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Building Back Up

Weight: 228.4

Deadlift Top Set 3x365
Machine Row Top Set 4x325
Reverse Pec Deck 4 x 10 x 50
Machine Shrugs 4 x 8 x 180
DB Hammer Curls 3 sets
Machine Preacher 3 sets

Didn’t push deadlifts too hard today because I slept horrible and feel like absolute trash. Now that I’m losing weight successfully, the poor sleep and consequences of that are in full effect.
 
GreenMachineX said:
Weight: 228.4

Deadlift Top Set 3x365
Machine Row Top Set 4x325
Reverse Pec Deck 4 x 10 x 50
Machine Shrugs 4 x 8 x 180
DB Hammer Curls 3 sets
Machine Preacher 3 sets

Didn’t push deadlifts too hard today because I slept horrible and feel like absolute trash. Now that I’m losing weight successfully, the poor sleep and consequences of that are in full effect.
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You just need to drink caffeine all day. Then you can feel like jittery anxious trash
 
227.8.

Calories have been between 2800 and 3100 and still moving down weight if I do 10k steps. 2800 effects my sleep and I feel bad. Hopefully I truly figured this out.
 
GreenMachineX said:
227.8.

Calories have been between 2800 and 3100 and still moving down weight if I do 10k steps. 2800 effects my sleep and I feel bad. Hopefully I truly figured this out.
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Losing weight generally feels bad, and being hungry makes it harder to sleep.

Whenever I fast for the day, I sleep like sh*t.
 
Weight: 226.2

Ate a little more yesterday, probably almost to maintenance or even above and still down some weight. 10k steps per day is the trick. Don’t feel too bad today either.
 
Hyde said:
Whenever I fast for the day, I sleep like sh*t.
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Even after all the experience you have it still hits you bad? I assume only the first night? The first couple times I did the 30hr+ fasts I don't think I slept at all, but lately if I go for a 30hr+ fast by the time bed time arrives I'm so exhausted I'm falling asleep on the couch.
 
Dustin07 said:
Even after all the experience you have it still hits you bad? I assume only the first night? The first couple times I did the 30hr+ fasts I don't think I slept at all, but lately if I go for a 30hr+ fast by the time bed time arrives I'm so exhausted I'm falling asleep on the couch.
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So it got better the more you did it?
 
Dustin07 said:
Even after all the experience you have it still hits you bad? I assume only the first night? The first couple times I did the 30hr+ fasts I don't think I slept at all, but lately if I go for a 30hr+ fast by the time bed time arrives I'm so exhausted I'm falling asleep on the couch.
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No definitely not.

My body is good at fasting now; I have been dropping into ketosis by the time I wake up the second day usually, so after 30 hours or so. Once that happens, the following nights I have the energy from that AND thoughts about food that will keep me up easily. I usually have to go to bed 90 minutes or so later than usual when fasting for days to have a decent chance of not lying awake. Being exhausted doesn’t stop the mind from running.
 
Hyde said:
No definitely not.

My body is good at fasting now; I have been dropping into ketosis by the time I wake up the second day usually, so after 30 hours or so. Once that happens, the following nights I have the energy from that AND thoughts about food that will keep me up easily. I usually have to go to bed 90 minutes or so later than usual when fasting for days to have a decent chance of not lying awake. Being exhausted doesn’t stop the mind from running.
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GreenMachineX said:
So it got better the more you did it?
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for me absolutely, I can definitely relate to what Hyde is saying above. But when I first got started it was like near depression in the evenings, boredom, etc. afte a while it just didn't seem to be that big a deal for me. I always crave ceasar salad though when fasting for some reason, lol. My first long fast was when I travelled down to AZ for work and I absolutely did not sleep for 2 days that was pretty rough. these days I find I'm exhausted by 8:30pm on fasting days/nights.
 
Dustin07 said:
for me absolutely, I can definitely relate to what Hyde is saying above. But when I first got started it was like near depression in the evenings, boredom, etc. afte a while it just didn't seem to be that big a deal for me. I always crave ceasar salad though when fasting for some reason, lol. My first long fast was when I travelled down to AZ for work and I absolutely did not sleep for 2 days that was pretty rough. these days I find I'm exhausted by 8:30pm on fasting days/nights.
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That is because it is a salty and fat heavy food, everything your fasting body is craving, salt, fat / calories and flavor!!! You might be able to curb a little of that through salt supplementation throughout the day.
 
Weight: 225.6

Workout:
Upper Push with Machine Rows

Nothing with logging, minor strength loss. Weight still dropping…maybe too fast? Still eating 2800-3000 kcal per day.

