And here I thought nobody cared about my sexy.
This post goes out to Andrew who heeded the call in my last post and told me what he wanted to read about, so here is where I deliver on the goods. Thanks for the suggestion, and I hope you can take something away from this post.
The Diet
I’ll be honest and say that I hate dieting with a passion because it gets in the way of me being a glutton, so it is always my goal to get it over with as fast as humanly possible. On that front, I like to kick off the initial 2 weeks with a protein sparing modified fast to “get my mind right” so to speak.
In order to accomplish this, I eat about 250g protein, 1-2lbs of broccoli, fish oil and a multivitamin everyday during that time period. I keep my protein sources as lean as I can and as a result my caloric intake tends to hover between 1200 and 1300 calories per day. The only reason I’m able to stay sane with such a low level of intake is by using intermittent fasting and eating 2 relatively large and satisfying meals a day. Well, that and by watching The Chappelle Show.
After that initial 2 weeks, I have a 2 day refeed where everything else about my diet remains the same, but I take in between 500 and 600g of carbohydrate to reverse all the wonky business that tends to happen when dieting down using such an extreme deficit. After those 2 days, I eat at my new maintenance level for a week and then move into a more moderate deficit for the long haul.
The Training
As I spoke about in my training for fat loss video, I love to lift heavy when on a diet for several reasons:
1) Lifting heavy gives your body a reason to hold on to the muscle that you have because you’re demonstrating through your training that you need to keep it around.
2) I’d rather make sweet, sweet love to Janet Reno than be in the gym longer than 45 min to an hour, so by lifting as heavy as I do it forces me to cut my volume back significantly, which does wonderful things in terms of recovery from session to session.
I usually train only 2x a week during the initial 2 week break in phase, but occasionally bump it up to 3x when I’m eating a bit more, but in the end it all depends on my mood really. I believe in letting the diet take care of the majority of the fat loss while I go about with my daily living.
Here are my workouts from last week to give you an idea as to how I train:
Other than that, the only other “training” I do is walking for an hour a few times a week, and I only do that so I can burn a few more calories while catching up with my favorite podcasts that I otherwise might not have time for. Kevin Smith and the Smodcast network making walking in the nipply east coast weather a pleasantly dope experience.
The Progress
I try to keep it as simple as possible when it comes to measuring my progress. I used to be all about the body fat testing via skin calipers, but the margin of error can be pretty high depending on how good the person measuring it is, and even then it’s not all that accurate. These days I use my strength levels and pictures as measures of my success and here is why.
Since I’m not participating in any kind of weight class related sport, pictures are the simplest way to see if I’m leaning out or not. You can blame the lack of scale progress on water weight and glycogen levels all you want, but you can’t hide the sexy from the camera. Also, if my strength levels are staying where they are or improving, that is a pretty good indicator that I’m not losing any muscle. If the numbers on my main lifts drop more than 5%, I increase my training day intake by 10% and see how that helps the situation.
The Length
My goal is to end up at 180lbs and He-Man ripped by May 2011, which gives me 6 months to make it happen. This is actually going to be my longest dieting stint ever, so I’m not sure exactly how long it’ll take me. I’ll be conservative in my projections and say that after the 1st month I’ll settle in and only lose 1 lb a week, so at a starting weight of 200 lbs that puts me right on target to hit my goal in May.
So there you have it folks, my approach to taking my body from meh to mythical status. What are your current goals? How are you attacking them? Let me know in the comment section below!
Photo Credit: Popculturegeek
Ok wow, this totally motivated me…and I needed a kick in the pants, thank you Roger! Who’s the music? Loves it! Watching this makes me want to travel to MA and learn and train from the best…hmm….
Fave post yet!
No problemo – I’m a pants kicking expert!
Workout #1 music = Plan B – Darkest Place
Workout #2 music = Common – Chi City
Good luck with your long diet!
I’m also trying to lose fat – I’d like to be down 2 more clothing sizes by my next birthday (I’ll be 30-eek!). So far, I’m down 55 pounds and 2 full sizes (3 sizes in some clothes!). I tried to do an extreme deficit and drop the fat faster, since I still have a lot to lose, but since it’s such a long process for me, I found that the tougher deficit really affected my compliance and my hormones. I do better with a more gradual deficit and using non-scale measures of progress (right now, pictures and “thermometer jeans”). I recently finished 16 weeks of 5/3/1, and now changed it up drastically by starting to follow Todd Durkin’s Impact workouts.
