OLB II - Weeks 4 to 6
The first part of the OLB II journey has been up a couple of days and I’ve received some positive feedback – and of course, requests for more details on my diet and my training.
The OLB Diet
Okay, let’s be frank. This diet isn’t for everyone. It’s pretty extreme, it’s hard and you’ll likely have to make quite a bit of changes in your lifestyle and habits to be able to follow it. Since it is a low calorie diet, you should not follow it more than 8 to 12 weeks. However, I’ve made my best making it as healthy as possible. And since it will be very effective, it will greatly improve your health as you lose fat and keep the diet within this time limit.
In order to calculate a good target calorie intake I use my own formula of 25 x Lean Body Weight in Kilograms (that’s roughly 11.4 x Lean Body Weight in lbs.). For me, at the beginning of the journey, that was about 1550 to 1600 kcal. Remember, this is extreme dieting; it’s not for the beginner. That number is what I will shoot for on average. On rest days I will eat a little bit less, since I’m hardly moving my ass, and on training days I will eat a bit more to aid recovery.
This calorie number will also increase slightly during the diet as I add in more training and possible re-gain some muscle mass. This goes against the concepts of traditional dieting where you tend to lower the calories as you go. But I find it crucial to slowly add in some calories, especially during and after your training sessions, to keep the metabolism going as fast as possible.
This is how the macronutrient breakdown looks like:
Protein: 175g (45E%)
Carbs: 39g (10E%)
Fat: 82g (45E%)
Total: 1600 kcal
Now, those 10E% of carbohydrates are a buffer that includes the carbs I get from natural yoghurt, the protein powders and from glutamine (I use glutamine as a glycogen mimicker before, during and after workouts). Since most of the carbohydrates from veggies are in the form of fiber and thus poorly absorbed by the body, I hardly count them at all. And keep in mind that vegetables are more than fiber, vitamins and minerals. They contain a lot of important phytochemicals (protective or disease preventive chemicals) and antioxidants. They’re also important for the Acid/Alkaline balance in our bodies. The take home lesson? Eat your veggies – and eat a lot!
The daily calorie allotment is divided into four or five meals. On a low calorie plan like this, each meal would be too small if I had more frequent meals. In order to keep a steady supply of amino acids and keeping cortisol at bay, I take my BCAA and creatine mix four times a day, between meals. On training days one portion is taken before the training session and one during. This combination will also help against any mental fog associated with low calorie diets.
This is how a typical training day template would look like:
6.45 a.m. 1 litre of water, 1 large cup of coffee
7.30 a.m. 6g BCAA, 3g Creatine (Methyl & Ethyl Ester), 5g glutamine
7.45 a.m. Training
8.10 a.m. During training: 20g BCAA, 3g Creatine, 10g glutamine
8.45 a.m. 15g glutamine, 1g Vitamin-C
9.00 a.m. Meal 1 + Vitamin, mineral and antioxidant capsules
11.30 a.m. 6g BCAA, 3g Creatine
2.00 p.m. Meal 2 + 4g fish oil (Omega-3)
4.30 p.m. 6g BCAA, 3g Creatine
7.00 p.m. Meal 3 + 4g fish oil (Omega-3)
9.30 p.m. 1 capsule of ZMA
10.00 p.m. Meal 4 + 4g fish oil (Omega-3)
10.30 p.m. 2 capsules of ZMA
Meal 1 should contain as little fat and fiber as possible since it’s ingested post-workout. I usually have a protein shake made with some natural yoghurt. If I want more carbs I’ll add some Vitargo or Maltodextrin. Meal 2, 3 and 4 consists of meat, eggs, vegetable oil and veggies. On rest days every meal will be like meal 2, 3 and 4 with BCAA and Creatine in between each meal.
The Training
When it comes to fat loss programs the key is to burn more calories, elevate the metabolism and generate some lactic acid. For the average client I usually work with full body or upper- and lower body splits. For competing bodybuilders I usually use a 4-split routine where we alternate between heavy and moderate sessions. The training sessions are constructed around supersets, tri-sets or circuits (with non-competing exercises).
My own training program at this stage is based on an upper- and lower body split where I rotate between heavy and lighter sessions.
General parameters:
One exercise for each plane of movement. I.e. Bench presses for horizontal pressing movements, Seated Row for horizontal pulling movements, Push Press for vertical pressing movements etc. The program is split into four days, two low rep days and two high reps days. Exercises vary between low rep days and high rep days. About 75% of the exercises are multi-joint exercises.
Parameters for low rep days:
8 to 10 sets of each exercise for 3 to 5 reps. Positive failure is allowed only on the last set.
Parameters for high rep days:
4 to 5 sets of each exercise for 12 to 10 reps. Positive failure is not allowed at all.
Example of an upper body training day:
A1. Bench Presses
A2. Barbell Row
B1. Push Press
B2. Chins
C. Hammer Curls
That’s it for now on training. My routine will change when my lung’s ability to oxygenate the blood has improved.
July 2, keeping track of my progress with my training log
July 4, doing some high repetition seated calf raises
July 7:
This past Saturday I had my first re-feed day where I doubled my calories mainly from carbohydrates. If you take the re-feed day into account I got 13344 kcal this week. However, during the rest of the week I got about 1500kcal on training days and 1200kcal on rest days. Excluding the re-feed day, this gives an average of 1400 kcal a day for the other six days of the week. That was a bit low but it seemed to work out just fine.
