carbchick

tuesday
Legs
hack squat 88x15 x2 these were working my arms more than my legs, so:
bb squat 88x20, 100x12, 77x20
leg press 187x20, 198x20, 231x15, x12
lunge db 20x20, 25x15, 30x12. legs were shaking so did some one-and-a-halfs 30x5
leg curl 22x20, 33x9/22x6, 33x10/22x5
leg ext 30x20, 40x15, 45x15
plie squat 55x20, 60x15, 65x12
and some 1980s Jane Fonda type shit

schmardio: 3 mins reverse elliptical to loosen out my battered knees.
this was a great w/o, heart rate was up and sweaty throughout. It was pacey. I was in the zone. afterwards I needed food so bad I thought I was gonna faint. Damn Sydney's hills. Hair held up nicely. Plus some soreness in tris and chest from monday. I even did a few dips to make sure.

food: 189P 31F 77C
menu: crap AGAIN. straight out of Fanny Cradock circa 1972 - duck legs pot au feu with veal marrow bone, cabbage balls (yes, really), turnip, carrot, potato, leek. sable of dried fruit pistachio almond and sesame with apricot jam glaze. That sable burns quicker than you can say 'no it's not quite cooked yet'.
Phenogen arrived, very quick! plan to start it on Saturday.

Monolith

Are those weights in kilos?

And your diet makes me hungry.

http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/~ek867/dexamyl.jpg

carbchick

o, for a witty reply. Alas I have none. The weights are lbs. POUNDS, man! and yes you are right to question for after a year of lifting they should SHOULD be kg. Fuck it, why aren't they? Because I insist on keeping myself in calorie deficiency. because I don't have the courage not to. today I had to bail college b/c I simply did not have the energy to last the course. So this is not working - again. I'm failing to match my calorie needs and it is getting in the way of my life, such as it is. And going round in circles short-circuiting my own efforts in this way - it's just so Old and tiring too. bleaargh. end of hideous defeatist mind-dump.

Monolith

haha

You sound a whole lot like me. Ive been dieting for as long as i can remember... and the weight im pushing is thus crap.

One of these days we'll both get to bulk, though, and have our turn to gloat at all the poor people in the middle of a cut.

http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/~ek867/dexamyl.jpg

carbchick

Cheers Mono I envy these people who say, right now I'm gonna cut. Right, now I'm gonna bulk and they do, and their bodies respond and their minds don't fuck it up. I'm very clear about how I want to look just lack the balls to see it through.
eeurgh, enough with the pity party. whatever... on with the show ...
Wednesday
no weights just the moderate pink-weight cardio. for 35 mins and some absI felt good at this point and tho I struggled to get the post-workout meal down, I did because I knew I'd be starving later if I didn't. But then I was starving anyway so what gives? and once i'd eaten that, I just knew I didn't have the energy to get thru the next 5 hours of slog. A normal person would have reached for more food of whatever kind but abnormal me couldn't do that because I'm utterly inflexible when it comes to eating clean. So crap canteen food with its evil sugar and fatty meat is just too much of a mind-fuck for me. So the only option to my screwed up way of thinking was to dump it. Ran home, to where the clean food lives, killed a lobster, ate that, and made with the oats.
Pondered on where I am going wrong. too many carbs? too few? too much protein? not enough cals? In the absence of sensible answers, I'm going to commit to some classic carb cycling. It's the only diet I've ever done that I've felt comfortable with and it will force me to get higher carb days in on a regular basis. Plus I'm starting Phenogen which I don't expect to work but which gives me some mental security nonetheless.
So: the basics are No: 120gP, 3 of 5 meals w. veggies.
Lo: 120gP , 5 meals, w. 120gC starchy stuff, divided over 3 of 5 meals, bit of fruit also at these meals. 3 meals w. veggies.
Hi: 120gP, 3 meals w. veggies, 2 meals w. unlimited starchy stuff plus fruit.
Macro totals will show only protein from protein sources and only carbs from carb sources and veggies don't count as either.
Fat 25-30g / day.
rotation: no, lo, no, hi, lo, hi, no
And now I'm gonna work on changing those lbs into kg.

Monolith

Are you talking about TP's carb cycling diet? If so... good choice. It's very satisfying.

Just curious, though... for your high day - any reason why you chose to do only 2 "unlimited" carb meals instead of the suggested 4?

http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/~ek867/dexamyl.jpg

carbchick

yes Mono it is TP's carbcycling: oops is it 4 meals if 6 per day? Then I should do 3 if 5 meals ... Will check that, and well spotted, that man.

