Cachexic's Shred Log.

[leanbody]

hey Bud - i don't mean to second guess your methods - i just know for me when I was in calorie deficit, doing lots of cardio and lifting every day, I lost the weight but def lost muscle too. That was me and now looking back, i realize the diet wasn't so good then either. But it suks to go to all the trouble to lose weight and not hammer the bf. You also might try taking 2 days off from lifting a week. If you love it, it's hard to do , but my body responds pretty well to rest when I an dieting.

I like your change in the cardio, - in a week or 2 MAX you will know if that is working for you.

BTW - aren't you glad you started this before the holidays? I used to gain 5-7 lbs of fat every year between T-day and Xmas! Now I have a reason to pass up the fruitcake and the gravy - hahahahaha

 

[cachexic]

hey Bud - i don't mean to second guess your methods - i just know for me when I was in calorie deficit, doing lots of cardio and lifting every day, I lost the weight but def lost muscle too. That was me and now looking back, i realize the diet wasn't so good then either. But it suks to go to all the trouble to lose weight and not hammer the bf. You also might try taking 2 days off from lifting a week. If you love it, it's hard to do , but my body responds pretty well to rest when I an dieting.

I like your change in the cardio, - in a week or 2 MAX you will know if that is working for you.

BTW - aren't you glad you started this before the holidays? I used to gain 5-7 lbs of fat every year between T-day and Xmas! Now I have a reason to pass up the fruitcake and the gravy - hahahahaha

Nah man I think the HIIT was a good idea. I'm going to keep it this way.

Yes I think my timing is perfect. I have to make sure I don't ruin everything over the holidays.

 

[cachexic]

Day 17.

Day 17

181.8 lbs (-0.8 lbs)

Lookin' good. :st:r-wars

Morning HIIT done.

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I keep losing my shit at the end of the night. I'm very disappointed in myself. Almond butter + LBA's, late night mini-binge. Had a bad taste in my mouth all night even though almond butter is delicious.

Considered going back to my old ways and sprinting around my neighborhood, but my legs are in no condition for that after training. My calves feel like they're going to cramp up just from standing up too fast.

230p/125c/105f
2,500ish cals

Activity:

Morning HIIT, 15 minutes jump rope
Leg work out

 

[cachexic]

Day 18

Day 18

183.2 lbs (+1.4 lbs)

Busy day. Modified diet a bit. Eating more solid food to deal with the increased hunger. This still isn't where I want to be, calorie-intake wise. Not hardcore enough. I've gone way lower, for longer amounts of time. Guess the supplements are boosting appetite.

Nutrition:

220p/140c/65f
2,100 cals

Activity:

Back/bi workout.

Low volume high intensity is what I normally do by the way. Here's what I did today:

1 warm up set cable pulldown
1 set wide grip pull ups (as wide as possible)
1 set seated cable row
1 set row machine
1 set one arm dumbbell rows

1 set preacher curls
1 set concentration curls

I usually do deadlifts every other workout. At the end. If I do them first my back is too pumped up for the other exercises. Uncomfortable.

30 minutes cardio, 150+ bpm

 

[doitright]

Day 17

181.8 lbs (-0.8 lbs)

Lookin' good. :st:r-wars

Morning HIIT done.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

I keep losing my shit at the end of the night. I'm very disappointed in myself. Almond butter + LBA's, late night mini-binge. Had a bad taste in my mouth all night even though almond butter is delicious.

Considered going back to my old ways and sprinting around my neighborhood, but my legs are in no condition for that after training. My calves feel like they're going to cramp up just from standing up too fast.

230p/125c/105f
2,500ish cals

Activity:

Morning HIIT, 15 minutes jump rope
Leg work out

yep the cravings are a BITCH.

 

[cachexic]

yep the cravings are a BITCH.

So annoying. Nothing I haven't dealt with in the past though. I'll be all right.

 

[cachexic]

Day 19

Day 19

182.2 lbs (-1.0 lbs)

Did 30 minutes of fasted cardio.

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Nutrition:

175p/135c/50f
1,700 cals


Activity:

30 minutes morning fasted cardio, low intensity...150ish bpm
30 minutes night cardio, low intensity...150ish bpm

Not taking tomorrow off. I would if I had nailed down my nutrition all 19 days, but I didn't so no alcoholic beverages and carb overloads. Gonna be rough being around the family sober. "Backloading" my calories so that I can eat well at dinner and not fuck up my energy balance. In other words, I'm starving myself to a degree before dinner.

To be honest I never gave a fuck about anything but the ham and turkey anyways. Whatever calories I eat will probably be mostly protein.

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Pretty rough night. Damnit, knew it would happen. Got greedy with the cardio. The relatively high levels of activity today came back and haunted me. Got a craving that wouldn't go away for hours. Essentially spent my whole night actively trying to not eat. Made it, though.

