EmbracingChaos' Quest For The Clean Bulk

[EmbracingChaos]

I've been a lurker on Nerd Fitness for quite a while, and finally decided I'd start a thread of my own to track my progress to gain muscle mass while staying lean.  Here's a little back story to who I am, and my fitness/diet history.  I'm 32 years old, and have 3 daughters with ages 10 years, 2 years, and 15 weeks.  I have a wonderfully supportive wife, who does more for me than I deserve.  So basically the only males in the house are me and my Alaskan Malamute, so we're quite outnumbered.  This will be a long post consisting of my dieting/fitness history, but I'll provide a simple summary of current goals and fitness/diet plan at the end, so feel free to skip the long story section if you want or it gets boring.

 

Long Story:

 

I didn't really get overweight until after I separated from the military in 2006.  I was a Seabee in the military (construction), and tended to stay in pretty good shape the majority of the time.  I got my college degree, separated from the military, and started working as a Software Engineer a month later.  Over several years the weight started piling on, and I topped out at a weight of 192 pounds and 30% body fat in April 2011 due to stress, poor eating habits, and decreased activity.  I'm only 5'6" tall, and had typically hovered in the range of 155-165 for my adult life.  I decided on 4/9/2011 to get a handle on the weight through a combination of tracking calories, running, and weight training.  I moved to maintenance on 8/27/2011 when I made it down to 154 lbs, and a body fat of about 18%.

 

I fluctuated up and down between 146-165 lbs. for the next two years, and focused on increasing my running ability.  I ran a 5k, 10k, half marathon, marathon, and finally a 50k during this time.  After running the 50k, I decided that I wanted to have a lower body fat and weight than the 155 lbs. and 18% body fat I had fluctuated around up to this point.  On 10/14/2013 I dedicated myself to getting down to 145 lbs., and re-evaluating at that point.  I reached that goal on 11/6/2013, but my body fat had only decreased to 17%.  I still looked pretty similar, since I had lost probably about half muscle mass and half body fat.  I seem to lose a decent amount of muscle mass when I diet, and I knew that if I wanted to lower my body fat further I'd probably lose muscle right along with it.  I then decided I'd just go all the way down to about 10%, and just accept the loss of muscle mass that comes with it.

 

I reached mid-10% body fat on 7/3/2014, and have been eating maintenance for the past four weeks to give my body some time to stabilize and it seems to have settled at 129-130 lbs. and 10.8% body fat.

 

I'm now on a quest to slowly add back some muscle mass, while staying lean.  As of Monday I've set my weekly calories in an estimated surplus of 2000, and I'm using a calorie cycling strategy of: Mon (+700), Tue (+700), Wed (-750), Thurs (+700), Sat (+700), Sun (-750).  Why the drastic cycle of calories, you ask?  Well I enjoy eating big, and I have a bottomless stomach.  I'm very much a man of extremes, and I find it easier to eat big when I'm letting myself eat, and eat small when I'm trying to keep things restrained.  I'm a big fan of intermittent fasting, and I follow the blogs of Anthony Mychal, Leangains, Brad Pilon, etc.  I've been doing 16/8 fasting since around January for days that I eat maintenance, while also incorporating two days of Eat Stop Eat style where I just eat dinner one day each week (so I only had below maintenance calories two days per week).

 

Currently I lift weights every day, as I've slowly built up the tolerance to it since last October, and I just lift lighter when I feel residual soreness.  This may change in the future, as I've started lifting heavier and adding weight now that I'm increasing calories, and may need more recovery time.  I follow a 3-day split primarily composed of all compound movements: Day 1 Back/Biceps, Day 2 Chest/Shoulders/Triceps, Day 3 Lower Body.  The exercises done on any given day may change, but the body parts I work don't.  We'll just have to see how my body holds up.  I also run 4 miles in steady state cardio fashion twice a week on my below maintenance calorie days.

 

I'm debating on just eating in Warrior Diet fashion each day.  I've been eating in a window from 12PM-8PM, but I find that I don't want to stop eating at 8.  I think I'd rather just not eat until I get home from work about 5 PM, and just eat until I go to sleep around 9:30 PM.  I'll probably switch back and forth on various days based on how I feel, and what fits my life best on the specific day.  For instance I'm going to a daytime company picnic for my wife's job on Friday and then out to dinner for my sister-in-law's birthday that night, so it'll probably be a 16/8 day.

