forkboy trying to find maintenance numbers and gain a little muscle

[forkboy]

So this will be challenge 3 for me.  I have made decent progress the first two.  I backslid a little between the end of challenge 2 and now, so anxious to get this one started.  I am going to train with you Warriors this time since most of my goals are lifting and recomp related.  I have started these goals this past week, but will just measure for points during the “official†six week window since I wanted to get a full set of measurements in before I started.

 

Main Quest

 

Step One - Weigh ~ 185lbs and Have Body Fat of ~20-25%, but Step Two - Ultimate Goal don’t care about weight and would like ~15% Body Fat [edit] (Willoughby ideal weight for height and age has me at 172 lbs and 10.8% might be a nice ending target)

 

I have three different measurements, none agree (see below), and I am not overly confident in my use of calipers, so thus the approximations.  This, I guess, is more of an “I will know it when I see it†sort of goal I guess, unless I can pony up for a legit BF test.  I am taking pics too, but am not quite comfortable sharing just yet.  I would like all my measurement techniques to register something below 25%, and understand this may take a few challenges.  Last challenge I briefly had the average of all three below 25% so hopefully I am getting close to Step One.

 

Goal 1 = weight training (plus a tiny bit of cardio) not with a shake weight though

 

 

·       3 days of strength and 1 day of cardio.  I will focus on a Mark Rippetoe inspired routine of mostly full body movements.  I will alternate as follows:

o   Mondays - Squats, OHP, Chin-ups, Dips, Planks

o   Wednesdays - Squats, Bench Press, Good Mornings, Pull-ups, Planks

o   Friday - Fun Run (2-3 miles)

o   Saturdays - Squats, OHP, Deadlift, Chin-ups, Dips, Planks

o   Mondays - Squats, Bench Press, Pull-ups, Dips, Planks

o   Wednesdays - Squats, OHP, Good Mornings, Chin-ups, Planks

o   Friday - Fun Run (2-3 miles)

o   Saturdays - Squats, Bench Press, Deadlift, Pull-ups, Dips, Planks
 

Goal 1 Evaluation

 

Daily eval is 1 point for workout and 0 points for no workouts, cumulative grading explained below.

4 Strength, 1 Dexterity and 1 Stamina points up for grabs

 

Goal 2 = macro nutrient precision likely without cupcakes
 

 

·       I will log all food into myfitnesspal and my nutrient goals for the first 3 weeks will be 1,900-2,000 calories on off days and 2,200 calories on workout days with a [edit] 3540% Protein, 4035% carb, and 25% fat macro split, or 193220g protein, no more than 61g fat, and the remainder from carbs on workout days. On my run day I will allow for a swap of some carb for protein.   I will be successful if I can be within 5g of goal for both protein and fat and within 20 calories for the day.  The goal is to see if an approx 2,100 calorie daily average results in overall weight maintenance, hopefully swapping some fat for muscle.  If I continue to lose weight I will up the average daily calorie content starting in week 4 and if I gain weight over the period I will adjust down in week 4.  I will use this data in challenge 4 to hopefully have a target number each day that results in a reasonable recomp plan.  I think my calories have been pretty low of late, with my average last challenge below 1,800.

·       I will continue my plan of reduced alcohol consumption to help in this goal as well.  No more than 1 glass of red wine (5 oz) at home each day throughout the entire challenge.

·       I will focus on mostly lean meats, veggies and fruits again trying to avoid processed foods/sugars, breads and pastas.  I will use whey protein to supplement.

 

Goal 2 Evaluation

 

Daily eval is 1 point for hitting targets and 0 points for points for missing, cumulative grading explained below.

2 Constitution and 2 Wisdom points up for grabs

 

 

Goal 3 = water bending, aka 2L of water a day in addition to other bevs
 

 

·       Pretty straightforward on this one.  I think some of my recent gains may be that I have been more focused on hydration.  I am hoping staying hydrated will improve my lifting and result in more consistent measurements.

 

Goal 3 Evaluation

 

Daily eval is 1 point for hitting target 0 points for points for missing, cumulative grading explained below.

