Maintenance Week before Cut

Macros

This week

• 1900-2300 calories (40/30/30 split)

Stats

Last weeks weight: 65.4 kg

Current weight: 64.5 kg
Weight Lost: 0.9kg (2lbs)

Supplements

• Quadralean Fat Burner 3 tablets 2x per day
• Creatine 5g per day mixed in pre/post workout shake
• Cellucor C4 Pre Workout before training
• Glutamine 2 tablets post workout
• Probiotics 1x per day
• Multivitamin 1x per day
• Fish Oil/Cod Liver Oil 1x per day

Workouts

Sunday 28th Dec: Lower Body

1. Deep Squats

20kg warm up sets

50kg x 4

60kg x 3

70kg x 2

50kg x 12

2. Sumo Deadlifts
3. Barbell Step Ups

4. Cable Kickbacks 4 x 10-12 at 7kg

5. Lying Leg Curl 4 x 10 at 15kg

6. Seated Leg Extension 3 x 10 at 40kg

Monday 29th Dec: Upper Body
1. Assisted Pull Ups 4 x 8

2. Overhead Barbell Press

12 x 20kg

10 x 23kg

8 x 25kg

3. Reverse Grip Lat Pull Down 4 x 12 at 32kg

4. Shoulder Bombs 3 x 8 at 7.5lbs

5. Straight Bar Triceps Push Down 4 x 12-15 at 12kg

6. Hammer Curl 4 x 10-12 at 12kg

Tuesday 30th Dec: Abs & Cardio
4x10-12
1. Upside Down Hanging Crunch
2. Hanging Leg Raise
3. Stability Ball Knee Tucks/Pike
4. Bottoms Up
30 minute low intensity treadmill walk

Wednesday 31st Dec: Rest

Thursday 1st Jan: Lower Body
1a. Pulse Squats 3 x 10
1b. Step Ups 3 x 20
2. Lying Leg Curl 3 x 15
3. Leg Extensions 3 x 15

Friday 2nd Jan: Rest

Saturday 3rd Jan: Back & Shoulders
3 x 8
1. Wide Grip Lat Pull Down
2. Barbell Overhead Press
3. Reverse Grip Lat Pull Down
4. Shoulder Bombs
5. Standing High Pulley Row

Sunday 4th Jan: Rest

How am I feeling?

S.T.A.R.V.I.N.G… I am not going to lie, decreasing my calories from around 2400 per day (bulking) to around 2000 has been HARD. The first few days I was still taking Halotropin (testosterone booster) and ended up eating well over 2300 calories as I was just so hungry. I stopped the Halotropin on New Years Day which helped with the hunger.

I also decided to take a week off exercising last week due to fatigue and it did seem to help. I do see the most improvement in muscle gain when using an upper body/lower body/core 5 day split working each body part twice per week, but I don’t think I will be able to continue to lift this way while cutting. This type of split requires a lot of energy on my behalf making me constantly hungry and a bit tired – throw in a lower calorie intake and I can see I will get burnt out pretty quickly.



I have done about 60 minutes cardio all up the past 6 weeks. I am currently doing around 20-30 minutes per week if I feel like it. If not, it doesn’t matter. I am keeping cardio to a minimum as I want to retain as much muscle as possible. Cardio is only used to help increase your calorie deficit and since I already have a calorie deficit with food and high intensity weight training, cardio isn’t necessary. It all comes down to calories in vs calories out. So long as you are eating less calories than you are consuming then cardio isn’t necessary. Over the next 12 weeks I will only be doing cardio if I feel like it, not because I have to. 

Plan for next week

I think I will probably start back next week with a 5 day split (Shoulders / Back / Arms & Abs / Legs x 2). I plan to keep my calories at 1900-2000. For reference my maintenance is around 2200 calories. I plan to cut calories slowly and will be keeping my calories as high as possible while cutting. Once I finish cutting in April, I will reverse diet to maintenance and into another bulk for 3 months. I always struggle with cutting as I HATE being hungry all the time. The next 12 weeks will definitely be a struggle!

Goals for 2015

Since we are now heading into 2015, I thought it might be a good idea to write down my top 10 goals and things that I want to accomplish this year (fitness and non-fitness related)

.

