Training and nutrition diary Week: the hybrid

The name of the blog entries have changed. I'm now settled on a hybrid diet of velocity and green faces (VELGF) TM! Haha.

It looks like this:

Morning fast (ideally strength training)

2 x meal replacement drinks

6 eggs with chicken breast portion (1/2)

Broccoli and spinach 

Also returned to my greens drink in the morning. Feels like it's helping already.

Wednesday 28

Weighed in this morning at 79.7 (-8.7) the 2/2 shakes and meal formula with fasting is the ideal blend for me and highly effective. My training has been 1 lift per day (Monday - goblet squat & Tuesday - chin ups) again I over this style as it's sparing on energy. I will sprint/row/cycle in bursts daily (but it's not a priority yet). Had dry needling done today I could be off training for a day or two. Can do light sprints tomorrow and maybe some core work - no disaster, good time to dial in the diet to super strict carb intake. 

Starting to get more ketone taste in my mouth this week and feel and look visibly leaner in places, need to keep this 10-12 day run going to next weekend and feel I could make massive steps towards single digit bf%.

Thursday 29

Weighed in at 79kg (-9.4) think I've hit the sweet spot for weight/fat loss with daytime shakes and high protein meal in evening (modified warrior diet) so will try to keep the same system. It's not easy but it's not that tough either. Shoulder still hurting from dry needling so 50/50 on training today.

Did first day of easy strength 40 day program, avoiding shoulder and was "easy" - I will keep this going every day, I like the process of strength practise, it takes very little time too - which helps.

Additional Note: to avoid sounding gross my toilet stops have been unbelievably different over the past 2 days. Elimination is a vital part of health, if it ain't happening regularly, you're not going to feel great. More on this as the diary goes on but it seems like one massive feed a day is doing incredible things for the bowels. Say no more.

Two meals, two shakes today - that's easy to maintain.

Friday 30

Weighed In at 79kg. had extra hour in bed and felt good, weekend target is to get to Monday at 78.5 or 78. 

Waking - 11am to 12noon is water/coffee

12 - 5/6pm is shakes

6-7pm I'm eating one large protein heavy meal

Saturday 31

Weighed in at 79kg today, pretty steady, happy to stay here. Took my greens drink today which shows an attitude shift towards my weekends. In gym doing day 3 easy strength program at 0845. Drank 2 coffees, the milk feels really crappy now so I'm done with it. Had 1 shake then one large meal at 1730, chicken, wedges and sweet potato (boomerang) not first choice but not a disaster. No food until tomorrow evening. Possibly just shakes through Monday lunchtime and past Monday bootcamp.

Sunday 1

Weighed in at 80.2kg. 13 days until pictures for blog story, no more huge feedings, sizes of single meal wil naturally reduce. Redo bf% on Friday this week and adjust cardio/sprints/carbs for last week accordingly.

Trained today (4) easy strength and feeling good. 

1230 - pre workout shake

1430 - post workout meal (sashimi pieces x 12, banana)

24 hour fast commences. Good week, felt really good midweek and tapered off Friday/Saturday. Need to put the next 7 days down as the best yet. 

- absolutely no fruit or dairy

- smaller last meal of the day (big not massive)

- lane sprints to end some workouts

- slow 'rag doll' runs on sat and sun while carb depleted.

- no cheat meals

Velocity diet: week 3

Monday 19

Okay so my first statement here is I'm no longer on the V diet. So like most diets, that's a fail. However I am now combining shakes and low carb eating and making the whole process more enjoyable.

I wanted to share this because I think it's funny and deadly accurate!

Tuesday 20

81.5 on weigh in this morning. Holding weight quite well, I'm really only looking at myself visually now, the weight is more a secondary thing as extra information. It would be excellent to remain as heavy as I can while continuing to lean out. 

Training EDT style with daily ab work, goblet squats and loving the simplicity of the sessions. Consistent, steady work without massive fatigue each day and also adding short bursts of sprinting and also weekend exercise.

Tonight's "Atkins" meal:

Wagyu burgers, lean bacon, 2 fried eggs with Parmesan cheese, broccoli and asparagus. Oh and carb free ranch dressing! Amazing :)

Wednesday 21

Weighed in at 82.1 so really stabilising there but eating a lot more solid food. Happy to extend pictures to another week, feel good right now and want to continue this run not end it. The goal now has to be to get as lean as possible in the coming 4-6 weeks.

