So I have been dieting 14 days so far and things are on track. The LBM is staying basically constant (within measurement error) and the bodyfat is dropping. Its too early to draw a line and calculate the fat loss rate yet, but I couldnt resist the temptation t do it anyway :) My fat loss rate is 2.5 pounds fat lost per week. That sounds like a lot and it is, its far more than I would expect and more than is optimal if I dont want to lose muscle. Thing is, its only been two weeks and thats not enough data to draw a good line yet. Not only that, the “fat” loss includes the initial water loss when I went to a controlled carb diet. If you compare my picture to last week (week1) and my starting condition (week 0) you really dont see any visual difference yet despite the fact I have lost 1.5″ on my waistline. My prediction is that the next two weeks will bring about some visual changes.
I am fine when eating at home where I can tightly control my meals and my eating times. When at home, I have no trouble eating clean at a 20% deficit without ever being hungry. Today was VERY difficult nutritionally though. I will be away from home for 16hrs visiting some vegans who eat healthy, but they just do not understand the needs of bodybuilding nutrition. Their house is filled with pasta and rice – things which I cant eat now.
Anyway, because I will be on the road I cant eat chicken and veggies so guess what I had for breakfast this morning? Yum! Chicken and veggies – blech! I like chicken and veggies but it just doesnt sit well for breakfast. For meals 2 I had greek yogurt and flax because it was able to stay cold for 3hrs. For meal 3 I will pre-cook oatmeal/chia and protein powder. Not too concerned about leaving the oatmeal at room temp because the container will be high temp sterlized in the microwave when I cook it and I wont open it to add the protein powder until its time to eat it. Lunch was my crowning achievement, I passed on the brownies and was able to eat a clean 400 calorie, high protein meal. The hardest thing was dinner at a mexican restaurant but again, I did myself proud and skipped all the things I wanted and had pork and black beans on a bed of lettuce. This was a *really* tough day and I give myself five gold stars for staying on my caloric deficit.
This weekend is going to be exceedingly difficult as well, three social occasions with food – I am strong, I CAN do it.
