So amongst the chaos, is there a bedtime routine at your end mate? Gratitude journal, ‘to do’ list, quiet time, wind down, etc?
This happens way too often in this log, but I’m sure you’re across such things re your blood pressure etc.
And impressive snaps there, “dialed in chaos”.
@mr.v3lv3t Thanks for that dude! This has been an awesome experience.
@raven78 I very much do, but with chaos being the plan, quite frequently, such routines make contact with the enemy, haha. And I’d say “once” is too often as far as blackouts go, but it’s just strongman stuff.
Stupid simple carnivore lean lunch: steak bites and egg whites. I honestly just appreciate how they rhyme.
AM WORKOUT (0345 natural wake up) FASTED
PLAGUE OF STRENGTH’S “FAMINE” ROUTINE: “RAGNAROK IS HERE” Week 1, Day 2 (Squats)
GIANT SET OF: squat-row-abs
SSB Front Squat
4x3x315
36x160
Viking row
6x20 w/60lbs on axle
Hanging leg raise
5xAMRAP
SUPERSET of: calves-quads
SSB calf raise
5x5x355
Reverse hyper leg extensions
3x25x100
OFF CAMERA
15 rounds, 90 seconds per round
First 3 rounds:
Next 12 rounds:
Did a final round of 5 GHRs and 30 swings just to total 200 GHRs and 150 swings…because base 10
BREAKFAST: 2 scoops of metabolic drive mixed w/2 egg whites, 2 small pieces of beef liver
2+ mile brisk walk
Notes:
Continuing to find more ways to “make this mine” and shave off time. Holy f**k this was brutal. For the Giant Set rest times, I went either 3 minutes from the finish of the squats or 90 seconds from the finish of the leg raises. Both hit around the same time. For the superset, I rested 30 seconds after the extensions. And then that conditioning circuit at the end to get in my GHRs, push ups, squats and swings was absolutely fantastic. I was hanging on by a thread those final rounds: BARELY enough time to finish up before the next round started.
My right knee is a little mad at me from when I blacked out with the log yesterday. It landed on an achy part. It wanted to buckle a few times during the workout. Held up strong enough, but it’s letting me know it’s mad.
The deathset really crept up on me. I was going strong and then suddenly my lungs wanted to collapse. I wonder if that’s a factor of the weight being ON my lungs with this being a front squat.
It’s worth appreciating that a SSB front squat isn’t a front squat, sure, but it’s still a fantastic squatting variant and I’m really happy to have brought it back in.
And in that regard, I’m also pleased to bring back the “post workout workout”. I was missing that element for a while now. I basically broke myself down back to zero and am rebuilding from there, and the pieces are all fitting together much better.
I’m excited for dinner tonight. Something I’m calling “pioneer tacos”. We got some ground deer from my uncle-in-law, and since it’s so lean I mixed it with some ground bison, then threw it in the slow cooker with some grassfed beef bone broth and taco seasoning. Should be fantastic.
You hear that Pwn, it’s the sound of my stomach growling, save some for me and @simo74. I’m sure he’s hungry too.
I swear, cooking skills are such a weapon. “Increase cooking skills” is definitely going on my list of things to do during the summer.
I appreciate that dude. There’s really nothing to it. I’m not doing anything fancy: heating meat until it’s cooked, mixing it with other stuff.
My lungs are sympathy burning!
i am always hungry. LOL
@heretolog That’s the best company right there, haha.
@simo74 You’ll definitely appreciate my “leftover carnivore chili” as a chili fan. I took the leftover taco meat and some leftover meat in the fridge that was just on the cusp of needing thrown out (chicken meatballs and a grassfed beef polish sausage) and combined them all together. Should make excellent meals in the future.
Also, the tacos turned out fantastic.
Took me a long time to catch up, but it was a ton of fun. I remember saying a while back that despite all the pains you talk about and fight through you seem to be a pretty happy dude - that seems doubly so at the moment. Awesome to see you crushing tons of lean, healthy, balanced meals while also occasionally enjoying a bunch of treats guilt-free. Your training continues to motivate and impress the hell out of me, don’t get me wrong, but it does feel like you fortified your foundation with your nutrition a ton during my hiatus.
This reminds me of the old garbage can chilli I used to make, back when the kids actually had left overs. Sounds good
@simo74 I’m sure it’ll be amazing, and it looks like I’ll be adding to it through the week, haha.
