To begin my new diet, I am going to start kind of slowly. Macro-wise, I will be fairly close to what Shelby had me do in January. Shelby had me on 6 meals a day, at 40p + 20c + 10f each, for a total of 240p + 120c + 60f. I have discovered that I do better keeping my fats and carbs separated (and I prefer 5 meals a day), so I will be doing the following:
Meal 1: 50p + 40c
Meal 2: 50p + 30f
Meal 3: 50p + 40c (pre-workout)
Meal 4: 50p + 40c (post-workout)
Meal 5: 50p + 30f
Totals: 250p + 120c + 60f
On lifting days, I will add in two shakes:
intra-workout: 25g BCAA + creatine + beta-alanine
post-workout: Surge Recovery
This will start me a bit higher than Shelby had me at (due to the shakes), and that is ok, as I was 25# lighter then.
Cardio - I will do a bit of cardio at the end of my workouts (~10 minutes), provided I finish before Wendi does. I will hold off on morning/daily cardio at least until the first week is over.
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Monday, December 26, 2011
Diet considerations
At the beginning of August I was 185# @ 32.625". I am now up to 210.25# @ 36.0". So I have gained 25.25# and 3.375". During my previous Shelby diet, I lost an average of 5.5# per inch. I am hoping to reduce that to 3#-4# per inch. But even at 5.5#, to lose the gained inches will take about 18.5#. Leaving about 6.75# of lean mass gain. Which would equate to about 1.3# per month gain. Not great, but not too shabby. And again, if I can diet slowly and keep my mass up, I will have an even better ratio.
Sunday, December 25, 2011
2011-12-25 Check In [210.25 @ 36.0]
Mass: 210.25 (+4.75)
Waist: 36.0 (+0.75)
Arm: 16.75 (+0.25)
Thigh: 25.0 (+0.125)
Calf: 15.125 (+0.125)
Yeah, so.....This last week's diet was "eat like shite, randomly, and have way too many restaurant meals". This did not do good things to my physique.
My stated goal was to continue mass gaining until February, and then start leaning out in March. However, I had a cut-off limit of 36" for my waist. So, I am revising my plan. Step 1: stay (mostly) on diet this week. Step 2: Weigh in again next week. Step 3: If my waist is back under 36", continue mass gain for another cycle. However, if my waist is at or above 36", I will begin leaning out.
-----------------
Right-o. I have come to a decision. This coming week I will continue on the mass-gain/relaxed eating schedule. I have two more core workouts (legs & shoulders), and then my deload days. I am going to compress the deloads into two days (Mon - Legs, Tues - shoulders, Thurs - deload back & chest, Fri deload legs & shoulders).
Next week I will begin leaning out. I am going to take it quite slowly, to preserve as much muscle mass as possible. Perhaps even add a tiny amount. My lifting routine will go from higher rep hypertrophy to lower rep strength work.
End goal - Get my waist as lean as possible (probably around 30"). So, I am going to say I have about 6" to lose off of my waist. When doing the Shelby diet, I lost about 5.5# for every inch off of my waist. I am hoping to improve that ratio, so that I lose less mass per inch. I would love to drop my waist the 6" and only lose about 20#. Which would put me at 190# and lean. Not great, but a good base.
Waist: 36.0 (+0.75)
Arm: 16.75 (+0.25)
Thigh: 25.0 (+0.125)
Calf: 15.125 (+0.125)
Yeah, so.....This last week's diet was "eat like shite, randomly, and have way too many restaurant meals". This did not do good things to my physique.
My stated goal was to continue mass gaining until February, and then start leaning out in March. However, I had a cut-off limit of 36" for my waist. So, I am revising my plan. Step 1: stay (mostly) on diet this week. Step 2: Weigh in again next week. Step 3: If my waist is back under 36", continue mass gain for another cycle. However, if my waist is at or above 36", I will begin leaning out.
-----------------
Right-o. I have come to a decision. This coming week I will continue on the mass-gain/relaxed eating schedule. I have two more core workouts (legs & shoulders), and then my deload days. I am going to compress the deloads into two days (Mon - Legs, Tues - shoulders, Thurs - deload back & chest, Fri deload legs & shoulders).
Next week I will begin leaning out. I am going to take it quite slowly, to preserve as much muscle mass as possible. Perhaps even add a tiny amount. My lifting routine will go from higher rep hypertrophy to lower rep strength work.
End goal - Get my waist as lean as possible (probably around 30"). So, I am going to say I have about 6" to lose off of my waist. When doing the Shelby diet, I lost about 5.5# for every inch off of my waist. I am hoping to improve that ratio, so that I lose less mass per inch. I would love to drop my waist the 6" and only lose about 20#. Which would put me at 190# and lean. Not great, but a good base.
Saturday, December 17, 2011
2011-12-17 Check in [205.5 @ 35.25]
Mass: 205.5 (+2.75)
Waist: 35.25 (+0.25)
arm: 16.0 (--)
thigh: 24.875 (+0.25)
calf: 15.0 (--)
The mass gain is nice, the waist gain is not. However, I am not very surprised. Ginormous meal at Famous Dave's on Sunday, increased food intake, and no cardio.
