This is my first log EVER. I have never kept a blog, diary, or anything. But with these two supplements, I feel it is EXTREMELY important to track and log how I feel on them. After lurking logs and threads here for about a month, I felt this would be a great way to keep track of how I feel and hopefully learn some things from you. Please go easy on me, and I'm open to any advice/suggestions. My training split or cardio choices are the areas where I'm not sure are optimal... I'm most unsure about the timing of my cardio (I'll post my training split and cardio timing in a future post). I'll learn which details to include in this as I go, but please remember I'm a newb at the whole log thing. Thanks for your patience!
I was a rail thin hard gainer when i was younger, and very active. I got sick of being a stick and started eating clean and almost doubled my calorie intake (not a single gram of processed suger for 2 years, not even a cheat day!) and working out. I gained 70 pounds of muscle in those two years. However, a year after starting my career (web app developer) sitting in a chair and staring at a screen all day, I started gaining weight. The wrong kind... I ended up replacing my wardrobe twice. About 2 months ago, I was finding my pants tight again! And I had bought the stretchy waist kind too... I had an "Oh sh*t!" moment and threw away everything in our kitchen cupboards that wasn't whole foods and had processed sugars, etc. in it, wrote up a training split similar to the one I used many years ago during my first bulk, and talked to the wifey about it. She was on board immediately. It's extremely important to me that I have her support and that she's doing this along side me. It helps to control cravings and to get in the gym when it's not just my own body at stake.
Why I chose Recreate: I have always been a 'worrywart'. I hate that term, but that's it. I have a sort of generalized anxiety that shows up whenever. It's just something I live with, but it's the reason I've never used a fatburner. I tried Lipo-6 a few years ago, but it jacked me up so bad I thought I would have a heart attack, lol. So the gentleness of Recreate was at the core of the decision.
Another reason I've never used a fatburner, is that I've never needed it! As I said before I was was extremely lean naturally, but even two months ago, I decided to do this without a ton of supplements. I've leaned down everything but my belly. My arms, back, chest, legs all feel hard as a rock now. My wife said something about it last week, "Wow, you feel like you did when we first met... like a rock." But... my waist is still soft as a pillow! Combined with my current diet and workout, I felt an additional kick was necessary.
Why I chose Anabolic Pump: Well, to tell the truth I am totally caught up in the hype lol. I've read hundreds of logs and reviews, and it just seems like a miracle. I realize my body might not respond, but it's worth a shot. I agonized for weeks about my diet and whether I wanted to experience the potential side-effects (I already have some hypo moments when I don't eat every 2-3 hours, so it seems like my timing is right for the supp), and adding carbs to my diet. But I'm just too excited to see how my body reacts, which is a large part of what keeps me motivated. I love to see how my body responds to my diet, workout, and supps.
Day 1
Took a single recreate in the morning and one 6 hours later to make sure my stomach can handle the forskolin. I've been reading about people who have stomach issues initially. I felt only a slight feeling of anxiety which, in all fairness, could have just been a result of a project deadline looming near.
Day one was a long low intensity cardio, abs, and calves day. No abnormal sweat/heat during any portion of my time in the gym, but I did only use half of the morning dose. Felt fine, but added 20 pounds to my standing calf raises that I can attribute to fully rested calves, I think. In the past month, I've increased the size of my calves by over 1 inch! I've been called "chicken legs" by several girlfriends and now even my wife. She's gonna have to find another nickname...
Cardio in the evening was 40 min on the Stairmaster at level 6 (escalator thing that all of the contest prep guys/girls use almost exclusively... that is a good sign to me that it is a good cardio choice) followed by a 20 min brisk walk. I've worked up to 40 min from an initial 15 min max a few weeks ago. No excessive sweating (well, I sweat like CRAZY on this thing though... they need to point one of those air vents in that direction, lol).
Day 2
2 Recreate, 1 AP, Animal Pak, Breakfast
Woke up LATE. Wow, I slept a full 11 hours for the first time since I was a teenager. I feel great this morning and started off with two (2) Recreate before breakfast. I do not attribute this long sleep to anything but the weekend and lack of scheduled errands.
I have confirmed I can not use ANY other fatburner... Even after the many logs where people mention how they barely feel the stim effect, I am responding hardcore. I took it on an empty stomach 30 min before breakfast, and 15 min before my first AP this morning. By the time breakfast came around, my heart was beating fast and I am jacked up quite a bit. 2 hours later, I'm feeling some light chest tightness (not a feeling I'm a stranger too...) and sweating as I type this!
I had butterflies in my stomach before taking my first AP. I have a healthy respect for the diet requirements after reading about 3 weeks worth of logs and reviews. So I downed it with 14oz of water (i was thirsty) before I could chicken out.
Breakfast - 55g carbs, 48g protein, and 15g fat. I made an awesome breakfast wrap/burrito, had a whole wheat/flax toast with natural peanut butter. The amount of carbs in my chosen breads/wraps is surprising. Good thing too, lol. Felt no hypo or stomach pain from the AP, thank goodness.
My breakfast burrito:
1/4lb lean ground beef (cooked in some organic spaghetti mix powder for taste!)
3 eggs (1 yolk)
diced tomato (fresh)
green onion (fresh)
chopped mushrooms
As I finish this, my anxiety levels have been rising since I took my first 2x dose of Recreate. Chest is very tight and starting to burn a bit. This is how I feel when I'm at my highest levels of anxiety, and am having to take some deep breaths to calm it down. There is very little stress in my life, so it's a huge frustration for me... Every doctor I've talked to doesn't seem to take it seriously, so I just try to control it myself. I do not feel this is a common effect of Recreate but rather my own unique reaction to the stimulant... I just had to pop a few Tums to calm the stomach acid. I take Protonix to control it, but I think the chest tightness and burning is probably just my acid levels rising very high. UPDATE: OK! The chest tightness has dropped after the Tums! I feel great now.