 

After this post I'll add my data for the past couple days, and I'll try to update the log with my daily workouts and diet adherence.  Hopefully this will add a little bit of pressure for adherence.  I've attached my start pictures from Monday, and I'll try to upload monthly progress pictures, which will help to gauge my results.

 

 

Summary:

 

Stats: 5'6", 32 years old, Male, 129.18 lb trend, 10.85% body fat trend

Goal: Add muscle mass while staying lean or until 15% body fat (hopefully the former)

 

Diet

Calories: Mon +700, Tues +700, Wed -750, Thurs +700, Fri +700, Sat +700, Sun -750

Macros: Protein (1.15 * bodyweight), Carbs (1.5 * bodyweight on +cal days), Fat (.4 * bodyweight)

Strategy: Various fashions of intermittent fasting

 

Workout

Day 1 Back/Biceps, Day 2 Chest/Shoulders/Triceps, Day 3 Lower Body

Two 4 mile runs per week on -cal days

[EmbracingChaos]

Notes: In my shorthand I use the following symbols/colors/designators

" = the same as previous set for reps or weight, depending on its location

"" = the same reps & weight as the previous set

number = met target within reasonable error margin

number = almost met target, slightly too high or low

number = did not meet target, too high or low

macros are given in the format Protein/Carbs/Fat

 

Monday 7/28/2014

 

Workout:

Barbell Deadlifts 2x225, 4x205, "", "", ""

Leg Extensions 10x100, 8x105, "x110, "", ""

Walking Lunges 1, 1x25s, 1x20s, "", "" (the length of my basement and back)

Jackknifes 20, 15, 15, 15, 15

 

Diet:

+605 cals, 214/336/74 macros

 

Comments:

Strong workout.  Started taking fish oil and multivitamin.

 

 

Tuesday 7/29/2014

 

Workout:

Pullups 8 x 27.5, "", 7x", "", ""

Neutral Grip Pullups 7x27.5, 6x", "", "", ""

Barbell Row 8x115, 6x125, "", "", ""

Bodyweight Row 17, 16, 16, 14, 14

Barbell Curl 7x75, "", "", "", ""

 

Diet:

+721 cals, 213/344/85 macros

 

Comments:

Good workout.

 

 

Wednesday 7/30/2014

 

Workout:

Overhead Press 2x120, 4x115, 6x110, 6x105

Barbell Bench 2x185, 4x175, 6x165, 7x155

Decline Pushups 25, 20, 20, 20, 20

Dips 9x27.5, 8x", "", ""

Tricep Extension 10x80, 9x", 8x", ""

4 mile run

 

Diet:

-754 cals, 176/146/51 macros

 

Comments:

Good workout.  Switched to 4 sets per exercise to hopefully alleviate some potential overtraining aches.  Going to try and transition most days to eat warrior diet style starting today.

[EmbracingChaos]

Thursday 7/31/2014

 

Workout:

Barbell Squats 1x155, 3x145, 5x135, ""

Barbell Lunges 2x115, 4x105, 6x95, ""

Hack Squats 2x210, 4x200, 6x190, ""

Jackknifes 20, 18, 15, 15, 15

 

Diet:

+686 cals, 190/375/77 macros

 

Comments:

Decent workout.  My squat strength feels weak.  Today was the first calorie surplus day on the Warrior Diet, no issues with making it to dinner without eating or getting my calories in.  I even wanted to eat more after meeting the daily calorie goal, but knew I shouldn't.

