^ lol that is one of the girliest answers i have read

kidding.

in the beginning, it's hard to move away from the things you like (fruit and chocolate) but the longer you go without it, the less you miss it and think about it. i looooooove chocolate but i can't have it anymore and in the beginning it was really hard but now i don't really miss it that much or think about it.

4/11/2012 1:20:54 PM

I'm not going to say no to carbs all the time...just some of the time.

IIFYM (If it fits your macros). If you're at 1800 calories for the day with a target of 2400, and you already got enough protein, go ahead and eat a chocolate chip cookie. You might lose a little more fat if you don't, but you can still run a deficit.

Sacrifice has to come at some point. The stricter you stay the sooner your results will come. If you're the type that cheats once, then cheats 10 more times because you "ruined your diet", then it's time to confront that silly mindset head on.

[Edited on April 11, 2012 at 1:53 PM. Reason : ]

4/11/2012 1:53:16 PM

If you want to cut chocolate out of your diet, I know a guy...

4/11/2012 2:48:18 PM

Quote :

"i like fruits and chocolate"

If the biggest problem in your diet is your fruit consumption is too high you are probably doing something right. As for chocolate, just don't go overboard, have a couple things of chocolate a week.

4/11/2012 4:23:21 PM

That was a joke answer obv, really I just dont like being so restricted on my foods. When I was aiming for 200g protein+ and under 180g carbs I was doing fine! It was just a lot more manageable. That's pretty much a diabetic carb daily intake anyways. At 100g or less carbs I get bad cravings and then go out w friends and order the wrong things and next thing you know it's been 3 weeks and no gains. Also I've lost a ton of strength and feel fat

4/11/2012 5:50:43 PM

You're probably just having a fat day. Don't worry we all have them.

4/11/2012 9:42:14 PM

hi hi hi ya'll

i just started back insanity today <3
i am TOTALLY out of shape >.<

4/11/2012 9:43:27 PM

You look great in all your pictures!! Good luck - I'm sure you'll be feeling it tomorrow

4/11/2012 9:56:17 PM

Been following a strict IF diet the past two weeks, really cleaned up my eating as well, and somehow I have actually managed to put on weight

I am really pretty stumped at this one, I am not tracking my calories but there is no way what I am eating is over maintenance for a 6'2" 230lb guy who regularly exercises. I am eating a lot cleaner than I was previously and I am eating less so the math should equate to losing weight. I am looking better by the mirror test but I really want to lose 15-20lbs because I definitely have plenty to spare.

4/12/2012 9:49:21 PM

Probably water weight. Stick with it another 3 weeks, you'll get the whoosh soon trust me.

4/13/2012 7:28:04 AM

Definitely going to give it at least a month. Was really surprised though, I figured at my weight I would be down about 5 lbs two weeks in.

4/13/2012 9:32:23 AM

What's your carb intake look like? "Eating Cleaner" is pretty nebulous. Do have an idea of your macro-nutrient profile? That is what is most important.

How do you feel? Generally well? Or Stressed? Sleep OK?

If you are IFing and sticking to meats and vegetables (minimal starches), I will be very surprised and skeptical you haven't lost anything.

4/13/2012 10:34:39 AM

my weight loss has plateaued for the past 2 weeks... still around 225. I also haven't been hitting the gym as often (only about 2 times per week) and I had a week vacation last week where i got off my normal eating routine.

that being said, when i don't go to the gym i'm still doing pushups, lunges, "planks", pull ups, and a few other exercises sprinkled in to compensate.

hopefully my weight loss kicks back into gear soon. (and yes, I know the scale isn't the whole story... i've significantly increased my fluid intake this past week so I'm sure that has had an effect)

4/13/2012 10:45:06 AM

Yeah mainly sticking to meats and vegetables with some fruit thrown in. Next to no grains. Other than meat and vegetables I have been eating things like almonds and other nuts, peanut butter, Greek yogurt, protein shakes, etc. Been eating only from 12-8, energy and everything else feels the same as before (nothing tremendous one way or the other)

This isn't my first rodeo, I have cut before doing about the same thing with great results which is why this seems odd. Normally my first month of cutting I can shred at least 2lbs a week, especially starting at 230.

