**** llcbean progress log ****

[LLCBean]

Hey guys , Ive been a member of other forums for the last couple of years but I recently found this one and after reading through most of the sticky's I am very impressed with the knowledge and open mindedness of most of the members on here so I would appreciate any help I can get for a relative newby.

Little history. Im Canadian and I started working out in highschool to supplement a variety of sports but in my junior and senior years I separated my shoulder twice, broke my collarbone, injured my rotator cuff, sprained my ankle and suffered two concussions. I worked out infrequently during my last 4years of school however I am about to graduate and I know once I work full time it will be even harder to get started.

Anyways - here are my stats. 22years old, 6feet - 175pounds, 15%-20%bf and i went from lean and somewhat muscular to a skinny fatman but I see myself as somewhat of a hardgainer/mesomorph but I am going to start out with this diet and adjust as I go. I plan on adjusting my diet for non-workout days once I figure out what my maintenance is.

Key: Carbs/Proteins/Fat

Pre/post-workout shake (makes 2 servings)
- Whey protein (96g's) – 12/62/4.5
- ½ cup of frozen berries – 10/0/0
- Banana – 31/2/.5
- 1/2 cup of uncooked oats – 27/5/3
- 2cups of skin milk – 24/16/0
- *** Add post workout – Flaxseed Oil (1 tbsp) – 0/0/13

Total Pre-workout Shake Macros (6:40am) = 52/42.5/4 = 414 Calories

Total PWO Shake (8:30am) = 52/42.5/17 = 208+170 = 531 Calories

Breakfast (10:45am) Total Macros = 51/41/3 = 380 Calories
- 1cup of golean Cereal = 37/9/3
- 500ml of skin milk = 24/16/0
- 4 eggwhites = 0/16/0
Lunch (1:30pm) Total Macros = 55/47/6.2 = 461 Calories
- 1 cup of cooked brown rice – 46/5/2
- 5oz Chicken – 0/40/4.2
- Green Beans - 1 cup (4.5 oz) – 9/2/0
Afternoon Snack (4:30pm) Total Macros = 8/46/4.2 = 241.2 Calories
- 5 oz chicken – 0/40/4.2
- 100g low fat yogurt – 8/3/0
Dinner (7:00pm) Total Macros = 38/37/28.5 = 556.5 Calories
1scoop Macro Greens – 5/0/0
1scoop Miracle Reds – 7/1/1
Whey Protein (32g’s) = 4/24/1.5
100g’s Low fat yogurt = 16/6/0
Flaxseed Oil (1 tbspn) = 0/0/13
Almonds (1oz) – 6/6/14
(gonna taste like ass with water but hopefully I can chug it and use the almonds as a "chase" but if I cant stomach it, may have to switch to Skin milk)
Daily Totals = 256g’s Carbs (39%), 256g’s Protein (39%), 62.9g’s Fat (22%) = 2614.1 Calories

Please rip away! (Please note, I am currently on "Vacation" between school terms and therefore not living at my own place until next week when this diet (or a modified form based on your guys comments) will began as I dont have access to most of the ingredients here.

Workout Schedule:

I am going to start with Ronnie Coleman's slingshot beginner routine

(Mon,Wed,Fri Alternating Full body workout (7:30am)/Tuesday,Thursday 20-30min Fasted Cardio (7:00am))

for the first 4-6weeks and then move on to 5days a week once a week muscle group training with night time cardio.

I am also going to be playing intramural soccer, football, european handball and dodgeball (about once a week each).

I think I may require more calories however I will also probably be drinking some energy drinks or some protein bars on the odd day as my school and work schedule is pretty irregular however I will keep track of those and add them to my total weekly caloric intake.

I plan on taking the following supplements, many of which for the first time so i would appreciate any dosage recommendations.
Supplements
Whey Protein
Purple Wrath/Purple K/Xtends (Recommendations for type and dosage?)
Flax Seed Oil (3 tbsp)
Fish Oil (Recommendations?)
Macro Greens
Miracle Reds
Multivitamins
Melatonin (im a restless sleeper)

Final Note: I have heard about potential spine damage from working out too soon after waking up, is this a legitimate concern?

I appreciate any help I can get since if this forum is like any of the others ive been on, new members tend to show up, talk a big game and then never be heard from again but hopefully you guys take a bit of your time to help out this new guy!

[Back In Black]

Firstly - welcome to the best forum!

Second - that's a great, informative first post

Third - there are definite changes to be made and, if nobody else comes in on this, I'll come back to it tomorrow but my bed beckons!

[LLCBean]

Thanks and im looking forward to becoming a part of this community! I am back at the family home till Sunday so although i have been eating healthy, I also have a lot of family dinners to go to and so I dont have complete control over my menu so thought this would be a good time to tweak it so I can mentally prepare myself for the mundane grind of eating the same thing every day that i know is coming but I tried to pick food that I enjoy (except veggies lol).

A couple of things i forgot to mention in my first post is that I plan on substituting the rice on sunday for pasta and sauce and i will be rotating between chicken/lean pork and turkey every week. And on cardio days and rest days, I will only be taking 1 shake in the morning rather than pre and post workout. (all of which may be subject to change based on your guys suggestions)

My goal is to be 190 (so about 1pound a week) with around 12% body fat by the end of summer so im looking for a lean bulk.

My shoulders are definitely my weakness (injury wise not strength) and so often I resort to machines rather than free weight when doing shoulder exercises however I want to incorporate both and so far I have just been very careful warming up and not lifting too much weight and so far so good. (damn clicking/grinding sound my shoulders make always scare me cause i hurt my rotator cuff doing shoulder presses and now i think im just paranoid)

[Back In Black]

Haven't forgotten, busy day, daughters birthday. Hoping to get some time tomorrow pm to get a good look at this.

