Mr Brittas's Journal - ****NEW PICS on PG-32****

Did 40 mins cardio on Wednesday morning but didn't get to the gym at lunch time because of emergancies at work.
 
So I tried to do a double session today but came home at lunch time because of the snow so I'm still missing a session.
 
I went to the gym this morning and did shoulders.  In my opinion, the easiest muscle to train on a morning.  I must've got my breakfast just right because I felt awsome. 
 
Shoulders
 
Smith machine military press    3 x 8            30kg (not inc bar), 35kg, 40kg
Standing Behind neck press     3 x 8            35kg, 40kg, 40kg
Side lat raises                          3 x 10          8kg, 10kg, 12kg
Rear flies                                  3 x 10           6kg, 8kg, 10kg
 
Felt good!
 
Now I'm left with my legs and arms to train and only Friday to do it in!  I could miss cardio in the morning, do my arms, and do legs at lunchtime.  But I want to get the cardio in so I think I'll do arms tomorrow, skip legs this week and train them on Monday.  So I've missed a leg session but the gap between them isn't too big to lose strength.
 
Thats if I get there with the snow

40 mins cardio this morning and some ab work.
 
Arms
 
BB curl            3 x 10            35kg, 35kg, 40kg
Hammers        3 x 10            14kg, 14kg, 16kg
 
CGBP (smith)  3 x 10            30kg (not inc bar), 35kg, 40kg
Dips                3 x 10            BW for all
Skulls              3 x 10            25kg, 25kg, 25kg
 
Big down side to this week is the fact that I've totally missed by legs out.  The only real option I've got is to train them on Monday.
 
Big up side is, that I felt awsome in the gym today.  I dug an old vest out that I've not worn for years and it's a muscle back style.  I thought my lats were a bit behind but my whole back looked good today under the gym lights.
 
I had my usual pre-cut feelings about wishing I was continuing to bulk, but there's no  way I'm going on holiday without abs!  I just have to accept that this year is all about being lean (with me having 2 holidays) and next year I can have a solid winter of bulking.
 
I'd better enjoy my food this weekend as the cut starts Monday!

The 8 week cut starts today!!!  And by sheer coincidence/luck, my parents booked the holiday at the weekend and we fly in 8 weeks time.  So my rough time plans were spot on.
 
Stats - 13st 1lb this morning.  About 16% BF the scales said (but I don't trust them).  I meant to take some pics, but I might do some tonight.  I hope to lose a stone and get the abs out.  I'm not too worried if I don't get super ripped as I've only given myself 8 weeks and we're going away in September which is my real goal to cut for this year.  Just to look half decent and have the abs showing will do.
 
So here's my plan....
 
Cardio - 55 mins (= 500 cals.... which is enough for me!), 4 days a week if possible.  I'd do all 5 but my wife is starting to work Fridays as of next week and I need to help get the little one up and ready.  Most weeks I should manage 4 sessions.  The only reason I won't is if I'm away with work or I have a really bad night with our son (who doesn't seem to like sleeping at the minute!).
 
As I've only managed 40 mins cardio so far, I'll work up to the 55 mins over this week and next.  I'm not going to worry about only getting 45/50 mins in as I work upto it.
 
Diet - I'm diving straight in with no carbs Monday - Saturday, with a refeed/cheat day on Sunday.  Possibly starting Saturday night if I'm going out or something.  I'm basing it on last years no carb diet, but making a few changes and adding a bit more fat in for fuel.  My workouts definitely suffered towards the end of my cut last year and I don't want that to happen this year.  If I'm not losing, I'll drop some fat.
 
So it looks a bit like this -
 
7am - double black coffee - 55 mins SSCV
8am - 25g whey + tblspoon peanut butter, in water
11am - tuna/chicken + 2 slices ham, bit of cheese, mayo (going to try and add some broccali in here)
12.30pm - train
1.15pm - 25g whey in water
2pm - Quark + tblspoon desicated coconut (blended into a shake)
4.30pm - tin of sardines
6.30pm/8pm (depends if we eat before our son goes to bed) - chicken salad/bollagnaise/chicken curry/beef stew (in other words, a normal meal but without carbs)
9.30pm - 25g whey + tblspoon peanut butter, in water (might miss this out depending how late I ate my evening meal and how much I had)
 
That comes in at about 2000 cals, 30g carbs, 210g protein and 110g fat.  But thats just counting some chicken for my evening meal.  I'm guessing there'd easily be another 200 - 300 cals from sauces, fat, cheese etc when I make different meals. 
 