4/13/2012 11:13:57 AM

for real ths time...

Boot Camp
Saturday, 4/14
9am
2700 Wycliff Road
$free for 1st timers

4/13/2012 6:52:49 PM

^^ cut the nuts. Nuts are bad for trying to lose weight. Very high in fat without the benefits of satiety. People overeat them all the time.

Make sure the fruits you are eating are very low on the glycemic index and substitute more vegetables for fruit if possible. You want leafy vegetables not starchy ones.


Can you break your fast at 1 PM or 2 PM instead of 12 PM? You'd be surprised how easy this adjustment is to make (just move it 30 mins each day) assuming your lunch schedule is flexible at work.

Drink a lot more water. It helps satiety and it will force you to shed water weight immediately. If nothing else it will feel good to see your weight dropping on the scale.

Add caffeine if you haven't already. Continue lifting heavy weights (less volume but hard sets, particularly bodyweight exercises like pullups). Add BCAA during the fast if you haven't already. I assume you're already using whey.

Intermittent Fasting is a great way to preserve muscle so the ultimate "weight" loss may not be as fast and furious but the fat loss is.

4/13/2012 9:03:03 PM

There is nothing wrong with nuts, especially almonds, or the fat in them. There is no way I am eating 2500+ calories and there is no way a 25 year old, healthy, active male with a decent amount of muscle mass weighing 230lbs at 6'1"-6'2" has their maintenance calories below that.

4/13/2012 11:58:41 PM

You're the one who said you're not losing weight, so obviously something is off. My suggestion would be to cut the nuts, they're not good for losing weight they are too high in fat.

230g protein = 920 calories.

50g carb = 200 calories.

80g fat = 720 calories


1,840 calories.

If you're not dropping weight after 2 weeks eating that little then you are doing something wrong.

Quote :

" Nuts, protein bars and dried fruit Nuts in all their various forms are the most overrated and overhyped foods in the “health conscious” community. Just because it’s a natural food doesn’t mean it’s all that diet friendly or even healthy for that matter. Packing a higher calorie density than chocolate, it’s no big mystery that people easily overdo it with nuts. Some people rationalize a high nut consumption by saying it’s a healthy and natural snack, but this is wrong. Nuts contain an incomplete amino acid profile and consist mostly of plant fats. The westernized diet is already highly unbalanced in the omega 3: omega 6-ratio—the polyunsaturated fats from nuts certainly won’t help. Optimize the fat composition of your diet by kicking nuts to the curb and add more fish, that’s my recommendation. You’ll be more satiated and healthier to boot. A protein bar is nothing more than a chocolate bar with slightly higher protein content and crappier taste. A whopping 300 calories for a bar that you’ll gulf down in a few minutes is crazy. For most women that amount makes up about ¼-1/5 of the daily total calorie intake needed to lose fat efficiently. Besides that, eating protein bars to up your protein intake isn’t a great strategy as a bar’s protein content makes up only about 30-40% of its calories. You could down half a Snickers bar and a protein shake, and end up consuming fewer calories with a better nutritional breakdown than having your typical protein bar. Protein bars are nothing more than glamorized candy. And you don’t eat candy on a regular basis if you want to optimize fat loss and diet adherence. Unprocessed fruit is good, but dried fruit including dried apricots, dates and raisins are just sugar lumps with some extra fiber. These snacks have high calorie density and tend to stimulate hunger rather than quench it. Out of the three popular snacks discussed here, dried fruit may just be the worst of the lot. You don’t want or need them on a fat loss diet."

