My Diet Journal

[majorpecs]

What's up everyone, I've decided this is the year that I get as cut as possible. So to help me along I'm going to keep a journal here with all the details.

Cutting start date: February 5, 2007
BF: 22%?? (i have no idea other than the fact that it's HIGH)
Age: 29
Height: 6'
Weight: 253.3
Cycles: About 10

Goal: To be under 10% bf by May 31, 2007

Current cycle:
Test Cypionate @ 600mg/week

Daily Supplements:
Supplements:
Multi-vitamin
Vanadyl Sulfate
Vitamin E
Vitamin C
Anti-Oxidants
Triple ***** 3-6-9 (haha..I forgot that word was bleeped out o-m-e-g-a)
Chromium
Amino Complex
B6
B complex

Diet:
This is my basic diet, sometimes I will substitute turkey or fish in for the chicken or tuna, and once in awhile will have brown rice or yams instead of oatmeal.

7am
2.5 cups of egg whites 203 cals/0 fat/4 carb/43 protein

10am
3/4 cup tuna 210/3/0/45
3/4 cup oats 225/5/41/8 (preworkout)

11-12 workout on mon, tuesday, thursday, and friday

12:30 PWO shake 44g whey (I am taking out the simple carbs while I cut to see if it affects anything) 214/4/1/44

1pm
1.5 cups diced chicken breast 221/5/0/42
3/4 cup oats 225/5/41/8

3pm
3/4 cup tuna 210/3/0/45

5-6 45 minutes cardio

6:30pm
1.5 cups diced chicken breast 221/5/0/42
2 cups of vegetables (asparagus, broccoli, carrots or whatever I have)

9pm
whey protein shake with 2 tbs of flax seeds 264/9/4/46

Approximate Daily Totals:
2022 calories, 38g fat, 96g carbs, 324g protein
17% fat, 16% carbs, 66% protein

I know the carbs seem low for the beginning of my cutting, but carbs and I don't get along very well at all. I am an extreme endomorph, I can gain muscle all day long, but I also gain fat by looking at something fattening. I've cut before but have burnt out and never got through to my goal, and this time I won't stop until I get under 10% bf.

I'm also unsure of how I want to cycle carbs on non-workout days which are Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday. What do you guys do to beat the sweet tooth that pops up from time to time? My daughter has these frozen juice pops, which are about 15 calories which is all sugar alcohols, do those alcohols affect your diet in a major way?

[majorpecs]

Day 1: Monday February 5, 2007

This was a weird day to start because I took off of work and I slept in after the Super Bowl party binge to celebrate my last day before cutting, so I didn't get in all my meals.

Weight: 253.3 (I didn't have a scale this day, so I'm using Tuesdays weight to fill in on Monday also)
BF: 22%??

Meal 1) 10 egg whites
Meal 2) 1.5 cups diced chicken breast, ¾ cup oatmeal
Meal 3) 1.5 cups diced chicken breast, ¾ cup oatmeal
Meal 4) Protein shake

Leg workout:
Squats: 135 x 10
225 x 10
315 x 8
455 x 7

Leg Press: 400lb x 50

Leg Curl: 100 x 12
150 x 12

Leg Extension: 150 x 17
150 x 17

Calf: 5 sets to failure
Extreme Stretches (taken from DoggCrapp)

[majorpecs]

Tuesday February 6, 2007

Weight: 253.3

I am still debating on morning empty stomach cardio, or after work cardio, so I didn't even do any today. (fyi..I've decided to start with doing cardio in the afternoons and see where I go from there)

Meal 1) 10 egg whites
Meal 2) ¾ cup tuna, ¾ cup oatmeal
PWO) protein shake
Meal 3) 1.5 cups diced chicken breast, ¾ cup oatmeal
Meal 4) ¾ cup tuna
Meal 5) 1.5 cups diced chicken breast
Meal 6) protein shake w/flax seeds

Bench press: 135 x 12, 225 x 12, 315 x 6, 365 x 2
Incline dumbbell: 40lb x 12, 80lb x 12, 120lb x 7
Decline press: 135 x 12, 225 x 8
Cables: 1 superset of 30 reps

Skull crusher: 70lb x 15, 90 x 10, 90lb x 8
Machine pulldowns: 3 sets
Forearms: 5 sets
Extreme Stretches (taken from Doggcrapp)

[Zvonimir]

Keep us posted, good luck. BTW you're ****in' huge dude.

