I was at work when I responded to this yesterday (one too many exclamation marks, looks unhinged) but wonder if you think the flatter stomach is from the diet change, or just from another month or so of everything.
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This isnāt a thing in my book, I love exclamation marks!
Going with the latter for now. I mean, I was still in a caloric deficit, just more balanced.
I took that photo before the āKetovoreā experiment started, which was Monday. I wanted a good start photo to compare with. Also, I am trying to get more consistent with progress photos. As you know, the scale can be demoralizing and hardly tells the whole story. Those photos are only a 3lb difference.
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Wednesday 7/10
JN Essentials W9D1
Slight Incline DB Bench
4 x 50, 6 x 45, 15 x 30
DB RDL
12, 12 x 55
Machine Pulldown
12, 14 x 90
DB Bulg Split Squat
10, 10 x 20
Tricep Pushdown (drop set)
15, 14, 15, 12 x 90-70
Machine Lat Raise (drop set)
12, 11, 12, 10(30-15)
Hip Abductor
17 x 70, 20 x 60
Started the next rotation of exercises this week. I was going to do a full week of the last two days, since I only went to the gym once last week, but this looked more interesting.
It was definitely some work. I tried to get 55 on the incline press and almost dumped the DBs on my face. Pressing is starting to feel the diet. Luckily, itās pretty easy to make lighter weights hurt, I just slowed down the essentric.
Everything else went reasonably well. I had a ton of coffee yesterday going into this, so energy levels were great.
Only 3 days in, but not feeling any āketo fluā symptoms. Staying very strict with my hydration, that is probably helping. Already I am looking forward to each meal, even though they lack a lot of flavor- sauces, seasonings, etc. that I normally add. Having no trouble finishing a pile of chicken and veggies. Eggs are extra delicious now. Iām getting out of bed without hitting snooze so I can go cook and eat eggs.
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No happy medium?
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I am the type that if I give myself an inch, Iāll take a mile.
āHappy mediumā turns into adding calories for me. A lot of them. I am a decent cook, so when I get experimenting, I eat way more, with every meal. This leads me to just getting chubby again, and having to restart the fat loss process. I am experimenting with Ketovore and there for keeping things simple to reset my appetite and palate. Things as simple as popcorn or plain jasmine rice will go from, āoh, Iāll just have one cupā to going back for seconds, thirdsā¦ Then stuffing more in my face when I put the meals made into their containers for later.
If itās even medium levels of tasty, my āstop eatingā-O-Meter doesnāt activate until I am so full it hurts. I have to white knuckle my self control to not over eat, and of course, my will power runs out. Then I start baking dessert again and things go way off the rails.
I know the āeverything in moderationā or balance is a great path for most people, but that only gets me back where I started. Jiggly, tight clothes and never achieving a level of leanness that I am happy with.
Edit: @tlgains After re-reading that I realized it may have come off harsh. I truly appreciate you stopping by and asking that question, itās one I have had to ask myself a lot lately! Ultimately, I realized I donāt do well with moderation.
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Nah it didnāt, I enjoyed reading your response.
Iām similar, but the opposite (?). Iām a subpar cook, so I have no self control eating anything that isnāt my own cooking.
I allow myself to eat tomato sauce with my meatballs, so itās my version of finding the holy grail.
Now Iām brainstorming all the possible meat and condiment combinations I can use in the future.
Iām actually going to attempt to make greek style meatballs with tzatziki sauce this week.
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Same here. Going out is another personal invitation to over-eat. On top of restaurant food already being stuffed with extra calories!
I got you. One of my favorites. You can leave the panko out, or swap for almond flour if you want lower carb.
*Super hack for both meatballs and meatloaf. If you have an air fryer, air fry them instead of baking. 400 for 10-12 minutes. Nice and crispy, and I feel like more fat renders out then doesnāt just bake back in. So. Good.
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I think Iām the same way, specifically with carbs. I eat anything with carbs and I become visibly chubby and gain weight.
Itās a combination of some way my body interacts with carbs + carbs are tasty and I have a horrible time holding back.
Cut out carbs besides incidental carbs from fruits and milk and I instantly become leaner and I lose weight, with no drop off in performance.
=( I find it all a bit sad honestly. I tried moderation with my wifeās cooking and it didnāt work, so now Iāve settled onto willing myself to being chubby and happy for now.
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Iām the opposite of you guys. I can control my portions with carbs, but will easily eat 2000kcal in a sitting of meat and dairy
Nothing is harder to resist than roast meat so I canāt have things like rotisserie chicken around bc Iāll eat the whole bird
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That is great you pin pointed that for yourself!
