Steve go get yourself a spray tan, that’s worth 10lb any day !!
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@ChickenLittle I’m happy with my progress for sure, and maybe it’s just a mental thing, but it’s hard to look at what someone like @jackolee did and not just hand him the ‘prize’.
@trimtabber79 Winter did come back to Nebraska and the Dakotas, but it passed just north of us. I enjoyed the show last night, but I didn’t do my diet any favors.
@simo74 That’ll never happen, nor will the manscaping, but I am working on a semi-farmer’s tan working outside on the weekends, now.
4/14/19 food from yesterday
Breakfast: Shake = 1/2 cup whole milk, 1 scoop quick oats, 1 1/2 scoop protein powder.
Lunch: 4 small pieces of French toast with syrup (made with French bread). 4 pieces of bacon. 1/2 kiwi fruit. 1/4 banana.
Dinner: 6 Pizza hut traditional Buffalo wings with 2 tbsp. blue cheese dressing.
Snack while watching Game of Thrones: 1 Irish Blessing coffee stout. about 2 oz. of deluxe mixed nuts.
bedtime. 1 scoop creatine.
totals for today 2227 calories, 147g protein, 144g carbs, 98g fat. More than 300 calories over target, but still eating under maintenance. I was good until the beer and HBO, I ate a bunch of mixed nuts, so tons of fat and salt.
4/15/19 morning weigh-in 184.8# First spike upward in several days. I blame the beer, salt and fat binge last night. Back on track today, hopefully.
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I don’t know man… you’ve made some pretty awesome changes. I think the big visual changes just happen really quickly when you get sub 10% bodyfat. It was like a new vein would show up each day. I bet I’m back to 12-13% right now.
Heheh, if I can hit 12-13% by the end of this challenge I will be ecstatic!
4/15/19 food from yesterday
Breakfast: Shake = 1/2 cup whole milk, 1 scoop quick oats, 1 1/2 scoop protein powder.
Lunch: 4 oz. chicken breast. 1 boiled egg. 4 tbsp. French’s fried jalapenos on my salad. Small salad = spinach, bell pepper, cherry tomatoes, broccoli, cucumber, mushrooms, carrots, radishes, olives, 1/2 tbsp of olive oil, 1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar.
Dinner: 3.5 oz deboned pork rib. 4 oz. pork roast. 1/2 cup field peas w/ snap peas. 1 cup steamed cauliflower.
Bedtime: 1 scoop protein powder with creatine.
Totals for today 1740 calories, 185g protein, 131g carbs, 53g fat. Pretty good eating today, a little light on the calories but wasn’t really hungry throughout the day. The only thing I splurged on was I had to get chicken from the salad bar at work since I ran out of canned meat, and I grabbed a few tablespoons of French’s fried jalapenos, since those things are like crack. I can go through a whole container of those in 1 sitting if I want to.
4/16/19 morning weigh-in 183.4# Back on track from the extra junk food on Sunday.
Yesterday was supposed to be a training day but I had to go straight home after work to help deal with a disciplinary issue with the 16 year-old. I’ll make it up today. My shoulder is gradually feeling better, but I’m still going to stay super-conservative on bench and dips. I’ll probably continue to stick with bottom-up bench off pins.
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4/16/19 5/3/1 full body giant sets cycle 3 day 9 press primary/squat secondary
Warmup: barbell complex x3 with chin-ups 1/2/3
Main giant set:
Press:
10x45#
5x65#
5x95#
5x115#
working sets:
5x135#
3x145#
5x160#
45# weighted chin-ups 1/2/3/4/5/6/7
Squat:
10x45#
5x95#
5x135#
5x185#
Working sets:
5x225#
3x255#
1x285#
Accessory giant set:
1 arm DB press:
8x70#
8x70#
8x70#
Krok rows:
10x80#
10x80#
10x80#
Zercher squats:
5x155#
5x155#
5x155#
No time for conditioning today, trained during lunch at work. I’ll probably run again tomorrow. Overhead felt strong, 5x160# went up pretty easy, definitely 1-2 more in the tank. Bumped up my DB press accessories from 10x65# to 8x70#, that extra 5# definitely makes it tougher. My right hamstring is still feeling a little twingy, so I kept the Zercher squats light today and made sure to get a good stretch at the bottom.
