Thought i'd start a journal, i've got a blog but it doesnt get the feedback which is valuble.

I've been on MT for donkeys years, think i signed up when i was ~17ish, 220lbs...5ft something something and fat/spoty. I guess thats an improvement from being an annorexic 9 year old, but the either end of the spectrum isn't good.

I trained for a bit, but got told to bulk at the very start at 220lbs...wasn't a good idea. 230lbs, i was fatter and beginner gains we're fun, so i went on a cut.
Eventually i got to 170lbs, was pretty happy... then fell off the wagon as i was happy, bored with weight training and that cycle repeated about 5x....I returned, trained, cut down to ok BF% and quit as i was happy again.

periods of 4-6months in between those gaps of interest/lack of interest followed, so now i'm here its 2008 i turned 21 a few days ago and i'm finally progressing.

I guess being older now, means i know "what i want" and i also know how to maintain interest in something. Usually i'd get obsessed, learn all i could... then quit as i felt i'd learnt all i wanted and needed a new subject to grab my interest.

I've been training from 7th april consistently now, about 34worksouts on "Frankie new york 4x6 routine" and its going ok.
I've also been cutting for this period, but the cut ended on june 15th and "maintenance phase" began in an attempt to enjoy summer BBQs, Partys and meals out whilst also maintaing my condition(so the slight calorie deficit buffers all those meals/partys!).


Ill be moving into a bulk phase around start of july, i have a party on july 4th which ill be enjoying(Note: eating lots of crap i want to eat).

So i'm currently debating over:
1) Moving to maintenance calories this week then enjoying the party and starting to bulk from then OR
2) Using the party as a refeed, seeing what my weight boosts up to and stablises at... Then bulking from then onwards(with an increased metabolism/hopefully hormones adapt soon after).

Basically i'd like to use the party to act as a refeed, filling up glycogen levels/restoring hormones(a little bit, obviously not magical) but minimising fat storage. I figure carby/low fat foods with lots of protein is a plan? opinions wanted

Appreciate all your advice, thoughts and feelings as well as any debates that crop up as ill no doubt have some questions along the way.
Please keep it upbeat, happy and mature though - Debates at the best of times seem to have an inherent risk of turning into arsey subtle insults not good for anyone, least of all the subject at the heart of it

Guess we'll start from tommorows workout,
Oh by the way... i'm weak a feck and have dodgey knees so squats/deadlifts are essential "Rehabilitation" exercises along with some weekly physio therapy exercises i do.

Hope your all well and achieving your goals!


Weight entry results:
16th June - 154.8
19th June - 158 (weight increase from psylium husk i think - prob holding water in my digestive system)

Significant changes through out this journal
29th June - Increasing fats in diet, taking calorie intake from slight weight loss/deficit to a maintenance calorie intake(added nuts/seeds, poly/mono fats to diet really).


Bodyfat test results:
none yet


Colour key:
Diet in green
Body measurements in orange
Exercise(cardio/weights) in blue
Poker in purple

Body measurement results:
none yet

My posts are all my opinion and based on current knowledge/understanding.

good luck mate, all i can add from my experience is dont give up and try not to put on too much fat

might be an idea to bulk up on MUFA/PUFA rather than sat fats this time around

good luck with this mate

Please keep it upbeat, happy and mature though - Debates at the best of times seem to have an inherent risk of turning into arsey subtle insults not good for anyone, least of all the subject at the heart of it

won't be any debating from me mate, don't you worry

plenty of piss take mind, a central part of any good journal

 

ORIGINAL: R3261

might be an idea to bulk up on MUFA/PUFA rather than sat fats this time around
I was planning to add some peanuts/walnuts/seeds to my diet around meals that we're low in fat. Sound wise? Help with satiety, balance my fat intake through the day and boost mono/poly?

good luck with this mate
Cheers, your cut going well btw?

