I'm so sorry about the increased pain on your ankle.
You know when I was reading about your workout I was stunned to see you do lunges and step ups.. both of them require a lot of stability. I've often ditched step ups when I don't feel totally well.
Lunges I only do a few of them during the dynamic warm up as that would drain me too much.
Re the 40-40-20 split I'm afraid that would leave me hungry all the time... plus make my skin all go bad. I'm noticing very nasty side-effects when I let fats fall below 60g/day. So, that would even on a moderate cut mean a 30% minimum of fat intake, which is actually precisely the recommended intake for e.g. Zone (40-30-30) or IsoCaloric diets (33-33-33)
I do lunges and steps all the time in the same workout. I will also do squats that same day. Kill the quads! But building lunges are what is called a "finisher" because they really take it out of your legs so they need to be done at the end of the workout not before the step ups.
RE the food... From what I can tell there are some people that burn through carbs really, really quickly. You are one of them. I cannot even begin to imagine eating 4K of carbs in a sitting. Not even processed ones. LOL! I make really good use of my carbs I think but fat is hard for me to process. It just makes me feel like crap. I took your adivse to be open that I need more and I tried it a few times in the past months just to see and every time it makes me feel poorly. So I am still shooting to increase it but I have to do it slowly.
Fortunately, eating that many carbs is a rarity, but if I let myself loose, it can easily happen. It's fascinating though how over time fat intake has come down quite a lot from how much I ate when I was thriving on a VLC-diet. No wonder of course, you need to replace carbs with fats. But even when I sometimes think that keeping fats high is simply a matter of taste, I'm noticing nasty side-effects when they fall lower than 60g.
You're not the only one who simply doesn't process fats all that well. This is probably also due to lacking fat enzymes and perhaps also bile?
As long as you make sure to at least get in your essential fats, viz. the omega3 type, you can probably leave them as is. Though generally the absolute minimum recommended fat intake is 0.5g/lbs LBM (and I'd actually rec 0.5g/lbs BW)
LOL!!! Yeah that is the rub. It has to be a clean bulk in order for it to count. Anyone can eat 4K of crap.
You are so funny. I know what it feels like. And staying on the verge of vomiting is not a piece of cake in my book. It sucks! And while it is super duper fun to be able to throw around so much weight in the gym, it doesn't really feel good the rest of the time to be processing so much food. Bleh... Do you eat only whole foods and in the macro range of 40,40,20 too? I thought you were bulking up fairly dirty?
I never said you didn't know what it feels like. For me, force feeding doesn't make me feel bad (except for the bloat after eating, which leaves in 15 minutes or so). My diet wasn't fairly dirty. It was fairly clean; the majority of it was milk, meat and potatoes. However, I wasn't afraid to eat burgers or drink a soda.
I don't even know what the range of 40,40, 20 is, nor do I need to know. I've been juggling the idea as of late to go strictly clean in my diet, but still aim for 4-5,000 calories. If I do, I'll tell ya how it goes.
Lots of cools stuff going on. First my trainer says he has this goal to summit Mt Hood this summer and he asked me today if I was interested in doing this with him. It is 11,000 ft with some ice climbs. Of course we will hire a guide. I am totally up for this sort of adventure so told him that I was IN provided we can make it as safe as possible. So stay tuned for this one.
As was requested by several forum members I am changing my Avitar.
Climbing Mt. Hood sounds like an awesome adventure, Karla! I'll be watching for updates on this and all the excitement you'll be bringing with it.
I can't wait to see that new "geeky" avatar!
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"Become better than you used to be, not better than someone else." ~ Leigh Peele
__________________ It all starts with the mind, but the thoughts, the intention aren't enough. Action needs to come next. Dream it, believe it, plan it, execute it, celebrate it. - Wendy
Thanks guys. I took this one when I was flexing but figured that if I included that part it might be considered too baddass for the board. So I came in close instead. I am loving the new pec muscles that are starting to pop out now.
Yesterday I did a 40 min ss cardio after a 5 min HIIT workout. Nothing serious. I am feeling a bit worn right now. I feel sore still from last week's workouts. I am afraid that I need another rest period soon. I will keep monitoring and taking it fairly easy until I get that break.
Next week I am on vacation but am not taking a vacation at all. I am spending the week with a bunch of other classical guitarists for a week-long master class. We'll be locked in the dorms practicing or playing. I am so looking forward to it. Perhaps I will take that week or the week after to do a rest.
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The BIGGER I get the smaller you look
I never said you didn't know what it feels like. For me, force feeding doesn't make me feel bad (except for the bloat after eating, which leaves in 15 minutes or so). My diet wasn't fairly dirty. It was fairly clean; the majority of it was milk, meat and potatoes. However, I wasn't afraid to eat burgers or drink a soda.