Using a new bodyfat caliper sequence called "parillo" which has more sites and tests the leg fat too, so I think it's far more accurate.

The results show that in the past 16 days I have lost (an estimated) 3.5kg bodyfat and lost around 2kg of muscle but I believe this is partly glycogen storage and not not pure 'muscle'. My new goal on next parillo caliper test is to stay above 71-72kg lean mass and duck under 10% bodyfat. To achieve this I need to extend the zero carb "Atkins" style diet for another 7-9 days - definitely through this weekend with no heavy treats/alcohol/late nights.

Thursday 22

Weighed in this morning at 80.8kg. Got a busy morning with PT so I'm going to fast with water and a black coffee. Will train fasted at midday and breakfast around 1330 with bacon and eggs.

Friday 23

Weighed at 80.3 (-8.1kg). Trained bench, got to 130kg again, failed on 137.5 - relaxing on the carb intake today but not much, back on the diet train again tomorrow. Need another 2% in 2 weeks to be happy with this past 6 weeks effort. Half way through day I decided to have a carb refeed - so i can refocus on low/zero carb weekend and weighing in lighter on Monday than today. Active weekend planned with lots of sun, fasting and recharging.

My daily dojo.

Saturday 24

Taking the day off training, weighed in at 80.3 again, did bootcamp coaching and chilled. Had 2 coffees and a solid lunch so not eating much more today and will return to a single meal, low carb Sunday into a 24hour fast - looking to creep under 80 on Monday and a Friday goal of 78.5/79 with solid strength and sprint work all week.

Sunday 25

Fasted today, not a particularly great diet day but fully committed for the next 14 days effort of fat loss, goal is to get under 10% which is close to around 78kg.

Taming the velocity diet: experiments in rapid fat loss. Part 2

Monday, 12 may

Weighed in this morning at 82.1 (7 day loss = 6.3kg). Trouble sleeping last night, could be the thermobol? Felt warm and wide awake. Targeting 80kg by Friday. Battled mentally all morning and seriously would have taken any offer of food! Really hard to stick with this, it's starting to feel unfair and unnecessary. Had an afternoon nap and felt okay. Had a second wind and was in great spirits heading to my bootcamp session! I realise these small bursts of energy don't last.

I feel like each day needs to be broken down into a.m and p.m, the pm being easier. 2pm is my magic number for each day. Lifted 130kg bench press today and felt good, that's 1.7 bodyweight so would score 10+ on ufit scoreboards.

Think tomorrow will be easier. Have a later start planned for work as it's public holiday.

Tuesday, 13 may

Woke at 815am today, feel so much better with the extra time in bed! Feel leaner and obviously more awake. This could lead to a change of daily pattern in the future? It certainly feels more human to wake at 7/8am from the usual 5am assault! Weighed in today at 81.5kg (8 day loss = 6.9kg) - happy to stay above 80kg for the weekend leading into the refeed, which is now planned for Saturday afternoon.

In a blog I called 'taming' the velocity diet, it was I that has been tamed. Today I decided to switch some things just due to the sheer dullness of this challenge. I've found over the past few days I've simply been trying to sleep a long as I can - from a work and social perspective this is bordering on what depressed people do.

So my changes are:

- add one green faces meal per day (eggs and greens)

- take away one shake

- keep refeed meal on Sunday, but it's followed by a 24 hour fast.

I feel these small changes are positive both mentally (look forward to daily meal) and physically (25g less carbs per day) and will ensure I stay on this fat loss challenge throughout May.

Wednesday, 14 may

Woke up pretty tired, after good sleep but not long enough! May keep Thursdays free until 8am for extra sleep time.

Thursday, 15 may

Energy and enthusiasm have transformed with the inclusion of a green faces meal. Having a daily goal and treat of a meal is a lifesaver! Training is going well, one lift a day for 45 minutes is great.. Probably need to add sprints in now, I'm just being lazy and deciding against it every day. It's only 60s!

Drinking 3 shakes and saving the meal for evening which is still tough but really working well.