@flappinit Great to have you stop by man! Your comment means a lot, and you’re absolutely spot on. I’ve finally managed to reconcile my eating with my identity, and it’s just been so huge for me to achieve some real balance and harmony. It’s amazing and a little ridiculous how much food is just a part of us, and when it’s out of balance, it shows.
AM WORKOUT (0350 natural wake up) FASTED
PLAGUE OF STRENGTH’S “FAMINE” ROUTINE: “RAGNAROK IS HERE” VARIANT Week 1, Day 3 (Bench and Dips)
Axle touch and go bench
2x1x326
3x296
2x296
GIANT SET: Press-abs-curls
BtN Press
6xAMRAPx95 w/2 second pause at top of lockout
Hanging leg raise
5xAMRAP
Fat Gripz Concentration Curls
5x20x10lbs
Dips
375 in 20 minutes using Tabata intervals
END OF PROGRAM REQS
15 EMOM rounds of
BREAKFAST: 2 egg whites mixed w/2 scoops of Metabolic Drive and 2 small pieces of beef liver
Leisurely 2 mile walk
Notes:
Try as I might, it’s hard to make this day move quickly. The enforced 20 minutes of dips is part of that: can’t speed up time. But I got in a LOT more work by using those tabata intervals, so that’s money. And the giant set circuit helped. I could probably stand to up the weight on the BtN press, but bench was heavier than I expected.
Hitting 375 dips and chasing it with 300 push ups speaks to a silly level of upper body work capacity.
My abs/midsection is back to “anatomy chart” levels of leanness inside of like 3 days of Famine. This protocol is simply amazing, and I’m not even 100% complying with it. Little things, like shaving out a half scoop of protein powder, training completely fasted (still doing “wake and shake” in the middle of the night though), a pure protein shake fast day, lean lunches, etc, all add up, yet I’m still eating until satisfied during my solid meals. It’s just a fantastic balance.
Forgot to note that I weighed in at 182.0 yesterday, which is the lightest weigh in so far.
Deadly fukin work man. Love it.
@whiplash1 appreciate it dude!
Just gonna keep posting the carnivore food porn. Air fryer pork chops and egg whites
AM WORKOUT (0345 natural wake up) FASTED
PLAGUE OF STRENGTH’S “FAMINE” ROUTINE: “RAGNAROK IS HERE” VARIANT Week 1, Workout 4 (Rows and Squats)
GIANT SET: Row-squat-abs-row (40 second rest between rounds)
Explosive Trap bar rows
8x275
7x275
6x275
5x275
SSB pause squat to straps
6x4x348
Hanging leg raises
5xAMRAP
Seated band rows
4x20xLight band
4x20xlight band w/triple dropset using monster mini/mini bands
20 minutes of chins w/tabata intervals
150 total
SSB Calf raise stripset (no rest)
25x225
25x135
25x98
25x65 (empty bar)
25xBW
END OF PROGRAM REQS
15 round EMOM of
BREAKFAST: 2 scoops of Metabolic Drive w/2 egg whites, 2 small pieces of beef liver
2 mile brisk walk
Notes:
Took video but had some upload issues: will have to post later.
Another middle of the night bad idea to run this all as a circuit, similar to day 1. It made it move MUCH faster, which was a plus, because this day can be a slog otherwise. Figuring out to use the bands for the rows was pretty big: really opened things up logistically. I’m using my yoke upright to brace the bands and have my feet against the plates. Creates a good deal of ROM and tension.
The trap bar rows are fantastic for explosive rows. Really allows me to just open up, go to town, and not worry about form. I’ll push the weight heavier next time, but this really felt “right” today.
SSB can stand to be a little higher in weight and longer in ROM next time as well. Original intent was to use the buffalo bar for this, but with how beat up my knee has felt from dropping the log on it and with an intent to run a fast circuit, I went with the SSB to quick execution. Ideally, I’ll get some Zenos in tomorrow during Dealer’s Choice to get some reps in with the bar on my back.
Definitely seeing improvement with the chins using Tabata protocol. I’m sure rep quality wasn’t great, since it was a lot of “first reps”, which tend to mean allowing a jump to the top of the rep, but I was dog-tired by the time those 20 minutes were done, so there was SOME training effect happening. And then I just sped through the calf raises to be done with them.
That little 3 move circuit is just clutch.
Weighed in at 181.0 this morning. Officially 20lbs done from the end of Super Squats/start of the transformation. No intention of dropping that much weight, but it’s been a wild ride to get so lean while being strong and eating until I’m satisfied.