I'll run the diet for a couple of weeks and if I'm not losing I'll break down some of our evening meals and make sure they're ok.  I want to still try and eat the family meal and not inflict my diet on the wife, so I'm hoping I can do this and just skip the carbs.  I also need to watch the portions as it's way to easy to pile a load of bollagnaise on my plate when I'm hungry and blow my deficit.
 
I will also drop the milk and sugar from my tea/coffee but I'll start that next week.

First day of my cut and what do I do...... lay in and miss cardio!!!  I was out on Saturday and I was dead to the world this morning, still feeling the affects.  The most annoying thing was, I didn't really go back to sleep so I didn't benefit.  I should've known I wouldn't do it and just set my alarm later.
 
Anyway, I'll get 4 sessions in this week.
 
Legs
 
squats            3 x 8            50kg, 60kg, 70kg
SLDL               3 x 8            70kg, 70kg, 70kg
Leg curl           3 x 10          40kg, 40kg, 50kg
Seated calf      4 x 10         35kg, 45kg, 55kg, 65kg
 
Some ab work.
 
Didn't feel too good from no carbs but I got through it.  There's no way I'm letting my legs session suffer because of my diet.  I must keep my lifts up this time.
 
Diet is going ok (only 2 meals in!).  I've got a chicken korma to eat for the next 2 days so that should be nice.  I'll just miss the rice and naan!

I got up nice and early and managed 50 mins cardio this morning.  Only 5 minutes short of my targeted 55 mins, so I was happy.  I'd have to get up 10 mins earlier to fit my abs in, but if I can do a 5 day split I can fit abs at the end of the my weights session.
 
Chest
 
Flat DB press            4 x 8            34kg, 38kg, 42kg, 46kg (only 3 reps)
Inc DB press             3 x 8            30kg, 34kg, 34kg
Dips                          3 x 8            BW, +6kg, +6kg
Inc Flies                    3 x 10          14kg, 16kg, 18kg
 
I've decided to give presidence back to the lower pec area, now I've brought my upper chest back up a bit.  And I thought I'd have a few weeks back on the dumbbells.  It felt good!  Trained hard and the lack of carbs didn't affect me today at all.
 
Diet
 
Went well yesterday.  I managed 6 meals.  My evening meal was chicken korma (no rice or naan) and I had a whey and peanut butter shake before bed.  I was quite hungry and intended to make an omlette but got distracted and it was bed time before I knew it.  Everything is good so far.  This diet is a few calories more than my last keto diet, but I'll drop some fat if I'm not losing enough.  But I want to keep my strength up so I'm going a bit higher to start with.
 
Still forgot to take some pictures!  If I don't take some soon it won't be worth it.  I'll lose a few lbs in water weight over the next few days.

50 mins cardio again this morning.  Felt a bit shaky towards the end but I got through it.
 
Back
 
WG Chins            3 x 8            BW for all
CG LatP               3 x 8            80kg, 87.5kg, 87.5kg
Machine row        4 x 8            40kg, 42.5kg, 42.5kg, 42.5kg
BB shrugs            3 x 8            85kg, 95kg, 105kg
 
Awsome session..... despite no carbs in me I feel great.
 
Diet
 
I had the rest of the chicken korma last night, then an omlette before bed.  I made another omlette (4 eggs, ham, cheese) and ate it cold at work today, in place of my chicken/tuna.  It was quite nice although I won't be doing it everyday.
 
Progress    (only 3 days in.... I know!)
 
Right.... I'm slightly concerned that I'm doing something wrong on this diet.  I've not touched carbs since Monday, apart from milk in my coffee which will stop next week.  But other than a bit of a dodgy 10 mins during cardio this morning, I've not felt any of the usual symptoms of cutting carbs.  I've not gone light headed once or felt weak at all.  I've got tons of energy in the gym and I'm feeling strong.
 
