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astracner

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Posts posted by astracner

  1. mikkah1987: That's great and I hope you are enjoying the program. I'm not sure what the difference in the protein requirements for women and men are but for me I was getting around 15-35 grams of protein per-meal. No scientific calculations here.. Just tasty & healthy foods! This page here should give you a good idea of what your protein requirements are based on your activity level. Gardein makes great vegan meat substition products that are amazing. This made managing fats & carbs and getting enough protein much easier. You can check their website and find a store near you. They have a very nice customer support team so if you cannot find them in a store near you then don't be afraid to ask them to start stocking there. There website said that the Kroger's near my home stocked their products but this wasn't the case when I contacted all the Kroger's nearby. After letting Gardein know about the issue they had it being stocked at all of the Kroger's within 3 weeks.

     

    davidmNY: I'm the same way.. I like to know exactly what I am, have done, and will be doing before even beginning a new exercise routine. This program is easy to understand because it's written out completely for you and the program provides to tools necessary to make tracking your progress very easy. Here you can find the P90X Excel Worksheet. Alternatively, you can print them from a pdf file that you can get from here. As for the diet, I just stuck to vegan foods that I know and love. The main thing I focused on was eating my most energy rich meals during the times of the day that I require the most energy. This is usually breakfast, lunch (2-2.5 hours before training) and my recovery drink. The recovery drink was made of mixed berries (blueberries, blackberries, raspberries), oats, and protein powder. My protein powder was a 70% and 30% mixture of Gemma and Rice Concentrate flavored with premium french vanilla from TrueProtein.com.

     

    I hope I answered both of your questions with the detail you were hoping for. If you have any others please feel free to ask because I'd love to help anyone looking for help. Thank you all so much for your compliments and wish you the best with your health and fitness goals!

  2. 1 cup of mixed berries (blueberry, raspberry, blackberry)

    1/2 cup of oats

    1 scoop protein powder (70% Gemma,30% Rice Concentrate,Premium French Vanilla flavor)

    1 scoop Scivation Xtend Grape

    1 tbsp peanut butter

    about 1 1/2 cup of water

     

    this is usually my morning meal. the difference in my morning shake and post-workout shake is 3 scoop vs 1 scoop xtend, no peanut butter, 1/4 cup oats vs 1/2 cup.

  3. I began eating vegan about a month or so before beginning the program. It definitely changed my life and the greatly added to the drive I have to pursue even more ambitious goals of mine. My starting weight was 155 and end weight was 145. I'm about to begin the program yet again, as soon as I recover from a recent illness, and am expecting even greater results. I only had access to 25 and 35lb dumbells but I have an entire weight training setup now and hopefully wont be as 'boney' this time around. Anyway, here's my results!

     

    http://img691.imageshack.us/img691/3913/p90xresize.jpg

  4. Marcina said it very well so no need for me to add anything.

     

    Bananas also can give some people wicked dreams if eaten right before bed. Not sure if it's from the potassium or the magnesium.

     

    I'll vouche for this! One banana an hour before bed time seems to help me sleep.

  5. I've been taking Greens+ for about 3 months now and I was wondering what everyone's personal opinion on this product was. Also, does anyone have a recommendation for any health supplement products like Greens+ that would actually be better? I eat a serving of vegetables atleast once daily (broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, squash) and was wondering if I need to even take a supplement like Greens+. I'm aware that it does have health benefits but if I'm already consuming a balanced diet of vegetables, fruits, legumes, and nuts then is it really worth the $40 to purchase Greens+?

  6. The polyuria/polydipsia (drinking, peeing a lot) kinda worries me. It's usually a sign of diabetes, or kidney issues which I'm sure disturb sleep as well.

     

    My advice would be to see a doctor about it. People can't function on such little sleep!

     

    I'm in full agreement here but above all else you should see a doctor. It helps to do your research and try to diagnose yourself but in any case you still should see a doctor.

  7. Woa.. I agree apple. Who would want to do a diet that restrictive?!?! I already burnt out on this style of dieting.. as you may have noticed from me previous post. I love food and I want to enjoy the foods I eat. On this diet it's very hard for me to do that on the low days. I would recommend less restriction on this diet for anyone who is thinking about trying this.

