EmbracingChaos

Not that you need more reassurance, but they all looked clean to me as well.

Day 30. Monday/Wednesday are currently my super low calorie days now, basically doing a Protein-Sparing Modified Fast (PSMF) so that I can still remain in a decent deficit including taking my cheat meal each week. I just about hit 1g protein per lb. of lean mass on these days, but not quite, but the day before and after I make sure to eat increased protein so my average over the week is more than 1g protein per bodyweight. These kind of days used to be hard, but the 40-hour fasts now make them seem much easier. Food & Supplements: 1 bag of broccoli 24 oz. flounder filets 4 fish oil capsules & multivitamin Exercise 1 mile treadmill walk, 35 lb. weight, 6% incline, 3mph Body Fat 16.0%: 141.0 lbs (prior) - 142.8 lbs. (current) - +1.8 lbs.

Great job! Keep up the good work, I'll be following your challenge thread to watch your progress. You'll probably find (I know I did back when I ran regularly) that the speed comes with distance. I could never really improve my 5k time by running a bunch of 5ks, my 5k time improved by increasing my maximum distance up to a 10k.

It could be the water loss that people experience and thus get worried about it, makes sense.

It makes sense to me from a bro-science point of view. If you've just put on that last bit of muscle and you start making your body pull from energy storage I'd think it would most likely pull from whatever it last added, which in this case is muscle. In software terms we would call that a last in, first out (LIFO) queue. To each their own though, if you get to that point and you're up for immediately dropping calories and taking the risk then I say go for it. Personally, that's a bit of bro-science I'll probably keep hanging onto until there is a study deprecating it.

Well, since you're a Lyle fan (he's a smart guy and I read his stuff, but personally I think he's a complete A-Hole). Here's a quote from General Philosophies of Muscle Mass Gain:

There is always the recommended "two week" settling period after a bulk where you let everything kind of catch up. If you switch to cutting, you'd need that time anyway. If you're going to keep on bulking then yea you'll just kind of be in a purgatory of sorts. It sucks your knee is giving you issues, have you taken some ibuprofen/motrin to bring down any inflammation and potentially iced it?

Everything that has been said is great information. In fact, since you only really need a few weeks of data to calculate your actual TDEE by using the formula ((sum of tracked calories + add 3500 calories per pound lost) / number of days = TDEE) then a lot of places will just say to multiply your starting weight by 10-12 and that is your starting calorie count for fat loss. It's very general and at either end of the spectrum (overly fat or overly skinny) it definitely would err too high or low respectively, but after a bit of time you'll have your data to work from. Given you are 280 lbs. then you could multiply by 10 and start at 2800 calories per day. After two weeks you can easily figure out how much you're REALLY burning. It's perfectly fine to start at a lower number as well.

Decided to re-brand myself as a Ranger and jump into the 6 week challenge that starts today. Mostly just to give myself some goals of doing some miscellaneous exercise I'm not overly fond of (weighted backpack walking) and keeping track of things I'm not overly fond of tracking (calories & macros). My daily stuff will all still go into my log, but I'll throw in a weekly summary of my goal results into the challenge since it will be more applicable there.

EmbracingChaos walks through the deserted city streets; luckily, there are still two hours left of daylight. Zombies have the advantage once the natural lighting is gone, so it's best to be someplace secure by the time the sun sets. Sunlight reflects from a nearby store window and fills his vision. He quickly lowers his gaze to restore his ability to see. Surprised, he walks toward the abandoned store. It's pretty rare to find a glass window intact! Perhaps this store hasn't been ransacked yet, he thinks. He kicks the wooden door that previously served as an employee entrance. The frame snaps and the heavy wooden door smashes its way inside. Racks of clothes occupy the interior. Excellent, he thinks. He looks down at his stained, torn, and altogether destroyed set of clothes. Definitely time for an upgrade. Just as he prepares to enter the store, a snarling, blood-covered face jumps from the side of the doorway out at him and snaps its teeth viciously. EmbracingChaos takes several steps back, raises the metal pipe in his hand, and prepares to do battle. Two more zombies rush out the doorway to join the fray and EmbracingChaos's heart sinks. He now realizes his only option is to run. One zombie would have been easily dispatched, perhaps even two, but three of them would test his limits. He turns away from the group and prepares to run. It's been a long time since he has had to run from a group of zombies. Since he typically only scavenges in the day, the zombies usually don't present much of a problem, nor have they traveled in groups. The pudge that has gathered around EmbracingChaos's midsection shows the good fortune he has grown accustomed to. Will he make it out alive? Goal 1: Average less than 1700 calories per day each week Goal 2: Average at least 150g of protein and 42g of fat per day each week Goal 3: Walk at least 5 miles per week, with at least a 35 lb. weighted backpack, at a 6% incline, and at a speed of at least 3 mph Reason: Told myself I was bulking and did my first three challenges as bulks. Went from about 11% body fat to about 18% body fat; I'm now about 16% body fat. I would like to get back down to at least 13% body fat by the time this challenge is over. Trying my first challenge as a Ranger now, since I think I care more about keeping my body fat low while I try to put on muscle rather than doing the traditional bulk/cut cycle. I primarily just lift weights nowadays though have done quite a bit of running in the past... perhaps at some point I'll add some running back into things.

