FORtheCURE’s BodyBlog

I’ve received several pm’s from concerned bodyspacer’s who have told me my several pound weight loss over the last 4 days means that i am losing lean tissue (muscle) and that i need to bump my calories up.

While i sincerely appreciate the advice and concern, the reason i am losing so much weight is that I’m doing the depletion work from Lyle McDonald’s "The Ultimate Diet 2.0" and am losing significant amounts of glycogen, water and hopefully body fat. currently I’m eating at around 50% of maintenance calories which would normally be extremely catabolic, however I’ve taken certain dietary precautions and will reintroduce carbohydrate and appropriate tension loads during the weekend per protocol, that will (hopefully) rebuild any lost lean tissue.

So it’s all part of the master plan and we’ll see how it goes based upon my progress pics. thanks for your support!

-Chris

Well, after 14 (yes, 14!) days of the worst flu/cold/food poisoning/head spinning, exorcist like vomiting sickness in my life, I’m back in the gym! I tried to keep protein higher and did manage to get a few sets of weights in over the last 2 weeks but my strength was waaaaaay down and after 2 or 3 sets I was so fatigued that it felt like I had just worked out for 3 hours. So I was unable to use loads that were sufficient enough to maintain muscle mass. To add to my problem, I could keep hardly any food down and my apatite was non existent due to persistent nausea. But despite it all, miraculously, my body comp didn’t change that much! (I will update progress photos today) I got lucky though, because I didn’t man up and use my inner strength to break through the pain and ensure that I was maintaining my calories/protein/hydration. Frankly I’m surprised I didn’t atrophy into a bald, white Steve Urkle! (Did I do that??) But like everything else I’ve experienced in life, I’m going to assign the blame squarely where it belongs (my parents, I mean myself, ha ha) learn from it (ie. What will I do differently next time) and resolve to do better next time and move on! So what will I do differently the next time I’m faced with the dear god, please kill me now, wretched, I’d punch my own grandmother in the face to get better flu again?

1)      I will maintain sufficient protein intake via whole foods and if too nauseated to do so, protein shakes to prevent catabolism due to illness and reduced anaerobic activity.

2)      I will stay ultra hydrated, as being dehydrated contributes to lethargy, catabolism (probably), and may slow recovery from the illness.

3)      If strength is moderately maintained, I will hit each body part with 1 or 2 sets in an attempt to maintain mass.

4)      I will forgo aerobics, as I will more than likely already be in a caloric deficit due to food restriction from nausea. Research is equivocal as to if moderate intensity aerobic exercise will impair recovery.

What do you guys think? Any other suggestions! Thanks!