  8. It just seems like you spend half your time being fatter than you'd like to be. That doesn't seem very satisfying.

     

    Agreed.. I've kinda settled with keeping it simple. Eating healthy foods, watching the fat content of my foods, not over consuming on carbohydrates, and gaining strength. I doubt you can go wrong by following a plan as simple as that! Healthy foods, smart weight training, and solid cardio should always help you on your way to a physique anyone could admire as well as allowing you to live a healthy and long life. I've sort of become 'burnt out' on watching what I eat. I'm 20 years old, 140lbs and it's mainly muscle. My body fat is miniscule to begin with and I strongly believe that where I've gone wrong is with my cardio. It hasn't been solid nor routine.. Just a few minutes ago I got back from a 3 mile hike in my old neighborhood where I know the distances from point A to point B so it's easy for me to keep track. I'm going to keep this up because it helped me clear my mind unlike any cardio session could do for me in the past. I believe I've trained my body and mind enough now to the point that I can control my cravings and keep my exercise routine. The benefit of studying what I ate so closely has paid off because I understand the nutritional content of all the foods that I have access to now. My enjoyment of eating has almost been obliterated by my obsession of consuming exactly this many calories, this many carbs, or this much protein to the point where I've just said the hell with all of it. I'm young, fit, healthy, athletic, and enjoying my summer.. and now I ask myself: Why spoil it with obsessing over your diet? Plain and simple, I'm vegan and I eat the healthiest foods known to man. My plan is to live long and healthy and to spread my knowledge of how to make a healthy lifestyle work for anyone.. Not to obsess over the idea that if I overeat that I will become fat. This has turned into more of a blog than an actual forum post lol so please forgive me. Hey! you know.. It might not be a bad idea to start a blog of my own about my mission on continuing to live a healthy life. Anyway, off to grocery store. Thank you if you read all of this!

  9. I'm trying out the "Carb Cycling" method to see what results churn out of this style of dieting. It's going to take some work to get it going smoothly but so far so good even being that today is my first day on the diet. I've got a grocery list made out already so it's time to shop! I'll let everyone know how its been going at the end of the week. My goal ultimately, is to shed a bit of fat and be able to see my abs better by the time I go to the river on July 10th. This is definitely a short time frame but I think it can be done with the determination that I have. Wish me luck Any suggestions on how this diet could be more effective would be appreciated.

  10. I've seen good and bad reviews but they all have one thing in common, increased muscle endurance. The majority of user reviews of beta-alanine products comment on it's "tingling" effect. More research into this is recommended before trying it out for yourself but it's well-known that this is a characteristic of beta-alanine supplementation. If you are interested in beta-alanine, you might be interested in trying a product like Controlled Labs Purple Wraath. It's a powder mix that's mainly used for recovery and endurance during workouts. It is pricey and I myself considered purchasing it but I chose to turn to Scivation Xtend. Both of these products are BCAA complex powders that promote endurance and recovery from your workouts. I take half of a serving of Xtend before my workout, the other half of the serving for the duration of my workout, and then a whole serving with my recovery drink. It has worked for me and I notice quicker recovery and more endurance during my workouts. For many people, they will buy a product and use it one time then praise it's name because they think it helped them have a good workout. If you are to try beta-alanine, make sure that you have a current routine worked out and are actively engaged in it, then work any supplements such as beta-alanine, xtend, or purple wraath into you arsenal. Take notes on the changes you notice over a span of atleast a couple of weeks before determining whether the supplement(s) are working for you. If you make up your mind about beta-alanine and would like to try it, I'd recommend purchasing it in it's pure powder form. You can find it for a good price at NOW Foods that will last you for quite sometime if used as the label recommends. All of these products, in my opinion, are sure to help you during your workouts. If you have the extra money, Scivation Xtend is a great product that will definitely work very well when beta-alanine is supplemented with it. The juicy grape flavor rivals that of grape koolaid

  11. I started the cycle today, which is a low carb day, and it's proving to be pretty difficult as I'm only on my second meal out of the six total that I will require and I'm down to only 10g of carbs per my next six meals to meet my quota. It seems like my carb quota is a bit too strict. What's the ideal amount of carbs in any particular food in order for it to be considered a "low-carb" food?

  12. A Beginner's Guide to Carb Cycling

    by Matt McGorry

     

    I rushed into the venue — a nondescript warehouse in the middle of nowhere called "The Compound III" — exactly 30 minutes late.

