FC weight loss/life change/fitness challenge thread.

I only tried the Vega recovery pack once, it wasn't bad. Can't comment on the soreness thing of course.

 

Set a new squat record for myself: 315lbs x 10 reps!!



Mark

 

Nice.

I've been using the squat machine lately and up to 270.

 

First training with BCAA is done. Maybe it was all psychological; maybe it really was the amino acids. Either way, workout was significantly deeper than before -- going strong (leg day) through the full hour. Usually, I'm pretty much wiped out around 35-40 minutes.

FWIW, I took BCAA Advance XR (Berry Fusion) from GNC.

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I think it helps a lot. Is it an Intraworkout?

Having done it for a while and forgotten my shaker cup and drank water during my workout I get burned out faster.

Just, my opinion but GNC is always more expensive than other places. I actually find ordering from Bodybuilding.com to save $$ in some cases, but all but one time I've ordered had it at my door in 2 days with standard shipping.

 

Not intraworkout (yet). I only have 1 hour sessions with my guy, and since this was the first experience with BCAA I wanted to take it easy. About 35 minutes in, I did ask if he thought I should take about 6 ounces, and he said "no.... lets ease into it".

I think he was concerned I'd overshoot my daily workout goals, and then have a recovery issue to deal with. I am on a Monday-Wednesday-Thursday schedule, so tomorrow I'll likely try it before, and intraworkout.

I'll report back with my results.

 

What kind of training are you doing?

I'm not sure why you have to ease into BCAA's? I only take sips here and there and especially at the beginning of my workout days I get a little nauseated sometimes so any liquid is bad for me. I usually finish drinking it on the way home. You don't drink it any differently than water, just when you feel you need a sip.

 

I plan to order these are report my results

 

I can't imagine sipping it. Tastes so chalky, I thought it'd be easier to pound 6 ounces, and just see what happens. Maybe I'm doing it wrong?

 

Add more water to make it less dense.

 

Get a blender bottle.

I use an entire bottle of water in mine. Ive never had GNCs bcaa, only Optimum Nutrition and Scivation Xtend

 

Badass on the squat pr, Joker.

You're killing it, Darth! How's your soreness from swimming as of late?

Ricambi, I agree with these guys on the bcaa supplementation. You're probably inadvertently losing most of your bcaa intake in your urine if you down it all at once. Really impressed by your continued determination, btw.

 

That is an interesting point about the loss of BCAA through urine. Maybe this falls into the category of "TMI", but since I have started this regime and training, my activity in the bathroom has pretty much come to a screeching halt. I drink a decent amount of water, but far less frequently go to the bathroom these days. In terms of food, I suspect my body is desperately using every calorie I consume, so very little gets eliminated as waste.

Today I'm sipping the BCAA over a greater quantity of water. We'll see how it goes.

My weight is now bouncing in range of +/- 2 pounds. I freely admit, it is unwise to watch it so closely, but I'm obsessive like that. I'm wondering if the floor temperature in my bathroom affects the scale, especially now that the cold winter mornings are over.

 

Daniel, do you mean both peeing and pooping?

It's sounds like you're not getting enough water for one. And if you're not having regular bowel movements I'm curious what your eating.

 

I didn't have the maturity to use those two words.... but yes.

On the BM side, I probably should share the nutrition stats that I'm pulling from the "MyFitnessPal" app that I use. I scan every food I eat, and/or try to key it into the app manually. It tracks a whole bunch of stuff.

My schedule yesterday was a bit wonky because I coached my sons baseball team practice from 6:00pm-8:00pm, which means we didn't have a formal family dinner. So, if y'all promise to withhold judgement, here's what I ate yesterday:


1) Yes, dinner was raw spinach. I have always liked the flavor, even as a kid
2) 9 oz of water don't display on this chart, but that's all I took in yesterday.
3) There is a missing cup of coffee around noon, which mates with the "creamer" entry at breakfast.

(YES, I know it is way too little. I'm supposed to be at 2200+ calories/day. I'm struggling to get there without feeling guilty and/or overstuffed)


Here's the issue.... in the most simple form: I want to gain weight and mass (my arms and shoulders look great!!), but I am terrified of getting "fat" again in my belly or chin. Both of those two areas look the best they've been in literally 30 years.
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Good questions. I imagine all of this is being advised and monitored by his personal trainer.

