Hey all. This would be my attempt at the journal. Firstly, I'd like to point out that I'm starting from scratch, forgetting all that I know and beginning a new.

Here are the base targets that I want to achieve. I believe they are attainable naturally and this is what I'm aiming for.

1) Create a new diet plan that consists of the right foods, set with the right calories in the right ratio. To me, only then will exercise make a difference. Judging from John's FAQ, it seems that the 40/40/20 ratio seems most in use. Also, from John's BMR calculator and with current information added, my calorific intake should be 1650 calories a day for fat loss. (If the ratio or calorie intake is incorrect, can someone let me know?)

2) Create a new program from the advice of John and the forums. Basing this program on fat loss and the possibility of building lean mass at the same time. Again, John mentioned that his program would have been different knowing what he knows now. Bringing in the Max-OT training sooner and performing more rotator cuff exercises too alongside less cardio. If I start learning from John's mistake from the very beginning, could give myself a head start?

3) lose 39lbs of bodyfat to reduce 23.74% down to 8% and not dropping bodymass from 171lbs. I aim to do this in a maximum of 20 weeks and a minimum of 15. This would be dependant on metabolic activities etc.

4) Gain 7lbs of lean bodymass (up to 178lbs) whilst maintaining 8% bodyfat. General level of gain on a weekly basis unknown. Target to reach as and when unless information can be obtained first.

5) Gain 7lbs of lean bodymass (up to 185lbs) whilst maintaining 8% bodyfat.

6) Gain 7lbs of lean bodymass (up to 192lbs) whilst maintaining 8% bodyfat.

7) Gain 7lbs of lean bodymass (up to 198lbs) whilst maintaining 8% bodyfat. This should bring my whole weight up to 215lbs.

These should do the trick.

To keep things up to date, I will make every attempt to make daily logs in here of what I have done, alongside a weekly photo for gauging progress. Hopefully, if there is someone in here of a similar build/height/weight, they might be able to use this info or make suggestions to better my own progress.

Photo's included are from 6 Feb 04

Ok, going for now, speak soon!

Comments 7 Feb 04: Today, I am not training. Daughter has gone to her mums for the day, I am searching the net for the right kinds of foods to eat, I seem to have the ratio's right, alongside proper calorie intake so now to find the foods. The part about dieting that I am going to hate is binning everything that is in my fridge freezer to replace with the foods that I need. Other thing aswell, is that I don't really know how to cook these foods once I've got them LOL. Be a shame to waste it all heh heh heh.

I aim to get my membership going at the gym on tuesday when I get paid, and begin from then will all the right tools.

As for suppliments, I have my protein, Glutamine, multivits and minerals. I've also given thought to something like an eca stack or products containing ephedra, but have read that it's dangerous too. More research here me thinks. My question on suppliments though is should I buy creatine while on a fat loss diet/program?

Craig

Hi guys, gals and fat cells!

Went shopping today for at least some of the foods that I had been directed to. At least I 'think' they're healthy... Still no dead set information yet though. A couple of brands have come in from guys from the forums but no idea where they shopped for those so therefore, I went armed with £30 and bought this bunch o stuff.

I have forgotten a number of things though, like my 1kg bags of Asda's Chicken Fillets which have no skin or bone. Also forgotten the Turkey.

I am more than a little bothered about this Carb thing though, I still haven't gotten my head around what I can and can't eat with regards to carbs (Hey, that rhymes...) I've had a little help from a couple of lads on here though, but still a little stuck with it in all fairness. Low GI and all that. Hmmm, stuff to look into.

I went into a local Health Food Shop who obviously tried to sell me everything going, but I walked out with a general list of food types that I can eat when cutting. Here's what's on the list...

Wholemeal bread or bread with bran
Wholegrain Rice
Peas
Wholegrain Cereals without sugar
Oatflakes, Fresh fuit juice (without sugar)
Wholemeal rye bread
Wholewheat Pasta
Red kidney beans
Dried Peas
100% stoneground wholemeal bread
Milk products
Dried beans
Lentils
Chickpeas
100% stoneground wholewheat pasta
Fresh fruit
Fruit preserve (without sugar)
Dark chocalate (over 60% cocoa)
Fructose
Soya
Green vegatables
Tomatoes
Lemon
Mushrooms (yuck, like eating eyeballs...)

Oh, it seems that this very same list contains a couple of things that i've purchased today, but are bannered in the 'do not buy these' category. That would include my bananas and carrots which I can eat lots of. Boo hoo.

So what do you guys think of those? That about cover it or is there more?

Well, trying to get a screenshot of what I've bought today, having trouble attaching it.

...A few minutes fumbling with screenshot sizes and cursing to ones self...

Ahhh it seems that the print screen I did of the list is too big, therefore I have attached the gif image inside a zip file which has been accepted. If you would like to take a peek, It would be appreciated if you would download the 16k file and open up the gif image which has the foods and all the nutrient information too...

Still no training today. I want to get this diet fixed first before going near a gym. I still believe it's pointless working out without the right foods to back me up... Help needed guys and gals, need those perfect foods!

Right, off out now to go buy more foods. Chicken, Turkey, blah blah.

See you all tomorrow...

Amino

Hey all happy shoppers.

Just got back from Asda. Spent bleedin £45 on extras, not all for me of course but I have to shop for 'normal' foods for the little one too.

Well, I have updated that food list, now complete with 'Where I bought it from' Food Headers. LOL.

I know some of the stuff in there 'shouldn't' be there, but hey, this is the first time i've shopped like this, reading every lable imaginable. I've got to learn to do this all the time! Although, the general jist of things has me heading towards the fish section and frozen foods (for the chicken, not the coagulate round your heart yummy scrummy tasty burgers we all love...)

I'm now trying to pin down what I'm going to be eating tomorrow.

I've got my 1670calorie limit, so that's 668cals Protein (167g), 668cals Carbs (167g), and 334cals of Fat(37g).

Although, now looking at this, isn't my protein intake a little low? I'm sure I'm supposed to be on more than that to maintain my lean mass... Not sure though, I'll have to look into it. Hopefully find it on the boards somewhere...

Well, shall go...

Ta Tah!

Craig

Hi guys, gals and fish containing protein and essential fatty acids!

How you all doing? Good? Excellent!

Had a good day today. Went shopping for my little girls birthday tomorrow. She goes 4. Bought her a PS 1 with one of those dance mats and the dance game (hey, it's all exercise!!!) and a few board games that we can both play.

I've realised something about the fish Salmon today. I ate a salmon fillet with a little of that hollandaise sauce (getting used to spending time preparing proper meals that's all!) and it was utterly gorgeous. I could eat a ton of that stuff. Funny thing is, after I ate it, my heart started beating slightly faster and it felt heavier too. I also noticed that my breathing became considerably easier and it pushed me to drink water all day. I haven't even been able to stare at a cup of tea or coffee with any kind of sugar in it (Anyone else had effects like this from fish?)!

I've decided that I'm going to spend a couple of days working on my diet before diving into the gym. So I aim to start from the word go by Monday 16th Feb. This will include a fully viewable diet sheet pretty much like what John did with his food logs, so that I can get the right portions etc. I'm going to continue testing the preparing of meals so that I can just 'whip something up' too. I hate spending hours preparing a meal that I'm going to demolish in 10 seconds and if I have to eat 6 of the buggers... well....

Going to look around for a few typical outlays of peoples diets now, like what time they eat, and after which meal they train. People do what is right for them of course but it's good to have an advantage and a good start. Wanna be armed to the teeth with the right thing.

I've also decided that 1670 calories is not enough for me to maintain my lean mass while dieting so I'm upping it to 2000calories. The reason I do this is that on a 40/40/20 ratio, my protein intake was too low compared to the 1g Protein/1lb lean mass. 2000 seems to cover it.

