Ultimate Dieting Challenge: a Sally-free zone

[tkinsley]

Alright, kids, start yer engines. It seems that some amongst us have been a little lax on the nutritional side of the house while putting in some incredible workouts. Unfortunately, that ends up giving essentially zero visible results. We're all vain, it's okay to admit it. Why not show off what you're working so hard to build?

Time to bust some serious ass, here, with a down n' dirty, no holds barred, winner-take-all dietary challenge. This is not meant for a loosey-goosey sorta-kinda nutritional plan--we're talking strict structure and tracking.

What's the prize, you ask?

Well.

You get to say you won. Oh, that's not enough? Well, we can figure something else out as we go along.

For now, here are the rules.

1. Pick a plan, any plan. Make it up. Whatever. You are expected to stick to this plan for the next six weeks, and it must be structured. I'll show you what I mean below.

2. Beginning circumference measurements must be taken (but do not need to be posted) in the event of a tie with overall compliance.

3. Let the games begin: Tuesday, September 18, 2007. There may be a little wiggle room on this date, but THIS WEEK is the start. I'd love to see a battle royale here, so don't be shy.

See? Easy!

Here's mine:

Anabolic Diet

Stage one: 12 day induction phase

~2100 calories
30g or less CHO
150 g fat
150 g protein

I will eat 4 or 5 meals daily, depending on hunger.
I will be within 5% of calories, and within 10g of my fat/protein goals.
I will post my daily food intake and overall calories and macros each day.

At the end of stage one, I will also post the changes in body circumferences.

I will also take photos, which may or may not be shared, depending on my mood.

On days 13-14, or for appx 36 hours, I will have a switch to 60% carbs, 30% fat, and about 10-15% protein, eating about 2500 calories or so. This is part of the AD, and I will follow the recommended macros to a "T".

On days 15-19, back to the high fat. I will stay at the previous calorie range unless I've put on bodyfat during the 12 day induction; if this is the case, I will drop 100 calories/day. Days 20-21 are a repeat of days 13-14.

Days 22-26: repeat high fat phase
Days 27-28: yum yum time

Days 29-33: high fat
Days 34-35: helllllooo pancakes

Days 36-40: high fat
Days 41-42: shit. I'm going to end on a refeed.

OK, since the six weeks ends at the end of the refeed, I am going to take editorial license and say that you must post your final results within 3 days of the official end of the challenge.

Ready? Set?.... Get your ass in gear!

Tina

[missjane]

OK, I'm in! I have been doing TNT Plan A for a while now, but have had too many "cheats" along the way. So, starting today, I will be doing TNT Plan A. This means under 30G of carbs for four weeks, high protein, high fat. Then, I will transition into the next phase of TNT, which will include carb-loading one day a week. I am not going to track calories unless I see progress is slow.

I am doing NROL FLII in conjunction with this eating plan, along with HIIT sessions on off days when I can.

In the last 4 weeks of TNT, I did not lose any scale weight; HOWEVER, I did lose inches in my waist, stomach and hips, thigh (2", 1.5", 1", 1" respectively). So, I know I have made progress. These measurements were all done yesterday, so they will serve as my starting point for this challenge.

The goal for this challenge will be to see more decreases in my measurements (taken only once per month and then at the end of the challenge). Also, I would like to shoot for an 8lb difference in scale weight.

I'll have to think about pictures.....maybe.

[Lost Dog]

Originally Posted by missjane

OK, I'm in! I have been doing TNT Plan A for a while now, but have had too many "cheats" along the way. So, starting today, I will be doing TNT Plan A. This means under 30G of carbs for four weeks, high protein, high fat. Then, I will transition into the next phase of TNT, which will include carb-loading one day a week. I am not going to track calories unless I see progress is slow.

Sounds good. If it helps with your motivation, you could use fitday.com but not worry that the calories/portions are accurate. That's the part that the PIA to me. If I can just log the foods to keep a log, that would be good.

The other alternative is the great a google spreadsheet and publish that. You could just list the meals every day in the spreadsheet. It helps two ways. 1. Allows you to go back and see what you did, to troublshoot later. 2. I guess there really is no second benefit.

[Lost Dog]

Rule discussion.

I think compliance to the diet is key.

Here's what I wrote before.

Maybe we could track the percentage of days on target (calories +/- and the percentage of meals on target (6 feedings per day * 21 days is 126 feedings, minus 9 blow its = 93% meal compliance). Add them up to see who comes out higher.

The two seem too close to the same thing, huh? But, it seems that you could be compliant with each and every meal and still be over or under your calories, carbs, protein, etc. on that day. So, we need both, I think.

For instance, my diet is low carb during the week, but there's a cal limitation for the day. On the weekends, I eat a lot more (mini-bulk, sorta), but I don't want to eat so much that I fatten up.

Also, number of meals can be variable, but I would suggest setting a limit on yourself. If you plan 5-6 meals per day, and then go six hours without food, you missed a meal. That brings your percentage down AND makes you non-compliant for the day, I think.