Thursday
Shoulders

DB press 12.5x20, 15x15, 20x8/15x5
lateral raise 7.5x20, 10x15, 12.5x12
clean & jerk 33x20, 38x15, 43x12
WG upright row 26x20, 33x15, 38x12
Military press 44x3, 44x4, 44x3, 44x3 55x1
plate raise 3 sets w. 11lb x8, x6, x10
forward press machine 1 set of 10
front squat try out - yes they are tricky, 1 set wobbly 12 reps

and then it was the invasion of the school kids, about 50 piled into the gym. the girls took the cardio. the boys took the weights, and it was time for a sharp exit.

Food: no carb day
126P 27F and veggies
Started Phenogen. Felt good. Unfortunately there will be no more mood enhancing HEAT stack for me - the Australian customs man saw fit to seize it. Which makes me smile as I live with a load of teens whose weekend pastimes include scoring a load of illicit substances from the local shitty bar. Sadly, yohimbine is not on their stocklist.

carbchick

Friday & Saturday
no training and no training but a lotta teaching and trekking around Sydney, doing a v good impersonation of a blue-arsed fly. got stranded at one point w/out a bus and was rescued by a passing modern-day knight, not on a white steed but in a silver people mover. I love that man. I would have his babies. he is old enough to be my father. why oh why are all the nice men over 60?

Food:
friday lo carb: 121P 22F 95C
sat hi carb: 120P 19F ?C but included almost one loaf of low GI bread. At one sitting. MagNIFicent.

Sunday
Pull workout, 4 sets of 12 reps
T bar row 44lb
negative pullups sh width 4 sets: 5, 5, 6, 5. Hard, hard, hard, and Hard. BUT i can hold myself at the top! does this mean I could try a pullup I wonder?
cable pulley row 60x10, 50x12,12,12
NG upright row bb 35lb
inc DB curl 15 drop 12.5 curses I still can't do 12 reps with the 15s: per-thetick.
*Deadlifts 60x12, 65x8+3, x7+4, 60x12
NG T-bars 44x12, CG pull downs 110x12

* normally and for choice I would do DLs first. But some jerks were jerking around in the 2 squat racks and monopolizing the olympic bars. i can't dl with the other kind. Too spindly for a good grip. So had to delay the Prince of Lifts to the end and look at the result - shite weights and crap reps.

in fact this was a minging w/o, I felt heavy and crapola and so did all the weights. BUT it was very sore-making which I don't understand; my entire back is sore in unusual places, under my shoulder blades for one. So maybe it looked to deceive and was the kind that creeps up on you.
someone in the gym left their mobile phone on a bench. the user name was Mr Olympia . 2 guys were discussing the GI of different brands of bread. I don't know why but this strikes me as odd. I don't know any guys who would do that. my father for example would think GI has something to do with motorsport, or Elvis.
oh yeah I threw in some schmardio b/c I was pissed off with the dls. yeah go figure the logic 12 mins on the elliptical w. some sprints. wouldn't call it HIIT but there were faster and slower bits.

Food: no carb, 122P 35F + veggie carbs. hunger was manageable. not a difficult day at all. i guess that's how you know if you've done the high carb right.
I feel bloody excellent with this diet. Every time I come back to it I'm struck afresh by its elegant brilliance. It is a ball breaker to set up and implement, esp if you are on the move a lot, but the effort is so worth it.
Phenogen too is feeling good. Hunger is there, but not overpowering. in the absence of HEAT , I've started 10g of inositol/day taken in 2 doses.

carbchick

Monday
did I mention my back is sore? it is Really sodding sore. can't work out what I did to merit it. oh well.
Push workout
DB flat bench 35x8/30x4, 35x7/30x5, 30x12, 35x7/30x5
inc bb bench 55x about 4. so that's that then, too heavy. hmmph. 47x10, 42x12,12,12
flat db flye 25x8, 20x12,12,12,12
french press bb 24x12,12,12,12
dips 4 sets to failure, viz. 3,2,3,and 2.5
Arnies 17.5x12, 20x8/17.5x4, 20x6/17.5x6, 20x12 but possibly the slowest set in history, more pause than lift.
tricep pushups 3 sets of 10

food: lo carb, 143P 28F 98C
Effing starving today, virtually all day. Each meal was a drop in the ocean. I think I may have got to my chest with this workout, which wd be pleasing as I almost never manage to. the 35s felt very heavy. will need a spotter to go heavier. and I must get someone to check my bench form b/c holding the bar hurts my wrists: am I gripping too hard or holding at the wrong angle? pushups used to do the same however maybe I've just got funny wrists.
another vile day in the kitchen: garlic soup w tapenade croutons, rabbit parcels, deep-fried sweet choux paste things - little heart attacks on each plate. came home and devoured cott chz w. peas au naturel. the fancier the stuff I cook at college, the plainer my own fare becomes.