With the advice of the main man on here, I'm going to start with 4 sets of cardio (what the hell is 'eliptical'?) and break myself into hiit plus 3 sessions of heavy weights. I have noticed from previous visits to the gym that it does indeed take me up to a week and sometimes a couple of days over for a specific bodypart to recover, so i will have to work each group only once per week. If I go for moderate training while cutting, then heavy after i've reached my fat % goal, that should be fine.

Oh, I get a free heart rate monitor at the gym and the machines automatically change settings and speeds so that i'm not going over the top on the heart rate. I can set it at the 1min of 60% and 1 min of 90% easily, slap it on repeat for whatever length of time and it will autoadjust which is kinda funky so my heart rate is only ever doing the 60% or 90%. Top eh?!

Well, i'm going to bed now as it is far too late... I've got a little girl to keep happy tomorrow so I need to be bright eyed and bushy tailed for the day.

I have also realised that I'm not getting enough sleep. I'm going to start trying to get my head down for at least 8 hours a night once I start properly.

Speak to you all again tomorrow!

Good evening and welcome to..... Bal-liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiind Dieeeeet! Here's your host, Amino! (Applause now please.....)

Hey all, it's my daughters birthday today. She turned 4 bless her little cotton socks. Can you imagine how much fun a PS1 and a Dance Mat can really be?

Well, due to not actually giving a damn about anything but Misha today, I have NOT watched what i've eaten, I have NOT calorie counted, I have spent the entire day out with the little one.

Keeping in mind that I've been out all day, I still find that I've had No fizzy pop, no crisps, no quick fix burger, no chocolate, nothing of the sort.

Still working on the meal plan and the cardio to varying intensity of training that I'll be doing. No progress though, doing that tonight.

Because my daughter is driving me insane at the moment, i will leave this one short for tonight. I have however included a piccie taken today at my mums house. Notice the double chin? Ooooooh that is SOOOOOO fired it's unbelievable.

Chow for now!

Amino

Hi all!

Well, had another fantastic day today. I'm getting really psyched up for Monday's big start! It's gonna be great!

Finished off my huge excel spreadsheet that pretty much only has me writing in the name of a food and sticking down how many grams I want, the sheet does the rest. Calculates the calories per meal, tells me if I'm not eating enough of a particular nutrient during a meal etc. Super duper.

I've now decided that I'm a formula god. Or close.

What I have compelled myself to do is eat pretty much the same thing except for the main meal at about 6.30pm which can change. That way, my calorie intake isn't going to drastically change, and keep things steady throughout and then concentrate on making a masterpiece meal for myself in the evening based on allowances.

As for training, that part is easy. Get the heart rate monitor, warm up for 5 mins and then go for as long as possible at 80% heart rate. Increase it until I can go for a while at 80% and then move onto the HIIT training. 4 x a week and moderate weights in between...

It's gonna be a ride.

I've set myself up to hopefully lose 2.5lbs a week of fat. by this target, I should be able to reach 15% bodyfat by May 1st. That's probably a 'normal' shape for me. But NOOOOO, that's not good enough. I want 8%. Which will probably come by July using the same calculation of 2.5lbs a week of fat.

Hopefully, I should be able to gain a little lean mass too. I've allowed myself 1lb a month gain minimum which will probably be pure diet to be fair and the cardio/weights that i'll be doing, but the main aim for now, is that 15%.


RRRRAAAAAAAARRRRRRLLLLLLLL...... Can't wait!

Speak to you all tomorrow.

Finished off my huge excel spreadsheet that pretty much only has me writing in the name of a food and sticking down how many grams I want, the sheet does the rest. Calculates the calories per meal, tells me if I'm not eating enough of a particular nutrient during a meal etc. Super duper. You going to share ('http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/showthread.php?t=319') or not?

Hey all!

Hows things? Good!

I'm getting good at this cooking lark. never realised how easy it is to prepare all these little snackies. I'm doing ok, although the thing I worry about now is actually INCREASING my fat intake... I hardly eat fat now... Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

Pretty much finished the spreadsheet now. Yep, formula god. My new nick should be AminoFormulaExtraordinaire!

hehehe, obviously no training yet. Monday is coming, it's sooooo close.

Getting the training dead set in my mind and what I'm going to be doing now. It's taken nearly a week to prepare myself but without this preparation, I know that I will have gone in blind and ended up quitting because of not knowing what to do properly. It really is worth digging info up first.

Well, I can't tell you anything special tonight. I have no valentine to break my new day in with, so I guess I'll settle for snacking on salmon.

Speak tomorrow!

Craig

Hiya yall!

Happy valentines day for those that sport a partner, or for the ladies that are looking! ;-)

Not much to report today. Been eating my healthy foods today, getting through how to cook things, trying different ways of cooking the same thing and seeing which is faster etc....

Hmmmm Fillet o salmon in the microwave for 2 mins. Easy lol.

Pretty much finished the spreadsheet now. I can now select foods in my meal planner from a lovely drop down list. How easy is that?! enter the number of grams for each food and hey presto, instant info.

My quality of sleep is improving on the lowered sugar levels and carbo intake (especially those carbs high on the GI!). Waking up feeling more refreshed.

Weighed myself today and since yesterday, I've lost 1lb. I know it can be laughed at but I seem to be holding less water. Can only mean that my body is allowing me to eat healthier. And not a spot of exercising till monday too!

I've been going over the forums today, it's so great to see so many people that are out there who have the same motivation and drive to improve themselves. I had almost gotten to the point where I thought I was a gonner, no way to get to a good shape again. :tu: but thankfully seeing all these people on here, and seeing Johns motivational pics is keeping my mindset level and on the road.

Well, I'm going to bed shortly, speak to you all tomorrow!

Craig

Updated with new post!

I was to start today, my new, brand new me.

I have my bag packed, reado to go, psyched up for my workout, eaten right all day, not missed a meal, happy as larry.

I get to the gym... I had over my id card, take out the computerized machine key...

Insert key into slot. Blip.
Hmm, lets try again.
Blip.... Blip blip... user not recognised. Key not programmed. Blip blip blip... damn thing... blip blip. BLIP BLIP BLIP BLIP BLIP aaarrrrggghh.

Excuse me Mr gym instructor... why can't I get on the machines. My key is all screwy.

Oh, lets take a look. I presume you've been before.

Yes, been before, but it's saying i'm not recognised.

Oh, we need to re-induct you and update your program.

Oh, well it just so happens I have a new diet and program, here is what I want on it.

I'm sorry sir, but we don't have induction spaces for the next two weeks and due to the major advertising we've done, we're getting bombarded with new memberships. This appointment that is coming up in the next two weeks is THE only one free. Plus, home programs have to be approved by our instructors. We will not program our machines to do something it's not meant to do. It is possible that you may hurt yourself on your own program so it does have to be evaluated.

Well, I know that. But I only want to use the machines for HIIT training. Hmmm, can I go free weights or single speed on the tread or the bike?

No, sorry, all of our machines need these keys, and as you can see, the free weights are currently in use by the weights class currently in.

I see. So basically I can't train for two weeks.

No, i'm afraid not sir.

Ok, thank you for the short lived membership, please can I have my money back?

Erm, i'm afraid not, the membership fee covers the cost of the key that you're holding, non refundable i'm afraid. Oh, wonderful. Here's your key since it has no data on it. Now, can I have my money?

You mean the £30 you pay upfront?

Yes, the £30 i've paid upfront.

I'm afraid that is to cover the cost of the administration charge to set up your direct debits with the bank.

So I'm not getting my money back. Wonderful.

Then, I quickly walked down to the nearest hardcore training gym owned by some really really big dude called Derek, in Gemini Fitness. Train when I want how I want for as long as I want for £7 a week.

Also gonna do the spinning classes at the local pool to cover the cardio and any running sessions with my mates.

I'm not a happy bunny. Not a happy bunny at all.

Now I'm just angry. Will wait till tomorrow, and go and see Derek.

I WILL start training this week if it soddin kills me.

Craig

Hey all.

Got my new membership at the gym today. Of course I couldn't do diddly sh*t because I completely forgot that it was the school holidays today and have had my daughter with me all day. (Sometimes on a monday and tuesday the little one would actually go to her mums for a while).