[EmbracingChaos]

Friday 8/01/2014

 

Workout:

Pullups 6x27.5, "", "", ""

Neutral Grip Pullups 6x27.5, "", "", ""

Barbell Row 6x125, "", "", ""

Bodyweight Row 14, 14, 12, 12

Barbell Curl 7x75, "", "", ""

2 mile run

1/2 mile walk

 

Diet:

+2220 cals, 231/509/277 macros

 

Comments:

I tried to tough through keeping with the Warrior Diet during my wife's company picnic, and almost made it.  Unfortunately we stayed much longer than I anticipated, and more food kept arriving that I have a tendency to splurge on.  The tipping point came when someone brought two cheesecakes from The Cheesecake Factory, a standard cheesecake with strawberries and a chocolate mousse cheesecake.  I broke down and ate some wings and rice in hopes to avoid the desserts, but before I knew it I had demolished several pieces of cheesecake.  I don't know what happened, it seemed to make sense at the time.  I think it was a mistake to show up to the picnic without having eaten anything.  I didn't put the calories of what I was eating in to MyFitnessPal until after I had finished eating, and I was horrified at the damage.  I did some extra cardio last night, and ate a salad for dinner when we went out for my sister-in-law's birthday, but I still ended up way over my calories.  I'm going to try and keep a large deficit today to 'normalize' what my weekly surplus should be, but that would mean both today and tomorrow have to be about -750 days.  My plan is to stick to basically just chicken, fish, and vegetables today and tomorrow, and make up as much as I can.  I also postponed my workout until after the company picnic yesterday, which caused it to be merely lackluster because I felt bloated, full, and guilty.  I'm very disappointed.  I need to keep in mind what Steve says (paraphrasing), "Is that 5 minutes of satisfaction of eating the candy bar, etc. worth more than the lifelong satisfaction that you're making the right choices?"

[EmbracingChaos]

Saturday 8/02/2014

 

Workout:

Barbell Bench 2x190, 4x180, 6x170, 8x160

Overhead Press 2x120, 4x115, 4x110, 6x105

Dips 9x27.5, "", 8x", ""

Decline Pushups 25, 25, 20, 20

Tricep Extensions 10x80, "", 9x", ""

 

Diet:

-1463 cals, 110/66/7 macros

 

Comments: Changed the daily calorie goal to have a large enough deficit to make up for the splurge on Friday, which I was able to maintain despite going to a family birthday party where they were serving hot dogs, chips, cake, and ice cream.  So I was pretty pleased with yesterday's results.  To make the lower calorie deficit I had to sacrifice making my macro goals, but it was a worthy trade-off for the day.  

 

My calorie target for today (Sunday) is -187, which will give me an even +2000 surplus for the week.  I'm sure that the week won't be as effective as it would have been without having a massive surplus one day instead of a moderate surplus for two days, but as Voltaire said, "Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good."

 

I'm going to keep the same calorie surplus next week, +2000, but change the daily calorie cycle targets to +600 for surplus days, and -500 for deficit days.  So next week's schedule will look like this: Mon +600, Tues +600, Wed -500, Thurs +600, Fri +600, Sat +600, Sun -500.  On Monday the 11th I'll reevaluate to see if I need to raise or lower calories.

[EmbracingChaos]

Sunday 8/03/2014

 

Workout:

Barbell Deadlifts 2x235, 4x225, 6x215, ""

Leg Extensions 2x140, 4x135, 6x130, ""

Walking Lunges 1x20, 1x40, "", ""

Jackknifes 20, 20, 20, 20

4 mile run

 

Diet:

-205 cals, 203/216/69 macros

 

As of Monday morning, with the first week completed, here are stat changes:

 

129.18 lb trend -> 129.48 lb trend

10.85% body fat trend -> 10.86% trend

 

I also took some measurements, though I didn't feel like I was doing them right, here they are for reference:

Neck 13 3/4"

Shoulders 41 1/2"

Chest 36"

Left Bicep (flexed) 12 1/4"

Waist 31"

Hips 32 1/2"

Left Thigh (flexed) 19 1/4"

 

I was going to keep calories the same this week, but my wife convinced me otherwise.  I can always tailor them back if I start gaining too much fat, but the important thing right now is to start gaining at all.  I'm going to raise my surplus days by +250, so this week's calorie targets look like this (from my original estimated daily TDEE which was obviously too modest):

Mon +850, Tues +850, Wed -500, Thurs +850, Fri +850, Sat +850, Sun -500

[EmbracingChaos]

Monday 8/04/2014

 

Workout:

Pullups 8x27.5, "", "", 6x"

Neutral Grip Pullups 7x27.5, "", "", ""

Barbell Row 2x145, 4x135, 6x125, ""

Bodyweight Row 14, 14, 14, 14

Barbell Curl 8x75, 7x", "", ""

 

Diet:

+767 cals, 222/370/87 macros

 

Comments:

Strong workout, felt good.  Ate like a champ, lots of carbs, so hopefully that will induce some good effects.  My sleep could be better, I think I drank too much water before bed and didn't get there as early as I'd have liked due to playing Peggle.  Fitbit claims I got 6h 32min., which definitely isn't enough.

