By the way... My life is a "sticking point"
I was the fat guy from the age of 9 til about 26 or so. I'm a fan of throwing everything in... Kitchen sink, included.

Anything advertised to get "more", "better", etc is for me.
I used to think that way but when you get the basics right you find you don't need anywhere near the supps you think you do for success. The supplement marketing machine is there to make you feel dependent on your supplements. If you buy in you often get the same results but they cost a lot more.
I can see the appeal. I used to do that too cause honestly, if you stack 200$ worth of stuff, you will stay on track. Haha.
I usually get down to 12% during basketball season effortlessly. Never bothered going lower cause I never trained/cared for aesthetics. Been hovering at 15% for awhile since I haven't been involved in a casual bball league (and having a foodie gf). For a short time though, I did balloon to what might have been 16-18% cause my diet and training were garbage.
In bold this is a 100% true statement. Often the having something to lose portion of purchasing supplements and not making the most of them offers accountability. However if you can develop your own accountability you don't have to buy tons of supplements to get the same results. Now there are supps out there that make a difference but often people only give their all when logging for a company, or spent a ton on supps. Imagine if they applied that same level of accountability at all times how much further along they would be.
Im jealous of his running. Im at a loss right now anyway. On top of the crushed finger, I woke up this morning with a high amount of water on my left knee again. I usually just let it go away, but may get it drawn out this time. We'll see how it goes over the weekend. Im sure its coming from the ridiculous amount of racquetball Ive been playing. Got on the scale this morning and weight is up. WTF? My diet has been good, and like I said, the racquetball has increased. I dont feel "fatter" if anything Its the opposite, but I just dont see muscle being built that fast so Im at a loss. I will be adding in a fat burner in a few days, maybe thatll help.
Swelling causes water retention.
2-3. My breakfast usually consists of 8oz of plain greek yogurt, a scoop of vanilla whey, tbsp of PB2 and a splash of almond milk. A shake after my workout and one before bed. Usually mix them with Almond milk. Vanilla unsweetened because of the low(35) calories.
I can do that. Ill just use the yougurt and PB2 for breakfast without the protein and save the shake for post workout. Thanks my man!
Could have to do with the dairy in your diet. In all honestly that breakfast would benefit you much more if you had 5-6 whole eggs, and no yogurt, or whey for breakfast. Since fat loss is the goal keep the carbs away from breakfast. The high protein and fat meal will set you up for anabolism, and better insulin sensitivity throughout the day.
Yeah, so, Yohimbine REALLY messes with me. It gives me chills and sweats and shakes, and I feel like crap. Plus, it gives me insane insomnia. First time I ever took Yohimbine was in college around 2000, I got a bottle of Yohimbine Fuel from Twinlab and stacked it with an ECA burner not knowing any better. I took my first dose around 3 PM because that's when I got the bottle. It was also the last dose I took out of the bottle. Each pill had 18 mg of yohimbine and I was up for 2 days, literally, couldn't even get to sleep the next night. I will just lay in bed staring at the ceiling. It kills me. But Alphaburn, especially after building a little tolerance, has none of these negative effects. It does stimulate me and I avoid it after 4-5 PM, but it's great in the morning for waking up.
Have a great time brother! I bet you can't wait. Some stuff is more important than the fat on your belly. I hope it is awesome. How is the foot doing?
And 184 when you started at 188 isn't too bad. If you got to 178-180 you would probably be ripped more than almost anyone here. Good work so far. I expect you to keep it up when you get back and when that boot comes off!
Yeah 18 is ridiculous!!!! I remember that crap from back in the day. Now between 5-10mg of Yohimbine pre cardio is probably the best time to use it.
I've never been affected by stims so it was a really off-putting feeling. I know I handle yohimbine just fine as RagNOrok and Jack3d are two of my favorite stim PWOs and I've never felt bad with those. So it's either that I'm actually reacting poorly to a-y which would be weird since it's supposed to have less sides than regular yohimbine... Or the dosage at 8mg. Matt recently reformulated to 3mg, so I might have to step down to the baby dosage.
I was sweating a ton the first half of my workout, then it felt like not at all the second half. Freaky. Maybe thats when the a-y wore off.
Might try dosing PWO with BronkAid or just with some food and see what happens. Not sure yet...
The A-Y is supposed to last a bit longer if I remember correctly. Has been years since I read up on it.
