You’re starting to obsess over minutiae. Your body dimensions and scale weight will change rapidly with changes in your diet, especially changes in salt, water and carb intake. Sometimes the changes will be slightly delayed, depending on how quickly the food moves through your digestive system.
Stop looking for lasting change in week to month timeframes (this holds for body comp as well as weight on the bar). This takes time. The older you are, the longer it takes. @Frank_C and I are in our 30s and we take a fair while to cement any change. You’ll need to be even more patient.
Give it at least two more weeks. I can see visible changes in my mid section the morning after I eat pizza. I’m talking about going from a six pack one day to a flat, smooth stomach the next. I can also notice pants fitting tighter or looser several days apart.
Does that make you feel any better?
What was the reason for the change in diet? Are you trying to cut? Your workouts suggest that you want to improve. You have to fuel that. Trust me. I’m a professional at staying the exact same year after year. I worry about staying lean. I succeed at that but I don’t add any muscle and my strength stays the same.
Feel better? Dude I don’t feel bad…
I get the daily fluctuations thing which is why I track weekly. Then compare week to week to see trends.
This is a great question. The diet I was on was working well. I was stable and bf was trending down…while weight PRs were trending up. I changed to see if it would work better for me than what I was doing. I’m prepped for next week already. So steak and rice it is for next week.
I was not in a cut phase or a bulk phase. More of a maintenance recoup slow and low. I may cut for two weeks to get my BF down. And just tighten up the diet a bit.
I get that. Last year at this time I was 275lbs and a fat tub of jelly
I’m no where near that now but I know it took me 6months of weighing everything I put into my mouth to get down to 240ish when I started working out and got down to 225/13ish BF%. I’ve let myself get to 260 20% around xmas January 1. So I keto cut back to 235 15,16% having lost muscle gains as well as fat. So now I’m here 245-250 and 19ish. I need to get my BF under control because like @MarkKO says I’m not 30 like you guys are and my lower test levels are eaten alive by BF and extra is just added as BF once I get around 15/16. So it is not a bulk and cut game for old timers. It is a try and add something while driving the fatassedness into the dirt.
Hell I couldn’t even gain weight in my mid 20s. The game changes mid 30s and I can only speak about 40 only recently. But I’m not interested in losing my gains with a long cut so I need to progress with some knowledge. Hence this discussion…
It just comes down to priorities. I think you’ll have to plan different phases or seasons into your training. One of those would be a strict cut while maintaining as much strength and size as possible.
@MarkKO cut from 225 down to 180 before switching back to a gaining phase. You’ll have to go back in his log a few thousand posts but you can see his methodical approach. He’s close to getting back to his starting weight but his body is definitely different in a good way.
You could cut and then switch back to a slow gain. I understand wanting to maintain your current weight too.
As far as your diet goes, I don’t think it matters at this point. If the previous approach was working then I could ask you why you changed it. But I understand part of this journey is trying new things and learning how they work for you.
If you like the new eating plan then keep tweaking it till it works for you.
Probably a good idea to get input from @The_Myth because he’s done pretty well in terms of adding lean mass.
It’s going to be a case of taking the hit of losing strength and some muscle to lean out over six to 12 months of using the same diet approach; then spend some time adjusting to being lean, probably another six to nine months; and then adding muscle slowly, which will come with some fat. I don’t think there is a way around that process.
Nothing super insightful to say, only that your progress continues to impress me. Night and day between those pictures and the videos you post in terms of your physique. Keep grinding, man.
Sorry I’m so late to your log this weekend, but DAMN!!! 405 double overhand is beastly dude!! I can’t say I’m surprised that that session emptied your tank a little bit, but hey… those sessions are so worth it. Solid work my man! Let’s get it this week!!
Here I go to sleep and wake up to this
Very good conversation, as you see in my log I’m a bit concerned about the gaining fat thing.
For the Hog and myself we tend to build anything just around the waist. And it’s a SOB to say the least. If some of it went different places.
