23 Weeks Out

November 08, 2014

23 Weeks Out

Current progress pic:

23 weeks out

23 weeks out, and 6 weeks into prep. I got off to a pretty slow start, and although things have picked up, I want to share the ups as well as the downs. Things are never perfect, but that's part of the process. It's continual learning/growing/changing, and I suppose that's what keeps it interesting.

I caught a cold the very first week. Forgot how much it sucks to be sick.

Scale weight was creeping down, and by week 3, I hit my first plateau. It took some trial and error to get fat loss moving at an appropriate pace. Carbs tapered down from 315 to 300 to 250 to 230. Currently sitting at 130P/ 230C/ 30F, and things are moving along much better now. (This is roughly 1700 cals. for anyone who's curious.) At first these numbers seemed low to me as I would have liked to keep them higher, but things just weren't moving. Although I miss my 350 gram carb days, I'm making great progress right now, and that's what feels good. Most calculators put my TDEE around 1850-1950 cals, so this really isn't a bad place to be. I've been fitting plenty of delicious and fun food into my macros, like eggnog ice cream, ginger snaps, mini Kit Kats and mini Butterfingers (hooray for candy sales the day after Halloween!), burritos, ravioli... and plenty of nutrient dense foods too, like milk, cheese, oats, rice, turkey, chicken, whole grain breads, bananas, carrots, bell peppers, corn, V8... I've been striking a really good balance while hitting micros, fiber, and macros. BALANCE. That's what I'm after. Hunger has been mild. I'm hungry between meals, which is actually nice, considering I spent the last year shoving my face while rarely, if ever, feeling hungry. I'm also a bit hungry before bed, which is sort of to be expected. Dieting is calorie restriction, and sometimes you will get hungry. You can't be a pussy about it.

I added in some cardio during week 4, starting with 15 minutes HIIT 2x/week, which I've since slightly increased to 20 minutes HIIT 2x/week. I've been doing sprints on the elliptical, and (believe it or not) I'm actually having some fun with them.

Training has been great. Still hitting 3 days on/1 day off pull/legs/push. Energy has been good, and strength and performance are holding steady. I woke up with the amazing feeling this morning that I GET to train today. I have the day off work, all to myself, and I GET to go push myself in the gym and make one more small step of progress. To love what you do, to be thankful for the ability to do it, and to appreciate the time spent working at it... It's indescribable.

I hit a new low on Thursday of 123.8 lbs. Weight is currently averaging around 124 lbs. (Down a total of ~5 lbs.) I feel really good with where I'm at right now. I'm noticing some progress in the mirror, especially first thing in the morning. I'm even fitting into some compression pants that haven't been touched in months. Overall, I'm very happy with how things are going and where I'm at. :) :) :)

Time for some pics. Don't judge the posing.

week 6