[majorpecs]

Keep us posted, good luck. BTW you're ****in' huge dude.

That's not me in my avatar dude...but I'm getting there!

[IBdmfkr]

Your calories are way too low for your bodyweight and LBM. Bump them up bro and slowly work your way down as your progress otherwise you're gonna sacrifice a ton of that hard-earned muscle.
Also you claim you can gain muscle "all day long" but at your weight and bodyfat you really aren't holding That much muscle, You're sitting at around 195lbs of LBM on a 6' frame. Point is you can't afford to lose any muscle so be careful with your calories and don't be affraid of carbs, they aren't what is making you fat, it's the overeating and choice of carb sources in the past more than likely.
goodluck bro, sorry for the critique just tryin to look out.

[majorpecs]

Your calories are way too low for your bodyweight and LBM. Bump them up bro and slowly work your way down as your progress otherwise you're gonna sacrifice a ton of that hard-earned muscle.
Also you claim you can gain muscle "all day long" but at your weight and bodyfat you really aren't holding That much muscle, You're sitting at around 195lbs of LBM on a 6' frame. Point is you can't afford to lose any muscle so be careful with your calories and don't be affraid of carbs, they aren't what is making you fat, it's the overeating and choice of carb sources in the past more than likely.
goodluck bro, sorry for the critique just tryin to look out.

Do you think I should be around 2500 total? And what percentage should be carbs versus fat? If I up the oatmeal to a full cup and add in 3 tbs of natty pb it puts me over 2600....should I start there or get a little higher? I def. want to lose as little lbm as possible. I have noticed that you don't really like supplementing a diet with PB you reccommend more meat, my problem is that I'm already over 300g of protein and don't want to jack it up too much more. Should I supplement with some lean ground beef? Regular ground beef?

[IBdmfkr]

Up your carbs a bit during certain meals and get a better variety of meat during the day. Eat your lean meats/eggs first thing in the morning/preworkout/and PWO. Otherwise go with something with a bit more fat.

Post up the diet with some changes and lets see what we can do.
I'd shoot for 2500 for 4wks and see how things go, then make necessary adjustments. Put your carbs around 150-200. Majority in meal 1/pre+PWO.

[majorpecs]

I**mfkr....I will add in another 3/4 cup oatmeal with my egg whites, and I'm not sure what kind of meat t oadd in. I need to be able to cook in advance because of my schedule. Do you think 1 cup of ground sirloin daily would be a good supplement? Maybe salmon 2-3 times a week also?

[majorpecs]

Here are some of my pre-cutting pics taken Monday, I'll probably upload new ones every 4 weeks to chart my progress and to keep me honest.

[IBdmfkr]

A cup of ground beef or salmon as a supplement? I'm not sure what you're saying, write out a diet including the two and post it.
You need to stay consistant and yes precook your meals otherwise forget about staying on a healthy diet. Don't just precook for a day, cook a few days or a week at a time.

[majorpecs]

Meal 1) 10 egg whites 3/4c oats
Meal 2) ¾ cup tuna, ¾ cup oatmeal
PWO) protein shake
Meal 3) 1.5 cups diced chicken breast, ¾ cup oatmeal
Meal 4) ¾ cup tuna
Meal 5) 1 cup ground beef w/vegetables (about 2 cups)
Meal 6) protein shake w/flax seeds

Totals: 2613/70/144/353 25% fat, 19% carbs, 56% protein

[majorpecs]

or with salmon

Meal 1) 10 egg whites 3/4c oats
Meal 2) ¾ cup tuna, ¾ cup oatmeal
PWO) protein shake
Meal 3) 1.5 cups diced chicken breast, ¾ cup oatmeal
Meal 4) ¾ cup tuna
Meal 5) 1 cup baked salmon w/vegetables (about 2 cups)
Meal 6) protein shake w/flax seeds

Totals: 2493/55/145/357 21% fat, 20% carbs, 59% protein

[majorpecs]

Also, what do you think my body fat is at roughly?

