Erick the Red - Keep what you need, discard the rest

[Erick the Red]

Last quest I picked up my Nerd Fitness journey in the Warrior guild, after having succeeded and then failed as a Scout.

 

So I am moving along with Stronglifts, and have been looking at what to do next.

 

Reading through the Nerd Fitness blog a while back, the A Beginner's Guide to Getting Bigger Muscle and Bulking Up post really struck home, specifically this part:
 

If you are skinny fat (you have skinny arms and legs but have a gut), I would recommend strength training while following a healthy diet to decrease your body fat percentage.

Get yourself down to roughly 12% bodyfat (~20% for women), and then start packing on size.

 

 

This has been me forever -- thin enough, except when the shirt comes off.  My "soft midsection" is what got me into running.  I am lifting now in large part to build up the rest of me to help shrink the belly.

 

So after doing a little research and asking for help in a few places, I have a Main Quest: Get below 15% bodyfat before Jan 1, 2014. 

 

So for this particular six week challenge, I have three goals:

 

1. Lift heavy three times per week, and do significant exercise for a total of at least four times per week (each more than twenty minutes of strenuous physical activity).

 

2. Work the macros: Keep protein intake over 100 grams per day.  Keep carbohydrate intake under 100 grams per day.  Scored as an average over the week, so I won't stress about a single day if I make it up over the other six days.

 

3. Keep the total down: I have been using myfitnesspal to track my food, and have set a calorie goal that should translate to one pound lost per week.

 

So, eat and move to "Keep what you need, discard the rest."

 

Motivation: I have been thinking hard about what is my real motivaton for this.  Vanity seems like a terrible one, but I have to be truthful that there is some of that.  Another part is simply timing.  If I am going to have a mid-life crisis, this is probably the best option.  And it will never get any easier than today.  So the motivation comes down to: "Now or never."

[mgage]

You shouldn't feel bad about wanting to look better. Vanity in moderation is a good thing. Even Aristotle agrees. I say go for it, and good luck!

[Erick the Red]

Starting off the challenge at 171 lbs and 25 percent BF, as measured by the bathroom scale and the plastic $5 calipers, both high precision instruments .

[Erick the Red]

Week 1, Day 1

Monday

1. Lift Heavy three times per week, strenuous exercise at least four times total: 0/4. 

Plan for lifting Tues, Thurs, Sat, and a run or two in there somewhere as well.

 

2. Protein over 100, Carbs under 100: pro 113, carbs 119 per myfitnesspal.

Last night we had ice cream as a part of a family game night.  I am sure my weekly carb average will come in under the threshold.

 

3. Calorie goal: 188 kcal over 1610 goal, again this was a small overage that will smooth out over the week.

[Erick the Red]

Week 1, Day 2

Tuesday

1. 1/4.  Lifted at the gym.  Free weight section was as crowded as  Ihave ever seen it, so I did machine work like chest press machine instead of bench press.  Still able to get 5 sets of 5 reps in the squat rack.  I recently reset my squat to fix some form issues and work on depth, so only 150 lbs.

2. Protein 128, carbs 155.  98g of carbs from the chile for dinner.  Not my first choice, but I still think I will average it out.

3. 22 kcal under daily threshold.

[Rooks]

Good stuff.  I'm liking your goals my man.  Subbed to see how this turns out.  And there is no way I could do that low of a calorie intake.    Props to you on setting a tough goal!

[Erick the Red]

Good stuff.  I'm liking your goals my man.  Subbed to see how this turns out.  And there is no way I could do that low of a calorie intake.    Props to you on setting a tough goal!

 

Right now I am barely doing it myself.  The first week went all right, the second not as well (so far).

I just want to lose a pound of fat per week.  This seemed like the best idea at the time.

[CourtnieMarie]

nice! you're right, we do have practically the same goals and ways to get there! I love it!

[Rooks]

Right now I am barely doing it myself.  The first week went all right, the second not as well (so far).

I just want to lose a pound of fat per week.  This seemed like the best idea at the time.

 

Yeah.  I might have a tracking goal in the next challenge as I haven't been tracking in a long while.  Just been more concerned with what I eat and it seems to be working for the most part (I'm maintaining right around 200).  But I know tracking has to be done to get down to the low teens in BF.  

