Day 9, Sick, Super Pudding and Super Wraps

So I've been half assing the last few posts as well as half assing my overall original plan. I've unfortunately been sick and so I searched the internet for a possible diagnosis. I have discovered my affliction, and it pains me to say I have been infected with fuckarounditis (see yest. post). In light of this discovery, I decided to try the suggested treatment.

To not fuck around whatsoever.

So yesterday I designed a completely new workout, and a new eating strategy (which actually i've done for three days now and its going great).


Workout

Workout everyday in fasted state, where I do a dumbbell compound circuit 3x 8 and weighted chins 3 days and the other 4 involve a run and High Octane Cardio, which is working out while doing cardio. My goal is to now lose as much fat as possible and minimize muscle loss to the best of my ability. Thats it, simple as that, workout everyday and strategically place high carb, high protein meal after each workout

Example day one
Lift day
45 lb db's
-military press
-squats
-incline chest
-standing bent over rows
-good mornings
3x8
followed by
3x5 weighted chins
Where my goal is to at least stay around relative strength
Cardio day
15 minute run
15 minutes HOC
-elliptical, every 1 minute get off and do 3 reps standing military each arm
total 45 reps each arm

My hope is that there will be an adaptation to fat oxidation due to working in fasted state, as well as achieve more human growth hormone output due to lactic acid buildup from circuit as discussed in this article

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/human-growth-hormone-2/

Lactic acid buildup produces a human growth response which has an anabolic (muscle promoting) AND catabolic (fat oxidation) effect (HGH does these things that is). HGH tends to be released more when insulin is low as well so potential synergistic effect from fasted state and exercised induced. However to my knowledge there is no research whatsoever supporting what I am doing, and my hypothesis (or hope-othesis in my case) that heavy cardio and weight lifting will help for quick weightloss (hopefully mostly fat).

Nutrition

My eating strategy will go as follows.
1)Immediate post workout shake
(1/2 scoop whey, 1/2 serving chocolate syrup and water ~125 cals)
to capitalize on post workout ~60 minute window(window because ideal hormones are high from exercise (HGH, testosterone, IGF-1, glucagon, low insulin etc.). This will switch my body over from catabolic state (breaking down muscles into amino acids which are then converted to glucose due to depleted glycogen stores a process called gluconeogenesis) to an anabolic state (glycogen stores quickly being synthesized -between the liver stores and muscles there is approximately 1000 calories so a high amount of carbs in this window is ideal).
2) SUPER PUDDING
For the past three days I have been making whey pudding each morning with added chobani greek yogurt and milk. This is a decent tasting meal that is easily digested.
-small box pudding - ~ 360 cals /~90 carbs
-3 scoops whey- 420 cals/ 10 carbs/ 80 grams protein
-cup milk- 110 cals/ 10 carbs/8 g protein
-chobani 100 cals/20 carbs/10 g protein
Very filling meal at this timing will potentially allocate nutrients well (glycogen stores, muscles, limited fat)
3) Super Wrap
Found these tortillas that have 32 carbs with 26 g fiber which is a damn good ratio. With added cheese, topping - small amount blue cheese, deli ham/turkey, chicken nuggets(ideally chicken breasts, white meat)
I make two of them totaling at about 1500 calories. I eat one after whey meal.

-So first shake AT gym, immediately (sometimes during, towards end) following workout
-Super Pudding (all)
-1 Super wrap
-last wrap, with some type of fruit/ veg on the side right before bed.
             The logic behind this is Human Growth Hormone is produced within the first three hours of sleep so potential amino acids from super wrap will be allocated in the proper areas due to this and other hormones.

So there. No more effin around, and this mornings weigh in
165.5
Bringing me back to a net of (-2) since the start. Hopefully will reach my goal of 150 while maintaining strength.