I've got the membership though which is the major base. I also got my money back from the leisure center only to be told that it's them that run the spinning classes at the local pool. AAARRRRGGGHHHH!

What to do eh?

Can't tell you anything new really. I've eaten well today, no junk, sugary drinks nothing of the sort. It's been clean. I know i'm changing just from the diet alone but I'll feel better when I get back into a gym.

I've updated the spreadsheet again as there has been a request to add Cholesterol in there too. Also, some members have had trouble with the 'target dates' etc. This is due to only having one date in the program section and the calculations are done using two dates from the program. This has since been sorted also.

When I post the newest version, which I'll do once a week, all new members will have to do is transfer their information accross onto the new one. Hopefully that wont be too difficult. Again, any questions, you know where to find me.

All the best for now peoples.

Craig

Hey all. Why the hell Am I keeping a journal when I'm not training yet? I guess it serves as a mindset for those that are finding it difficult to actually start up.

This week has been a complete failure so far except for the fact that I've built a decent spreadsheet and i'm now controlling my diet.

So much for starting on the 16th huh? :(

Well, I went into the local pool today to see about a 'restricted to cv' membership that I don't need a stupid key for.

I did some searching round and asking questions, it seems they hold a host of classes which I weren't made aware of before.

Lots of fitness classes including 7 days a week of SPINNING! Which has also been mentioned a few times in here. Not in here as in my journal but, in the forums ;-)

Everytime I learn something new, I keep thinking 'Damn, how could I have even thought about starting with the belief that I now know what i'm doing next' when I haven't really got a clue? I feel crappy because I wasn't able to start my workouts this week. All I can say, is that I have in fact learned loads, but reading these forums, reading what others have said about their training.

I've also made a major decision based upon what i've seen in these forums. I've hardly read of a post that literally shouts out that anyone is going keto on their diet. It's all balanced, 40/40/20 or close. I'm going to go high protein and low carb for one of two reasons. Firstly, I feel like I'm FORCING myself to eat carbs, to the point where I'm chewing and not swallowing. Yuck! I'm also getting the feeling that I need to hit the tuna and fish more. Ya know, when you think about food and you can pluck a food out of your imagination and go get it from the fridge or cupboard? I'm getting cravings for tuna, chicken and fish. If that isn't my body telling me I need more protein then I have no idea what it is.

I am purposefully going to go out of my way now to go keto with high protein. It may do me absolutely no good whatsoever, but there is no one else on these forums advertising that this is what they are doing, so when others ask, what can be said about it? I'm going to post pics as normal, show you guys what I've eaten and then at least, someone of similar height, weight, build and fat % can judge for themselves what it could do for them if anything at all.

Call it an experiment. We'll see what happens after a month.

Well, goodnight all and sweet dreams.

Craig

Just as long as you stay within a good diet you can "afford" to miss out on the occasional workout.

Of course diet + workout is by far the best way to lose fat. But as long as you stay dedicated to your diet the odd day in front of the TV won't wreck your plans.

Keep it up! You'll get there!

Hey all.

I'm a happy man. I bought me a brand new Digital Camera. This will be better than the webcam shots that I've managed to get hold of.

Polaroid PDC3030 3.2mp. Checked the quality of the pics and they're excellent. Going to use my new toy to get my bodyshots in.

Bought an ATI Radeon 9600 Pro graphics card to replace the Geforce 4 Ti4600, that was just plain slow.

BRAND SPANKING new membership that will get me into all the classes at the local pool. Oh yeah baby, up to 7 days of spinning classes. If that isn't going to burn of the fat, then I don't know what will!!

Oh yeah baby, today has indeed been a good day.

Supervivet, thank you for your kind response. It is hard when the start is made difficult by every day occurences, but I know that I can get this sorted. I've made a lot of effort so far to get in the know, now all I have to do is apply it and i'm half way there!

Well, gonna go, games to play on this wonderful new graphics card!

Speak to you all soon!

Oh, I went into the local second hand place today and they had two eliptical machines at about £80 each... I'll try and get the make and models and see what you guys think.

Speak soon!

February 19th @ Midnight.

Wahey, the 20th of Feb. Doesn't it fly?

I've been a busy beaver today, flyin round, tidying up, doing the laundry, the cleaning. Being a dad. Blah blah.

Tomorrow, my little girl goes to her mums. She's going a day earlier than normal as she couldn't take Misha earlier this week so she's making up for it. It's a shame though because if it had been even earlier, I might have been able to start my training a little sooner.

Again, with Misha going back to school next week, I'm starting to get psyched up again. I can't wait, really can't wait. I just pray that I'm not going to have a dissapointing start to the week again.

Perfecting the diet for the new start, preparing, reading, yeah it all helps.

I've been doing some thinking (which isn't anything new really, I'm always thinking about something....)

How would someone train at home, if they only had basic weights (up to 60kg) these are based on a barbell, dumbell and ez curl bar with a bench that supports leg and hamstring raises? There is a lot of talk about HIIT training, can this be done at home? Without machines? i.e. can someone set a stop watch going and start running up and down stairs etc?

I'd love to know the answer to this just incase I'm stuck at home again due to having the little one here. I certainly can't afford the machines that are being used by some of the members in here.

It would be interesting to see what comes up!

Well, all the best

Craig

I hope you don't mind me keeping track of your fitness journal... :o
The thing is that you and I have basically the same body type...Unfortunately I don't own a digital camera - and I can't afford one...

Anyway - as far as HIIT is concerned I think that there's a lot of hype going on about it on this forum. I'm sure it's a really good way to exercise, don't get me wrong here. But at the same time I reckon you can get just as good a workout, and lose about the same amount of calories/fat, by doing an "ordinary" cardio workout i.e. running or speed-walking/tabbing. This will require a few extra minutes of exercise, though. [let's say a good workout of tabbing or jogging = 45-60 minutes]

Above all - an ordinary cardio routine is a lot less complicated to perform if your new to the scene. This fact alone dramatically increases the chance of it being done in the first place! The £1000 treadmill isn't doing you a lot of good if you can't afford it, now is it? On the other hand a pair of £50 trainers can do you a lot of good - providing, of course, that you use them ;)

I myself haven't done any HIIT yet - I probably will give it a try in a month or two - but I swear by the old fashioned way of doing cardio. As far as kit, I did spend ~£65 on a heart rate monitor - but that was money well spent! I use it every time I do cardio to make sure I get my heart pumping at a respectable level.

At the end of the day it doesn't matter how you burn your calories - be it walking/jogging, HIIT or just mowing your lawn - as long as you burn more calories than your eating - you will lose weight!

I hope you don't mind me keeping track of your fitness journal... :o
The thing is that you and I have basically the same body type...Unfortunately I don't own a digital camera - and I can't afford one...

Anyway - as far as HIIT is concerned I think that there's a lot of hype going on about it on this forum. I'm sure it's a really good way to exercise, don't get me wrong here. But at the same time I reckon you can get just as good a workout, and lose about the same amount of calories/fat, by doing an "ordinary" cardio workout i.e. running or speed-walking/tabbing. This will require a few extra minutes of exercise, though. [let's say a good workout of tabbing or jogging = 45-60 minutes]

Above all - an ordinary cardio routine is a lot less complicated to perform if your new to the scene. This fact alone dramatically increases the chance of it being done in the first place! The £1000 treadmill isn't doing you a lot of good if you can't afford it, now is it? On the other hand a pair of £50 trainers can do you a lot of good - providing, of course, that you use them ;)

I myself haven't done any HIIT yet - I probably will give it a try in a month or two - but I swear by the old fashioned way of doing cardio. As far as kit, I did spend ~£65 on a heart rate monitor - but that was money well spent! I use it every time I do cardio to make sure I get my heart pumping at a respectable level.

At the end of the day it doesn't matter how you burn your calories - be it walking/jogging, HIIT or just mowing your lawn - as long as you burn more calories than your eating - you will lose weight!

