Still doing two weekly refeeds?
For now, yes. I know eventually one of those will go away, for now weāve been able to achieve slow and steady loss and are keeping them both in as long as possible.
Week 8 begins! Still didnāt have much scale loss this week, made a couple more significant nutritional and cardio tweaks to keep things moving.
New Regular Day Macros 140c, 220p, 53f (20g less carbs per day)
Re-Feed Day Macros 305c, 190p, 51f (macros are the same, but now only one re-feed per week instead of two.)
Also added a second 15min LISS session per week.
Hereās my latest meal plans I made using Cliffās macros. Now that cals are getting lower, Iāve made two plans, one similar to the one Iāve been doing with my āblueberry ice creamā creation as my pre-bed meal, and another where the last meal is steak and potato instead if Iām feeling like I want a more filling meal. I thoroughly enjoy playing nutritional jujitsu to figure out how to keep my meals filling and enjoyable.
Training
Starting week 3 of Phase 2 of the training program Cliff gave me. Today was legs and it took two hours and fifteen minutes. The other workouts take about an hour fifteen to an hour thirty, but thereās a ton of volume today and I take long rest periods for the bigger exercises. Strength has improved nicely over the prep, and over the course of the past few weeks on this program as well. Todayās session:
Machine Leg Press - 4x30: 8 plates x 30, 8 plates x 30, 10 plates x 30, 10 plates x 30
Leg Ext- 4x 30, 20, 15, 8: 120x30, 130x20, 150x15, 200x8
Lying Leg Curls- 4x30,20,15,8: 30x30, 40x20, 50x15, 60x8 - This machine REALLY isolates the hamstrings well, going heavier would have used too much momentum in the body.
Squat- 4x6 PR TODAY!: 325x6, 335x6, 345x6, 365x6 <ā PR!
DB Walking Lunges- 3x 15 steps each leg: 35lb dumbbells x 3 sets of 30 steps
Hip Adduction Machine- 4x10-12: 40lb cables x 12 each leg, my gym doesnāt have an adductor machine so I purchased ankle straps and hook them up to the cable machine.
Hip Abduction Machine- 4x10-12: 90 x 12, 4 sets
Hip Thrust Machine - 4x30: 70 x 30, 4 sets
Seated Calf Raises- 3x30: 70x30, 3 sets
Calf Raises on Leg Press- 3x30: 90x30, 3 sets
This week is the last week of this phase, then 3 full days off of training, then we begin Phase 3 which is going to be very high volume, with both progressive overload only days, and blood volume only days. Been a good break during Phase 2 not doing any blood volume training, ready to hit it hard next week when we start Phase 3.
Shows
Thereās an OCB show on May 15 in Austin that weāve been targeting. I definitely want to do more than one show. Another one just popped up in Houston, also OCB, on March 27, which would be 18 weeks out. After speaking with Cliff about the March show, weāre going to wait until the end of December to see where Iām at and then decide if weāre going to pull the trigger on dialing in for March. As itās our first time working together, heās not sure quite yet if he can say with confidence I will be peeled by end of March, May 15th for sure. I agree with his assessment. The possibility of starting to push harder now for 18 weeks, tentatively not come in fully dialed in, and then having to dig harder for another 6 weeks would be rough, and more similar to what has happened in previous years and something Iād like to avoid. While we have cut macros more and increased cardio a little, weāre still trying to take our time so I have plenty of gas in the tank when it does come time to push harder. So, weāll see where the scale and conditioning is at by New Years, and take it from there.
What are you treating yourself to on your refeeds?
The inclusion of your 16g IntraFormance is interesting. I looked it up. It has a few amino acids too, not sure why you donāt count those? But, it is a very minor amount of carbs. Has Cliff made any comments on it being enough to even illicit a physiological response? I presume you take it to protect muscles during training as a consequence of insulin elevation as opposed to being a fuel source because ~40 calories isnāt that much in terms of energy output.
I have 25 lbs on you and you outsquat me by a lot despite being in the middle of a contest prep and doing it in fourth exercise 
I relaly have to work more, nice reality check here!
Following this, for sure there will be some nuggets!
