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!

 
July 28 – maintenance week:
This week was a re-feed and maintenance week. During the first two days I got about 3000 kcal with roughly 280g of protein and 280g of carbs and the rest from fat. The third and fourth day I got about 2500 to 2600 kcal with roughly 270g of protein and 250g of carbs and the rest from fat. On the fifth and sixth day I stepped down to about 1800 kcal with 250g from protein and 100g from carbs and the rest from fat. And finally, on day seven, I returned to a regular dieting off-day with about 1400kcal and 180g protein, 30g carbs and 60g fat. By lowering the carbs (and calories) towards the end of the week while training I burned off most of the stored glycogen and thus lost some water weight before this week’s weight-in.
 

July 28 – after seven weeks (and four re-feed days)
Morning weight: 161.5 lbs (73.4 kg)
Morning weight difference: +1.8 lbs (+0.8 kg)
Waist measurement: 32.6” (82.8 cm)
Waist measurement difference: +0.12” (+0.3 cm)
Body fat percentage by Parrillo 9-sites: 9.53% (-0.53%)
Body fat percentage by Jackson/Pollock 7 sites: 7.44% (-0.32%)
Weight of body fat by Parillo: 15.39 lbs (6.99 kg)
Weight of body fat by J/P: 12.01 lbs (5.46 kg)
Body fat difference by Parillo: -0.68 lbs (-0.31 kg)
Body fat difference by J/P: -0.38 lbs (-0.17 kg)
Weight of lean body mass by Parillo: 146.11 lbs (66.41 kg)
Weight of lean body mass by J/P: 149.49 lbs (67.95 kg)
Lean body mass difference by Parillo: +2.48 lbs (+1.13 kg)
Lean body mass difference by J/P: +2.18 lbs (+0.99 kg)

The re-feed/maintenance week did add some muscle to my bones. I gained about 2.48 lbs while I lost 0.68 lbs of fat. Some of that gain may still be in the form of glycogen and intracellular fluids. We’ll know for sure next week.
 

August 4:
This week was tough. Most of Sweden is covered with mugwort pollen, which is something that makes my allergies go haywire and my asthma to kick in to overdrive. I also switched to a new and somewhat harder training routine this week. That was maybe not the best planning in the world, but I made it through – with a lot of asthma medication.
The training routine spans over four workouts with one heavy upper body workout and one heavy lower body workout where the rep-range is 4 to 6 reps. Each heavy day is followed by a full body workout done in circuit fashion (five exercise in a row) with a rep-range of 15 to 20 reps. These are lactic acid workouts and they’re pure hell. My lungs gave out during the second circuit so I had to split some exercises into regular supersets just to be able to finish the workouts. Allergies sucks – and so does my lungs.
 

August 4 – after eight weeks
Morning weight: 161 lbs (73.2 kg)
Morning weight difference: -0.5 lbs (-0.2 kg)
Waist measurement: 32.40” (82.3 cm)
Waist measurement difference: -0.2” (-0.5 cm)
Body fat percentage by Parrillo 9-sites: 8.89% (-0.64%)
Body fat percentage by Jackson/Pollock 7 sites: 6.95% (-0.49%)
Weight of body fat by Parillo: 14.31 lbs (6.5 kg)
Weight of body fat by J/P: 11.20 lbs (5.09 kg)
Body fat difference by Parillo: -1.08 lbs (-0.49 kg)
Body fat difference by J/P: -0.81 lbs (-0.37 kg)
Weight of lean body mass by Parillo: 146.69 lbs (66.68 kg)
Weight of lean body mass by J/P: 149.80 lbs (68.09 kg)
Lean body mass difference by Parillo: +0.58 lbs (+0.27 kg)
Lean body mass difference by J/P: +0.31 lbs (+0.14kg)

Okay, I lost about a pound this week and gained a tiny bit of muscle mass. Not bad since most of my workouts sucked. This also shows that I did gain a lot of muscle mass during the previous maintenance week. That’s cool.

