Question for all gym-rats here; How do I improve my workout routine?

[hanselthecaretaker2]

Well I usually wake up around 5-5:30 am, then I prep, go to gym, wash up, and then have breakfast around 7:30 am. between 9-5 I work from home, and then 5 - 8 I have dinner and do grad school work. then I go to bed betwen 10:30 - 11 pm. So sleep around 6.5 hours max.

But sometimes 7 hours feels impossible, because I sometimes wake up with a terrible lower back pain. It seems to happen if I sleep for more than 6 hours. I swore I've tried every tricks on the the moon, and it always has been a long sleep that seems to be the common cause.

For nutrition, I actually think I've been getting less protein these days. Today, for example, I had a total of 3 eggs, 1 salmon fillet, and a protein shake. I think that comes up to about 60 g of protein? Sometimes I try to get more, but for most of the time I am too tired and exhausted from both work and grad school to go out an get some natural quality foods.

The sleep thing, may be time for a new mattress. Since you basically spend almost a third of your life in bed and it’s worth spending a little more towards a good night sleep, especially if your grad work will lead to more disposable income in the near future. Not a bad way to treat yourself and your body will thank you.

 

[Drathnoxis]

You're doing a couple of things wrong.

1. You're not eating enough protein.

In order to gain muscle, bulk up, and gain strength the general recommendation is to eat 1 gram of protein per pound of ideal body weight. This means that if you weigh 130lbs, but you want to put on 20lbs of muscle and weigh 150lbs you need to eat 150gram of protein per day while also being in a calorie surplus. Conversely, if you weigh 200lbs and you want to weigh 150lbs you need to eat 150 grams of protein while also being in a calorie deficit. This isn't exactly true for everyone, people's bodies are different, so some people might need more or less protein, more or less fiber, etc. but this is a good general guideline to start from.

There is one universal truth, you can't build muscle without protein. It doesn't matter how much you work out if your body doesn't have the basic building blocks to build the muscle you want. This is something that I didn't understand for YEARS and then when I changed my diet I made more progress in 6 months than I had in the previous 2 years.

You can also gain muscle while also burning fat. If you structure your diet around a high protein and fiber but a low calorie intake you can do both at the same time.

You're also going to the gym in the morning before you've eaten anything, that's a problem. Working out on an empty stomach means you'll have less energy to put into the workout. At least have something like a protein smoothie before your workout so that your body has some energy to burn.

2. The whole "mid load" thing you're doing is pointless. You won't gain strength unless you're pushing yourself each workout. Doing what you're comfortable with is good for maintenance, not gains. If you want to make gains you need to push your workouts to failure. Can't finish all the reps in a set because the weight is too heavy? GOOD. That means you actually went to failure. Don't have a set number of reps that you feel you HAVE to do per set, because by doing that you're limiting yourself to the weight you KNOW you can hit those reps with.

The number of reps in a set matters less than going to failure. If you can comfortably bench 3 sets of 8 reps then increase your weight. Can only bench 3 sets of 4 now? Good, do that new weight until you can bench 3 sets of 8 at that new number.

I'm a big fan of drop sets because working to failure stimulates growth. You can start with a really high weight, push it to failure in just 2 or 3 reps, then drop the weight, go to failure again in a couple more reps, drop the weight again and go to failure again. In a single set of 8 reps you've stressed your muscles to failure 3 times instead of just once, which stimulates more muscle growth, and you probably started with a higher weight than you otherwise would have because you didn't have to do that weight for all 8 reps, which conditions your body to that weight.

How do you get the protein? Just protein powder or do you do diet calculations?

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

How do you get the protein? Just protein powder or do you do diet calculations?

Both.

Protein powder is an easy way to supplement the natural protein you're eating, but it's best for the majority of your protein to be from natural sources. Things like eggs, milk, cheese, spinach, chicken, fish, beans, and greek yogurt are great sources of protein (I probably eat around 4-6lbs of fat free greek yogurt in a week).

