evening all, n

[Markio]

Hello all, I'll be starting on the FLA guys cutting plan on the 17th July - so here's my little log. Excuse the spelling, I'm well knackerd!...

Background:
Weight has been up and down since I was a kid, waist ranging from 30-40 inches. Last few years I've got into training and have been steady at around 30inch waist and in very good cardiovascular shape. Loosing fat hasn't been a problem for me, but I tended to loose too much muscle whilst doing it.

My biggest problem is that I am a sucker for advertising. Despite clearly being well under my genetic potential in terms of muscle mass, I have ran cycles of superdrol, trn, e..max - those are all at the back of the cupboard now (I'd throw them away if they wern't so expensive!), and any supplements for the forseeable future will be nutural.


Recent Supplemet/Diet History:
Been taking Melting Point (4 weeks) and cAMP (8 weeks), will be stopping all supplements at the start of this plan, bar the ones Bobo has set out (multivits and the like - nothing 'special'). Diet has been around maintenance and relying on training to make the calorie defecit. Currently looking soft and rubbish - hopefully as a result of the TTA/Melting Point.


Reson for hiring the clown:
1) I used to read for hours on end, however the more you read the more contradtictory opinions you see. Now I'm not sure what to believe! For example the Scivation guys believe in a high fat approach where as Tom Venuto believes in a relativley low fat diet for cutting. Both regarded as experts so who do you believe?! I've always enjoyed reading Bobo's posts and his style (low gi carbs esp) fits with my way of thinking, meaning I'll have more confidence with his plan rather than Scivations - so I'm almost looking to start learning from scratch from a single point of reference.

2) Although I've been fine in getting down to a certain body fat level where I can see ab's - I'm wanting to see what I can achieve with professional advice


My Stats:
Height; 5'9
Weight; (will add these at the start on the 17th)
Waist; "
BiCep; "
Caliper Readings; (may not be that accurate - my fat track gold is telling me I'm at 7% which is way too low!)
Body fat; (see above, probably skewed by the fact that I have hardly any fat in two of the areas for measuring - leg/chest)

Yer I know most of you are thinking that the little guy should be bulking, not cutting! But the heaviest thing I have needed to lift in real life is a bag of shopping, and I'd prefer to be light and lean as I am better at running when I'm in that shape, I'm soo slow when I'm heavier.

In short - Bobo's plan will be followed exactly, and I'll update once a week with measurements and how it's going, how I'm feeling etc - doubt if it'll be more than that as nowt will change much in a day or so and certain things can cause misleading fluctuations over that short at time. I will post any changes to diet/supplements/training on the fly.


First Impressions of the plan:
Not only is it very detailed, but the diet is so much more varied to what I am used to on a cut, normally i'd be a chicken or tuna and veg type 6 times a day... so not a lot of change.

Any questions feedback / general abuse all welcome - I'll try and add pics on just before the start for a comparison.

laters

 

[Markio]

Reserved for summary / conclusion...

 

[bms0lsc]

..... I'm well knackerd!...

... nowt will change much in a day or so....
laters

Definitely British phrases! Where you from? It's good to have another 'limey' here.

I signed up too because I always liked Bobo's take in all the big debates on this board.

And get thy'sen down to Asda; it's where all the cheapest food is over here. You should've seen me when I found out they were selling tuna at 88p per can instead of the 98p I was paying at Morrisons! I giggled like a little schoolgirl at saving £36.50 a year!

 

[Markio]

haha, can't believe you done the maths mate! best not start calculating how much the american guys save on supplements - we get well screwed over here. I'm in Oxford, where you from?

How long you been doing the bobo plan? I'm starting on the 17th - can't get what a serving is, surely they are different for different people, thats why some people are so fat

Hope the plan is going well for you

 

[bms0lsc]

Im in Leeds. Currently in week 49 .

A serving is a cup basically, so it's a svg/cup c.cheese, mozz, brocolli, milk etc. They're the same for everyone, but some people get more servings than others. You'll get servings taken out as you go.

That's a Bobo secret, not to be shared; standard serving sizes added or taken away as you progress. Completely alien beforehand but a bit of a 'duh' moment when you think about it

 

[Markio]

cheers bms. I've used the cup = serving for everything except mozarella - as I can't get my macros right and the extra fat will further throw them out.

To bobo or anyone who knows... I've attached a doc showing how I've worked out the macros - but I am still not getting anywhere near - for the most part fat is way to high, but protein is way down. If anyone can give me a clue as to where I'm going wrong that'd be cool. (P.s I'm starting on monday rather than sunday, so the training day and diet day is just knocked on one).


cheers
m

 

[Markio]

Ok up and running!

My nutritional numbers are a little out, but I'm eating exactly what fla has advised and the ratios are very close, just the calories are a little down, just by 100/200 on some days, and the fat is a little high; so I'm going to run with this and see where it takes me for the time being unless FLA chime in and tell me different. I would post the exact details up but I'm not sure if that is the done thing even in the private section. (Bobo or any Fla rep, I can provide/post any details if needed)

Everything is being followed exactly as laid out, there are only these additions:

A swig of Lemon Juice and Red Wine Vinegar before each meal.
Chewing Gum, and lots of it - best part of 15 packs today (no joke )
May continue to use USP Labs REM as I am a sh1tty sleeper, and this isn't a fat burner/anabolic or anything along those lines so it won't interfere with the results.

Temporarily will be using Expel to help shift some of the water weight from Melting Point.

