. There must be better sources of saturated fat, right?
[quote]Tampa-Terry wrote:
Additionally and finally, I’d like to see you with a fun, tasty, only quasi-healthy cheat/treat meal every week.
[/quote]
Well, I did the a couple of weeks ago and last week, my wife was sick so we stayed home. But, I am planning the “cheat” meal into my diet. It’s going to be my Sunday night meal. Come to think of it, I wonder what the wifey has planned for us tonight?
[quote]Tampa-Terry wrote:
I bet you’re seeing some nice vacularity at this point. (grin) If you can find an old time body builder (someone who has competed), get them to take your body fat. Make sure it’s 7 point or 9 point, which is supposed to be more accurate than 3 point.
Equally accurate is BodPod – www.bodpod.com – hydrostatic weighing and DEXA.
[/quote]
This would be ideal, but I’m not sure where I can find a person to do that. I lift at a LA Fitness right now (local commercial gym), so it’s not stocked with really knowledgable people when it comes to bodybuilding. They’ll let me use their hand-held electro-impedance gadget, but that’s about it.
I’m relying on the good ol’ mirror test for now, and I guess that’s what really matters at the end. Knowing my exact bodyfat would be great for learning purposes, but I think with your Outcome-Based Decision Making approach, the mirror test would suffice for now.