[EmbracingChaos]

Tuesday 8/05/2014

 

Workout:

Barbell Overhead Press 2x120, 4x115, 6x110, 7x105

Barbell Bench Press 2x190, 3x180, 6x170, 6x160

Dips 8x30, "", "", ""

Decline Pushups 25, 20, 17, 20

Skullcrushers 6x75, "", "", ""

 

Diet:

+830 cals, 205/428/73 macros

 

Comments:

Great workout, and diet was great.

[EmbracingChaos]

Wednesday 8/06/2014

 

Workout:

Barbell Squats 2x155, 4x145, 6x135, 2x135

Barbell Lunges 2x120, 4x110, 6x100, ""

Hack Squats 2x215, 4x205, 6x195, ""

Jackknifes 20, 15, 15, 15

 

Diet:

-594 cals, 162/103/77 macros

[EmbracingChaos]

Thursday 8/07/2014

 

Workout:

Pullups 8x27.5, "", 6x", ""

Neutral Grip Pullups 7x27.5, "", 6x", ""

Barbell Row 2x150, 4x140, 6x130, ""

Bodyweight Row 8x35, "", "", ""

Barbell Curl 8x75, "", "", ""

 

Diet:

+778 cals, 216/424/63 macros

[EmbracingChaos]

Friday 8/08/2014

 

Workout:

Barbell Bench 10x95, 2x195 3x185, 5x175, 6x165

Overhead Press 2x120, 4x115, 6x110, 5x110

Dips 8x32.5, "", "", ""

Decline Pushups 25, 20, 20, 20

Skullcrushers 7x75, 6x", "", ""

 

Diet:

+743 cals, 193/428/62 macros

[EmbracingChaos]

Saturday 8/09/2014

 

Workout:

Barbell Deadlifts 2x240, 4x205, 6x185, ""

Leg Extensions 2x145, 4x130, 6x117.5, ""

Walking Lunges 1x40, "", "", ""

Jackknifes 20, 15, 15, 15

 

Diet:

+931 cals, 157/467/76 macros

[EmbracingChaos]

Sunday 8/10/2014

 

Workout:

Pullups 8x27.5, "", "", 7x"

Neutral Grip Pullups 7x27.5, "", "", ""

Barbell Row 2x165, 4x150, 6x135, ""

Bodyweight Row 9x35, 8x35, "", ""

DB Hammer Curl 14x24s, "", "", ""

 

Diet:

-411 cals, 189/88/67 macros

[EmbracingChaos]

As of Monday morning, 8/11/2014, with the second week completed, here are stat changes:

 

129.2 lb trend -> 130 lb trend

10.9% body fat trend -> 11.1% trend (I hypothesize this is mostly due to water differences/sodium levels)

 

Going to keep calorie goals the same this week, and see if I keep gaining weight slowly.

[EmbracingChaos]

Monday 8/11/2014

 

Workout:

Overhead Press 2x120, 4x110, 6x100, ""

Barbell Bench Press 1x190, 4x170, 6x155, ""

Dips 8x32.5, "", "", ""

Decline Pushups 25, 25, 20, 20

Tricep Extensions 8x85, "", "", ""

 

Diet:

+754 cals, 198/438/59 macros

[EmbracingChaos]

Tuesday 8/21/2014

 

Workout:

Barbell Squats 2x155(bad form), 4x140, 6x125 ""

Barbell Lunges 1x125, 2x120, 4x110, 4x100

Hack Squats 2x220, 4x200, 6x180, ""

Jackknifes 20, 15, 15, 15

 

Diet:

+778 cals, 186 413 86 macros

[EmbracingChaos]

After first six week challenge:

 

129.2 lb trend -> 135.7 lb trend

10.9% body fat trend -> 12.6% body fat trend

 

About 3.5 lbs. lean mass gained, and 3 lbs. fat.

