Cut: Week 6

Macros

I am still not tracking calories or macros. So nothing to report here!

Stats

Last weigh in weight: 62.8 kg

Current weight: 62.1kg
Weight loss: 700g

Supplements

• NLA for Her Shred Her 1x per day first thing in the morning
• Pea Protein Isolate 40-50g per day in my morning shake
• Cellucor C4 Pre Workout 3/4 scoop 3-4x week
• Probiotics 1x per day
• Multivitamin 1x per day
• Fish Oil/Cod Liver Oil 1x per day

Workouts

I have only done one upper body and one lower body weight workout this week along with 3 cardio sessions. I am still feeling weak and struggling to exercise (weights) first thing in the morning, so I am only exercising while my husband is at home or my son is at pre school later in the day, as long as its not too hot.

How am I feeling?

I am still feeling good. I am enjoying not counting calories. I find I am hardly ever hungry, so sometimes I have to remind myself to eat. If I want something sweet I eat it, and find I am satisfied after only eating a little bit. Before when I was counting calories, I would crave sweet stuff all the time and felt very restricted, even though I wasn't 'dieting' as such. The only time I will count calories again is when I am reverse dieting and bulking which I plan to do again over winter.

Cut: Week 1

Macros

This week

• 1767 calories
• 180g carbs
• 129g protein
• 59g fat

Stats

Last weeks weight: 65.4 kg

Current weight: 64.7 kg
Weight loss: 700g

Supplements

• Quadralean Fat Burner 3 tablets 2x per day
• Creatine 5g per day mixed in pre/post workout shake
• *ProSupps Mr Hyde 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

*Tried this pre workout for the first time and it was VERY potent. I thought I was going to have a heart attack - not even kidding. It gave me heart palpitations, jitters and dizziness. I had to drive up town and didn't feel safe doing so. I will not be taking this again. Way too many stimulants or my liking. I will be taking a break from all pre workouts for at least the next month.

Workouts

Monday 19th Jan: Shoulders & Triceps
1. Barbell Overhead Press 4 x 8-10
2. 20-15-10-5-10-15-20
Dumbbell Overhead Press
Dumbbell Upright Row
Dumbbell Lateral Raise
3. Plate Front Raise 4 x 10
4. High Pulley Cable Row 4 x 10
5. Triceps Push Down 4 x 20, 15, 12, 10
6. Single Arm Triceps Push Down 4 x 10

15 minutes cardio: walk/jog

Tuesday 20th Jan: Legs
1. Squats 3 x 6-10
2a. Smith Machine Single Leg Lunges 3 x 8
2b. Single Leg Leg Extensions 3 x 8
3a. Stiff Leg Deadlift 3 x 10
3b. Lying Hamstring Curl 3 x 12
4. Lying Hip Thrusts 3 x 10 with 10 second hold

Wednesday 21st Jan: Rest

How am I feeling and where are the rest of my workouts?

Unfortunately the workouts completed from Wednesday to Sunday were all over the place and a real struggle. I am pretty sure I am suffering from overtraining - strength loss, fatigue, low appetite, tiredness, increased heart rate etc. I really haven't taken any time off or had any 'deload' weeks like I should have and I think it has finally caught up with me. As crappy as it is, I am going to take next week as an active rest week - no weights, just low intensity walks; as much as it pains me to do so, I need to listen to my body. My macros will be adjusted to 1600-1700 calories for the next week.

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!

Week of Workouts

Macros
6 x per week:

• 175g carbs
• 130g protein
• 58g fat
• 1760 calories

1 x per week:

• 260 carbs
• 115 protein
• 50 fat
• 1950 calories

Workouts

Please note: You may be able to lift more than me, or you may not be able to lift as much. Just lift as much as YOU can in order to reach failure within the given rep amount.
I won't be listing what weight I use for each exercise every week - this is just for personal reference so I can work on still increasing my weights each week.

Day 1: Leg Circuit
Since I have been struggling with low iron, I was only able to do a 25 minute weight workout before running out of energy. I followed this up with a 25 minute walk on the treadmill. Heart rate between 140-150bpm.

1. Overhead Plate Squat | 2 x 12 | 10kg
2. Plate Squat | 2 x 12 | 10kg
3. Leg Extension | 4 x 12 | 20kg
4a. Sumo Deadlift | 4 x 12 | 30kg superset
4b. Lying Hamstring Curl | 4 x 12 | 15kg
5. Walking Lunges | 3 x 16 | bodyweight

Day 2: Shoulders & Abs
All shoulder exercises are 4 sets of 6-8 reps.
All ab exercises are 4 sets of 8-12 reps.

1. Barbell Overhead Press | 20kg
2. Smith Machine Press | 20kg
Giant Set
3a. Lateral Raise | 12.5lb dumbbells
3b. Upright Row | 15kg
3c. Front Plate Raise | 10kg

Abs
1a. Hanging Leg Raise
1b. Cable Crunch | 15kg
1c. Landmine 180 | 5kg added to the end of a 20kg barbell

Cardio: 15 minute LISS walk

Day 3: Rest

Day 4: Back
1. Wide Grip Lat Pull Down | 4 x 8 | 25kg
2. Seated Row | 4 x 8 | 27.5kg
3a. Single Arm Long Bar Row | 4 x 8 | 22.5kg
3b. Single Arm Pull Down | 4 x 6-8 | 5kg
4a. Bent over fly | 4 x 8 | 10lb dumbbells
4b. Band Pull Aparts | 4 x 8

Day 5: Legs
1. Squats
1 x 12 at 20kg (warm up set)
2 x 6 at 50kg
2 x 8 at 40kg

2. Sumo Deadlift | 4 x 8 | 40kg
3. Leg Extension | 4 x 8 | 30kg with drop set on last set
4. Barbell Hip Thrust | 4 x 8 | 30kg
5a. Cable Romanian Deadlift | 4 x 8 | 15kg
5b. Lying Hamstring Curl | 4 x 8 | 15kg

10 minute walk

Day 6: Arms & Abs
1a. Tricep Push Ups | 4 x 8
1b. Dumbbell Biceps Curl | 4 x 8 | 12.5lbs
2a. Triceps Dips | 4 x 8
2b. Cable Hammer Curl | 4 x 8 | 10kg
3a. Triceps Pushdown | 4 x 8 | 10kg
3b. Single Arm Cable Biceps Curl | 4 x 6-8 | 5kg

Abs
1a. Plate Crunch | 4 x 10 | 10kg plate
1b. Bench Jumps | 4 x 12
2. Hanging Leg Raise | 4 x 8

15 minutes cardio between sets

Day 7: Rest


Some of the food I ate this week

What is my plan for next week?
I have decided next week to eat at maintenance and then ease into a 6 week bulk followed by a 10-12 week cut. I really need to gain some muscle, increase my metabolism and try to increase my calorie intake so I don't have to cut on too low calories. I have been in a deficit for so long - it's time to change it up!

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.

What I'm Lovin' Wednesday

1. Reading

I just picked up these two books to read - I have heard great things about both.

2. Living Lockets

Filled with all the things I love. I purchased this from JoynMemories at Etsy.com.

3. Progress!

10 weeks ago | 4 weeks ago | today