[samsamsam]

(05-13-2016 01:34 PM)eatthishomie Wrote:  

Somehow I gained a pound this week. I don't know how the fuck that happened. I'm in a 1200 calorie a day deficit.

215 seems to be a sticking point for me for some reason so it's clearly time for new measures. Cutting out all artificial sweeteners, cutting carbs and calories even more, doing more aerobic activity (mainly walking) and starting on Yohmbine next week.

If you look at some of the posts people make about RFL (on other forums), sometimes they go up a bit before dropping again. A variety of reasons. If I may make a suggestion, I wouldn't let it bother you too much. I am sure it will melt away soon enough.

[RagnarLothbrok]

At what lifts do you guys lose most strength during a diet? My bench press decreased by more than 10lbs, whereas my Overhead Press and weighted chin ups even went up a bit. I find it really weird that I am getting stronger at Overhead Press but at the same time weaker at Bench Press. Squats and deadlifts also decreased a bit but not much.

[samsamsam]

WTF!

Just came back from visiting my doctor. My weight was the same as it was 2 weeks ago.

But I am much more cut up and veiny.

I have been lifting harder and working muscles that I never really worked that well before.

Is it possible I gained muscle?

I know I am more defined than 2 weeks ago.

Very strange indeed.

Any of you experiencing a little dizziness? I didn't experience it the previous times I have done rfl.

[Hannibal]

When you are losing weight, your body pumps out the stress hormone cortisol which makes you retain water. Eat some carbs and you'll piss it all away.

So I would not be too alarmed if your weight stays the same or even goes up a little bit that first week. You're still burning fat and getting leaner, just stick to the plan.

As far as you, samsamsam, it is likely that you're hitting that magical level of leanness where a layer of fat is burning off in a very noticeable area, like the arms or abs.

Most guys don't notice much of a different between 12 and 17% bodyfat because a lot of that fat is accumulating on the legs and back, but once you hit 18% you seem to get fat as shit because it will store a bit on the face and chest.

[eatthishomie]

This is actually week 2, but I'm not too worried, just worried enough to take action and change up a few things for the better. I actually am growing to like the taste of straight up black coffee. I'm also switching my whey protein to unflavored Isopure Whey Isolate (zero carbs and no artificial sweeteners) for the remainder of this RFL round, and I got some psyllium husk today.

That pound has gotta be water weight because it is literally physically impossible for me to have gained fat.

Refeed on Sunday. Rice (not as much as last time), sweet potato fries, that strawberry/oat/chia seed smoothie, beets, and carrot juice are on the menu.

[eatthishomie]

Yo quick refeed question, if you're doing a 2-3 day refeed and your refeeds are 400g carbs, would a 2-3 day refeed mean 400g carbs over the course of 2-3 days or 400g carbs a day for 2-3 days? Thanks in advance.

[Ass-Ass-In]

Hey guys, I'm wondering, would one of you be able to calculate the protein and carbs I would need? (I'm currently around 220 and not particularly fit/dont lift) the reason why I ask is because having read this thread multiple times, I noticed that it was very similar to a diet I've done before and have just started again, the Exante diet. Basically, the diet limits you to 3 (for a women) or 4 (for a man) meal replacements a day.
All of these meal replacements are formulated for roughly 200 calories and 15 grams of protein per 'meal' as well as a bunch of nutrients ,a little fibre and a few carbs. It works very well for 2 weeks (for me), though the second week was a bit slower than the first, however after that it pretty much died. I normally go for 3 meals rather than 4 but I'm wondering if maybe it'd be better to take 4 for the protein?
Also the refeeds might make a difference after 2 weeks of the diet.

[Ass-Ass-In]

Update on the last post;
So, massive thanks to Hannibal for the info, basically the diet doesn't get enough protein (at least for me, but most likely everyone)
however feel free to try it, like I said, it's basically the RFL diet, just branded. I got good results last time, just didn't make a plan for keeping it off.

I reckon i'll try the RFL when I can get my shit sorted and I'll note it down here.

[Hannibal]

(05-16-2016 03:39 PM)eatthishomie Wrote:  

Yo quick refeed question, if you're doing a 2-3 day refeed and your refeeds are 400g carbs, would a 2-3 day refeed mean 400g carbs over the course of 2-3 days or 400g carbs a day for 2-3 days? Thanks in advance.