Please keep it upbeat, happy and mature though - Debates at the best of times seem to have an inherent risk of turning into arsey subtle insults not good for anyone, least of all the subject at the heart of it

won't be any debating from me mate, don't you worry

plenty of piss take mind, a central part of any good journal
Aye, plenty of opportunity when you see my lifts

ORIGINAL: boar

good luck mate, all i can add from my experience is dont give up and try not to put on too much fat

Ah the boar!
No doubt you may of seen my previous failed attempts, but the weight loss stayed off which is one positive

Are you still training in your home built gym(built many years back!)? always wondered how long it lasted untill you had to upgrade the wood with steel to take those poundages your lifting now!
Great progres, nice one mate

My posts are all my opinion and based on current knowledge/understanding.

Hiya mate, at the age of 21 I would just get stuck in and enjoy my training, dont get into counting this and that, keep it simple.

Good luck

DIET
Breakfast 11am
2x toast,
70g Soya mince.
10g peanuts

Lunch 3pm:
120g chicken,
Salad,
1x pitta,
50g soya mince.

Dinner 7pm.
Turkey chilli
Broc/cauli/beans/sprouts - 120g each roughly.

and probably Nighttime meal 11pm ish
Pilchards(155g) + Mixed salad + half avocado and some jelly


Cardio - 45minutes, 33.23km(according to bike, hmmm) 384kcal(hmmm). DONE!
Dam i was starving whilst doing cardio, and my knees are causing alot of discomfort (both at the top of my knee when bent and at the very bottom of it). Right one is the main problem, but left one gave me a slight "dull" pain.
Won't stop me doing cardio, pretty important muscle being worked... but its a pain in the...knee!



Gotta run, gonna watch "Clover field"!
Training tommorow, its PULL day - Pull ups are proving tough now, so hopefully i'll get all my reps on those - Love pull ups!!

My posts are all my opinion and based on current knowledge/understanding.

now then mate, thought id drop by.

if i can suggest some changes for you to consider in the future it would be, carry on with this cut as you have it (adding in some extra fats asap) and then increase carbs at the time you had planned, (at the party time)

after that i think you need to change your focus, your new goal should be to add 20lb of body weight, and keep body fat under 15%. i know this will be hard for you but look at it in the longterm and it will make more sense.

if you can get up earlier and have your breakfast at 9 adding in some oats. your new 11 am meal could be as easy as 100g lean meat on a granary roll, and maybe a handfull of raisins and nuts.

add in some new potatoes or sweet potato with your evening meal.

drop the cardio down to 20 minutes twice a week, to keep fitness levels reasonable.

keep an eye on things as you go along, and maybe change your routine, a few more reps and a couple less work sets would be my suggestion, then you are working to build muscle more effectively.

to keep your mind active and give you something to focus on use your journal to keep a perfect record of every session, sets and reps, and also how you felt and what your focus will be for the next session.

rotor cuffs are a nightmare society founding member

Back home, Cloverfield(movie) was "ok"....not seen a movie that was made like it really, but won't give away any spoilers. Felt like it was about 40minutes long too(was actual 90, apparently).

Hunger has been bad yesturday/this morning and my stomachs really upset, so i ordered psylium husk yesturday which arrived today and just had 2g in water. Seeif that helps fix me, i know fyrbogel helped a bit(2 sachets a day) but still didn't solve the problem.
Just to keep variables controlled, diet will remain the same today/tommorow as it normal is so i can see if fibre is doing the job(rather than adding 5 variables with no idea of the cause/effect).

Getting carbs in now early in the day, in prepation for training - Probably train around 6/7Pm!

Hey Daz,
Your thoughts are similar to what i had in mind really, to clarify...

i'll be changing my diet from ~Saturday reason for saturday and not sooner is because my stomachs been upset for past month really, but worse last ~1week and i've just recieved my "Psylium husk" that ui want to take today and tommorow to see if it helps clear that up. Changing diet will add to many variables, so hopefully ill find a cause/effect with that by saturday(when my diet fats will be increased).

As for fat intake, they'll all be PUFA/MUFA for the most part with some saturated probably coming from the sources(Peanuts, walnuts, avocados, etc). Carbs will probably be increased but as you say, ill be monitoring as i go so we'll see what happens(Hopefully my metabolism rockets, i love food !)

As for my routine, i've been on my current one for around ~30 workouts, so a change is due... However I'd like to take each change 1 at a time as i learnt that changing to many variables leads to screw ups/confusion and no idea of cause/effect.
So ill be changing my routine once i've been bulking for a few weeks, also wanted to see if increased kcal intake will get me past plateua in my lifts... and increase strength(always hope !)!