That's what the journal is here for!

Hopefully it will be a 'darned good read'...

Craig

Oh my, Missed a day of the journal yesterday. Well in all honesty, it's because I had company of a female nature so less said there the better. I had a lovely evening and it was nice to have the company of someone who isn't at all interested in the fact that I'm over weight.

Doesn't mean I'm backing out though heheheh.

As for today, i've been doing some digging about training when on keto diets. I'm wondering what routine I should follow for the next month. Pure cardio whilst maintaining a high protein intake and still on low fat? hmmm....

Well, I shall include todays piccies. Only two days further into it.

I'm a little concerned about this breakout on my skin... all round my neck and down my back? shocking... I've never been so bad with my skin... I feel like a teenager again although I'm not squeezing the zitties all over mothers mirror. (eeurgh!!!)

Well, up early in the morning as i've got the gym before the little one goes to school. I'm going to show everyone the results of the tuna and water diet. It's gonna kill me for a while but hey, If I don't do it, no one will know what it can do for you eh?

I'm planning on taking the vits and the glutamine to minimise catabolism and of course eating plenty of protein while killing off the carbs...

This is going to be an interesting experiment.

Hey Amino, sorry to bust in here, hope its ok. As a reformed keto dieter, I just wanted to let you know that I believe it has had a negative impact on my health. I have done Atkins 5 times, and the last time my blood pressure shot way up. I have also sensed my heart racing, clearly trying to help metabolize the fats I ate.

I know you want to lose it fast so you can look good, but health is more important.

Still, go ahead and stick to the keto, but as I said to Duckman, don’t try to get cut on it. That would be very dangerous! Also don’t make it a habit to fall back on. Once you achieve your weight loss goals, stick to a balanced diet. I also reccomend getting your blood pressure checked and keeping an eye on it.

I am in similar shape as you, and will be posting pics soon. I'm sticking to a balanced diet. I'll be interested in seeing if I will be able to lose the weight as fast as you.

One other thing in regards to keto, it is an absolutely joyless diet. After putting up with it for months at a time, eating like John is very refreshing. Not only is it healthy, but I dont feel starved for carbs and thoroughly enjoy the foods I eat.

Hey Amino, sorry to bust in here, hope its ok. As a reformed keto dieter, I just wanted to let you know that I believe it has had a negative impact on my health. I have done Atkins 5 times, and the last time my blood pressure shot way up. I have also sensed my heart racing, clearly trying to help metabolize the fats I ate.

Yeah, sometimes I sense similar things when I'm doing something different so I know what you're talking about here. I've got to admit though, last time I tried dropping the carbs for a couple of weeks I didn't show negative side effects. I craved sugar foods for a day or two then felt as though I could go through my day on a normal level!One thing though, I'm not intending to do the atkins diet as it allows you to increase your fat intake too much when you don't need to. I'm only reducing carb intake.

I know you want to lose it fast so you can look good, but health is more important.

If there was a magic pill to make it all go away by tomorrow, I'd have cheated myself out of working for it. Yeah I know this is gonna take some doing, and i'm not afraid of the extra work i'm going to have to put in at the gym at all. I've got my target set for beginning of July to get down to about 10% which is possible if I can lose around 2.5lbs of fat a week. I don't want to lose the fat too fast tho!

Still, go ahead and stick to the keto, but as I said to Duckman, don’t try to get cut on it. That would be very dangerous! Also don’t make it a habit to fall back on. Once you achieve your weight loss goals, stick to a balanced diet. I also reccomend getting your blood pressure checked and keeping an eye on it.

Like I've mentioned in the journal, I haven't found any day by day or week by week changes made by people on any kind of keto diet. I'm trying it because I'd like to give my body a damn good shock, and because if it works/fails then everyone will be able to see the results and judge how it would work for them with photo proof of it's working or not working.

I am in similar shape as you, and will be posting pics soon. I'm sticking to a balanced diet. I'll be interested in seeing if I will be able to lose the weight as fast as you.

Excellent Idea! Actually, one of the things i've been working on is a stats page for people of similar height/weight/build to see the averages of gains throughout a spectrum of different people. Hopefully that should be ready and will fit alongside the 'calling all over 6'0"' thread.

One other thing in regards to keto, it is an absolutely joyless diet. After putting up with it for months at a time, eating like John is very refreshing. Not only is it healthy, but I dont feel starved for carbs and thoroughly enjoy the foods I eat.

Oh I know it's joyless. But I am seriously one of these that could eat a tin of tuna every three hours and think absolutely nothing of it. Don't ask me why, as I have no idea but it's possible for me to do this.

Of course, when I have finished this little experiment, I'm going to post all the results good or bad. The idea I had is to steadily increase my carbs back into the diet whilst maintaining the same protein. I'd do this around the time that I introduce intense weights back into the mix.

Fluke, feel free to drop by any time and leave comments. It's all good!

All the best!

Well, today's been a good day. 1st day on CKD, I feel good although I had very bad sugar cravings this morning. Led to a headache for a couple of hours. Had a bit of a nap this afternoon but i'm good to go now!

I've got spinning class at the pool tomorrow... 5.10pm till 6.00pm. My mum has actually agreed to watch the little one while I go since she's realised how important it is for me to lose this fat. Mum's eh? She wants me to meet up with her tomorrow and probably want me to eat a 'normal' meal with her lol. LONG LIVE THE TIN OF TUNA!

It's an odd diet. I'm kinda watching carefully how it goes...

Well, off to bed I go!

Sleep well all!

Craig

Now then, now then guys and gals.

This is my second day on the keto type diet.

Today, 9am I ate 1 tin of tuna, 5g of glutamine and multi vits. 12pm I ate half tin of tuna!, 1.30pm I ate.... TUNA salad... 4.30pm I had, wait for it, a tin of tuna!, 7.30pm I ate my god, you guys are psychic, another.... TIN OF TUNA! and 10.30pm I had a protein shake. Just so I didn't have to eat another tin of tuna.

On each tin of tuna I added a little bbq sauce which was about half a serving. each serving consisted of 0.4g of carb so that's what, 0.2g of carb per tin. Not bad eh?

Sufficed to say, my entire body is pulsing. I feel mentally wide awake, tons of energy and damn my legs are aching.

I went to the spinning class. Oh my god, how hard?! 50 minutes equivalent of hit training nearly stopped my ability to walk but what an amazing class!

Ok, for personal thoughts...

I weighed myself this morning and i'm 221lbs. 4lbs lighter than when I first started. Obviously I don't want to lose weight that fast as most of that will no doubt be muscle being converted for energy, which also worries me as i've got energy without eating carbs after only 2 days.

The theory is, if I continue to lose weight at this rate, I will check measurements at the end of the week, if i've lost relatively little bodyfat but am considerably lighter, then I will gradually increase the carb intake to cover for some of the energy use for these classes.

Theory of course.

Other thing is, should I be hitting the interval cardio on keto? hmmm that's a good one. Based on research done, keto manages to raise the % required at which the heart starts to convert proteins and muscle into energy. In other words, above 65% up to 85% is pretty much fat burning all the way, keto will allow me to get approx 20% of my energy from ketones (fat turned to mush) and the rest from blood sugar from the food. My thought here is, if I'm taking glutamine and eating plenty of protein while limiting the carbs and fat, will that help halt catabolism of the lean mass?

Theory again.

Ok, the bath calls me, I need to become less of a sweat monster!

All the best and see you all tomorrow!

Still feelin great over here.

Bad news and good news. I couldn't walk properly yesterday, sufficed to say, I tried to keep my legs active but it beat me in the end. I know I went over the top on spinning class. After being advised by the instructor that I shouldn't do another spinning class while my legs are in this condition, I had no choice to agree. I am sore.

Will see how long it takes to 'recover' from this training, more than likely build up to continuing spinning classes.