Just check the nutrition facts on whatever you're buying and it'll tell you how much protein is in a serving size, and you can use that to estimate how much protein you're eating or should be eating.

An easy rule of thumb is that a palm sized piece of meat or fish will have about 30 grams of protein in it (this varies slightly depending on what kind of meat or fish it is and how much fat/marbling it has, but it's an easy to to guess at the amount of protein you're eating if you're eating out and aren't cooking for yourself).

It's more difficult if you're a vegetarian or a vegan to get enough protein to build significant muscle, but it can be done. It's mostly going to come from beans and soy in that case, and you just need to be really strict with monitoring your protein intake since the majority of what you're eating isn't naturally going to have much protein in it.

 

[Drathnoxis]

Both.

Protein powder is an easy way to supplement the natural protein you're eating, but it's best for the majority of your protein to be from natural sources. Things like eggs, milk, cheese, spinach, chicken, fish, beans, and greek yogurt are great sources of protein (I probably eat around 4-6lbs of fat free greek yogurt in a week).

Just check the nutrition facts on whatever you're buying and it'll tell you how much protein is in a serving size, and you can use that to estimate how much protein you're eating or should be eating.

An easy rule of thumb is that a palm sized piece of meat or fish will have about 30 grams of protein in it (this varies slightly depending on what kind of meat or fish it is and how much fat/marbling it has, but it's an easy to to guess at the amount of protein you're eating if you're eating out and aren't cooking for yourself).

It's more difficult if you're a vegetarian or a vegan to get enough protein to build significant muscle, but it can be done. It's mostly going to come from beans and soy in that case, and you just need to be really strict with monitoring your protein intake since the majority of what you're eating isn't naturally going to have much protein in it.

150g a day seems like an enormous amount. I might average 50-60g based on a quick estimate of what I usually eat. I'd have to eat a kilogram of greek yogurt a day to make it.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

150g a day seems like an enormous amount. I might average 50-60g based on a quick estimate of what I usually eat. I'd have to eat a kilogram of greek yogurt a day to make it.

Yes, the vast majority of people don't eat enough protein in general.

You're supposed to eat .7 grams per pound of ideal body weight to maintain your muscle, and 1 gram to 1.2 grams to build muscle. Although these numbers can depend heavily on genetics and age. Older people need to eat way more protein because as you age your muscles break down faster, but most people do the opposite and actually start eating less. It's one of the major reasons that older people shrink and their muscles and bones become weaker.

For years I didn't keep track of my macros because I thought I was "eating healthy" and I was thin and had visible abs. I couldn't understand why I wasn't making any progress with my lifts. I changed my diet, started eating more protein and my power absolutely exploded while my weight stayed the same, and I actually became more lean.

The crazy thing is how much less hungry you get and how much less you snack when you eat more protein. It's so much more satiating by volume than other food sources. I'll make a protein smoothy with frozen berries, greek yogurt, protein powder, and water, less than 500 calories and around 45 to 50 grams of protein, and that's enough to be a full lunch. I'm not hungry for hours. I actually end up saving money because a smoothie like this is like 2 dollars of ingredients for a meal, that's healthier for you and way more satisfying than a bowl of instant ramen for roughly the same price.

 

[Chimpzy]

my power absolutely exploded

Sorry. Couldn"t resist

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

View attachment 12778

Sorry. Couldn"t resist

Literally what it feels like.

 

[FakeSympathy]

Alright, its been a while, so I guess it’s update time! Unfortunately not a lot of progress, and there’s gonna be a lot of “you just answered your own question”

Here’s how I look now:

View attachment 11701View attachment 11702View attachment 11703

My weight seem to bounce around 147 lbs to 150 lbs, which really disappointed me.

Diet:
Probably my biggest issue. I started having breakfast again, because just coffee in the morning was giving me stomach problems. having it with breakfast seemed to help. Now at first I didn't it was too bad, but the issue was I was having rather high-calorie or high-carb foods; Leftover butter chicken from the night before, "breakfast" taco with chicken tender and guac, pastas, or just going overboard with oatmeal or yogurt.