Damn

Guess my stock in tuna is fixing to go up. Thanks guys, hoping this will be the trick
No need for all of that. Not that it is a problem. When using shakes use Isolate, you don't get the water retention like you do from WPC. Reacting to water fluctuations during fat loss can make you feel like you are on a see-saw. Do what it takes to minimize these things by using the best supplement for the job. At this point in your weight loss I really don't see responding to water fluctuations as beneficial. Did you replace the calories you removed when you took the protein shakes out of your diet? If not then you just increased the deficit which was already a pretty big one. I would at a minimum replace some of those calories with a good fat source.
Again, startingyour day with 5-6 whole eggs, especially vegetarian fed so they have higher Omega 3's would be for more beneficial for you than the yogurt with whey protein. It sets you up for protein synthesis and fat burning. This is what you want.
So, guys, I have some bad news. We have our second quitter...after
hairygrandpa . I've over extended and I've really worn myself out. I decided yesterday morning to lay off the cardio because I had some work to do cutting up trees and lugging the logs at my grandmother's house. It wasn't so bad, but after that I drove an hour and a half to go Apple picking with my gf and her daughter. We started walking and I felt really tired, dizzy, and like I could just go to sleep. After walking a while and picking Apple's, I thought, what the shell and just ate an Apple. It was good. I wound up having 3 apples and feeling much better.
Then today I realized I just need a break. I can't keep pushing and I need to take a step back to come back stronger.
So, today and last night I just took off. I would like to come back and give it another shot after maybe a week off. It is a tough challenge, and this is to be expected...I am disappointed that I don't think I can make the 6 weeks regardless of the goal and if I hit it or not, but I still have the same goals. I am disappointed that it will take me longer before I can start a bulk, but maybe this is just part of learning.
This is why I mentioned the way the PMSF diet was written was for 2 weeks at a time with 2 weeks maintenance in between them. Lyle knows you need to recover and increase leptin stores if you want to keep the metabolism from slowing down as much. If you keep digging a whole, and never rest after a while it seems like you can't even get a grain of sand on the shovel. That is not about metabolic damage, that is simply the bodies own self preservation system. Don't feel bad about it, you pushed it like crazy but in the end it was not a healthy goal, and although it could have been done, in this case the burn out came before the goal was reached.
Do it like me, just do what feels right while watching calories. You came a very long way and you earned some rest, as long as you don't go full retard on the food now, lol!
Amen!
Yeah, I think it will be a week off. I kind of want to say less, but...it may be wise to just reset. It may also give me a chance to create a new set point since I seem to be stuck around 175-176 and then after losing a little, a single refeed day shot me right back there.
I think I may add in some MCTs and a little extra protein when I come back,, shoot for 1000-1200 calories but still do some running...but not as much as I've been doing. Maybe create a solid 1800 calorie day deficit.
Lol, yeah. In a gold cart, eating Apple's....but I friggin hate golf haha.
And I hate how my Kindle Fire thinks Apple is a proper name and capitalizes it every time. Haha
Can I kick you in the shin for insisting on making this harder for yourself. Self torture is not the only way, and is definitely not the most efficient! PLEASE TAKE 2 WEEKS AT MAINTENANCE!!!!! Then get back on it with a smaller deficit. Stop with the marathon cardio sessions. They are far from healthy and do nothing to get you towards a lean and powerful physique. Lean maybe but skinny fat is where you are headed if you keep your deficits so low. You have the resolve, apply some of that to trying to be more efficient rather than just constantly pushing harder and harder. Before trying to prove other theories wrong by doing what you are doing try proving the theories correct. See what kind of success you get there, then you will have something to truly compare for your notes on whether metabolic damage or slowdown has a real effect on the results you get.
From where you are my personal opinion is that if you want to get leaner then you need to do it with a small a deficit as you can get away with. Keep your performance and muscle growth on point by eating the best things for you at the best times to eat them. Surround your training with food, and carbs. Keep carbs lower at other times during the day. Start with a high fat moderate protein breakfast. Increase your carbs around training first to get back up to maintenance, keep protein substantial enough for growth, and fats low to moderate. If done correctly you can gain muscle and lose fat at the same time making for a much better physique.
I believe you are, you just doubt yourself too much. I tried straps, its just not going to happen just yet, its only been a few days though. And its the joint at the tip of the finger, so I bend the whole thing, but that part, so no strength in it. Ill stay away from a few things for a bit, but now I know I can still do several lifts, so game on!!
Ill give it a try. But... no chalk available at either gym I go to. Guess Ill have to start bring my own
It is like $5 for two blocks at academy.