can I have my cake and eat it too?

[alfresco]

I'm reaching out to you guys and gals on this one as I've not had any
experience in this area.

How do you successfully keep your energy up when you train with high
intensity, do cardio, have an active lifestyle, and at the same time run
a calorie deficit?

While I have successfully managed to have tons of energy and do anything
I want but it seems to be at the expense of a slight increase in body fat.
This is not an excuse to post up a foto of me, but just to illustrate where
I am now. And being the vain glorious human being that I am, it would be
nice to have hint off some abs again, not contest ready, but loose some fat,
which would obviously involve cutting calories. But my experience tells me
when I do that, my endurance suffers, and it's a struggle doing all the things
I love to do. Join the crown I guess.

Having the appetite of a herd of wild horses, I can eat anything I want, as
much as I want and look the way I look now (yea, I know . . . it shows,
I could loose a few pounds) but if I don't eat as much as I do, my energy
goes in the toilet and I'm not a happy camper.

Knowing the cold hard answer is ultimately to just suck it up, cut some
calories, and deal with it until I get what I want. But man-oh-man, it sure
sucks along the way.

I'm thinking the answer is to fuel up in particular, prior to my activities, refill
during and or very soon after, and be very very strict with my diet, macros;
eating when hungry, eating more strategically if that makes any sense.

So . . . can I have my cake and eat it too? Please share your experiences,
thoughts, suggestions, questions or concerns. Thank you.

And by the way, I'm soon to be 56, train now and again, do as much "cardio"
as I have time for, travel, and work like a dog in the mean time.

 

[JM1219]

You Frank Zane-lookin' mother fucker. Congrats on the physique, I'm sure you've earned it.

As to answer your question, at least from my experience, I can diet for 8-12 weeks with a pretty hefty deficit and workload and still feel decent. Especially the first eight weeks of a competition diet, in some regards I feel better, but once I hit the 12+ week mark I generally feel like death 85% of the time. I become a totally different person. I think this is, because the body goes into such a state of starvation due to the length of time in a calorie deficit and my being below my 'set point'.

For those unfamiliar with the term set-point; it refers to the lowest body fat percent your body is willing to go to before you trigger the starvation effect IE. loss of libido, lethargic 24/7, can't sleep, ravenously hungry constantly, decreased body temp, etc.

The only way I could think of to combat this effect is through the use of drugs and implementing dieting strategies like planned refeeds and carb-ups. If planned correctly you can have a bolus of carbs in one day and not gain an ounce of fat back.
As far as drugs, you could do:
Bromocriptine: This will curb your appetite, and through several mechanisms, cause your body to come out of that 'starvation' mode.
Clen/ECA: This can keep fat loss chugging along all while give you energy. It is far from a nice, consistent, natural energy, but it's better than wanting to lay in bed all day.
T3: After 10-20 weeks of being in a deficit, you thyroid is royally fucked. Even a therapeutic dose of 15-25mcg per day would help with energy levels and fat loss.
Any GHRP/GHRH or GH I imagine would stabilize a lot of the problems your body sets in place when it drops into a starvation mode.

 

[kingpeon]

Simple answer: Diet as usual and start using Beverly International Ultra-40 liver tabs. 30 or more a day with meals. You will be amazed at your energy levels after a few weeks. Trust me.

 

[Moen]

You might want to look into Scott Abel's cycle diet Alfresco, sounds like it is exactly what you're looking for.

 

[Iabadman]

That's a great bod right there my friend.......nice work.....seriously Jm1219 gave great reply [ nice post bro ] and you gave all of your own answers . Alot of people just use stimulants to kill appetite and keep there energy levels up . I applaud you for not going in this direction ,as I don't think that is either smart or healthy in the long run. Play with your macros ......increase carbs on your days will you will be expending a lot of energy . While on the other days cut carbs increase good fats . [ even do some controlled fasts like our boy DAT recommends ] .I'd say nice abs are with in 10 lbs for you if not less......you can do this easy with a few simple tweeks without killing yourself and being smart when you hike , ride your bike , climb ect.... you probably know more than all of us combined here........you know the answers .......like a quarterback ......read the defense .....it's not that hard for a guy in your shape with your back ground........besides it should keep things interesting for you trying to play with this and see what works the best for you to achieve what you are after..........

 

[Phidias]

First off, Ron, you look PHENOMENAL... and in any case much much much better than most guys in their 20's I meet daily at the gym. As for your so called lbs of fat to shed, well, my friend, unless you're aiming to step on stage in a few weeks, there's IMO really no need to focus on getting leaner... you ARE lean as we speak... maybe not Alex A's rippedness but excellent nonetheless.

Now, back to your original question, well... sure you can manipulate your carbs so that you won't be too glycogen depleted at the end of the week nor lose muscle, you can eat as many good fats as u wish to maintain a decent level of kcals and keep your proteins sky high, but let's face it, diet alone and its small adjustments will NEVER prevent you from crashing after a few weeks or, more often, sooner.

Only stimulants (legal or not... that includes the tons of supps we swallow daily) can help, and anyone saying otherwise is just fooling himself... and others.

