My "getting cut for summer" honesty log.

BS555

Kick Henry Jackassowski
These are early 2013 pics. New reply last post.


I figure if I write down my progress here, it'll help keep me on track more. I'm going to France for two or three months this summer, and I need to be in great shape for various administrative reasons. Also because I'm simply too fat right now.

I'm starting keto again today, and I'm going to be meticulously measuring and weighing everything. I'm shooting for 1800 calories, split up in macros of 20g carbs, 144g fat, and 150g of protein.

Stats today, 3/11/13:

199 pounds. ~5'10". 32 to 34 inch waist.

I expect my strength to go down quite a bit as I lose weight, but who gives a shit. My flat bench is around 275, deadlifts low 400's somewhere, squats 300 something. Very weak for my weight. But I don't lift for strength much anymore. I've been sticking to higher reps / sets lately, and I've got much more size out of it. I used to do 5x5 on everything.

Expect to (hopefully) see some fast progress. I've done a cut like this before with very fast results. I have fuck all else to do but work out and play racquetball. No family, no kids, just me and a goal.

Since no one wants to see my hairy ass up close in bright light, for the purposes of showing my definition (lack thereof, rather) I put on a tighter t-shirt than I would possibly wear in public. Next Monday I'll weigh myself again. Might not post any new pics for another two weeks, though.

Since this is a guitar site:

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Side profile:

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Arm:

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Legs:

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Another front shot:

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I'm going to be using Sparkpeople to keep track of things, which I've used in the past. Here's a direct link to what I've eaten in a given day.

http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_tracker.asp?id=BSMITH18&dte=3/11/2013

(Note I put in lean ground beef. You would typically want to use the fattiest beef possible, I just forgot to buy some.)

It's 7:30 P.M., and I've only eaten 1,000 odd calories...and I'm not hungry. I've got to force myself to eat another 700 or so calories tonight. That won't continue forever to such an extent as this, but it is a (good) side effect of a high fat diet. It's also partially due to the preworkout I take, Craze, which is also an appetite suppressant, and I've found it to be an amazing one at that.

If you don't take a preworkout and you're interested in one, I highly recommend it. (This is not any kind of referrer link. Feel free to edit it into a Wein referrer link or something.) If you're very averse to stimulants, don't take it anywhere near five hours of your bedtime, or you won't sleep, at least not until you get used to it. I wouldn't recommend the grape flavor, either, it's fucking foul to me.

http://www.amazon.com/Driven-Sports-Craze-Nutrition-Supplement/dp/B00636R9HW/

If you haven't tried keto before, I encourage anyone to try it. It's pretty much the most popular cutting diet for bodybuilders these days, due to the fact it's very muscle sparing, and it's easy to eat less calories. The one thing it does require, however, is dedication. You simply cannot cheat frequently with carbs, or you'll constantly be in flux between being in ketosis and not, and it'll not only stall your progress, but make you feel like complete shit. And it's not just good for weightlifting types, it's great for anyone who will follow it.

I blasted shit at the gym, like I do every day these days. Typical chest workout I won't bore you with. But the big key here is, being as my ultimate goal is to get really lean, the cardio I do. And this isn't even recommended for keeping the optimal amount of muscle...but I'm more interested in simply being lean quickly. I go back and forth between the stair stepper and the treadmill. When I do the treadmill, I start off at 3.5 speed / 3.5 incline, and after five minutes of that I shoot straight up to 5.5, maybe go 20 minutes, and then do 7.5 for the rest. I might take a rest back down at 3.5 or even zero for a few minutes, then go straight back to 7.5. Near the end I'll crank it up to 10 incline or even higher for a few minutes. Hands off the rails, don't cheat. I usually do this for about an hour.

Today, I also did stair stepper, aka the sweatmaker. In the past few weeks that I've started really hitting the cardio, I've came a long way on this thing. Not that I wasn't in decent cardio shape before, I was, but this thing is a step above treadmill. If you're not used to it, it will make most people drip sweat in a couple minutes of use. It also uses some ass and hamstrings most people aren't accustomed to working out, so muscle fatigue can sometimes be a factor before cardio fatigue. It will also make your quads burn pretty good if you're not used to it. Two or three weeks ago, I kept it on level 3, with breaks every 5 minutes, then went up to level 4 to end things up for the last minute or two. Legs totally burning, totally out of breath. As of today, I start out with 4 and never even go back down to 3, and finish out with level 6, with a little level 5 in between. I can pretty much ride it for 15 minutes solid on level 4 now, with one break in the middle. It automatically stops at 15 minutes. I did it twice today, for a total of 75 minutes of cardio. 100 percent drenched in sweat at the end.

Anyway, as stated, this much cardio isn't the most muscle sparing thing in the world, but it's not bad, either. It's not unheard of, it's just not optimal.