This is great news.  And I am eating more on this cut than last years, as I didn't want to lose strength and muscle.  But my concern is, that as well as not losing any energy, I'm not losing any fat.  I know I'm only 3 days into the diet, but I saw dramatic results in a day or 2 last time I did this.  I'll weigh myself on Friday to see whats going on.  If I've not lost anything, I'll have to cut some fat out I think.
 
I know I sound like I'm expecting miracles, but this diet (all be it, with a bit less food), really did give instant results last year.  I'll give it a week and drop some cals if I have to.
Paranoid rant over!

Missed yesterdays update so I'll fill it in today.
 
I got up a bit late yesterday and only managed 40 mins cardio.
 
Shoulders
 
DB press            3 x 8            28kg DB, 30kg, 34kg
Military press     3 x 8            35kg, 40kg, 40kg
Side raises         2 x 10          10kg, 12kg
Rear flies            2 x 10          8kg, 10kg
 
Really good session
 
Diet
 
I've done a few odd things over the last couple of days with the diet, but I've stayed within the contraints so I think I'm ok.  Wednesday night I nipped to Tesco for some bits and had a mad urge to buy a cheat/snack for my last meal so I got a couple of sausages from the hot counter!  Probly a bit high in cals but it's fine.   Yesterday I forgot my tin of sardines so I nipped to McDonalds and got a double cheeseburger and threw the bun away!  Happy days.
 
The only other issue I've had is, we made meatballs last night from the Jamie Oliver book.  I made them late last night for tomorrow's meal, but I had a few as my last meal (my only meal in fact as I didnt get chance to eat til then).  Anyway, the recipe contains 12 cream crackers.  I wanted to miss them out but the wife was having none of it.  I said I'd include them this time, but skip them next time to see if it makes a difference.  So I'm eating about 3 cream crackers with each serving.  About 15gs carbs.  Not great but I'm sure it won't kill me!!
 
But to make matters worse, I only managed about 4 hours sleep due to our son having the worst night ever, so I skipped cardio this morning.  I've done 3 sessions this week.  From next week I can't do Fridays so I really must hit the other 4 days.  But I know I've got at least 2 trips to London coming up so that means I will only manage 3 days.  It all helps and I might have to include some cardio elsewhere if the fat doesn't drop.
 
Weighed myself this morning and I've dropped about 4lbs.

Arms
 
EZ preacher curls            3 x 10            20kg (not inc bar), 20kg, 20kg
DB curl                            3 x 10            14kg, 16kg, 18kg
BB curl                            2 x 10             30kg, 30kg
 
Skull crushers                3 x 10            20kg, 25kg, 30kg
Dip machine                   3 x 10            57.5kg, 65.5kg, 77.5kg
Rope pulldowns             2 x 10            25kg, 25kg
 
Quite a rushed session but a good one.  Strength is definitely on the up.  Whether it drops as I continue this diet I don't know, but it's all good so far.
 
I looked quite lean when I got changed this evening and my abs started poking through.  I love this diet!
 

Weekend food update.
 
I attacked my saturday eating as I have done in the past on this diet.  3 big meals, with a few meaty treats but still no carbs.  So breakfast was a 4 egg omlette with 6 sausages.  I had some egg mayo, chicken and cheese for lunch.  Then my left over meatballs for tea.
 
Then we went out at night and my cheat/refeed began.  But, other than the 5 pints of larger I drank, I was ok because I had a mixed kebab at night and was too full to eat the pitta.  So in fact, stuck to the diet without even trying!!!  Still high in cals though!
 
Sunday was officially carb up day.  I managed plenty of carbs but didn't keep it too clean.  I think I over indulged a bit and will get better as the diet goes on.  We go to the in-laws for lunch on Sunday and it's usually a chicken curry with tons of rice.... perfect for refeed day!  So it went like this...
 
11am - 3 weetabix, 25g whey
1pm - big chicken curry and loads of rice, plus some ice cream
5pm - bowl of oats with some whey mixed in
8pm - sausage and bacon sandwich (3 slices wholegrain bread), plus some chocolate and crisps!
 