I had a protein shake in the morning with 5g of l-glutamine, and a centrium multivitamin and mineral. I've felt good most of the day. The vitamin's effects were evident. I felt happier, more alert (possibly due to ketones) and had much more of a sense of humor. If it wasn't for the overtraining I'd have said that it was one of the 'happiest' days i've had since my daughter was born. After that, I had a mixture of tuna and chicken salad throughout the day, although I didn't eat the salad part of the chicken. The idea of eating carbs while in ketosis actually stopped me dead from putting the lettuce in my mouth.

As for the training, this is what i'm thinking of following depending on how long it takes to recover from spinning whilst on Cyclic Keto.

Monday - Keto day - low intensity cardio (65-75% HR)
Tuesday - Keto day - low intensity cardio (65-75% HR)
Wednesday - Keto day - low intensity cardio (65-75% HR)
Thursday - Keto day - low intensity cardio (65-75% HR)
Friday - Keto day - low intensity cardio (65-75% HR)
Saturday - Carb loading - weights, legs!
Sunday - Carb loading - weights, upper-body.

For those that are reading and seeing me swap and change things, this is what it's all about for me, listening to my body, feeling what is different and moving on from there. I am experimenting with something different here, I'm on high protein with little or no carbs or fat. Actually, I know some of the diet guru's in would be appalled to hear that i'm only consuming just over 850 calories a day and maintaining lean mass while losing fat.

As of 26th Feb 2004, I weigh in at 15st 8 lbs (218lbs) so that's 7lbs lost since I started changing my diet and doing things differently. When reading, please remember that this diet is extremely difficult and very repetative. Six tins of tuna a day is enough to drive anyone insane but like I've mentioned before, it is an experiment to see how my body adapts to it. I know that some of this weight will be water and I also know when it comes to carb loading over the weekend for the weights sessions that my body will supercompensate for the glycogen loss but i'm going to keep telling you what's happening regardless of the results.

Ok, well that's it for yesterdays comments (25th Feb 2004), I'll speak to you soon!

Craig

Heya, sorry to jump in here... but 850Kcals! Wow. I know you're a little lighter than me, but I've been eating about 2,000Kcal a day (which doesn't even feel like dieting, thank god :)), and I'm averaging a loss of 2.1Kg a week. On 850Kcal you're (er.. roughly!) averaging 1.25Kg a week.

Well, I guess it's your choice, so good luck with it! But definitely keep up with the multi-vitamins and stuff :)

Heya, sorry to jump in here... but 850Kcals! Wow. I know you're a little lighter than me, but I've been eating about 2,000Kcal a day (which doesn't even feel like dieting, thank god :)), and I'm averaging a loss of 2.1Kg a week. On 850Kcal you're (er.. roughly!) averaging 1.25Kg a week.

Well, I guess it's your choice, so good luck with it! But definitely keep up with the multi-vitamins and stuff :)

Yip, like I said, one big experiment. I wouldn't mind knowing a little more about what you're doing to lose nearly 5lbs a week on 2000 calories? You must be doing some heavy ass training and cardio...

I am going to be attempting different things, all will be logged in the journal of course but while this is working, I'll keep it constant... I'm ahead of my target based on current figures and that's fine for me.

The other thing is, I have never eaten 2000 calories a day regardless, even if I've eaten utter crap and I hate forcefeeding myself and feeling bloated/over full.

:gl:

Here we go, pics as of 26th Feb 2004 versus pics against 22nd Feb 2004 (Note, the top pic is todays pic!)

Heya, my weight training and diet is up on my site (in my sig), neither are out of the ordinary! There's also a spreadsheet (http://www.dulindor.freeserve.co.uk/Weight Log.xls) up there with some exact calorie/ratio info in it. I don't do any formal cardio, but I do have a very physical job, so that burns off lots of calories I guess. Your spinning class doesn't exactly sound lightweight, however ;)

Still, as I said.. good luck! But just think how easy you could be loosing weight if you :eat: a little more. Oh, and good progress in those photos! Def. loosing the man breasts! :tucool:

Hey all!

I'm having such a good day today, things seem to be really kicking in for me now. I can honestly say that I've at least built some dedication to something and stuck to it.

Woke this morning, had a protein drink with 5g of l-glutamine, then, tin of tuna, met my mum for dinner which was a plate of tuna with a hint of bbq sauce, then i've had another tin of tuna with l-glutamine, 2 more tins of tuna and now i'm getting ready for my protein shake before bed.

It's going well guys and gals.

Before the decision to go keto, between Feb 6th and Feb 23rd, I'd managed to lose 2lbs, this week i've lost 5lbs. I've done this without seemingly losing any muscle at all. Can't wait till saturday though, mmmm carb loading and heavy training... before starting the cycle again!!

I had trouble walking around again today, asked spinning instructors advice. Plainly, he said I'm not to do training like this while on a low energy low carb diet as it is so intensive. So I walked everywhere as much as I could to stretch my legs out. My quads (inside of the leg - tear drop) are murdering me. They stiffen up so quickly it's beyond belief! I feel good for losing the fat, but bad because I'm not training. If only I hadn't rushed into doing an intensive session, I might have been able to get 3 sessions in rather than just one.

So, point of note is, I depleted my glycogen reserves on tuesdays workout and it's taken me a further 2 days to recover from the shock. My legs still hurt now so I know I'm going to suffer again tomorrow...

I think now, that while on Keto, I will do low intensity, but for a longer period of time, then when I have reconfigured (oh yeah, that's my new buzz word for physical transormation!) my body, I'll slowly introduce carbs to power workouts.

Question of the day - What role do carbs play on healing/recovering?

Ok, well, this week has been an amazing alteration for me, better quality of sleep, needing 'less' sleep! More energy, mental alertness, generally happier and I'm saving a fortune on take-aways... (God I loved curries and donner kebabs...)

All the best and goodnight!

Good to see your progress pics! From the looks of it that all-tuna-diet's working! :tu:

I still have to put in a good word for the non-HIIT training...It's done wonders for me. And I haven't hurt myself doing it (yet...).

Instead of doing a spinning class, might I suggest you try 45 min on a stationary bike at 70-75% of your max. heart rate? It won't kill you like the spinning class or HIIT - but it's a good workout that can be maintained over longer periods of time.

Good work! Keep it up!
:claphigh:

Good to see your progress pics! From the looks of it that all-tuna-diet's working! :tu:

I still have to put in a good word for the non-HIIT training...It's done wonders for me. And I haven't hurt myself doing it (yet...).

Instead of doing a spinning class, might I suggest you try 45 min on a stationary bike at 70-75% of your max. heart rate? It won't kill you like the spinning class or HIIT - but it's a good workout that can be maintained over longer periods of time.

Good work! Keep it up!
:claphigh:

I've woken up this morning, clearly still struggling to move my legs fast enough to do normalised things. From now on, on Keto, my own advice to myself is stick to low intensity 65 - 75% of the heart rate. As far as I am aware from lots of research, Keto actually increases the heart rate margin at which the body can burn fat from 65-75% up to 65-80/85%? Does anyone else know anything about this? I'll keep digging and see what I can find. I'm also very interested in recovery of course, and how to recover 'properly'...

All the best!

:db:

Hey all.

It's the time for the daily update...

Today, I did not train. I ate clean, I still ache like a beeee-atch, and it sucks.

Instead of waiting till saturday to begin my carb loading session, I have chosen to start tonight. The main reason for this, is because over the period of the day, I have developed an ache of sorts in the stomach. I ended up starving regardless of how many protein shakes, turkey or chicken salads I had, forget the tuna, I couldn't eat enough, it just wouldn't fill me today! I have definitely not felt this all week, and am starting to think that a dramatic loss in bodyfat that I saw this week has kicked this off. There are maximums even on what seems like an infallable keto diet.

I'm slightly altering things from here to keep this going and steady... I will continue to enter ketosis after a carb load, and once I have seen a drop in bodyfat which will not give the same 'ache' as it has today, then the carb load of either 1 day or 2 will begin, and the cycle will begin again after that entering ketosis...