I don't even know what the range of 40,40, 20 is, nor do I need to know. I've been juggling the idea as of late to go strictly clean in my diet, but still aim for 4-5,000 calories. If I do, I'll tell ya how it goes.
LOL! No what you said that was funny was that it was a piece of cake to do... But then you went on to say how you had to eat until you nearly puked (force feed). That is not a "piece of cake" in my book. That sucks!
The 40, 40, 20 thing refers to the macro nutrients that I consume by percentage for my daily intake. I do 40% protein, 40% carbs and 20% fat as a rule. This is a level of detail that many people do not feel the need to get into but I think it is needed as a bber. At least all the bbers that I know understand food to this level. Actually they do grams more than percent. In any case it is important when you do a cut to understand what works for your body in order to avoid hard crashing. It is also helpful to do a clean bulk I think. Every body is different so everyone will require something different but most people need minimums of each macro nutrient to excel. It just gives you more knowledge and that will give you more power in the long run.
My cut BTW is running smooth as butter right now due to the fact that I had so much understanding of my body and food and how I am working presently. I am losing at a rate of 1lb a week very purposefully and without having any serious hunger or strength issues. I am able to lift pretty hard still so am keeping up that part while I drop. It is a balance game in the cut and I am learning how to do that now. So far, so good.
I would be very interested to see if you can do this bulk thing with just whole foods. My guess is that you will need to do a gainer of some sort at least once to do it.
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The BIGGER I get the smaller you look
LOL! No what you said that was funny was that it was a piece of cake to do... But then you went on to say how you had to eat until you nearly puked (force feed). That is not a "piece of cake" in my book. That sucks!
The 40, 40, 20 thing refers to the macro nutrients that I consume by percentage for my daily intake. I do 40% protein, 40% carbs and 20% fat as a rule. This is a level of detail that many people do not feel the need to get into but I think it is needed as a bber. At least all the bbers that I know understand food to this level. Actually they do grams more than percent. In any case it is important when you do a cut to understand what works for your body in order to avoid hard crashing. It is also helpful to do a clean bulk I think. Every body is different so everyone will require something different but most people need minimums of each macro nutrient to excel. It just gives you more knowledge and that will give you more power in the long run.
My cut BTW is running smooth as butter right now due to the fact that I had so much understanding of my body and food and how I am working presently. I am losing at a rate of 1lb a week very purposefully and without having any serious hunger or strength issues. I am able to lift pretty hard still so am keeping up that part while I drop. It is a balance game in the cut and I am learning how to do that now. So far, so good.
I would be very interested to see if you can do this bulk thing with just whole foods. My guess is that you will need to do a gainer of some sort at least once to do it.
I only count grams, but I do agree that more knowledge is better. However, I notice that the ones who spend all the time making ratios rather than eating are the ones making the least progress (you are not one of them). Knowing your body, both with food intake and mind-muscle connection is the most important thing along with consistent heavy lifting and eating to a bodybuilder. It should be the foundation.
I disagree about the gainer, and the reason why is that I will just go through another force-feeding phase. Sucks, but I'd rather rely on my appetite than a gainer.
Fulmen: Oh I am not sure that I did not make too little progress. When I began my bulk I was a chronic under eater and my metabolism was in the toilet. So I had to go through mental challenges this time around. Also I had to start from a bad deficit. I started my bulk at 17% bf already so it was already up there. My intentions for this one where to just learn how to eat and not be afraid of gaining weight. I managed to put 10 lbs on in 3 months which is good for a girl actually. The question remains how much it was in lean mass. If you are to believe my Ormon it was 7lb of lean mass which is a damn clean gain (esp for a girl). But in my cut I am seeing significantly less. Oh well. This is how we learn.
So net was that I had to go through this learning period and also through this mental reshaping. I will also have to go throught a cut (again more for my mental health I think) before I do it again. Next time around I will be able to do a bit better with the "just eating" part. I see good things for the future though if I can actually get to 10% during this cut or less.
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The BIGGER I get the smaller you look
I disagree about the gainer, and the reason why is that I will just go through another force-feeding phase. Sucks, but I'd rather rely on my appetite than a gainer.
For the most part, I agree with Fulmen on the gainer. I think there are whole foods that you could combine and still see the effects that you would see with a gainer. Look at some of the whole food snacks you get a health food store sometime. Some of those itty bitty bars that are "healthy" for ya, pack a pretty hefty caloric punch for just a few ounces. If you did a little experimenting, you could probably come up with something that is pretty decent and isn't overly processed like the gainer if the goal is to stick with whole foods.