1 Constitution point up for grabs

 

Diet/Fitness Side Quest = pull-ups

 

·       I hope to be able to complete 5 unassisted pull-ups (not Kipping, from dead position) by the end of this challenge.

 

 Diet/Fitness Side Quest Evaluation

 

Eval is A = complete, F = not complete, I will be doing pull-ups in my workouts so hopefully I can just get to a place where the assistance fades away.

            1 Strength point up for grabs

 

Life Side Quest = clean out my garage
 

·       30-60 minutes each week spent on selling shit, organizing shit, donating shit, etc.  I want to make room for an eventual home gym, but for now would be happy to park two cars in there.
 

 Life Quest Evaluation

 

Weekly eval is 1 point for hitting target 0 points for points for missing, cumulative grading explained below.

3 Constitution point up for grabs (i.e. peace and calm)

 

Formatting/Tracking Note:

For daily completion I will give myself 1 point for each success.  Each goal is noted G1, G2, G3, FQ and LQ.  Each goal has available points per day, week, and a total for the entire challenge.

 

G1 possible points 24, A = 22/24
G2 possible points 40, A = 36/40
G3 possible points 42, A = 38/42
FG all or nothing A = 1/1
LG possible points 6, A = 6/6

Attribute points will be distributed as full points for As, half points for Bs, and nothing for anything below that.

 

Initial Measurements:

36 years old
5’ 9â€
193.8 lbs
Waist (widest point) 41.0
Right Thigh 26.5
Right Bicep 16.5
Chest 43.5
Neck 16.5
Electronic BF 28.6%
Scale BF 28.6%
7 Point Caliper BF 19.99%

[edit] Willoughby has me at 28.8% (I am now thinking my caliper measurements are way off, sigh, so sad)

 

My motivation is to meet my potential as a husband, father, and general member of my various communities.

[Stronkey Kong]

Sub'd.

 

I think the only thing we differ on right now is height. I'm a couple % above 25 on BF.

 

Are you planning on doing weight/rep increases on your workout routine?

 

On goal 3, is 2L enough? Water gains also result from excess sodium, and with me at least, sugar. I find that drinking more actually helps clean these out and even reduces water weight. I never count volume though, I just watch what color my pee is.

 

I also like the multiple BF measurements. It'll be interesting to see how they all correlate.

[forkboy]

Sub'd.

 

I think the only thing we differ on right now is height. I'm a couple % above 25 on BF.

 

Are you planning on doing weight/rep increases on your workout routine?

 

On goal 3, is 2L enough? Water gains also result from excess sodium, and with me at least, sugar. I find that drinking more actually helps clean these out and even reduces water weight. I never count volume though, I just watch what color my pee is.

 

I also like the multiple BF measurements. It'll be interesting to see how they all correlate.

 

Thanks for stopping by.  My plan is to increase weight once I can complete 3 full sets of 5 reps for any given exercise.  I adopted the approach from Mark Rippetoes' Starting Strength book, basically because I haven't read up on any other approaches and lots of people have referred to him.  Last challenge I only did 2 days a week at the gym.  This challenge will be 3.  I am definitely open to some other training approaches as I am pretty new to lifting (well I did it in high school but my coaches had no idea what they were doing, and I did crossfit, but the focus never seemed to be on strength increases at my box, way more emphasis on the cardio aspect).

 

I drink other beverages, lots of tea, coffee, my protein smoothies, and an occasional diet soda.  2L may not be enough, no, but it is a substantial increase for me.  When I am working I especially have trouble remembering to drink.

 

The BF thing has me totally stumped.  Over the course of the past several weeks my caliper measurement BF has me losing fat and gaining muscle, where my scale reading is the exact opposite.  I can see a definite difference from the beginning of challenge #2 to the beginning of this challenge in my pics, but I don't see much difference from 2 weeks ago, yet there is disparity in both measurements.  Super frustrating.  I guess so long as they all go down in BF over time that is all that will matter.  I suspect from looking at pics of standard BF online that I am somewhere between 25-30.

