I get easily obsessed by stuff and don’t really want to go down the tracking macro route, but every thing I’m reading suggests it’s almost a necessity if you want to get really lean, which is my goal at this time.
Another option is to really limit your diet and eat the same stuff over and over. As you lose weight, you could just decrease your portions.
That would be boring, but it would work.
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That’s what I’m doing, I don’t mind boring, I eat the same stuff every day, I just thought maybe you hit a point where it stops working and you have to get very specific on macros to continue fat loss as you get leaner.
Alpha Inspired W1 D2
WARM UP & CONDITIONING
2 lap dynamic warm up followed by:
6 laps of run the straightaway and walk the curve
Kept the pace up and started several runs still out of breath. Time: 9:56.
Foam rolling on my legs because that stabbing pain in my knee is trying to come back.
GIANT SET (3 ROUNDS)
DB Row 75 x 10 (too light)
DB Bench 60 x 10 (perfect)
Side to Sides (or windshield wipers) x 10 ea
Jump Rope x 30 sec
SUPERSET (4 ROUNDS)
SA Pull Down 120 x 4
DB OHP 55 x 4
HYPERTROPHY CIRCUIT (3 ROUNDS)
Cable Fly 60 ea x 8
Cable Rev Fly 20 ea x 8
Cable Lat Raise 10 ea x 8
Cable Curl 20 ea x 8, 30 ea x 8 on last set
5 second holds at peak contraction on first three. 5 second eccentric on curls.
Total lifting time was about 45 minutes. Total time in the gym was closer to 75 minutes.
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I haven’t cut down to a low enough body fat to need that. Carb manipulation can work, but I think you should save that for the end. I probably cut down to 11-12% body fat this spring and I never had to resort to anything like that. I just kept decreasing my calories. One reason I do that is because I hate restricting carbs. I love carbs. They help me feel satisfied after a meal. I’ve learned that I will get this very special and deep hunger if I deprive myself and the only way to satisfy it is with carbs.
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I like your new program J, looks cool.
Do you go anywhere near failure on anything?
On the nutrition: I haven’t counted a single meal for a couple of month now. I’m weighing in at the same everyday. But I’m still not eating in an “eat what you want” style, that would end up messy.
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I’m not approaching failure right now. I’m just feeling out my weights with the new set-up. I might have been able to do 5 reps on the DB OHP and pull downs but those weights felt pretty good for those reps. And I have to do 5 reps next week, and 6 reps the week after that. I know I need to allow myself a little room to grow so I don’t miss reps.
I’m not too worried with my weights and reps in reserve right now. I’m just trying to keep up with my training while I wait for my right arm to get the green light to train fully again. I’m hoping tomorrow is that day.
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This is my approach, with admittedly limited success. I no longer track macros very often because I eat very similarly all the time. Making myself a slave to good habits, as Dan John puts it.
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I bet it won’t surprise you to hear but that is my approach. 
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9.5.19 3 Months Post-Op
Woke at 213.4 lbs.
Doctor’s appointment is at 9:30 this morning. The edit us over (I hope).
Doesn’t surprise me one bit, but I still don’t know how you do it. I’m good with breakfast and lunch, but dinner is where variety comes into play.
That is true and I too have different dinners each night. But I just adjust the macros with my pre bed protein. If dinner is lower on protein I add a scoop, if it’s low in fat I add peanut butter, etc etc you get the idea.
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I don’t stress about macros unless I’m messing with carbs. Yesterday, I got in about 170g of protein and that’s good enough for me. I just don’t force it anymore. I was hungry and had calories to spare before bed and I chose a bowl of Honey Bunches of Oats instead of a protein shake or more steak. Man, I love carbs!
Well, four more weeks of light duty. My weight restriction is up to 50 lbs so I still don’t have the green light (or ability) to go all out.
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Damn. Still having pain?
Pain and weakness. Can’t risk having to fight someone at work and re-injuring it.
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Squat Day?
GIANT SET (3 ROUNDS)
Broad Jump x 5
Reverse Lunge x 7 ea
Ab Wheel x 10
KB Swing 30 sec
GIANT SET (4 ROUNDS)
Squat Jump x 2
Deadlift 135 x 6
Russian Twist 20 lbs x 10 ea
Walking Lunges 40s x 6 ea
Time: 28:51
CONDITIONING
Bike, Random Interval x 10 min, 2.82 miles
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9.6.19
Woke at 212.6 lbs and starving. I haven’t decided if that’s good or bad.
I’m learning very quickly that training two days in a row wears me out. It’s not a bad thing, but I feel it and don’t want to do much. I might try to do some walking to do some very low intensity exercise.
People who don’t understand low intensity cardio don’t train hard enough.
It only took about 2 weeks. But everyone’s body is different!
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Just trying to identify if my system is still jacked up from the Colorado trip or the new eating schedule. Went to the store last night and grabbed some kombucha and that helped. I almost feel normal today.
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I’m searching for the holy grail of eating plans – one that doesn’t leave me hungry all the time. It seems that the only time I’m satisfied is when I’m gaining weight. I’m trying to eat at maintenance and I’m hungry.
If I really eat like a fool then I’ll try to right the ship by fasting the following day. I usually only make it til dinner so it’s only like 20 hours. I find that I can put off my first meal for a bit, but once I eat, my body goes nuts. I can wait til 5pm to eat and still come close to hitting my maintenance calories for the day.
For now, I’ve split my calories into three meals. My usual eating pattern is four meals and I’ll eat every 2.5 to 3 hours. A meal with 800-900 calories is much more satisfying than one with 650 calories. It’s also supposed to keep me full longer but so far I’m still hungry a lot. Another problem is that I’ve eliminated chicken from my diet for the time being so my meat has a lot more calories per portion. For example, my ribeye steak is 425 calories per six ounces compared to 180 calories for the same amount of chicken breast.
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