From Wednesday evening to Saturday evening, I’ll be off diet with our 20 year anniversary and a conference but I plan to not go off the deep end and ruin my progress. I will overeat on calories, but keep it within reason. I can’t afford to feel like garbage on this conference. No workouts during that time either.
 
234 to 225 in just over 2 weeks is a lot but its hard to know how much extra water retention you had at that peak weight you posted. It's not uncommon for me to snag an easy 5lbs over the weekend just from BBQ that might not even be that "dirty" but hold a lot of sodium. My wedding ring is always a pretty big indicator for me. It feels about the same at 205lbs as it did at 180lbs unless I'm super bloated/holding a ton of water. then it gets tight.
 
Dustin07 said:
234 to 225 in just over 2 weeks is a lot but its hard to know how much extra water retention you had at that peak weight you posted. It's not uncommon for me to snag an easy 5lbs over the weekend just from BBQ that might not even be that "dirty" but hold a lot of sodium. My wedding ring is always a pretty big indicator for me. It feels about the same at 205lbs as it did at 180lbs unless I'm super bloated/holding a ton of water. then it gets tight.
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It was actually 236 at peak lol

But I do think 234 was actually just full weight.
 
From a bloated 234 to a normal 225 is most likely going to me predominantly water in 2 weeks. Especially with such a moderate deficit. Now to get back down to 215 where progress can start being made again. You've got this!
 
Came back from the trip at 231, so a 5 pound gain, but still down 5 from peak bloat. I’m happy with that. Today are 2880 kcal and 11k steps with my workout. Back to cutting.
 
Weight: 228.3

After a year or almost 2 of being back at it, I’ve noticed something, and including from years back…working out actually kills my libido. It doesn’t seem to matter how high my test levels are, but within a few days of being completely off, my libido comes back with a vengeance. Or, for roughly 48 hours post workout, it’s gone, sometimes up to 72 hours.

Otherwise, I have been working out and consistent even though I’m not logging, including 10k steps per day and kcal 2800-3k per day. Today was actually 3100 but still quite sure this is a deficit for me.
 
I could see exhaustion playing a role on a hard workout, but generally speaking I'm the opposite. Especially on a heavy deadlift day, makes me randy AF.
 
GreenMachineX said:
Does that mean in general, I’m pushing each work too hard?
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I don't think I would speculate because perceived exertion is a thing, and people are generally really bad at it. During the early xfit days when everyone was afraid of rhabdo we were coached to watch exertion, learn perceived exertion and monitor athletes. What I found was that a female athlete would typically tell you a lift was a 10 in terms of difficulty, but it was likely more like a 6 or 7. A man would tell you it was a 7, but it was like a 13. they almost died. 😅

Since you haven't really been logging lately with great detail its hard for me to say your issues are from excessive exertion... I tend to think you could use more output. maybe rub some alpha gel on it and see what happens. I know you were sensitive to some nootropic products but what about the tongkat in xpg alpha gel? I'm a huge fan of the product, personally.
 
You may also just need a better gym. surround yourself by some booty shorts and yoga pants, grip n rip some heavy deadlifts and tell me you don't feel primal AF. that **** will make you go genghis khan on your wife.
 
Yeah, that is an interesting situation, I mean the workouts are physical stress but enough to trigger your body not to want to procreate? It might be something worth having a dr look into. Also other alternatives, you could get some PT-141 nasal spray and shoot it about 45 minutes before you want to play and it will help get you in the mood, and apparently also provides amazing erections. However it actually increases libido, and drive, not just helps you perform which it does that as well.
 
MrKleen73 said:
Yeah, that is an interesting situation, I mean the workouts are physical stress but enough to trigger your body not to want to procreate? It might be something worth having a dr look into. Also other alternatives, you could get some PT-141 nasal spray and shoot it about 45 minutes before you want to play and it will help get you in the mood, and apparently also provides amazing erections. However it actually increases libido, and drive, not just helps you perform which it does that as well.
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Thanks!
 
Weight: 226.4

Flat DB Press 4 x 9/8/6/6 x 80’s
Dips 3 x 8
Seated Lateral Raise 3 x whatever
Seated Machine OHP 3 x 8 x 190
Skullcrushers 4 x 6/5/6/5 x 60

Definitely feeling the lack of calories now. Still 2800-3100 except Friday was probably a boy above maintenance.
 
Weight: 226.0

Pronated Pull-ups 4, 3, 3, 3
Deadlift 3 x 3 x 365
Machine Row 4 sets
Cable Shrug/Row 2 sets
Barbell Curls 3 sets

Might not hit 225.0 by Friday, but still leaner last week.
 