 

[Stronkey Kong]

So that's 2L beyond what you normally drink? If so, you should be fine.

 

Reminds me of an interesting story. The rule 8-10 glasses a day came from a doctor in the 1800's who was studying kidney diseases. He discovered that drinking a lot of water helped prevent kidney malfunctions. He presented his finding to an audience of other doctors. At the end of his talk, one of them asked, how much water is a lot and he said "I don't know. Maybe... 8-10 glasses."

 

If you assume 8 oz. a glass, that's about 2L.

 

By these pictures, I'm about 25-30%, probably a bit closer to 30, but maybe a little more muscle... heh, heh.

[AshPS]

Sub'd for now and promise to catch up my friend. Awesome job!

[forkboy]

So that's 2L beyond what you normally drink? If so, you should be fine.

 

Reminds me of an interesting story. The rule 8-10 glasses a day came from a doctor in the 1800's who was studying kidney diseases. He discovered that drinking a lot of water helped prevent kidney malfunctions. He presented his finding to an audience of other doctors. At the end of his talk, one of them asked, how much water is a lot and he said "I don't know. Maybe... 8-10 glasses."

 

If you assume 8 oz. a glass, that's about 2L.

 

By these pictures, I'm about 25-30%, probably a bit closer to 30, but maybe a little more muscle... heh, heh.

 

Yes, 2L of water in addition to all my other sources.

 

Sub'd for now and promise to catch up my friend. Awesome job!

 

Soooo happy to have you back! Thanks Ash!

[forkboy]

I am starting to second guess my protein vs. carb ratio a little.  I am wondering if going down to 190-200g protein and upping carb to 220g instead.  Hmm.... 

[Stronkey Kong]

Looking at your body weight (193.8 lbs.) and bf% (i just went with 25% since you have several measurements) your lean body mass is about:

 

193.8 * (1 - 0.25) = 145.3 lbs.

 

190 g PRO will give you 1.3g PRO per 1 lb. body weight.

 

I'm currently doing 1.18. And that's about what we want, a bit over 1 g / 1 lb. lean body mass.

 

It probably isn't a bad goal, although, I find it tough doing the 1.18 without adding fat, or using protein supplements like whey. Have you done high protein like this before. You could reasonably start a bit lower, maybe at (150-160g per day) and work up. 

 

I think you'll definitely need some powder to hit 190-200. Or at least buy leaner cuts of meat than I do, I guess. I eat a lot of chicken leg quarters because they are cheaper than breasts, but have higher fat. With whole foods it can be a bit of a struggle to hit high protein numbers.

[forkboy]

Looking at your body weight (193.8 lbs.) and bf% (i just went with 25% since you have several measurements) your lean body mass is about:

 

193.8 * (1 - 0.25) = 145.3 lbs.

 

190 g PRO will give you 1.3g PRO per 1 lb. body weight.

 

I'm currently doing 1.18. And that's about what we want, a bit over 1 g / 1 lb. lean body mass.

 

It probably isn't a bad goal, although, I find it tough doing the 1.18 without adding fat, or using protein supplements like whey. Have you done high protein like this before. You could reasonably start a bit lower, maybe at (150-160g per day) and work up. 

 

I think you'll definitely need some powder to hit 190-200. Or at least buy leaner cuts of meat than I do, I guess. I eat a lot of chicken leg quarters because they are cheaper than breasts, but have higher fat. With whole foods it can be a bit of a struggle to hit high protein numbers.

 

Yes, my protein was pretty high last challenge, around 200g with lower calories, averaging just under 1,800.  I use a whey protein, yes, no way I could get there without it.  My meals are pretty consistent, with 1 regular egg and 3 egg whites, with either turkey bacon or sausage for breakfast.  Lunch is usually leftover dinner, which is a meat and veg combination of some sort, turkey, chicken, and fish being the most common.  That routine gets me to about 120g of protein, and I fill in the rest with protein powder and some peanut butter depending on how much fat I have remaining for the day.  Most of my carbs have been coming from fruit, veggies, beans, orange juice (not usually more than 4oz a day), and oats.  I am not sure I can eat more fruit or veggies since I eat a bit of it, so maybe I would rely a little more on corn tortillas and beans to increase the carbs and ease off of a scoop or two of protein a day.  Seems reasonable.  Definitely weighing the option....

