Jettisoned Ponderings

Things have been going quite well this week. In addition to the new diet, I also started a 30 day cleanse. Same product I’ve used for the last few years ("Power Cleanse for Athletes" by Renew Life) but I usually do 15 days every 6 months. This time I’m doing the full thing because its long overdue and will be complimentary to the cutting process. Been flushing water way more now that the carbs are dropping down and I’m pushing more fluid. It helps so much to be able to stay properly hydrated at work now instead of running around not getting to take in any food or only a few sips of water for sometimes 5+ hours at a time! Weighed in at 189.5 this morning. Bodyfat I’ll wait to check until Sunday.

The diet is great. I pretty much nailed it with where I need to be nutritionally on it and the right amount of calories. My body is constantly running hotter and the workouts I’m pouring sweat by the end of the first or second exercise. The only change I’ve had to make is a timing issue for some fats. With my first 2 shakes I had planned to eat 1.5oz of almonds and bedtime/post workout just my protein shake and the carbs in it. Realized quickly that this wasn’t going to be enough and lacked a satiety feeling. So instead, now all 3 shakes just have 1oz of almonds instead to spread out the same amount. The only change supplement wise I will probably make is adding in some additional BCAAs to take immediately after workouts before I head home and chase them with the last shake.
I’m pretty excited to see how this turns out! The new progress pic is up and you can already see that the held water in the abs has been shed. Vascularity is starting to get crazy in my workouts, which amuses me perpetually. Between the cardio on mornings I hit it (its an extra option for me right now since I’m not on a show prep or anything) and the workouts, I’m netting roughly a 1000 calorie deficit a day. Should yield some good, steady, but quick, results.

Its been asked, so I’m going ahead and posting it. This is my food for a non-training day. Training days have an additional 50 carbs from supplements timed before and during the workouts. AM cardio will be done for 20-30 minutes upon waking before breakfast on both training and rest days. The diet as it is below comes out to 2429 calories.

Meal 1 - Breakfast/Post-Cardio - 7:00am
Oats (Uncooked Measure) w/splenda    1/2 cup
Cinnamon    1 tsp
Whole Egg (Omega-3)    2
Egg Whites International    1 cup
Picante Sauce    2 tbsp

Shake 1 - 9:30am
Max Muscle: MaxPro Natural    2 scoops
Cinnamon    1 tsp
Almonds (Roasted, No Salt)    1.5oz

Meal 2 - Lunch - 12:00
Chicken Breast (Grilled, cooked weight)    8oz
Green Beans    1 cup

Shake 2 - 2:30
Max Muscle: MaxPro Natural    2 scoops
Cinnamon    1 tsp
Almonds (Roasted, No Salt)    1.5oz

Meal 3 - Dinner 5:00
Sirloin (Choice, Top, separable lean/fat, trimmed to 0" fat)    5oz
Baby Spring Mix    2 cups
*Blend: Olive Oil/Seasoned Rice Vinegar, 50/50    1.5 tbsp

Shake 3 - Bedtime/Post-Workout ~10:00pm
Max Muscle: MaxPro Natural    2 scoops
Cinnamon    1 tsp

I’ve been working at Max Muscle over a year now just part time but always wanted to take on more hours. Its what I love doing, but we’re the little guy around here so there’s only one of us at the shop most of the time. That makes it difficult to get in a lot of time. To the point though, some things have been unfolding the last couple months and now I’ll be getting full time hours. I put in my two week notice to my other job Saturday and am quite anxious to have a fixed schedule with set income now. My other job was at a sushi bar and the inconsistent traffic plus a late schedule made it impossible to get my meals in on time. I can’t stop to heat up my food and eat it during a rush of people. We all know that regardless of whether the training is in place nothing is gonna happen if the nutrition isn’t nailed. So missing one of my meals (anywhere from 600-1000 calories for me) makes a huge impact on my day and its not like I can just double up the next meal.

As I’ve mentioned previously, I’m now the only one doing custom nutrition plans so this works in my favor. Frequently people would see me eating (only one in the shop, remember, so I usually bring my food) when they’d walk in and ask what I had. It works out better since we have a number of regulars and they’ve seen the changes in me having gained an extra 20lbs of lean mass since I started there. It fits well because its rarely ever take out and I can twist it around to pitch a meal plan package for them from a number of different angles. I hope it’ll pan out. People are quick to get a trainer to help them in the gym, but hesitate to get the same sort of help when it comes to their diet. Just reading a few articles here and there online doesn’t make you a nutritionist by any stretch and everyone’s body is unique. I’ve seen people get frustrated far too often and quit thinking that the problem is in the gym when really its everything outside of it. Prime example was a lady who came in and had been using an app on her iPhone to track her food. She was only getting around 1200 calories per day, but the problem was that she was only getting about 40-50g of protein a day. She was just thinking calorie bottom line like many people do. That whole "Calories in vs calories out" idea is true, but greatly over simplified.

Overall its a change for the better that I’m looking forward to. Is it the highest paying job? No. Does it cover all my expenses (including supps) with some left over? Yeah. Am I glad to have a job right now? Damn right I am, many people are without one entirely. Is it what I love doing? Absolutely. Most importantly I have to thank my wife, GeminiJedi, for being supportive of all this.