Where i don't agree with Fulmen is the force feeding. That just seems to be setting yourself up for problems down the road.
__________________ It all starts with the mind, but the thoughts, the intention aren't enough. Action needs to come next. Dream it, believe it, plan it, execute it, celebrate it. - Wendy
Tried the healthy candy bar and other whole food snack route and it wasn't enough calories. A gainer will pack in nearly 1K of calories if you drink it in milk. There is nothing comparable that I found in whole foods. I cannot eat whole food anything to the tune of 1K in one quick sitting.
I also agree that eating too much and force feeding all the time could set you up for a dirty bulk. But that is okay for some people. Fulmen is not overly concerned about fat gain at this time from what I can tell. Pretty much I think that is an okay attitude to have. When I started my cut the fat just dropped right off (way easier than it came on). Even so my next bulk will be done as cleanly as possible just 'cause I don't like to be fat even for a little while if I can help it.
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The BIGGER I get the smaller you look
For the most part, I agree with Fulmen on the gainer. I think there are whole foods that you could combine and still see the effects that you would see with a gainer. Look at some of the whole food snacks you get a health food store sometime. Some of those itty bitty bars that are "healthy" for ya, pack a pretty hefty caloric punch for just a few ounces. If you did a little experimenting, you could probably come up with something that is pretty decent and isn't overly processed like the gainer if the goal is to stick with whole foods.
Where i don't agree with Fulmen is the force feeding. That just seems to be setting yourself up for problems down the road.
Force feeding just stretches your stomach and soon you adapt and stay there. Food competitors use this method and that's how their able to pack in so much food (whereas I and bodybuilders do it for calories).
Quote:
Originally Posted by kfisherx
Tried the healthy candy bar and other whole food snack route and it wasn't enough calories. A gainer will pack in nearly 1K of calories if you drink it in milk. There is nothing comparable that I found in whole foods. I cannot eat whole food anything to the tune of 1K in one quick sitting.
"Healthy" snacks won't give you crap when it comes to calories. One meal I like to do to fit 1k in one meal is rice+cans of Campbell's Chunky Beef Soup. You better have a stomach big enough, though.'
I wholly agree with the milk. I go through about a gallon (and sometimes a gallon and a half) of whole milk per day. It is getting expensive, but I work in a grocery store and just take home damaged milk (we end up pouring it out at the back, a waste of good milk). Milk, Beef, eggs and potatoes are the greatest things ever.
Quote:
I also agree that eating too much and force feeding all the time could set you up for a dirty bulk. But that is okay for some people. Fulmen is not overly concerned about fat gain at this time from what I can tell. Pretty much I think that is an okay attitude to have. When I started my cut the fat just dropped right off (way easier than it came on). Even so my next bulk will be done as cleanly as possible just 'cause I don't like to be fat even for a little while if I can help it.
You're right; I'm not that concerned. Fat is easier to lose than gaining muscle. Force feeding will not lead you to a dirty bulk unless that is what you want or you have weak will power. I'll never bulk clean if I can't force feed.
Since I am here... Results for the week. Note that I under-ate by my goal of 1750 cals a day by almost 100 cals a day or 700 cals and the result was .4 lbs of weight more than I wanted lost. Hmmmm.... That is pretty exact counting and Math. I think I have this down to the the most extreme level of anal possible now. LOL!
Date
lbs
bf%
weekly avg cals
weekly avg protein in g
weekly avg carbs in g
weekly avg fat in g
weekly avg macro % (P, C, F)
4-May-08
133.8
19.5%
2656
263
266
69.4
38,39,23
27-May-08
130.2
17.4%
1696
193
163
37.1
44,37,19
3-Jun-08
129.6
18.4%
1784
190
182
41.2
41,39,20
10-Jun-08
128.2
17.8%
1648
192
166
38.8
43,37,20
Day
Exercise
Duration in hours
Avg HR if cardio
Total lbs
Total bf
Thrs
quads (reinjured foot)
1.25
NA
5.6
1.7%
Fri
REST
NA
NA
Sat
Hammie/Ab workout
1
NA
This week
This week
Sun
Spin ss-state
45
135-145
1.4
0.6%
Mon
HIIT 10 min
Spin 45min
1
135-145
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The BIGGER I get the smaller you look
You and I know that being anal can be a good thing part of the time LOL.
Nice to see your progression and where it fits into the whole scheme of where you have been. I really have loved following your mental and physical reshaping and am really proud of where you are and where you are going!
You and I know that being anal can be a good thing part of the time LOL.