I'm going to assume 400g carbs per day. This is a good question, I did some googling and I can't find a direct answer to the question.

Reformatted my computer so I'm going to have to look for it on the external harddrive. I'll let you know in a while, but I'm going with the original guess (of 400g carbs per day).

[eatthishomie]

Will still have some fat to lose after this round ( wanna get to 10% now), but don't want to do a 3rd round of RFL in a row so thinking of jumping into a modified Every Other Day plan after the diet break with a three day PPL split and alternating PSMF and normal eating days.

Daily supps same as RFL standard plus zinc, D3, and maca.

Normal eating days are mainly gonna be lean meats and fish, almonds, coconut oil, fruits, and vegetables. 220g carbs mostly around workout time, 110g fat, 215g protein

PSMF days will be the same as RFL.

Push pull and leg workouts will be mostly compounds 8-12 reps with some isolations.

Monday: Yohimbe plus fasted cardio in the am, push workout in the pm, normal eating day

Tuesday: Rest, PSMF

Wednesday: Yohimbe/fasted cardio AM, pull day PM, normal eating day

Thursday: Rest, PSMF

Friday: Leg day, normal eating

Saturday: Rest, PSMF

Sunday: Active rest, modified PSMF with higher fat (kind of like regular keto)

How does that look? Anyone ever done anything like this?

[JayR]

Going to give RFL a try. Was wondering if anybody has used Stronglifts (or a variation) as the exercise component while on this diet?

Say, Stronglifts 3x5 instead of 5x5?

[Benoit]

Finally found the time to give RFL a go, only have a week so doing a week's worth...

One day on no carbs and I'm already feeling drained. Did a normal workout yesterday then went in today and did one big lift and a couple of assistance exercises. Felt way more tired than usual. If I was doing this longer-term I would definitely not try to do more than a short workout 2-3x a week.

Food-wise, I don't think it will be too hard, as long as I can keep the meals from being boring. The calories allowed seem ridiculously low, but when it's all made up of protein it actually goes a long way - yesterday I had 2 big chicken breasts, 3 egg white omelettes, and a couple of protein shakes, plus veggies.

Psychologically it will be another matter, I tend to snack a lot so will keep lots of prepared veg on hand.

I also picked up a tub of powdered fibre supplement. Having a couple of spoons of that with each meal which will hopefully keep me nice and regular.

[Jazzman92]

Im on day 4 today. So far I've lost 5.5 pounds in 3 days but the bioelectric impedence on my scale is showing that my bodyfat percentage has increased slightly from when I started. Im assuming thats because Im losing more water than fat and hopefully not LBM.

Have any of you guys done this for 2 cycles straight without any beaks in between? Also is anyone using ketostix to monitor shether or not they're in ketosis. My tests are all coming back negative

[JayR]

(06-02-2016 01:27 PM)Jazzman92 Wrote:  

Im on day 4 today. So far I've lost 5.5 pounds in 3 days but the bioelectric impedence on my scale is showing that my bodyfat percentage has increased slightly from when I started. Im assuming thats because Im losing more water than fat and hopefully not LBM.

Have any of you guys done this for 2 cycles straight without any beaks in between? Also is anyone using ketostix to monitor shether or not they're in ketosis. My tests are all coming back negative

Jazzman,

I'm on day three, and had the same experience with my Withings scale this morning (lost 4 pounds, but jumped from 16% to 18% BF), and literally an hour ago got home with some ketostix.

I thought I noticed a stronger-smelling pee last night, and got a result of "trace" on the ketostix. Something's happening.

I also ordered some calipers, as McDonald indicates these tend to be more accurate than the scales.

[Benoit]

Today is day 5 for me. Notes so far:

- Diet compliance is no problem at all. 200g protein is a shitload of food, I've been trying to eat "real food" as much as possible, but keep ending up needing to bang down a protein shake before bed to hit the numbers.

- Anyone who's a halfway decent cook has absolutely no reason to eat boring meals, there's so many flavour options allowed that I doubt I'd need to repeat a meal more than once a month.

- Physically, it's clear that low-carb is not something my body is built for. I've been tired and aching all over for the whole week. I'm left with no doubt that this is still an extreme diet.

- Gym-wise, no feeling of strength loss, but definitely a severe drop in energy. Pulled 95% of my DL 1RM and had plenty in the tank, then hit empty during some much lighter bench work.

