Cleave's Log - A new Beginning

[Cleave]

I AM ROLLING AND I AM HUNGRY!!!

Are you guys as hungry as I am? I feel like I have as good a diet as anyone. I even plan my snacks throughout the day but lately I have been so hungry. (and I gained 3lbs this week!) It must be a result of the ever increasing wieght. But it puts me in a predicament. If you've read my journal you know that I've lost a bunch of weight eating clean and low carb. I'm still eating very clean though I have increased my calories. I haven't counted calories I've just avoided certain foods....but I think I'm going to have to figure this thing out. My wife says I've got pecs now!!!! Which is cool but I'm still kind of addicted to the scale and wanting some smaller numbers. So....do I want to be big and 230 or 240 or slim and 200. Dunno....but I gotta figure out what's going on.

Friday mornings workout. - Up at 5am 1 large glass of ice water and an EAS protein box drink. To go coffee and out the door to the gym.

First one there.....got in a good warmup of lunges, stretches, bar squats, pushups....

Bench 5x5 @ 185!!! YES!!! What's so good about 185? It's 45lb plates and 25lb plates!!!! Got hard on the 5th rep of the 4th set so I asked Fred to spot me but I didn't need him for the last set as I powered right through and did 6 reps!

Squas 5x5 @ 115lbs....yep, no problems here either . My form is good and I feel really strong on squats for the first time.

Bent Rows 5x5 @ 110lbs....these are easy. Funny too cause two other guys were doing the same movement on a machine just a few feet away from me.

DIPS 3x5....I got in 5 Dips!!!!!! Woo Hoo!!!!!

Post workout - bowl of oatmeal with a little heavy cream, 3 egg omelette with cheddar, grilled chicken and spinach cooked in coconut oil. I brought some almonds and two boiled eggs as my snack for today. I also have a jar of Smuckers Natural Peanut Butter that I like to occasionally grab a spoonfull of.

Cleave

[Cleave]

Oh Dang....where did the editing function go? Sorry about all the spelling errors.

I also wanted to add that my workouts seem to be taking longer. I'm taking longer breaks between sets. I guess this is the result of higher weight but would like to hear your input as well.

[baughmjk]

So....do I want to be big and 230 or 240 or slim and 200. Dunno....but I gotta figure out what's going on.

I dunno either but this is a good problem to have!

Congrats on the awesome workout. Keep it rollin!

[Scottymouth]

It's funny, but I always have similarities with your posts. I have been told that you have to decide if you want to drop fat, or build muscle because you cannot do both effectively at the same time. I argued this and found proof backing up my argument. It is possible, but tricky and slow and takes a lot of trial and error. I think that in everything that is fitness and nutrition, it is very personal. I found that focusing on dropping my BF% and not necessarily increasing my muscles was the better way to go. Stick to weighing yourself once per week, and taking BF% caliper readings and log the results. Do it at the same time per week with all of the same variables. (Clothes, no clothes, after you use the bathroom before you eat, etc.)

I was eating a 3200 kcal diet for the most part and working out with no cardio. I still found myself at a brick wall on almost every exercise. I was slowly slowly losing body fat and slowly slowly gaining muscle. I was at the cusp of a plateau, where I had to make a choice: either bump up my feeding so that I am gaining lean mass, or increase my calorie deficit and drop body fat. I chose the latter and have seen amazing results in just one week.

Now, I have been "chunky" since I was about 11 years old. I really didn't like it quite recently so I got on Stronglifts and clean eating. But let me tell you, once I focused on one aspect of this - boom! It was like crazy. I am mildly hungry at times, and I drink ice water to quell the hunger. But I am on a 2300 kcal diet and keep to a 40-40-20 ratio (Carbs, Protein, Fat). I suggest Burn the Fat feed the Muscle by Tom Venuto. I can send it to you if you'd like otherwise it is 39.99 on his site. This is a rather long e-book, (pdf about 350 pages) but it really made a difference for me.