Following the above plan for diet macros + a decent weightlifting program + the cardio will make you lose weight. Fast. Just watch what I look like in two weeks.
 
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Maybe. That depends what your definition of stair mill is apparently. When you Google image search it, it comes back with at least three different kinds of machines.

Here's the type I'm talking about, the kind with the two pedals you step on.

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The gym also has a couple of these, but I never use them. I should try them out some day for a change of pace.

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But those pedal steppers...man, those things will make you sweat fast.

Edit:

I just ate two hardboiled eggs. I made four. I'd gag if I tried to eat the other two. Not hungry at all. I'll probably be more hungry tomorrow.
 
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I like the bottom one. The top one probably is a hard workout since your body is more involvedin balancing itself I would think.
 
Yeah, it's true. The less you hold onto the rails, the harder it is. If you can blast away without holding them, you really get a good body workout out of it. Once you really starting hitting it fast you pretty much have to hold on, or I do at least. Still killer cardio regardless.

In related news, I see a lot of people crank up the incline on the treadmill, but then they hang on the rails putting them totally into a different, easier position, negating the purpose.
 
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196 this morning. I was already pretty dry and dieting on low (but not keto) carb before starting, so I don't think a lot of it is water weight. I've been eating sub-2000 calories every day.
 
I'm trying to cut as well....I'm 5'10, down to 159. Not nearly as much muscle as you have and I'm fighting some lingering belly fat.

I'm staying at or below 1800 calories per day and still doing my usual lifting workouts with some HIIT cardio. I have been 3 sets of 8 reps but may drop the weight a little and go for 10-12 reps. Do you do a split on your workouts or whole body? I do a 3 day split...one day for chest and triceps, then biceps and back, then a day of legs and core. I do a little core work on the other days as well. I then hit the elliptical for cardio and I'll start with 1.5 minutes of a normal pace at 9 on the resistance, then go all out for 30 seconds and kick up the resistance to 12. Repeat for about 12-15 mins on average.

Been working harder at this over the past 3 months and dropped about 12 lbs since Christmas. I wish I could do the Keto plan but being married with a kid makes it harder to stick with it. I do try to keep the carbs fairly low with high protein. I'm curious about that pre-workout supplement...I've never taken one so does it help with just energy or does it help with muscle gain/retention?
 
Oh, man. I wish I could weigh 159 and maintain the level of muscle I have now. I think I could compete in an amateur fitness competition if that were the case.

Regarding cutting and sets/reps , it's really just a matter of preference. You can cut on a 5x5 and it's just as well. It's nice to mix things up on occasion.

My workout days have been reasonably rigid for years:

Monday: Chest and triceps. Flat bench, dumbbells, incline smith bench, occasional cable flyes, pec-deck machine, sometimes pushups. Then for triceps I do skull crushers, cable pushdowns with both a straight bar and ropes, close grip flat bench, and maybe some other little things.

Tuesday: Back and biceps. I always start with deadlifts, since they're my strongest and most fun exercise. I do seated rows, lat pulldowns with both a bar and the same grip you'd use for seated rows. I also usually do trapezius work (shrugs) on back day, since it's the only day I bring my grips in.

Wednesday: Lately I've been doing a second day of light legs on this day.

Thursday: Thursday can be interchangeable with Wednesday, because I usually take one of them off. So I might do legs, but my standard thing would be a dedicated shoulders day. Arnold presses, seated military press, standing presses, push presses if I get tired, dumbbell front raises, lateral raises, bent over raises, reverse pec-deck.

Friday: Going on Fridays is a new thing for me, I used to always take it off. Since I've got a deadline to meet I've been going Fridays (that and the fact I've been flirting with this chick who works there late on Fridays, and I got her number, but that hasn't panned out anywhere yet.) I've just been throwing in whatever bullshit I'm not sore on. Maybe some extra back work, extra abs. If I meet some friends there and they want to do something, I usually just do whatever they're doing.

Saturday: Chest and arms again. Not as hard as Monday. More emphasis on arms than chest. I really hit triceps and biceps hard together.

Sunday: Dedicated leg day. I always start with squats. Then I do leg extensions, leg press, hamstring curls, seated calf raise, lunges, and occasionally a squat machine that has a surprisingly natural feel (I hate Smith machine squats, for instance.)

EVERY DAY: I've been doing 70 minutes of cardio. Occasionally slightly more, sometimes slightly less, within 10 minutes. As already stated above, I kill it on the treadmill and stepper. I also do a little abs / core every day. Planks, roman chair, incline situps, wheel rollouts, and a handful of other style of benches that I honestly don't even know the names of.

As for the preworkouts and muscle, at best, some of them have creatine in them. Creatine has pretty well been proven to do something. Not necessarily a lot, but it's been proven to maybe get you a couple more reps in. It helps your muscles retain a little more water, which isn't a bad thing. It's certainly not a miracle drug or a steroid, but it doesn't hurt if you're taking something with it.