I’ve been off a consistent meal plan for a while now. Working at a restaurant really throws a wrench in things when we get a rush and I can’t slow down to get my meals at the ideal time, if at all. Despite this, I’m going to try to get as close to it as possible and get back to prepping all my meals in advance now that we’re moved and I’ve got a full kitchen at my sole disposal.

This time around I’m going to be trying to pull out as many simple carbs as possible avoiding any direct sugars. This is one diet method that I have not personally tried myself, though I know the benefits of. I have a couple friends I’ve been doing nutrition plans for as my guinea pigs (which is working out beautifully for them both) and this would be the next phase for them so I need to make sure its gonna work. I also have bulked enough that I’m a solid 14% bodyfat and generally I prefer to stay around 11-12% for maintenance. Instead of doing a quick keto blitz to get back down I’m building this diet to be around 2900 calories (2700 on non-training days without pre and during workout supplements) for a calorie deficit of roughly 450 calories per day. Protein is still high at 310g/day (I very much prefer 1.5-1.75g/lb bodyweight), carbs being moderate for me at 221g (only 41g simple carbs), and fats around 86.5g. Fats are mostly from whole eggs, olive oil, and meat sources where saturated fats will be minimized by the cooking means.

I’m pretty excited to see how it works out for me. Usually my diet is fairly high in dairy sugars so pulling those out alone will contribute a good deal to improved definition. I’ll keep you all updated how it goes and hopefully have some good progress pics to show with the results. If you want the specifics of the diet lemme know.

I’ve taken over the responsibility of doing all the custom nutrition plans at my work. One client in the last two weeks has actually stuck to it and is down two belt loops and over 10lbs! Her husband after adjusting to the diet (he didn’t like giving up his snack foods and ice cream at first) is now starting to see results on it, too.

So to extend the offer, I’d be glad to work with anyone online to help them out as an extension of my work. Of course progress photos and such would be needed to know whether or not the plans are working, but if you’re interested please let me know and I’ll get you the information. My rates are far less than what it would cost for an normal registered dietician who may not be in tune with the fitness lifestyle to be able to accomodate it as well.

It is NOT nutritionally the same as sugar, nor is it ok in moderation. I’m tired of those stupid ads and this article finally explained it in detail:

Take A Look

Bulking this run is going to be a pain. I know with my present job that I can’t eat on a fixed schedule for two of my meals. I have a rough idea when I may be able to eat, but it always depends on how busy we are. I looked over my macros today and figured that as long as I can get 3 shakes in and my post-workout meal in the mornings I will be getting adequate calories as long as I get to eat two other times. The breakfast and 3 shakes will have me up to 3921 cals (285 pro, 513 car, 93.5 fat) so a couple other meals should be adequate. On off days I can control the other two meals. What I get fed at work is up to the cook that day, but its always got a little meat and I can add a cup or two of rice to ramp the carbs. I will need to take in a gainer shake before bed, but at long as I get it down ideally a half hour before I call it a night I’m usually fine. Thankfully I have always handled carbs well before bed and it lets me have better lifts in the mornings. If it proves a problem, I’ll back down to just milk and protein without the extra carbs.

I’ve got 1 more month to get things right for this year, and dang it, I’m gonna make it happen! The goal is set to press 19 plates by the end of the month/year. It’ll help that I’ll still be running a cycle at that time (finishing up MMA3 this week and bridging to Tren for a month). My biggest inconsistency has been diet, so I went to the grocery today and stocked back up so I have no excuse to not have what I need on hand. I’m not going for 5000 cals/day like I did back in C2, but I’ll be dialing in at just under 4000. The more I read up on good bulking diets the more I’m reading that for a male 18-20 calories per 1lb of bodyweight is sufficient for bulking. So here’s the split:

Breakfast (~7:00am)
1.5oz Xango
1c Grape Nuts
8oz 1% Milk
1-2 tbsp Honey
1 Scoop MaxPRO w/water
Coffee w/splenda

Workout (~8:00am)
1 scoop Full Blown Extreme
1 scoop Max ACM (carb blend)

Post-Workout
Big Max 50 Gainer w/water (500ml)

Lunch (~11:00am)
1c Pasta
1c Red sauce
4oz ground beef (91/9)
2tsp parmesan & romano

Shake 2 (~4:00pm)
Big Max 50 Gainer w/water

Dinner (~7:00pm)
2 beef patties (91/9, 1/4lb each)
2 tbsp ketchup
1 Boil-In-Bag of brown rice
2/3c Mixed Veggies
1 tbsp Lite soy sauce

Bedtime (~10-11:00pm)
1 Scoop MaxPRO
8oz 1% Milk

For breakfast today I’m having something I haven’t done since back in 6th grade… Grape Nuts served hot! I know this may seem odd, but I really like it. Plus, when I’m looking to bulk I want to find things that are more calorie dense don’t swell in my stomach so much. All you need is:

1 cup Post Grape Nuts Cereal
1 cup Milk
2 tbsp Peanut Butter

Put together and microwave for 2-2.5 minutes, allow to cool. They’ll come out soft like your oats, but still a bit of a crunch texture (especially with chunky peanut butter). For a sweeter taste, try adding some honey, cinnamon, splenda, etc.

This morning I used skim milk and smart balance natural omega peanut butter. With that, the nutritional profile came to:
686 Calories, 28g Protein, 113g Carbs, 19g Fat