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4/16/19 food from yesterday
Breakfast: Shake = 1/2 cup whole milk, 1 scoop quick oats, 1 1/2 scoop protein powder.
Pre-workout snack: 1 boiled egg. 3 mandarin oranges.
Lunch: 4 oz. chicken breast. 1 boiled egg. 4 tbsp. French’s fried jalapenos on my salad. Small salad = snap peas, bell pepper, cherry tomatoes, broccoli, cucumber, mushrooms, carrots, radishes, olives, 1/2 tbsp of olive oil, 1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar. Ran out of spinach and I’m not going to restock my salad supplies since I’m on vacation next week.
Dinner: Freddie’s steakburger meal = Double bacon cheeseburger, 1/2 order of fries, 1/2 cup of Dr. Pepper.
Drink at the bar where my daughter works on the way home: 1 old fashioned cocktail.
Bedtime: 1 scoop of protein powder with creatine.
Totals for today 2473 calories, 183g protein, 242g carbs and 87g fat. I wasn’t planning on fast food tonight, but had to run to Emporia to get some stuff, went with the wife and son and that’s where they wanted to eat. Since I trained today I had the calorie space, came in 108 calories under target this time after adjustment for training. The daughter was working so I had to stop in on my way by, which was nice since several friends from work who recently retired were there and I got to say hi and chat a bit.
4/17/19 morning weigh-in 183.4# Staying pretty damn consistent this week, I guess the body likes this weight? We’ll see if I can get another bump downward between now and Friday when I get back on the road. My last Texas road trip I ended up losing quite a bit of weight, so we’ll see what happens this next week and a half… After the wedding I’ll have a solid month to do a final push to see how close I can get to 175#.
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That’s awesome that your able to maintain even with a double bacon steak burger and fries. I doubt you’ll have any trouble hitting 175 by June 1st. I’ve really admired your staying power throughout this cut.
I went into dinner with like 1300 calories left in the day’s budget, and I still only ate half the fries because I had already planned to stop, visit the daughter and get a drink on the way home, otherwise I would have overshot. It helps that the times when I’m hungry are when I’m busy at work anyway, and I’m keeping my breakfast shake and work meals very consistent regardless of what I do for dinner.
We’ll see how well I do spending a week in Austin with mostly just me and the wife, no kids and no responsibilities until Thursday night. I could definitely blow up the diet if I’m not careful, and I don’t know if I’m going to get much opportunity to hit the gym. I am bringing a kettlebell with me, and my running shoes, so I’ll do at least something.
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Game of Thrones fan? I like you even more now @OTHSteve
@gsg202 I started reading the books way back when they first came out, although I have to admit I’m behind by one book, I haven’t read ‘A Dance With Dragons’ yet. Since the show came out, I’ve been getting my fix that way. Sure, they changed some stuff, including some stuff pretty important to the books, but every adaptation does, and I prefer to enjoy it for what it is rather than bellyaching about how they changed it and now it’s ruined. There are still people who are mad about the LotR movies because they took out Tom Bombadil and the Scouring of the Shire, but what’s the point in that? Just celebrate that it’s finally a wonderful time to be a nerd! 
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4/17/19 food from yesterday
Breakfast: Shake = 1/2 cup whole milk, 1 scoop quick oats, 1 1/2 scoop protein powder.
Lunch: 4 oz. chicken breast. 1 boiled egg. 4 tbsp. French’s fried jalapenos, ended up not having time to do my salad, so just ate the fried jalapenos like chips.
Dinner: 3 corn tortillas worth steak and chicken fajitas, with bell peppers, tomatoes and onions. Some chips with salsa.
Bedtime: 1 scoop of protein powder with creatine.