For pastas, I typically avoid any sauce-heavy dishes, and just go with ones that are mostly oil; Agilo e Olio, Truffle Oil pasta w/ mushrooms, shrimp scampi, etc. I typically try not to have butter.

For lunch and dinner, it's mostly the same as I mentioned in my previous update; Lots of natural animal and plant proteins, vegetables, and protein shake during every workout in the morning.

Weekends has been a challenge, because I go to a lot of events and meet-ups with people and it always seem to end with dining out or having high-calorie desserts.

I realized what I have been doing, and began to just have light breakfast; Oatmeals, yogurt, hard-boield eggs, lean tomato soup without any cream, etc. And on weekends be sure to eat smaller portion.

One silver lining is that I have been making sure to drink plenty of water, and sometimes have one of those mineral waters with cucumbers, basils, and lemon

Workout:
Turns out I'm pretty stupid, and ignored almost all of the warm-ups I set out to do. I still do the dynamic strentch and abs rollout, but everything else I have been ignoring.

Workout schedule and types of workouts that I do have been altered, and I have been adding more weights. The numbers are either my estimation or what I see on the dumbbell/plates:

Chest and triceps (specifically this order now):

• Bench Press 3 x 8. I went from 165 lbs on my last set (145 - 155 - 165) to 185 lbs on my last set (165 - 175 - 185).
• Chest Dips 3 x 10 w/ weights! 20 - 25 - 30 lbs
• One arm overhead tricep extension 3 x 12. It goes from 27.5 - 30 - 32.5 lbs
• Reverse wrist curl and Wrist curl 3x12. 25 - 27.5 - 30 lbs

Back and shoulders (specifically this order now):

• Rows (one-arm cable or dumbbell) 3x12. For cable it goes 72.5 - 80 - 82.5 lbs and for dumbbell it goes from 27.5 - 30 - 32.5 lbs. I try to do more one-arm cable rows, but some times the machines are in use and I go with dumbbell rows instead. For dumbbell rows, I am trying to figure out the correct weight because I swear I am not getting enough workout compared to one-arm cable
• Pull-ups 3x14 w/ weights! 20 - 25 - 30 lbs
• Incline Bicep curls 3 x 12. 27.5 - 30 - 32.5 lbs
• Reverse EZ Bar curls, 3 x 12, 50 - 60 - 70 lbs
• Arnold Press 3 x 12. 27.5 - 30 - 32.5 lbs
• One arm reverse fly 3x12. I now go from 20 -25 -30 lbs

Legs: (Squats and RDL switch order on every leg days):

• Weight Squats 3x8, 205- 215 - 225 lbs
• Romanian Deadlifts 3 x 10, 105 - 125 - 135 lbs. I have been really careful with RDL because adding too much weight put more strain on my lower back, and I wanted to get a good control on my motions to focus on my hamstrings and glutes
• Calf raises w/ dumbbells, 3 x 12, 47.5 - 50 - 52.5 lbs
• Hip Abduction machine, 3 x 12, 145 - 160 - 175 lbs

I am fully aware that this deviated from what I said I was gonna do, especially on number of reps. I guess I kinda forgot about it and just been doing what I was comfortable with?

Workout Schedule:

Day 1 - Upper body chest and arms.
Day 2 - Legs
Day 3 - Upper body back and shoulders.
Day 4 - Legs
Day 5 - Upper body chest and arms.
Day 6 - Cardio
Day 7 - Cardio
Day 8 - Upper body back and shoulders.
Day 9 - Legs
Day 10 - Upper body chest and arms.
Day 11 - Legs
Day 12 - Upper body back and shoulders.
Day 13 - Cardio
Day 14 - Cardio
Remember I said I felt weekend was a trap for me to eat not-so-lean foods? Well in addition to really watch what I eat, I've decided to do some quick cardios; Either 20 min jog or HIIT. I just adopted this change, so I need to wait and see the effect

Overall:
I am trying to have a flatter stomach, and I heard it's the stoamch fat that's the main villain. I feel the only way to fight this off is to have a stricter diet and adding more cardio to my routine.