Starting Stats:
Age: 29
Weight: 154.2
Waist 33.81

Fat Track Gold Caliper Readings:
Chest: 5mm
Leg: 5mm
Belly: 16mm
(according to the machine my body fat is 7.7%... not even close imo!)

Normal acumeasure caliper measurements:
Illiac: 13mm

As I said in the first post these measures may be a bit out as I have been on Melting Point for 3-4 weeks or so, it may be a bit of water retention - we'll see in the next two weeks.

First Day:
Diet spot on, water intake spot on. New training is cool, only took 25 mins to get through todays routine, but a bit gutted at having to leave the gym without having a tear up on the rowing machine

I won't be having any dressings or the like on meals, and normal tea will be cut to a max of one a day - replaced by green tea or water.

Meal spacings are a little out, nearer 3.5 hours - mainly due to the fact I don't sleep a lot. If this sleep pattern continues I'm thinking of adding a meal of just celery, which will allow the meal spacing to get back to around 2.5-3 hours but not add any calories and also provide an additional boost to the metabolism... anyway that is just thinking aloud - I'll chuck the idea to the guys at FLA and see what they think before I do anything.

 

[Markio]

Diet:
First week went well diet wise, although there is room for improvement, as every now and again I'd stick an extra few sprigs of brocolli or a stick of celery in a meal. Also I used some low fat <3% dressings on some meals but not all. So that can be improved upon this next week.

Have been eating all the meals with starchy carbs first, all 3 hrs apart.

Sundays 'cheat' meal = 260g Salmon, 150g brocolli, 120g Cottage Cheese.

Training;
A change from what I am used to but went well, and next week should be better now I have a better idea of the weight I can handle. Hardest thing is leaving out the cardio sessions.

Review:
A good getting started week, most of the water I was carrying from the Melting Point seems to have gone, so next week will be a better indicator of results.

Stats:

Weight (154.2) 150.4
Waist (33.81) 33.56

Fat Track Gold Caliper (mm)
Chest (5) 4
Belly (16) 11
Leg (5) 5

Acumeasure Caliper
Iliac (13) 8

FLA guys - Question:
I'm going to have to go away on a training course for 5 days the week after next (31st July - 4th Aug). Diet won't be a problem as I'll be taking a fridge, however training will be as none of the gyms in the area do pay as you go.

What do you suggest would be the best course of action here? I will be able to do cardio, push ups, sit ups, front lat raises (with a chair). Will have a supermarket on the doorstep and a fridge so any diet changes are fine - will/can take any supps along, I'm not a light traveller!

 

[bms0lsc]

Try saying you've moved to the area and you want to check out the gym to see if you want to start a full membership. Bound to work in one of 'em.

 

[Markio]

Stats after week 2:


Weight: 149
Waist 33.31

Fat Track Gold Caliper Readings:
Chest: 4mm
Leg: 4mm
Belly: 10mm

Normal acumeasure caliper measurements:
Illiac: 9mm

Week 3 I was away all week without any gym access, so I reigned in the calories a bit (hitting around 1800-2000) and went for a few runs. Diet was largley the same ingredients, and if I out out it was lways Orange Chicken Salad with extra veg. Will update with week 3 details tomorrow.

 

[Markio]

Ok a little update just of waist and weight, as I can't get any consistancy out of the caliper measurements!

Weight 140.7
Waist 33.07

Feeling and looking like I'm making progress, so not that worried about the calipers - also glad the week away didn't appar to do any damage.

 

[Markio]

just using the normal calipers now, digital too difficult at 5:30 in the morning.

Weight: 10st 7 (154.2: -7.2)
Waist: 32.88 (33.81: -0.93)

Chest: 4mm (5mm: -1)
Leg: 4mm (5mm: -1)
Belly: 8mm (16mm: -8)
Illiac: 7mm (13mm: -6mm)

Think last weeks weight was wrong - maybe I meant to put down 147 (as in 10st 7), rather than 10.7... I was away on training that week so was rusing around a lot.

Anyway everything still going well overall, so I'll see how things change from this week to next. Should get a better idea of site changes now I've ditched the fat track gold and sticking with normal calipers.

 

[Markio]

After week 4:

Weight: 143.2 (154.2: -11 lbs)
Waist: 32.13 (33.81: -1.68 In)
Illiac: 7mm (13mm: -6mm)
Chest: 4mm (5mm: -1mm)
Leg: 4mm (5mm: -1mm)
Belly: 7mm (16mm: -9mm)

 

[Dwight Schrute]

:bb2:

 

[Markio]

Weight: 144.8 (154.2: -9.4 lbs)
Waist: 32.13 (33.81: -1.68 In)
Illiac: 7mm (13mm: -6mm)
Chest: 3mm (5mm: -2mm)
Leg: 4mm (5mm: -1mm)
Belly: 6mm (16mm: -10mm)

Weight has gone up since last week! Think the reason may have been that I've ditched the addiction to Vit E tabs, but changed it to Vit C tabs - they are well nice with green tea

After a google, it looks like these little bundles of sweetness can contain between 5 and 10 calories each - and I was hammering down handfulls of these things. Will stick to the 3g per day and hide the bottle from now on, that'll save a couple of hundred cals and get things back on track...

 

[bms0lsc]

After a google, it looks like these little bundles of sweetness can contain between 5 and 10 calories each - and I was hammering down handfulls of these things.

I noticed that. They put sugar in to cover up the acidic taste of the vit C. Get the vit C powder; no added sugar and MUCH cheaper.

 

[Markio]

never seen vit c powder - good tip i'll have a hunt around, cheers mate