And unto this...RONIN

[Ronin]

Thank you and welcome back Ma'am. I shall look up your recipe and apply it dilligently

[rose]

Limit yourself to 4-6 teaspoons of cream of tartar a day, anything more than that will likely have you gushing again. Heh :shock:

1L water, 3/4 tsp sea salt, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 4 tsp cream of tartar (up to 780mg potassium per tsp), 1T sugar/dextrose, optional: 1T orange juice or 2 tsp lemon juice :salute: Good luck, hope you feel better soon.

Sip.

[Ronin]

Feeling quite a bit perkier today, so looking forward to hitting it again tomorrow.

M1 4 eggs, bacon

M2 Tuna/chilli Melt

M3 Shake

M4 Chilli mince w cheese

M5 Jelly Fluff

M6 Jelly fluff

Todays numbers: 2155 cal, 266g P, 15g C, 117g F.

f*ck the vege police, the onion in last night's dinner accounted for 40% of yesterday's carbs, so it's history. I also figured out that I hadn't been allowing for the carbs in white coffee, which, with the number of cofees I had yesterday (and most days) was another 20-30g. So as of today, I allow myself a white coffee first thing in the a.m. and the rest are black. I've already switched about 6 of my daily coffees to green tea, so it's not that big of a stretch. Plus it means that if I'm ever in need of a cheat, a good latte or cappucino should do the trick.

It's now been just shy of 2 weeks since I ate anything carby and I still can't make a stick shange colour by pissing on it :x I'm pretty sure I'm pissing the right way, so I can't figure out why I don't appear to be in keto.

[Beef]

Cheers mate, I figure if I can't train I can at least stay on top of the nutro.

Bearing that in mind

M1 4 eggs, bacon

M2 Shake

M3 Chilli tuna melt

M4 chilli mince w cheese (+ 1 onion as a concession to the vege police)

M5 Jelly fluff

M6 Jelly fluff

For a grand total of 2532 cal, 279g P, 25g C, 129g F

Got my new kitchen scale today after waiting a month and a half for Flybuys to deliver it, and am quite excited about being able to remove the guesswork from calorie counting and macros. Yep, I have a sheltered life these days :oops:

dont mind me asking, what exactly is jelly fluff?!

[Ronin]

It's ok mate, ur not the first :pfft:

I think I pinched it off this site somewhere, it's pretty simple.

Make up a pack of WW Jelly. Once it's set blend in 2 serves of PP and 250g cottage cheese. Makes 2 servings, each serve has 266cal, 45g P, 5g C, 8g F.

I find it best to let it re-set in the fridge for an hour or two before eating. Best combinations I find are blackberry or raspberry jelly with choc PP. Although have just tried using vanilla and it comes out bloody well too.

[rose]

Feeling quite a bit perkier today, so looking forward to hitting it again tomorrow.

Good news sir :salute:

so I can't figure out why I don't appear to be in keto.

Those white coffees would likely add up, in addition to the veg and jelly fluff. 20g is not that much. Cheese has carbs too.

[Ronin]

Those white coffees would likely add up

I think that may well have been the case. Ditched the milk and ta-da...first sign of colour change today. I have magic wees

Okey dokes....

M1 4 eggs, bacon

M2 Shake

M3 Chilli tuna melt

M4 Thai Chilli mince w cheese

M5 Jelly fluff

M6 Jelly fluff

Numeros: 2253cal, 273g P, 14g C, 124g F

Apparently I wasn't quite as over it as I thought, hit the gym this a.m. and discovered that the tank wasn't as full as it should've been. Just really lethargic and not feeling up to it. But soldiered on as best I could.

Weighed in at 87.5kg

20 min Xtrainer 374 cal

5 min bike cooldown 47 cal

RC work

Swiss Ball DB Press

5 x 10 x 3kg ( @ Physio who only wanted me to use 2kg. True defiance :pfft: )

Wall press

5 x 10

Lateral raise (pulley)

3 x 10 x 10lb

1-arm seated Press

10 x 5lb

2 x 8 x 5lb

Front raise

3 x 10 x 3kg

Squats

5 x 10 x 60kg

2 x 5 x 80kg

Calf Raise

2 x 10 x 207kg

9 x 207kg

4 x 8 x 207kg

Haven't squatted for quite a while, so wanted to ease into it a little. In the past I think my form has been pretty shonky so really wanted to work on that. I know my ass seems to move first on the way up, so keeping an eye on that. And noticed today that my knees tend to get a bit of an inwards wobble if I'm not careful. Too much reliance in the past on hacks and Smith Machines I think. In my defence, I was following the advice of PT people.