Friday, 16 may

Weighed in this morning at 81.9, which I'm happy with. The weight loss has stalled but I think I'm progressing and this process (fat loss) doesn't work in a linear fashion, must have the patience and discipline to get through another weekend on plan. That means going to a party and not drinking or eating - which will be tough. Gym session planned for Sunday morning followed by myoplex shake then refeed followed by 24hour fast. Then my ketogenic 3 day switch starts for potential pics on Friday.

Farmers walk training today inside the gym so not ideal, felt tired. Will need to include more cardio next week (sprint daily with swimming)

Saturday, 17 may

Training day off. Weighed in at 80.4kg (-8kg) for the 2 weeks. Fasted until midday shake, drank lots of water in morning. 

Felt great today, had my lunch of lamb chops and spinach, really feeling the benefits of fasting daily and eating far less on weekends! It makes a huge difference. My first 'slip' of a latte and cake today, simply felt like it and it was good. I told myself it was in the lunch but I'm super determined to keep with this effort. Next Friday I should be feeling and looking close to my best again, but that's the start, want to have a physique in the low single % (close which I've got near in past but never really got right). 

Late night tonight as it's the massive Spanish game on TV but gym still planned for tomorrow and I'm focused on smashing that and enjoying my single feed Sunday Before a strict 24 fast.

Sunday, 18 may

Legs and arms session planned (1030am) before refeed lunch (1230-1300) - the goal of Monday morning is to be lighter than Friday morning (81.9) this will mean 2 weeks of dropping weight on consecutive weekends. Next Fridays target for potential pics is realistically 78-79 being as muscular/dry as possible then returning to a stable training and diet regime.

Next weeks training will be:

Warm up (10 minutes including 20reps of goblet squat, 1 minute plank/push up)

Abs - 5 sets (10 minutes) bosu, leg raise, cable crunch, leg raise, side ups

Supersets - 8/10 reps (25-30 minutes)

Sprints/rowing - 5 intervals (10 minutes)

Standing db row, Bench press

Neutral grip chin ups, dips 

Ez tricep extension, Trapbar shrugs, lateral raises

Db incline press, Alternate bicep curl

Ez bicep curl, Seated shoulder press

Changing up things to hit more upper body muscles.

Taming the velocity diet: an experiment in rapid fat loss. Part 1

About 5 weeks ago I started a fat loss regime that would involve a lot of fasting and protein shakes. I will post a new blog every day for the past 5 weeks, ending on Saturday with my final pics and results. 

Here's what happened...

Only a few times in my life I've tried the infamous velocity diet and After reading Dan Johns "never let go" I was once again reminded of the simple and sinister challenge that it gives.

Starting bodyfat numbers:

Suprailiac - 6mm

Bicep - 4mm

Tricep - 5mm

Scapula - 11mm

Bodyweight 88.3 (2nd highest I can remember)

Waist 33.1" (biggest I can remember measuring)

Looking at the numbers my bodyfat is 'okay', but my goals are to be continuously single figure % whilst staying as strong and muscular as possible. The velocity diet promises "no muscle losses" and "all fat loss" - let's see if that's the case. My targets are:

Total weight - 80kg (-8)

Lean body weight - 73.24 (-2)

Bodyfat weight - 6.96 (-6)

I'm predicting that I will considerably drop waist size, as I'm eliminating foods that I know make me bloated (bread, milk, dairy, alcohol). 

Waist target is 30.5" (-2.5)

Velocity diet: the numbers

21 days

12 weight training sessions

6 sprinting sessions

6 (targeted) yoga sessions

100 protein shakes

200 fish oils capsules

42 cold water immersions 

105 litres of drinking water

21 green teas

21 supergreens/spirulina drink

3 steak dinners

Here I will keep a Velocity diet diary, detailing the key challenges, feelings to help others in their potential Vdiet attempts.

Sunday, May 4 (Pre day 1)

Decided to eat some off-menu foods today like granola, fruit, sushi, milky coffee, white chocolate, etc. I also want to try some brief daily meditation focused on the challenge and the detoxing of my body over the next 3 weeks. It's actually more mental than physical.