Monolith

DB presses are lookin good.

And with your wrists... it could be that youre letting your wrists bend too far back when youre holding the bar. Try to keep the bar centered over your wrist, dont let it fall back with your hand.

http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/~ek867/dexamyl.jpg

carbchick

thanks mono yes I'm sure I'm failing to centre the bar over my wrists. Will try to mend my ways.
tuesday
1-leg leg press 110x12 121x12 132x12 132x12
lunge db one-and-a-halfs 25x12 30x12, x12,x12
leg curl 33x12,x12,x12,x12
front squat 25x12, 35x12, 41x12, 46x12 can you tell I'm nervous of increasing the weight here? starting to dig into my collarbone BUT most excellent for the burn. and for getting your form right, for there can be no leaning forwards, ho no.
plie squat 46x12, 69x12, 76x12, 90x12 my maths isn't good, started off too light
leg ext 77x12, 88x12,x12,x12
hack squat machine - first time i've tried it out no idea of weight of machine, did 3 sets with 10kg plate added
thigh press (inner) 3 sets of challenging weight

and no schmardio

felt lacklustre during this workout, couldn't seem to get any kind of pump. not like last week. still, the 1.5 lunges hurt, and some of the weights were pleasing ...

food: hi carb 118P 22F ?C not quite so ravenous this time, didn't manage a whole loaf, just 3/4. but then, it was a bigger loaf

Novo

Hey there you

I have a question chicken - WHY Phenogen? It's a no no for dieting in the already lean, and since you are no more objective than I, let's have no argument that you are indeed already lean. Spook's recommendations are that it be used by dieters only above setpoint, and bulkers below. In response to a query from another girl at a similar bf level he mentioned a concern that it may result in too much muscle loss while dieting. Doesn't that fly in the face of your goals, or am I wrong?

I know it's tempting, I have a bottle sitting here looking at me right now. But I'm not opening that bad boy until and unless food intake goes UP. Just looking out for you, not trying to be a nosey witch

carbchick

hey novo! thanks for being a nosey witch. nosey witches are welcome here. re Phenogen, well I am getting my calories up,and I mean really UP, every Hi day. and I am not that lean. Really - no, REALLY - no ... 'sides, I am not cutting; I am decompositioning
I don't like the sound of muscle loss though. was that information about that chick in the phenogen questions thread? only and cos I remember reading a post from jodi saying she's at 15% bf and can't train to the max, and would phenogen be a good idea, and the reply was yes. ok I have thoroughly confused myself now. am off to do some re-reading.

carbchick

wednesday
just the schmardio today - 35 mins of the pink weight variety with some pretty stiff running thrown in there when boredom set in.
did some stretching as my legs were pretty sore from the previous day's 3-varieties-of-squat-all-of-them-crap session. and worked my abs a bit. a bit too much: it hurts to cough.
Fleetingly saw my abs again in the mirror, and then they were gone. just the faintest vertical lines where my obliques used to be. overall I'm looking harder and less blurry than a couple of weeks back. thank the lord. enough validation in the mirror anyway to reassure self that carbcycling is a good option for now. I think my shoulders have grown a bit, judging by the fit of my clothes - feel tighter across the shoulders.

food: no carb 155P 40F bugger all C.
bit higher on P and F than I would have liked. but eaten out of genuine hunger, so that's OK. Felt pretty zingy and zappy all day, even enjoyed what we cooked this afternoon: salmon & watercress salad, Chix Basque and Patisserie Creme flan. THAT all went in the bin but I did bag a chix that was left over so that I could go home and cook it 'properly' i.e. strip all skin and fat off, then roast the living daylights out of the bugger, booby side down.
there can be no doubt that my excellent mood and energy in the pm was due to finding 3 lonesome HEAT tabs in my rucky at lunchtime. Pounced on them like a ravening druggie, and felt absolutely marvellous. Curse and sod the aussie govt for being happy-depriving miseryguts. I WANT MORE HEAT! I NEED it, I DO!!!!
alas I'll have to make do with bucketloads of aussie sunshine to keep megrims at bay. Yeah it's tough all over, no?

Monolith

I love your posts... youve got quite a way with words.

Do you know why customs wont let the HEAT through? Is it for one certain ingredient? The alpha-yohimbine, maybe?

http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/~ek867/dexamyl.jpg

Novo

Yup, yohimbine is banned here. They also have a hard-on for ephedrine. And much, much more.

