These pics are from about 2 months ago....





In pics

5'7''
170lbs
12-13% body fat

Now:
175lbs
12-13% bf

I'd estimate i've gained 2-3lbs of muscle and 2-3lbs of fat. My lifts are going up steadily.

I'm hoping to be way more jacked by summer '11 and hopefully dead lifting 500, squatting 400 and benching 300 all under 200lbs in bw.

10/17/2010 4:59:29 PM

"Clean eating" is a lot of bullshit... A lot of people who do it are fanatical/dogmatic about it.

Organic meats and vege's maybe better for you in the long term. However, it mainly boils down to calories in vs calories out.

I use intermittent fasting and eat very high protein. I don't really fret about carbs/fat. The only thing I do focus on is gorging myself post workout and enduring hunger during my fasts or maintaining a slight hunger on my off days. I tend to have more carbs on training days and more fat on off days.

My method isn't for everyone, but it is a very flexible way to eat. If you know and follow the correct principles you can recomp your body over time pretty easily.

Shoot me a message if you are interested in training or nutritional consultation as I am a personal trainer.

10/17/2010 5:05:57 PM

Everyone should fit their own routine and diet to whatever works for them.

Herschel Walker does 750-1000 pushups and 2500 situps each morning, trains for 7-8 hours, and only eats one meal a day. He never uses weights to train. On top of that, he's a vegetarian, and that meal will often consist of just a salad. Sometimes he goes two or three days without eating, and he sleeps only 4 hours a night.



Not that this would work for most people, but the point is that everyone is different. Also, he's 48.

[Edited on October 18, 2010 at 1:07 AM. Reason : kj]

10/18/2010 1:07:01 AM

^Can we even classify him as human?

10/18/2010 4:38:34 AM

Do the other Herschels eat his other meals?

10/18/2010 6:05:10 AM

Herschel is a genetic freak. If those stats are true, and he is not on any type of anabolic steroids, he must have super human protein synthesis abilities.

You are right that the best training/eating strategy is the one that works for you... However, there are certain general principles that work the best for almost everyone... And, doing thousands of movements each morning, training 7-8 hours, eating like a vegan and only sleeping 4 hours a night doesn't work for anyone except a genetic freak (and anything will work for him).

10/18/2010 9:03:39 AM

Quote :

""Clean eating" is a lot of bullshit... A lot of people who do it are fanatical/dogmatic about it. Organic meats and vege's maybe better for you in the long term. However, it mainly boils down to calories in vs calories out. I use intermittent fasting and eat very high protein. I don't really fret about carbs/fat. The only thing I do focus on is gorging myself post workout and enduring hunger during my fasts or maintaining a slight hunger on my off days. I tend to have more carbs on training days and more fat on off days. My method isn't for everyone, but it is a very flexible way to eat. If you know and follow the correct principles you can recomp your body over time pretty easily. Shoot me a message if you are interested in training or nutritional consultation as I am a personal trainer."

What do you think about the paleo diet? All my personal trainer/crossfit friends preach it.

10/18/2010 10:01:19 AM

Quote :

""Clean eating" is a lot of bullshit... A lot of people who do it are fanatical/dogmatic about it. Organic meats and vege's maybe better for you in the long term. However, it mainly boils down to calories in vs calories out. I use intermittent fasting and eat very high protein. I don't really fret about carbs/fat. The only thing I do focus on is gorging myself post workout and enduring hunger during my fasts or maintaining a slight hunger on my off days. I tend to have more carbs on training days and more fat on off days. My method isn't for everyone, but it is a very flexible way to eat. If you know and follow the correct principles you can recomp your body over time pretty easily. Shoot me a message if you are interested in training or nutritional consultation as I am a personal trainer. "

The bolded part of your statement is very interesting to me. I do believe that it's calories in vs calories out for short-term weight loss goals. However, for overall fitness (the things that aren't apparent to the naked eye), you do have to follow a fairly clean diet if you want a level of health that you can sustain for a lifetime.

The scale and body fat indicators only tell a portion of the story. But cholesterol (HDL and LDL), blood pressure and blood glucose can indicate future health problems that can arise as we enter our 40s and 50s ... or earlier, for some.