Later today, I'll have my first AP/Recreate weight session. Today is biceps/triceps. I'll let you know how that goes... I'll bring an extra towel, lol.
I was a rail thin hard gainer when i was younger, and very active. I got sick of being a stick and started eating clean and almost doubled my calorie intake (not a single gram of processed suger for 2 years, not even a cheat day!) and working out. I gained 70 pounds of muscle in those two years. However, a year after starting my career (web app developer) sitting in a chair and staring at a screen all day, I started gaining weight. The wrong kind... I ended up replacing my wardrobe twice. About 2 months ago, I was finding my pants tight again! And I had bought the stretchy waist kind too... I had an "Oh sh*t!" moment and threw away everything in our kitchen cupboards that wasn't whole foods and had processed sugars, etc. in it, wrote up a training split similar to the one I used many years ago during my first bulk, and talked to the wifey about it. She was on board immediately. It's extremely important to me that I have her support and that she's doing this along side me. It helps to control cravings and to get in the gym when it's not just my own body at stake.
Why I chose Recreate: I have always been a 'worrywart'. I hate that term, but that's it. I have a sort of generalized anxiety that shows up whenever. It's just something I live with, but it's the reason I've never used a fatburner. I tried Lipo-6 a few years ago, but it jacked me up so bad I thought I would have a heart attack, lol. So the gentleness of Recreate was at the core of the decision.
Another reason I've never used a fatburner, is that I've never needed it! As I said before I was was extremely lean naturally, but even two months ago, I decided to do this without a ton of supplements. I've leaned down everything but my belly. My arms, back, chest, legs all feel hard as a rock now. My wife said something about it last week, "Wow, you feel like you did when we first met... like a rock." But... my waist is still soft as a pillow! Combined with my current diet and workout, I felt an additional kick was necessary.
Why I chose Anabolic Pump: Well, to tell the truth I am totally caught up in the hype lol. I've read hundreds of logs and reviews, and it just seems like a miracle. I realize my body might not respond, but it's worth a shot. I agonized for weeks about my diet and whether I wanted to experience the potential side-effects (I already have some hypo moments when I don't eat every 2-3 hours, so it seems like my timing is right for the supp), and adding carbs to my diet. But I'm just too excited to see how my body reacts, which is a large part of what keeps me motivated. I love to see how my body responds to my diet, workout, and supps.
Day 1
Took a single recreate in the morning and one 6 hours later to make sure my stomach can handle the forskolin. I've been reading about people who have stomach issues initially. I felt only a slight feeling of anxiety which, in all fairness, could have just been a result of a project deadline looming near.
Day one was a long low intensity cardio, abs, and calves day. No abnormal sweat/heat during any portion of my time in the gym, but I did only use half of the morning dose. Felt fine, but added 20 pounds to my standing calf raises that I can attribute to fully rested calves, I think. In the past month, I've increased the size of my calves by over 1 inch! I've been called "chicken legs" by several girlfriends and now even my wife. She's gonna have to find another nickname...
Cardio in the evening was 40 min on the Stairmaster at level 6 (escalator thing that all of the contest prep guys/girls use almost exclusively... that is a good sign to me that it is a good cardio choice) followed by a 20 min brisk walk. I've worked up to 40 min from an initial 15 min max a few weeks ago. No excessive sweating (well, I sweat like CRAZY on this thing though... they need to point one of those air vents in that direction, lol).
Day 2
2 Recreate, 1 AP, Animal Pak, Breakfast
Woke up LATE. Wow, I slept a full 11 hours for the first time since I was a teenager. I feel great this morning and started off with two (2) Recreate before breakfast. I do not attribute this long sleep to anything but the weekend and lack of scheduled errands.
I have confirmed I can not use ANY other fatburner... Even after the many logs where people mention how they barely feel the stim effect, I am responding hardcore. I took it on an empty stomach 30 min before breakfast, and 15 min before my first AP this morning. By the time breakfast came around, my heart was beating fast and I am jacked up quite a bit. 2 hours later, I'm feeling some light chest tightness (not a feeling I'm a stranger too...) and sweating as I type this!
I had butterflies in my stomach before taking my first AP. I have a healthy respect for the diet requirements after reading about 3 weeks worth of logs and reviews. So I downed it with 14oz of water (i was thirsty) before I could chicken out.
Breakfast - 55g carbs, 48g protein, and 15g fat. I made an awesome breakfast wrap/burrito, had a whole wheat/flax toast with natural peanut butter. The amount of carbs in my chosen breads/wraps is surprising. Good thing too, lol. Felt no hypo or stomach pain from the AP, thank goodness.
My breakfast burrito:
1/4lb lean ground beef (cooked in some organic spaghetti mix powder for taste!)
3 eggs (1 yolk)
diced tomato (fresh)
green onion (fresh)
chopped mushrooms
As I finish this, my anxiety levels have been rising since I took my first 2x dose of Recreate. Chest is very tight and starting to burn a bit. This is how I feel when I'm at my highest levels of anxiety, and am having to take some deep breaths to calm it down. There is very little stress in my life, so it's a huge frustration for me... Every doctor I've talked to doesn't seem to take it seriously, so I just try to control it myself. I do not feel this is a common effect of Recreate but rather my own unique reaction to the stimulant... I just had to pop a few Tums to calm the stomach acid. I take Protonix to control it, but I think the chest tightness and burning is probably just my acid levels rising very high. UPDATE: OK! The chest tightness has dropped after the Tums! I feel great now.
Later today, I'll have my first AP/Recreate weight session. Today is biceps/triceps. I'll let you know how that goes... I'll bring an extra towel, lol.