[Ronin]

My youngest was off kindy today, so I had to delay training til her mother could take her this afternoon. I usually train about 0900, and really noticed a difference by training later in the day. For a start, I had eaten more than just breakfast, so weighed in higher than I should've, but also just felt "different". Not sure how else to put it, just different.

Anyhoo

M1 4 eggs, 50g Polish sausage

M2 chilli tuna melt

M3 Shake

M4 Thai green curry mince w cheese

M5 Jelly fluff

M6 Jelly fluff

and only 1 white coffee

So the sticks are still changing colour, now sitting at about 0.4g/L

2503cal, 297g P,16g C, 140g F

Had a good session today, just cardio and RC work.

X-trainer 40min 774 cal

Bike 5min cooldown 48 cal

SB DB Press

5 x 10 x 4kg

Wall press

5 x 10

Lat raise (pulley)

10 x 10lb

10 x 20lb

10 x 10lb

One arm seated press

3 x 10 x 5lb

Front Raise

2 x 10 x 5kg

10 x 3kg

Lat raise was feeling good so put it up to 20, but was getting pretty sore by the end of the set so dropped it back. Same with the front raise. All in all, I'm pretty happy with the progress I'm making now that I've actually started working on it. I can feel it getting better each day, so it shouldn't be long before I'm back to where I was, then moving forward from there.

[rose]

I have magic wees

Magic wees means nothing without a journal :snooty:

[Ronin]

Magic wees means nothing without a journal :snooty:

Point taken ma'am.

My lack of journalling lately has been a combination of

a) spotty internet access at best, and

b) having bugger all to report really.

Since my previous entry, I've restricted myself to cardio and physio exercises, so not very exciting. On the plus side, my fitness has improved, and weight is now sitting around the 82kg mark. Although having said that it's currently school hols so haven't trained for a few days, and may have crawled up a bit.

The eats have remained pretty much exactly as they were, apart from some hot-cross buns over easter :oops: .

Regarding the shoulder problem, it was eventually determined that the main problem was in the origin of the bicep long head, where it attaches to the accromion of the scapula. The supraspinatus was secondary to the bicep injury. So there's been a lot of doing not much on the pressing front, and then slowly building up again. The only consolation was that I was able to use the heavier, manlier black 2kg DBs, rather than the lighter, girlier pink 2kg DBs :pfft: . Also emphasising back and rear delt work, and setting the scapulae while pressing. So I guess I'll come out of this with some more knowledge, if nothing else.

And speaking of knowledge, and in only-slightly-related news, I'm now a dirty student again. I've gone back to varsity and am studying for a Diploma in Fitness Management. So all you lifting gods out there, be prepared to have your brains picked with a vengeance lol.

Plans at this stage are to start back on some dedicated weight routines next week when the spawn are back at school and I can train regularly again. It'll be good to get under some iron again, but will have to remember to not push too hard too quickly. It's been a long road getting to this point (I'm not known for my patience) and I really can't afford to have the same sort of set-back again. I've finished reading Pman's book, and will be trying to incorporate some of his ideas into my training (apologies in advance if I end up getting the wrong end of the stick, and going all ass-about-face). Also looking forward to incorporating principles from my course.

I think that's it for the update, it's not likely that I'll get another chance to train before next Monday, so probably won't be updating this before then. Unless there are requests, of course

[Pseudonym]

So are you still anabolically dieting, Ronin?

[Ronin]

Yeah, I went back to straight keto for a few weeks, as I figured there wasn't much point in the carb-ups if I wasn't gonna use the glycogen for lifting. But then ended up going back to AD anyway once I got the taste for hot cross buns lol.

Truth is, although my weight fluctuates during the week (higher on monday, but trends down during the week), overall there's been a net weight loss. It's been really easy to eat below maintenance on this diet, and I'm confident that the majority of the weight loss is from fat (although I haven't had a BF test done to confirm that). Just the grab test, and the fact that my jeans are a bit looser.

Another aspect that I've found to be important is that cardio should be Low Intensity Steady State, rather than HIIT. In the past I've pretty much ignored the wee graph on the X-trainers, but after studying the energy systems, learnt that there is actually science to support cardio-ing at about 60%(ish) intensity for fat loss. Even more so on a low-carb diet. So rather than just jumping on and pounding as hard as I could for 10 min, breaking for 1 min, etc etc, I switched to doing an hour, concentrating on keeping HR between 120-125 (not knowing my exact max HR, was forced to use age-predicted). Still ended up burning a similar number of cals, it just took a bit longer.