Actually, it's not quite as bad as I thought when I write it down.  I weighed myself on the machine in the gym this morning and I'm 12st 13lbs and 14% BF.  So I've got about 1 stone to lose in 7 weeks.  Should be easily do able, but I might have to clean it up in some areas.
 
I'm aiming for 4 days cardio, but if I have work commitments, as I do this week, I'll just do 3.  If it drops below 3 for whatever reason, I'll have to dig the exercise bike out and do some cardio on a night.  If I'm not losing enough, I may do this anyway.
 
I got up nice and early today and managed to hit 500 cals on the X trainer.  57 minutes I think I did.  Happy with that.

As I said earlier, managed just short of an hours cardio this morning and some abs
 
I'm in London on Thurs so it's a 4 day split this week.  Thought I'd get a double session out of the way while I'm carbed up.
 
Chest and Tri's
 
Decline BB            3 x 8            90kg, 95kg, 100kg
Inc DB                  3 x 8            30kg (DB), 34kg, 38kg
Inc Flies                2 x 10          14kg, 16kg
Dips                     3 x 8            BW, +6kg, +10kg
 
Skull crushers        2 x 10        25kg, 30kg
Pushdowns            3 x 10        65kg, 65kg, 65kg
 
I know I'm full of carbs but my strength is through the roof!  100kg is my all time best bench, so thats back.  And getting upto 38kg DBs on the incline when it's my 2nd exercise is awsome. 
 
Triceps suffered from being tired and I ran out of time.  But they got worked all the same and will have benefited from the benching.
 
I think I'll do back and bi's tomorrow in a hope that strength is still up from the carb up.  Then if it does drop as the week goes on, I've got legs on Weds, and shoulders on Fri.  I'm loving this diet, but I just hope the fat starts dropping.

1 hours cardio this morning (well... 57 mins = 500 cals.... I'll stop explaining that now!).  Also did 10 mins work on the obliques.
 
Back
 
WG chins            3 x 8            BW for all
CG Latp              3 x 8            87.5kg, 87.5kg, 95kg    (full stack and all time best!)
DB bent over row  3 x 8         30kg (db), 34kg, 38kg, 42kg, 46kg         (first few was easy so kept going up the weight)
BB shrugs           3 x 8            90kg, 100kg, 110kg            (new all time best!)
Rear flies            3 x 10           8kg, 10kg, 8kg
 
Amazing session!  I was going to do back and bi's but I was enjoy the heavy back session so much I decide to leave bi's til shoulder day.  And I made sure I got shrugs and rear delts done so there's less to do with shoulders.
 
Energy is through the roof when I'm in the gym.  This is great but am I eating few enough cals to lose fat.  I have a few theories on this energy surge.
 

1. I'm becoming fat adapted and got tons of energy, but losing fat and this diet is a miracle.
2. I wasn't eating enough before so now I'm eating more protein and fat, I have more energy but I'm not burning fat
3. I'm eating waaay too much and therefore have bulk like energy.

I really hope it's down to option 1.  I am losing a bit of weight, but that could just be water from the carbs.  I ran my homemade chicken korma thru a spreadsheet this morning and it's quite high in calories.  I knew there'd be some fat in it, which I thought was ok for this diet.  Anyway, I've got it to eat tonight, but I'll leave that alone until the weekends I think (when I don't eat regular so can get away with high cal meals).
 
I hope I'm just being paranoid and I lose some fat.  Because if I do, I can actually see me gaining a bit of muscle on this diet.  I'll see what this Friday brings and if i don't look leaner or weigh less, I'll drop some cals.

just read threw this journal, looks like your doing really well keep up the good work.
 
couple of questions if you dont mind, the quark shake with angel delight looks good do you need to add water or just blend them together.
 
And is this keto diet really hard was looking at maybe doing this after my bulk

tribute1979


just read threw this journal, looks like your doing really well keep up the good work.
 
couple of questions if you dont mind, the quark shake with angel delight looks good do you need to add water or just blend them together.
 
And is this keto diet really hard was looking at maybe doing this after my bulk

Hi mate, thanks for stopping by.
 
Yes I add water.  I've stopped using the angel delight stuff now, cos it was a bit too thick.  I use that sugar free crusha stuff at the minute.  I think it's less carbs too.
 