Agreed the terms of a buy-out clause with fellow employee DC (who is on same diet), they are:

Week 1 - $100

Week 2 - $300

Week 3 - $500

This is purely an idea to keep us on point for the whole challenge, honesty is the only way we can really go with it.

Monday, May 5 (day 1)

Today was ok, not hard at all yet but started to want lunch/food at the usual time. No real hunger pangs. Trained upper body weights and walked a lot (20k steps atleast). Slept good.

Tuesday, May 6

Weighed in this morning at 85.5 (-2.8) the diet already working its inflammatory magic! No training today as very busy with PT and work. It's becoming already very clear that I need to do the following every day:

Revisit the goal of this 21 days challenge and stay on track with that mentally.

Sleep as much as possible while staying productive

2-4pm seems like a genuine down time for me so ideal nap time. Early to bed also seems to be the answer, 9pm is the goal daily.

Wednesday, May 7

Weighed in at 84.6kg (-3.7) this morning, felt well rested and had an extra hour in bed so great start. Experienced the afternoon lull which is fine, I plan a lengthy nap every day with the dogs, they love it! Took 17000 steps today which was okay and did sprints with a light weights session. Anticipate that training intensity will return after weekend - keen to just get through week one in one piece and on track.

Thursday, May 8

Weighed in at 83.4kg (-4.9) that's another 1.2 in 24 hours!!! Enjoyed a Relative lay in today, 7am alarm which I'm assuming will help a lot, I'm feeling so much better when I wake up later - I can't wait for the weekend as I plan 2 big sleep ins! Visually seeing a difference already, I'm thinking of switching the training to 'one lift per day' for next week. This way I think I can maintain strength and muscle in all the big areas and keep as much mass as possible. Training without the thought of a post workout meal is tiring in itself. 

Today was easier, I woke up hungry and thought it would be a long day. Mid afternoon naps are great! Supplementing with melatonin tonight as finding it hard to sleep in evening. Few people commenting on Facebook that diet is crazy, that just spurs me on - MY goals are to be sub 8% bodyfat this summer not to go out drinking every weekend - I'm on the way to that.

Friday, May 9

Weighed in 83.4 (no change) so the weight finally stopped. Trained 45 minutes shoulder press and pull ups, decided to lift one muscle part every day, with 3/4 x 300m sprints in the week from Monday.

Brought my meal forward as I went to Luke's for lunch with a client and co worker, so this means I now have 9 days until my next solid (including an engagement party) so navigating that should be fun! Felt good in gym, really seen an improvement in bodyfat when training, can't wait to wake up Monday feeling fresh and focused.

Saturday, May 10

I added a different type of flaxseed today and acidophilus (healthy gut bacteria) - thinking it would be a good idea to use this "detox" to actually improve gut health. Should be an excellent addition to the shakes. I Also Cacoa nibs which are high in antioxidants and fill out the chocolate shakes, I will keep those back for my evening "treat" shake of PB/chocolate.

Woke today at 0930am, had a black coffee and took the greyhounds to fort canning do some bootcamp recon work - Mapping out where I can take my Monday evening group during sessions. Great low level fat loss and a chance to get some fasting in for extra results.

Sunday, May 11

Weighed in 83kg (-5.3) this morning. What's interesting about this (and creates a genuine challenge in the future) is that my weight is going to be lower on a Monday than a Friday... A rare occasion. Can I challenge clients to be lighter on Mondays than on Fridays? 2 more of those weekends should do me well in this challenge. Converted over to "one lift a day program" and today is leg press with a final burn out set on leg curl/extension machines.

New program template looks like this:

A) 5 minutes Ab work

B) 45 minutes of primary lift (or pair if selected)

C) burn out set (30+ to failure)

Today I have:

Weighted Cable crunch (4 sets)

Leg press (60 reps at 240kg)

Hamstring curl/extension (35 reps each)

Leg session felt great, really enjoying lifting again and returning to sculpting type training of my youth. I can see my physique changing too which feels good. Started to feel bored and craving food today, possibly due to fasted cardio this morning. 

Lesson: no need to chase fat burn with extra activities/exercise. Keep appetite in check, focus on daily lifting and shakes!

In body results today show 12.5% bodyfat which is quite close to accurate. Will repeat calipers and I body next to see any differences.