Then again, genetics is a pretty big factor in these things. Obesity, high cholesterol and high blood pressure run rampant in my family. So I have to be extra careful. Hence why I'm currently pescetarian and probably going vegan in the near future.

[Edited on October 18, 2010 at 10:22 AM. Reason : e]

10/18/2010 10:10:48 AM

at the end of june i posted that my 1 rep deadlift max was up to 370. i was able to hit 385 for 4 reps in multiple sets on friday!!!

10/18/2010 11:14:09 AM

Nice! What have you been doing differently? Working out more? Eating better?

10/18/2010 11:27:29 AM

not much different than what i was doing. i hired a pro bodybuilder to train me for august and september. he mixed up my workout split, tweaked my supplementation, and gave me some additional advice on what i was already doing for my diet.

other than that ive already been training 5 days a week for over a year now.

10/18/2010 11:31:34 AM

Quote :

"Then again, genetics is a pretty big factor in these things."

But remember, environment usually plays a large role in genetics and obesity

10/18/2010 11:36:04 AM

^^ Very cool! Are you done with the trainer now? Do you have sample workouts to maintain your progress?

^ Of course. It's a fascinating matrix of factors. I'm glad I at least live in a somewhat healthy environment. Great neighborhood for walking ... and my roommate is pescetarian. These help.

[Edited on October 18, 2010 at 11:42 AM. Reason : d]

10/18/2010 11:39:18 AM

The paleo diet is pretty good, mainly because it focuses on eating high in high quality protein (organic meats) and reduces processed foods (which are generally high carb and highly dense in calories.) Plus focusing on vege's ensures adequate micro nutrients. It's generally hard to overeat on meat and vegetables too.

If you get your protein in (~1g/1lb of BW), train right/hard and eat slightly above maintenance; you should experience a body re-composition and muscle gain slowly but steadily. Using intermittent fasting will definitely enhance the odds of this happening.

Eating high quality/organic foods seems to be healthier for the long run. However, I think the biggest impact comes from a non-sedentary lifestyle and not eating at a huge calorie surplus... Fasting has been shown to improve a lot of health markers, regardless of diet type. For that reason I recommend everyone to try their hand at the different fasting methods and seeing how they respond after about a month or two.

The biggest thing people need to realize that transforming your body takes a long time and dedication to consistent, progressive improvement in your training.

[Edited on October 18, 2010 at 11:49 AM. Reason : words]

10/18/2010 11:46:59 AM

What are some of the fasting methods that you recommend? I've never attempted to fast. Though I have a history of fainting when my blood sugar gets too low/when I skip meals.

What's the overall benefit of a fast? Detox?

10/18/2010 11:55:22 AM

leangains.com has a pretty good method... It is a 16hour fast with an 8 hour feeding window. He recommends getting a large majority of your calories post work out. Focusing on a strength based training, and low impact cardio (walking in the mornings fasted.)

There does seem to be a bit of an adaptation period if you are insulin resistant and have had a high carb diet for a significant amount of time. Most average Americans are addicted to sugar, and you can go through some withdraw/cravings if you are not used to going extended amount of time without eating. You will adapt and become more comfortable with it though.

Fasting has been found to promote:

-Decreased body fat & body weight
-Maintenance of skeletal muscle mass
-Decreased blood glucose levels
-Decreased insulin levels & increased insulin sensitivity
-Increased lipolysis & fat oxidation
-Increased Uncoupling Protein 3 mRNA
-Increased norepinephrine & epinephrine levels
-Increased Glucagon levels
-Increased growth hormone levels.

I pulled that info from an ebook about intermittent fasting (eat stop eat), he says its all from peer reviewed studies, but doesn't list them though. You may want to do a little searching yourself.

10/18/2010 1:16:54 PM

Herchel Walker is also a mental case and they are just a lot stronger than normals im sure he could stick to that shit without even struggling with it

normal people couldnt stick to that and it cant be healthy


but i wouldnt say it to his face. His body is insane for an old coot lol

[Edited on October 18, 2010 at 1:22 PM. Reason : .]

10/18/2010 1:21:04 PM

When do you guys normally have your 8 hours of eating?

What time of day?

