Old Man Skinny’s Journal

Weight 171@ 10.9%  What’s that?! A new number for body fat?  So I step back on the scale to see it again–Weight 171 @ 11.0%.  Ahhhhh, shucks.  But now I know that the scale can really show a lower number.  All the more incentive to see it again and make it stick next time.

Carbs today, but nothing overboard–whole grain toast and veggies with my omelete, fava beans and spinach with my left-over curried pork, pb in my shake, rice and asparagus with my grilled chicken.  I’m planning some cottage cheese/yogurt before bed.  We’ll see how all this makes the numbers jump in the morning.

Good triceps workout with a little chest and glutes/quads tossed in–things I didn’t get to yesterday.  Then a 45 minute run–15 minutes of it HIIT–30sec sprint, 30sec jog.  This fitness thing is really demanding some time AND IT’S WEARING ME OUT!

Weight 171@12%  I had a very killing leg workout this morning.  I drank 4oz of juice with my pre-workout shake, and more protein and slight carb during the workout.  It kept me going.  I definitely DON’T want smooth legs that look like sticks up on that posing stage.  Well, I was SO exhausted after the workout, I just could NOT see myself going out for a 45-minute run.  So I went back to the gym in the afternoon and swam laps.  It killed my arms, since I haven’t swum since starting my 6-day-a-week weight sessions, but it felt good, and my legs got to just dangle along in the water.

My pool session was 50 minutes, broken up into intervals every 4 lengths with a set of abs out on the pool deck.  That kept my heart rate up, but gave my upperbody the rest it needed.

No carbs today, except for the little pre-workout juice, a sliced broccoli stem for lunch (like carrot sticks only more nutritious–just peel it with a carrot peeler to get off the outside tough stuff.  I hope YOU don’t throw the stems away like the rest of the world.), and a dolop of yogurt on my curried pork tonight.

Check out my recipe forum for the description of my maplenut ice cream shake this afternoon.

Weight 172@11% So the carb day yesterday didn’t goof things up too bad and it sure tasted good.  Today was just protein and fat, except for 4oz of juice with my pre-workout shake.  That little bit of carb gave me great energy for the first part of an hour of back exercises, a little ab and trap thrown in.

10:00 2 egg whites, 1 whole egg, 20g whey protein, Metamucil all in a shake

1:00 1 1/3 cans of tuna with mustard, 1/2 large avacado, and some celery–I know, I know, that’s breaking the rules, but it’s no caleries and plenty of fiber.  I’m concerned about my digestive system getting plugged up without my normal fiber intake.

3:00 Greens+, BCCAs, glutamine.

45 minutes of running.  Well, let’s put it this way–5 minutes of a good warm up, 10 min. of HIIT (45 sec sprints w/ 30 sec slow jogs), and then 10 minutes of trying to get my wooden legs to move!  I just had NO energy.  I went home, got my wife, and we did a slow jog for another 20 minutes.  And then I was good for nothing!

4:30 35g whey protein, 1Tbl psyllium hust (fiber), 1 Tbl nat.pb in a shake

7:30 6oz of grilled chicken, 1/2 large avacado

11:15 30g whey protein, 2Tb milled flax seed

Weight 171 @ 12%  That’s down 2 pounds from yesterday.  I’m sure today’s carb eating will put it back up, but still, it’s fun to see what happens with changing the nutrition like that.

Today was a carb day–nothing too excessive, mostly veggies.  I had a piece of toast and a little fruit at breakfast along with my eggs.  I had a 1/2 C of squash at lunch, and 1/2 C of br. rice at supper.  I ate more protein than I was supposed to, so that might goof up the plan.

A really good chest workout–3 sets of each of these:  incline press, decline press, smith incline press with bar lowered to neck (to work on upper outside pecs), fly machine, and cable flys, with light work on tris and rotator cuff.

I did my first 45-min. cardio.  20 minutes of it was HIIT, the rest just pluggin’ along.  I did 20 minutes of abs and posing.  Posing can sure wear you out.  I’ve got to get that up to 45 minutes and start getting a routine correographed.