So it's been just under two years since I created this thread. At I am sorry to say progress has been slower than a turtle taking a shit.

First, check out the thread which I'm replying to for how I looked like back then.

Now, compare that to the pics I took today



I personally don't see any difference, and therefore will call the plan a failure...kind of.

I certainly can lift more for workouts that are less intense such as barbell curls and incline dumbell rows, and I like the fact that I have been managed to maintain the shape instead of going back to more chubby side.

However, it's not the body I was looking for. This is despite eating well with low-carb, high protein, high fiber, mid-fat, and plenty of veggies for those minerals. Also have been getting enough sleep and drinking water frequently. I also feel I've peaked for more heavier workouts. For example, my max weight for the bench press went from 185 to 205. That was from about a half year ago, and I can't lift anymore than that.

TBH, I don't think building a muscle mass and becoming a "buff chad" wasn't really my goal, which I feel weightlifting has led me to.

I am gonna give this until the end of first week of July. If I still don't see the body type I am looking for, then I am thinking about switching to do calisthenics instead of weightlifting. Calisthenics feels more closer to the results I am looking for. Unsure if I am looking for pure Calisthenic or some sort of program that mixes it with weightlifting, but I feel weightlifting alone isn't right for me.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

So it's been just under two years since I created this thread. At I am sorry to say progress has been slower than a turtle taking a shit.

First, check out the thread which I'm replying to for how I looked like back then.

Now, compare that to the pics I took today
View attachment 13324View attachment 13325
View attachment 13326

I personally don't see any difference, and therefore will call the plan a failure...kind of.

I certainly can lift more for workouts that are less intense such as barbell curls and incline dumbell rows, and I like the fact that I have been managed to maintain the shape instead of going back to more chubby side.

However, it's not the body I was looking for. This is despite eating well with low-carb, high protein, high fiber, mid-fat, and plenty of veggies for those minerals. Also have been getting enough sleep and drinking water frequently. I also feel I've peaked for more heavier workouts. For example, my max weight for the bench press went from 185 to 205. That was from about a half year ago, and I can't lift anymore than that.

TBH, I don't think building a muscle mass and becoming a "buff chad" wasn't really my goal, which I feel weightlifting has led me to.

I am gonna give this until the end of first week of July. If I still don't see the body type I am looking for, then I am thinking about switching to do calisthenics instead of weightlifting. Calisthenics feels more closer to the results I am looking for. Unsure if I am looking for pure Calisthenic or some sort of program that mixes it with weightlifting, but I feel weightlifting alone isn't right for me.

It's looking to me like you have a really solid build (and a 205 bench press is nothing to sneeze at), but your diet is 100% the issue with regards to you not having the muscle definition you want. The muscles are clearly there, what you need now is to diet for a while at a significant calorie deficit.

I'm talking like 1500 calories a day while maintaining the same protein intake that you were previously (or increasing it) and maintaining your gym routine and non-exercise activity.

I know you said you were eating a high protein diet, but how high protein? Are you getting at least 1 gram of protein per pound of ideal body weight? Are you actively tracking your macros or are you just eyeballing things and assuming you have a good diet?

The main way to lose fat isn't working out, it's diet and just generally moving around. You burn more calories with non-exercise activity throughout the day than you do during your workout, and the more muscle you have the more calories your body naturally burns just from existing.

So if you're trying to lose body fat to make your muscles more visible that's going to have very little to do with your lifting routine and more about finding calories to cut and more calories to burn outside of the gym. Like instead of eating lunch during your lunch hour make yourself a protein smoothie and go for a walk for 45 minutes, and just a simple change to your daily routine like that should cause a noticeable change to your body fat percentage within a month.

Edit: For good fitness meals I quite like this channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Felu/videos the recipes tend to be pretty approachable and quick to make. I often make myself a hot honey beef bowl after a gym day. It takes like 20 minutes to cook and has great macros. Also, if you're not eating greek yogurt start eating greek yogurt.