[the 13th letter]

+1 loose tab, 'cause I don't know squat (hehe…) about warrior-dom, or recomposition, and whatnot. But hey, we brigadiers take care of our own.

And thanks for stopping by on my end, too!

[Stronkey Kong]

Yes, my protein was pretty high last challenge, around 200g with lower calories, averaging just under 1,800.  I use a whey protein, yes, no way I could get there without it.  My meals are pretty consistent, with 1 regular egg and 3 egg whites, with either turkey bacon or sausage for breakfast.  Lunch is usually leftover dinner, which is a meat and veg combination of some sort, turkey, chicken, and fish being the most common.  That routine gets me to about 120g of protein, and I fill in the rest with protein powder and some peanut butter depending on how much fat I have remaining for the day.  Most of my carbs have been coming from fruit, veggies, beans, orange juice (not usually more than 4oz a day), and oats.  I am not sure I can eat more fruit or veggies since I eat a bit of it, so maybe I would rely a little more on corn tortillas and beans to increase the carbs and ease off of a scoop or two of protein a day.  Seems reasonable.  Definitely weighing the option....

 

I saw you're going for 2100 cals now. Personally, yeah, I'd stay with 190-200g PRO and add the extra cals from carbs. That'll really fuel your workouts. Paying attention to how your workouts go will tell you more about what to do than I can though.

 

For me, this last week I've been hitting my macros and my workouts have gotten a lot smoother. No rough starts, good fast recovery times. That has to be the extra carbs I'm getting. Before I was doing borderline keto and while good at first, things started to slow, muscles got tight and sore. Gains were slowing stopping. Even mentally, I was tired.

[forkboy]

Macros for today... 2,000 calories (perfect), carbs 152, 57 fat (4 under), protein 192 (1 under)

 

Water in, rest day.

 

I think I am going to switch from weekly weigh-ins to daily weigh-ins.  I am not going to change my goals, as promised, until week 4 after some data, but I am curious to see how my weight fluctuates throughout the week.  Edited my protein mark above in goals.

 

Excited to officially start in the morning.  Gym day tomorrow.

 

Cheers.

[AshPS]

Wishing you and awesome workout and fantastic first!

 

Plan to have my thread up tomorrow.

 

Have a wonderful Monday forboy! :triumphant: :triumphant:

[forkboy]

Max reps today [REPS(sets)]

 

Squats 215 lbs 5(2) 3(1), again not sure if I am psyching myself out or what, but the last set when I have a really difficult rep I am not sure I have enough in me to proceed

Bench Press 155 lbs 5(2) 4(1), staying until I can hit 5(3)

Pull-ups -40lbs 5(2) -55 5(1), staying until I can hit 5(3)

Dips BW 5(3), will add 10 lbs

Planks 1;30, 1:15, 1:00, will increase

 

Hope everyone is having a great Monday.

[CourtnieMarie]

hi! we have similar challenges it'll be good to see how you progress. I see you brought your protein numbers down a bit and will sub in some carbs. Although, I usually have trouble getting up to my 40% protein number, at the same time I'm hesitant to trade them for carbs. I had been eating an average of 28% CHO between June 1 and Sept 14 and since then have been averaging around 36% CHO. I think I'd like to try to keep my CHO around this number (oh, and actually stick to it) to see where it takes me.

 

sorry, you're thread just made me re-think my macros and then come back around to where I was!

 

/hijack

 

good luck with your goals, man let's get that BF% down!

[ElbowRocker]

Good luck this challenge!

[forkboy]

hi! we have similar challenges it'll be good to see how you progress. I see you brought your protein numbers down a bit and will sub in some carbs. Although, I usually have trouble getting up to my 40% protein number, at the same time I'm hesitant to trade them for carbs. I had been eating an average of 28% CHO between June 1 and Sept 14 and since then have been averaging around 36% CHO. I think I'd like to try to keep my CHO around this number (oh, and actually stick to it) to see where it takes me.