Nights like these really make me question what I'm doing. I had to focus all my energy tonight on not consuming more energy... So that I can look better tomorrow. How strange.

I know from experience that nights like these also result in a really good morning. Always look really good in the morning after a night like this.

Lots of bodybuilders believe in "listening to your body." I always listen, but that doesn't mean I do what my body supposedly wants me to do. Tonight my body was telling me "You made me do all that cardio today. The energy balance is skewed. Give me calories."

I listened, and said no. Now I'll be rewarded. That has always been my experience with losing fat. Going against your body yields the most dramatic results. We'll see if my method can get me to the low levels of body fat I desire.

 

[cachexic]

Day 20.

Day 20

No weight. Batteries died in scale.

I lost weight, though. Don't need a scale to tell me that.

Going to go train before Gold's closes early for T-giving.

Hope you all have fun being around your family. Drink up. Let's see how much of the temptation I will be able to resist. Whatever I'm eating/drinking is going in that phone. No secrets. You'll know how much I wavered as always. The plan is to not waver from the nutrition at all.

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Very encouraging and satisfying chest/tri work out. My best chest/tri since the log began. Strength was improved. From that first work set of decline presses I could tell how the work out was going to go. Everything fell into place. After the work out I did 20 minutes of medium intensity cardio. 160-170 bpm.

This looks like all the activity I'll be doing today. Going to physically rest all day and occupy myself until dinner now to keep the energy balance in check.

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Nutrition:

Got through Thanksgiving without shifting the energy balance. That's a first. I'm sub-2k calories for the day. Around 150 grams of protein. It got a little difficult with the nutrient counting at night with the servings on my plate and all that. Way below 2k cals, though. Like 1.4-1.5k

Backloading my calories worked very well, even though I did suffer for a little while at different points throughout the day. Had very little carbohydrates. Less than my normal days.

Activity:

Chest/tri work out
20 minutes cardio, 160-170 bpm

 

[cachexic]

Day 21

Day 21

Keep waking up every couple of hours drenched in freezing cold sweat. Already got up at 3:30 shivering, sheets and pillows soaked, to take a piping hot bath. Now it's 6:00 AM and I'm drenched again. So gross.

Sucks because sleep is your best friend on a cut.

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Strength is really going up. I mean really. Everything is so much lighter.

On a little over 1,000 net calories a day, too. I wonder what would happen if I ate like a pig. Crazy.

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Woops. Did cardio in a white shirt. Was like a wet t-shirt contest in Gold's today. @ 7 minutes in I was soaked, shirt stuck to my torso. This sweating is batshit!

Today was easy. I didn't suffer at any point. Shit is so random.

Nutrition:

175p/105c/30f
1,400 cals

Activity:

Back/bi work out (not my usual work out...Much higher volume. With my bro-in-law. Got a little sick at the end)
35 minutes cardio. Forgot my heart rate monitor at home. Intensity was like it always was though, so 150-170, round there.

 

[leanbody]

Day 21

Keep waking up every couple of hours drenched in freezing cold sweat. Already got up at 3:30 shivering, sheets and pillows soaked, to take a piping hot bath. Now it's 6:00 AM and I'm drenched again. So gross.

Sucks because sleep is your best friend on a cut.

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Strength is really going up. I mean really. Everything is so much lighter.

On a little over 1,000 net calories a day, too. I wonder what would happen if I ate like a pig. Crazy.

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That suks about the sweats but it sounds like your body is a metabolic furnace! Good going, dude!

 

[cachexic]

Yeah. This started a couple of nights ago. First it was tiny puddles of sweat, and the puddles are getting bigger. But about every 2 and a half hours I wake up drenched. Sleep quality is going way down. Melatonin isn't helping either, and melatonin is the shit.

Nothing I wasn't prepared for, considering all things. Sleeping on a bed of towels tonight.

 

[cachexic]

Day 22.

Day 22.


Busy day, was away from my laptop.

Nutrition:

200p/190c/55f
2,100 cals

More carbs than I prefer. But it was a very, very high activity day, so I don't consider it a nutrition failure.

Activity:

Leg workout -

(high volume, mostly light weight. Lot of energy spent in this lift. This will be my last workout with my brother in law, so I'll be back to my normal lower volume routine soon)

75 minutes high intensity racquetball with my cousin. Got my ass whipped 4 out of 5 games. The guy who is losing in racquetball gets the better workout though, so there you go.

 

[leanbody]

Yeah. This started a couple of nights ago. First it was tiny puddles of sweat, and the puddles are getting bigger. But about every 2 and a half hours I wake up drenched. Sleep quality is going way down. Melatonin isn't helping either, and melatonin is the shit.

Nothing I wasn't prepared for, considering all things. Sleeping on a bed of towels tonight.