Nice to see your progression and where it fits into the whole scheme of where you have been. I really have loved following your mental and physical reshaping and am really proud of where you are and where you are going!
mel
Mel thanks a million. You are still an inspiration to me and I am thrilled to see that you have started strength training. I know I got "poo-poo'd" for recommending a bulk in another thread but I still think you need to get those calories up and get muscle on your body as a next step. You can bulk more cleanly than you think with your anal-ness. My next bulk will be a very slow cleanish gain. I will eat at no more than 500 cals a day over my 2370 cal a day burn rate and see where I go with that. It is MEGA fun to do strength and it will help you to "let go" of your anxiety RE weight gain I think. It is a trip but a good one....
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The BIGGER I get the smaller you look
You're down about 5 lbs in just over a month, and looking very very good. You can be proud of all that. The attention to the details makes the results easy to understand. When you can see how the calories directly relate to body weight, all is well - you know what to change or not change to get the results you want.
I would suggest anyone who is not seeing results should consider micromanaging calories and macronutrients. That means weighing portions and keeping a detailed log. It pretty much works as advertised. Diet is more than 50% of this - some say 80%.
Thanks Roland. It was not only the 5.6 lbs but the 1.7% bf. To me the bf is the number I am watching.
It actually wasn't speedy but it has been easy. Really I am not hungry at all on this amount of deficit or at least very rarely and even forget to eat now and again. I do feel weaker in my workouts but other than that this is not hard so far. In fact in my running and biking I feel stronger. My trainer thinks that whole cut will be pretty easy even down near 10% because I have my body very dialed in right now. I can make whatever changes he thinks is needed very quickly and with great accuracy and he can see with detail what I am doing. I can't recommend this sort of thing to everyone because it really is anal but I don't know of any other way to get the "sure thing" results. In the past it always took me 6-8 weeks before I dropped even 1lb. Looking back now I wonder if it was more due to my lack of focus on diet versus my metabolism being in the toilet. I guess we'll never know. For today I am seeing immediate results and they are exactly as expected. No complaining from me.
Oh and I forgot to mention the most important benefit to having all this knowledge. I KNOW almost exactly when I will hit my goal of 10% bf and what my weight will be at that time. This means my cut has an END DATE. I am going to be little at the rate I am losing (113lbs) but I am still looking forward to what that looks like this time around. When I was 113lb in the USMC I was skinny fat and looked awful in a bikini. This time it will be different!
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The BIGGER I get the smaller you look
It sounds like this are going great, Karla. I know the feeling of the awesomeness of the end date. There's a light at the end of the tunnel! I'm glad you're not hungry and weak. Good job!
"...If I saw another 40 plus year old woman with this body I would think "You go girl" to myself and vow to look that hot one day. Tonight I could hardly stop looking at what I saw. Life is good and it will only get better..."
Karla! Those are magical words. I felt so much power and glory reading them. You made me feel so good and positive and hopeful.
I can't wait to cast such a spell one day.
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Laugh a lot, and when you're older, all your wrinkles will be in the right places.
Okay gotta catch up so I have a record. Tuesday was trainer day. We did back mostly stuff. He assessed my ankle and still I am not allowed to run. DAMN I hate this!!!! It always amazes me that my body takes time to heal. I can tell you that if not for the trainer I'd be running again for sure. I'd probably end up in a cast too. So paradigms are changing.
The back workout was tough. I don't remember it all so won't bother to type it all out. The thing I remember about the workout is that he had me working so hard that I shook violently on the last reps. I am doing higher reps and less rests now and also larger supersets. I got a good swell on during this workout though. That is always fun.
Today I did shoulers/pecs/tri and bi workout along with an ab set. It was fun but I am noting that my strength is so going away. I long for the days of my bulk when I could press 55lb db for 8 reps instead of 25lb at 15 reps. It is so cool to hold 55lb dbs. On th flip side of the coin today when I got undressed at the gym and looked in the mirror I gasped in surprise. My abs where looking like real abs and my body was a body that I actually respected. Not just tolerated or can live with but actually respect. If I saw another 40 plus year old woman with this body I would think "You go girl" to myself and vow to look that hot one day. Tonight I could hardly stop looking at what I saw. Life is good and it will only get better.
Warm up
isolated rotator flyes (each arm, each direction)
3x15 (1 plate)
db alternating flyes
3x10 (7.5lb) e
Super1
Close grip bench pu (on toes)
1x15 (1/2 way), 2x8 (all the way)
pec cable flyes
1x15 (30), 1x15 (40), 1x7 (50), 1x6 (40)
-- bad ass + smile is the one I'd vote for.
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