20lb gain won't be a problem(never found weight gain hard!), i'll be bulking dependent on what the mirror says really with an aim to gain around .5lb/week figure so long term bulk sounds good. If i get to fat, i may throw in a very short cut but i'll see how it goes i guess - overall feeling good throughout is one of the top prioritys. Plus the long term goal is 180lb(lean) (cutting won't get me there so calorie surplus + hard training is of course a priority)!

Thanks for input mate,
Workout pull day today, can't wait!

My posts are all my opinion and based on current knowledge/understanding.

Last night and today must of been the toughest days ever!

Around 10pm last night all my energy just dropped, walking upstairs was a challenge... needed to say, i feel to sleep instantly.
Then today, hunger has been a pain in the ass and my workout wasn't to great as i just felt crap(should probably postpone it, but then it screws up tommorows cardio/busy day).

Workout will be up soon,
Really dislike deadlifts, being 6ft 2 they feel very awkward and my knee injurys just make them pretty 'scary' i guess. Dont want to make injury any worse, i like being able to walk .

Add psylium husk to diet today, hopefully i wont have diarrhea tommorow 10g too... over dose or not? anyone know?

My posts are all my opinion and based on current knowledge/understanding.

27th Diet - Pretty much followed same pattern.

Meal 1 - 70 gSoya mince + 2x toast.

Meal 2 Chicken / salad / 2x pitta bread / 50g soya mincr

Pre workout 15g whey/dext
Post workout 15g whey/dext
(plus 3g of left over l-lecuine to get rid of the stuff, omg it tastes so awful!)

Post post workout meal - Chicken curry + Veggies

9pm snack - 1 pint of jelly, hunger pains!

Night time meal - Salad + 150g Pollock + 3 EPA fish oils

~1900kcals, 215pro, 25fat, 218 carbs, 53 fibre.
Also took around 11g of psylium husk, see if it'll clear up my loose stomach



Training...
Pull day - From 6.27pm to 7.14pm
Overall not bad, deadlifts still a pain in the ass and BB rows don't feel very "natural"or safe but always 100% focused on form.
weights were heavier but due to injury scare(due to form) they we're all lowered to help maintain form - 100% priority, they'll go back up im sure.

2 minute rest between sets, no more... sometimes less. I actualy think my "2 min rest maximum" limits my strength gains as im always shattered before my next set, could do with 4-5mins rest sometimes....Next routine ill have longer rest.


DEADLIFT -
Warm up
20kg x6
Warm up 2
24.6kg x6
Work set29KG
6
6
6
6
Still gotta work on form, its not perfect - My back curved slightly towards the end and my flexability is causing some difficulty.
In short, i actually hate this lift - The bar rubs my shins, when i go down i have to navigate the bar over my knees before i can then bend fully and it just feels awkward.
I guess its due to my height? Or maybe this lift is a pain in the ass.
As much as i hate it, i love it too as it feels like such an effort.
Knees felt fine, going very easy with the weight though as i said above, i like walking.

BB Row
13.6KG x6
20KG x6
24.6KG
6
6
6
6
Easy really, just always wonder if this lift is going to screw my back up. Feels so unnatural...


Pull ups - Bodyweight before exercise if 162.6lbs + 25.52lbs(11.6KG) around neck.
6 Found this fine.
6 6th rep was a challenge, set 3 expected to be tough but im aiming for 6 of course.
5.5 ahhh feck, couldnt get past 50% even if i try bounce my legs all over the place and cheat
3.75 Bleh, atleast wanted 4... last week i got 3.5 on this set(but with 1/2KG less) so not bad, but not great


Overall feeling better today, but during my workout i felt like crap.
Tired/Sleepy just didn't want to be there. Over training? bordem of weight training setting in? A bad day? I dunno, but im very reluctant to take a week off or anything as last time my week off ended up as 15 days off, with a crap diet...not good.

My posts are all my opinion and based on current knowledge/understanding.

Increasing calorie intake from today by adding fats(Poly/mono - Nuts/Seeds/occasional avocado etc).

Stomach is still screwed up - 10g psyllium doesnt seem to have done anything, ill go doctors in a week time if my next diet changes dont help fix it.

