Rihad's log

I think your diet plan us good, except you should count calories and do a cut first, before you "lean gain" bulk. You are not supposed to lean bulk unless you are already very lean to start with.
 
I think your diet plan us good, except you should count calories and do a cut first, before you "lean gain" bulk. You are not supposed to lean bulk unless you are already very lean to start with.
I think I'm doing bodyrecomp. This is what I call it anyway :) Details are as of yet unknown, unless you're one of Martin's clients.
I'm expecting the mere IF eat window, or more specifically morning fast, to do its magic.
 
I think I'm doing bodyrecomp. This is what I call it anyway :) Details are as of yet unknown, unless you're one of Martin's clients.
I'm expecting the mere IF eat window, or more specifically morning fast, to do its magic.

This is the problem.

Good luck, nonetheless. Don't be disappointed when magical 'recomposition' doesn't happen.
 
This is the problem.

Good luck, nonetheless. Don't be disappointed when magical 'recomposition' doesn't happen.

Thanks. I think it may just take some time. Most people turn down every method if it doesn't give them any visible progress in a week or two.
 
Just finished my 10-week long foray into caloric restriction (1 week SD + 9 week w/o to be exact). I was able to at least maintain strength in all exercises, except incline bench:

Leg press 280х5х2 /617lbs (265х5х2 /584lbs)
Incline bench 77х2 /169lbs (82x5 /180lbs)
Leg curls, #bricks 13x5х2 (13x5х2)
Pull-ups 25х5х2 /55lbs (17.5х4х2 /38lbs) - about same thing considering about equal weight loss.
BB shrugs 127х5х2 /280lbs (115х5х2 /253lbs)
Lying 1-arm rear delt 8.5х10 /18lbs (8.5х10 /18lbs)
BB curls 47х2 /103lbs (47х2 /103lbs)
Tricep pushdowns, #bricks 14х10 (13х6)
Calf raises 116х12х2 /255lbs (109х12х2 /240lbs)

Weight: was: 80 kg (176-177 lbs), now: 71 kg (156-157 lbs)
Waist: was 100 cm (39.4"), now: 89 cm (35.04")
Arm girth: was: 38.2 cm (15.04"), now: 36 cm (14.17")
Thigh: was: 61.1 cm (24.05"), now: 55.5 cm (21.85")
Chest: was: 109.5 cm (43.11"), now: 105.5 cm (41.53")


Today was my last day of current HST cycle extended by 3 weeks. Also, today was the first time I went to workout 14-16 hours into a fast. Strength or energy didn't drop, on the contrary, I was able to PM on a few moves like squats or shrugs. I had a worm inside bugging me to finish this cycle leg pressing 280 kg (5 big plates aside :)) Now I'm off to SD, and will have whole summer to concentrate on rendering my abs visible (yes, I'll probably extend my next HST cycle for as long as needed).
 
Great job on your cut, 11cm drop on waist is excellent.
Thanks, I have about 5 cm more to go to at least reach the below overweight mark (height/waist == 50%, my height is 171 cm, so waist should be no more than 85 cm /33.5"). I have pretty emphasized love handles so I'll probably ever see v-taper in my dreams only :(
Will need to eat a bit more while SDing to maintain muscle, on second thought, now that I don't visit gym 3 times a week to spend some of the calories there, I may be able to get away with eating about SAME amount. Only scales will tell.
 
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Uhm, I don't really know for sure, since I haven't been counting. What I did was try and eat at specific times: 10am, w/o, 1pm, 4pm, 7pm, 10pm. Been trying to roughly measure in terms of quantity, like one glass of buckwheat per day as side dish, or 200 g of pasta, and went up or down from there (down to 2/3 of a glass of buckwheat towards the end of HST cycle) to accompany chicken breast or red meats. Sometimes when my mom cooks plov with meats or chicken I eat that and there's really to way to measure anything, so I just go by the looks of what seem to be enough. My last meal is normally 200 g. of cottage cheese + half a banana on days with w/o, 100 g of cottage cheese + half a banana on days without, following natural tendency to eat a bit less on those days. I eat a medium orange almost every day, vitamin C in it seems to help against losing too much hair. I also eat fast food like chicken Doner kebab practically after every workout (it used to be 2 McD hamburgers). I don't mind eating whatever I want. I don't think I ever go below 1200 (lower threshold mentioned by Lyle) or 800 (mentioned by Brad) considering 4-5 meals a day. Yes, for the past week or so I've tried eating 4 times: 10am, w/o, ~2pm, 6-7pm, 9pm to lessen daily calories a bit more, as progress seems to have slowed down. But now I'm on SD, so no more experimenting until after I resume w/os.