     

    Dave Tate uses the Compound both as a showcase for his company's products and as a serious training facility. As such, it's stocked with everything you'd ever want or need to get big and strong — power racks, monolifts (squat racks that don't require a walkout), a deadlift platform, 20 different bars, and enough machines to satisfy any bodybuilder.

     

    It's kind of like a warfare museum. Except, instead of not touching the artifacts, you can jump right into the cockpit and start launching missiles.

     

    But I didn't come here to train. I came for a seminar cosponsored by EliteFTS, Tate's company, and Troponin Nutrition. Representing the latter were Troponin owner Justin Harris and Shelby Starnes. Both have competed at high levels in powerlifting and bodybuilding, and their goal was to reveal some of the inside secrets of their trade — specifically, how to eat to get jacked and shredded. This is the stuff the American Dietetic Association would be happy to tell you is a waste of time. Which, of course, is exactly why we need to know it.

     

     

    Carb Cycling 101

     

    Losing weight is simple. Most people know that burning more calories than we consume will lead to a decrease in scale weight. Just about anybody who tries it will be rewarded with moderate, short-term success.

     

    Here's something fun to think about: Next time you're in your gym — or any place where people who care about their appearance tend to gather — take a close look at the ones who, in your estimation, need to lose some fat. Now try to figure out how many of them are currently enjoying the moderate, short-term success of eating less and exercising more. Chances are, at least a few of them are 10 to 20 pounds lighter than they were a few months ago.

     

    And still clearly overweight.

     

    So those of us in search of more than "moderate" success need a better way to lose a lot of fat without sacrificing muscle, or to stay lean while adding size and building strength.

     

    That's why Justin Harris and Shelby Starnes have used carb cycling with hundreds of clients, ranging from competitive powerlifters and bodybuilders to average folks. And they mos def practice it themselves. Harris is an NPC superheavyweight competitor who also attained an elite powerlifting total in his first-ever meet, with an 875-pound squat, 573 bench, 700 deadlift, and 2,149 total. Starnes has a decade of experience competing in powerlifting and bodybuilding, winning his first bodybuilding competition in 2005 as a novice, and since then finishing twice in the top six in the NPC Junior Nationals.

     

    Which brings us to carb cycling.

     

    Most of us eat pretty much the same way every day — similar foods, similar amounts, similar timing. Other than post-workout shakes and cheat meals here and there, it would be hard to distinguish one day from another in terms of macronutrients and calories.

     

    Here's how Starnes described the idea behind carb cycling: "By fluctuating macronutrients on a daily basis, we can ensure that performance and muscle building can be optimized on the days when it's most important, while burning fat on the other days."

     

    This applies to virtually everyone who trains hard, from gym rats to competitive lifters and bodybuilders to athletes in just about any sport that's more physically demanding than a spelling bee. There are always training days that take more out of you than others. If you never vary your daily calories or macros, you end up overfeeding yourself on the days you're either resting or training light, and perhaps eating too little on the days you train the hardest.

     

    For most of us, the damage goes one direction: We eat to support our hardest workouts, meaning we overeat on the other days. Intentionally or not, a lot of us are in a perpetual bulking cycle. Over time, we end up with excess body fat, which many of us try to take off all at once during a cutting phase.

     

    Carb cycling, when you get it right, gives you the best of both worlds and the worst of neither. You fuel your body on the brutal training days that would ordinarily suck the life out of you, but treat your body as if it's in a cutting phase on the days you don't need excess energy.

     

    "High days," in which you're giving your body all the carbs it can handle, refill your glycogen stores and promote an anabolic environment.

     

    Let's say you're doing a body-part split, your legs are your weakest body part, and thus your toughest workout of the week is leg day. (Especially if this is your workout.) So you choose that as your high day for carbs. You don't need as much protein, since the extra carbs generate more insulin, which helps you get more protein into your muscles. ("It's not how much protein you take in, but how much your body can utilize," Harris told us.)

     

    "Medium days" allow you to maintain your glycogen levels with fewer total calories. You'll have enough carbs to fuel your workout and prevent tissue breakdown, but not enough to be highly anabolic.

     

    "Low days" are ideal for the days you do cardio only, or don't train at all. Your body, with its low insulin levels, will be primed for burning fat. With fewer carbs, you'll be eating more fat, which benefits hormone production and helps keep your body sensitive to insulin on the medium and high days.