Total for today 1796 calories, 154g protein, 133g carbs, 70g fat. Didn’t have time to eat a good lunch today, grabbed the little bit from the cafeteria at work, but never had time to fix my salad, so I was hungry when I got home. Also had to rush home to make garage space and get the Jag in the garage because it was supposed to hail last night, which it eventually did, but not bad enough to hurt anything. Still, the wife didn’t want the Jag to look like my truck that’s been through a bad hailstorm does, so I didn’t want to take any chances. Good, filling dinner, but still light on food for the day overall because of the busy day at work.
4/18/19 morning weigh-in 182.4# Another nice drop after staying very steady for almost a solid week. If the rest of this week pans out like this, I’ll end up with close to a 2# drop in average weight from last week to this week, after a 1.7# drop from the week before. I guess the 750 calorie/day deficit is really kicking in. I’m doing fine eating at this level, but I’m starting to look forward to eating at maintenance and going back to trying to get strong again, not gonna lie…
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The meek[/nerds] shall inherit the earth.
Looks like that fella was on to something.
If you like George RR Martin, Robin Hobb has the Farseer Trilogy Books. They’re set in a similar world and have dragons too!
Nice job eating pretty freely and still dropping weight.
I’ve heard of Farseer but never looked into it. I need to fill up my new bookshelf so maybe I’ll get these just to look well-read…
Can you imagine how ass achingly long the films would be with those in?
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What’s you think of the first episode of the final season? I was sort of underwhelmed to be honest. I. Have to say that the CG on those dragons is amazing though
I’ve heard of them, but I am so far behind on series I’ve started but haven’t finished, books I’ve bought but haven’t read…
Yeah, my eating hasn’t been the best lately, wife hasn’t felt well so hasn’t been cooking a lot. We’ll see how I do on this holiday. I’m definitely a proponent of good quality food vs IIFYM, but I also have to live in the world, and I don’t have time or inclination to mass prep super healthy meals for the week.
I personally think they could have pulled off the Scouring of the Shire sequence, and it shows how much the 4 hobbits have grown during the series, but it would have taken away from the climax, and that movie was definitely already long enough. Tom Bombadil would have just confused the hell out of everyone who hadn’t already read the books, and would have required a huge chunk of time to make any sort of sense. Plus, his singing everything was at least tolerable in the books, but would not have translated well to the screen.
I still enjoyed it, although not a whole lot of action happened. Lots of development and setting things up, and hopefully we’ll get some good payoff from that.
4/18/19 5/3/1 full body giant sets cycle 3 day 10 Deadlift primary/Bench secondary
Warmup: Barbell complex x3 with chinups 1/1/1
Main giant set:
Deadlift:
5x45# +2 power cleans
5x95# + 2 power cleans
5x135# + 2 power cleans
5x185#
5x225#
Work sets:
5x295#
Switched to mixed grip
3x335#
5x375#
Close grip bottom-up pin bench:
5x45#
5x65#
5x95#
5x115#
5X135#
Work sets:
5x155#
3x165#
1x175#
Chinups: 2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9
Accessory giant set:
Front squat: 1x155#, 5x135#, 5x135#, 5x135#
Dips: 10/10/10
Barbell rows 185#: 10/10/10
Conditioning: 20 minutes on the elliptical at lvl 13. 223 calories, max heart rate 154 bpm, average heart rate 142 bpm. Concentrated on keeping heart rate down rather than max calories.
Another day when I just had to force myself to get through the workout. I think the garbage lunch I ate probably contributed to my lethargy. Still hitting all my expected reps on my main lifts, though. Close grip pin bench is still going okay, but I still can’t go heavy without my shoulder hurting. Front squat felt weak, or maybe I was just tapped out by then. I tried to start at 155#, but one rep and I knew it wasn’t happening so I dropped down to 135# and finished. My right hamstring didn’t bother me on deadlifts, but I definitely felt it on front squats.
4/18/19 food for yesterday
Breakfast: Shake = 1/2 cup whole milk, 1 scoop quick oats, 1 1/2 scoop protein powder.
