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I spent the Spring slimming down for a trip to Jamaica over Memorial Day weekend. Got to 34†waist and 150 lbs - about 19% body fat, but didn’t want to drop below 150. Started bulking in June with the thought that I’d put on muscle and fat and then just lose the fat once the bulk was over. I wound up gaining 13 pounds by mid-August, but it was 4 lbs of LBM and 9 lbs of fat (added 2+ inches to my middle). I realized the typical bulk/cut method doesn’t work so good for a guy in his mid-thirties, so I started looking at some alternate sources for information. I even started a spreadsheet called "Collecting Underpants" to track what the different experts say about topics like diet, training, how much protein, what (if any) supplements to take, etc. Rather than taking one person's opinion/experience as the be-all-end-all answer to my questions, I've decided to cut and paste together a mix of info I think will work best for me. Hence the challenge title. Also, I'm hoping to cut some body fat and paste some muscle on my skinny frame! I've decided to follow the skinny-fat solution of getting to a lean base, even if it means dropping below 150 lbs. I checked with Anthony Mychal who said I may not be a typical skinny-fat sufferer, but I could stand to get leaner. I started following Eat Stop Eat midway through the last challenge to maximize fat burning and minimize muscle loss. My long term goal is still to get to a mid-teens body fat percentage and then pack on some muscle without the fat gain. Getting to 180 may not be feasible, but once I get to 14-15% BF, I’ll add back some calories and switch to once-a-week fasts. Anyman Fitness (a math teacher by day) says gaining 15 pounds of muscle in a year is an admirable goal and breaks it down as such: 1 lb = 3500 calories, 15 lbs = 52,500 calories, 52,500/365 = 143 extra calories (over maintenance) per day in order to gain 15 lbs in one year (about ⅓ lb a week or 1.25 lb a month) Challenge Goal - get lean while maintaining (or even building) muscle Mission 1: All your base are belong to us - Get to a "solid base" (32" waist, 15% body fat) +4 CHA Brad Pilon of Eat Stop Eat says to divide and conquer: think of diet as fat burning and exercise as muscle building. So in order to burn some fat from my mid section, I'm going to eat at about maintenance level (2300 cals/day) and fast twice a week. I usually do a 23 hour fast from dinner Wednesday to dinner Thursday and then a shorter fast from Saturday night to Sunday evening. My abdominal circumference is currently about 35", so I'm hoping to drop 3" this challenge. Scoring as follows: A= 32†B= 33†C= 34†D= 35†F= >35†Mission 2: A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man - Add inches to my arms, chest, and shoulders +2 STR, +3 CHA In my case, a noble spirit plus some push-ups, chin-ups, dips, and arm curls should embiggen this small man. Anthony Mychal has established his Great Eight exercises (PDF) for the skinny-fat guys trying to put on some size. Because of our natural tendency to be skinny, he recommends some isolation exercises on top of the basic squats, deadlifts, and bench press. I'll be following a modified version of Anyman Fitness's take on LeanGain's Reverse Pyramid Training, incorporating the Great Eight plus one ab exercise. I guess that makes my routine the Divine Nine? As I said above, I'm hoping to pack on some muscle while I lean down (divide and conquer!), so I'll be adding up any gains for my arm, chest, and shoulder measurements and scoring this mission as follows: A= +2†B= +1.5†C= +1†D= +0.5†F= no change Mission 3: Avoid the four main food groups of the elves - Candy, Candy Canes, Candy Corns, and Syrup +4 CON This is obviously another diet mission. On top of practicing Intermittent Fasting, I want to track and reduce my sugar intake. I've been wanting to set this as a goal for a while, but wasn't really sure how to SMART-ify it. While looking for answers here on the boards, I found Athena's helpful post, Sustainable Sugar Consumption. I also went back and read Steve's post from this summer about sugar. A couple of things jumped out at me: 1. "If you're going to eat sugar, get it from fruit or naturally occurring sweeteners. What that being said, to minimize the effect on your blood sugar, minimize sugar consumption across the board if your primary goal is weight loss." 2. "Sugar = bad. High Fructose Corn Syrup = Bowser evil" 3. "Most importantly, understand that what you really want (a happier, healthier life) can't happen if you keep settling for what you want RIGHT NOW (sugar!)." So, my plan for this mission is to track my sugar intake, probably using MyFitnessPal, and then actively reduce it week by week. I know sugar is everywhere and I don't really plan on cutting out everything (salad dressing, barbecue sauce, etc), but I want to cut back on the biggies that really don't do anything to improve my fitness. I'm not going cold turkey, either, but I'm thinking 1 dessert a week, 1 non-diet soda a week, no candy. I guess I'm still flushing out the specifics. I guess scoring will be based on days without "sweets". A= 36-42 days B= 29-35 days C= 22-28 days D= 15-21 days F= 0-14 days Life Mission: All your bass are belong to us - Practice my upright bass an hour a week +1 CHA My family gave me this sweet upright bass (that's me above) for Christmas a couple of years ago. I played it for a few months, but then got out of the habit and went back to playing my regular bass guitar. I want to get back into it and I'm trying to set my sights low. One hour a week equates to less than 10 minutes a day. I can do that! I just want to form the habit and start improving my skills. So, it will can be something as basic as working on scales or trying to learn a new song, but I just want to put in some time. A= 5-6 hours B= 4-5 hours C= 3-4 hours D= 2-3 hours F= less than 2 hours There are also some other habits that I started in previous challenges that I want to keep doing, so I'm throwing them on here for a reminder and for public record. Water: Eight glasses a day Sleep: 7 hours a night Clothes/Lunch: Make my next day's lunch and pick out my clothes for work before I go to bed a night iPhone: Continue to limit my gaming/phone time at work and get better at keeping it out of reach at home. I'll add in some other links for fat burning, muscle building, and controlling sugar in future posts. I'll also add in my starting measurements after I take them tonight.