It's funny, I may end up just eating a balanced diet after all this, but the experimentation is the key to making sure it's right for 'my body' and not just following what others have done blindly.

Well all, I will go for now!

All the best and sleep well!

Craig

Hi guys, gals and supermodels!

Reasearch, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research, research and....
research, research, research. That's what I've done today.

This is evening two of the carb loading phase of the week! I have specifically been looking into recovery whilst on keto type diets. It's very strange is this keto mularky.

Eating carbs today has been absolutely wonderful. Sheer Bliss. Slice of bread... mmmmmm Weetabix..... mmmmmmm fruit, mmmmmmm.

It's also good for me to point out that no sooner do I start eating carbs, my legs instantly start feeling better.

If someone knows more about recovery whilst on keto, please point in the right direction....

Waiting for tomorrow :-)

Craig

Hey all! I've had a quite good day today!

I've been adding more bits to the spreadsheet that i've built up. It now calculates bmr and how many calories someone should take in based on diet type and activity level.

Props to Corbint for giving me a link to the sheet where all the necessary calculations were figured. This has now been turned into a single master formula which took me a bit of patience and some cursing to finish off. Working though!

Decisions decisions.

After speaking with several people who are also performing keto diets, it has been made painstakingly aware to me that my caloric level was far too low. So low in fact that my metabolism had taken a break and sent me a few postcards from Greece. Having done a little more research, I have found that it completely nullified my ability to recover from any kind of workout (read journal on spinning class last tuesday and on from there with legs of lead...) properly.

I have worked with ketosis for over a week now, and while I'm far from being an expert, it has done me proud so far with an amazing transformation within a short period of time. It is now time though to add in some extra calories which will come in the form of f-a-t-s and admit that low calorie ketosis dieting is not the way forward.

Based on activity level now, it seems I must eat around 2081 calories daily if I can go to the gym 7 days a week to perform low intensity heart workouts. This seems to follow inline with other members posts about their daily intake so when in Rome, I'll walk like the Romans.

My protein intake is going to be standard at 1.5g per lb of lean mass (245 - 250g) with the rest being made of of healthy essential fats and minimal carbs. Since I will be doing this through low intensity cardio alone, I will not need to replenish glycogen reserves after a weight training session, I will not need carb loading sessions although research suggests that it may well be beneficial to leave ketosis every 2 weeks for a couple of days before beginning again. Any carbs that are taken will be as soon as I've finished at the gym and will only consist of at the most 20g daily.

For cutting, I will continue to take L-GLutamine 3 times daily to minimise catabolism of muscle, continue to take the multi vitamin and mineral tablets in a morning and still take the protein shakes (if you can call protein in water gloop blobs a shake!).

Things are making more sense now than before...

Very very very interested in the way recovery works....

Has anyone got any links?

Hi Craig !!! :tucool:

I've certainly learned a lot tonight, and im looking forwards to going through this process with you !

I know what you mean about the recovery, I've been crippled ALL week thanks to a certain 10x10 routine, its taking nearly 3-4 days to recover ! thats BAD... well as you said only cardio now for us.

Anyway just saying hi !

Hi Craig !!! :tucool:

I've certainly learned a lot tonight, and im looking forwards to going through this process with you !

I know what you mean about the recovery, I've been crippled ALL week thanks to a certain 10x10 routine, its taking nearly 3-4 days to recover ! thats BAD... well as you said only cardio now for us.

Anyway just saying hi !

It's nice to speak to people who are likeminded and in similar positions with similar aims.

Anytime buddy.

Bah, I can apologise and in here, it will not mean a thing.

I didn't post my journal last night which I should have done. For those that have been following my progress I apologise sincerely if you needed your daily fix of the Aminoster.

Well, let's get to it.

My research into dieting is almost complete. I've spent a whole month looking fine tuned into things, how things work, what's needed where, what isn't needed, how it's broken down, what things do and I'm almost done.

What a ride! :cool:

Once this part of my journey is complete, I'm able to look down the hill I just climbed, and see where I need to go. :claplow: and concentrate fully into the 'training' part of this journey!

I'm so pleased. I've felt mentally pushed trying to get hold of some of this info. If only I could take a shot of my brain, I'm sure the before and after would be huge! :D

At least now I understand fully why certain things have to be done in certain ways for it to work. It is true what they say - getting the right balance of diet to workouts is everything.

Another good thing from all this is that I've got a rejuvinated determination to do this and do this well and since I know what is and isn't possible, the progress I make will be good progress!

Well all the best!

Amino

Been a busy busy beaver over the last couple of days, organising things, doing housework...

Got the diet sorted, understand plenty about what I need to do in order to lower bodyfat AND raise metabolism... Taken a while... finally there!

I've also redeveloped my spreadsheet so it's faster and easier to use. I know that I was just splicing bits in here and there, things are now colour coodrinated. Meal planner has been rebuilt, got graphs, and the normals. Outputs give me proper ratio's fat % based on multiple ways of reading etc etc.

Still building but I'm close to being able to ratio out a metabolic individuality as described in the max-ot boards. I'm sure that would help a great deal!

Sufficed to say, I will not be carb loading again. It's taking too long to get back into a ketotic state.

More info to come tomorrow!

All the best!

Craig

Good going mate!

Keep it up!

As far as protein shakes go - I find that mixing with skimmed milk works wonders for the taste. It actually reminds me of a proper milkshake! :D :eat:

Mixing with water is just....well...not so tasty...(understatement of the year!) :whistle:

I've never tried skimmed milk, i might buy a small pints worth to see what its like...
As Amino knows - I cant get enough of my Reflex Vanilla - oooh i just adore it YUM YUM !
Good to hear that the spreadsheet is comming on good, not that i think it was bad, its definatly the best i have ever seen.
All the research you are doing is absolutly fantastic and I admire the fact that your actually "researching" into what is going to work best. I personally appreciate it very much mate !
Keep up the good hard work because its definatly paying off !

Hey all! How's life? Good, me? Fine thanks. :tu:

Today's been good! Can feel the changes in my body! Heart rate seems to be more stable of all things, that is a good sign. Meals are easier to stick to, still showing negative on the ketosis scale but damn that carb load last week. :tucool:

Going to go for a burnout session to get rid of existing stores of sugar in the muscles and the blood. This should push me into ketosis if keeping a high protein ratio. :db:

No pictures for this week unfortunately, the batteries on my camera have run out, I need to get some more. Once I do, I'll post piccies again for comparison. :flex:

Have avoided taking measurements too, as Corbint mentioned in a conversation with him, if you measure once a week, at least you can see the progress. I agree, although sometimes it's hard to keep away from knowing...

Well, I shall go for tonight! I shall speak to you all soon...

Craig

Hey, it's actually been a month since I started here. :-)

Well tonight has been a good one.

I managed to rebuilt my spreadsheet and now my meal planner rocks. What we have now is a date, meal number, selectable foods, portions or each number with all the rest supplied based on that...

But, at the top of my sheet, I have a meal breakdown, protein/carbs/fat per meal and a ratio, all the way to 6 meals and then a daily total AND a final ratio of nutrients.

This is way cool though.

The sheet can be used all the way to the bottom, thats over 65000 possible meals, not bad huh? Great thing is, you can evaluate the breakdown of the nutrients by typing in a date into the available space and the info pops up in the meal breakdown...

It took me ages to fathom out the formula array cos SUMIF statements suck bigtime.

Things on the diet front are steady, holding on weighing myself, tempted cos it's nice to know where I'm at...

Okays, well I shall disappear for the time being.

All the best and speak to you all tomorrow!

Hugs and kisses, hee hee....

Craig

Hey all. Well, I have good news and bad news!

Good news is, that after a trial period on a ketotic diet, I have decided to move away and onto a balanced meal plan. The reason being, is that after the carb load from the initial ketosis, it has been utterly impossible to get back INTO ketosis. The reason is unknown. I have in fact followed exactly the same diet and exercise plan that starts the ketosis cycle but it seems my body has adapted very quickly to this.