Saw jimmy carr last night, awesome night.

didnt do cardio saturday,
will do 45minutes today.

My posts are all my opinion and based on current knowledge/understanding.

good stuff mate, keep at it u will get there if u want it bad enough.

I have been there with the stomach problems and they can really put u off training.

Hey sonic,
Cheers mate - Yeah not sure whats causing it really, possibly to much veg and not enough stodgy potato/bread/pasta/rice type food perhaps.

Very true about wanting it, most days i do


Rough diet plan for next 2-3 days:
Changes are underlined
Meal 1: 70g Soya mince + 2x toast(or 50g muesli/oats) + 15g Walnuts
Meal 2(usually pre workout): 1x pitta, 100g chicken, salad, 50g soya mince + Savoury rice (50-60g)
Meal 3(usually post-postworkout): Turkey chilli + Veg + 15g pumpkin seeds
Meal 4(Usually before bed): Pilchards/Mackeral + salad + 20g peanuts + 70g soya mince

~2200kcal
Fats: 60g(9/14/6 sat/poly/mono) (~21%)
Carb: 210g
fibre: 70g
Protein: ~220g

Going to vary from day to day, i may want toast on day...porridge the next.
Maybe pilchards one day, tuna(not oily) the next (so ill add some EPA fish caps).

My posts are all my opinion and based on current knowledge/understanding.

Got back into poker today, gonna play some NL$10 for fun, then work it up to NL$25, 50, 100 whatever happens.
Figure ill add some poker stuff to my blog just to pad it out with other topics too.
Poker crap will be on.....purple, so you can by pass this gambling if it bores you.

My posts are all my opinion and based on current knowledge/understanding.

go to the doctors about your stomach mate, ive had stomach problems for years, and i put it off for ages, had endoscopy on it when it got so bad i couldnt eat without throwing up, had some real bad acid damage, to stomach, throat and intestine

rotor cuffs are a nightmare society founding member

good man on the poker front, ive just started 4 tabling 50nl 6 max on party,

whats ur game of choice?

ORIGINAL: dazc

go to the doctors about your stomach mate, ive had stomach problems for years, and i put it off for ages, had endoscopy on it when it got so bad i couldnt eat without throwing up, had some real bad acid damage, to stomach, throat and intestine

My problem is dirrhea Psyllium husk doesnt seem to have fixed it, possibly due to the sheer ammounts of fibre i get from veg/soya mince?

Ill go doctors in around 1 week, this gives me time to increase food intake to see if that solves the problem.
Id hate go there and be shrugged off as "oh your dieting idiot, no wonder"

Sorry to hear about that mate, hope your well now.

ORIGINAL: Sonic2

good man on the poker front, ive just started 4 tabling 50nl 6 max on party,

whats ur game of choice?

I started off at 0.01/.02 with $10 a while back, then moved up to eventually playing $3/6 limit holdem.
Then i switched to no limit (NL$200 was my main "home").

I stopped playing for a while, now and again ill jump in with $xyz and run it up/move up... bordem seems to set in though, i can only "grind" for so long.

This time ill prob keep it fairly casual, work it up and get back to NL$200 hopefully.
Just nice having it pay for meals out, supplements, phone bills, petrol...whatever else a student needs.

Short answer: Hold'em no limit
edit: oh yeah 6 max, woopsi!
Id rather eat my foot than play full ring i think.

My posts are all my opinion and based on current knowledge/understanding.

so you did pretty well from it then

im hoping to be able to move up to 4 tabling 1/2 by the start of next year.

you using poker tracker and pahud? best investment i have made along with my cardrunners.com subscription

Yeah, i was "professional" i guess for a while (hate to use that term, much like i hate calling myself a bodybuilder!).

Just keep grinding away, reviewing hands and you'll get there. Feel free to post any hands in this journal btw.

PAHUD is usefull when mting, CR.com isnt bad either - learn alot quickly on a site like that.
PT is very very usefull tool, use it to its full ability and everyone will do well with that.

I reckon we'll soon convert half of MT to start playing poker

My posts are all my opinion and based on current knowledge/understanding.

Ab caliper measurements (gives me a good idea of how fat im getting, plus much faster than full