[IBdmfkr]

Also, what do you think my body fat is at roughly?

It's high bro, you're carrying quite a lot of extra weight.
Diet looks much better, I'd switch meals 5+6, the whole food and veggies will do you much more good as you last meal.
Are you doing any cardio?

[majorpecs]

It's high bro, you're carrying quite a lot of extra weight.
Diet looks much better, I'd switch meals 5+6, the whole food and veggies will do you much more good as you last meal.
Are you doing any cardio?

rub it in why don't you...just kidding bro, I know it's high, that's why this is the year I'm getting cut. So even with seeing those pics you think it's going to take 195 to get under 10%?? that's depressing man.....

I'm doing at least 45 minutes of cardio a day...on Wednesday's I'm doing 2 45 minute sessions.

I still haven't decided whether am empty stomach or after work is the better time to do my cardio.

Thanks on the diet advice, until I get to the store today or tommorow I still won't have the beef added in, but it will be.

[majorpecs]

Wednesday February 7, 2007

Weight: 251.3

Meal 1) 10 egg whites
Meal 2) ¾ cup tuna
PWO) protein shake
Meal 3) 7 oz smoke salmon
Meal 4) ¾ cup tuna 1 cup oatmeal
Meal 5) 1.5 cups diced chicken breast, 2 cups asparagus
Meal 6) protein shake w/flax seeds 3 tbs of sugar free peanut butter

11am: 45 minutes cardio
5 pm: 45 minutes softball practice (a lot of sprinting and hitting)

[majorpecs]

Thursday February 8, 2007
Weight: 250.2

Meal 1) 2 cups egg whites, .75 cup oats
Meal 2) 3/4 c tuna, 3/4 cup oats
Meal 3) 1.5 c diced chicken
PWO) Shake
Meal 4) 1.5 c diced chicken, 3/4 c oats
Meal 5) 8 oz ground beef chuck (my wife went and got the meat for me so I added it in for my last meal)

Totals 2545 81 128 319

5 pm: 45 minute shoulder workout
no cardio today, work was crazy

[IBdmfkr]

Yea you'll probably break 200lbs unless you miraculously put on 10-20lbs of muscle while cutting.

[majorpecs]

I assume this is just me being paranoid, but today when I weighed at the gym I was at 253.7, which is .4 up from when I started on Monday. I have not cheated one iota so I know it's not from my diet. Should I just let it go for another week or so and see where I'm at then? Should I adjust calories lower? Could it be that my body is adjusting to the new diet, because I have been relying ALOT on shakes the past few months, and maybe with the influx of quality foods versus the crappy whey my body is just equalizing. One more question for IBDMfkr, what's your take on taking in dextrose in a PWO shake? I've taken them out in the past 6 months or so but will add them back in if it will benefit.

[IBdmfkr]

You can't judge anything by 1week into a diet, give it a month.

Dextrose, if trying to lose fat I wouldn't recommend it but if it fits into your caloric goals then go ahead..
I've currently been using waxy maize and it seems to be working well (and I'm leaning out right now too).

[majorpecs]

You can't judge anything by 1week into a diet, give it a month.

Dextrose, if trying to lose fat I wouldn't recommend it but if it fits into your caloric goals then go ahead..
I've currently been using waxy maize and it seems to be working well (and I'm leaning out right now too).

Thanks for answering all my questions bro....You seem to know alot and I take your advice to heart. I actually don't want to add in the dextrose because then I'd need to cut back on other parts of my diet and I like where it's setting right now.