Other more knowledgeable people may refute what I have written and I allude to my first statement - it is personal and what works for me may not work for you. I am sure you know that already anyway, but I have to cover my ass. I am still new to this and do not profess to know everything. Sometimes the advice I get on this forum is priceless, but sometimes (though rarely) I get advice on other forums or here from younger guys who have never been over 12% body fat. So, I started around 26% body fat back in January and as of this past monday was at 19.2. So I tend to listen to people who understand my plight....

Hope this helps.

[Cleave]

I almost didn't get up this morning. I was tired from the weekend. I went with some buddies to Indiana to see Stone Temple Pilots at the Horseshoe Casino. Lots of gambling, drinking and other debauchery will take it out of you. Plus the 4hr drive back and forth.

OHP 5x5 @ 105lb
Dead Lift 3x5 155lbs
Squats 5x5 @ 115lbs
Pullups 3x5 inverted rows

[Scottymouth]

At least you got to the gym! Way to go.

[jak3dude]

Nice to see people taking charge of their life.

More people need to make a realisation like you did.

I really find tranformation blogs to be the most interesting, because certain things mean so much more. Like a chin-up for example. The only time I can remember that I've never been able to do a chin-up was when I was really young trying to copy one of my friends, but other than that, it's never been a problem for me. It's so much more gratifying to hear someone like you being able to do their first chin-up than hearing about someone like me pulling off 10 or 15 because I take it for granted, you really have to work for it.

Congratulations on your progress and good luck with your september 1st deadline

[Cleave]

Wednesday Morning

Bench 5x5 @ 195 - I failed @ 195 this morning. It's my own fault. I jumped 10 lbs instead of 5. Stupid ego stuff...
Squats 5x5 @ 115lbs
Bent Rows 5x5 @ 115lbs
DIPS 3x5

Funny.....Dips were great today. It was probably my easiest exercise and used to be my worst. I did 3x5 with good extension. Not easy but solid dips.

Thanks for the comments Jak3dude. I do hope my log can give other guys in a similar situation to me (age & weight) some motivation. It was definitely hard to get started....and harder to get to the point where I thought I was rolling. Although it seems like it's been a long time, it's been less than a year. I'm at a point where I like my progress on the 5x5....but as for overall body composition, weight loss/muscle definition....it's gonna be kind of slow for a bit. I'm looking at maybe a goal of next summer, maybe Memorial Day as a "Muscle/Stomach Goal." I'm beginning to get real detailed with my diet, writing everything down and adding up the calories. My next goal is to get my plan "really" planned out in detail and know exactly where I am and what I'm doing.

[Cleave]

Bicycled last night. 22 miles on my fixed gear and felt really good. Usually after a ride I'm just spent. I felt great when I got home.

I started counting calories the last few days with fit day and I'm going to try and stay around 2000 a day. I used the formula over at T-Nation to find my upper and lower calorie limits from the "Velowity" diet. I gained another 2 pounds this week so this has got to stop. I'm pushing 240 again and it took me way too long to get past it into the 230's. I think I might be eating too much cheese and my salt may have gotten higher lately. (been eating a lot of jerky.) Whatever it is I will find it out bcause I'm going to write everything down and see what happens.


OHP 5x5 @ 110lb - Overhead press is my "Bitch." I luv em....
Dead Lift 1x5 160lbs
Squats 5x5 @ 120lbs
Pullups 3x5 inverted rows

[Scottymouth]