 

Progress pictures:

 

 

[EmbracingChaos]

In response to the question "What if I don't want to/can't do Power Cleans?"...

 

Usually, people just feel intimidated by anything that resembles a technical exercise and just would rather not do them. This is just being a pussy, and sets a bad precedent for the management of both training and life. - Mark Rippetoe

 

 

Well said Mark Rippetoe.

[EmbracingChaos]

Every habit builds on every other habit. Good training habits make for good study and career habits. Good sportsmanship habits make for good citizenship habits. Habits build on each other. Identify, break down, and destroy bad habits; identify, build, and reinforce good habits.- Train Tough The Army Way

[EmbracingChaos]

Disil's frequent use of his Battle Log convinced me that I should try harder to add to mine.  At a minimum it will help to hold me accountable, though I do a pretty good job of beating myself up as well anyway.  I always appreciate new ideas or thoughts, even if I happen to ignore them.  You never know when someone else's thought will spring up in the back of your mind and prove useful.  So let me do a little spreadsheet dealy-o for how things have gone since I started this log when I started/finished/quit challenges, and then I'll catch up to the present.  Then I'll go over what I'm currently doing for fitness/diet.

 

Date Weight Trend Body Fat Trend Comments

07/28/14 129.2 10.9 1st challenge

09/08/14 135.7 12.6 Aggressive cut week

09/15/14 133.6 12.4 2nd challenge

10/27/14 141.5 13.8 Aggressive cut (2 weeks)

11/10/14 138.2 13.3 3rd challenge (didn't finish)

12/22/14 146.1 14.9 Cruise control, just lifting and eating

03/02/15 144.0 15.7 Up to present

 

There is a problem with these numbers, my scale (some Tanita model) is very sensitive in its calculations of body fat based on water percentage, and that's what I base my trend off of.  I started taking Creatine Monohydrate at some point in September, and I drastically reduced the amount of sodium in my diet, so it's thrown my body fat measurements off because my water percentage can shift all over the place within a week.  So though my body fat reads closer to where I started in the very beginning of cutting down to 130, I look drastically different and don't appear to have gained as much fat as it claims.  I'm going to get a Bod Pod done some time soon (my wife is starting her weight loss to get rid of baby weight and wants us to each get one), so it will be interesting to see what value that comes up with.  That being said, I take front/side pictures every Monday and just rely on those to make sure I'm not getting too fat.  Here are collaged pictures from each of the above date measurements:

 

 

 

Current Fitness Regimen:

I'm doing 5/3/1, the Big But Boring derivative (BBB) for the most part.  I found that I wanted a bit more work on each of the main lifts, so I've tweaked it a bit in that my workouts are like the following:

 

Monday: Overhead Press (3 sets, main 5/3/1), Overhead Press (5 sets per BBB), Barbell Bench Press (5 sets), and Weighted Dips (5 sets)

Tuesday: Deadlifts (3 sets, main 5/3/1), Deadlifts (5 sets per BBB), Barbell Squats (5 sets), and Bent-Over Barbell Rows (5 sets)

Wednesday: OFF

Thursday: Barbell Bench Press (3 sets, main 5/3/1), Barbell Bench Press (5 sets per BBB), Overhead Press (5 sets), and Decline Pushups (5 sets)

Friday: Barbell Squats (3 sets, main 5/3/1), Barbell Squats (5 sets per BBB),  Deadlifts (5 sets), and Leg Extensions (5 sets)

Saturday-Sunday: OFF

 

I throw in walks on the treadmill, maybe a light run here or there, pull-ups, dips, burpees, etc. whenever I feel like it.  I have all of that equipment in my basement (weight bench, treadmill, pull-up/dip station) and I work from home, so I walk by the stuff a lot.

 

My current personal best 1RM for each main 5/3/1 lift are the following, though I've recently reset each of my lifts back the recommended 90% of 90% of my 1RM when I stalled on all of them except for Deadlift:

 

Barbell Overhead Press: 140 lbs.

Deadlift: 315 lbs.

Barbell Bench Press: 220 lbs.