[majorpecs]

Friday 2/9

Weight: 253.7

Meal 1) 10 egg whites, 1 c oats
Meal 2) ¾ cup tuna, .75 c oats
PWO) protein shake
Meal 3) 1.5c diced chicken, 1 c oats
Meal 4) ¾ cup tuna
Meal 5) 1.5 cups diced chicken breast, 2 cups asparagus, 1/2oz almonds
Meal 6) ground beef chuck 3 oz

2588/66/157/338

Saturday 2/10

Meal 1) Jimmy Dean Skillet Sensation w/3 whole eggs
Meal 2) 3/4 c tuna, 3/4 c oats
Meal 3) 3/4 c tuna, 3/4 oats
Meal 4) 1.5 c diced chicken
Meal 5) protein shake
Meal 6) ground beef chuck 6oz

2581/98/130/292

Sunday 2/11

Meal 1)Jimmy Dean Skillet sensations w/3 whole eggs
Meal 2).75 c tuna 8oz brownies
Meal 3).75 c tuna
Meal 4) n/a
Meal 5)14 oz smoke sirloin, 2.5 c steamed vegetables
Meal 6) protein shake

2752/104/170/295

It wasn't the cleanest of weekends, but I'm working on it.

[majorpecs]

Monday 2/12

Down a little under 2 lbs the first full week. My goal is 2-2.5 per week while maintaining lbm. With Ibdmfkr's help, I think I'm going to nail it this year.

Weight: 251.7

Meal 1) 2 c egg whites, 1 c oats
Meal 2) .75 c tuna, .75 c oats
PWO) protein shake
Meal 3) 1.5 c chicken, .75 c oats
Meal 4) .75 c tuna
Meal 5) 1.5 c chicken, 2 cups vegetables
Meal 6) 4 oz ground beef chuck

2499/62/141/338

Tuesday 2/13

Weight: ??

Meal 1) 10 egg whites, 1 c oats
Meal 2) Power Bar (i was at a conference) .75 c oats
Meal 3) 1.5 c diced chicken
PWO) shake
Meal 4) .75 c tuna, 3/4 c oats
Meal 5) 1.5 c diced chicken
Meal 6) 7oz ground beef chuck

2732/80/132/361

Wednesday 2/14

Weight: 249.2 (down from 253.7)

Meal 1) 10 egg whites, .75 c oats
Meal 2) .75 c tuna
Meal 3) 1.5 c diced chicken .75 c oats
Meal 4) .74 c tuna
Meal 5) 2.5 c chicken salad with light mayo
Meal 6) 3 oz ground beef chuck

2509/71/130/328

[majorpecs]

Thursday 2/15

Weight: 250.2

Meal 1)2 cups egg whites, 1.5 c oats
Meal 2).75 c tuna, .5 c oats
PWO) Shake
Meal 3) 1.5 c chicken, .75 c oats
Meal 4).75 c tuna 1oz mixed nuts
Meal 5) 12oz red snapper
Meal 6)2 oz ground beef chuck

2570/62/147/340

[IBdmfkr]

You're losing weight to quickly.. up your calories by a couple hundred, Try around 2800 and hold them there for a few weeks and see if things change.

[bpm1]

keep at it bro! good work!

[majorpecs]

You're losing weight to quickly.. up your calories by a couple hundred, Try around 2800 and hold them there for a few weeks and see if things change.

I kind of felt that myself. I do have a question though, I was taking some T3 up until about a week ago at about 50mcg/day. Do you think it's still working it's way out of my system, or should I go ahead and move up to 2800 now?

[IBdmfkr]

No, it will leave the body immediately. I'd not take chances and bump the calories up.. rather lose 1lb of fat/wk than 1lb of fat and 1lb of muscle ANYDAY.

Take it slow, you're doing his naturally so don't expect 3lbs/wk.. maybe 1.5-2 MAX. 1lb/wk is more reasonable...

Be much different if you were on say 500mg/wk of Test. Stay away from the T3 as it will eat through your muscle, it doesn't differentiate muscle and fat.