- I've never pissed so much in my life. I woke up the other night in physical pain because my bladder was so full. "Dropping water weight" indeed. And it absolutely stinks today.

I've got a few days left, but I'll definitely do this diet again in the future.

[eatthishomie]

Looks like I'm gonna end this round at 203lbs, 16% BF. I was 215 at 19% at the beginning of this round and 237 at 23% at the beginning of my first round 3 months ago.

Not bad. Gonna try to get down to 10% doing the EOD plan described above and maybe RFL as a cat 1 later in the summer cause I'm a glutton for punishment and want to see what it's like (16 days can't be that bad).

For now though, I cannot wait to get fruit, nuts, eggs, and coconut oil back into my diet on a regular basis.

[Hannibal]

^^

Rep this man. He stuck out the program and achieved impressive results.

Eatthishomie dropped 30+ pounds of fat in three months.

(02-29-2016 01:37 PM)eatthishomie Wrote:  

Starting on March 10th after a week of maintenance following a month of a traditional keto diet.

237lbs, 23% BF

What fish oil are you guys doing RFL using? I'm ordering everything I need for it now.

[eatthishomie]

Thanks man. This isn't even my final form. 10% by September or bust.

The maintenance calories they gave me for my diet break are weird as hell and I'm trying to figure them out now.

Calories: 2639/day
Protein: 256.5
Carbs: 271 (!!!)
Fat: 58.8

That seems like really high carbs and low fat for a maintenance diet. And why so much protein? I've always heard 1g/pound is enough for maintenance. And all that on only 2639 calories? I'm trying to work out my first day of maintenance on MFP right now and I'm having a lot of trouble hitting those macros while staying at my maintenance calories. This shit is harder to work out than the actual diet. What does a sample day of eating even look like with those macros?

[eatthishomie]

Tried the modified EOD diet for three weeks.

The scale didn't budge, nor did the calipers.

I want to get down to 10-12% bodyfat before I start bulking at the end of August, so I can have a badass bulk and be more likely to put on muscle than fat. Only one way to get to 10-12% before then for me it seems.

Back on it on Monday. This time for 4 weeks instead of 6. I got my first day of eating planned out already. Getting into it with a refeed tomorrow.

[roberto]

Good to see the progress you guys have been making on this.

Gonna give it a go. Cutting out egg yolks is going to hurt, but all for a good cause eh...

[eatthishomie]

So somehow I gained 8 pounds during maintenance last time. Not sure how that happened. That's something I'll have to watch out for this time as I'm going to start bulking right out of my two weeks maintenance and I want to do so at low body fat and sub-200 lb scale weight.

So I started this round at 211. Back down to 204 after 2 weeks. Hoping to hit 190-195 by the end of this run.

Planning to go off Yohimbine and thinking of doing fasted cardio in the AM to offset the absence of Yohimbine and increase my results in this last week and a half.. How advisable is this?

[Switch]

Eatthishomie, if you had carbs during your maintainence phase, you are very likely retaining A LOT of water. I noticed after following a few low-carb protocols such as RFL that I would drop a bunch of weight the first week then the rate of weight loss would slow down drastically. This is because carbs force you to retain water. For every 1 gram of glycogen (carb) you have in your system, your body needs 3-4 grams of water to store it. So if you went from basically no carbs on RFL to eating a couple hundred grams of carbs a day, it is very easy to have stored 8lbs of water in your system. Personally when switching between low-carb and high-carb/normal-carb diets, my weight can fluctuate up to 10 lbs in 2 days.

tl;dr: eating carbs means storing a ton of water weight, so don't be surprised when refeeding or eating at maintainence that your body weight will go up a few lbs.

[eatthishomie]

Good to know. Shows how little you can trust the scale as a measure of body composition.

[Hannibal]

This is why I use a body fat calipers and I don't care what it says until after a week of RFL dieting.

Fact is, if you're only eating 800-1200 calories a day in the form of protein, you are getting leaner whether you want to or not. The scale can lie for all I care, I know my body is going to do what it has to in order to function.

[roberto]

I'm bloody sick of stir frys, but it's surprisingly easy. I couple this with IF and have two meals a day. 250g of chicken, 250g of cottage cheese and a pack of stir fry mix. It won't fit on a large place, so I just scoff it out the pan.