Barbell Squat: 205 lbs. (I wish I knew why I suck so bad at squats)

 

Current Diet:

I've migrated from doing 16:8 fasting Leangains style mixed with Eat Stop Eat to now doing some Frankenstein Warrior Diet approach in that I basically just fast for 22 hours, and then eat the world for dinner and beyond.  I don't track calories any more except if I'm doing an aggressive cut week or something, I just try to eat in the order of: large helping of vegetables -> chicken/fish -> another large helping of vegetables -> fattier meat/spaghetti/enchiladas/family dinner -> fruit/oatmeal/peanut butter -> snacks.  Frankly it's amazing, and most likely disgusting, how much food I can put down in a single sitting.

 

Goal:

Most likely going to just keep gaining muscle/fat until I reach somewhere along the lines of 21% body fat and cut back down to where I have reasonable unflexed abs showing, similar to how I am now, though maybe a bit leaner.  I don't really want an aggressively lean six pack any more, I'm cool with how I look now, I just want more muscle.  I'm good with getting fatter again to put on muscle at this point, as you can lose fat forever, but muscle building just gets much harder as we age.

[Disil]

Haha, thanks for the shout-out. I've got to say, I like your current plan a lot more than what you previously did, especially those two "OFF"s are a pleasure to see. Just from the looks of it, you don't seem to be getting fat all that fast right now - those 21% should be pretty far away still. Your relaxed muscle tone still makes it look like you're around 13% right now.

 

As far as squats go, the first thing that comes to mind is simply genetics. Smaller/thinner legs would already explain it to some degree. Maybe you can play around with technique a little to see whether something slightly different enables you to lift more. For example having a somewhat wider stance, while usually making for less power, could potentially make things easier depending on your hips (a friend of mine did this adjustment and feels stronger during deep squats despite physics saying the opposite should be the case). I could also imagine that a lot of the muscle loss on your relentless way to a sixpack was from the lower body as that's where a huge part of it is stored, so simply eating more, getting stronger will solve this problem over time.

 

You diet sounds awesome, I can eat in a pretty similar way although I feel horrible after eating so much food. You strength gains (or lack thereof) should always be a good indicator whether your diet needs adjusting. You've proven in the past that you can be as meticulous as is required if need be, but I get that it's just more convenient the way you're doing it right now.

 

Gonna follow your progress with interest, especially since you're sort of one step farther than me and I can almost look into the future here. =)

[EmbracingChaos]

Haha, thanks for the shout-out. I've got to say, I like your current plan a lot more than what you previously did, especially those two "OFF"s are a pleasure to see. Just from the looks of it, you don't seem to be getting fat all that fast right now - those 21% should be pretty far away still. Your relaxed muscle tone still makes it look like you're around 13% right now.

 

As far as squats go, the first thing that comes to mind is simply genetics. Smaller/thinner legs would already explain it to some degree. Maybe you can play around with technique a little to see whether something slightly different enables you to lift more. For example having a somewhat wider stance, while usually making for less power, could potentially make things easier depending on your hips (a friend of mine did this adjustment and feels stronger during deep squats despite physics saying the opposite should be the case). I could also imagine that a lot of the muscle loss on your relentless way to a sixpack was from the lower body as that's where a huge part of it is stored, so simply eating more, getting stronger will solve this problem over time.

 

You diet sounds awesome, I can eat in a pretty similar way although I feel horrible after eating so much food. You strength gains (or lack thereof) should always be a good indicator whether your diet needs adjusting. You've proven in the past that you can be as meticulous as is required if need be, but I get that it's just more convenient the way you're doing it right now.

 

Gonna follow your progress with interest, especially since you're sort of one step farther than me and I can almost look into the future here. =)

 

Yea I'm probably somewhere between 13%-15% body fat, I have a feeling that it was more underestimated before and more correct now.  But who knows, I'll do a small cut here or there just to keep the fat off if I get uncomfortable, but for now I'm not all that worried about it.

 

I absolutely agree my strength gains are going to likely be the determining factor whether or not I'm eating enough, because any gains I get at this point are likely due to muscle growth.  I'm pretty sure all of my CNS/efficiency gains are long gone by this point.