Hey Cleave,

Have you tried gyminee.com? You can join for free and log everything. I live by it. You can also join my beginner strength training exercises. I set it up for stronglifts 5x5. I also went on a 40-40-20 diet at 2300 calories. That has worked wonders for me. 2000 calories is too low for a guy your size. Be careful with T-Nation because sometimes it is geared more towards guys with a lot of lean mass, which will mess with the numbers when figuring out the calories. Try getting your maintenance level (about 16-18kcal per lb you weigh, and cut no more than 25% of that number. I figured if you weight 240 and you used 16kcals per lb and cut 20%, you should be at about 3000 calories per day. Then use the ratio 40% protein, 40% carbs, 20% fat. Some of this info is from Stronglifts and some is from Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle. I have been inactive for a long time, so my metabolism was slow. I almost always ate way over my maintenance because it was so slow. Once my body got used to eating more often, and 90-95% clean, and I added lifting and cardio - my metabolism finally got to where it should be. I re-adjusted using this method and am averaging 2 lbs of lean mass gain along with 3.5 lbs of fat loss. This worked for me and maybe some form of it will work for you. I used to have a beer or two every night on average...well alcohol is a bitch. It is really dense - like 7 calories per gram that your body HAS to burn right away. So all current fat burning is stopped and the alcohol calories are burned first. Plus, eating the right combination of foods in every meal is key. Lean protein has a high thermic effect, which mean your body consumes about 30% of the calories from that chicken breast in digestion alone. This along with a fiberous carb like broccoli and a starchy carb, like a baked potato, enhance the digestion process so that the right nutrients are released at the right time. It is really freaking scientific crap - but it all made sense to me while I read it. I had to figure out which ones I needed to do in order to get my body to use my stored fat and not what I was consuming. Hope I helped a little and didn't just flap at the gums. It took me about 6 months to get it right - that and I really buckled down on my discipline.
Cheers!

[Cleave]

Monday am


Bench 5x5 @ 185
Squats 5x5 @ 125
Bent Rows 5x5 @ 120
Dips 3x6

Everything went real good this morning. Bench was hard but I got through it. Squats were easy. Bent Rows were easy too and I'm starting to love the dips! I got in 6 reps this morning. My plan is to go for 7 on Friday, 8 next Wednesday.....you get the picture, until I reach ten.

Thanks again for the input Scott. I'm going to try and stay under 3,000. Your right, 2,000 may have been out of line considering my size and activity level. I'm going to try and clean things up a bit and watch the extra calories. Example: I use heavy cream in my scrambled eggs. I'm going to cut that out. I'm also going to watch my cheese and nuts intake.

I fixed a great dinner last night with some big time power foods. I baked Orange Roughy in parchment paper with Fajita seasonings; heated a can of black beans on the stove and sauteed onions, yellow and red peppers and kale in olive oil with some "Emeril's Essence," fresh garlic and a little white wine. I spooned out the black beans onto the plate and placed the fish on top of the beans....then topped the fish with the peppers, onions and kale....and garnished with some chopped cilantro. My wife addes some sour cream cheese but I left it as it was for a killer nutricious meal that satisfied my Mexican food cravings.

[Scottymouth]

Wow - that sound's great. I did a salmon dish recently with eggplant and basil pesto that was pretty good. Nice numbers on bench, I was happy to get my 170 at 3x5, your advice helped, thanks!

[Cleave]

I ran last night with Fred (my early morning gym buddy.) We were talking Monday morning about our kids and he mentioned his son is playing grashopper football. They practice at the middle school football field by my house. My daughter is cheer leading grasshopper football and they practice at the middle school gym. So Fred and I decided we needed to get in more cardio and need someone to help us keep at it. The timing and the track make it a great time to run. We would run a lap and walk a lap and so on. We got in 3 miles during practice while most the other parents are sitting around in folding chairs. I tried to make my running laps more than just a jog and to push myself hard. I could feel it this morning. I am so sore......I hope I will be ok for squats in the morning. But I've been needing to pick my cardio up a bit. I hope to be able to run at least once a week and ride my bike once a week. Hopefully I can get in 3 cardio workouts

[Scottymouth]

Nice work. Cardio is the hardest thing, in my opinion, to fit into a schedule. But when you can, it makes a huge difference. I have ramped it up to 6 days a week while I am on a Zig Zag calorie diet. Crazy! My kids are too young, but I see myself doing this as well.

[Cleave]

Today was another good Wednesday.

OHP 5x5 @ 115lb
Dead Lift 3x5 165lbs - Dead felt good so I went ahead and knocked out 3 sets
Squats 5x5 @ 125lbs - deep A2G while Fred was doing half squats with 225 next to me
Chinups 4x1.5

I had a good workout this morning. I'm really looking forward to 135 on the squats. My form is good. I did regular chinups this morning instead of the inverted rows. I can still only manage about 1 and a half chinups but my one I can do is looking better. I think I can get two within a few weeks....hopefully.

I usually do dips and pullups last but this morning after finishing squats and press, I alternated between deads and chinups and my chinups felt a little better.