This morning’s weigh-in–172 @ 11%.  Now we’ll see what today’s no-carb will do for tomorrow’s figures.  Try my best, I just could not get excited about the food today:

Sunday–no workout, but a full day in the service of the Lord.
9:00 breakfast shake–3XL, BCAAs, Glutamine, 2 egg whites, 1 whole egg, 20g whey protein, scoop of Metamucil.  Tasted fine, but sure wasn’t as rewarding to the tummy as an omelet with veggies.
12:00 Shake (guzzled down between church meetings)–30g whey protein, 2 tbl of milled flax seed
3:00 Beef soup–5oz of ground beef, 3 tbl of raw peanuts, olive oil, beef broth, garlic, and a LITTLE onion.  After dishing up my share, I added brown rice and spinach to my wife’s.  Spinach never looked so green and enticing.
4:30 BCAAs, Glutamine, Greens+ in water–This is what I drank while I watched my visiting grandkids eat strawberry ice cream with maraschino cherries.
6:00 5 oz chicken breast and 2 tbl of slivered almonds browned in olive oil, seasoned with ginger and nutmeg.  Garnished with a LITTLE dollop of yogurt and orange zest.  My wife’s had some pinapple, orange, and lime slices in it with some fruit juice to make a glaze.
9:00 shake–30g whey, 2 tbl of milled flax, maple flavoring

Friday weight–172 @ 12% Then I proceeded to have a CARB day–two meals with friends and family that included plenty of carb.  I still had a good cardio workout and did biceps.

Saturday weight–177@11% Just goes to show how much water the carbs carry into the muscles.  Remember that just before a photo shoot or competition.

I met with my trainer today–posed for over an hour.  He wants to see more in the middle ab area, so suggested more "bridge" work and "roll-out" motion things.  He’s pleased with the progress on the upper lats and biceps peaks.

But it is time to ramp up the fat loss–what were no-carb days before will now REALLY become NO CARB days–no veggies, no dairy–not even cottage cheese.  So I’m down to meat, eggs, and the good fats.  The schedule stays the same–2 days of no carbs followed by a carb day.  And even the protein and fats are going to be cut back in serving size–4-5 oz of meat, 4-5 eggs, 1 1/2 scoops of protein powder, etc.

I’m still going to fudge with juice in my pre-workout shake.  I just can’t get energy to move without it.

I’m to move to heavier sets, too–using weight heavy enough to put me in the 4-6 rep range.  And cardio is going to be EVERY DAY for 45 minutes.

I think I’m going to melt away before the week’s out using this plan.  We’ll see–contest date is 6 weeks out.

Stayed and did a delt workout after the posing session and then came back home for HIIT later in the afternoon–I ran in shorts and a t-shirt it was so nice today.  I did get a little chilly, but that would just increase the kcals burned, right?

Weight 173@12%–so the body weight is back down but not the bf.  Today I did heavy triceps, and superset abs, forearms, and some light chest with the triceps exercises.  Did HIIT this afternoon–45sec sprints followed by 30sec jogs.  Heart rate was 144 which is about 85-90% of my MHR.  I finished up with 20 minutes of posing–that’s as intense as the cardio was!  I’m finally seeing some definition in the abs.  I’m sure there’s some muscle under there just waiting to be visable as soon as I can thin out the skin.
I’ve done another no-carb day (except for 6oz of juice with some protein powder and my supps pre-workout), seeing if I can’t force the bodyfat to respond.  Protein and good fat have been normal with lots of fibrous veggies (I’m running out of ways to make broccoli interesting–but then, I can start over).

Weight 176@12%–I hope that’s still the hangover from the carbs on Monday.  Today’s another no-carb day, and I’ve cut back on total kcal even on protein and fat, so it should get me back on track.  A heavy leg workout this morning.  I have been avoiding heavy squats and leg presses because of my back, but this morning I tossed care to the wind and piled on the plates on the leg press–8 reps at 430.  That’s more reps than I could do with that weight before I hurt my back.

The sun was shining, so out I went for a 3 mile run this afternoon.  I’m still not sure if it’s a good idea to run after a leg workout.  Does it minimize the muscle growth I was trying to get with the weight workout?

Weight 174@11%–The scales have read that two days in a row, so maybe I can trust the trend.  That’s down 6lbs and 2% in my 3 weeks of cutting.

Today’s a carb day after 2 days of no carbs.  Seemed good to eat full meals.  My chest workout was fine–6 reps on benching my body weight (175) for 2 sets.  A good 3-mile run this afternoon.   And 20 minutes posing.

Weight 173 @ 13%  So I’m getting the weight off but the muscle is going with it.  I called my trainer (I only see him every 2 or 3 weeks–pretty expensive) and he’s not discouraged about the figures.  He even thought my legs were looking bigger.  He did tell me to go to a 3-day carb cycle–today carbs, next 2 days NO CARBS.  I’m willing if it will help me keep the muscle.  He said to keep doing sets in the 6-8 rep range, but to be sure I went to failure, especially on the last set of each exercise.  I’ve been dong that, but I’ll push even harder.  No sense in all this stress on exercise and careful nutrition if I don’t give it everything I can and then fall short of my goal.