Lunch: Philly cheese steak with peppers and onions. Large order of fries.
Snack pre-workout: 3 boiled eggs. 1 small bunch grapes. 1 mandarin orange.
Dinner: 6 oz. roast beef with brown gravy. 6 Brussels sprouts with cream sauce. 1/2 corn on the cob.
Bedtime: 1.5 scoops protein with creatine.
Totals for today 2267 calories, 199g protein, 164g carbs, 95g fat. I got a free lunch from the work cafeteria and I went for the garbage lunch instead of fixing a good salad, and it affected me for the rest of the day. If I’m going to get a Philly cheese steak I should get a good one from a deli, not a crap one from a cafeteria. Large order of fries also didn’t help. I also didn’t have time for any afternoon caffeine, and I had to work about an hour late to wrap up everything I needed finished before my vacation. My pre-workout snack and my dinner were good quality, but lunch stuck with me all day. Still 660 calories under budget, adjusted for training.
4/19/18 morning weigh-in 182.6# So I guess yesterday wasn’t an anomaly.
The wife and I are getting on the road for Texas tomorrow morning, so we’re doing an early Easter dinner with the family up here (Good Friday dinner I guess?) before we leave. I’m going to do a run tomorrow morning before we leave, and then I don’t know what my training will look like for the next week and a half. I’ll try to get something in here and there, but we’ll see. I may hit up a Crossfit gym for a drop-in some time while I’m in Austin.
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4/19/19 food for yesterday
Breakfast: Shake = 1/2 cup whole milk, 1 scoop quick oats, 1 1/2 scoop protein powder. 1 apple.
Skipped lunch.
Dinner: Early Easter dinner = 6 oz. leg of lamb. 4 oz. glazed ham. .5 cup twice-baked potatoes. 1 cup green bean casserole. 1 dinner roll with butter. 2 halves of deviled eggs. 1 slice chocolate meringue pie. Added in 1 deliciousness factor just to be conservative.
Snack: 1 oz. deluxe mixed nuts.
Bedtime: 1.5 scoops protein with creatine.
Totals for today 2096 calories, 155g protein, 167g carbs, 89g fat. Almost 1200 calories of that was the dinner. I was about 200 calories over target, and either cutting out the mixed nuts or the chocolate meringue pie would have had me under. Son-in-law provided the pie and we’re doing our best to make him feel like part of the family so I had to have a piece of the pie. I think he’s fundamentally a good guy, who grew up in a garbage family and is doing his best to rise above his upbringing, and I’m trying to be supportive even though I still have my eye on him. My daughter is still committed to him, so that’s that as long as he continues to be decent with her and the kids.
4/20/19 morning weigh-in 183.6# I’m fairly sure this increase is 100% retained water from all the salt I ate yesterday, and I was expecting it. It’s Saturday, so time for the weekly average:
4/14 - 183.2#
4/15 - 184.8#
4/16 - 183.4#
4/17 - 183.4#
4/18 - 182.4#
4/19 - 182.6#
4/20 - 183.6#
Average = 183.3#, down 1.9# from 185.2# last week. That’s 2 weeks in a row of better than 1.5#/week drop. I’m not sure what this next week of road eating and questionable training opportunities will do to my progress, but I’ll do my best not to totally fall off the wagon. It’ll be a deload from heavy weight, but I’ll still be able to run, and I’m bringing my kettlebell. I’m also going to try to do at least one gym drop-in while I’m in Austin.
Hitting the road early this afternoon, and I have to say it’s nice not having to go back to work for over a week!
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Have a safe trip!!!
Try to run some damage control on the salt and fried foods and you’ll be good. Force yourself to eat some veggies instead of always going for the fries or mashed potatoes. You make good nutritional decisions so I’m confident you won’t waiver too much.
The funny thing about traveling and eating bad food is that you get instant feedback from your gut. Eat too much junk and sit in a car and you feel like garbage (at least I do).