In no particular order of efficiency cause they're often used simultaneously (and I'm just talking of the legal stuff): caffeine (tons of), ephedrine, aspirin, nicotine, inj B12, inj carnitine, every possible new fat burner/mood enhancer that can give you an edge (such as this trendy geranium extract).

Add the stapples: multi-vits, anti-ox EAA's, BCAA's, glutamine, creatine, etc...

Then steroids (the more, the better you recover ... of course we ain't talking about the induced sides), often GH, sometimes slin, possibly EPO and many more pharmaceuticals.

Just to say that it's highly possible to feel much better dieting down thanks to drugs than in the off-season when massive amounts of food can make you exhausted.

 

[PsyT]

^all-that-shit-to-drop-a-few-pounds-of-LBM!?!?!?!?

 

[Gymratforlife]

First off, Ron, you look PHENOMENAL... and in any case much much much better than most guys in their 20's I meet daily at the gym. As for your so called lbs of fat to shed, well, my friend, unless you're aiming to step on stage in a few weeks, there's IMO really no need to focus on getting leaner... you ARE lean as we speak... maybe not Alex A's rippedness but excellent nonetheless.

Now, back to your original question, well... sure you can manipulate your carbs so that you won't be too glycogen depleted at the end of the week nor lose muscle, you can eat as many good fats as u wish to maintain a decent level of kcals and keep your proteins sky high, but let's face it, diet alone and its small adjustments will NEVER prevent you from crashing after a few weeks or, more often, sooner.

Only stimulants (legal or not... that includes the tons of supps we swallow daily) can help, and anyone saying otherwise is just fooling himself... and others.

In no particular order of efficiency cause they're often used simultaneously (and I'm just talking of the legal stuff): caffeine (tons of), ephedrine, aspirin, nicotine, inj B12, inj carnitine, every possible new fat burner/mood enhancer that can give you an edge (such as this trendy geranium extract).

Add the stapples: multi-vits, anti-ox EAA's, BCAA's, glutamine, creatine, etc...

Then steroids (the more, the better you recover ... of course we ain't talking about the induced sides), often GH, sometimes slin, possibly EPO and many more pharmaceuticals.

Just to say that it's highly possible to feel much better dieting down thanks to drugs than in the off-season when massive amounts of food can make you exhausted.

Geranium Xtract is no Joke Phidias. You are very well informed on what is in. Awesome information as usual.

 

[buldog9]

I am impressed and thats hard to do. Im 54 and seeing you look the way you do incourages and inspires me to stay with it. When I was 28 I looked like you but about 10 lbs heavier. I would always get to a certain point and some thing bad would happen.I've had ether bad health or no funds or both. Every things better now, I hope I can accomplish what you have this time. You look very good. Just need a tan.

 

[thebrick]

You look great Ron!

I think whatever you are doing is the right formula for you because you look terrific. Do you know how guys in their mid 50's would like to look like that and have that metabolism at their disposal? I'm 56 myself and I certainly can't eat the same way I did 20 years ago, especially with a job that keeps me seated in front of a computer most of the day.

 

[hawkmoon]

Simply put - you look outstanding - that being said I understand your restlessness, need for a challenge, a goal, a change.
But you do look great and no changes are needed.

 

[Lenny]

First of all, like all the others stated, you look great now! Iabadman's and Phidias pretty much said pretty similar to what I would have said. Small changes in eating will do it because you have very little to go. I would not necessarily say eat less, just adjust your eating for days that require more and days that require less (pretty much what Iabadman said).

And keep it up, look solid as hell my friend!

 

[RESTLESS1]

ALFRESCO - i honestly believe you look better than most people at my gym that are 1/2 your age.......if i can have that shape at nearly 56 i would look in the mirror and say job well done!!!!!!!!!!

 

[JETHRO TULL]

I realize that you didn't post the pic simply for compliments.

However- You DO LOOK GREAT. Sorry man. lol.

I think if you eat according to what you plan on doing. I'll pretty much go low carbs/ high protein until right before a workout, hike, etc. I'll have some apple sauce or two honey and oat granola bars with my 2scoops of protein instead of almonds or fishoil or green beans.

If it's one of those days where I hike 10 miles into a lake...then I'll go ahead and eat whatever the hell I want. The carton of ice cream or whatever. lol.

Like you, I like to stay lean. Like Phidias states above...maybe not Alex A. lean in contest shape, but I like to see some abs there at all time regardless of my bodyweight.

YOu have probably forgotten more than most of us know anyway.

Regarding stimulants: I take caffeine ephedrine and half and asprin in the morning before cardio and I did it prior to a heavy workout. I also cranked it up before my 10 mile hike to Hollow top lake day before yesterday.

 

[wtw11171]

You heard it already but alfresco you do look good bro. At 56 I hope I look as good as you bro.

 

[JETHRO TULL]

You won't catch me doing 20 or 30 mile hikes. lol.

That get's me pretty far from a refidgerator, Ron. lol

 

[FRKNHUGE]

mmmmmmm cake.
shit, sorry, low carb day

frk