[Optimass]

Feeling quite a bit perkier today, so looking forward to hitting it again tomorrow.

Good news sir :salute:

so I can't figure out why I don't appear to be in keto.

Those white coffees would likely add up, in addition to the veg and jelly fluff. 20g is not that much. Cheese has carbs too.

I may be wrong but always thought caffine would affect a keto test? ... may have been the milk tho ....

Cheese . Sausage ... all have carbs :nod:

[Ronin]

Can you be a bit more specific about the caffeine effect? In what way? I can live quite happily without chocolate, but I'd really miss coffee

According to the pack, my cheese has 1.4% carb, and less than 1% sugar. Polish sausage = salami, and also according to the pack, 3.3% carb, none of it from sugar. Unless there's something else I don't know about, I just put the ammounts into my wee spreadsheet and it comes out with keeping me under 20g per day. If I'm missing something, I'd love to know.

[teamfatboy]

Another aspect that I've found to be important is that cardio should be Low Intensity Steady State, rather than HIIT. In the past I've pretty much ignored the wee graph on the X-trainers, but after studying the energy systems, learnt that there is actually science to support cardio-ing at about 60%(ish) intensity for fat loss. Even more so on a low-carb diet. So rather than just jumping on and pounding as hard as I could for 10 min, breaking for 1 min, etc etc, I switched to doing an hour, concentrating on keeping HR between 120-125 (not knowing my exact max HR, was forced to use age-predicted). Still ended up burning a similar number of cals, it just took a bit longer.

That's interesting.... I always understood one of the attractions of HIIT was the EPOC - the afterburn, if you like.

I understood that (assuming you burned the same amount of calories during the workout, regardless of duration) the EPOC meant that over the course of the day, you got better fat-loss from HIIT than LISS?

Has your actual experience on LISS meant you've carried on with fat loss for the same/similar calorie expenditure during the actual workout?

[Ronin]

I'll have to go back to the papers for the actual scientifical buggaboo, but essentially (and bear in mind here that I'm still working my way through a 1st yr paper)...

it has to do with the rate that energy can be supplied via aerobic glycolisis. When the body is operating at high intensity, the energy demands are such that ATP must be generated quickly, and the preferred fuel source is glycogen followed by glucose. Once stored glycogen and blood glucose are used up, the next quickest fuel to break down is protein. Fat only becomes efficient at about 60% intensity.

I'm sure there a plenty of people on here that can put it into gooderer words, and correct me if I'm wrong, but that's how I remember it going.

I only switched to LISS a few weeks back, and as mentioned haven't had a BF% test done since, but I feel that it is having better results. The downside is that it means roughly twice as long on cardio.

[Ronin]

Moving right along...

Back into it today, first time in about two months that I've done anything more than cardio, so was a little nervous about how the shoulder would hold up.

Eats

M1 4 eggs, polish sausage

M2 Shake

M3 1/2 a chook

M4 Cayenne mince w cheese

M5 Protein pancake w cream

M6 Jelly Fluff

Pro 239g, Carb 18g, Fat 145g, Cal 2315

Not including the half chook, cos I don't have the numbers for that.

Weighed in at 87.4kg (those 2 weeks of school hols took their toll :shock: )

Cardio

X-trainer 60min, 120-125 bpm, 834 cal

Bench press

8 x 40kg

8 x 45kg

2 x 8 x 47.5kg

8 x 50kg

Squat

8 x 60kg

4 x 8 x 80kg

OHP

8 x 22.5kg

4 x 8 x 25kg

So that's day one. New plan is to pretty much just concentrate on compound movements. Tomorrow will be deadlift, row, and pulldown (substituted for pullups until I'm satisfied the shoulder will stand up to it). Wednesday is intended to be either a vanity day or an extra cardio day, depending on how I'm feeling, then repeat days 1 & 2 on Thurs - Fri.

Overall pretty happy with my first day back. Shoulder was ok, although the last few reps of bench were getting a bit dodgy. But with a bit of ice on it tonight, it's feeling good. See what tomorrow brings.

Haven't really spent any time just working on the basic compounds before, so it's hard to say just how much I've lost in the time off, but definitely some off the bench. All in all, off to a good start, and I'm looking forward to tomorrow.

[rose]

.

