The Ab Quest!

celestial

Ok, so am starting this log as a record of my efforts to get to around 13% body fat in time for summer (he expects a summer, I hear you say!) - so by the end of July.

Stats right now:

5'9"
85kg
Body fat - not checked accurately lately but approx 16-17%. Could be a bit lower, I'm gonna get my gym manager to do a caliper test this week.

I can see upper abs but just have this extremely annoying layer of lower ab fat that is stubborn as fook! It's always the last to go on blokes so I'm gonna try a lower-carb approach to see if I can shift it.

Here's what my diet is gonna look like:

Breakfast: Eggs or Porridge with flax seed
Snack (if needed): Apple or scoop of natural peanut butter
Dinner: Meat/fish with veg, small amount of carb (e.g. small potato or small portion of pasta)
Snack: As morning snack
Evening meal: A smaller version of dinner
Snack (if needed): Nuts/natural peanut butter

All of this combined with a mix of weights, bodyweight exercises and low-medium intensity cardio (mainly running/bike). I'll alternate this with higher intensity cardio from time to time.

Essentially, I need to strike a balance between eating in such a way that is sustainable, and keeping carbs/sugar down so I can start to burn the rest of the fat.

accensi0n

Good luck cel.

I'm at about 13%bf and can't really see my abs. Although I tested myself using Accu-Measure calipers so could be wrong.

celestial

Got me two tubs of Meridian natural peanut butter today - amazing stuff!! I'll be using this in reasonable amounts for snacks and to fill a gap I'd usually fill with things like Weetabix or smoothies. A couple scoops with a cup of tea fills you up nicely.

Also, I'll be having something like tuna or eggs with a slice or two of wholegrain toast some evenings - won't be cooking a meal every evening.

Today went like this anyway. Not perfect but I was hungry in the afternoon - tomorrow I'll have the peanut butter!

Breakfast: porridge with flax seed, cup of black tea
Snack: Apple, latte
Lunch: Beef lasagne, tomato soup
Snack: Sugar free Alpen
Evening: tin of tuna with two slices wholegrain toast, couple spoons peanut butter

Exercise:

Just time for a 20 min walk, then later a 40 min one.

Dawei

I am a bit out of shape now, but I did get to the point where I carried only 11pc body fat. So just wondering if you are counting calories?

celestial

Dawei wrote: »

I am a bit out of shape now, but I did get to the point where I carried only 11pc body fat. So just wondering if you are counting calories?

Right now, I am not counting calories. I am aiming for around 2200cals per day for fat loss. Looking at what I eat per day, I don't even think I am hitting this amount. I'll be detailing out what I eat on here on a regular basis, so if anyone disagrees, let me know.

celestial

Breakfast: Porridge with flax seed goji berries, cup of tea
Mid-morn: coffee
Lunch: Vegetable soup. Roast beef with peas, lettuce, one medium size potato
Mid-afo: 2 tea-spoons natural peanut butter, tea
Evening: 2 pork chops, peanut butter, tea

weights ~30 mins, cardio ~30 mins

RHunce

i wish you well its a hard thing to do

j@utis

I love peanut butter, have that big tub in my cupboard too. Just a pitty that it's so calorie dense... Otherwise I'd be eating it 6x a day!

And best of luck!
I want too see my abs too but it's harder in my case with 20% bf and being a female on top of that!

celestial

j@utis wrote: »

I love peanut butter, have that big tub in my cupboard too. Just a pitty that it's so calorie dense... Otherwise I'd be eating it 6x a day!

And best of luck!
I want too see my abs too but it's harder in my case with 20% bf and being a female on top of that!

The great thing though about the sheer wonder that is peanut butter is that it fills you up like nobody's business - so you don't have to eat much of it all!

Cheers - yeah can see how that might be tricky :-)

celestial

So the weekend involved a few pints and a fair bit of junk food and carbs. That's ok though - I'm gonna be letting loose a bit at weekends and this can only be a good thing as I'll be disciplined during the week as normal.

Did some reading on the Anabolic diet over the weekend (thanks for the link Funkz!) and it's more or less what I'll be doing - limiting carbs during the week and letting loose (but not too loose) on the weekend.

Today looks like this:

Breakfast: Oats with flax seed, cup of tea
Lunch: Steak, small potato, veg, coffee
Snack: Peanut butter, apple
Later: Meat!

Observations:

So - my weight has come down lately. Around 10 days ago I was 88kg, when I started this log I was 85kg and when I weighed myself last Friday I was 83.5kg. I have definitely lost a few kilos as my bathroom scales had shown me tipping towards the 14 stone mark for ayyyges and all of a sudden I am down at the 13 stone mark.

So that's cool! I am also definitely leaner in the abs area. Not by a massive amount, but progress is being made here. I'll be dialling up the fat and protein over the coming weeks - carbs towards the morning time only for the most part.

cardio,shoot me

were gonna need pics soon :P

rubadub

j@utis wrote: »

I love peanut butter, have that big tub in my cupboard too. Just a pitty that it's so calorie dense

I have mixed it with dry porridge oats before, it bulks it out yet still tastes great. I would not pour milk on it, but eating spoonfuls while drinking a glass of milk is very nice.

