7 Weeks to a Shredded ME!...

[SgtSlaughter]

Lifter4Life: haha, yes the photos sure did scare the crap outa me! I definetly look at myself differently. My friends, when I see them in a few months are going to without a doubt ask me if I'm using steriods, lol... they already think I do because I look decent in a shirt! I'll laugh and start rambling on about how meticulous I am about my diet and train everyday because that's the truth

One thing I'm really hoping for is that the skin over the "more fatty" areas will get sucked back in... I'm in my early 20's and was overweight as a pre-teen. So it'll be interesting, and I'll definetly be an un-happy camper if I have to have surgury to take off the extra skin... we will see!

Thanks for the input bro! I have the drive, indeed... I will look like Frank Zane in a few years without a doubt!

(Disclaimer: As long as nothing extremly drastic/a life changing event occurs from a source out of my control!)

EDIT: "You must spread some Karma around before giving it to Lifterforlife again."

 

[SgtSlaughter]

For comparison and progress purposes... I posted a photo about 6 (ish) years ago... I belive it was taken around the time I just started messing around with weights. Notice the Very skinny forearms for comparison. Also that was taken right after I grew a good amount out of my fat and unathletic stage.

 

[alphaIII]

Good to see you're sticking to a diet and having success with it.

Are you following Tomek...The Hulk's guide? Overall it's a pretty good guide, but there are some things about it I don't agree with. I'll give you my input and you can do what you will with it. By all means, if what you are doing is working, stick with it. But here are some things to think about.

First of all, there are 2 schools of though on macronutrient breakdown of a meal - 1. protein + carbs + fat...2. protein + carbs OR protein + healthy. Now there are obviously good points for both views.

Eating healthy fats with carbs helps blunt insulin, since fats slow digestion, therefore producing a lower, steadier rise in blood sugar (instead of a rapid spike), keeping insulin levels lower. In addition, eating carbs every meal means insulin levels will rise after every meal, and insulin increases amino acid uptake. However, insulin also acts to stimulate fat storage and inhibit lipolysis - so keeping blood glucose steadier and insulin levels low is important in preventing fat storage. This is why some advocate not combing fat with carbs - when insulin is released you didn't provide the fats to be stored.

Keep in mind however that low-GI complex carbs do not spike blood sugar the way high-GI carbs do, so insulin will not spike if you're eating the correct carbs, regardless of whether you ingest fats with it or not. On a side note, amino acids alone can cause slight increases in insulin that help facilitate their uptake, but the primary mode of insulin is still control of blood glucose.

The biggest thing to take out of this is that regardless of whether you eat fat with a protein/carb meal, you should be focusing on low-GI carbs to keep blood sugar steadier and insulin levels lower throughout the day. Constantly spiking blood sugar, and therefore insulin, has worse long-term effects than promoting fat storage (insulin resistance and eventually type II diabetes). If you do ingest fats with a carb/protein meal, focus on healthy fats (omega-3, omega-6, monounsaturates) and limit saturated fats (you do need to eat some) and avoid trans fats at all costs - and eat low GI carbs.

 

[alphaIII]

One thing I completely disagree with in Tomek's guide is this:

"Follow this rule for every meal EXCEPT for your last meal as you don't need carbs and efa's while sleeping.
When it comes to carbohydrates there is another simple rule:

Wake up - 3pm: Starchy and complex carbs
3pm - Sleep: Fibrous carbs

Simply because when you wake up you need energy! Your body feels deprived while sleeping you may not feel it but its a fact 6-8 hours with out sleeping can do this. So eat the starchy and complex carbs until 3pm after this time have the Fibrous carbs so that you are not taking in too much energy and not using it."

First off, ignore the times listed (wake-3pm, 3pm-sleep). This is completely irrelevant. Some people say don't eat carbs after 6pm. If you get out of bed at 10am and go to bed at 2am, then not eating carbs after 3pm would be dumb. MOST IMPORTANTLY - If you work out in the evening, not eating complex carbs after lifting is actually hindering your progress, for several reasons.

1. Intense physical activity deplete muscle glycogen stores.
2. Intense physical activity decreases testosterone and inscreases cortisol.
3. Muscle that is glycogen depleted has increased insulin sensitivity for a short period of time, so insulin dependent glucose uptake is much higher during this time window.