[EmbracingChaos]

Workout (3 min. rest between main 5/3/1 sets, 1:30 min. rest between others)

Bench Press (warmup), 5x150, 5x160, 6x170

Bench Press 10x130, "", "", 9x130, 7x130

Overhead Press 10x85, 8x85, "", "", 7x85

Decline Pushups 17, 17, 15, 15, 15

Dinner

Large bowl of green cabbage, 1 tomato, 1 green pepper

Large bowl of mixed vegetables

~6 oz. chicken breast

~9 oz. ham w/ 3 eggs over easy on top & 5 strips turkey bacon

4 slices of french toast w/ mashed blueberry, strawberry, & powdered sugar on top

1 medium banana w/ ~40g natural crunchy peanut butter

1 chocolate & almond cookie (150 calories)

Struggled on my supplementary/assistance exercises today during the workout. This is the first time I'd increased to this weight for them, so I'll be stuck at these weights until I reach a solid 10 reps per set for each. I still seem to be losing fat rather than gaining muscle, but I'm not going to stress it until April 1. Until then I'm just going to basically eat comfortably, however I like without being too greedy, and see what happens. The most important thing for me now is to just fully acclimate to only eating once a day and not having to count calories.

[EmbracingChaos]

Workout (3 min. rest between main 5/3/1 sets, 1:30 min. rest between others)
Back Squats (warmup), 5x150, 5x160, 5x170
Back Squats 10x125, "", 5 x 125, -, -
Deadlifts 10x185, "", "", "", ""
Leg Extensions 10x110, "", "", "", ""

Dinner
Large bowl of green cabbage, 1 red bell pepper
Large bowl of broccoli
~8 oz. chicken breast
1 lb. 93% lean beef, half a can of enchilada sauce, half a can of refried beans, and 2 servings (300 cal.) of white rice mixed up
2 servings (300 cal.) of oatmeal w/ small banana
Chips (100g, 500 cal.) & 1 jar of Salsa (220 cal.)

 

 

Had to skip the last 2 sets of squats, as my knee started feeling funky.  Not sure what was going on with it, but it didn't seem to affect the follow-on Deadlifts or Leg Extensions.  I was reading How To Be Legendary by Johnny B Truant, and there was an interesting snippet I read:

 

If you want to become Legendary, you must be tenacious. You must risk other people saying that youʼre a dog with a bone, that you wonʼt give up on that thing you want to do, that youʼre obsessed. You should be obsessed about the things that matter to you. I have a friend who once told me, “ʼObsessionʼ is a word that lazy people use to describe dedication.†And itʼs true. Fail with courage. Fail with a smile on your face. Then, try again.

 

I often get people telling me that I get obsessed in things, I have too many hobbies, etc.  So I can really relate to that statement, and I think it's a great way to view obsession. Anyway, just thought I'd note it down somewhere so I don't forget.

[Disil]

Looks like a good workout, but those dinners..dude. You didn't joke when you said it's amazing and likely disgusting. Just..wow!

 

I had a discussion yesterday with a colleague because he saw me buy 6 wheat rolls for my refeed and started to lecture me on how horribly unhealthy they are and that I should eat whole wheat stuff etc. and when I tried explaining to him what a carb refeed is and the mechanics behind it he just dismissed it, barely listening to anything I said. That was up to the point where I told him I'm looking to cut a few more pounds of fat where his eyes widened and he explained to me, that I look ideal for my size and don't need to change anything. Especially that second part of the discussion I've had with a lot of people, from friends to my family to near strangers and it can really tire yourself out to be extra dedicated or obsessed in a healthy way and constantly feel like you're having to justify yourself. I view it kind of like people who excel at the highest level of sports, say Ronda Rousey for example. You don't get to where and how she is if you're not insanely dedicated and well, obsessed and competitive. That might shine through in other parts of her life and her personality that one may not like or understand, but it is the very fabric that makes her who she is, the champion that she is. Now I'm far from comparing myself to her or anyone similar, but I'd bet the house that she's had to hear a lot of crap about how competetive and "extreme" she is in many ways.

 

In the end, as long as things serve a purpose, there are goals behind that obsession and you still have healthy relationships to people outside of that (which I didn't have when obsessed wit playing a certain videogame for example, *cough*), everything is fine imo.