 

[FakeSympathy]

It's looking to me like you have a really solid build (and a 205 bench press is nothing to sneeze at), but your diet is 100% the issue with regards to you not having the muscle definition you want. The muscles are clearly there, what you need now is to diet for a while at a significant calorie deficit.

I'm talking like 1500 calories a day while maintaining the same protein intake that you were previously (or increasing it) and maintaining your gym routine and non-exercise activity.

I know you said you were eating a high protein diet, but how high protein? Are you getting at least 1 gram of protein per pound of ideal body weight? Are you actively tracking your macros or are you just eyeballing things and assuming you have a good diet?

The main way to lose fat isn't working out, it's diet and just generally moving around. You burn more calories with non-exercise activity throughout the day than you do during your workout, and the more muscle you have the more calories your body naturally burns just from existing.

So if you're trying to lose body fat to make your muscles more visible that's going to have very little to do with your lifting routine and more about finding calories to cut and more calories to burn outside of the gym. Like instead of eating lunch during your lunch hour make yourself a protein smoothie and go for a walk for 45 minutes, and just a simple change to your daily routine like that should cause a noticeable change to your body fat percentage within a month.

Edit: For good fitness meals I quite like this channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Felu/videos the recipes tend to be pretty approachable and quick to make. I often make myself a hot honey beef bowl after a gym day. It takes like 20 minutes to cook and has great macros. Also, if you're not eating greek yogurt start eating greek yogurt.

Hmm, here is my typical calorie in-take per day

• Whey Protein shake while working out: 120 cal, 22 g protein
• Two eggs for breakfast: 144 cal, 12 g protein
  • Coffee: 2 calories
  • A bowl of fruit: 150 - 200 cal (varies from bananas, berries, watermelon, tagerines, etc)
• Lunch: A bowl of mixed rice: 306 cal
  • With any of the following proteins (usually in stir fry or pan-seared):
    • Salmon filet: 121 cal 17 g protein
    • Chicken Breast: 165 cal 31 g protein
    • Pork Shoulder butt: 200 - 300 cal, 15 - 20 g protein
  • Veggies on the side: 176 cal
• Dinner: pretty much a repeat of the Lunch

After a number crunch w/ chatgpt, I'd say the average is 1800 cal/85 - 90 g protein a day.

....And after looking at this, I am starting to see I might be taking in a bit too much calories. Maybe I was a bit too keen on trying to get 100 g of protein a day, and lost my way somewhere.

Maybe something about the protein intake during lunch and dinner can be adjusted?

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

Hmm, here is my typical calorie in-take per day

• Whey Protein shake while working out: 120 cal, 22 g protein
• Two eggs for breakfast: 144 cal, 12 g protein
  • Coffee: 2 calories
  • A bowl of fruit: 150 - 200 cal (varies from bananas, berries, watermelon, tagerines, etc)
• Lunch: A bowl of mixed rice: 306 cal
  • With any of the following proteins (usually in stir fry or pan-seared):
    • Salmon filet: 121 cal 17 g protein
    • Chicken Breast: 165 cal 31 g protein
    • Pork Shoulder butt: 200 - 300 cal, 15 - 20 g protein
  • Veggies on the side: 176 cal
• Dinner: pretty much a repeat of the Lunch

After a number crunch w/ chatgpt, I'd say the average is 1800 cal/85 - 90 g protein a day.

....And after looking at this, I am starting to see I might be taking in a bit too much calories. Maybe I was a bit too keen on trying to get 100 g of protein a day, and lost my way somewhere.

Maybe something about the protein intake during lunch and dinner can be adjusted?

I don't know how much you weigh, or what your ideal weight goal is, but I feel like 85 grams of protein in a day isn't enough.

I'd also recommend that you look a bit more into how many calories you're really eating because I think your estimate of 1800 is probably significantly lower than the actual amount. For example 1 tablespoon of olive oil is 120 calories, and people will use that in cooking without even noticing or thinking about it. Most people don't realize that if they put 2 tablespoons of olive oil on your salad as salad dressing that they've increased their calorie intake by 240 cals (probably more than doubling the amount of calories in their salad) without gaining any nutritional value.