Sleeping on the towels is a good idea, I also have tried sleeping naked in my terrycloth bathrobe. It seems to absorb the sweat but not get clammy. I also tried microfiber tee shirts and boxers - that seems to work pretty well too.My wife HATES it when I get that way - we may be headed for twin beds like in I Love Lucy! LOL

 

[Joejo]

Prior to this log and without the gear did you notice that you got weaker (substanially) on that low of a calorie diet??? When I droped for 3000 to 2000 calories a day and low carbs I felt weak as hell. I know everybodies different, but was just curious if you felt weaker in a calorie deficit too. You are even taking in less calories then I did thats why I'm asking. By the way good luck and hope your shred works out for you, by the sounds of it, it seems like it is.

 

[doitright]

Prior to this log and without the gear did you notice that you got weaker (substanially) on that low of a calorie diet??? When I droped for 3000 to 2000 calories a day and low carbs I felt weak as hell. I know everybodies different, but was just curious if you felt weaker in a calorie deficit too. You are even taking in less calories then I did thats why I'm asking. By the way good luck and hope your shred works out for you, by the sounds of it, it seems like it is.

he got banned bro. not sure what happened.

 

[Joejo]

he got banned bro. not sure what happened.

Thanks for letting me know. I guess I won't expect an answer back anytime soon.

 

[cachexic]

Prior to this log and without the gear did you notice that you got weaker (substanially) on that low of a calorie diet??? When I droped for 3000 to 2000 calories a day and low carbs I felt weak as hell. I know everybodies different, but was just curious if you felt weaker in a calorie deficit too. You are even taking in less calories then I did thats why I'm asking. By the way good luck and hope your shred works out for you, by the sounds of it, it seems like it is.

Hey. Sorry Joejoe, and anyone else that was following. I was suspended for a few days. How embarrassing!

That's a good question. I have never lost an appreciable amount of strength on extreme deficits. I always heard that's what happens when you do low cals and all that, but when I buckled down and did my first real diet, that was not the case at all.

Back when I was fatter, I lost a lot of the fat on my frame eating really low cals. I'm talkin' 1000 net cals a day, sometimes less. All I ate was meat and vegetables. I'd have some bread every now and then, but if I did I would punish myself with a jump rope session. Any starches and I did cardio. It was the strictest diet ever. I lost a SHITLOAD of weight/fat, like 25 pounds. In a short amount of time. A month or so. Well, a lot of those pounds were water pounds cuz I started the diet after a "shit load." Probably more like 18 pounds.

My poundages didn't go down on any of my lifts. The weights felt a little heavier...Like taking dumbbells off the rack and getting set up for presses, stuff like that was a bit harder towards the end of the cut. And repetitions went down a bit, probably lost a rep or two. But actual poundages? Nope.

 

[cachexic]

Days 23-28

Days 23-28

182.6 lbs

All right, so I'll catch you up.

My body fat level is lower than it was in original pics. I personally know this because I have certain details in my midsection, back, and arms that I didn't have previously. Definition that I did not have and could not see before. So I have lost fat. It's not substantial, though. I'm failing so far on this cut, in my opinion. I have never had a problem nailing down calories until I added in supplements. Adding in these supplements has been fucking with my mind lately. When the day is winding down and I'm @ 1,300 net calories or whatever, I always, ALWAYS trick myself into eating another meal. This thought creeps into my head:

"You're wasting the supplements. You're on all these supplements and giving your body no nutrition. You have to get more protein in you. 180g what's that? Protein synthesis is increased a lot when you're on supplements, you have to take advantage of this. Eat more!"

So I consume more calories. Then after I do that I think "Great, I went too high on calories today. I'm failing on my cut."

It's absolutely ridiculous. Now today I'm telling myself "Okay, today, fucking cut yourself off @ the planned caloric level." But I know when night time rolls around I'm going to be thinking "You're wasting your first supplement cycle!"

I feel like this was a mistake, to be honest. I should have cut this last bit of fat naturally. Then I should have used the supplements with a higher caloric level, for optimal muscle gains.

Results have been good. But not enough for me. I'll just never be satisfied is the truth. In just 28 days I have seen improvements in muscle density, hardness, shape, and strength. I've gained several pounds, yet look better in the mirror.

And the vascularity. Today in the gym I overheard my training "buddies" say something behind my back. I was getting water, came back and saw my buddy nodding and saying "Yeah...I think so." Nothing was said after that. My guess is, the other guy said "He on something?" I could be totally wrong, but I really got that vibe they were saying something about me. We were doing preacher curls, so my arms were looking mean to say the least...And they were making comments about it the whole workout. I guess it IS a very "on" look. I just didn't like that they tried to say it out of earshot. That got to me. I hope they weren't talking about me.

The strength is great. I finally feel like a strong dude for the first time in my life. And obviously I'm not a big person so it looks cool in the mirror when I'm throwing around the big ole dumbbells. They're so massive in proportion to my frame haha.