In my own meal example, I do 4 or 5 feedings, so the percentage of meal compliance would be adjusting on the fly. Not the end of the world.

If you go to a party and eat badly, that's going to bring down your percentage, unless it's one of your x number of "free" meals.

We'll have to figure the specifics, since some diets allow x number of free meals, others make you wait until two weeks for a free day. My diet, for instance, has no free meals, but after the workout on friday, I get to eat lots and lots of carbs. lots. But, if I eat a potato tonight, I'm hosed and my percentage of compliance will go down.

Anyone else have suggestions? Discuss.

On a side note, I don't want to have weight, fat %, etc. as part of the contest, but I'd be curious how we all do. I do think it's motivational to see others do well.

[L'ilJ]

I'm SO in...I just need to figure out my plan tonight and post it. I would love to do the anabolic diet along w/Tina, but I have a potentially heavy travel schedule over the next 6 weeks. This means I'll have to calorie count and calorie/carb cycle. I'm hoping it works.

Question for you guys. What happens if midway through the challenge the plan isn't showing results? Can we tweak the plan or are we committed?

I guess i also need to accomodate for possible cheat meals too. Is there a way for me to say I will have a total of 4 cheat meals throughout the challenge to accomodate unforseeable travel-related food disasters? I know, I am exhibited Sally-like tendancies right now, but I just need to make sure I can commit to the plan.

[L'ilJ]

Okay. I've mulled it over and I've come up with my plan. I'm going to follow a "sensible" plan that will hopefully help me lose the pounds I've put on this summer. The OLing I'm been doing just won't let me follow a low-carb diet. I just can't do the explosive moves on a low carb diet. So I'll be following a calorie/carb cycling plan that I cobbled together with the help of Leigh Peele and Alan Aragon's books.

My Plan: I will follow a calorie cycling plan that adjusts calories and macros according to the intensity and type of workout I do on a particular day. This is basically Leigh's plan, but I have added some elements of Alan too.

Hard Lifting Day (basically any day I do my OLing)
Calories = 15xTBW (target body weight)
Protein = 1gxTBW
Fat = 30-35% of total
Carbs = whatever is left over

Easier Lifting Day
Calories = 13xTBW
Protein = 1gxTBW
Fat = 30-35% of total
Carbs = whatever is left over

Hard Cardio Day
Calories = 12xTBW
Protein = 1gxTBW
Fat = 30-35% of total
Carbs = whatever is left over

Easier Cardio Day
Calories = 11xTBW
Protein = 1.2gxTBW
Fat = whatever is left over
Carbs = 10-15% of total

Off Day
Calories = 10xTBW
Protein = 1.2-1.6xTBW
Fat = whatever is left over
Carbs = LOW

Cheat Meals
I'm alloting myself a total of 6 cheat meals during the course of this challenge. I may use all of them in one week, or I may use none of them. I just want the flexibility to have them due to my very hectic travel schedule.

I will take measurements but won't post them unless there's some sort of tie-breaker situation (I hope not!). I hope this isn't overly complicated! I'm tracking my food in FitDay and will probably post a link once I get it going.

If after two weeks I see no progress, I may re-evaluate and adjust calories. I hope this isn't the case though.

[Lost Dog]

IMO, anyone can change diet plans, calorie levels, macro levels, etc. if they need to. If it's not working, you need to change something. Don't flounder!

Tweaks or mods are allowed. Just not retroactively... Jill!

[Lost Dog]

mmmm... flounder...

[tkinsley]

Originally Posted by Lost Dog

Rule discussion.

I think compliance to the diet is key.

Here's what I wrote before.



The two seem too close to the same thing, huh? But, it seems that you could be compliant with each and every meal and still be over or under your calories, carbs, protein, etc. on that day. So, we need both, I think.

For instance, my diet is low carb during the week, but there's a cal limitation for the day. On the weekends, I eat a lot more (mini-bulk, sorta), but I don't want to eat so much that I fatten up.

Also, number of meals can be variable, but I would suggest setting a limit on yourself. If you plan 5-6 meals per day, and then go six hours without food, you missed a meal. That brings your percentage down AND makes you non-compliant for the day, I think.

In my own meal example, I do 4 or 5 feedings, so the percentage of meal compliance would be adjusting on the fly. Not the end of the world.

If you go to a party and eat badly, that's going to bring down your percentage, unless it's one of your x number of "free" meals.

We'll have to figure the specifics, since some diets allow x number of free meals, others make you wait until two weeks for a free day. My diet, for instance, has no free meals, but after the workout on friday, I get to eat lots and lots of carbs. lots. But, if I eat a potato tonight, I'm hosed and my percentage of compliance will go down.

Anyone else have suggestions? Discuss.

On a side note, I don't want to have weight, fat %, etc. as part of the contest, but I'd be curious how we all do. I do think it's motivational to see others do well.