4/14/2012 1:50:47 AM

Ran the Cary Road Race 10K this morning in 52 minutes

I'm waiting to see if I placed for my age group. Fingers crossed!

4/14/2012 9:50:43 AM

Awesome job Cass!!

4/14/2012 12:14:04 PM

breakfast:

1 scoop protein shake w/skim milk (yum)
1 banana

egg scramble thingy

3 eggs w/yolk
reduced fat cheddar cheese
deli sliced turkey breast
1/4c oatmeal

mix all that together, eat. Actually was pretty good. I was wondering how tasty dry oatmeal would be but it cooked in and made the meal taste a bit more like an egg casserole rather than just scrambled eggs

all together...
30g fat
63g carbs
57g protein
734 calories


pretty loaded meal, i feel full.

off to the gym to burn it out

4/14/2012 12:25:35 PM

so i bought this french vanilla almond granola at the grocery store (earth fare) yesterday. Absolutely the bomb granola, loved it. I got a 1/2 cup and woofed it down pretty quick. Then I checked the nutrition label and I had just consumed 250 calories and a ton of carbs. But I still felt good, didn't panic, cause I can work it off. I earned it!


Then i realized that when I got a half cup what I actually got was a half pound and I ate 1000 calories and 160g carbs....

[Edited on April 14, 2012 at 5:49 PM. Reason : lol]

4/14/2012 5:48:41 PM

You'll burn more fat if you go to the gym before you eat and eat huge afterwards...

Also for protein shakes they're better if you put the banana and peanut butter in them. But neither of those foods are good when cutting

4/15/2012 2:33:41 AM

Me, after a little over three years of eating healthy and working out almost daily, still in search of the elusive six pack.

4/16/2012 8:40:38 PM

not bad dude, always good that you've been sticking with it. I wouldn't worry about the 6 pack, totally overrated

4/17/2012 10:19:00 AM

^ says the man who worries about his carb intake

you look great!!!! keep it up

4/17/2012 10:36:35 AM

worry, yes

obey, hell no

4/17/2012 10:42:55 AM

Abs aren't overrated, they are just hard to acheive if you want to maintain a modicum of strength.

4/17/2012 12:29:04 PM

You can be plenty strong and still have abs. You're not going to win any weightlifting competitions, but I've put really big numbers in the past and was still able to maintain my leanness.

Keep shooting for that 6-pack.

4/17/2012 12:33:08 PM

4/17/2012 12:44:58 PM

^ Konstantin Konstantinovs Is hardly someone the average joe can compare himself to. The dude is a mutant freak and has used AAS.

Quote :

"You can be plenty strong and still have abs. You're not going to win any weightlifting competitions, but I've put really big numbers in the past and was still able to maintain my leanness."

In your opinion, what are really big numbers?





[Edited on April 17, 2012 at 1:08 PM. Reason : vid]

4/17/2012 1:01:49 PM

konstantin is a freak of nature.

4/17/2012 1:04:07 PM

He's pretty fucking badass.

4/17/2012 1:11:03 PM

Grass is greener. Be happy with what you're good at. Porcha put it best when he said make healthy choices you can be happy and consistent with. The media has placed perverted ideals into our minds regarding body image. I'll never be 180 lbs but at least I'm not 135lbs anymore.

0.02$

When do pools open???

4/17/2012 1:13:02 PM

4/17/2012 1:22:42 PM

^I heard Mariusz got that physique from a crossfit-p90x hybrid program, while doing paleo.

4/17/2012 1:42:35 PM

Quote :

"In your opinion, what are really big numbers?"

Obviously it's limited to your actual size, but I was pushing 300 lbs on bench when I was in college and still had a 6-pack. My weight fluctuated between 160 and 165. Never really got to 300...did 295 once and hit 285/290 on a consistent basis. I never went too high on squats because I had a tweaked left knee from soccer, but my leg press numbers were pretty big as well.

