Weight Loss and Healthy Living

A reflection on missing some goals but hitting others. Discussion of how I managed to increase strength and maintain my biceps (upper arm) size while cutting to low body fat. Plenty of meals and training exercises.


7/30/2003

Weight: 183.5

Training:

Ran 8mph @ 20 minutes, then 35 minutes walking uphill @ 3mph

Nutrition:

Supplementation:

1 tbsp flaxseed oil
1000mg fish oil
50mg Niacin (B3)
1 tablet "The Bridge" multi-vitamin
4 tablets TwinLab multi-mineral
2000mg Vitamin C
400IU Vitamin E
2 servings CytoVol
60mg ephedrine / 600mg caffeine

Breakfast I:
8oz Odwallah Orange Juice

Breakfast II:
1 apple
1 orange
1 cup grapes

Meal I:
Vegan black bean burrito
1oz blue corn chips
2 cups broccoli & cauliflower mix

Snack:
Peanut butter granola bar

Meal II:
4oz Laura's lean beef
1 slice rice cheese
2 cups broccoli & cauliflower mix

Meal III:
1 bowl of whole grain "o's" (like Cheerios but organic) w/ chocolate soy milk
0.5oz blue corn chips
1 slice sprouted grain bread w/ 1 tbsp almond butter

Calories: 1999 (good year)
Fat: 75g (9g saturated) 33%
Sodium: 2200mg
Potassium: 2430mg
Carbohydrate: 240g (38g fiber / 73g sugar) 47%
Protein: 101g 20%
Water: 173oz

WHOOP day it eeez.

7/31/2003

Weight: 183

Training:

Cable row 5 x 190
Bench press 5 x 227.5
Stiff-legged dead-lift 5 x 285
Wide-grip pull-up 5 x 226 (BW + 40)
Military press 5 x 120
Squat 5 x 285
Standing calf raise 5 x 380
Hammer curl w/ external rotation 5 x 47.5
Lying triceps extension 5 x 105
Cable crunch 5 x 77.5

Nutrition:

Supplementation:

1 tbsp flaxseed oil
1000mg fish oil
50mg Niacin (B3)
1 tablet "The Bridge" multi-vitamin
4 tablets TwinLab multi-mineral
2000mg Vitamin C
400IU Vitamin E
2 servings CytoVol
6g creatine
60mg ephedrine / 600mg caffeine

Breakfast I:
8oz Odwallah Orange Juice

Breakfast II:
1 orange
1 apple
1 cup grapes

Meal:
4oz Laura's lean beef
1 slice Rice cheese
2 cups cauliflower

Snack:
Nature's Choice Peanut Butter granola bar

Meal:
Amy's organic burrito (rice & beans)
1 oz blue corn chips
2 cups cauliflower

Meal:
4oz top loin steak
Large mixed greens salad w/ 1 tbsp cider vinegar

Post-workout shake:
1 cup ice
1 cup water
1 banana
1/2 california avocado
1/2 cup raw sugar

Calories: 2310
Fat: 78g (17g saturated) 29%
Sodium: 1460mg
Potassium: 4160mg
Carbohydrate: 330g (38g fiber) 55%
Protein: 93g 16%
Water: 232oz (1 gallon + change)

HOOT!

8/1/2003

Weight: 183

Training:

Ran 3 miles @ 22:40 minutes, then 35 minutes walking uphill @ 3mph

Nutrition:

Supplementation:

1 tbsp flaxseed oil
1000mg fish oil
50mg Niacin (B3)
1 tablet "The Bridge" multi-vitamin
4 tablets TwinLab multi-mineral
2000mg Vitamin C
400IU Vitamin E
2 servings CytoVol
60mg ephedrine / 600mg caffeine

Breakfast I:
8oz Odwallah Orange Juice

Breakfast II:
8 oz rice drink
1 Nature's Choice Chocolate Chip granola bar
4 cinnamon graham crackers