[Erick the Red]

Week 1, Day 3

Wednesday

1. 1/4.  Rest day.  Wanted to run today, but watching kids and rain made it inconvenient.

2. Protein 147, carbs 35

3. 7 under threshold.  Big breakfast of sausage and eggs, lunch of a cup of cottage cheese, dinner was bottom round steak and raw sliced bell peppers and baby carrots.  The carrots were the largest source of carbs.

 

And I stayed up way too late re-reading Terry Pratchett's Night Watch.

[CourtnieMarie]

Nice job yesterday! What does your workout schedule look like for the rest of the week?

[Erick the Red]

Week 1, Day 4

Thursday.

1. 2/4. Went to the gym in the late morning when there were fewer people. 

Very good work on the squats -- felt really good after thorough warm up sets and the five working sets of five. Good volume.

Overhead press was all right, I am trying to get the form just right and I sometimes don't finish with the shrugged shoulders that I should. 

Deadlift was all right -- fewer sets, and they felt heavy, even though I have deloaded recently.  But I felt it in my lats for the first time -- I think that deloading has let my lower back catch up and forced the upper back to do more.

 

2. Protein 163 grams, Carbs 88 grams.

 

3. Calories 14 over my threshold -- which frankly is just a rounding error, and will get swallowed up in the noise of the week.

 

And stayed up late again finished the book.  But I am a sucker for the Discworld books.

 

Friday should get out for a run, then Saturday lift again.

[Erick the Red]

Week 1, Day 5

Friday

1. 3/4.  Ran a very hilly three miles in 30:30, I should have paced myself better becasue there was a lot of walking mixed in there.

 

2. Protein 193, Carbs 135.  Chocolate milk with a banana after running really put me over for carbs.  Still on a recoverable position going into the weekend I think.

 

3. Calories 9 under the threshold - I gamed this a little bit after my evening run and put everything I could in the blender, including two protein powder scoops and the banana mentioned before.  It was worth it though.

[CourtnieMarie]

Week 1, Day 5

Friday

1. 3/4.  Ran a very hilly three miles in 30:30, I should have paced myself better becasue there was a lot of walking mixed in there.

 

2. Protein 193, Carbs 135.  Chocolate milk with a banana after running really put me over for carbs.  Still on a recoverable position going into the weekend I think.

 

3. Calories 9 under the threshold - I gamed this a little bit after my evening run and put everything I could in the blender, including two protein powder scoops and the banana mentioned before.  It was worth it though.

i loooooove banana chocolate protein shakes! i do almond milk, vanilla protein powder, baking cocoa, and a half frozen banana. so good.

[Erick the Red]

i loooooove banana chocolate protein shakes! i do almond milk, vanilla protein powder, baking cocoa, and a half frozen banana. so good.

Baking cocoa would have been better than the kids' "Quik" chocolate milk mix I used.  A lot less sugar.

[Erick the Red]

Week 1, Day 6

Saturday

1. 4/4. Lifted at the gym. Still working back up from a general deload, so these weights were not as hard as they could have been:

Squats 150x5x5, I had been ervous since I ran hills yesterday and my thighs were sore, but it turned out I could have done a little more.

Bench 130x5x5, no issues, still room to go up

Dumbell rows 95x5x5, deloaded this to work on form.  Trying to feel it in the upper back and hamstrings, not in the lower back which seems to be carrying the load right now.

 

2. Protein 116, carbs 120.  One banana and milk put me over, but I used the shake to get my protein up as well.  I will change around ingredients to get th ecarbs lover, but at the end of the day this is the lowest priority goal after protein and calories.

 

3. 120 under threshold.

[CourtnieMarie]

Baking cocoa would have been better than the kids' "Quik" chocolate milk mix I used.  A lot less sugar.

I'm very glad I discovered it! Taste perfectly chocolately with all the sugar in the banana. If I do a berry shake with the cocoa I usually have to add agave. I mean I don't have to... but it taste better that way lol

 

Week 1, Day 6

Saturday

1. 4/4. Lifted at the gym. Still working back up from a general deload, so these weights were not as hard as they could have been:

Squats 150x5x5, I had been ervous since I ran hills yesterday and my thighs were sore, but it turned out I could have done a little more.

