MusclePump: Drinking from the Cup

[musclepump]

Well, as I prepare for my first show, the 2005 E. Cup, I'm already having all sorts of problems. This is my story:

I started my cutting on January 6th after returning from Hawai`i. I weighed 197, off slightly from my peak of 202 a month beforehand during my bulking phase.

Today is January 22. I'm 190 pounds. Yesterday I was 187.5--both of these weights are verified by two different scales, my home scale and the gym scale. I have no idea how I have this flux. My diet has been solid: Chicken, Tuna, Rice, Lean meats, no cheating. I started out at 2,800-2,900 cals a day. After the first week I added in three days of cardio (Elliptical) for thirty minutes each session. My weights are solid and even in a calories deficet I'm pushing about the same weights as before. I'm taking the same supplements as I have before and added Bio-HGH Releaser from BioGenesis and TwinLab's RippedFuel.

I'm looking leaner already just sixteen days in, but seven pounds lost already is too much. I was shooting for two pounds a week. When I try adding more calories, I put weight back on--increase, not even hold steady. I'm having trouble finding a happy-medium where I slowly lose weight. I've lost size on my biceps which is really troubling, too. I'm obviously burning muscle along with fat. No good. No good at all.

I've been drinking exactly a gallon of water a day, feeling good for the most part, just trying to figure out this road to my first ever competition. More to come later.

 

[musclepump]

Woke up this morning at 189.5

 

[Stu]

Good luck, you seem to know what you're doinh. What date is the comp?

 

[musclepump]

Thanks stu. They haven't announced the date exactly yet, but I'm assuming it'll be the last weekend in April as it usually is.

 

[Rocco32]

Good luck man. I'll be following along. Where are you from?

 

[musclepump]

The beautiful and rainy Pacific Northwest!

 

[Stu]

Just out of interest, why did you go for the ripped fuel over the traditional ECA

 

[musclepump]

I had ripped fuel left over. Real RF, not the ephedra free crap. So out of having used it and liked it from before, it was also for the fact it kept me from having to go out and buy other stuff.

 

[musclepump]

Woke up at 189.5, didn't eat as well yesterday as I didn't feel well.

Workout was good today though my bench isn't as heavy as it used to be. Lack of calories getting a piece of me.

 

[musclepump]

188lbs this morning. Shoulder workout today, didn't get in heavy weights--feeling a little weak, tired. Started a rotation of High/Low/No carb days today; High carb today, low tomorrow, no afterward. I read it up, says it's beneficial--I can hope so.

 

[musclepump]

2,700 calories today, high carb day complete. I love this day already, I can tell

 

[camarosuper6]

Ah hell, I can eat 2, 700 cals in one sittin.. lol

 

[musclepump]

Ah hell, I can eat 2, 700 cals in one sittin.. lol

Up until the first week in January I could too But now those good ole' days are gone in the run for a trophy!

 

[musclepump]

186.5 today--this is absolutely ridiculous! I go to sleep at 188, wake up and take a piss and I'm a pound and a half lighter. I don't know how this is working out the way it is; no cardio yesterday, 2700 carbed up calories, and I still lose weight.

 

[musclepump]

All kinds of problems today... woke up late, my eggs didn't cook quick enough and I ran out the door without my food! Oh man making up for that was tough, especially as today was to be a 'low carb' day. So I end up at Taco Bell and buying spicey chicken soft tacos and scooping the stuff out so I don't eat the shell, pinto's and cheese... what a day.

 

[musclepump]

186 this morning after not eating as well as I should have yesterday...

 

[Egoatdoor]

Are you going to drive yourself insane weighing yourself every day? I don't see the point this far out from the competition. Shouldn't the mirror and occasional body fat testing be a better indicator?

 

[musclepump]

I like to keep track. The mirror is nice, which is actually why I'm weighing myself. Trying to see how much I'm losing to try and adjust the diet appropriately. I've lost too much too quick, so I keep adding a few calories trying to slow it down.

 

[musclepump]

188this AM

This will be my first no-carb day, so we'll see what happens. Woke up with a headache completely unrrelated, but now I'm off to a leg workout--we'll see how that works out.

 

[squanto]

try weighing yourself at the same time every time you weigh yourself. Your body may fluxuate 3 pounds or so throughout the day. Think about it... you're putting food in, dumping food out, drinking water, going wee-wee... I always weigh myself first thing in the morning. I find results are more accurate this way. And weighing yourself every day is a bit much.
Since you're doing a carb cycling program, why not just weigh yourself every 3 days, after each cycle? That should be plenty, there's no sense in freaking yourself out every day. After all, the lost weight could be anything (water, food, etc), you could gain it back the next day.

Concerning losing size on your biceps.... same thing happens to me. There is a decent amount of fat on your arms that can be lost. As long as your lifts aren't getting weaker, I wouldn't worry about it. I bet your arms look a lot more cut tho.
Hope this helps... Good luck with your first competition!

 

[musclepump]

That's a good idea--every three days would be a better sign. I'll weigh myself every high carb day in the morning, which will be tomorrow.

I do weigh myself every morning after I piss though, first thing.

 

[musclepump]

187

 

[musclepump]

185.5 pounds this morning.

 

[musclepump]

I think these no carb days are going to kill me! It's like I'm drained for energy, I'm cranky, and I can't wait to get through the day. My workouts aren't as energetic and by this time in the week, thanks to my crazy schedule, I'm just exhausted.

I had to sneak some pineapple in to my cottage cheese today though, so it wasn't a perfect meal day. I just can't eat as much fat free cheese as I used to be able to without wanting to gag--had to add a little extra flavoring.

 

[musclepump]

185 this morning

 

[musclepump]

Still 185 pounds this morning. I think I'm going to have to cut more calories now, really work on keeping the protein high, and maybe add in some cardio. I had done a couple days of cardio the first two weeks, but realized I was dropping too fast so I got rid of it. Might be time to start bringing it back in a little if I keep at this plateau.

 

[musclepump]

184 this morning. Broke the plateau! Went from 2,800 calories (which stopped me cold at 185) to 2,400 and I'm making progress.

 

[cider303]

if you think you are losing fat too quickly instead of going high carb / low carb / no carb you could slightly change it to something along the lines of high/low/high/none but again thats completely up to you. good luck bro i will be following this

 

[musclepump]

That's not a bad idea, but I don't think it's necessarily fat that I'm losing too quickly, I'm afraid I'm losing too much of a blend. What would be a good cycle to follow if I felt I was looking too much muscle? I keep upping my protein, but it's hard to find a happy-medium.

 

[musclepump]

184 still, which is odd especially in the fact that I weighed myself on the wrong day at 182.5, and now, two lower calorie days later (last two days have been 200-400 less than normal) I'm back at 184. I need a new scale