To help minimize the waist gain, I will do cardio at least twice this week. Really I will. *wry grin*
Anyhow, I have made a deal with myself that I will continue gaining mass until one of the following occurs:
A) March comes around. Which would give me 10 weeks, enough time to finish two more 5/3/1 cycles
B) I hit 220#
C) My jeans no longer fit (probably another inch or so on my waist)
Last year, doing the Shelby diet with Wendi took me from 207.0# & 36.5" waist down to 178.5# & 31.375" waist. I do not have my other measurements from the start of the diet, but at the end my arm was 15.75", thigh 23.0", calf 14.375", chest 41.25".
I am not certain whether or not I will contract Shelby for a fat loss cycle again. I am seriously considering it, but it depends upon finances. If I cannot afford him, I will probably pick up some of his e-books, just to have as a reference.
Waist: 35.25 (+0.25)
arm: 16.0 (--)
thigh: 24.875 (+0.25)
calf: 15.0 (--)
The mass gain is nice, the waist gain is not. However, I am not very surprised. Ginormous meal at Famous Dave's on Sunday, increased food intake, and no cardio.
To help minimize the waist gain, I will do cardio at least twice this week. Really I will. *wry grin*
Anyhow, I have made a deal with myself that I will continue gaining mass until one of the following occurs:
A) March comes around. Which would give me 10 weeks, enough time to finish two more 5/3/1 cycles
B) I hit 220#
C) My jeans no longer fit (probably another inch or so on my waist)
Last year, doing the Shelby diet with Wendi took me from 207.0# & 36.5" waist down to 178.5# & 31.375" waist. I do not have my other measurements from the start of the diet, but at the end my arm was 15.75", thigh 23.0", calf 14.375", chest 41.25".
I am not certain whether or not I will contract Shelby for a fat loss cycle again. I am seriously considering it, but it depends upon finances. If I cannot afford him, I will probably pick up some of his e-books, just to have as a reference.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
2011-12-11 Check in [202.75 @ 35.0]
Mass: 202.75 (+0.75)
Waist: 35.0 (+0.125)
Arm: 16.5 (-0.125)
Thigh: 24.625 (--)
Calf: 15.0 (--)
So, up a tiny bit on mass & waist. The waist I believe is just bloat (feels like it). So, increasing food again. Last week's diet was roughly:
meal 1, 3, 4: 40p + 60c
meal 2,5: 40p + 30f
intra-workout: 25g BCAA
post-workout: Surge Recovery
with some random extras tossed in (ex: cheese on sandwiches, fruit, etc).
Also, Sunday evening I pigged out at Outback (1 loaf of bread, a chicken finger, small chicken quesadilla, side salad, french dip + fries, 1/2 an order of chicken flatbread). Tuesday was dinner at Coopersmith's (onion rings, Shepard's pie).
So, prospective diet for this week:
meal 1,3,4: 50p + 60c + 10f
meal 2,5: 50p + 30f
intra-workout: 25g BCAA + 1 scoop SWOF (if I run out of SWOF, waxy maize)
post-workout: Surge Recovery
So, adding in 50p & 30f per day
And if I get hungry/feel crashed, I will eat more. Mass gaining is not as clear cut a process as fat loss. Ah well.
===============
Axe the prospective diet. The increased meal size make me feel unpleasantly over-full. So instead, on workout days I will have an additional 40p + 60c meal. With four of those over the week, that will give me about 3200 kCal more, which is in line with a 1# increase.
Also, it will add to calorie-cycling more. Lifting days will have 90p + 110c more than non-lifting days. So prospective diet:
All Days:
meal 1, 3, 4: 40p + 60c
meal 2,5: 40p + 30f
Lifting days
meal X: 40p + 60c (sometime before final meal of the day)
intra-workout: 25g BCAA
post-workout: Surge Recovery
Waist: 35.0 (+0.125)
Arm: 16.5 (-0.125)
Thigh: 24.625 (--)
Calf: 15.0 (--)
So, up a tiny bit on mass & waist. The waist I believe is just bloat (feels like it). So, increasing food again. Last week's diet was roughly:
meal 1, 3, 4: 40p + 60c
meal 2,5: 40p + 30f
intra-workout: 25g BCAA
post-workout: Surge Recovery
with some random extras tossed in (ex: cheese on sandwiches, fruit, etc).
Also, Sunday evening I pigged out at Outback (1 loaf of bread, a chicken finger, small chicken quesadilla, side salad, french dip + fries, 1/2 an order of chicken flatbread). Tuesday was dinner at Coopersmith's (onion rings, Shepard's pie).