To give you an idea of the strength increases...Stuff I was doing for 6 reps before I'm doing for 15 now. So you can see why I've been so tempted to increase calories. I just feel like I have this prime growth opportunity and I'm throwing it down the drain. I'm sticking with low calories, though. 1,500 net (meaning activity included) and not a calorie more.

I want to be bodybuilder lean. I'm sticking with the plan. I'll do the "clean bulk" some other time.

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Nutrition:

180p/130c/60f
1,800 cals

Activity:

Back/bi work out
30 minutes cardio, 144 avg bpm

 

[leanbody]

Days 23-28

182.6 lbs

All right, so I'll catch you up.

My body fat level is lower than it was in original pics. I personally know this because I have certain details in my midsection, back, and arms that I didn't have previously. Definition that I did not have and could not see before. So I have lost fat. It's not substantial, though. I'm failing so far on this cut, in my opinion. I have never had a problem nailing down calories until I added in supplements. Adding in these supplements has been fucking with my mind lately. When the day is winding down and I'm @ 1,300 net calories or whatever, I always, ALWAYS trick myself into eating another meal. This thought creeps into my head:

"You're wasting the supplements. You're on all these supplements and giving your body no nutrition. You have to get more protein in you. 180g what's that? Protein synthesis is increased a lot when you're on supplements, you have to take advantage of this. Eat more!"

So I consume more calories. Then after I do that I think "Great, I went too high on calories today. I'm failing on my cut."

It's absolutely ridiculous. Now today I'm telling myself "Okay, today, fucking cut yourself off @ the planned caloric level." But I know when night time rolls around I'm going to be thinking "You're wasting your first supplement cycle!"

I feel like this was a mistake, to be honest. I should have cut this last bit of fat naturally. Then I should have used the supplements with a higher caloric level, for optimal muscle gains.

Results have been good. But not enough for me. I'll just never be satisfied is the truth. In just 28 days I have seen improvements in muscle density, hardness, shape, and strength. I've gained several pounds, yet look better in the mirror.

And the vascularity. Today in the gym I overheard my training "buddies" say something behind my back. I was getting water, came back and saw my buddy nodding and saying "Yeah...I think so." Nothing was said after that. My guess is, the other guy said "He on something?" I could be totally wrong, but I really got that vibe they were saying something about me. We were doing preacher curls, so my arms were looking mean to say the least...And they were making comments about it the whole workout. I guess it IS a very "on" look. I just didn't like that they tried to say it out of earshot. That got to me. I hope they weren't talking about me.

The strength is great. I finally feel like a strong dude for the first time in my life. And obviously I'm not a big person so it looks cool in the mirror when I'm throwing around the big ole dumbbells. They're so massive in proportion to my frame haha.

To give you an idea of the strength increases...Stuff I was doing for 6 reps before I'm doing for 15 now. So you can see why I've been so tempted to increase calories. I just feel like I have this prime growth opportunity and I'm throwing it down the drain. I'm sticking with low calories, though. 1,500 net (meaning activity included) and not a calorie more.

I want to be bodybuilder lean. I'm sticking with the plan. I'll do the "clean bulk" some other time.

hey man - nice to have you back - no more cyber protein farts or you'll be banned permenantly!

Sounds like you are going through all the normal irritating head games. i did the same this am and talked myself into 2 protein "candy" bars because i felt weak! hahahahaha - means i got to do cardio later today - but damn they tasted good!

great that you feel strong - i love that. prolly the best thing about being on cycle. I know what you mean about the talk behind your back - i get that too - and always say its a new diet and workout - which is true and who knows how much comes from that and how much from the gear. i wish i knew a bunch of gear heads i could work out with - then it wouldn't be a subject, cause when it comes right down to it, you can take all the gear u want and if you don't put the effort into diet and training you'll go nowhere!

So keep it up and don't be hard on yourself, just keep pushing. BTW - did you try HIIT for cardio? that ripped up the fat on me a year ago.

 

[BigChef]

hey man - nice to have you back - no more cyber protein farts or you'll be banned permenantly!

Sounds like you are going through all the normal irritating head games. i did the same this am and talked myself into 2 protein "candy" bars because i felt weak! hahahahaha - means i got to do cardio later today - but damn they tasted good!

great that you feel strong - i love that. prolly the best thing about being on cycle. I know what you mean about the talk behind your back - i get that too - and always say its a new diet and workout - which is true and who knows how much comes from that and how much from the gear. i wish i knew a bunch of gear heads i could work out with - then it wouldn't be a subject, cause when it comes right down to it, you can take all the gear u want and if you don't put the effort into diet and training you'll go nowhere!

So keep it up and don't be hard on yourself, just keep pushing. BTW - did you try HIIT for cardio? that ripped up the fat on me a year ago.