     

    That's the general idea. Here are some specifics:

     

    MEN

     

    High day

     

    Carbs: 2-3 grams per pound of body weight

    Protein: 1-1.25 grams per pound of body weight

    Fat: as little as possible

     

    Low and moderate days

     

    Carbs: 0.5-1.5 grams per pound of body weight

    Protein: 1.25-1.5 grams per pound of body weight

    Fat: 0.15-0.35 grams per pound of body weight

     

    WOMEN

     

    High Day

     

    Carbs: 0.9-1.0 grams per pound of body weight

    Protein: 0.75 grams per pound of body weight

    Fat: as little as possible

     

    Low and moderate days

     

    Carbs: 0.2-0.5 grams per pound of body weight

    Protein: 0.9-1.0 grams per pound of body weight

    Fat: 0.1-0.2 grams per pound of body weight

     

     

    Focus on What Matters

     

    Just looking at the basics, your first thought might be, "That looks really fucking complicated." Harris and Starnes had some comforting news: You don't have to worry about a gram of something here or there. You won't be derailed because your morning oatmeal has slightly more fat or slightly less protein than you expect.

     

    There aren't really any "pure" foods, exactly matching whatever calories and macros their labels say they should have. The most predictable are the most highly processed, and those are the ones you want to avoid. The nutrients they remove, add, or process into oblivion to make the foods conform to their own labels aren't worth the convenience.

     

    The key, Harris and Starnes said, is to choose clean foods and prepare your own meals. You won't be able to calculate the calories and macros precisely, but at least you'll know what isn't in the food.

     

    So how do you know if it's working? Harris likes simple photographs, taken weekly in the same room, from the same angle, with the same lighting. (Use a flash, which is less flattering and thus more honest.)

     

    Scale weight (which fluctuates with your glycogen and hydration levels) and body-fat calculations (which are highly dependent on the skill of the person, or the quality of the machine doing the testing) tell you less than a photo. "If you look like a fat turd and have a piece of paper saying that you're 6% body fat, I don't care," Harris said. "You have to take photos."

     

    You'll know you're in competition shape when you take a flash photo of yourself without a tan, standing in front of a white wall, and look ripped anyway. Or you can use the knuckle test that Harris described:

     

    "Pinch the skin on the back of your knuckles. That's what your entire body needs to feel like when you're stepping on stage for a bodybuilding competition. Waist, glutes, low back — everything."

     

    Everyone in the room pinched the backs of our hands, and we all nodded in recognition. Yep, that's pretty damned lean.

     

    But what about those of us looking to go the other direction — to pack on more muscle?

     

    "Gaining muscle is a really slow process," Starnes told us. "In four years, I've put on 30 pounds of pure muscle mass. That's less than half a pound of muscle per month."

     

    The scale is just as bad an assessment tool for a natural lifter looking to build size as it is for someone trying to cut fat. Even a reasonable goal — adding two pounds of muscle a month — can encourage you to overeat and gain more fat than you expect. It doesn't take many months for that fat to change your physique for the worse.

     

     

    Getting Started

     

    Harris and Starnes start clients out on a "base plan" to see how their bodies react to carb cycling. Males typically have six meals on low and medium days, and seven on high days. Females have five on low and medium days, going up to six on high days.

     

    If you're going for fat loss, plan on one or two high days per week. When gaining, go for two to four weekly high-carb days.

     

    "I almost always start a person off with two or three high days, just to assess how they respond to the diet and to give us a lot of room to play with," Starnes said. "If a person has a fairly high body-fat percentage and they've been on a poor diet, just switching to clean foods will make a big difference, even with three high days a week.

     

    "Some people can stay with three high days for a while and continue to make progress, but most people need to drop down to one or two high days within a few weeks to keep the fat burning going."

     

    It's better to start a little too high than a little too low, Starnes added, for two reasons: First, the extra calories help you preserve muscle mass. Second, you have something to cut back when progress stalls.

     

    "For most of my clients, low days almost always end up being under maintenance levels, medium days are generally right at or slightly below maintenance, and the high days are either at maintenance or slightly above."

     

    Starnes and Harris both warned against cutting sodium out of your diet to speed up progress. "Sodium can actually help in a diet if you don't have specific conditions that prevent you from using it," Starnes said. "It's responsible for many metabolic processes, helps to transport nutrients like creatine, and is required for glycogen storage. Plus, when you're well-hydrated, your muscles are less likely to get injured."

