35% Body Fat

Dtp1979

Ian Whelan wrote: »

On the website it says: "Scivation XTEND helps to facilitate both fat loss and new muscle construction. Also, by orchestrating optimal protein synthesis and by balancing the intracellular energy economy, Scivation XTEND severely truncates recovery time. You just don’t feel recovered, you are recovered."

.

And if you spray Lynx on yourself, girls will run after you and want to kiss you

Alf Veedersane

Ian Whelan wrote: »

It may well be a scam but I think it has helped me as I am rarely incredibly sore after training. I remember years ago I was training easier than I am now and I could hardly shampoo my hair in the mornings. I think they have made a difference to me anyway.

The reduced soreness is largely due to adaptation which reduces DOMS.

Ian Whelan

Dtp1979 wrote: »

And if you spray Lynx on yourself, girls will run after you and want to kiss you

And that exactly the reason I had to stop using it.

Nervous Wreck

Ezra Wibberley wrote: »

I accept that there are inaccuracies and this (my reported fat loss/muscle gain) may not be correct but I'm hoping that even within margins of error that I have indeed gained muscle and lost fat and that this accounts for my weight gain, as from a dietary point of view it makes no sense to me that I'd be up 3lb.

I wouldn't even worry about a margin of error on this. Assuming the guy does the bf measurements the same way each time, inaccuracies won't matter. I.e. If both measurements taken were done inaccurately to the same degree of inaccuracy, the difference between the 2 measurements is still an accurate measure of progress.

TL;DR You're doing great!

deco72

Ezra Wibberley wrote: »

Good advice. I am in the process of changing my diet alright, I'm pretty happy with my meals during the week but the weekends are still proving difficult to conquer. If I can whittle it down from treat days to treat day then to treat meal I'll be doing good. I feel I need some kind of carefree approach a day a week, it keeps me on the straight and narrow midweek.

Typical weekday;

Breakfast: chicken fillet, half avocado, krill oil capsule, glass of water

Mid morning: banana, coffee (I don't take sugar)

Lunch: wholegrain pasta salad with lighter than light mayonnaise, broccoli/green beans, tomatoes, chicken or salmon (or some minor variations on this)

Afternoon; coffee and banana

Dinner: salmon darne/prawns/chicken, broccoli /Brussels sprouts/green beans/2-3 baby potatoes or 60g rice (carbs omitted post workout meal)

Water throughout the day.

Can I ask why carbs are omitted post workout? I thought that carbs are best post workout to help repair the muscles and aid recovery.

Mars Bar

2 bananas seems a bit much if you are trying for low carb. That's 50g of fast release carbs.

The carbs omitted after training does seem a bit strange. I have been told from more than one PT that starchy carbs after a workout is best to replace the glycogen you just used.

Dtp1979

Mars Bar wrote: »

2 bananas seems a bit much if you are trying for low carb. That's 50g of fast release carbs.

The carbs omitted after training does seem a bit strange. I have been told from more than one PT that starchy carbs after a workout is best to replace the glycogen you just used.

You're right but this guy is going for a high fat/protein low carb diet. Goes against basic science in my opinion but others will swear by it

Mars Bar

Dtp1979 wrote: »

You're right but this guy is going for a high fat/protein low carb diet. Goes against basic science in my opinion but others will swear by it

If he's going all out low carb then he should be ditching those bananas and using those carbs for post workout. I'd replace the bananas with nuts.

Mellor

Dtp1979 wrote: »

You're right but this guy is going for a high fat/protein low carb diet. Goes against basic science in my opinion but others will swear by it

2x Bananas as snacks, pasta for lunch, potatos or rice for dinner. It's not remotely low carb imo. The only carbs he has mentioned cutting out is post workout - I've don't know why his trainer has pushed for that?

Dtp1979

Mellor wrote: »

2x Bananas as snacks, pasta for lunch, potatos or rice for dinner. It's not remotely low carb imo. The only carbs he has mentioned cutting out is post workout - I've don't know why his trainer has pushed for that?

Sorry I'm only half following this thread. I thought( too lazy to read back) he was on a high fat/protein low carb and this didn't or never dies make sense to me

Mellor

It doesn't make sense to me either. I could understand cutting carbs entirely, don't agree but understand. Or even having carbs only around workouts - my approach. But eliminating post work out only I don't get.

Ezra Wibberley

Mellor wrote: »

2x Bananas as snacks, pasta for lunch, potatos or rice for dinner. It's not remotely low carb imo. The only carbs he has mentioned cutting out is post workout - I've don't know why his trainer has pushed for that?

Just to clarify, I never claimed I was on a low carb diet. just that I was cutting out carbs post workout as Mellor correctly identified.

My trainer had mentioned that by cutting out carbs post workout, my body would seek to burn fat as it's energy source rather than giving it a carb source to burn. You got me curious though, so I did a little reading and found this, which seems to be what my trainer was saying;

www . bodybuilding . com /fun/ditch_post_workout_carbs.htm

He has also now told me to stop with the pasta salads for lunch, and to switch to brown rice, 50g. I haven't gone ahead with this yet, but will be from next week. I think the plan is to slowly introduce dietary changes.