July 7 – after four weeks
Morning weight: 161.5 lbs (73.4 kg)
Morning weight difference: -0.9lbs (-0.4 kg)
Waist measurement: 33.03” (83.9cm)
Waist measurement difference: -0.35” (-0.9 cm)
Body fat percentage by Parrillo 9-sites: 11.28% (-0.77%)
Body fat percentage by Jackson/Pollock 7 sites: 8.95% (-0.7%)
Weight of body fat by Parillo: 18.22 lbs (8.28 kg)
Weight of body fat by J/P: 14.45 lbs (6.57 kg)
Body fat difference by Parillo: -1.35 lbs (-0.61 kg)
Body fat difference by J/P: -1.22 lbs (-0.55 kg)
Weight of lean body mass by Parillo: 143.28 (65.13 kg)
Weight of lean body mass by J/P: 147.05 (66.84 kg)
Lean body mass difference by Parillo: +0.45 (+0.2 kg)
Lean body mass difference by J/P: +0.32 (+0.14 kg)
I lost 1.3 lbs of fat and regained a tiny bit of muscle this week. Not bad at all.
But the most amazing thing is the change in my health that has occurred in the last month. During the spring I had to take four inhalations of cortisone (Becotide, 400mg) and three inhalations of the fast acting Ventoline (400mg) each and every day. In late April I shifted to a combo-medication called Symbicort Forte (320mg). Usually you should be able to function with only one inhalation a day. I had to start out with four and then I still had to use my fast acting Ventoline twice a day.
In early June, when I started training again, I managed on three inhalations of Symbicort a day and one or two inhalations of Ventoline during training.
Now, a month later I only take one inhalation of Symbicort in the morning and I haven’t used my fast acting Ventoline in two weeks! That’s just amazing.
However, I still can’t do any serious cardio work, but I will hopefully be able to in another month or two.
July 14:
During this week I introduced a tiny amount of about 25 to 30g carbohydrates to the post-workout meal instead of the post-workout glutamine. I still take glutamine before and during my training though. This brought the total daily carbohydrate intake (counting about 25% of the veggies as well) to about 60 to 70 grams a day on training days, while they remained at about 35 to 40 grams on rest days. My calorie intake on training days was about 1600 kcal and about 1300kcal on the two rest days. When pulling out the exact numbers from my nutritional journal, I got on average 1506 kcal a day this week. That’s an increase of about 100 kcal a day compared to the week before.
July 14 – after five weeks
Morning weight: 160.6 lbs (73.0 kg)
Morning weight difference: -0.9lbs (-0.4 kg)
Waist measurement: 32.83” (83.4cm)
Waist measurement difference: -0.2” (-0.5 cm)
Body fat percentage by Parrillo 9-sites: 10.59% (-0.69%)
Body fat percentage by Jackson/Pollock 7 sites: 8.40% (-0.55%)
Weight of body fat by Parillo: 17.01 lbs (7.73 kg)
Weight of body fat by J/P: 13.48 lbs (6.13 kg)
Body fat difference by Parillo: -1.21 lbs (-0.55 kg)
Body fat difference by J/P: -0.97 lbs (-0.44 kg)
Weight of lean body mass by Parillo: 143.59 (65.27 kg)
Weight of lean body mass by J/P: 147.12 (66.87 kg)
Lean body mass difference by Parillo: +0.31 (+0.14 kg)
Lean body mass difference by J/P: +0.07 (+0.03kg)
This week I lost about 1.2 lbs of fat and re-gained a tiny amount of muscle. The fat loss seems to slow down a little bit, which is natural as most of the recently gained fat is gone. What mostly remains now is old hardened fat that I’ve accumulated since 1999/2000.
July 21 – after six weeks
Morning weight: 159.7 lbs (72.6 kg)
Morning weight difference: -0.9lbs (-0.4 kg)
Waist measurement: 32.48” (82.5cm)
Waist measurement difference: -0.35” (-0.9 cm)
Body fat percentage by Parrillo 9-sites: 10.06% (-0.53%)
Body fat percentage by Jackson/Pollock 7 sites: 7.76% (-0.64%)
Weight of body fat by Parillo: 16.07 lbs (7.3 kg)
Weight of body fat by J/P: 12.39 lbs (5.63 kg)
Body fat difference by Parillo: -0.94 lbs (-0.42 kg)
Body fat difference by J/P: -1.09 lbs (-0.5 kg)
Weight of lean body mass by Parillo: 143.63 (65.29 kg)
Weight of lean body mass by J/P: 147.31 (66.96 kg)
Lean body mass difference by Parillo: +0.04 (+0.02 kg)
Lean body mass difference by J/P: +0.19 (+0.09kg)
Damn, I dropped just below 160 lbs this week. But who can complain when you get leaner, healthier and don’t lose any muscle mass in the process?
I’ve now been on the OLB diet for six weeks and it’s time for what I call a maintenance week. Actually it’s a quick re-feed followed by a few days at maintenance calories. It’s a great way to up-regulate your hormones, keep the metabolism flying and encourage some extra muscle growth.
The results after six weeks:
Morning weight difference: -7.94 lbs (-3.6kg)
Waist measurement difference: -2.64” (-6.7 cm)
Body fat difference by Parillo: -11 lbs (-5 kg)
Body fat difference by J/P: -9.57 lbs (-4.35 kg)
Lean body mass difference by Parillo: +3.05 lbs (+1.39 kg)
Lean body mass difference by J/P: +1.63 lbs (+0.74 kg)
I’ll post week 7 and 8 within the next couple of days. Thank you for reading!