Morning meal:
Amy's Roasted vegetable pockets
1 slice sprouted grain bread
1 oz baked blue corn chips
2 cups broccoli

Snack:
1 banana

Afternoon meal:
4 oz New York strip steak
1 slice rice cheese
2 cups broccoli

Dinner:
1 slice sprouted grain bread
1 tbsp almond butter
8 oz orange juice
1 cuban coffee w/ 2 tsp of sugar

Calories: 1961
Fat: 58g (11g saturated) 26%
Sodum: 1870mg
Potassium: 3920mg
Carbohydrate: 279g (37g fiber / 30g sugar) 55%
Protein: 97g 19%
Water: 197 oz

HOOOOT!

8/1/2003

Well, I came very, very close to reaching my goals, but did not quite nail them. Am I disappointed? Not at all!!! My entire focus of this challenge has been the photo shoot next week, so the goals of running 3 miles and lifting x weight were secondary to that goal. In the past, two things have happened as I leaned down ... (1) my biceps have shrunk, which they did not this challenge (still 15" flexed!) and (2) I've lost a ton of strength ... this challenge, I gained strength! So while I did not reach my goal of 5 x 240 for bench and 5 x 300 for squat, I came damn close and they are still personal records for being <10% body fat and near 180 pounds!

So, here I am eking out my bench press. I made only 3 reps and then hit a firm wall, but that's okay ... note how my left shoulder has dropped, causing the bar to be uneven - this is an imbalance I have to address. You can see it in my poses, too, there is an unnatural rotation/drop to one side and my head is always slightly cocked - I have to practice "cocking" to the other side to even it, but I need to do some unilateral movements to fix the bench ... here we go:

3 x 240 bench press (full range - touch chest, pause, back up) on August 1, 2003:



Now, for squat, I did what I thought was a novel effort. Remember that sticking point I discussed? Well, I pushed through it once. Then I pushed through it again. The third time, it was literally (again) a wall, like the bench ... it was definitely not lack of trying. I just saw black and was sitting in the cage with the bar on the powerhooks, and had to lay down to compose myself, but that was after completing two full reps, all the way to the bottom. My lovely wife was kind enough to take this picture of me coming out of the bottom of my second rep:

2 x 300 squat (full range, just below parallel) on August 1, 2003:



Of course, the best part was the post-workout cookies n' cream ice cream! WHOOT! Now off to help frame a house tomorrow for Habitat for Humanity, then the last week is HERE!

Jeremy

8/5/2003

Weight: 184

Training:

Glycogen depletion for lower body

4 strip sets (10 reps) starting at 205 and dropping to 145 on squat and dead-lift
4 strip sets (10 reps) starting at 85 and dropping to 45 on leg extension (one leg at a time)
4 strip sets (10 reps) starting at 30 and dropping to 5 on leg curl (one leg at a time)

Nutrition:

Supplementation:

1 tbsp flaxseed oil
1000mg fish oil
50mg Niacin (B3)
1 tablet "The Bridge" multi-vitamin
4 tablets TwinLab multi-mineral
2000mg Vitamin C
400IU Vitamin E

(NOTE: no more thermogenic, CytoVol, or creatine)

Nutrition:

Ramping into low carb phase

Breakfast:

1 cup Kashi 7-grain (not the cereal, the whole grain) w/ maple syrup and a touch of cinnamon

Next meal:
Dr. McDougall's split pea and barley
Nature Valley granola bar

Next meal:
1 cup Perdue short cuts Southwestern chicken breast
1/2 cup peas

Next meal:
1 cup Perdue short cuts Southwestern chicken breast
1/4 cup salted mixed nuts

Calories: 1466
Fat: 42g (6g saturated) 26%
Sodium: 3340mg
Potassium: 594mg
Carbohydrate: 166g (30g fiber / 32g sugar) 45%
Protein: 112g 30%
Water: 206oz

WHOOMP! There it is!

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