The Official Gym & Fitness Thread

Im gonna get that tank top for comic con next year

 

One in SD? I've always wanted to go and it's not far for me but I'll probably wait for the little one to be older so she can enjoy it too

 

I want arms like that...


Got my new shirt

 

Yeah, no kiddin! I have to order the large cause of my chest size but might be kinda loose around the arms, lol

 

Good taste in beards and shirts

 

I thought that was you at first.


I just entered my info for my cutting diet and here's what I'll be starting out with:

2489 calories, 259 g protein, 227 g carbs, 61 g fat

The only thing I manipulate on their calculator is my protein intake. They recommend doing .7-1 g of protein per pound of bodyweight, but I like to do 1.5 g per pound of bodyweight, so I am pretty much lowering carbs more and adding more protein.

About to spend the next hour or so making my diet and preparing for maximum shreddage. I was 205 this morning and I'd guess my body fat % to be somewhere around 15%. My goal is gonna be to be a lean 185 in a few months, losing fat at an extremely low rate in order to minimize muscle-loss. According to BB's lean body mass calculator, mine is 172, so I'm thinking 185 will put me around 9-10%, which is what I usually go for each year, although last year, I only got down to around 11-12%. Last years cut started at 199 and I ended up at 179. On this bulk, I went from 179 to 209, but post-shit and pre-water this morning, I'm 205, so I put on around 26 pounds this bulk and I'd say a conservative guess would say 6-7 lbs of that was muscle, but I'm really thinking it was more like 8-10 lbs

 

Just promise us you won't go all GG Allin on that shit!!!

 

Yeah we go every year, its insane how many people are there. I would for sure wait tell the kids are a little older

This was comic con this year

 

Have u done a bf test? You could be alot leaner than you think or alot less lean than you think people show it differently. Id suggest finding a hydrostatic weighing tank or someone whos REALY GOOD with calipers. That way ull know what you look like with x% bf and u can guess more accuratly where your at when u loose/gain weight if that makes sense

 

Eh, I'm not that serious about it lol. I've bulked and cut enough to guess within a range that gets me the results I'm after. I would love to do a hydrostatic tank, but I'm not gonna go out of my way to lol

After much deliberation, I've decided to put my cut off until after the week of my birthday (Jan 11). I know with Christmas, college football, my graduation, and my birthday coming up in the next 4 weeks, I'm not going to be able to stay disciplined enough with all the parties, food, and alcohol, so I'm just gonna continue bulking for about another month. I did get my cutting diet done though, for anyone interested:

This is assuming I'm at 203 lbs, working out 4 times a week, @ 15% body fat and 1.2 g of protein per pound of lean body mass

6 egg whites
3 egg yolks
fiber bar

ham and cheese sandwich w/ mustard only on whole wheat
Sun Chips
Sprite

whole wheat pasta with 93/7 ground turkey and 2 tbsp parmesan cheese

shake:
2 scoops ON
banana
5 strawberries
1 oatmeal packet

grilled chicken breast
sweet potato
apple

greek yogurt

2480 calories, 208 g protein, 304 g carbs, 60 g fat

 

why do people count their calories, seriously--I eat 3000-3500 cal and keep my carbs below 100g and still lose fat and have more than enough energy

 

Do you eat your pasta dry Zach?

 

Because, for me, if I don't, I'll either eat too much or too little. If I'm bulking and not counting calories, I may eat 2000 calories over what I need and I'll put on too much fat. If I'm cutting and not counting, I may eat too much, which leads to no fat loss or I may eat too little, which leads to muscle loss.

Counting calories and eating the same stuff everyday ensures that I know exactly what's going on with my body. Some people aren't just trying to lose fat. Some people are on a year-round diet where they gain muscle for a period of time and lose fat and try to retain as much muscle as possible for another period of time; it's not something I can nonchalantly guess at. If I want to lose fat without losing muscle, I have to count. I don't spend all winter eating 4000 calories a day and putting on 8-10 lbs of muscle just to lose it when it comes time to cut. I'd much rather eat just enough to lose fat and retain muscle, which is something I don't have the talent of guessing at.

 

Right now on my bulk, I eat it with sauce, but on my cut, I'm cutting out the sauce. There are some foods I can eat everyday, all year and not get tired of and pasta is one of them. The only thing I usually get tired of is tuna and salads. I've got no problem with eating the same 6-7 meals, 6 days a week for 4-5 months.

 

Various reasons, personaly i think its good for getting an idea of how to set up your macro percentages or if your making a diet youll stick to daily.