GreenMachineX said:
Might not hit 225.0 by Friday, but still leaner last week.
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it was an arbitrary goal but I wanted 189 by 8/1. Instead, despite upping cardio I stalled at 192 for like 1-2 weeks straight then all the sudden 188.8 last night when I got home. I always think about Kleen's "wooshes" and tell myself (and my wife) just stay the course, be patient, trust the process and all the sudden the rewards will just land in your lap when you put in the discipline and work.
 
Dustin07 said:
it was an arbitrary goal but I wanted 189 by 8/1. Instead, despite upping cardio I stalled at 192 for like 1-2 weeks straight then all the sudden 188.8 last night when I got home. I always think about Kleen's "wooshes" and tell myself (and my wife) just stay the course, be patient, trust the process and all the sudden the rewards will just land in your lap when you put in the discipline and work.
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W00t!
 
Dustin07 said:
it was an arbitrary goal but I wanted 189 by 8/1. Instead, despite upping cardio I stalled at 192 for like 1-2 weeks straight then all the sudden 188.8 last night when I got home. I always think about Kleen's "wooshes" and tell myself (and my wife) just stay the course, be patient, trust the process and all the sudden the rewards will just land in your lap when you put in the discipline and work.
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How many kcal are you eating per day? And what’s your macros?
 
GreenMachineX said:
How many kcal are you eating per day? And what’s your macros?
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Until you asked, I hadn't counted. I've done this so many times I just always know how to sync into the same routine with a massive focus on protein, then I increase carbs on important lifting days and decrease them on rest days. But since you asked I put my numbers together and I'm sitting at 2200.

That number would drop by around 250 on a rest day because I wouldn't be having my extra serving of preWO rice/carbs and would go up semi-substantially on our reset meal day. This week the meal is going to be Saturday night for my wife's bday BBQ. She wants steak and potatoes but tbh since I have to cook / grill for everyone I'm likely making myself a monster pretzel bun burger lol
 
Dustin07 said:
Until you asked, I hadn't counted. I've done this so many times I just always know how to sync into the same routine with a massive focus on protein, then I increase carbs on important lifting days and decrease them on rest days. But since you asked I put my numbers together and I'm sitting at 2200.

That number would drop by around 250 on a rest day because I wouldn't be having my extra serving of preWO rice/carbs and would go up semi-substantially on our reset meal day. This week the meal is going to be Saturday night for my wife's bday BBQ. She wants steak and potatoes but tbh since I have to cook / grill for everyone I'm likely making myself a monster pretzel bun burger lol
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Is that a pretty steep deficit? I don’t think I sleep much at that level of kcal
 
GreenMachineX said:
Is that a pretty steep deficit? I don’t think I sleep much at that level of kcal
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I got into a bad routine of being so low for so long that back in fall of 2022 I reverse dieted from 1700 calories to about 2500/2700 daily in take adding 100 per week and it took me from August till December before I started adding lbs. By the end of the year I was only up 4lbs with a nearly 1k calorie increase. Through the strength cycles I would average around 2700 on a normal training day and then of course 3000+ on my very heavy deadlift days. But it still was a moderate surplus because over a 2 year span I only went from around 183 to 207 at my very peak (which was also my deadlift PR day). Then 2 times over that period I utilized ADF style fasting to cut 10-15lbs very fast. My typical pattern was cut down to 185/188 ish then slowly rebuild to around 200, then cut back. (ADF I had picked up from @MrKleen73 and I was fairly strict in making sure I ate in a surplus on lifting days, and then my fasting days were a legit 30hrs+, not just like 20:4 IF).

so long story short, 2200 is a deficit from where I have taken things but still much higher than my historical cutting. I've been trying to gain my cut this time via increased LISS rather than just crushing calories. especially since I'm using gear cream I'm trying to make sure I'm getting enough nutrition to put the product to good use.

My sleep typically is more about stress and exhaustion. If I'm not feeling super tired at 8:30pm then I will take melatonin. If my stress level is high then there isn't really much I can do to improve my sleep and get out of my head until my wife gets the poison out ;) that always seems to help.
 
GreenMachineX said:
Is that a pretty steep deficit? I don’t think I sleep much at that level of kcal
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You seem to try to compare or get cues off of what other people are doing which is completely understandable. However you are not anywhere near the same size or shape as Dustin. Your numbers are going to be completely different than his. He also does not suffer from PEM so something that would be an issue for you probably wouldn't be an issue at all for him. Your best bet is to tailor your diet to you, and then most importantly stick to it. Your level of success is directly tied to your consistency, not how you are dieting but that you don't stick to it. Gonna have to learn to embrace the suck to reach your goals. The answer here is consistently doing the right thing, not in how many calories others are eating that are experiencing success. It is not that their diet is better, it is that they are actually sticking to it.
 