Carnivore, Velocity Diet and Feast/Famine/Ferocity Blend Thoughts
It’s been pretty awesome finding ways to make this style of eating complimentary. And that’s the big thing: where differences exists, the trick is to see them as complimentary rather than competitive. Much like my “have 2 diets” post in the Transformation Challenge, whenever I run into an issue with one approach, I see another approach as filling a gap vs posing a challenge.
Feast, Famine and Ferocity, as a protocol, has a 2 week Famine (fasting) period and 4 weeks of Feasting. The Famine is essentially Velocity Diet 1.0, but with even lower calories (only 1g of protein per pound of bodyweight). Morphing that into Velocity Diet 4.0 wasn’t tough, and adapting that to my “family man” approach wasn’t a reach as well. But now it becomes a question of “how do we give the phases separate identities?”
“Family Man” exists more as a baseline protocol. It could be run indefinitely. So in order to map it onto a fasting or feasting period, nuance comes into play. As it stands, when I’m in Famine mode, I train fasted in the morning (still doing “wake and shake”, but no egg whites upon waking). In addition, my shakes are only 2 scoops of Metabolic Drive vs 2.5. In addition, my midday meals are all lean protein: no fatty cuts or supplemental fats outside of Flameout. So those photos of “steak bites and egg whites” sum it up well. Piedmontese grassfed steak bites rock the following nutrition
That is stupidly lean. And egg whites are practically fat free and zero carb as well. This is like eating a protein shake. I have no snacks, and if I have a dessert with my kid, it’s about 40 calories of grassfed cottage cheese w/an egg white. At dinner, I have a meal with some fats in it, but even then, nothing terribly crazy.
During the Feast, I train fed, up the Metabolic Drive shakes all to 2.5 scoops, and will eat fattier meat at meals. Chicken thighs, drumsticks and wings, ribeyes and t-bones, ribs, etc. I also include extra meals with whole eggs, and will more aggressively consume grassfed sour cream at meals.
In all cases, for dinner, I am eating until full. As long as it’s meat/animal, I see no issue with this, and the results are speaking for themselves. I am physically and psychologically in a fantastic place with this approach. Denying myself for so long was destroying me. Yesterday, I had pork chops until I was done eating pork chops. That’s a fantastic place to be in.
And “as long as it’s animal” has been a solid protocol. In truth, I’m about done with the Famine at this point. In 5 days, I lost another pound and regained any “lost” leanness I experienced from 4 weeks of feasting. I think my nutrition is just stupidly dialed in. So, today, I got hungry after lunch and had a can of canned salmon. It was delicious.
And in THAT regard, one of the big guiding principles is that, if I’m hungry, I eat animal. If I don’t want animal: I’m not hungry. I avoid increasing the palatability of my food with non-animal sources. Butter, sour cream, cheese? Fair game. Sauces? Nope. I’ll allow salt and certain spices, but not many. If I’m hungry, I won’t NEED to disguise the food. I was eating SO much “fake food” before, and it’s WHY I was eating so much of it: it was disguised to taste like something else. Meat is amazing, it’s delicious, it’s restorative and it heals. When I’ve had enough, I’ve had enough.
All within reason of course. Still “family man”. I’ll still cook with my family and make yummy food with them. Carnivore pioneer tacos are sign enough of that, and I have a baller idea for a cheeseburger with deer and bison. And, of course, I have my weekly Rampage where I eat anything, but this is also healing. It’s the social aspect of the meal: coming together and sharing the aromas and flavors. But on my own? How weird it would be to dress up and hide the food from myself.
This is just so freeing and liberating. It’s funny how others would view it as restrictive. “You only eat meat and drink Metabolic Drive shakes?” No: I GET to eat meat and drink Metabolic Drive shakes. It’s incredible!
Nice write up man. You keep giving me ideas lol 
@whiplash1 That’s all I hope to do! This has been so awesome an experience, and if I can share the way it feels and help others along the way, hell yeah. In that regard…
The video from this morning
Folks, wanna know what thriving looks like?
When you literally wake up looking like this. God I feel incredible.
Got in a 1.5 mile walk with a 50lb vest this evening with the dog. And a fantastic dinner made by the Mrs of Piedmontese beef broccoli…I skimped on the broccoli, and used egg whites and sour cream as the base
Dang dude, you look awesome!
Thanks dude!