Fuckarounditis

ok so Martin Berkhan of leangains came out with a new blog post after a three month hiatus. Its so good that I have nothing to say except read it.

http://www.leangains.com/2011/09/fuckarounditis.html

First of all hilarious, but also insanely motivating, so much so that I biked 4-5 miles to the gym, did a compound dumbbell giant set and weighted chin-ups as a bonus ( fasted state of course ;), to which I had my PWO super pudding after ) and then biked back.
yea, read it

Day 6, calorie increase

Weigh in: 168
(NET +1.5)
-No fast
-Rest
-calories 3300
-protein- ~200

I was unable to exercise yesterday, but I felt really good the entire day. I should see the weight come off fairly quickly this week. I've decided to up my calories for lifting days to 2400. One day at maintenance on Saturday, and sunday maintenance +20%. ~3300.

Day5, quick post

weigh in -164.5
(Net -3)
Fasting period-16hours
calories ~2700
bike ride +run ~ 60 minutes
180 grams protein

I decided to keep both weekend days at maintenance to ensure refeed and stimulate leptin production. (I'll go into this more next post.)

Day 4 and beers

Weigh in: 164.5
Net: -3
-1500 cals
-165g protein
-Rest
-Fasted 130am-330pm (14 hours)
-2 beers (blue moon)

Figured I would comment a little on the Psychological aspects of low calorie days. I basically had a very low carb day yesterday so I could get all of my protein in. The fasts aren't that bad, and am getting used to them. I wanna comment though on a hidden aspect of the fasts that make it a really good way to lose weight. The daily restrictive nature of fasting gives you motivation to not only continue but to also not break your calorie budget. My overall happiness certainly distracted me from being hungry and my absorption was better due to a mostly empty stomach, making my beers more enjoyable. The overall motivation of being on a program is exhilarating. I read a comment from someone that did IF'ing and got in amazing shape who described it as being a mental firewall to defend against self doubt and cravings. I can see where he's coming from. Today I am going to take one more low calorie day, definitely looking forward to my first "cheat" day.

Day3, Lifting stats, Double Progression, Edits.

Weigh in: 166.5
Net (-1)
Lift: Circuit,Double prog preacher, Planks (more info below) ~(60mins), 15 min bike ride
Fasting period (10pm previous night-2pm next day) (16 hours)

Calorie intake: 2500
Protein: 180 g

I have done the last two days workouts in the fasted state. The information of the link below from leangains cites a study where there is potential favorable anabolic response from fasted state resistance training (assuming adequate nutrition of course). So in light of this I am going to try and do all my workouts in the fasted state. It most likely isn't realistic that I will be able to do all workouts in the fasted state but I will try and note in my logs which days weren't.

http://www.leangains.com/2009/12/fasted-training-boosts-muscle-growth.html

A quote:
""Our results indicate that prior fasting may stimulate the intramyocellular anabolic response to ingestion of a carbohydrate/protein/leucine mixture following a heavy resistance training session. "

Among other things, increased levels of p70s6k may lead to a faster transport of amino acids into the muscle cell membranes, which should lead to a more rapid and potent anabolic response to post-workout nutrient ingestion. The effects seen on the other myogenic signaling mechanisms could also affect muscle growth through other pathways."
 Liffting routine






Machine circuit
8reps/3sets/no rest b/w exercises/~3 -5 minute rest b/w sets

Ab pulldown                          170
sit down tricep                         50
preacher curl style machine      40
Lat pulldown                          120
chest press                             120
sit down rows                         120
shoulder press                        150
leg press                                 220

Relatively light, wanted to make sure that I could get through everything with no rest and start again quickly. I'll be rotating the order in the reverse every other lift. Then after each full rotation I will add one rep. After 10 reps can be done for a a specific weight,I will add weight to each exercise and lower the reps back down to 8. I am doing it this way so I can hopefully see progress along the way, and focus on good form and no rest.

next time for example
-leg press 1st- ab pulldown last
and next lift after that
-Add one rep= 9 reps, ab pulldown 1st
etc.

Double Progression preacher curls, EZ Bar 


This part of the lift is for possibly gaining strength in the biceps. I have basically allowed my assisting muscles to grow through doing compound lifts, so switching it up to actually hitting the biceps doing an isolated low rep high weight protocol may give me some gains. Double progression is taking two variables in a given workout and trying to make progress.

My EZ Bar preacher curl protocol.