For sure, Daniel, your body can only synthesize so much at one time, so you'd be wasting a lot by downing it all at once. So it's good to break it up as Jason suggested. It should give you a marked decrease in post workout soreness, an increase in exercise endurance, an increase in anabolism and decrease in catabolism by raising insulin and gh, an increase in post workout testosterone levels and stimulation of protein synthesis. That's my understanding of how ingesting BCAAs works in your favor. But, you'll still find a lot of people saying it's bro-science.

 

Are you going vegan?

You aren't getting enough whole foods. Assuming you are fine with meats, you need to add some egg whites and oats at breakfast, lean meats at lunch say 4-6oz of chicken along with a fruit or veggie and the same for dinner. Perhaps salmon and asparagus for dinner with a sweet potato.

If you want to gain mass you have to increase your protein intake drastically.

Frips_Girl emailed me the p90x nutrition guide a few years ago and i think it's great to just get ideas from. If she still has it hopefully she can send it to you.

I would start reading various food opinions on bodybuilding.com. Read through the nonsense, but there are great ideas on there as well.

 

You're happy. That's the most important part. I most certainly won't judge you.

The only change I would recommend you do is cut the powerbar and fruit for breakfast. Sugar and carbs are actually your enemies when it comes to breakfast. Keep the coffee. Add meat and a handful of nuts. Meat should be high fat and salty. There should be zero sugar added. (Cheap meats have sugar added. Look on the label.) Salt is good for you if you are ingesting protein. Not good for you if you are ingesting carbs. The meat, nuts, and coffee will reset your energy levels for the rest of your day by evening out your dopamine and acetylcholine. Again, salt and fat are fine. Again, you should allow fat in your diet for breakfast. It is healthy for you. 30% fat is recommended.

I would make this one change, and give it a shot for 14 days, Daniel. Give it two weeks, monitor your weight. Watch how after the first week your energy levels start to reset themselves.

I really wouldn't want to tweak anything else for a few months. Just see what kind of effect this had on you

 

I used to do a lot of greek yogurt for breakfast and got burned out on it....

I'll give it go, as you suggest and we'll see how it works. Keep in mind, I'm super sensitive about weight gain in the "wrong" places! Can you help me understand this statement:

?

 

Daniel - Really impressed you'll give it a go. It says a lot about you.

The dopamine and acetylcholine get animated spikes and drop drastically on your current program. You want to give these a hit in the morning that sustains these and gives you a constant level of energy throughout the day. You can generate spikes later in the day, and they won't be nearly as much of a roller coaster as they are now. You should physically experience this early on. Near the end of the 14 days it's likely that you should wake up fifteen minutes earlier for work and find yourself ready for the daily battle more so than today by a significant degree.

We'll see what it does for the weight gain in the wrong places, but I'm pretty confident with your current regiment you'll be okay.... time'll tell.

Darth - This is great news! Except for the being sick part... unless it includes a bedside bell and a scantily clad nurse.

 

well, my post-lent update:

good news: I've set all time PRs in every lift I routinely do, feel better, look better, have much better/deeper cardio capacity. I'm up from slow to somewhat respectable on the rower!

bad news: did something to my left hip flexor/hip socket so I've had to dial things back a bit in the past week. (btw, foam rolling does help...and hurts like a b***h!)

confusing news: I still weight 202 pounds. either I'm packing on muscle at exactly the same weight I'm losing fat, or I've found perfect calorie in/calorie out equilibrium. I think the former, as I am losing fat, just not terribly quickly.

 

Didn't look closely at the diet, but I did see cold cuts. I'd avoid deli meat and change that to something you prepare.

If you want to play it safe with carbs eat them at lunch of you work out sometime after that. I would suggest adding something like this gluten free pasta mentioned earlier that I added this week with my chicken at lunch. It's made from white and brown rice, corn and quinoa. It is beyond my expectations with taste.
Ronzoni Gluten Free

I'd take picture of my box but I can't upload photos for some reason.

You could also buy some sweet potato fries and bake those for carbs. That's the easy alternative. And the spicy ones are delicious.

Muscle does weight more than fat.

Great progress Chas! You may not be seeing it on the scale, but you can see a difference and that's what matters.

For all of you guys for additional fat loss help, make sure you're adding spices like cayenne and jalapeño type peppers to your diet. It'll help increase your metabolism.