[majorpecs]

IBDM I am on test. In my very first post I stated that I was doing 600mg of Test C/week while I cut. And yes, I am NOT taking any more T3, while it sheds weight quickly, I know from personal experience ALOT of that is muscle mass. So with me being on 600mg of Test should I still bump to 2700 calories?

[majorpecs]

Friday 2/16

Weight: 250.2

2589/61/140/348

[IBdmfkr]

Cool, sorry missed the TestC part..

Keep it at 2500 bro, wasn't aware that you were on a cycle.. How's the strength?

[majorpecs]

Cool, sorry missed the TestC part..

Keep it at 2500 bro, wasn't aware that you were on a cycle.. How's the strength?

Funny you ask that because it's always been an issue when trying to cut before. The only place my strength has went down is in shoulders. I usually end my dumbell military's with a set of 6-8 with the 120lb but Thursday I only got 3 reps in. Legs my strenght is better, chest it's about the same. BUT the key to my cutting this time is actually being in control of my diet and planning out my macros. I really think I'm going to be successful this time in getting lean and maintaining muscle mass. Thanks for all your help so far, it's been very useful.

Saturday 2/17

Weight: ?? no gym today

2566/92/81/346

[IBdmfkr]

Awesome, look forward to following along.. you're gonna be lean as hell in no time.

[timtim]

your calories look low. i have been a habitual low, low calorie cutter and it doesnt work. if the calories are too low your not gonna drop the fat off. just looking at your calories from yesterday you were at 2500 around. thats 10 x your bodyweight - about as low as you can go. what do you do next?

[IBdmfkr]

Depends more on the metabolism of the individual.. I have 160lbs women on diets for example that have slow metabolism.. don't think they'll lose weight on 2000calories/day.. you must drop calories below their maintenance. I also think this is the case with majorpecs..
Also his choices of foods matter too and his total macros help to speed the process.

What would you suggest timtim? Him cut on 3000calories/day?
You need to pay attention to his LBM rather than his total bodyweight when cutting IMO. The extra fat is not helping to burn calories other than putting a stress on his body.

So in his case I'd base his diet off around 195lbs LBM assuming his bodyfat is accurate in his first post. So 2500calories would be around 13 x's his LBM. See what I'm saying.

[majorpecs]

I have no idea what my bodyfat is but I know it's high. My arms and legs are vascular and there are some veins visible in my shoulders, but everywhere else is covered in a layer of bodyfat. Keeping it around 2500 seems to be working so far, as my strength hasn't dropped any at all, in fact today on my leg workout it went up from last week. I figure as long as my strenght is holding steady or increasing that my calories should be pretty much on target. I'm going to go one month keeping my calories at this level and re-evaluate then. And to agree with IBdmfkr, my metabolism is SLOOOOWWW and it's really hard for me to drop bodyfat. I need to get bloodwork done to see if I have hypothyroidism, it's really that bad for me. So far I'm feeling good thanks to IBdmfkr so we'll see how it goes in the next two weeks.

[IBdmfkr]

Keep at it bro.. shit you probably live right down the road from me, well maybe a bit further, Houston is a HUGE city..

Keep us posted.

[timtim]

What would you suggest timtim? Him cut on 3000calories/day?
You need to pay attention to his LBM rather than his total bodyweight when cutting IMO. The extra fat is not helping to burn calories other than putting a stress on his body.

i realize what your saying. i would start him at around 3000 a day for a few weeks, maybe 2 weeks. then take out some calories or possibly bump cardio up. i have a slow metabolism and going low with the calories contributed to it. i always start people higher now than i did before with their calories. its easy to cut out calories but alot harder to add them in.

this is just my opinion. like i said i was a habitual low calorie cutter and when it comes down to the last few pounds you dont want all of your cutting options exhausted within the first few weeks so when you need to kick things up you dont drop muscle as fast as fat.

[majorpecs]

Keep at it bro.. shit you probably live right down the road from me, well maybe a bit further, Houston is a HUGE city..

Keep us posted.

I live on the NW side of Houston off of 1960 and Jones Road area.