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MrKleen73 said:
However you are not anywhere near the same size or shape as Dustin. Your numbers are going to be completely different than his. He also does not suffer from PEM so something that would be an issue for you probably wouldn't be an issue at all for him.
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these are two biggies. with green and I being about 36lbs difference there is a lot right there, and yeah I have not had the chronic PEM issues. I can typically really drive my body into the ground pretty succesfully for a while before I break. Now stress is a real thing, but over the past decade I've (thankfully) been able to typically identify it earlier and take measures to fix that. Gotta get the brain right to get the body right! I have at times found myself even counting to 10 in traffic because of a post Hyde once made and by the time I get to 8 I'm almost laughing at myself.
 
MrKleen73 said:
You seem to try to compare or get cues off of what other people are doing which is completely understandable. However you are not anywhere near the same size or shape as Dustin. Your numbers are going to be completely different than his. He also does not suffer from PEM so something that would be an issue for you probably wouldn't be an issue at all for him. Your best bet is to tailor your diet to you, and then most importantly stick to it. Your level of success is directly tied to your consistency, not how you are dieting but that you don't stick to it. Gonna have to learn to embrace the suck to reach your goals. The answer here is consistently doing the right thing, not in how many calories others are eating that are experiencing success. It is not that their diet is better, it is that they are actually sticking to it.
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My mind wants to go back to believing I don’t have any issues and I can do everything the normal way. Super frustrating to realize I’m not. Getting to the point of just being ok with feeling like trash and getting poor sleep for the next 12 weeks was difficult, but then I have a really good day out 2 sprinkled in that makes me question my tactics and think…” I’ll drop my kcal even lower.” 😂
 
GreenMachineX said:
My mind wants to go back to believing I don’t have any issues and I can do everything the normal way. Super frustrating to realize I’m not. Getting to the point of just being ok with feeling like trash and getting poor sleep for the next 12 weeks was difficult, but then I have a really good day out 2 sprinkled in that makes me question my tactics and think…” I’ll drop my kcal even lower.” 😂
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I would pick a moderate deficit maybe 300-500 a day and start there. Run that until weightloss stalls then remove 150-200 that way it is much less of a change to your system. It may not be as fast but if you can maintain the consistency for a long period you will reach your goals and probably with a little less PEM due to smaller deficits.
 
Dustin07 said:
it was an arbitrary goal but I wanted 189 by 8/1. Instead, despite upping cardio I stalled at 192 for like 1-2 weeks straight then all the sudden 188.8 last night when I got home. I always think about Kleen's "wooshes" and tell myself (and my wife) just stay the course, be patient, trust the process and all the sudden the rewards will just land in your lap when you put in the discipline and work.
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Woke up at 224.8; the “woosh” is real!
 
Friday’s Workout:
Seated DB OHP 4 9/9/9/8 x 75’s
Machine Chest Press 4 x 8 x 220
Seated Lateral Raise 3 sets
Shrugs 3 sets
Reverse Pec Deck 3 x 8/8/10 x 50
Cable Pressdowns 3 sets
1 Arm Pressdowns 2 sets

Great workout. Pretty trashed the next day though due to circumstantial lack of sleep (as opposed to insomnia). Feeling bad today as well…sore throat, achy joints, lethargy…hoping I’m not catching what my son has.
 
GreenMachineX said:
Friday’s Workout:
Seated DB OHP 4 9/9/9/8 x 75’s
Machine Chest Press 4 x 8 x 220
Seated Lateral Raise 3 sets
Shrugs 3 sets
Reverse Pec Deck 3 x 8/8/10 x 50
Cable Pressdowns 3 sets
1 Arm Pressdowns 2 sets

Great workout. Pretty trashed the next day though due to circumstantial lack of sleep (as opposed to insomnia). Feeling bad today as well…sore throat, achy joints, lethargy…hoping I’m not catching what my son has.
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Definitely stuff going around, my daughter has the cough going on, and my son's nose is all clogged up. I'm trying to avoid getting sick as well - elderberry & vit C...
 
Segansational said:
Definitely stuff going around, my daughter has the cough going on, and my son's nose is all clogged up. I'm trying to avoid getting sick as well - elderberry & vit C...
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My son had green snot suddenly yesterday and there’s Strep, COVID, and some other virus that was just going around as well here.
 
Well, it’s official. Got whatever bug again with some scratchy throat, aches and pain, mild lethargy, runny nose. Oddly enough, I am super hungry.
 
Feel better!
 
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