Some of them also might have branch chain amino acids or the like, which might be fine if you're lacking that (you shouldn't be if you're getting enough protein.)

The ultimate point of the preworkouts is the energy, and they're pretty good in that regard. Unless maybe you're really, really not sensitive to stimulants, you should feel a huuuuuuge difference between, say, having an espresso before a workout, and drinking a PWO before a workout.

Most weightlifting / bodybuilding / exercise supplements are 100 percent bullshit. Natural testosterone boosters are the #1 bullshit pushed by all the companies right now. They're nonsense. PWO's you can actually feel working. They're the only thing worth spending money on.

Craze is one of the most popular ones right now, and after having tried it myself, it's as good or better than any I've tried in the past. Some good ones in the past included Jack3d (its main ingredient, 1,3-dimethylamylamine, I believe is more closely regulated now.) It's still being sold, but has a new formulation.

Cellucor C4 is another popular one. Musclepharm Assault is also a good one which I was taking before Craze.

You can look at bodybuilding.com's top 50 sellers here. They're actually a pretty decent place to buy things from, providing you aren't an Amazon prime member like I am. They ship fast and have a couple of different warehouses in the country. Sometimes I've got things next day from them with regular shipping.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/top50.htm

If you're 5'10 and 159 pounds and you still have lingering belly fat, I'd say you probably need to bulk up a little bit. You can do this cleanly without gaining too much fat if you really monitor things. It could be one of any factors that you haven't. How long have you been lifting? You absolutely must work in prime exercises if possible, ones that stress you and build bulk. Deadlifts, squats, bent over rows, bench press, and other compound exercises will give you muscle. Really analyze your diet and make sure you're getting enough protein. Carbs are important for building muscle, as well, unless you're in ketosis. You've got to get your macros in check to build muscle. At the same time, eating too low fat can also adversely affect you.

Anyway, if you have more questions, I like talking about this stuff.
 
Oh, sorry. I thought this was a thread about circumcision...

Already covered, man.

Funny story:

I went to college with a guy, we were about 22 years old, and he wasn't circumcised, and he got drunk one night and told us some girl was making fun of him because of it. I think he got it done, but he never mentioned it again after that.
 
As an aside to what bs555 has just said. I was taking protein shakes last year and if anything, they seemed to keep fat on.

I'm now only taking creatine (and tbh once I'm done with this tub, I'll probably stop completely) and I'm a lot more cut and doing bigger lifts and reps than before.
 
Protein shakes are fine, if you don't abuse them. There are many factors involved here. Some have higher carbs and calories, some people might be mixing them with a huge glass of whole milk, and so on.

That said, ideally you want to eat whole foods, but protein shakes are great for times on the go.

Before I started keto up again, I was drinking 1.5 scoops of Dymatize Elite fudge brownie or banana nut. One scoop is, as I recall, 120 calories or so, with some almond milk, and a banana blended up inside. So, my total calories there was around 180 + 105 + 50 or so, about 335 calories. A perfectly decent breakfast with a reasonable amount of carbs + protein.

As part of a balanced diet, they're fine and healthy. This all takes into consideration you know what your calories and macros are.
 
Figured I might as well take pictures every week to really track progress. Surprisingly I think there's at least a little noticeable difference from last week, or I wouldn't have bothered. Approximately 195 pounds here. I ate some carbs on Saturday morning, then went straight back to keto.

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192 this morning. This is after eating really shitty from about Thursday to Sunday. Definitely on Saturday and Sunday. Ate a bunch of junk food, desserts, etcetera. So, I'm happy with still being on a downward trend from that.

This is the tighest old t-shirt I own. I believe this is a small...I bought this circa 1998 when I was in college. It fit me tight when I weighed about 170 pounds back then.

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It's funny how sometimes when you eat like crap for a day or two and still drop some weight!

I've fluctuated by a few lb's over the past two weeks but at 158 this morning. Altered my workout a little, trying something different that I read about. Doing a lighter weight/higher rep for two weeks (just finished 1st week) and then moving to higher weight, lower reps for two weeks. On the lighter weights, doing 2 sets of 12-15 reps then do the 3rd set to failure. When I move on to the heavier weights, doing 3 sets of 5 reps and then dropping the weight lower and going to failure. Still doing my split of chest/triceps one day, back and biceps next, then abs and shoulders on the 3rd day (some abs on the other days as well) and about 15-20 mins of cardio each day. Was getting bored so I needed to change up my routine, this sounded interesting so decided to give this a go. May up my cardio a little more to 20-30 mins.

I'm trying to stop focusing so much on what I weigh and instead taking waist and hip measurements to track my progress. Most of my body fat is in that area anyway. Waist measures just a hair over 34 inches and hips around 36.
 
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