10/18/2010 1:24:44 PM

Quote :

"^^ Very cool! Are you done with the trainer now? Do you have sample workouts to maintain your progress?"

i stopped sessions with the trainer but im continuing with the workout split and hiring him periodically to check in with my progress.

right now the training split is...
mon-shoulders, upper back
tue-legs
wed-rest
thurs-chest,tri
fri-lower back, hamstrings
sat-rest
sun-biceps,forearms, calves

my cardio sessions are separate from those and usually consist of 5-8 mile runs with abs tacked on.

i will be running the army 10-miler in DC this sunday.

ill also be continuing with the calorie requirements he laid out. ive been gaining 1lb a month on this diet.

10/18/2010 1:53:28 PM

Quote :

"When do you guys normally have your 8 hours of eating? What time of day?"

I am not too strict with it... It usually ranges between 8-10 hours. The most important thing, IMO, that you stay fasted through the morning and train fasted.

On training days, I wake up around 6:30am, have a cup of coffee with some heavy cream (~50cals, which hopefully doesn't kill my fast too bad), do some work until 830am then hit the gym from 845-10am. Have a PWO shake which is around 85g protein and maybe 100 carbs, then I have pancakes and eggs about 1-2 hours later. This eating window will last 8-10 hours. I try to get 60-75% of my calories and protein within 3 hours of training.

On my non-training days, I try not to eat til 11-12pm. I also try to maintain a slight hunger all day to help burn off body fat.

I don't really count calories at all. Only thing I count is protein to make sure I am getting around 1g/1lb everyday.

This may sound pretty complex and hard to follow, but for me it's pretty relaxed and easy to follow. Sometimes stuffing my face post workout is hard though.

10/18/2010 1:56:29 PM

Thanks! That sounds simple enough

I'm gonna give it a shot

I'm gonna try to eat between 12 and 8 pm and train in the mornings.

We'll see how it goes

10/18/2010 2:03:01 PM

I do something similar, except I fast until 1PM (workout is usually 11:30)

the only thing I take pre-workout is some BCAA's. After my workout, I try to get 50-80% of my calories and then usually the rest will be divided among 1-2 more meals....I also follow Paleo, which makes eating 3000cals a day really fun (some sarcasm)

10/18/2010 2:05:23 PM

I didn't realize that was still considered fasting.

That's easy enough. During the week, I usually eat breakfast around 10 or 10:30, then dinner at 5 or 6. I can't eat much later than that because it gives me insomnia.

Weekends, however, are a different story. Breakfast at 1 pm. haha

10/18/2010 2:42:13 PM

I'm a big fan of fasting and think it is one of the superior dieting methods... I'm a little biased since it seems to work well for me individually.

It annoys the hell out of me when people tell me I am going to whither away and die, or that my metabolism is going to shut down, if I don't eat 5-8 meals a day with a meal every 2 hours. There's no scientific backing for those claims at all.

My theory that why you never hear this method being touted by most health and fitness gurus is that there is no product to sell if you are telling people to eat less or just eat less often. No profit = no reason to promote/sell something.

Extending this theory... That's why I think a lot of conventional nutritionists and the food pyramid are a crock of shit. The government subsidizes the production of grains and makes it extremely profitable to produce processed foods. Since it's so profitable, studies are funded to find specific outcomes that will encourage people to consume said profitable products. Also, lobbyist keep the subsidies coming to the production of grains.

This is one of the reasons for the obesity epidemic in America. Twinkies are cheaper than carrots. Coke is cheaper than bottled water. WTF is up with that?

There's so much money in processed foods and grains that you will probably never hear our government admitting to the potential health hazards of them.

Evidence that is found that is contrary to what is profitable doesn't get any attention or promotion so barely anyone learns about it.

/end my theory on why fasting is not promoted at large.

[Edited on October 18, 2010 at 4:03 PM. Reason : my grammar sucks]

10/18/2010 4:00:25 PM

fasting makes you short

10/18/2010 6:20:45 PM

The concept of IF really interest me but my rotating shifts don't seem too conducive.

10/18/2010 11:50:23 PM

Quote :

"Organic meats and vege's maybe better for you in the long term. However, it mainly boils down to calories in vs calories out."

Funny... I remember you getting on my ass when I said it was just cals in/out.

10/19/2010 9:38:02 AM

I'm still trying to understand that quote....why are we comparing quality with quantity?