It appears that The Hog, is putting on some muscles as well and the numbers on the bar is going up fast. Meaning that he is doing some things right.
It’s going to be fun to see were we all are in about a year.
I’m sticking a bit to @MarkKO and his journey, just increasing calories just a bit to see what’s going to happen.
I’m not that unsatisfied about what has happened, it’s a journey for me to. I’ve learned damn much about myself, how to workout, how to eat, how to lose weight.
I’m looking at two numbers the scale, has to come up, but slowly. And my pants, as long as they don’t get to tight, I’m going to be alright.
Keep grinding Hog, I’m in for the progress
Keep smashing it Big Hog! You’ve done an amazing job so far. It’s a marathon and not a Sprint mate, small and easy goals to reach for to keep you motivated in the long run.
Don’t chop and change the diet so quick, as stated above I’ve noticed difference after one night, thinking “shit, I didn’t look like so much of a slob yesterday compared to today”.
How are you measuring your body fat?
You should be so proud of what you have accomplished. You are right though, after 40 it seems so much harder. Keep plugging away, you obviously have the work ethic to reach your goals.
Just curious, why are you doing a high-salt diet? Not critiquing you, just wanting to understand the thought process behind it.
And to echo LL, I think you’ve done damn good. Most people don’t get off their asses to eat a fucking vegetable or go for a walk. You’re pulling 405 double overhand and pressing in the mid 100’s. I’d call that great progress.
Also, if you are eating much more salt than you usually do, your caliper measurements will be inflated relative to your pre-salt measurements. Thus, you probably aren’t gaining as much as you think.
Thanks that answered the question more reasonably. We will see. I’m still pumping the breaks on the amount of carbs for a week or two. Just cutting a few servings of rice out on days I don’t workout.
Higher salt? I’m going more vertical diet trying out some of the principals the rhino endorceses
Why did I alter my diet? I was just trying to maximize the benefits of diet and dial in the return on the eating. I’ve done keto, Paleo, see-food (see and eat), I’ve low carb, high carb, high fat, high protein, I’ve settled on just eating well and figuring out the optimum macro totals for calorie fills.
After hearing about stans vertical diet I tried it out and the results are it will put weight on you quick. Good for building mass or eating enough to maintain mass.
I just dove in too deep too fast and either underestimated the calorie value of the steak, or something because I added 3-4 lbs the first week.
Bench:
45x15
45x10 (felt like it was going to be a great day)
95x10
115x8 (getting extra volume here)
135x8
165x5
185x3
+205x7 (previous best 8 )
?215x3 (rep pr)
?225x3 (rep pr)
?225x2 (total rep 5 for a workout pr)
Spoto w/ pause:
185x5
165x5
165x5
Wide grip spoto w/pause
165x5x3
Incline:
115x10
135x5
155x5
Lats series:
Wide grip
120x20
130x20 (rep pr)
V-handle
130x10
Drop sets no rest
120x5
110x5
BB row: (do what ya bench ya puss)
135x10
225x10 (weight pr)
225x10
225x10 (these were heavy)
Paul Carter Gun Gainz SS
65/85/25/90/90/ kick backs 35
Didn’t push the weigh on bench instead focused on multiple reps of 225. The second rep of the triple was gross missed my push and it went up weird but made a recovery and landed the third on the money and crushed the third rep. Maybe had 1 more but didn’t want to grind or grind and miss so I racked it.
Ended April with a bench PR. I’ll take it!
Diet today I cut some of the carbs out substituted yogurt for oatmeal, and no rice post workout meal. Recovery may suffer, but I want the fat back to go away!
Jeez. I’m not sure I could do this… This will help every lift though, definitely a good exercise to throw some energy towards. Congratulations on the bench PR, April was a good month for you
Yeah Hog april smiled at you.
Great PR’s and 2 plate bench for reps… awesome.
If you hold back for a while I’ll catch up.
Might try that BB row with same weight as bench sounds ehhh heavy
Dude I don’t feel bad…