 

[hanselthecaretaker2]

Having a weekly cheat day, or if you’re really strict just a meal, is worth considering. It helps prevent your metabolism from going into starvation mode due to a constant caloric deficit. Plus it’s something to look forward to for all the hard dieting effort otherwise.

 

[FakeSympathy]

I don't know how much you weigh, or what your ideal weight goal is, but I feel like 85 grams of protein in a day isn't enough.

I'd also recommend that you look a bit more into how many calories you're really eating because I think your estimate of 1800 is probably significantly lower than the actual amount. For example 1 tablespoon of olive oil is 120 calories, and people will use that in cooking without even noticing or thinking about it. Most people don't realize that if they put 2 tablespoons of olive oil on your salad as salad dressing that they've increased their calorie intake by 240 cals (probably more than doubling the amount of calories in their salad) without gaining any nutritional value.

I am about 5'2", and my weight seems to bounce between 143 lbs and 145 lbs. I think I am at around 20% body fat, and I am trying to lower this to 15% since that seem to be the level where the abs are showing.

I do want to reach 100 g of protein, and this has been my struggle for diet as I feel I am at risk for more calorie consumptions.

I did not know olive oil had that much calories. My go-to salad dressing always has been homemade balsamic vinigrette, where I seem to use enough dressing w/ 1 tablespoon worth of olive oil.

But wasn't olive oil beneficial to weight loss? Because I tried having caprese salad every morning for a week. It consisted of 1 whole tomato sliced w/ equal number of mozzarella cheese slices, 1 teaspoon each of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, light salt and pepper. and I went down like 5 lbs that week. Not sure why I stopped.

I also see all these "high-protein, low fat" meal prep recipes all over the youtube, and them seem to average around 550-580 cal and 45-50 g of protein per meal. And I am not sure if that's a good balance

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

I am about 5'2", and my weight seems to bounce between 143 lbs and 145 lbs. I think I am at around 20% body fat, and I am trying to lower this to 15% since that seem to be the level where the abs are showing.

I do want to reach 100 g of protein, and this has been my struggle for diet as I feel I am at risk for more calorie consumptions.

The answer is greek yogurt. It's 18 grams of protein for 100 cals per 2/3 cup (varies by brand, but that's the best that I found for a reasonable price). It's easy to add it to your breakfast in the morning and a snack during the day to get an extra 30-40 grams of protein in the day for only 200 cal. I recommend instead of doing a whey protein shake in the morning during your workout and then eating breakfast after your workout do a smoothie with protein powder, a cup of yogurt, and a cup of fruit in the morning before your workout and then skip breakfast. The smoothie will metabolize as you do your workout and you'll get more power and energy during the workout itself while consuming fewer calories overall (I'd also recommend having the coffee before your workout rather than after. Studies show that caffeine helps a lot with weightlifting.)

Greek yogurt can also be used as an ingredient in a lot of stuff. This morning I made myself protein french toast which uses greek yogurt as the base for the recipe. One of the salad dressings that I really enjoy is an avacado crema where I replace the sour cream with fat free greek yogurt. I also like to make myself a cheesecake for dessert which is just 4 ingredients (greek yogurt, low fat cream cheese, 1 egg, 1 scoop of protein powder).

I go through about 4-6 pounds of greek yogurt in a week as it's a really easy way to add protein to my diet without any prep work or cooking, and it's pretty filling as a snack whenever I'm hungry.

I did not know olive oil had that much calories. My go-to salad dressing always has been homemade balsamic vinigrette, where I seem to use enough dressing w/ 1 tablespoon worth of olive oil.

But wasn't olive oil beneficial to weight loss? Because I tried having caprese salad every morning for a week. It consisted of 1 whole tomato sliced w/ equal number of mozzarella cheese slices, 1 teaspoon each of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, light salt and pepper. and I went down like 5 lbs that week. Not sure why I stopped.