Absolutely agree. I don't know if I'm going to need 4 or 5 meals for all this fat that I have to eat, so I am going to make that decision tomorrow after following it for a day. However, I think that number of planned meals, macros, and calories--they are ALL a part of compliance, and if you're not hitting your goals, then... you're not friggin compliant!

This isn't a warm n fuzzy challenge--I'm more in the ballz out mode right now.

So.

IMO--if you're not tracking calories, they don't count... but something has to be measurable in more than one dimension to truly assess compliance. Personally, I will be tracking every damned thing, and if I'm off by more than the tolerances I gave earlier in this thread, I'm not getting a check for the meal.

I am SUCH a rigid bitch sometimes....

Jill, lookin' good, ma'am.

Roland--go eat, would ya?

Let the games begin!

[Lost Dog]

My plan is this. A modified version of Kelly Baggett's No Bull Muscle Gain Plan. While out of the box, the plan is a bulking plan designed to keep you lean, it's easily modified to to in either direction. I used Kelly's plan about a year ago to go from 180 up to 205 with very little fat gain. There was some, but after that bulk, I dropped down to 185 and was far leaner than I'd ever been at 175 or 180 before. So, it does work. Like anything that hasn't got a uni-directional focus, with this plan you're not going to see the fastest muscle gains or the fastest fat loss, but I would like to be bigger, but never want to be fat again. So, slow is good. Plus, I get to eat pretty solid for three days and only "diet" for four or five. And, those are on work days, with plenty of distractions.

His 7 day plan is 2.5 days of fat loss and 4.5 days of muscle gain. I shifted it to 2.5 days of muscle gain and 4.5 days of fat loss. Of course within either plan you can mess with calorie levels, too.

The challenge I've had with this plan, is struggling not to "over bulk" on the weekends. The sudden influx of carbs has me craving more and more. It's terrible (but delicious). I need to keep that to a minimum. This is the first time I've set a calorie plan/level on bulk days, to keep things under control.

In the spreadsheet (in my sig, called "Sally Free" Diet Plan), you can see the levels I've chosen to start out with. These are straight out of the book (there's a range). I picked a middle number, on both bulking and cutting sides. I might need to drop cals on the cutting end. I'll evaluate after my first week and let you all know before I make a change.

The diet does not allow for cheat meals (since you get plenty to eat come the bulk days), so anything I eat has to fit into my calories. They are pretty damn low, so things like dessert are out and will certainly put me over the ~75g of net carbs allowed on a low carb day.

Oh, if you scroll down in the spreadsheet, you can see the Harris Benedict formula. That's so my mom won't worry if I'm undereating on the low days. Wouldn't want her to think I'm starving myself.

Not part of the contest, but the type of workout for each day is listed, too. The actual workout plan isn't finished. The only parts totally planned out are the hypertrophy workouts on Friday-Sunday. The rest is mostly GPP, Intervals, and cardio, which will be Ross-like in their style, if not their intensity.

[Lost Dog]

Originally Posted by tkinsley

IMO--if you're not tracking calories, they don't count... but something has to be measurable in more than one dimension to truly assess compliance. Personally, I will be tracking every damned thing, and if I'm off by more than the tolerances I gave earlier in this thread, I'm not getting a check for the meal.

I am SUCH a rigid bitch sometimes....

Lost Dog likes bitches.

I'll go for your "within 5% of calories," too.

My P number is a minimum for all days. On low carb days, C is the maximum. For high carb days, I really just need to control myself. The C and F numbers just need to be in the ballpark. No biggie if they are off a bit on those days. The diet just says to make sure to eat plenty. I can do that.

I'll be using fitday. I'll put the link in my sig, too. The only thing squirrely is that I"m supposed to go with net carbs and not count the calories of the fiber. Fitday don't play that way. I think the +/-5% will cover the carb calories, but if everything else is inline I'll have to manually do the math to make sure I'm good. This is probably insignificant, huh? We're talking 100 calories in 25g fiber? But, that's the 5%, right there.

[gobbla]

I'm like a thoroughbred at a donkey race. I'll beat all your asses.

2k - 2,300 calorie window 40/30/30 protein/carb/fat x 5 days a week

2 "off" days w\ no macro count 3k cal ceiling

[SpacecityPaula]

Okay Here's my initial plan 2000 calories a day thru Thursday. When I get back to Houston, I'll be cycling my calories based on the recommendations Leigh made

2000 Calories on Lifting Days
1800 Calories on Cardio days
1650 on Off Days
With a 2300 calorie Refeed every 10 days.

Alcohol is not allowed.

I won't be able to do measurements until I get back to Houston unless I can find a Drugstore and get my hands on a tape measure.

[Lost Dog]

Good morning, losers.

[tkinsley]

Ha! Cuuute, Roland.

OK, so far we have just a few die-hards: myself, Jill, Roland, Tony, Paula, and Jane. SIX people?!?!?

If anyone else is interested, get yer butts in here pronto. We're off!