And also this. Carbs are so tasty. I understand making the marriage and meals the priority. I am the cook between my hubby and I. We have weighted within 5lbs or so almost our entire marriage. I always thought I needed to eat as much as him, simply because I could. This lead to fat. I had to practice fork put downs, and he had to accept that I donāt always need a snack or meal when he wants one, and has to eat without me.
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I get this, just not with chicken. I almost have to force feed myself chicken.
One time, on a work trip, I went to a steakhouse with a few of the classmates. Said steakhouse had a famous 32oz pork chop. No one, including the large men in the class were able to finish half of it. I polished off the whole thing, and half of my neighborās Wagyu steak.
My birthday this year will be one of those Brazilian Steakhouses that @T3hPwnisher always talks about. I am so excited to see what damage I can do.
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Youāre too kind Unicorn I will definitely check this out. If I can make my food taste like the meat from some greek food joint, that would be swell.
4 weeks ago I ate a dozen krispy kreme donuts, ate a family size popeyes meal with 4 apple pies, entire little caesars pizza with those m&m browniesā¦. in the span of 1-2 weeks.
Lmao the goal was to enjoy myself before I went on a boring up
Oh and letās not forget the Dairy Queen Blizzards.
I enjoyed every minute of it, 10/10 Would do it again
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Well played sir! That is a solid cheat week. My stomach is growling now, and itās not even close to dinner.
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spoken like a bodybuilderā¦game on.
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Youāre going to have a blast! Thatās such an outstanding way to go. It took me a few trips to learn how to NOT eat until I was physically ill, haha.
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I think for the first trip, being physically ill when I leave will be the goal! But, if I end up going more often, that isnāt a comfortable strategy.
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Nothing of note to log, next gym session isnāt until tomorrow.
Having a moment of weakness and want to get some thoughts out. So, this is essentially a journal entry.
First off, I was hoping for a bit more appetite control than I am getting with the Ketovore approach. I have been hungry within an hour or so of every meal this week. Perhaps there is an adjustment period? Or I just need to continue sucking it up. Fat loss = hunger.
Second, I am getting back in the mental state of feeling like I should be doing more. More lifting, more cardio, etc. I think a lot of this is trying to fill a void at work. I am consuming a ton of lifting related media, including this site, for hours a day. Just your standard escapism. Itās summer, I want to be outside, not stuck in an office. Still struggling with the new job. Itās not quite what I was expecting, but what is?
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Honestly, during the adjustment period I WOULD eat until no longer hungry. Assuming the goal is to become fat adapted, right now the body is trying to transition fuel sources, and if it doesnāt have that fuel to use, itās going to send these signals. It may result in an initial weight bump, but it will also help get the body on the right fuels.
But also, check nutrients, as thatās what we tend to hunger for. Are you supplementing with an electrolyte? If not, this could be the body calling out for salt.
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I think I have gotten too dependent on the scale at this point. I am nervous for any sort of weight bump. In my head, if the scale goes up, Iāll have been spinning my wheels and cutting calories for no reason the last six months.
I am just starting to realize how unhealthy this sounds as I type it.
I do use an electrolyte drink on lifting days or days I fly or go outside a lot. Maybe I just need one every day? Iām using a drink mix with sodium, magnesium and potassium.
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I would absolutely make electrolytes a daily thing during the transition. Carbs hold water (hence, carboHYDRATE), which means they also hold onto electrolytes. When we slash carbs, we lose a lot of bodywater, and we lose electrolytes in turn AND weāre not good at KEEPING them anymore either because we donāt have all that water and glycogen in our system. So we need to make use of supplemental electrolytes to ensure weāre keeping our balance.
This is, legit, why I stopped weighing myself in Oct of 2022. Iāll bring it out every once in a while as a curiosity, but I was doing it at least twice a day, and really, the scale does NOT tell us a good story about how we are doing. I only care about it as a weight class based athlete, but outside of that, how our clothes fit and how weāre doing in the gym speak WAY louder than anything else. Itās good youāre recognizing this behavior.
And the thing to keep in mind regarding āwasting 6 monthsā is this: youāve demonstrated to yourself that you HAVE the skillset of losing weight. You now KNOW you can do that if you need to. THAT is the ultimate insurance policy: now you know that, if you ever somehow gain more weight than you want, you can just employ this skillset to lose it again. Itās just like driving: the first time you got behind the wheel, you were most likely terrified. You developed the skillset of driving. Now, the conditions arenāt any less hazardous than they were before: you just know that, when you encounter those hazards, you can fall back on your skillset to get you out of that jam.