Holland & barret are doing raw unsalted cashews 500g for €3.99 at the moment.

celestial

So.....for the first time in a long while, I am 13 stone pretty much bang on per the bathroom scales. That's around a 5-6kg loss in around 2 weeks.

Food yesterday:

9.30 Oats with flax seed
11.20 Peanut butter
1.00 Turkey breast with lettuce, little potato and pasta, latte
3.00 Nuts
7.45 Peanut butter
9.00 2 pork chops, cheese

Gym: 35 mins low intensity cardio (bike)

MagicMarker

You're saying you lost 10lbs + in 2 weeks, with a weekend of drinking & binge eating in the middle?

If that's true, then I really really hate you:)

FunkZ

MagicMarker wrote: »

You're saying you lost 10lbs + in 2 weeks, with a weekend of drinking & binge eating in the middle?

If that's true, then I really really hate you:)

But it's gonna be about half water and some muscle too, you'll be lucky at getting 4 pounds f fat in two weeks, and that's intensive. Good work though! How are your measurements coming along dude?!

celestial

Pretty good goin alright, but the next month or so will tell the real story. The weight loss has been fat and water - defo a good bit of water on account of the reduction in carbs but some fat too for sure. Very little if any muscle loss by my reckoning - I've been doing plenty weights and protein intake is high. Would be different if I was just lowering cals in a blanket fashion and on a cardio binge or somethin:)

Haven't really taken measurements - I tend to just use body fat % and how I look in the mirror as a guide.

BossArky

celestial wrote: »

So the weekend involved a few pints and a fair bit of junk food and carbs. That's ok though - I'm gonna be letting loose a bit at weekends

Was it actually a few or how many pints? :cool:

Cardio is way under rated around here for fat loss. Include a few sprints/HIIT session along with weight training and you'll be grand.

celestial

BossArky wrote: »

Was it actually a few or how many pints? :cool:

Cardio is way under rated around here for fat loss. Include a few sprints/HIIT session along with weight training and you'll be grand.

It actually was a few:D Four in fact. Have been drinkin feck all lately, relative to the usual. In fact, now I think of it it's been 6 weeks since I have had any more than 4 pints in one sitting!

How's your eatin habits these days Boss?

celestial

Today:

Breakfast: Oats w/ flax seed
Snack: Peanut butter
Lunch: turkey, potato, veg
Snack: Peanut butter
Evening meal: 2 pork chops, peanut butter, cheese, cream

Rest day today. Hitting weights and maybe the rower in gym tomorrow.

celestial

Bank Holiday Weekend:

Saturday pm - Monday pm:

Sun
Icebergers
Crisps
Soft Drinks
Snickers Ice-Cream
Chocolate

Weight just under the 13 stone mark this morning.

Defo not as hungry with the heat. Diet today will look like this:

Breakfast: Weetabix
Dinner: Meat and veg, little carb
Afternoon: Peanut butter
Evening: Meat / fish

Lotsa water

BossArky

celestial wrote: »

It actually was a few:D Four in fact. Have been drinkin feck all lately, relative to the usual. In fact, now I think of it it's been 6 weeks since I have had any more than 4 pints in one sitting!

You know yourself that the quest for a 6 pack doesn't involve a stop off at the pub :pac:

I know that a diet has to be manageable .... but alcohol and junk food have no place in an ab quest log especially if the time frame is short i.e. aiming for summer abs.

How about going totally dry for a month and see what effects that may have?

celestial wrote: »

How's your eatin habits these days Boss?

Grand. Ditching the morning latté, adding back some cardio, and avoiding two lunchs at work seems to have done the trick in recent weeks for dropping a bit of fat. I think I went a bit overboard on the salads for a while. Eating lots of eggs which I love.

Why don't you include your workouts in here too?

Good luck

celestial

BossArky wrote: »

You know yourself that the quest for a 6 pack doesn't involve a stop off at the pub :pac:

I know that a diet has to be manageable .... but alcohol and junk food have no place in an ab quest log especially if the time frame is short i.e. aiming for summer abs.

How about going totally dry for a month and see what effects that may have?

My guiding principle on such matters - don't do anything you know is gonna harm your progress:) A weekend of letting loose does good in a few different ways. I actually think that the whole giving up booze thing is over-stated. If your diet is fairly spot-on during the week a few pints or even more than a few is ok. It's when you do it more than once a week or EVERY week that isn't great. Also the after booze chipper is a big no-no.

BossArky wrote: »

Grand. Ditching the morning latté, adding back some cardio, and avoiding two lunchs at work seems to have done the trick in recent weeks for dropping a bit of fat. I think I went a bit overboard on the salads for a while. Eating lots of eggs which I love.

Two lunches - now that's just greedy:) Good stuff.

BossArky wrote: »

Why don't you include your workouts in here too?

Good luck

Yea. My schedule is all over the shop at the minute really, from this time next week I'll have my old routine back (i.e a LOT more free time!) so I'll happily be back to the workouts in a serious way, so I'll be tracking them then for sure.

celestial

So -- Thought I'd throw up some progress pics - good way of keeping track!

Friday afternoon and yesterday involved fair bit of booze and junk food. Exercise was minimal during week for different reasons. Got 2 hours of cardio in on Tuesday and hitting gym later today.

_JOE_

Any progress pics since since the last month?