[Ronin]

Oi you, get that popcorn out of here. This is a cab-free zone :naughty:

Right-o

M1 4 eggs, polish sausage

M2 Shake

M3 Chilli mince & cheese

M4 PP pancake & cream

M5 Jelly fluff

plus 6 boiled eggs to snack on during the day

Pro 266g, Carb 19g, Fat 172g, Cal 2682 :shock:

Weighed in at 87.15kg

Cardio

X-trainer 60 mins 120 - 125bpm, 871cal

Deadlift

8 x 100kg

6 x 120kg

4 x 120kg

2 x 120kg (must need more wanking time)

8 x 100kg

Pulldown

4 x 8 x 105lb

6 x 120lb

Seated Row

8 x 135lb

4 x 8 x 120lb

Deads were ok. By the end of set 4 the shoulder was getting niggly, but it was the grip that gave out first :x

Made it through the pulldowns and rows (mostly), although the shoulder didn't feel all that great. It's ok now, after jusdicious application of ice. And my body is starting to remember that post-weights feel :pfft:

[Pseudonym]

Oi you, get that popcorn out of here. This is a cab-free zone :naughty:

There's never a cab when you want one, then they all come at once.

[Ronin]

Oi you, get that popcorn out of here. This is a cab-free zone :naughty:

There's never a cab when you want one, then they all come at once.

Yeah they're sneaky lil bastards :pfft:

[rose]

Oi you, get that popcorn out of here. This is a cab-free zone :naughty:

There's never a cab when you want one, then they all come at once.

Heh, see, not eating carbs makes you stoopid :pfft:

:wave: Would you like some poopcorn Ronin? It's brown for a reason! :grin:

[Ronin]

Ooh, I'm sooo lucky, I'm allowed to share Momma Rose's popcorn. And the brown ones are my favourite flavour

Today's eats

Pro 266g, Carb 19g, Fat 172g, Cal 2682

I figure there's not much point listing individual meals anymore, each day is pretty much the same.

Weighed in at 86.75kg

Cardio

X-trainer 60 min, 120 - 125 bpm, 878 cal

BB Curl

4 x 8 x 25kg

6 x 25kg

Tri Pushdown

2 x 8 x 60lb

6 x 70lb

2 x 8 x 60lb

Shrug

8 x 225lb

8 x 240lb

3 x 8 x 255lb

Calf Raise

10 x 217kg

9 x 227kg

2 x 8 x 227kg

7 x 227kg

Nice wee vanity day.

[Ronin]

*Yawn*

In

Pro 292g, Carb 17g, Fat 171g, Cal 2668

Out

Cardio X-trainer 60 min, 120 - 125 bpm, 838 cal

Bench

3 x 8 x 45kg

8 x 50kg

6 x 50kg

Squat

8 x 60kg

3 x 8 x 80kg

8 x 60kg

OHP

8 x 22.5kg

2 x 8 x 25kg

6 x 25kg

7 x 25kg

Wee shoulder niggle on the last set of bench, but nothing too major.

Squat, 60kg sets were ATG and good form (I think), but 80s I could only get to just below parallel, and last half of last set were getting kinda dodgy, formise, so dropped back to 60 and that seemed to fix it. Basically my ass starts to move first on the way up, leaving the back to kinda deadlift the last part (if that makes sense). Other than dropping the weight back, any tips to improve this?

[rose]

any tips to improve this?

Keep your chest high.

Leaning Forward. Happens when your hips go up faster than your shoulders. Read how to avoid leaning forward on Squats.

How to Avoid Leaning Forward on Squats

How to Squat with Proper Technique without Injuring Yourself

And this post by Old Bull in Ohjoshua's journal:

I want something to help with my hips shooting up during the squat.

A bit more core work, Pull Down Abs, Russian Twists/DB Side Bends and Hanging Leg Raise.

Are you belting in the Squats when you get up to your work sets?

The Belt will spread the load across your stomach (Core Bracing)

Your hips are coming up first because of your core, there also could be a technical thing too. A couple of points that you may or may not be doing get some one to watch.

Do a few sets how you normally do them up to your work set. At light weight the issues he would not see them, then ask the helper to look for the things below. Get him to check what is happening with your knees if they are coming in push them out just before you hit parallel and hard out on the way up. Start with the up first as pushing your knees out at the botmom will unlock the hips from the start position and you will drop an extra inch or so.

On your way up the first thing to move is your head, drive it up and back big chest and try to move the elbows forward.

Quite a few lifters will drop their head at the bottom of the squat, this makes you tilt forward, this applies to the elbows if they go back and up it does the same thing. Tilting slightly forward makes the hips come up first.