Thanks Bonnie!
According to my supreme scientific and mathematical calculations, I’ve come to the conclusion that 30 is the new 20, so you are gonna rock the hell out of your goal, especially since you’ve done such a great job so far. That’s a really good realization that you’ve had about the extreme deficit. I’ve noticed a lot of people who push it to the limit as far as restricting their intake for a short while only to snap and undo all their progress over a few short days, weeks or months. It takes a special person to be able to handle such a large deficit, and an even more special person to realize that it may not be for them and move to something more moderate.
Thermometer jeans – nice!
Roger,
Thanks for addressing this so quickly and with such detail. Also, loved the choice of Common for the background music in the first vid, he is one of my favorite artists.
How did you decide upon 180 lbs as your goal weight? Also, is this strictly a fatloss diet or is the goal more of a recomp (drop bf while adding muscle)?
You got it man.
Bonus points for the Common love! He is right up there for me too.
I came up with the 180 number as my goal weight by comparing that weight to how I looked at a higher weight and in pretty good condition.
Back in April of last year I was about 190 and 10% body fat and looked decent, but I knew I could look a lot better if I buckled down and went for it. However, I had no reason to go lower and with no reason my will wasn’t strong enough to bother pursuing it. This time is different though, as I’ve committed myself to an engagement that requires that I not look like good, but great.
Odds are that as I get down to the mid 180s I’ll end up switching to more of a recomp phase for awhile, but until then I’m staying in a constant deficit with refeeds as I need them.
I have a similar goal. I’m around 204 lbs., and I’d like to get down to around 175, give or take 3-4 pounds. I’d like to do it a little more quickly, since I’m quite a bit less lean than you. I suspect the first 10-12 pounds will fall off pretty quickly. I’d like to finish up around March.
Hey Jordan,
Thanks for stopping by. Making it happen by March is definitely doable if you get everything locked in soon and get rolling. Let me know if I can be of any assistance!
Yeah, that’s my problem, getting going. Dieting is pretty easy for me, but starting a diet is really tough, for some reason. I’ve been off my diet for four months, so it’s about time to get back into it!
Ain’t nothin to it but to do it!
Nice Workouts Rog!!! You might even win the “Glute-Off” this year.
That’s the goal man! If I don’t win this year, I’m retiring from the fitness industry and becoming a bull fighter. Either that or a Krispy Kreme spokesman.
Common used to be dope. It’s hard for me to stomach is music the past few years. It went to hell after he caught the serious acting bug (post “Finding Forever”, though there were some dope joints on it). End of rant. 😀
Back on topic, I’m pretty much in the same boat as you. I started my fat loss goals 3 weeks ago at 202 pounds (6 feet tall). I decided to use IF, and EC’s Show and Go program to get down to the low 180’s. I’m taking waist measurements, and using the scale every two weeks to measure progress + the mirror. The only cardio I’m doing is 45 minutes of incline walking on a treadmill 2 days a week.
I can dig that point of view. I actually went to see N.E.R.D. in concert (who opened up for Common) a year or so ago and didn’t end up staying for Common’s performance. I still like his music, especially his earlier albums, but didn’t really have any desire to see him live.
Canibus ft Common – Making A Name For Ourselves (A great track IMO)
Only 3 weeks of dieting? Those are great results, man. Are you one of those treadmill masochists that walk at the max incline?!
IF’ing is a beautiful thing, and so convenient too. Glad you’ve found it useful as well.
I saw N.E.R.D with Common here in Boston a little while back and I enjoyed his set, however, it was not as good as the times I saw him back in 2005 or 2006.
His earlier stuff is indeed good. “Like Water For Chocolate” is one of my favorite albums.
Sadly I was late on the Common train so I missed out on those earlier performances when he probably still had that hot fiyah!
Yeah, Common’s earlier stuff is dope. That’s undeniable. I can tolerate him more in guest spots now. That track with Canibus is nice.
I’m not at 180 yet. 😀
I believe I’m below 200 lbs now. I’m going to weigh myself Sunday morning. I’m hoping to be the 196-198 range, though waist measurements, and the mirror will be more important.