Last year I did a keto diet and it was hard work.  But looking back I wasn't eating much at all.  This time there's a bit more fat involved and I feel much better for it. 
 
But..... if you read my rant in the post above..... I'm not sure if I'm eating a bit too much because I feel great at the minute!!

Ok ive got some crusha at home i think so will give that a go, im eating it mixed with a bit of options powder at the minute but sometimes quite hard to get it down
 
yeah i read your log from the keto diet too it looked hard, do you think it would be better than me doing low carb diet then
 
it might be best to wait till you finish week two and then cut some of fat out if you dont think your losing enough

I can't eat quark at all mate.  I find it much easier to blend it and drink it.
 
When I cut last time, I went low carb for a few weeks, 100g - 150g per day, then went keto for the last 6 weeks.  Start low carb and see how you feel.

Yeah was thinking it would be best to start low carb than just jumping straight in.
 
Congratulations on getting married by the way, im planning mine for next year so got a bit of time to get in shape for it.
 
good luck with the diet will keep my eye on it

Thanks mate.  Good luck with the wedding plans

I think I'm hitting the wall today and lack of carbs is having it's affect.  Maybe I'd still got plenty of carbs in me to last all week last week, but I'm definitely slowing down today.
 
1 hours cardio this morning.  Last 20 minutes was hell.
 
Legs        (what a great choice when I've no energy)
 
Squats            4 x 10            50kg, 60kg, 70kg, 70kg
Ham curl          3 x 10            65kg, 65kg, 65kg
Seated calf      4 x 10            40kg, 50kg, 60kg, 70kg
 
I got through it but felt so weak and feel shocking now.  I'm sure it's thw whole carb depleation thing, but I do find leg sessions hard work when my legs are already tired from tons of cardio.
 
Day off tomorrow as I'm in London, and I can't do cardio on Friday so at least I'll get a bit of rest.  Although I'm tempted to dig my exercise bike out and do a bit at home.
 
Diet is on track.  Had the rest of the korma, and there was tons of chicken left so I've had that for my lunch today without any sauce.
 
Not sure how I'll tackle the London trip tomorrow.  I'll take my quark shake and something else, then buy a meal at some point.  Bit of a treat.  I might even get a full english and just leave the hash browns and toast!

I was in London yesterday.  Diet was kinda ok to say I was on the road all day.....
 
6am - whey and peanut butter
9am - 2 sausages, 2 bacon, 2 eggs (full english from the services.... leaving the fried bread and hash browns on the plate was a killer)
2pm - quark shake
4.30pm - whey and peanut butter
7pm - half chicken from nando's (met the wife on the way home)
 
Not too bad.
 
No cardio this morning...... or any friday from now on.
 
Shoulders and Bi's
 
Seated military press            4 x 8            40kg, 40kg, 45kg, 50kg
DB press                               2 x 8            26kg (dbs), 26kg
Side raises                            3 x 10          10kg, 10kg, 10kg
 
Straight BB curls                    3 x 10           35kg, 40kg, 40kg
DB hammer curls                   2 x 10            14kg, 14kg
 
Felt good.  I was a bit tired by the time I trained bi's, plus I went too heavy too soon on the BB curls, but I felt good by the end.
 
Status update!!
 
Right, I weighed in at 12st 8lbs this morning.  So thats 7lbs loss in 2 weeks.  All water I'm sure, but good all the same.  I'm looking leaner, but I'm a bit worried I won't be as lean as I'd like to be in the 6 weeks I have remaining.  So here's the plan for next week.
 
I'm going to include as little carbs as possible.  So the quark is getting swapped for 4 eggs, peanut butter is getting swapped for olive oil, and I'll do my best to make sure there's very little in my evening meals (whilst still cooking something decent for the family).
 
If I've not lost much by next Friday/Saturday..... I'll skip next Sundays refeed and go right through on no carbs for 14 days.  I'll only skip the 1 refeed as it will kill me, but might be worth it to get the most out of the remaining 6 weeks.  Also, the bike might come out for some evening cardio!

Very interesting diet you follow there mate!

I'm tempted to give something along those lines a blast myself but am petrified about losing to much muscle in a carbless environment. Did you experience/see any muscle loss last year when you dieted down on v low/no carbs?