10/19/2010 1:22:40 PM

how do you feel about apples and oranges?

10/19/2010 2:04:56 PM

^
Quality

10/19/2010 6:26:14 PM

About 40 minutes of kettlebells today. Straight beat. AND I GOT A JOB!!!!!!!!

10/19/2010 7:17:23 PM

0.25 mile, 8 burpees, x 5 rounds - sore

10/19/2010 8:05:57 PM

i just ate 3 oatmeal cookies with quite a bit of icing.

had to be like 800 - 1000 cals.


shall be an EXTREMELY light dinner tonight

[Edited on October 20, 2010 at 11:09 AM. Reason : hjk]

10/20/2010 11:01:41 AM

Had a Big Mac combo for lunch - supersized. I'm still trying to get that elusive Boardwalk Monopoly piece. I've been eating McDonald's almost every day for the past few weeks. The good news is that I'm closer to my target weight of 205. The bad news is that I'm gaining fat, not muscle.

Back to work.

10/20/2010 3:58:38 PM

all you have to do is work out, burn some calories and you can eat again

preferrably not cookies or value meals though

10/20/2010 5:11:21 PM

it's okay to indulge every once in awhile, but keep your goals in mind

[Edited on October 20, 2010 at 5:12 PM. Reason : ]

10/20/2010 5:11:21 PM

so i was eating some cereal (today ive been extra hungry for whatever reason, so i'm going with it )
they were in plastic bags i had portioned out a month or so ago (i tend to portion out stuff beforehand or ill eat the whole box )

i was eating it dry gobbling it up while i study. it's eziekiel and looks a lot like grape nuts so im pinching it up and eating it. i get about 1/2 through the bag and notice something weird.

when i realized what it was i gagged and dropped the bag. there were little moth larvae everywhere in it!
i counted like 6 in 1/2 of the bag i had left.
no telling how many i ate






BLECHHHH!!

[Edited on October 20, 2010 at 5:41 PM. Reason : are they high in protein?]

10/20/2010 5:40:23 PM

^ That sucks. Sometimes when I bust out the fruit like raspberries or strawberries, I'll start eating and then realize a couple at the bottom have mold on them and I basically want to puke.

10/20/2010 5:51:06 PM

funny thing is we've developed a moth problem in the past month in the pantry and we we've been slowly trying to figure out where



[Edited on October 20, 2010 at 5:55 PM. Reason : heh]

10/20/2010 5:54:42 PM

but larvae are high in protein!!!

10/20/2010 5:59:50 PM

I had the same Moth problem in my pantry. They can burrow into sealed plastic bags.

Flypaper kills the moths pretty quickly, but the only way to find the larvae is by looking through your food. Carefully.

Those moth larvae are burrowing their way into your brain right about now

10/20/2010 6:03:43 PM

^^read the edit

^ahahhah i think they did that a while back judging from my test grades

ill take some pics tonight lols

[Edited on October 20, 2010 at 6:04 PM. Reason : sdnkfas]

10/20/2010 6:04:00 PM

You may have to throw out like ... everything. I had a problem with them a couple years ago and would try to just throw out stuff that I found them in, but they kept appearing in new stuff until I just ditched everything in my pantry and sanitized it to death.

10/21/2010 9:21:40 AM

Quote :

"funny thing is we've developed a moth problem in the past month in the pantry"

we did too. they're mostly gone now. mostly.

10/21/2010 9:23:10 AM

^^really? we really dont have the $$ to be buying new stuff. ill see what we can do....

10/21/2010 9:30:17 AM

You can throw stuff that looks pest-free in the freezer for a few days, packaging and all, to kill any eggs that may be hiding. So I guess you don't have to throw it all out, but just throwing out the stuff in the pantry that I could see bugs in didn't work for me. Those things are good at hiding.

10/21/2010 9:38:28 AM

sweet, we may try that.



thanks

10/21/2010 9:42:59 AM

maybe the box was sold to you like that?

10/21/2010 1:43:08 PM

nah i doubt it. its been in there for a month or so and the moths started before that.

10/21/2010 3:14:48 PM

that's some fuckin Bear Grylls shit right there Joie

congratulations

10/21/2010 4:59:44 PM