That part of the diet experimentation is OVER. It was a well learned lesson, I wasn't aiming to lose weight quickly, but as stated earlier in the journal, it was an experiment that I was going to trial for a month. We are short of the month as I do not want to waste any more time attempting to prove something that may well be impossible for my body to cope with.

I have learned a lot through all the research and more than anything, it goes to show that you can trick your body once, and that's it.

From this, I have completely rebuilt my meal structure based on a new calculation of calories (which is why I asked the question about BMR recently). I have taken my BMR, and instead of using the average activity modifier, there is now a calculation that works out calories burned in the gym and then creates a calorific deficit based on wanted weight loss. Pending on weight change results, another modifier will be added in and calculated, that formulates a normal days activity. This will also be able to ratio a number between 0.0 and 2.00 and this would show the efficiency of metabolism (or thereabouts...) Still in testing phase but if it works, I'll release it to the public of course.

This seems to be ideal for a more personal calorie calculation and I aim to follow this. For cutting, I plan on using the 55/35/20 ratio with carbs being spread through the first 4 meals of the day, with little or none at night and protein and fat split up into 6 meals.

I aim to do 2 sessions of cardio a day. 1.5 hours at home unbelievably, stairs walking. This is actually considered a very good workout for the legs believe it or not and has the potential of burning up to 600 calories an hour. The second session will be later on when I have taken the little one to school, this second session can also be replaced with a weights session so I aim to shortly be starting a program for that too. (I didn't like the idea of getting too skinny while losing weight!:spaz:)

Ok, play time is over!

Now for the fun...

All the best and sweet dreams...

Craig

Hi all!

How's you doing? Good? Me, I'm fine. I'm better than fine actually!

This morning, I did a 1 hour workout which was walking up and downstairs at half, normal and double time to the beats of the music that was playing, this was one hell of a workout and brought on such a sweat I thought I was gonna pass out. I drank nearly 2 litres of water just during the workout alone!

Tonight, I did 50 minutes of fat burning exercise between 140 and 150 beats per minute. The machines auto adjusted to make sure my heart rate stayed at the above rates...

I am a little dissapointed however at the calories I've burned today. On calculation, it seems that I've burned around 1000 calories, while I've eaten 1329 calories. I was hoping to burn approx 1900 calories and eat 1600 calories which would support a 3.5lb loss a week.

I have a question regarding Hiit Traiing as apposed to normal 65-75% heart rate training, with the latter, you can pretty much tell how much you've burned, and maybe a little extra depending on how intense it felt at the time, but what about Hiit? How can you tell what you're going to burn on that overall? Would Hiit training require extra calories or an alteration in the calculation of calories required etc?

Ok, well, I've eaten and drank clean all day today considering I've only had 1329 calories, I feel full on that actually. I don't know how I'm going to cope with eating more than that to support the higher rate of fat loss... lol especially when the calories burned in the gym was nearly half of what I expected...

I'll see how the results come at the end of the week and adjust from there!

Well, all the best peoples, I'm off to watch Smallville and Alias now...

Night!

Craig

Hey all... I'm a happy bunny now. Things perfected on the spreadsheet front. FINALLY FINALLY... If this was an official piece of software, it would be version 82.03!!

My calorie intake was WRONG, fixed. Seems I wasn't getting enough calories. going from 800 cals a day up to 2200 minimum is going to kill me. I hope I don't turn into the blob on it. Meal planner now altered so it can log foods by date and meal number... stats are available instantly depending on what date you want to check from the log you make. That's my favourite bit. Added a maximum heart rate section with heart rate levels depending on goal. It's looking kinda cool.

I'm only going to add one more bit but can only test it as I'm going along.

Well, I took a leaf out of greensheeps book and did a couple of pose shots. Sufficed to say, I know that only after such a short period of time I shouldn't really be doing this as I'm not going to notice much, and the fact that I'm only doing cardio at the moment, the only shot that seemed to be worth posting is a kind of double biceps hash up. hahhaha...

Well, I'm off for now... I've got 2200 calories to consume... Which for me, aint easy!

Speak later!

Amino

Hi all.

Done a home workout today as my little girl had to go for her jabs. She wasn't my friend for about 60 seconds until I revealed the brand spanking new 'Finding Nemo' sunglasses bought solely for the purpose of bribery. :claphigh:

Of course, this meant she couldn't go to nursery so I've had a little girl that kept falling asleep at odd times today. She's ok though! The glasses did their job.

Done a little more on thy holy spreadsheet. Put that Metabolic efficiency calculation in... Hope it proves of some use should I (and probably will) hit a wall.

Answered tons of posts on here today too. Hopefully helpful suggestions/advice too, based on what I've learned. Hopefully someone else wont have to spend a month looking through information when they could be working the first 12 - 14lbs off!

Well, gotta go!

Amino

Ex's suck....Ex's suck....Ex's suck....Ex's suck....Ex's suck....Ex's suck....Ex's suck....Ex's suck....Ex's suck....Ex's suck....Ex's suck....

Ex's suck....

Ex's suck....

Yip that's right folks, ex partners suck. Officially. How can someone that has been out of my life for nearly 2 years turn my almost good day into an utter crap one?

Well, other than that, I'm a happy bunny. This week has been a delight. I've lost another 2 lbs so I'm down to 214. 12lbs gone in total.

The hardest part has been keeping up with my calorie intake. I'm finding myself getting full just trying to eat the carbs. Then slipping down that slippery slope of missing a meal because my stomach feels packed. Suggestions?

I'm really not surprised that so many people who start out on their path to a better body and lifestyle actually quit. It's easy to us cos we know how to do stuff now, but to those beginners, they haven't got a clue have they? They drop by, see some marvellous achievements and think 'yeah, 30 mins on a treadmill and I'll be ripped by summer'... Oh, I'm not thinking of quitting by the way, I had a few thoughts while taking a bath last night. It's amazing really how much someone does actually need to know about themselves in order to make it work.

A thoughtful night after a bad evening.

I wake up this morning to my little girl stood over me smiling. She's smiling because she's wearing a pair of my socks like they're thighboots and she's put some of her lipstick on. What a sight. She had her little fairy outfit on too, I couldn't help but laugh and give her a huge hug. Little thing.

So today, I'm going to have a good day.

Dude, if you're struggling to eat enough, chocolate has carbs in... I've seen it on the back of the packet... :D

GI? What's soldiers gotta do with it..........

Dude, if you're struggling to eat enough, chocolate has carbs in... I've seen it on the back of the packet... :D

GI? What's soldiers gotta do with it..........

I wish it were as simple as that. Would prefer to be eating the good carbs though...

*shrugs* I was being (er... attempting) to be funny, but straight-up, I eat chocolate everyday. I know we're all different, etc, etc, but if you want to eat some carbs that aren't filling...

*shrugs* I was being (er... attempting) to be funny, but straight-up, I eat chocolate everyday. I know we're all different, etc, etc, but if you want to eat some carbs that aren't filling...

I know you were humouring me Sheepish! It's hard to portray tone in here. The webcam would have shown me laughing.

:-)

Although, I have found some rather nice caramel flavoured rice cakes in tescos... mmmmmmm

Hey all...

Been a busy beaver over the last couple of days... Perfecting, tweaking, dating, etc...

Yip, went out with a rather nice lass last night. Top night out. Went for a movie, a drink, bite to eat... Was sooooooo tempting to just eat anything on the menu. I behaved, ordered a chicken salad. :-), I did have a couple of glasses of wine though...

Carbs. I hate em. They're huge. Fill my gut and make me bloated. I need to eat something smaller. Less volume.

Low GI carbs with little volume.... That's what I need. That's EXACTLY what I need. Now, where to find em....?!?!?!

Getting wind issues too, I could generate power for my house with the wind factor of protein shakes. It's not good. Running from room to room with the poops. There's only so many times I can blame Misha for the rotten smell :-|

Well, I've got a logo to design for dinnertime today so I best get on with it.

