ATrebek's Log

[ATrebek]

I've been wandering around 2+2 forever and not made it into this form until a couple of weeks ago. Been reading quite a bit and now is my time to finally get in shape.

I am 6'2'' male, 25 years old, and I weight 258.5 according to the scale this morning. I am not exactly fat... ok well I am, just not terribly obese. Most of my fat is in the form of a a gut and excess baggage around my midsection. I actually am pretty muscular and athletic given my size, but I definitely have spare fat that's unsightly and unnecessary.

Last year in April I was 280 pounds, and I went on health binge and lost 45 pounds. Man was I proud of myself. Somehow, I gained 30 back (I've lost a few since I hit 265 again). I don't know how or why I just quit, especially considering how well things were going for me. I really can't explain it.

So now I am going to make a lifestyle change. I am going to set an immediate goal, but beyond that I am going to set a longterm goal of living the rest of my life differently.

My immediate goal is to get down to 220 pounds by Jan 01, 2008. That comes out to right at .3 pounds per day or 2.07 per week, which I think is attainable... (anyone disagree?)

My plan is pretty simple. Eat less and workout more.

<u>Exercise</u>
I have just started back going to Jiu Jitsu and will be going 1 or 2 times a week. For anyone who doesn't know what that is, it basically submission wrestling, and is the single most intense workout I have ever engaged in.

In addition to this, I plan to follow the 5x5 workout routing 3 days a week, and hit the elliptical machine on days that I'm not weight training or fighting.

Discipline to do these things shouldn't be an issue for me since I love going to Jiu Jitsu and enjoy lifting weights. Getting on the elliptical machine isn't hard for me anymore either now that I can play poker while I "run" thanks to my new kickass handheld trackball mouse.

<u>Eating</u>
I have read alot of conflicting information on calorie intake, but pretty much all of it indicates that I should take in less than I do now.

I was going to set a goal of 3,500 calories daily, but I'm not sure if this is too low considering my size and will lead to significant muscle loss. Any input here?

I also plan to break up my calorie consumption into 6 or so meals a day and shoot for a 40/30/30 proteint/fat/carb intake ratio.

The thing that's going to kill me is beer. I love beer. I brew my own and hence have a ton of it around all the time. I know I need to cut my beer consumption way, way back to be successful. I have already given most of my supply away in preparation for this, but I know this will be the hardest thing for me. Can I drink 3-4 beers once a week and be successful, or is it just going to kill my chances?


<u>Thermogenics</u>
I am still undecided on the use of a thermogenic product or stack. I sort of feel like it's cheating, but who really cares? I am overall pretty healthy so i don't think the health risks are too huge for me. If something can really help me burn 500-1,000 more calories daily by taking it its worth at least considering. If I do decide to use something I will probably wait a month to start taking it. I was looking at something like the ECA stack but It seems to be nearly impossible to by ephedrine these days. Bottom line is I don't know enough about these things to make a decision at this point, so i will research it some more before I do anything. I think I can get off to a good start on my own.

Ok so there it is. I tried not to be too detailed to keep the post length short. I am going to keep a log on fitday.com also.

Please feel free to criticize or make suggestions.

Thanks,
-Trebek

[nation]

I really think you should be eating right around 2k calories. at 3500 you're not going to be at a calorie deficit, and you're not going to be able to burn enough cals to be at a deficit. perhaps 2500 cals is fine if you really do dedicate yourself to working out.

you should have 1 cheat day a week and have your 3-4 beers then. it's perfectly fine to do that. the key is to eat things you like in moderation, not cut out everything you love completely out of your life.

[ATrebek]

[ QUOTE ]
I really think you should be eating right around 2k calories. at 3500 you're not going to be at a calorie deficit, and you're not going to be able to burn enough cals to be at a deficit. perhaps 2500 cals is fine if you really do dedicate yourself to working out.

you should have 1 cheat day a week and have your 3-4 beers then. it's perfectly fine to do that. the key is to eat things you like in moderation, not cut out everything you love completely out of your life.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sorry, that's a typo. It was supposed to be 2,500. Guess that's not too low.

4 beers could be 1,000 calories. Is that still ok?

[ATrebek]

One week in.

I've been eating really, really well. I have been consuming between 2,000 and 2,500 calories a day with most days being closer to 2,000. On days I work out harder I tend to eat a little more. I'm eating so much less than normal that I want to stay away from unhealthy foods with high calories just so I can consume more volume for my calories. I thought this part would be harder, but so far it has been pretty easy. I only had one beer this week as well.

I have been a little undisciplined with my workout. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday I didn't workout at all apart from household chores like cutting the yard. Monday I went to Jiu Jitsu and worked my ass off. Tuesday I started the 5x5 workout. Wednesday I didn't do anything, and last night I did day 2 of the 5x5.