Bench 130x5x5, no issues, still room to go up

Dumbell rows 95x5x5, deloaded this to work on form.  Trying to feel it in the upper back and hamstrings, not in the lower back which seems to be carrying the load right now.

 

2. Protein 116, carbs 120.  One banana and milk put me over, but I used the shake to get my protein up as well.  I will change around ingredients to get th ecarbs lover, but at the end of the day this is the lowest priority goal after protein and calories.

 

3. 120 under threshold.

Awesome job getting in all your workouts this week! 120 carbs still is pretty low! A small change could be the milk though, I believe almond or coconut milk have less carbs. The almond/coconut blend milk I'm using right now has 7g carbs per cup.

[Erick the Red]

Week 1, Day 7

Sunday

1. 4/4. Day of rest. Didn't even do my usual afternoon walk outside, with was more like lazy.

 

2. Protein 104, Carbs 86.

 

3. 449 under threshold. I practice what would be called "intermittent fasting" once a month, so this was just an evening meal of steak and vegetables and an ice cube/milk/frozen strawberries/dark chocolate blender treat.

[Erick the Red]

Week 1 totals:

 

1. 4/4.  Three good lifting workouts and a challenging hilly three mile run.  There are a lot of places I could have improved on these, but that's for next week to worry about.

 

2. Protein 968 grams. Carbohydrates 741 grams.  Good total for the protein, and (as I suspected it would be) a little high on the carbs.  I've learned some tricks over the past week though, and that number will come down without impacting the protein.

 

3. Averaged 1552 per day for the week, just under the 1610 goal for my weight and activity level.  Good work.

[Erick the Red]

I'm very glad I discovered it! Taste perfectly chocolately with all the sugar in the banana. If I do a berry shake with the cocoa I usually have to add agave. I mean I don't have to... but it taste better that way lol

 

Awesome job getting in all your workouts this week! 120 carbs still is pretty low! A small change could be the milk though, I believe almond or coconut milk have less carbs. The almond/coconut blend milk I'm using right now has 7g carbs per cup.

 

Thanks for the help and encouragement.

[ThunderSnail]

Week 1 totals:

 

1. 4/4.  Three good lifting workouts and a challenging hilly three mile run.  There are a lot of places I could have improved on these, but that's for next week to worry about.

 

2. Protein 968 grams. Carbohydrates 741 grams.  Good total for the protein, and (as I suspected it would be) a little high on the carbs.  I've learned some tricks over the past week though, and that number will come down without impacting the protein.

 

3. Averaged 1552 per day for the week, just under the 1610 goal for my weight and activity level.  Good work.

 

Nice job, Erick!  I always love it when I see the word "good" in every one of the challenge summaries

[Erick the Red]

Week 2, Day 1

Monday

1. 0/4.  Plan to lift Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and get something in maybe Wednesday but probably Friday.

 

2. Protein 126 g, carbs 75 g.

 

3. 101 kcal under threshold.  Hungry evening after dinner.

[CourtnieMarie]

Week 2, Day 1

Monday

1. 0/4.  Plan to lift Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and get something in maybe Wednesday but probably Friday.

 

2. Protein 126 g, carbs 75 g.

 

3. 101 kcal under threshold.  Hungry evening after dinner.

Nice job keeping it together after dinner last night! I definitely gave in to a bit of these bloody mary flavored peanuts I found in the store last weekend. so good.

[Erick the Red]

Week 2, Day 2

Tuesday

1. 1/4. Working weights: squat 160x5x5, OHP 70x5x5, deadlift 225x1x5.  Each of these are deloaded from previous highs, but I am working on form and increasing volume up from 3x5 on squat and overhead barbell press.  Good sets -- felt tired, but not as "frazzled" as I have on other days.  I don't know how else to put it.

 

2. Protein 201 grams, carbs 97 grams.  I threw in a dark chocolate bar to the after-workout smoothie because I could.

 

3. 14 calories under threshold.

[mvelic]

Maybe I missed it, but how are you tracking your food? Just doing estimates or are you going all the way with a food scale and whatnot? I think it's the next thing I need to start doing, I'm just not sure about my strategy.