Oh, I've been working on my site too for when it goes back up.

Nicknamed 'Flab-U-Less'... ho ho ho. I'll include a screeny of the first page...

Bye for now guys and gals.

The webpage design looks nice :tucool: How long before it's up?

Oh, and congratulations on the socialising :p

Hi all!

Hope all is well.

Grande half opening...

www.aminocreations.com

Two sections which are currently up and running are 'About Me' and 'Comics'. Both are menial in their information so far but give an indication on how the site works.

Fat>Fit is the section I presume people will want to look at most of all. That is still being built as we speak but it's close to completion!

Corbint was very good and told me earlier that the name I had picked for my site had already been used. The same spelling, the same hyphonation everything. GGGGrrrrrr.... So I'll be changing the name shortly....

I might just stick with Fat>Flat or something equally as horribly corny.

:claphigh: Managed to get into some jeans today that I haven't been able to wear for a long time. I'm a happy chappy.

Well, All the best guys and guyesses.

:tu:

Hi all... How's it going? I'm continuing on the same diet as I was on already, but the figure doesn't appear to be changing at all... it's strange...

I'll keep checking and see what's going on. I must be adapting... Keep on going, I'll get there! :-)

Shameless plug for my site which is still getting better by the day, take a peek and leave a message in the new shoutbox...

www.aminocreations.com ! Go forth and message till your fingers bleed.

All the best folks!

Prop to greensheep for hitting his target...

Amino

Hi Amino,
thaks for the mention,
Just thought i should say, I follow your posts every day and you're doing great. I can see your dedication and motivation and thats the most important part of this whole game. Your knowledge deepens every day. I can't wait to see what you achieve, you're gonna be a shining example very soon.
Keep learning and keep working. Any time u need advice on anything at all, dont hesitate to email.
One day I'll make a trip accross to Halifax for a quick pint (of diet coke, lol) to celebrate your achievements,
laters,
Greeno

Hi all. How's things hanging? Gooooood.

Had a great day. Updated my website lots and lots. (Shameless plugoplenty!)

Well, I'm getting lighter lol. Rather my measurements are changing but my weight isn't. Things are a little odd at present. Still burning 1000 calories a day in the gym, still eating 2200 calories at around 55/35/10 ratio.

Gonna take photos shortly and post them. See if there's a difference.

Well, I can't really say anything! lol. My day has been normal! Except for working on my site a lot. :-)

All the best guys and gals!

Amino

Dude, you plugged your site but forgot a link... :p

http://www.aminocreations.com/ if you really must, but we all know my site is like, waaaay better. Yes, for on no other site must you ph34r 7h3 h41r!! ;)

And well done on the fat loss!

Hi all! Thought I would be the first to mention that I am now going to keep my journal in my own site over at aminocreations.com, it wont be a daily thing, as most of the things I do are a repeat from the day before, but still, what I find about diet and the foods will be posted there too.

These are great forums and if I have questions etc on the fitness and general health issues, I'm sure I'll be popping by and saying HI!

:claphigh:

All the best all!

Amino

Hi all! Thought I would be the first to mention that I am now going to keep my journal in my own site over at aminocreations.com, it wont be a daily thing, as most of the things I do are a repeat from the day before, but still, what I find about diet and the foods will be posted there too.

These are great forums and if I have questions etc on the fitness and general health issues, I'm sure I'll be popping by and saying HI!

:claphigh:

All the best all!

Amino
***tap, tap*** is this thing on?!?!?!

Amino, hows your progress bro... Give us SOME update over here at JSFF! Cmon!

Hey yeah, I haven't seen anything for a few days! I know I've been missing in action myself, but I'm hardly a prolific poster :D How's the diet/life (got my priorities here)
going?

Hey all! It's been a while!!

My last post was on March 29th. Atrocious. Good news though! The move to Cottingham is still going ahead and University is still on the go! Well, with the move comes a good woman. I've met someone absolutely lovely who is keen to help me get to my ideal self. Family and friends have noticed a huge change in my confidence and appearance which goes well for me.

Well, I thought I would pop by and say HI! Things have been a little quiet over at aminocreations.com so it's hardly surprising since i've been spending as much time with the woman of my dreams as possible! Oh, you gotta love it.

All the best guys and gals.

Amino

Wow... long time no speak! Congrats on living the good life.. glad your w0m4n is working out :) I took your sage advice about psycho babe...

status?

You going to share ('http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/showthread.php?t=319') or not?

How can I open this file, I'm not usre how to open zip files?? Please help, do you have this file just on on xls format only??

How the devil is everyone doing?

I thought I would pop back and see how things have progressed, and progressed they have indeedy. John looks fab, and tons of new members, also looking fabulous.

Things have changed for me somewhat, they seemed to go well, then they went really really bad.

For those that don't know me, I started last year but posts went sour, started up my own site which for reasons personal, I had to take offline for a while and rejig a little to be less personal. I started fat, lost a little, then put the whole lot back on since.

At the moment, Naked i'm 236lbs at 6'4". I need to get things sorted out in a serious way. I'm unemployed due to childcare issues, issues which would be a severe lack of childcare in the local area (single dad with a daughter living with me full time) so have now the time to spend getting my life together and in order.

Just so you know, I went out and bought myself some gym gear, still got the weights bench with approx 100kg to play with, a treadmill, a bike and an eliptical strider to help pass the time while i'm watching what I download from the night before. This should hopefully rejig my system somewhat.

Also, something weird has been happening to me recently, my stomach has bloated and gone absolutely rock hard. Unsure as to why this has happened as there hasn't been any recent dietary changes.

I'll try to keep you guys posted with a new beginning and a fresh start.

All the best, and thanks those who took the interest to have a read...


Amino

Also, something weird has been happening to me recently, my stomach has bloated and gone absolutely rock hard. Unsure as to why this has happened as there hasn't been any recent dietary changes.
I would seriously get that checked out!!!!
(doctor, xray - whatever)

Any clues? I'm now up to 244 lbs... I don't get it.. I'm reducing my calorific intake and eating more regularly throughout the day... I've got no reason to feel so bloated after meals, I drink less and hardly sweat too, so I'm doubtful that it's water retention. Too many stretch marks.

Boo hoo...


Amino

Well, i'm back with a bit of a vengeance. It turns out that the mass of weight gain came back from a few imbalances on the blood/hormone front according to the tests that were done.

Apparantly, I contracted a virus which directly affected the way certain things should have happened. I didn't ask 'too' many questions as I had absolutely no clue whatsoever what he was on about, but it seems the worst is over.

I'm back onto a controlled diet and the weight is slowly dropping again.

Currently at 246lbs and according to measurements, 30.4% bodyfat. This should be fun.

The diet will be the protein controlled 'protein sparing modified fast' which has given me great results before, and I'll be posting pics and of course, the limited diet information as I continue.

Hope everyone is well and going strong.

Be well, and best regards

Craig aka Amino

Edit: I have included a piccy of me so you guys know what a small virus can do to ones efforts!!!! The one on the RIGHT (Yes, the right) is the after shot... the one on the left is from March 04 which was around when i was last on the forums...

;-)

Hey all. 7th of May and I'm already happy to say that the PSMF is working wonders.

Over the last 5 / 6 days, I've dropped some size, and lost some fat.

1st May 2005 I was at 30.4% bodyfat weighing 246lbs
7th May 2005 I'm at 29.2% bodyfat weighing 243lbs.

Morning breakfast consists of 1 slice of wholemeal bread with any kind of meat stripped of fat. I tried gammon this time. The 4 or 5 remaining meals consist of chicken or tuna. I found chicken to be the easiest to swallow after wrapping in tinfoil and cookingin the oven. This with a low carb sauce makes for an easy excellent snack/meal.

I feel much healthier, much more relaxed, less anxiety and an all round better feeling of well being.

Hope to report more loss to you all soon.

Be well and regards


Craig a.k.a. Amino

I'm closing this one off... It's been a terrible year so a new thread and a new beginning...

Regards

Amino