     

     

    How to Fail the Knuckle Test

     

    At the start of the seminar, Dave Tate asked a simple question: "I'm going to order pizza and soda for lunch. Is that cool?"

     

    Like everyone else, I wondered if he was joking. And, like everyone else, I figured the best strategy was to pretend I knew, keep my mouth shut, and wait to see what kind of food showed up. No one suggested grilled chicken with steamed broccoli as an alternative.

     

    Sure enough, lunch was pizza and soda. I ate and drank my share, as did everyone else ... with one exception. Starnes was dieting for his next bodybuilding competition, which was still a couple of months away. He pulled his lunch from a cooler full of food he'd prepared for the day.

     

    As I left the Compound, hoping that I'd be able to read the notes I scrawled in a notebook, I realized that the biggest lesson of the day wasn't in the lecture Harris and Starnes presented, or even in Tate's rambling but entertaining and edifying talk about training. (Sample advice: "If you've never done a bodybuilding show, do one. You have no idea what it's like to wake up in the middle of the night when your mouth doesn't work right. You can't even produce saliva. The last two days of my diet were the worst of my entire life, and I've been through some shit. But the month after a show is when bodybuilders have the potential to put on the most mass of their offseason. I put on 12 pounds of new muscle mass after I came back from the diet.")

     

    But the biggest lesson for me was that day was watching Starnes model the type of disciplined planning and execution it takes to get back-of-the-knuckles lean.

     

    Sure, it would've been nice if the presenters had provided something lean and healthy for lunch. But it wouldn't have taught us anything. Modern life hits you with easy excess from every direction. Even at a nutrition seminar, you barely need to chew to get more calories than you want or need.

     

    If you simply show up and take what life offers, yeah, you might be able to achieve moderate, short-term success from time to time. But if you want to change your physique dramatically and permanently, you can't allow the circumstances to dictate your diet.

     

    So, if you're on a quest for single-digit body fat, think about what you've done so far today. If you didn't pack your own food before you left your house, how much do you really care about getting shredded?

     

    -from TMUSCLE.COM

     

    I ran across this article on T-Nation that I think everyone take a moment to review. It got my interest in particular, being that I'm trying to lower my body fat while maintaining effectiveness of my workouts and my mass while still having a healthy diet. Here are my calculations based on the formulas provided for the high/medium/low carb days.

     

    Body Weight: 140lbs

    Low - Cardio - Sunday

    --------------------------

    Carbs - 90g

    Fats - 35g

    Protein - 190g

     

    High - Shoulders & Arms - Monday

    --------------------------

    Carbs - 280g

    Fats - As little as possible (<20g)

    Protein - 140g

     

    Low - Cardio - Tuesday

    --------------------------

    Carbs - 90g

    Fats - 35g

    Protein - 190g

     

    Medium - Legs & Back - Wednesday

    --------------------------

    Carbs - 190g

    Fats - 25g

    Protein - 170g

     

    Low - Cardio - Thursday

    --------------------------

    Carbs - 90g

    Fats - 35g

    Protein - 190g

     

    Low - Rest - Friday

    --------------------------

    Carbs - 90g

    Fats - 35g

    Protein - 190g

     

    High - Chest & Back - Saturday

    --------------------------

    Carbs - 280g

    Fats - As little as possible (<20g)

    Protein - 140g

  13. What is the *premium sweetener*? I usually just get it sweetened with stevia.

     

    There are two different premium sweeteners, the Natural and Artificial. The natural is sweetened with stevia and the latter is sweetened with sucrose and acesulfame-K. I did some research on artificial sweeteners after my previous post advising purchasing the premium sweetener. I'd recommend the naturally sweetened flavor with stevia over the artificially flavored flavor. It seems that all artificial sweeteners have health side effects ranging from mild to possibly severe. Most of the testing has been done with animals and therefore the human research is very limited. Personally, I don't want to be considered a test subject so I'll be sticking with the tried and proven stevia sweetener. It does cost more than the artificial sweetener at trueprotein ($0.75/lb vs. $1.00/lb). The same theory can be applied here in that paying the premium for the healthier solution can be the trade off for your expensive medical bill that may be a result of using ingredients that pose a possible health risk. Take care of your body and it will take care of you! Also, I've never tried the Natural flavoring at trueprotein so I can not make a solid personal recommendation. I will be substituting it however in my next purchase for the artificial sweetener.

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