So, prospective diet for this week:
meal 1,3,4: 50p + 60c + 10f
meal 2,5: 50p + 30f
intra-workout: 25g BCAA + 1 scoop SWOF (if I run out of SWOF, waxy maize)
post-workout: Surge Recovery
So, adding in 50p & 30f per day
And if I get hungry/feel crashed, I will eat more. Mass gaining is not as clear cut a process as fat loss. Ah well.
===============
Axe the prospective diet. The increased meal size make me feel unpleasantly over-full. So instead, on workout days I will have an additional 40p + 60c meal. With four of those over the week, that will give me about 3200 kCal more, which is in line with a 1# increase.
Also, it will add to calorie-cycling more. Lifting days will have 90p + 110c more than non-lifting days. So prospective diet:
All Days:
meal 1, 3, 4: 40p + 60c
meal 2,5: 40p + 30f
Lifting days
meal X: 40p + 60c (sometime before final meal of the day)
intra-workout: 25g BCAA
post-workout: Surge Recovery
Sunday, December 4, 2011
2011-12-04 Check in [202.0@ 34.875]
Mass: 202.0 (+2.0)
Waist: 34.875 (--)
Arm: 16.625 (+0.125)
Thigh: 24.625 (+0.125)
Calf: 15.0 (--)
Not too bad. Gained 2#, with no waist increase. So, I am going to stick to my current diet.
Meal 1: 40p + 60c
Meal 2: 40p + 30f
Meal 3: 40p + 60c
PWO shake: 25p + 50c
Meal 4: 40p + 60c
Meal 5: 40p + 30f
Honestly, I go over with the protein a bit, so the meals fall between 40-50p, depending upon what I am eating.
This week (Mon & Wed) will finish off my deload. Friday I will begin my next cycle. Instead of swapping out most of the exercises I had planned, I am going to just change the order around (ex: Military press, then biceps, then DBOH, etc) to give myself more rest. I will probably stick to a 4-day per week rotation, unless I get bored and kick it up to 5 days. Main restriction: no deadlifts Monday or Wednesday, unless I go to the gym later than usual. Yoga happens 4-5pm on those days, and I make a lot of noise when doing deads.
Waist: 34.875 (--)
Arm: 16.625 (+0.125)
Thigh: 24.625 (+0.125)
Calf: 15.0 (--)
Not too bad. Gained 2#, with no waist increase. So, I am going to stick to my current diet.
Meal 1: 40p + 60c
Meal 2: 40p + 30f
Meal 3: 40p + 60c
PWO shake: 25p + 50c
Meal 4: 40p + 60c
Meal 5: 40p + 30f
Honestly, I go over with the protein a bit, so the meals fall between 40-50p, depending upon what I am eating.
This week (Mon & Wed) will finish off my deload. Friday I will begin my next cycle. Instead of swapping out most of the exercises I had planned, I am going to just change the order around (ex: Military press, then biceps, then DBOH, etc) to give myself more rest. I will probably stick to a 4-day per week rotation, unless I get bored and kick it up to 5 days. Main restriction: no deadlifts Monday or Wednesday, unless I go to the gym later than usual. Yoga happens 4-5pm on those days, and I make a lot of noise when doing deads.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Bands, down time, and stuff
Last night I played around with bands on my bench press. Monster mini bands, doubled up. I have learned a few things:
1. Do not do band work to start the session if I have a lot of volume to do. Band presses burn me out too much
2. I need to do more band work to force my stabilizers to get stronger.
3. I need to pick up some short bands. The full-size bands suck for benching, and having to double them up adds way more tension than I wanted. This will have to wait for EliteFTS to have another sale and/or free shipping deal
4. Bonus - short bands are good for deadlifting. Just step into the bands and pull
This is my scheduled deload week. And I really need it. I am utterly fragged. My energy levels are good, my mental attitude is fully engaged in lifting, I have minimal if any soreness, but my muscles are trashed. So I am going to be taking it easy this week. Lifting Wednesday, Friday, Monday, Wednesday.
When I start my new cycle next Friday, I will probably stick to a four day per week rotation. Probably Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Friday. Rather than my chaotic 5-6 day/week schedule. And on my off days, as I will be twitchy, I will just do cardio and/or chop wood.
1. Do not do band work to start the session if I have a lot of volume to do. Band presses burn me out too much
2. I need to do more band work to force my stabilizers to get stronger.
3. I need to pick up some short bands. The full-size bands suck for benching, and having to double them up adds way more tension than I wanted. This will have to wait for EliteFTS to have another sale and/or free shipping deal
4. Bonus - short bands are good for deadlifting. Just step into the bands and pull
This is my scheduled deload week. And I really need it. I am utterly fragged. My energy levels are good, my mental attitude is fully engaged in lifting, I have minimal if any soreness, but my muscles are trashed. So I am going to be taking it easy this week. Lifting Wednesday, Friday, Monday, Wednesday.
When I start my new cycle next Friday, I will probably stick to a four day per week rotation. Probably Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Friday. Rather than my chaotic 5-6 day/week schedule. And on my off days, as I will be twitchy, I will just do cardio and/or chop wood.
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