They like to keep us fat and slow down here. Sure, it sucks up the tax $$ (our obesity problems are approaching yours), but really they are just saving us from ourselves dontcha know ...

Informed decisions for self? Impossible

Jodi

Yeah, I'm using the phenogen but I'm at maintenance cals with a weekly refeed. I'm starting to notice some muscle loss but that's because I am no longer lifting to my potential. I'm just trying to keep the fat from piling on.

Essence EFA

Monolith

Couldnt you argue that alpha-y is a completely different reagent with regards to yohimbine? I havent really looked into HEAT all that much, so im probably missing something... but i know customs isnt exactly filled with pharmacists, so they might be stopping products that dont actually fall under your drug laws "just to be safe."

http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/~ek867/dexamyl.jpg

Novo

Couldn't agree more, I think there's no question this is what happens. They don't begin to understand the issues surrounding these products - blanket policies are easier of course.

We do have some recourse to appeal a package that is seized, and I know of some who have successfully argued things in this way (if the laws have been misapplied). I don't know what, if any, distinction they apply to Y ... but I doubt any at all. The risk you run is that once a product has been seized, your name/address are forever more on the "WATCH OUT FOR THIS DANGEROUS DRUG LORD" list, and everything you bring in is under the spotlight.

Hence we get to pay $$$ for someone else to take that import risk, and pick stuff up here ... or we go without. But that's OK, I hear all I need is glutamine and I'll be ripped in a fortnight. That's right isn't it Mono? I'm sure TP recommends it for such

Monolith

Remember to take the glutamine post workout with grapefruit juice.


A friend of mine who lives in sydney had me send him like 8 bottles of hydroxycut a while ago. That was back when it had ephedra in it, and he picked it up no problem.

http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/~ek867/dexamyl.jpg

Novo

Well, sure - they don't check everything. I think it's easier when it's a 'personal' package too, items from supplement companies attract more attention of course.

I've often thought the best bet would be for my Auntie in the States to include some vitamins when she sent me over a birthday present, you know, just because she thinks they are particularly good and worries about my health.

Shame I don't have an Auntie in the States therefore!

Monolith

You could always start calling me Daddy, and i might send you some treats...

http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/~ek867/dexamyl.jpg

Novo

Come to mama

carbchick

They sent me a billet doux at taxpayers' expense. seized under section 229(1) (b) of the customs act 1901 (yes that's over 100 years ago, but it's still all good). Apparently yohimbine is a prohibited import, 'aphrosidiacs, that is to say yohimbine' no less Recovery of said substance will cost me AU$400. my details have been retained on record and I am now a Named and Dangerous person. bang go by chances of permanent residency then.

Thursday's stuff
shoulders
upright row w. cable 22lb plate x12,x12,x12,x12 these were incredibly tough. I think the attachment itself must weigh 20lb. At least.
machine press thingy, kind of goes up and forwards not sure what it's targetting but it was sodding hard, did one plate (22lb?) for 4 sets of 12. made me sweat.
militaries bb 37x6/32x6, 4 sets.
lateral raise 7.5x12, 10x12 3 sets with static holds at the top
clean and jerk 35x5, 41x5, x5, x6

note to self: avoid gym at 12.30 on thursdays. for it is flooded with schoolkids.
new experience: shoulder shake. what a weird feeling.

food:
lo carb 126P/21F/105C
another no carb day tomorrow. I'm already looking forward to saturday's hi carb and have purchased sweet potatoes in eager anticipation. I can and will down a field full. Might shift things up a gear next week and have 3 lo, 2 no and 2 hi.

this sounds desperate (nay TIS desperate): I surfed a few websites seeing if I could purchase yohimbine in Oz. Brought up a couple of sites to do with male impotence. so I can get it, but just because it's a banned substance, does it mean that the Y is the thing in HEAT that makes me feel good? it could be the other things ... so I googled the ingredients. 2 of them came up nada. one of them offered me an exotic Indian tree to plant. Great. So I can get one of the raw ingredients and if I were at all green-fingered (not) I might in year or so, be sorted. Sigh, double sigh.

Monolith

Nice cleans.

And hey, i might be making a trip down to Oz this January... i could always smuggle some HEAT down in my suitcase.

http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/~ek867/dexamyl.jpg

Novo

You're coming to visit - will you be in Sydney? Wanna train Mono? Or shall we just go for a beer on the harbour instead

Monolith

Yeah, ill be in Sydney. Its actually a trip my parents are considering, and theyd want me along as a tour guide.

And the gym can wait, a cold beer on the harbour is what im after.

http://www.ncf.carleton.ca/~ek867/dexamyl.jpg

Novo

That we can do. January, nice .... HOT