I am going to purchase a new bench and set of free weights this weekend that i found on Craig's List. The set I have now is total junk. It sits so low that I have to bend over a couple of feet to get the bar under myself for squats. The set I'm getting is adjustable, Olympic quality set. the guys has a power rack also but wants more than I am willing to pay and I have no where to put it anyway.

I am also going to try to work in 15 minutes of HIIT on my elliptical machine every day. I know I can find 15 minutes at some point in the day.

Weight wise I have fluctuated kind of wildly. I know to look at trends and not individual days but is this normal? Here is what my scale reported each morning.

Friday 8/24 - 258.5
Saturday 8/25 - 254.0
Sunday 8/26 - 253.0
Monday 8/27 - 251.5
Tuesday 8/28 - 250.0
Wednesday 8/29 - 250.5
Thursday 8/30 - 251.0
Friday 8/31 - 254.0

So what does that mean?

This weekend may be a bit challenging. I'm taking my family camping which will entail cooking burgers and brats on the grill and drinking large quantities of beer. I plan to bring some chicken along and go easy on the beer, maybe skip it entirely. Did you know one bratwurst is almost 500 calories? No wonder I'm fat...

So one week in and I'm feeling pretty good. I'm on track to meet my goal.

Thoughts? Opinions? Criticisms?

Thanks,
-ATrebek

[ATrebek]

One other thing - I'm tired quite a bit. By 10:00 pm I am out of energy and just want to go to sleep. Under normal circumstances I would have to force myself to go to bed at 11:00. Even during the day I find myself feeling sleepy and generally lacking energy.

Standard?

[SmileyEH]

What are you eating?

[ATrebek]

[ QUOTE ]
What are you eating?

[/ QUOTE ]

Typical Day:

7:30 Oatmeal with Flax Seed Meal (Staple for years now) with Honey and Cinnamon
9:30 Protein Shake
11:30 Chicken/Fish/Turkey Deli Meat w/ Brussels Sprouts and Corn
2:30 Some sort of snack (Fruit, tomatoes mostly)
5:30 Dinner, same as lunch
8:30 Some sort of snack, size varies depending on how hungry I feel.
10:00 if I lift I am drinking another protein shake.


That's about standard

[SmileyEH]

I dunno, looks ok albeit really light. Maybe just have a cup of coffee and eat some fruit with the protein shake in the morning. Give it some time, could just be your body adjusting. If not maybe eat more overall.

[ATrebek]

Week 2

Things are going real well. I feel great - the tired feeling is gone.

My daily calorie intake is between 2,000 and 2,200 calories consistently. I just discovered cottage cheese for the first time this week, and man this [censored] is good. I always assumed it was nasty just because it looks nasty. My loss I guess. I have been eating it like it's going out of style.

A typical day this week:

7:00 - 1/4 cup oatmeal, 2 tbls flax seed meal, 1 cup 2% milk, 1 tbls Honey
7:30 - 1 tbls honey (with my coffee)
9:30 - 1/2 cup Cottage cheese with 8oz fruit
12:00 - A veggie and a protein (canned tuna has been the standard this week)
2:30 - 1/4 cup cottage cheese + 8oz fruit
5:00 - Something
9:30 - Post workout shake.

I have been lifting every other day, really pushing myself with the squats. I think my quads can take more weight than I am using for squats, but I can't maintain good form with more so I am around 225lbs right now.

I also started using an ECA stack this morning. 25 mg ephedrine (Primatene tablet X 2), 200mg Caffeine + coffee, 325 mg aspirin. I felt jittery for about 15 minutes, but feel ok now. Took my first dose about 90 minutes ago now. Plan to take it 2 X per day.

I also went to Jiu Jitsu twce this week. Worked my ass off both times and felt great for it. I love grappling. My wife asked what it entails and I explained it to her. Rolling around on the floor with sweaty men. She said, "YGOS?" - beat.

The only missing component that I want to add is some HIIT training. I would like to do it in the morning, but there are two things holding me back: I am getting about 7 hours of sleep per night (sometimes 6.5) due to my schedule - don't want to cut back 40 more minutes of sleep; I am not disciplined enough (yet) to get up early and get my ass running. After Lifting or Jiu Jitsu I am pretty much spent so I don't think that I can fit it in there. The only possible option is on my lunch break, which would be really tight timewise.

Things are going well. I have read that I shouldn't weigh myself every day, but I actually kind of enjoy seeing what's in store that morning. I know it can vary tremendously but I like daily stats.

Anyway, here it is for this week.

9/01 - 255.0
9/02 - Was camping - no scale
9/03 - 250.0
9/04 - 249.0
9/05 - 249.0
9/06 - 248.0
9/07 - 248.5

My next goal is 242.0 Lbs by 9/28. Let us gogogo.

[maniacut]

Get some rest days, heavy lifting + an athletic event like bjj which requires a good anaerobic work effort + hiit...I'm just saying to be careful not to overtrain