 

sorry, you're thread just made me re-think my macros and then come back around to where I was!

 

/hijack

 

good luck with your goals, man let's get that BF% down!

 

Thanks for stopping by!  I am pretty worried about the extra CHO too.  I did paleo/crossfit for a long time and was used to having really low CHO, but I ended up stalling for like 5 months, so at this point I am wanting to try something new.  Good luck to you too!

 

Good luck this challenge!

 

Good to have you back man.  Thanks for stopping by.  Always great to have a little humor around here.  How was NOLA?  I lived there for 5 years (4 years for my undergrad and 1 year just having fun and bartending).  My wife's family is from the Mississippi coast and we haven't been back since shortly after Katrina.  I definitely want to take my kids to the old stomping grounds some day.  And french fry po-boys?  Hells to the yeah!

 

#gravyandallthefixins

[forkboy]

Wishing you and awesome workout and fantastic first!

 

Plan to have my thread up tomorrow.

 

Have a wonderful Monday forboy! :triumphant: :triumphant:

 

Thanks Ash, love that you're back!

[AshPS]

Glad to be back! This is like home to me now and you guys are my family.  

 

Plus, now every nurse that came within 2 feet of me now knows about NF, lol.

 

Awesome workout, as expected. You do weighted pull-ups??

 

Wish you a fantastic Wednesday and thanks for the offer on Excel. Definitely come to you.

[forkboy]

Glad to be back! This is like home to me now and you guys are my family.

 

Plus, now every nurse that came within 2 feet of me now knows about NF, lol.

 

Awesome workout, as expected. You do weighted pull-ups??

 

Wish you a fantastic Wednesday and thanks for the offer on Excel. Definitely come to you.

 

No, that is minus weight.  There is a machine that acts like a fulcrum in the gym that assists me a little.  I have that assistance down to 40 lbs, targeting 0 assistance, at least for one set, by the end of the challenge.  Dips I am ready to add weight though.

[mango]

Sub'd. Good job on the first day!

[ElbowRocker]

Eh, the vacation was OK. Kinda stressful. It was worth it overall though, kids seeing grandparents and vice-versa. Did a lot of walking around and seeing different stuff. Not enough of eating the tourist food, but I had sushi twice which is a win. I also can't fathom why anyone would actually live there. It's under the water level. The levee system is laughable, as are the pumping stations. It's just dumb. Also it was  hot and muggy once, and that was during trick-or-treating, so I imagine the summers are intolerable.

 

I much prefer my igloo and the occasional tornado.

 

#toeachtheirown

[bluekiwi1]

Rawr!  Rawr!  I found you!  Good Luck!

[forkboy]

Sub'd. Good job on the first day!

 

Thanks Mango!

 

 

Eh, the vacation was OK. Kinda stressful. It was worth it overall though, kids seeing grandparents and vice-versa. Did a lot of walking around and seeing different stuff. Not enough of eating the tourist food, but I had sushi twice which is a win. I also can't fathom why anyone would actually live there. It's under the water level. The levee system is laughable, as are the pumping stations. It's just dumb. Also it was  hot and muggy once, and that was during trick-or-treating, so I imagine the summers are intolerable.

 

I much prefer my igloo and the occasional tornado.

 

#toeachtheirown

 

Summers were definitely the worst. I have never experienced worse whether than NO in the summer.

 

Rawr!  Rawr!  I found you!  Good Luck!

 

Rawr!  Thanks for stopping by!  Gonna go find your new thread now, yay!

[forkboy]

Yesterday's macros:  2,207 calories (over 7), carbs 158 (plug), fat 60 (under 1), protein 194 (over 1), win on day one, yay!  Got my water in too, so 3/3 on day one.

 

Rest day today.

 

Man was coming back to work this morning brutal!  I enjoy my job, don't get me wrong, but I was dragging.  Hope your Tuesdays are going more smoothly!