4/17/2012 1:53:40 PM

Quote :

"^I heard Mariusz got that physique from a crossfit-p90x hybrid program, while doing paleo GEAR and lots of it."

He's still a genetic freak of nature

[Edited on April 17, 2012 at 2:04 PM. Reason : ~]

4/17/2012 2:03:20 PM

Quote :

"^I heard Mariusz got that physique from a crossfit-p90x hybrid program, while doing paleo."

I loled

4/17/2012 2:21:40 PM

295 bench @ 165lbs body weight is pretty impressive. I'd like to see a video of that.

That is competitive power lifting territory for a raw, natural federation.

4/17/2012 3:08:18 PM

I'm sure jbrick has archival footage of all his lifts and will be happy to provide a sample.

4/17/2012 3:11:37 PM

^ ha...exactly. That was eight years ago. I've only got witnesses. All I can say that it was extremely satisfying when I was able to get that 35 lb plate on there...but equally frustrating when adding that baby 2.5 lb plate ended up in failure!

4/17/2012 3:33:12 PM

took my stats today

5'9"
weight: 128
hips: 36"
thighs (this is my one spot i really obsess over): 21"

body fat: 18.8%
muscle percentage: 37%

i was really happy to see that my body fat is low

i was really surprised to see my muscle mass is so high.

this is good and bad.
good because my size is muscle.
bad because.....my size is muscle ahahaha

im gonna try a few different things.


once again those thighs get me

4/17/2012 4:35:41 PM

Buddy of mine hit 360lbs on the bench at a raw meet at 165 (Texas state record). Guy is a freaking animal but only competes in bench.

4/17/2012 4:36:13 PM

HOW DID I MISS THIS EPIC MOMENT IN TWW HISTORY?

4/17/2012 4:36:32 PM

Quote :

"Buddy of mine hit 360lbs on the bench at a raw meet at 165 (Texas state record). Guy is a freaking animal but only competes in bench."

Did he have a shirt on? If raw, that is a hell of a lift.

I have a love-hate relationship with the bench. It seems to be my least strongest lift, compared to my squat/overhead press/dead lift. But, I really enjoy doing it. My technique needs work, I lower the bar too damn slow making it harder than it needs to be.

4/17/2012 4:41:03 PM

When I was working out at Carmichael, there was a 170lb dude throwing up 400+ lbs. I was told he was the US record holder in his division, but I never checked up on it. I never saw him put that much while I was there, but he had 6 plates and then some on his bar all the time.

My weightlifting PE professor told me I had the upper body for to do some serious damage on the bench. When we combined our exercises for a grade, I did all lower body and the bench and got an A...which was really difficult in the weightlifting class. 95% of the class took it credit only.

That's all. I just do push-ups now!

[Edited on April 17, 2012 at 5:16 PM. Reason : .]

4/17/2012 5:14:22 PM

started up crossfit, hoping that'll help me get rid of some bodyfat along with my running that I do.

I do need to hit the weights at the regular gym more often, but with doing crossfit 3 times per week, I wonder, should I hit the gym on my crossfit "off" days?

4/17/2012 5:33:09 PM

Quote :

"Did he have a shirt on? If raw, that is a hell of a lift. I have a love-hate relationship with the bench. It seems to be my least strongest lift, compared to my squat/overhead press/dead lift. But, I really enjoy doing it. My technique needs work, I lower the bar too damn slow making it harder than it needs to be."

No shirt, guy is a freak. Worked out with him once and was sore for a week.

4/17/2012 5:56:46 PM

So I am still having some hip pain (in the exact same spot, it never moves or radiates) after cutting out almost all physical activity (which makes me because I am restless some days)


I was considering doing some old taekwondo moves and kicks tonight just to get some activity in this week (besides kickball) - is that a bad idea? (Probably, but I might still do it to test what movement really makes the pain worse)


And now my fucking elbow hurts but I think that's from lifting my heavy ass school bag.

4/17/2012 6:23:39 PM