Day 29. Food fantasies are really amping up. Last night I was laying in bed trying to get to sleep and all I could think of was eating a big bowl of ice cream filled with crumbled Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. I'm starting to really look forward to my Thursday cheat meal. Food: 2 cups baby spinach 8 oz. chicken breast 250g mixed vegetables 1/2 can of refried beans 1 lb. 93% lean beef 1 banana 10g raw almonds Exercise 2 mile walk w/ dog Deadlifts (warmup), 2x9x205, 5x255, 2x3x285 Barbell Squats 5x5x135 Barbell Rows 3x5x165 Body Fat 16.1%: 141.5 lbs (prior) - 142.9 lbs. (current) - +1.4 lbs.

Awesome, congratulations! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Way to cut the bad spell at the root. Now you have a great workout and calorie day in the books building up momentum again.

Yea, it wasn't too hard because I've fought that battle so many times in the past. Now that I really only eat in the evenings it is definitely easier. I do love pizza though, and I do love eating all I can eat. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Day 28. Went to a family birthday party at Pizza Ranch (all you can eat pizza) but I avoided eating that stuff. Then we had friends over for dinner w/ grilled chicken quarters. Food: 1 bag of broccoli 8 oz. chicken breast 1 banana 32g natural peanut butter 2 grilled chicken quarters 200g mixed vegetables sauteed bell peppers Exercise Rest day

Maybe just overtrained? Or potentially need a more concrete goal other than bulking? Considering the rough week you've had it could also just be lingering depression/disappointment. Sometimes a nice hard run can clear that up. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yea it's kind of a rock and hard place deal. It's either risk losing lbm by deloading or risk injury. Definitely not diet breaking, I probably just need to watch my form real careful and make sure I get enough sleep. I've not been sleeping well, I'm sure that would help a lot. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Day 27. Started incorporating eating more nutty fats into my diet along with taking 1200mg of fish oil today. I typically only get my fats from beef and eggs, so I'd like to start varying that a bit. Still feeling beat to all hell; I'm hoping that the fish oil will reduce some inflammation I'm probably experiencing. It may be time to take a nice deload week and lift lighter. Food: 2 cucumbers 12 oz. chicken breast 300g mixed vegetables 8 oz. chuck tender steak 1/2 can of refried beans 51 grams of almonds 1 banana Exercise 2 miles 35 lb. weighted walk Overhead Press (warmup), 5x115, 3x125, 1x135, [10, 7, 6, 6, 6]x95 Bench Press [5, 5]x165, 3x185

If you have a smart phone then you can use RunKeeper to view an elevation profile as well. It will tell you all kinds of metrics like average pace and it congratulates you when you've beaten personal best times, distances, etc. Don't be thrown off by the name, they've branched out into handling walking, cycling, and a million other forms of cardiovascular activity. You just start the app before you start your walk, and stop it when you get back to your house. Since you're an achievement whore (your term not mine ) then you'll probably fall in love with beating all of your own personal bests. Give it a shot and let us know how you get on!

Day 26. It took a lot of self-control to stop eating corn flakes when my calories were up. Boy, I could have eaten the rest of the box in a blink. It was quite nice to gorge on carbs, I'm already looking forward to next Thursday. Food: MFP estimated 2,916 calories, 178p/456c/45f Big bowl of broccoli 6 oz. chicken breast 3 servings of steamed white rice Large salad w/ ham, onion, cheese, ranch, croutons, bacon bits 2 bowls of spaghetti (1 w/ spicy italian sausage marinara and 1 w/ beef marinara) 4 cups of corn flakes w/ 2 cups skim milk Exercise 1 mile 45 lb. weighted walk w/ dog Barbell Squats 5x165, 2x185, -x205 (going to have to lower squatting weight), [7,6,6,6,6]x135 Deadlifts 5x255, 3x285, 1x315 Body Fat 16.2%: 142.0 lbs (prior) - 143.1 lbs. (current) - +1.1 lbs.

Sorry you had a tough day. Some days you're the pigeon, other days you're the statue. Keep your head up.

Day 25. Stayed really low calorie today (~600) so that I can devote a ton of calories for my first refeed day/cheat meal. I'm hesitant/anxious to overeat for a day, though I know in the long-term it doesn't make a difference. It's going to be a great eating day in any case. Food: Big bowl of broccoli 2 large zucchini squashes 5.25 oz. chicken breast Exercise 3.5 mile walk w/ my dog Body Fat 16.3%: 142.1 lbs (prior) - 143.7 lbs. (current) - +1.6 lbs.

If you're intent on leaving your current job and you do have enough savings then I say do it. If you may change your mind about leaving your job or money will get super tight, then I'd say wait for another opportunity. Put yourself in "one year older Paul"'s shoes, will you regret not having gone?

Do you think the lingering depression is related to hormonal fluctuations from fasting, at all? I doubt it would, and if you're like me then fasting may even improve your mood (being disciplined always makes us feel good about ourselves), but thought I would ask.

Looks like so far so good. If waist is going down and everything else is holding then you're losing primarily fat. Keep on keeping on.