Get Shredded Diet: Week 1 Progress Report

[JimmyC]

(i wasnt sure whether to post this here or in the training log; since its not an actual log i posted it here, but my apologies if it does belong there)

so yeah... JB wasnt kidding in his article about this diet being extreme. i made it a full week so im proud of myself. The transition from my previous eating habits to this diet wasnt TOO bad. I've adopted Adam's diet as my normal eating habit, so I didnt have to cut that many foods out. I just had to really lower the calorie intake and start tracking, measuring, and recording everything i put into my mouth. It was annoying at first, but since im eating the same exact thing every day, its now pretty easy.

For the first 5 or so days I felt really sluggish and energy-deprived, and slept like a baby through the whole night. But these last couple days, and as im typing this now, I've just been absolutely WIRED, and have had a little trouble sleeping sometimes, and have been waking up a few times during the night. I am taking hot-rox extreme, and i have upped my caffeinated green tea intake to 3-4 cups a day, but the real reason i now have energy is probably because my body just got more used to the diet.

I am also halfway to my "refeed" day, so im psyched about that. I'm not gonna go too crazy, and im gonna keep it MOSTLY clean. I havent really had a cheat meal in many months, so I don't really get any bad cravings, but if i do get those hunger pangs, i just make a nice cup of green tea to hold me over until the next meal.

I am currently eating at BWx11 these 2 weeks, and i plan on going down to BWx10 the 2 weeks after the refeed day, and see how i progress on it and take it from there. I also plan on gradually adding and increasing short steady-state cardio sessions over the duration of the diet in addition to the weight training and sprints.

But as far as progress goes, i think i see my lower abs starting to come in. Accoring to my tanita scale, im hovering around 9% bf, and im hoping to get down to 6% over the next 4-5 weeks.

Oh yeah, one last thing. I dont mean to gross anyone out, but during the first 4 days of the diet, i couldnt help but notice i didnt have to go #2 at all. But after that, ive been back to normal. I'm curious as to why this is. My guess is that the new super-low calorie diet was pretty much forcing my body to use every last bit of food it got for energy purposes, and then after 4 days my body adapted to the diet and started utilizing more fat for energy?

so thats about all i have to write, im all jittery and cant sit still anymore. im gonna go run for a bit.

and thanks to anyone who actually read all of that

[CSCSTrojan05]

That GSD is insane man. I did it too and found my energy dips and hunger strikes to be too much. I couldn't do it longer than 8 weeks.

The #2 issue is due to a lack of fiber. You may want to take some fiber supplements to help with bowel movements.

Make sure when you come off of it that you SLOWLY eat more kcals. You'll gain a lot of fat if you start chowing down immediately after the diet is over. I added in too many kcals too fast and paid the price.

[Frank.S]

Originally Posted by CSCSTrojan05

Make sure when you come off of it that you SLOWLY eat more kcals. You'll gain a lot of fat if you start chowing down immediately after the diet is over. I added in too many kcals too fast and paid the price.

This can happen for sure,
But you body will have lost some muscle, and will be wanting to grow at the same time. You will be very anabolic (to both muscle and fat).

You could easily put on 5lbs of muscle within a few weeks of this from experience. Add that to the 3lbs of water you can gain, and you get alot of people freaking out. This would be a good time to work-out as hard as possible imo.

Sounds like some good progress, 6% is a great goal, thats damn lean.

[JimmyC]

CSCSTrojan05- Yeah, it can get pretty bad at times, but i dont plan on even going as long as you did. I'm planning on only 6 weeks, the main reason being I dont want to have to buy more of most of those supplements, it would be pretty costly, but ill decide for sure when the time comes.

As for coming off the diet, i plan on putting in as much effort into JB's "Getting Unshredded" plan as i am putting into the diet itself. Im pretty scared of gaining too much fat when coming off of it

and I have a question for you about the refeeds. im feeling a little uneasy about eating unclean foods for a fear that it will hinder (even if only slightly) my 2 weeks of progress. what kind of stuff did you eat during yours, and what effect did it have?


Frank- yeah man, ive only been on this thing for a week and im already planning out and looking forward to eating/training for hypertrophy when i finish the diet



thanks for the replies

[Blackjack]

I'll be following along with interest. Good luck!

Easy on the caffeine...you're taking in quite a bit. I think Berardi was using ZMA to help with sleep. After a few weeks the tracking will get easier, you'll be able to estimate without measuring things out. Make sure you're getting all your veggies...that'll help with the fiber. The increase in fats will "loosen" things up a bit as well. Make sure you're drinking a ton of water. I guy once said that water flushes out fat...I don't think it works that way, but it's a good thought to have.

Don't be surprised if your progress slows after the first couple of weeks, that's what happened to me. Don't go by the scale, go by the mirror. Don't put too much stock in what your bf scale says...with the differences in the amount of water you're taking, it may throw that off.

That's all I can think of for now...keep up the good work.

[JimmyC]

Thanks, Blackjack. I actually just starting trying some zma for the first time, but it doesnt seem to be doing anything for me so far.
And youre right, i do seem to be having lots of caffeine. What will too much caffeine do to me; should i switch to decaffeinated green tea?