So the purpose of ingesting carbs after a workout is 3-fold:

1. Provide muscle with glucose to replenish glycogen stores during a time when muscle tissue is much more responsive to insulin.
2. Raise insulin levels to fascilitate glucose uptake and to blunt release of cortisol.
3. Raise insulin levels to increase amino acid uptake

Now, does this mean you need shitloads of carbs - NO. I'd say around 100-150g over 2 meals for a 200lb person, but it would obviously vary per person. Is this the only time I would ever advocate using high GI carbs - YES. Again, here is an issue that has 2 distinct views:

1. After a workout, you want to spike blood sugar and insulin as quick as possible (for reasons mentioned above), so ingest dextrose or maltodextrin with protein. Follow it 1.5-2 hrs later with a whole food meal of low-GI carbs and lean protein.

2. Low GI carbs are sufficient to replenish glycogen stores and intentional spiking blood sugar/insulin is a practice that should be avoided. Low GI carbs

I follow the #1. A dextrose (65-75g)/protein shake immediately post-workout and a whole food meal 1.5 hrs later (equal amount of carbs). Again, this is the only time I advocate spiking insulin. However, I have read some papers that have made me consider the other alternative.

Again, its your choice. From my experience, some message boards seem to sway one way more than another, but overall it's pretty close to 50/50.

The main point is that I consider post-workout carbs a MUST, and to say not to eat carbs after a certain time does not apply to everyone. I focus my carb intake post workout and 1st thing in the morning while cutting.

Another thing I don't advocate is high carb intake right before a workout. The idea is to keep insulin low during the workout, and raise it after. Pre-workout I tend to go for around 20-25g carbs - low GI of course.

 

[alphaIII]

I do like about the idea of calorie cycling that Tomek mentions (although I'd set it up a bit different).

I recommend cycling around workout days instead of just picking days to do it - non-workout days being your lowest calorie days, with workout days being close to or slightly over estimated maintainance. For me, the higher caloric intake on workout days is due to increased carb intake (post-workout).

Again, if what you are doing is working, stick with it until it stops working.

The good thing about calorie cycling, as Tomek says, is to keep your body from adjusting to a steady hypocaloric intake. If you constantly ingest less calories than you need, the fat burning will slow as your metabolism slows (primarily due to descreased thyroid output).

 

[SgtSlaughter]

thanks for all the input Alpha3. I'm aware of most of it especially the insulin spiking... that's what I think contributed to my fat storage.

I'm not using his guide per say... I don't count calories, I use the portions I know and the amount and stick to a meal amount, ect. I really don't have time to get extremely anal about it. But if it comes to that to loosing more fat I will... I'm just not going to spend all day thinking about my body and nutrition, I can't afford to... and what I'm doing is working, and I'm healthy doing it... not starving myself.

P.S. Water intake is on average I'd say 1.5 gallons ed

 

[alphaIII]

thanks for all the input Alpha3. I'm aware of most of it especially the insulin spiking... that's what I think contributed to my fat storage.

I'm not using his guide per say... I don't count calories, I use the portions I know and the amount and stick to a meal amount, ect. I really don't have time to get extremely anal about it. But if it comes to that to loosing more fat I will... I'm just not going to spend all day thinking about my body and nutrition, I can't afford to... and what I'm doing is working, and I'm healthy doing it... not starving myself.

P.S. Water intake is on average I'd say 1.5 gallons ed

I wasn't sure what you did/didn't know, so I was trying to be fairly detailed. That you are aware of alot of it shows you've done a little homework...some people on this board don't.

To be honest I don't count calories either...I actually count macronutrient amounts - set g of protein and carbs or fat per meal. The only reason I know my calories are higher on workout days (calorie cycling) is due to increased carb intake on those days.

I'm glad you're making progress, and not starving yourself to do it. Obviously, that is key, so stick with what works.

BTW, good work on the water intake. That was something I didn't mention but I see I didn't need to. I think that's a good amount of water while cutting, unless you add stimulants, then I might suggest upping it to 2 gallons.

Congrats on the progress bro.

 

[SgtSlaughter]

Thanks bro... yeah it's good to hear positive reinforcement for sure!

Stimulants... yup, T-rex (thermorexin)... Main reason for supplementing with it: to curb my appetite and keep energy levels up to par while cutting calories.

1.5 gallons on average... so maybe I should bump it, maybe it is higher, who knows... i'm never dehydrated. I gauge that by how dry my mouth gets... I notice very easily that way (i'm sure people could argue otherwise).

I usually get 1 gallon during the 8ish hours I'm at work ... and then drink a bunch at home later... my guestimated average could be off.

I think I'm good though... I drink water all the time while I'm awake

 

[JKurz1]

non plats

 

[JKurz1]

good start bro.....need to really tighten up on that diet.....no cheating....got a soft midsection to care of and some work to do.....hit the cardio hard and the diet harder.....you'll get there/