[Back In Black]

OK bud, sorry it's been long I'm a bit busy so this is short and sweet and, if I miss anything, please ask.

Your diet above is probably maintenance in terms of calories but we need to change some of the macro's about and drop some cals to drop some fat and TRY to gain some lbm too.

Meal 1 - 50g carbs, 40g pro and 8g fat

Meal 2 (post WO) - 50g carbs, 50g pro, MINIMAL fat

Meal 3 - as meal 1

Meals 4-6 - 40g pro, 8g fat.

Minimize dairy where possible with the exception of low fat, low carb cottage cheese.

This is only about 2000 cals and fine for a cut at your stats.

Omega 3 fish oil should replace your flax when it runs out. Whey protein for dinner? Replace with a lean protein source.

Post a revised diet and I'll take a look.

[LLCBean]

Thanks a lot man, gonna give it some thought and post a revised one tonight

[LLCBean]

Starting point.

[LLCBean]

I am actually trying to bulk up and losing bodyfat is of secondary importance right now but I took out the yogurts and changed up my later meals. I switched up my dinner to a solid meal so that my metabolism is working longer into the night and I tried the macro greens and realized I would throw in oj instead of water wayy too often because the taste is gag worthy.

Stem is there a reason that low-fat dairy should be avoided? I am willing to try my morning shake with water and ice but I like my morning meal to taste good so im motivated to get my ass out of bed lol.

This is going to be my base but I think I should be aiming closer to the 3000 mark and depending on how late I am up, I may have to add a snack around 10pm (maybe just whey/water)? But I will keep track of everything that goes in and try and have a consistent weekly total.

Pre-workout shake (makes 2 servings)
- Whey protein – 12/62/4.5
- ½ cup of frozen berries – 10/0/0
- Banana – 31/2/.5
- 1/2 cup of uncooked oats – 27/5/3
- 500ml of skin milk – 24/16/0

Total Pre-workout Shake Macros (6:40am) = 52/42.5/4 = 414 Calories

Total PWO Shake (8:30am) = 52/42.5/4 = 208+170 = 414 Calories

Breakfast (10:45am) Total Macros = 51/41/3 = 380 Calories
- 1cup of golean Cereal = 37/9/3
- 500ml of skin milk = 24/16/0
- 4 eggwhites = 0/16/0

Lunch (1:30pm) = 55/47/6.2 = 461 Calories
- 1 cup of cooked brown rice – 46/5/2
- 5oz Chicken – 0/40/4.2
- Green Beans - 1 cup (4.5 oz) – 9/2/0

Afternoon Snack (4:30pm) Total Macros = 3/43/24.2 = 402
- 5 oz chicken – 0/40/4.2
- ½ Cup of Almonds – 3/3/7
- 2 Fish oil caps 0/0/13

Dinner (7:00pm) Total Macros = 16.5/41/18.6 = 397.5
Chicken 2.5 oz – 0/20/2.1
3 slices of Bacon – 0/8/8
1 pound of spinach – 16.5/13/1.5
Salad Dressing (gonna switch it up on almost a nightly basis but lets say 0/0/7)

Total Macros: 229.5/257/60 = 2486 Calories

I mentioned above that I would be doing the beginner routine but if I have the time would you suggest going straight into 4days/week with nightly cardio when i dont have a scheduled sport that day. (ive been going to the gym with my friends for the past 10days (every other day) doing mostly full body but for the most part copying their routine just so I can learn new exercises and see what I like best.

Something like:

A.
Chest
Biceps
Forearms


B.
Calves
Legs
Abs

C.
OFF

D.
Shoulders
Triceps

E.
Back
Rear delts
Traps

I also really want to try carb cycling once im a couple of weeks into my diet, and im planning on upping my calories on Sunday to around the 3000 mark by switching the rice with pasta and sauce for lunch.

So how does this look? I am also only going to be having 1 serving of the morning shake on non-workout days.

[Back In Black]

You may as well start carb cycling straight away rather than flit from one diet to another.

Do you know how difficult and long a process it is to cut and bulk at the same time? Pick one or the other. But if you bulk you are likely going to gain more bodyfat.

Dairy has loads of sugar, look at the label.

Re: workout. Just make sure you stick to basic heavy compounds, nothing silly. Cardio depends on whether you choose to cut or bulk!

[LLCBean]

Ya im definitely going for a bulk so not gonna go overboard with the cardio. As for dairy, i will take it out of my shakes and only have it with the cereal (500ml/day which I know is still on the high side) Im looking into other alternatives for breakfast that dont require much prep time since I have a small window here (can't do 8egg whites in 1 sitting like some people, makes me feel sick).

As for cycling, im going to spend the weekend researching it, but I may use the above diet as my low carb day (ill replace the cereal with protein and only have 1/2cup of rice) giving me 169.5 Carbs and ill figure out what i need to make my protein and fat intake on those days.

And my first high carb day will probably be similar to the one posted above and my other high carb day (sunday) will be slightly more carbs. Still got to figure this shit out lol thats why im using this time to think everything through so i dont jump into a diet half-hazardly and fail to maximize gains. (diet is gonna start on monday when im back home)

I need to do more reading on cycling but should my calories remain constant on a day to day basis and just manipulate the macros?

[Back In Black]

Mate, do some reading and make sure you tailor your workouts around your high, medium, low days. Carb cycling isn't all about the diet.

Good luck with the bulk.