3/4/5 rep scheme, where the 1st set is the heaviest and reps are increased and weight is decreased.
EZ bar weighs ~15 lbs

1st set - 3 reps, 30lbs on each side= 75lbs
2ndset- 4reps, 27.5lbs on each side=70lbs    (-7%)
3rd set-5reps, 25lbs  on each side= 65 lbs ~ (-7%)

So my variables here are number of reps and weight.I can adjust any two of these variables for each set. So next lift since it was fairly easy will be to try and add one rep to my top set (heaviest set) and add 5 lbs to my low set.

Planks
I mentioned in a previous post that I was going to add 5 seconds to each plank after each lift but I was definitely a little overzealous. So instead I'm gonna try and add 1 second.

60seconds-45seconds-30seconds. (My starting planks. )


So these are my lifts and where I hope to progress. I was also a little high on the calories today, but with the xtra bike ride (~100 cals and TEF 180g protein= -180= ~300) 2200 adjusted, still slightly high.
So being approximately 100 calories too much yesterday, I'll do 100 cals lower today)=1500

Day 2, creatine, whey protein

Yesterday:
~2200 cals (TEF protein brings it to aprx 2100)
-170g proteins
-workout: moving furniture (40-60 minutes)
-Fasting period-18hours (FROM: 1AM previous night- 7PM following night)
Weigh in (this morning)
166.5
Net of (-1)






Only the second day, but feel pretty good. I picked up a small tub of body fortress which is really going to help me keep my protein high. It's generally suggested to try and consume whole foods, which I am entirely behind. However with my current wallet situation (some bullshit below 1$ gift cards, library card), its a necessity.

Here is the product I bought:

http://www.drugstore.com/body-fortress-super-advanced-whey-protein-powder-chocolate/qxp160947

Except I got mine for 15$, pretty good deal.
Another plus is that it contains creatine, which if you do your research, is generally harmless and helps with recovery and intensity (not too much per serving regardless). I remember a study that I learned about in a nutrition class I took years ago, here I believe is a quote to the same study.


"In perhaps one of the more intriguing studies, creatine was given to kids with traumatic brain injury or TBI.  The effect of creatine was determined on 39 children and adolescents, aged between 1 to 18 years old, with TBI. The creatine was administered for 6 months, at a dose of 0.4 g/kg in an oral suspension form every day.  That’s a huge dose which is equal to 27 grams for a 150 lb person. "


http://fitness.vpxsports.com/blog/bid/54903/Creatine-Monohydrate-Supplementation-and-Kids

And there wasn't any adverse health effect. As you know by the weigh in at the top I don't weight 150lbs, about 16 lbs heavier and the dose is about 2g per scoop, about 4 scoops/day so 8g. less than 33% of the studies amount.

Back to the whey protein another interesting benefit is the effect on satiety due to CCK pathway activation. 


A quote to explain:

"What makes whey more filling? Certain forms of whey protein contain high levels of a peptide called glycomacropeptide (GMP), which is known to be a powerful satiety (or hunger-quenching) nutrient. It works by stimulating the release of cholecystokinin (CCK), a hormone that's responsible for controlling hunger. In one study, GMP from whey increased CCK release by 415 percent. In another study, a supplement containing GMP reduced the number of calories consumed in a meal by 20 percent compared to a placebo when consumed before the meal."


http://www.energyfirst.com/whey-protein-weight-loss

To be more specific on the TEF of protein, it's been suggested that instead of 4cal/g it is closer to about 3cal/g.(which translates to about 25%-30% of the energy being used to actually break it down into amino acids). So the act of breaking it down is an energetic process making it slightly easier to have a calorie deficit

EXAMPLE 30 days of protein consumption. 
 -170g/day of protein(4CALS/G)                                                 X4= 680X30 = 20400

 -170 (TEF ADJUSTED  (3CALS/G)                                        X3 =510X30= 15300

A difference of 5100 cals/month just from breaking it down! which is ~ 1.5 lbs, and if a high amount is whey you will have a higher satiety response due to cck and if you are on a weight lifting program it will be more likely allocated to muscles and perhaps the biochemical environment in a fasting state will accentuate these processes.
Also a note on my fasting period. I want to try and hit an average of 16 hours/day so 18 hours yesterday (got caught up doing stuff) means that anyday for the remainder I can do 14 to balance, which I am going to do today.