I forgot to highlight that, pre-fatigued from previous exercises makes it an even more remarkable PR.
Re-feed days I thoroughly enjoy a massive banana-pancake breakfast with egg whites, veggies and melted cheese to start things off. Pre-bed meal is my usual āblueberry ice creamā topped with two servings of Nickās Ice Cream (low cal, no added sugar and very tasty) along with a serving of Lilyās chocolate chips (sugar free and also very good).
I have an alternate breakfast if Iām not feeling pancakes in the form of a huge breakfast skillet with potatoes, peppers and onions, eggs, lots of melted cheese, and an Ezekiel English muffin with cream cheese
:
If I eat this for breakfast there are slight alterations in the rest of the day to ensure I meet total numbers.
Primary purpose is to provide a little extra fuel for training with high glycemic carbs. 10g carbs is not a ton, but in his experience still beneficial. And yes there are a few grams of EAAās as well, which he wants in my intra-workout drink.
Primarily to provide a little extra fuel for the workout, and the EAAās before and during training help with muscle protection and recovery. Again itās not a ton here, majority of my carbs come from food, in Cliffās experience 10g intra-workout is worth prescribing.
@aldebaran @Voxel Thank you for the support gentlemen!
That leg day is fucking insane 
LOL it really is, Iāve never had to roll out of a leg press machine before this session. When I started training I was very into higher volume workouts, including the Leroy Colbert Full Body Plan:
Only 3 workouts a week, but the sessions took a really long time.
The volume Cliff has me building up to I havenāt done in years, but the three phase program he gave me is very well structured for both size and strength, as well as the ability to ramp up volume. That being said, we train to recover from training, and heās told me to definitely let him know if I feel the training is ever at a point where itās more volume than I can recover from. That hasnāt happened yet as cardio is pretty low still and I have two days off per week, get 8 hours of sleep a night, so recovery has been good. Additionally Iām able to listen to my body and if I ever really, really need an extra day off, I can take one. I would imagine if that does happen itāll be way later in the prep and a lot closer to show time.
Thanksgiving on a prep! This is the first time Iāve ever prepped during Thanksgiving, previous competitive seasons I have started prepping on Jan 1. As Iām still 17.5 weeks out of my tentative first show Cliff said I could enjoy within reason, but to be very careful and mindful. I ate very light until dinner to leave extra macros available. Breakfast was egg whites and veggies, small amount of cheese with one piece of Ezekiel toast, lunch was tuna, so I had plenty of macros left for dinner. I didnāt weigh any food but kept a careful eye and enjoyed a little bit of everything I wanted, loaded up primarily on turkey, and also took an extra 30min walk during the day. Back to business today!
Hopped on the scale this morning and showed a fantastic low of 155.3, super exciting to see that weight considering the minimal amount of cardio Iām doing and the calories Iām still getting. Itās not a ton of food, about 1900 cals a day, but with only two 15min LISS sessions a week, doesnāt feel too taxing yet.
Not sure what to expect for stage weight this year. In 2017 my stage weight was about 140lbs. I still had just a little bit leaner to get for true separation in my quads. Itās been a few years, so assuming Iāve put on at least a few pounds of muscle and will be coming in tighter, it could be anywhere from maybe 137-142. Weāll know when we get there!
When I started with Cliff 8 weeks ago our goal was to lose 10 pounds slow and steady and see where weāre at, this took less time than I thought it would over the course of almost 8 weeks. If we can keep these numbers and cardio schedule and I can keep losing at this pace, I will be in a great spot come the new year to push for the Houston show at the end of March.
Looking bad ass sirā¦
Having an entire gym to yourself is like being in heaven. I love that feeling!
@robstein mate, you appear to have misplaced your neck while making those gains 
Looking great my man 
@johnson2133 thank you very much! Yeah it is the best, Saturday or Sunday afternoon itās usually empty. I train at 3pm unless I HAVE to go in the morning, I prefer afternoon after I have a couple of meals in me and have been up for a bit.
LOL Thanks man!!!
Lookin swoled up from the soles up, my man.
Donāt forget how jacked his feet will look come game day!
S
Thank you @flappinit!
Man nothing makes the feet lock jacked like a good tan!