20130525 88.4cm 70.9
20130524 89.0cm 70.9 started SD
20130523 89.0cm 70.9
20130522 89.1cm 71.7
20130521 89.5cm 71.7
20130520 89.0cm 71.7
20130519 89.1cm 71.5
20130518 89.6cm 71.5
20130517 89.2cm 71.6
20130516 90.0cm 71.6 after overeating at a birthday party
20130515 88.9cm 71.0
20130514 90.1cm 71.4
20130513 90.4cm 71.0
20130512 89.0cm 71.5
20130511 89.0cm 71.8
20130510 89.0cm 71.5
20130509 89.5cm 72.3
20130508 89.9cm 71.5
20130507 90.5cm 72.6
20130506 90.0cm 72.2
20130505 90.2cm 72.9
20130504 90.3cm 72.5
20130503 90.3cm 72.3
20130502 90.5cm 72.9
20130501 90.5cm 72.9
20130430 90.5cm 72.7
20130429 90.5cm 72.9
20130428 90.5cm 72.9
20130427 90.5cm 72.6
20130426 91.0cm 73.2
20130425 91.0cm 72.8
20130424 91.5cm 73.6
20130423 91.5cm 73.5
20130422 92.2cm 73.8
20130421 92.0cm 73.9
20130420 92.0cm 73.6
20130419 92.5cm 73.4
20130418 92.5cm 74.5
20130417 92.5cm 74.1
20130416 93.3cm 74.8
20130415 93.0cm 74.6
20130414 93.4cm 75.0
20130413 93.5cm 75.4
20130412 93.5cm 75.4
20130411 94.0cm 75.5
20130410 94.5cm 75.5
20130409 94.9cm 76.3
20130408 95.0cm 76.3
20130407 95.0cm 76.0
20130406 95.3cm 76.4
20130405 95.3cm 76.3
20130404 95.5cm 76.4
20130403 95.5cm 76.6
20130402 96.0cm 76.8
20130401 96.0cm 76.8 (day after ESE)
20130331 96.5cm 77.4
20130330 97.0cm 77.7
20130329 96.5cm 77.3 (day after ESE)
20130328 97.0cm 77.6 (measured at navel level)
20130314 100cm 80 (14-25th no training & playing with LeanGains 14/10)
 
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1. 10kgs in 2 months without substantive LBM loss or arm, thigh drops is a job well done.

Uhm, I don't really know for sure, since I haven't been counting.

2. This is your biggest problem.

3. Meal frequency/timing is near irrelevant at non-extreme ends of the spectrum.

4. I assume your fasting experiment died a quick death then ... ?
 
1. 10kgs in 2 months without substantive LBM loss or arm, thigh drops is a job well done.
Thanks, after some reading I wouldn't have expected anything worse. Training is believed to offset muscle loss while dieting.

4. I assume your fasting experiment died a quick death then ... ?
At this time I don't think fasting is better for leaning out, and I think it won't be necessary for keeping the lean state. Nature already made us fast 8-10 hours around night sleep to enter maintenance mode (low insulin/high GH+glucagon). I do keep it at 12-13 hours though. Caloric deficit is what does the job, and the bulk of purported health benefits of 16 (LeanGains) or 24 (ESE) hour fasts is available in as little as 12-13 with a fraction of intrusiveness on my life. When I finally do get my 6-pack visible (maybe at 8-12% bf) I'll slowly start eating more while still maintaining their visibility.
 
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An interim progress report.



Body weight: 80 kg -> 68.5 kg (176 lbs -> 151 lbs)
Waist circumference: 100 cm -> 81.4 cm (39.4" -> 32")
First measurements dated 20130314

Need at least another month of dieting to show something off, or more likely 2-3 months.
 
As a continuation of the debate with a forum member,

Cutting and sparing the muscle requires caloric deficit + training.
Adding muscle requires eating your TDEE calories + training.
Adding muscle and fat requires eating a surplus of calories (over TDEE) + optionally training.

It's as simple as 1-2-3.
 
That's actually not his opinion, Totenlyle, at least none that I know of. Bulking the EatStopEat-style would have you eat at a slight surplus 5-6 days a week, with 1-2 days used for cutting the extra fat off. I've decided to reach farther than that :) It'd be interesting to see if you're bigger than him at his bf level to the point where any genetic differences stopped to matter.
 
He's admitted on his site that he is significantly below his genetic limits according to his formula. Using his formula, I've somehow surpassed mine, funny how eating extra food will do that, brad jr.
 
You do know that no matter how hard you try naturally, and no matter how meticulously you plan your prot-carb-fat ratios, if you choose to reach 9-10% you will inevitably shrink in size, lose water, connective tissue, etc (termed "inessential LBM" by Lyle)? And then what's left? It's quite comforting to assume that when you're at 220 lbs 15% bf (example), at 5% bf you would weigh in at 220*0.85*1.05 == 196 lbs. Well, I hardly doubt anyone would. ~180, most likely.
 
Try 220 at 9%, but nice try

Keep working hard and someday you might be as big as one of my legs.
 
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