[JimmyC]

ok so i didnt feel like starting a new thread, so im just bumping this one.

im on my 33rd day on the diet, and im trying to decide if i should ride it out for another week and a half (for a total of 6 weeks) or to make today my last and begin my NROL Hypertrophy training tomorrow.

the thing is that im just feeling run down both mentally and physically. I feel lethargic, and i almost dread having to do my workouts. Im making some pretty consistant progress, but i just dont know if the cost-to-benfit ratio of staying with it for another week and a half will be worth it. I am the leanest ive ever been, and i think id be able to get leaner if i stayed with it, but on the other hand, im also sick of feeling small and having flat and depleted muscles.

so yeah, i guess i have the rest of the night to decide. what do you guys think?

[JimmyC]

oh yeah, i also want to say that in my first post i mentioned i was hovering around 9% and wanted to get down to 6% (according to my tanita scale).
i did reach this goal, with my lowest ever reading at 5.7%, but mostly always between 6-7%.
i dont think im ACTUALLY 6-7%, but it is a good indicator of progress.

[Frank.S]

If I was you.. I would take a week off of this diet at least. Maybe eat according to adams diet or something similar.. something where you dont feel deprived.

After doing this for a week (maybe two?) see where you are at. Sometimes your body needs a break from dieting, even if it is just a few days. You actually may notice some muscle gain and even get leaner by doing this. Then after you do this, if you still want to get leaner, consider doing another week or two of get shredded.

[JimmyC]

thanks frank, that is good advice.
but the thing is ive been slowly dieting since november (190lbs) until now (<160lbs), so once i stop GSD, then im done dieting for a very long time.
im just very anxious to start trying to gain muscle after just trying to 'maintain' my muscle for so long

[Leigh P.]

Originally Posted by JimmyC

oh yeah, i also want to say that in my first post i mentioned i was hovering around 9% and wanted to get down to 6% (according to my tanita scale).

Just wanted to throw in you do know these are horrible for reading results, especially on this kind of diet. You would be much better off with calipers, though I realize now little late, just saying for future.

As far as where to go from here, you need to make your journey coming off of get shredded a very patient and slow one. The pro about this diet is that it strips you and strips you hard. The con is that if you cave, even a little in the building back process, you can lose all your hard work very quickly. This is another reason why I don't recommend many people for this diet, because it is just a very involved and trying process. If you want to stop then you aren't going to get the full effect, this of course though depends on what that effect is you want.

Let me put it this way...

Whatever you are right now, add about 5-7 pounds and some average water retention. If after adding that you would be happy with the results, then start working your way back up. If you aren't going to be happy with that, then ride it out a little longer. With this style of diet the point is kind of to get TOO lean because the build back to normal eating habits (which should always be the end goal) is going to add back a few pounds and general water retention from the reintroduction of carbs and well more food.

So you have to take into account the style of body comp you want, then get cut past it so that when you build back up, you are going to be at it when completely done with your cycle, understand me so far?

In the build back up process (no matter when you choose it to be) you have to work at a very patient and slow reintroduction of food and especially carbohydrates and really time them around solid lifting programs.

In the end the results can be really killer. But it takes real patience and attention to detail of your diet depending of course on desired body comp.

[JimmyC]

yeah i know theyre not the best method, but it did seem to stay consistant enough to give an idea of how i was doing (not consitant throughout the day of course, but throughout the weeks). I was going mainly by the mirror and by tape measure anyway. I should look into getting some calipers though.

Leigh, thanks for your input. i understand what you mean about cutting PAST my desired body comp before building back to normal eating habits. Although im not completely happy with my level of leanness (who doesnt want to be leaner than they are?)and still have a little of the stubborn lower ab fat, i think id be happIER with the extra pounds and water id gain back, along with the larger muscles. And i also understand how hard getting off the diet is going to be. I pretty much have Berardi's "Getting Unshredded" article memorized from reading it so many times.

I am very happy with my overall progress in the half year of cutting ive done, but i think it just may be time to finally switch gears. I think this is me deciding that i am done with the diet. At least now i have the experience and knowledge to make next time a little easier and a little more successful.

I'll have before/after pictures of my 7 month cutting journey up tonight

[JimmyC]

i dont have a real camera, so this is the best i could do.



in case anyone was wondering- 21 years old, 5'9"

my goal is now to slowly make my way up to 175lbs while doing my best to keep fat gain to an absolute minimum

[tonymcclellan]

Whoa Flatty, I didnt realize you were that lean. When is your next re-feed? I wanna go to Red Lobster for shrimp and lobster tails.

[Blackjack]

Have you been doing any refeeds? Sounds like it's time for one if you haven't been. Follow the guidelines in the article for that as well. Also, see the Getting Unshredded article he wrote about coming off the diet and how to minimize the progress loss.

You've done very well judging by the photos. I would not doubt you were in the 6-7% range. Nice job. You understand that even the fitness models don't maintain that low of bodyfat for very long right? It's tough on you physically and mentally. Just need to find a percentage you are comfortable that gives you the performance you want in the gym...then do a "clean bulk" from there.

Seems like Thibadeau wrote an article on clean bulking over at T-Nation. So read that one after you read Getting Unshredded.

Nice job again...Ted

[Jimbo]

The camera does not lie! Wow! Good JOB! I'm inspired to continue in my cutting phase! Awesome!

[jax]

Wow... just wanted to add great job! Keep us posted with what you do next.