Fat Loss Starts Now

ALSO, my weight this morning was 225.3 - finally, I reached my goal for the semester, which was to eat my way up to 225. I have definitely gained a ton of muscle, but also a good amount of fat as well - I put on about 30 lbs, and I would estimate that it's about half muscle and half fat. Which is fine, I have been making great gains and definitely not being lazy with my training. But now that my programming is locked in, and I have reached this big goal, it's time to start losing the fat. Here's the rough plan:

Essentially, I have been force feeding myself to gain weight. Eating a ton of everything, regardless of quality. Because I have some big goals coming up in 8 more weeks (405 squat, 255 bench, 455 deadlift), I don't want to diet crazy hard and hinder my strength gains, RIGHT in the home stretch. However, I also don't want to slip into the fat powerlifter mentality that I have to eat like shit and eat as much as I can in order to get strong. SO, the basic plan is to just stop forcefeeding, and start paying attention to the quality of my food haha. Simple, but I think it will make a big difference. I'm gonna make sure to keep my protein intake the same, but just eat slightly less carbs/sugar and overall calories (by doing things like drinking only 2% milk instead of chocolate, eating less breads at meals, and cutting out junk food like cookies and cereal entirely, AND only drinking on the weekends). I think these small changes, while maintaining my current level of training intensity, will result in some appreciable fat loss, while still making strength gains and even putting on more muscle.

FURTHERMORE, I am going to add some light running on wednesdays, making it sort of an "aesthetics day" rather than just arms. This will not only help me lose fat, but also help me up my work capacity and conditioning, to keep a strong foundation for strength gains in the future.

Once I hit my big lifts, I might take the diet even further, adding in another shake so I can keep my protein up, while again reducing overall calories. Although this might SLIGHTLY hinder my strength gains, my plan is to set some slightly smaller and attainable goals for the end of the summer (a sort of "stepping stone" goal towards whatever my BIG, year-long goals are that I set once I max out this may). Probably something like 20 lbs on each lift. That way, I can ensure that I have something to work towards and make SURE that I am gaining strength while I diet, AND the goals will also be reasonable so I don't get frustrated if gains are maybe a little slower. Keep up with my running, and hopefully I have a recipe for success - success for me being defined as losing 15-20lbs of fat while getting stronger AND gaining 5 or so more lbs of muscle, so that at the end of the summer I will be a lean (between 10-12% bf) 215. That would be badass.

Then, next fall I can start a slow bulk again, making some huge strength gains and finally working up to 245.

ANYWAYS, that's the plan. I'm very excited. Lets keep at it.