Although im not a huge fan of calorie counting because theres so many small discrepancies that can make it not accurate. No one can calculate there daily metabolic rate perfectly every day because it varries on soooo many things. and no one can count all there calories perfect. That being said if you are over just 250 cals a day and your trying to loose weight youll actualy be gaining a pound every 2 weeks same goes if your under.

My favorite way if im trying to gain weight is to weight myself every morning under the same circumstances and chart it in an excel spread sheet and if im gaining weight im eating enough if im loosing weight eat more. I dont cut but with cutting weight it would be a little more tricky to do it this way. With a good knowledge of nutrition and making all your meals proportional (p-f-c) you can hit your macros without tracking em. I dont bulk and cut id rather stay lean year round and gain lean muscle.

 

That's kind of the reason I count. My goal on a bulk is to gain muscle with as little fat as possible. If I don't count and just eat whatever, I'll either have no weight gain or I'll put on fat. For me 500-600 calories over maintenance is perfect for minimal fat gain, but an extra 100-200 will throw on some fat. Eating the exact same thing day in and day out (with 1 cheat day) shows me exactly what is going on with my body. It may be stupid to some, but it works for me and that's what matters to me. I know very few people who have a lot of muscle, very little fat, and don't count and that's great for them, but most of the people I know that don't count macros are either fat or skinny. Why bust ass in the gym and not take your diet seriously?

 

I'm just saying that it also depends on where you get your calories from, 300g of carbs over the day will trigger your body into producting insulin all day, slowing/stopping down fat loss. Try 2 weeks where you eat 20g or less of carbs, but as much meat/eggs and vegetables as you like...the first 3-4 days will be hell, but after that you'll feel great and shedding pounds...then slightly add 10g (complex!)carbs a day until you stop loosing weight.

2500cal/per day over a long time while working out is not enough, your body will start adapting to it within a few days. Give it as much cal it wants but not in form of carbs and you will be golden, eat a lot of sat fat too, lay off the shakes (too much carbs) and you won't need them because you will eat so much more protein anyways. Take some Chrominum in the morning and mid day.

 

For me, weight loss is one of my 2 main goals..the other being some leg strength. Being 70 pounds overweight with one knee that is shot and another not good is going to really fuck with my quality of life if I don't address the issues.

I eat the same 2 meals every day at 600-700 cal so I can eat a decent dinner without sweating it as long as I don't eat a whole bar pizza myself..

Now that my weight is more under control I may start reassessing after the new year.

Forget who said it, but I do the scale every morning before I eat or drink, right after a shower. Have to or I won't get a somewhat accurate #.

 

do you mean 20g of starchy carbs? because vegetables are carbs...i dont really agree with you here a low carb diet like that really isn't healthy. your brains only fuel source is carbs, personally i choose not to deplete my brain of what it needs. when you cut out carbs over the first two weeks like you said you'll feel shitty because you have no carbs in you and your blood sugar will be kinda fucked and the reason you'll "lean up" so quick is because you'll loose mostly water weight. yeah youll loose some fat because the only thing your body has to burn is protein and fat but is it healthy? hell no

personaly i think the lowest carb percentage anyone should have is 40% i stick to a 40-30-30 but would never go lower on my carbs

*edit: have you had your renal system checked? i feel bad for your kidneys

 

You don't have to starve yourself of carbs to lose fat. I tried the ketogenic diet last year for about 2 months and I did lose fat, but it was at no greater rate than how I normally cut. While doing keto, I was eating a high fat, high protein diet with around 20 g carbs per day. I had no energy and couldn't workout at 100% because my glycogen stores were shot. And, yes, I did do carb loads once a week for 30 hours at a time. I can get the exact same fat loss eating 250 g carbs on my regular cutting diet and not have to deal with headaches, extremely low energy, etc. Not saying keto doesn't work...I'm saying it's not necessary.

And as far as me eating 2500 calories a day, I'm well-aware that calories need to be adjusted and I do so every Monday, regardless if I'm cutting or bulking. 2500 calories per day was my starting point for the attributes I listed above my diet (203 lbs, 15% body fat, working out 4 x week) Of course, I know that when I'm 185 lbs, by caloric intake is going to be different. Hell, at 202 lbs, it's going to be different!

I'll keep consuming my carbs and my shakes and it'll all be just fine. It's worked the past 4 years and I'm sure it''ll work again this year. As an example I often use on here to show people how ridiculous people look at carbs is that I cut down to around 11% body fat last year while drinking a Coke every day for lunch. Carbs are not your enemy. Hell, Aaron and Kevin eat like 400 lb fat kids 365 days a year and both are probably below 10% body fat...