1. Gain strength in all exercises and continue to increase weight lifted each week.

2. Squat 100kg.

3. Overhead Press 35kg.

4. Continue to focus on building up my core strength.

5. Go to bed earlier and work on getting more sleep (7-8 hours a night).

6. Educate myself more on nutrition and increase the micronutrients in my diet.

7. Spend less time on social media, specifically Facebook (which I have been doing for the past few months already).

8. Save $10,000 for our USA trip next year.

9. Plan our first around Australia road trip.

10. Read 2 self-improvement books.



As you may have noticed, I have not put anything like ‘lose 5kg’ or ‘get to 16% body fat’ as a goal that I want to achieve. The reason for this is because, while that is great, I need to focus on goals that aren’t purely vanity-focused. Now I am not saying that you shouldn’t have a vanity-focused goal, but I have tried and failed with this many times before. Only working towards a certain number just does not work for ME. It is not enough to hold me accountable and keep me on track.

Focusing on my health and strength has allowed me to have a goal that I can really work towards each day for an extended period of time. Before when I would reach a weight loss goal I would celebrate that I had reached it and then I would fall back into bad eating and not exercising. Having strength gains and health as a goal makes it easier for me to stick to as a lifestyle. The weight loss aspect is just a bonus!

Birth Control and Weight Loss

There is a lot of controversy regarding weight loss/fat loss and birth control. Many doctors will argue that birth control has no effect on weight or body composition, but birth control users seem to think otherwise. If you have been unsuccessful in losing weight or body fat no matter how hard you have tried, your birth control may very well be the culprit.

Let’s look at birth control a little more closely. There are two main types of birth control – estrogen-based and progestin-only. These two types of birth control can come in the form of a pill, ring, patch, injection, rod or IUD. Hormonal birth control works by stopping the ovaries from releasing an egg each month (preventing ovulation) and by making the environment unfit to implant an egg properly, making your body think that you are in fact pregnant. Since your body now thinks that you are pregnant, it prepares itself by storing what? That’s right, extra fat. Excess fat from birth control is usually stored in your lower body (hips & butt) and in your triceps.

Doctors and scientists argue that birth control does not make you gain weight or excess body fat, but that the pill increases your appetite and cravings therefore you eat more food which contributes to weight gain.

If you are someone who is serious about eating clean, gaining muscle mass and shedding body fat, but you are struggling to make improvements, your birth control may be to blame. A recent study was done on the effects of birth control and lean muscle mass. The study showed that women that took hormonal birth control gained 60% less muscle mass over a 10 week period than women who did not take birth control. You can find the study here.

Hormonal birth control is no doubt one of the best ways to prevent pregnancy, and there are good and bad side effects that come with it. Some of the negative side effects include acne, tiredness, breast tenderness, weight gain, breakthrough bleeding and spotting between periods, nausea and vomiting, changes in your eyes that make it more difficult to wear contact lenses, bloating, headaches, decreased libido, depression or other emotional changes, migraines, breast lumps, high blood pressure (hypertension), high cholesterol, blood clots, heart attack, stroke, liver damage, gallstones and jaundice. The benefits of hormonal birth control are reduced cancer risk, acne prevention, reduction in abdominal pain and PMS symptoms, regular menstrual cycles and decreased endometriosis symptoms.

Some people can lose weight very easily while on birth control without any problem, and some struggle tremendously. It all comes down to the individual and their body. What works for one person may not work for another. For me it is a huge struggle to lose body fat, especially from my belly and lower body, even while maintaining a calorie deficit and exercising. It is very very difficult for me to get below 60kg without cutting calories too low (under 1500 per day). I have read a lot that people say that birth control doesn't affect weight loss, but unfortunately for some of us it does.

If you are on the pill and you are finding weight gain a problem, then talk to your doctor about swapping to a lower dose pill, or try another form of hormonal contraception. If you want to skip the hormones all together, maybe give a non-hormonal contraceptive a try, like the copper IUD. At the end of the day it all comes down to your body and how your body responds to hormones.

I would love to hear your experience, has birth control made a difference in your weight?

Weight Loss vs Fat Loss

It seems everyone these day's is trying to lose weight. There is always a new diet, new workout program or new fat burning supplement promising you that you can have a bikini body in 30 days. But is losing weight the same as losing fat? People seem to use both terms interchangeably and it can get confusing. By the end of this post you’ll understand the difference between weight loss & fat loss, but also which one you should aim for and how.

Weight Loss vs. Fat Loss. What’s the difference? Let’s start by defining weight loss & fat loss so you know what I mean here.
Weight Loss: You want to lower your body-weight, the weight you see on the scale. The weight of your bones, muscles, organs and body fat.
Fat Loss: You want to lower your body fat, the amount of fat you have on your body, while retaining as much muscle as possible.