I'll be honest, I am struggling with keeping my diet on the right path, but continue to try.

Alf Veedersane

Ezra Wibberley wrote: »

I'll be honest, I am struggling with keeping my diet on the right path, but continue to try.

Is there any particular element of it you're struggling with?

Ezra Wibberley

Nervous Wreck wrote: »

I wouldn't even worry about a margin of error on this. Assuming the guy does the bf measurements the same way each time, inaccuracies won't matter. I.e. If both measurements taken were done inaccurately to the same degree of inaccuracy, the difference between the 2 measurements is still an accurate measure of progress.

TL;DR You're doing great!

Thanks for the encouragement!

Ezra Wibberley

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

Is there any particular element of it you're struggling with?

I'm finding it hard to stop sugar cravings, the 'need' for a chocolate bar here and there. I'm not exactly knocking back the cakes and fizzy drinks and biscuits and bars, but I am having the (too) occasional 'treat' which I know will cumulatively hinder my progress. It's frustrating.

Alf Veedersane

Ezra Wibberley wrote: »

I'm finding it hard to stop sugar cravings, the 'need' for a chocolate bar here and there. I'm not exactly knocking back the cakes and fizzy drinks and biscuits and bars, but I am having the (too) occasional 'treat' which I know will cumulatively hinder my progress. It's frustrating.

Sometimes what can help is if you schedule a treat. Something that is a bit more in keeping with your progress/goals. That way you don't feel like you're depriving yourself because you know there's a chance to treat yourself with a bar or something and it means you're less likely to just treat/reward yourself whenever you see fit

deco72

If your craving chocolate try stick to more than 70% dark choc. Lidl do a good range that don't taste too bad. You could also check out some protein bars like Quest but these tend to have high carbs in them also.

I also find that fage yoghurt and waldens farm chocolate sauce is good for a chocolate craving. Maybe have a look at these and see what you think.

I would also ask your PT what would be best to help with the sugar cravings as they may also have some good tips.

MartyMcFly84

I find Quest bars really help with my sugar/treat cravings. They use stevia as a sweetener so the chocolate tastes close to regular sugar sweetened chocolate.

After a while you see them a treat and regular desserts and sweets can almost be too sweet, and you naturally eat them less and less.

I still have the odd dessert but I am in no way craving it on a daily basis.

Hanley

Track craving times.

I bet there's a routine.

20 minutes before you normally get a craving, have a good quality snack.

Willpower eliminated.

Clearlier

You might want to consider giving up refined sugar completely. I hesitate slightly to say that I've successfully followed this path but with the deliberate exception of Christmas cake and mince pies it has been a year since I ate any chocolate or sweets.

I had to stop eating fruit in order to get through the initial cravings and I haven't really re-introduced it because it's a bit like a gateway drug for me.

Eliminating refined sugar from my diet didn't cause me to lose any weight but it did allow me to retake control of my diet and subsequently lose about 2 stone (still a work in progress).

Tar.Aldarion

Good savoury snacks are so much better than bars and ****e. I'll bet it is the evening they get weak.

Nervous Wreck

Hanley wrote: »

Track craving times.

I bet there's a routine.

20 minutes before you normally get a craving, have a good quality snack.

Willpower eliminated.

Fantastic advice; never woulda thought like this!

Hanley

Nervous Wreck wrote: »

Fantastic advice; never woulda thought like this!

That's why they pay me the big bucks

Squall Leonhart

Hanley wrote: »

Track craving times.

I bet there's a routine.

20 minutes before you normally get a craving, have a good quality snack.

Willpower eliminated.

This is quite possibly the best advice I've ever read on boards!

Hanley

Squall Leonhart wrote: »

This is quite possibly the best advice I've ever read on boards!

There's a comment to get your day started the right way. Thank you!

Dtp1979

Hanley wrote: »

There's a comment to get your day started the right way. Thank you!

It's great advice. You should do it for a living

Ezra Wibberley

Thanks to all for the responses and advice. Apologies I've been dragging my heels a bit on replying here!

The tracking when I get cravings idea is brilliant, one I must really give a go.

Another poster mentioned using MyFitnessPal. I might give this a go, if nothing else when used honestly gives a real picture of diet and calories. I have used it before and found it very good, especially love the way you can use your phone's camera to scan the barcode of things you've eaten.

From a workout point of view, the news here is that there is no real news, I'm still going, still putting in the effort, still knackered every time haha. It's becoming habitual now and I am finding it easier to go. Next body fats update should be this coming week, will update then.

Ezra Wibberley

19th October: 106kg & 34.6% body fat

5th November: 107kg & 32.8% body fat

Today, 23rd November: 107kg & 31.3% body fat


So the percentage is going the right way, but now I might need to start giving more focus to calories to drop the weight a bit, but at present I am just happy fat percentage is dropping.

CarolynSmith

Recommend the 5:2 diet. It comes down to eating limited calories two days a week. The rest of the week you can have what you like. It works.

Dtp1979

CarolynSmith wrote: »

Recommend the 5:2 diet. It comes down to eating limited calories two days a week. The rest of the week you can have what you like. It works.

So does licking Doritos but it's still not good for you