It's possible that you were losing weight from pooping more. Olive oil works as a natural laxative when consumed on an empty stomach and tomatoes are high in fiber. 5 pounds in a week is a lot though, and doesn't seem particularly healthy. Generally it's considered good to lose about 1-2 pounds in a week due to caloric deficit. More than that and starving your body of calories can affect things like your mood and ability to think.

I also see all these "high-protein, low fat" meal prep recipes all over the youtube, and them seem to average around 550-580 cal and 45-50 g of protein per meal. And I am not sure if that's a good balance

500-600 calories is totally fine per meal when you're eating 3 meals a day. That's 1500-1800 cals, and if you're working out you're probably burning around 2400 calories so that would be a pretty significant deficit. The problem with a lot of those kinds of meal prep meals that I've watched is that they often don't include enough fiber. A lot of the youtube recipes are made to get clicks, so it's things that are generally thought to be fattening, but with the recipe changed to be "healthy" and titles like "Mac and Cheese for Weight loss???!!!!!" and while it might be fine to eat that as a 1 of your meals during the day these meals typically don't cover the full range of nuitrition so you don't want to just fill all 3 of your meals with something like that.

 

[FakeSympathy]

Well, turns out it really was how much cal I was consuming daily. I lost about 2 - 4 lbs in the past few days, now at 141 lbs (as I've said, I was bouncing between 143 and 145)

Being Asian, we eat A LOT of rice at home. And I realized I was grabbing like 2 - 2.5 bowls of rice. Not pure white rice, either. We love to mix brown and black rice, barley, quinoa. But I was still chowing down a lot of bowls.

For the past few days, I lowered the rice consumption to 1/2 bowl, as well as eating high protein, high fiber meals. Here's an example:

Variant 1:

• whey protein shake during workout
• Breakfast: 2 eggs for breakfast, with a glass of home-made soymilk
• Lunch: Sashimi bowl with salmon and veggies, with 1/2 bowl of rice
• Dinner: Beef noodle soup with konjak noodles
• Snack: 1 serving of fat-free yogurt, or low-cal beef jerky

Variant 2:

• Breakfast: A protein shake w/ whey. yogurt, milk, bananas, and a dash of honey.
• Lunch: pan-seared chicken breast with roasted broccoli
• Dinner: k-bbq style pork belly
  • Grilled pork belly, garlic cloves, and onion slices
  • lettuce
  • 1/2 bowl of rice
  • Korean side dishes
• Snack: 1 serving of fat-free yogurt, or low-cal beef jerky

To be honest, meal plan like above isn't anything new for me, save for reducing rice consumption. I also love making sti-fries in wok, and I don't use lard, butter, or carnola oils, just olive oils. Yet all I did was reduce how much oil I was using, and I think it's helping with the progress.

There's also the matter of how much sleep I am getting; I have been trying to get at least 8 hours, and at a sharp curfew. Also, drinking a lot of water.

Saturdays are gonna be a bit concerning, as that's when I go out to meet up with people and eat some high-everything foods. Maybe I can make it a cheat day?

I like the progress so far! Will report back in like 2 weeks.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

Being Asian, we eat A LOT of rice at home. And I realized I was grabbing like 2 - 2.5 bowls of rice. Not pure white rice, either. We love to mix brown and black rice, barley, quinoa. But I was still chowing down a lot of bowls.

One would think that brown rice, being the "healthy rice" would have less calories than white rice, but it actually has more. A cup of white rice is about 200 calories, whereas a cup of brown rice is around 250.

Saturdays are gonna be a bit concerning, as that's when I go out to meet up with people and eat some high-everything foods. Maybe I can make it a cheat day?

Cheat days are fine as long as cheat day isn't just "eat 3 days worth of calories day."

You don't necessarily have to be super strict with your diet but you should still watch you calorie intake. It's very easy to lose a couple of pounds in a week through a calorie deficit and then gain it all back on a weekend.