And here’s finally a new comparison photo. Unfortunately it’s not exactly shot in the same perspective as the previous ones. And the lightning really sucks. I’m still planning on buying some studio lamps in the near future. But until then, this will have to do.

 
And here’s a comparison of the photos I’ve had taken. They’re from day one, after two weeks, after three weeks and after the eight week.

 
And here’s a bad shot of my back from my training session on August 2nd.

There’s still a lot of hardened fat to lose. My caliper reading at the subscapular reading point was about 6mm this week.
 

August 11:
There’s still a lot of mugwort pollen in the air and the weather has been really warm with a high humidity. However, my heavy lifting days have gone really well. I’m increasing the weight or the number of reps in each and every workout. The lactic acid workouts are still a bitch though. But I manage.
 

August 11 – after nine weeks
Morning weight: 160.82 lbs (73.1 kg)
Morning weight difference: -0.18 lbs (-0.1 kg)
Waist measurement: 32.09” (81.5 cm)
Waist measurement difference: -0.31” (-0.8 cm)
Body fat percentage by Parrillo 9-sites: 8.48% (-0.41%)
Body fat percentage by Jackson/Pollock 7 sites: 6.63% (-0.32%)
Weight of body fat by Parillo: 13.63 lbs (6.19 kg)
Weight of body fat by J/P: 10.66 lbs (4.84 kg)
Body fat difference by Parillo: -0.68 lbs (-0.31 kg)
Body fat difference by J/P: -0.54 lbs (-0.25 kg)
Weight of lean body mass by Parillo: 147.19 lbs (66.9 kg)
Weight of lean body mass by J/P: 150.16 lbs (68.25 kg)
Lean body mass difference by Parillo: +0.5 lbs (+0.23 kg)
Lean body mass difference by J/P: +0.36 lbs (+0.16 kg)

Although I lost about 0.3” of my waist this week, the fat loss was only about 0.6 lbs. It’s getting tougher. Beginning next week I’ll throw in some yohimbe HCL at 7.5 mg (three capsules) twice a day. Yohimbe seems to help in breaking down fat, especially old hardened fat, so I might as well give it a try. I haven’t used yohimbe since 1998 and back then, the only available form of yohimbe was the yohimbe bark capsules. The week after next week I’m planning to add some interval training if my lungs can handle it. If they can’t, well, then I’ll have to settle with walking at quick pace wearing a weight vest or a backpack.
 

The results after nine weeks:
Morning weight difference: -6.82 lbs (-3.1 kg)
Waist measurement difference: -3.03” (-7.7 cm)
Body fat difference by Parillo: -13.44 lbs (-6.11 kg)
Body fat difference by J/P: -11.3 lbs (-5.14 kg)
Lean body mass difference by Parillo: +6.61 lbs (+3 kg)
Lean body mass difference by J/P: +4.48 lbs (+2.04 kg)

To be continued.

 
August 18:
I received a couple of bottles of Yohimbe HCL this Wednesday and started to supplement with 7.5 mg (three capsules) twice a day the day after (Thursday). The recommended dose is 1 or 2 capsules a day, but I’ve never cared much for girlie-men approaches since I have a very high tolerance for most substances. I’ve also discussed the dosage with some other coaches and some people that swear by the stuff. And it seems that six to nine capsules should be just perfect. So six capsules a day it is, to begin with anyway. I will probably increase the dose after a week or so.
During the first two days I felt a bit lethargic and tired, but on the third day I felt great and energetic again. We’ll see if the Yohimbe will make a difference in the next couple of weeks.
 

August 18 – after ten weeks:
Morning weight: 160.16 lbs (72.8 kg)
Morning weight difference: -1.1 lbs (-0.5 kg)
Waist measurement: 31.85” (80.9 cm)
Waist measurement difference: -0.24” (-0.6 cm)
Body fat percentage by Parrillo 9-sites: 7.92% (-0.56%)
Body fat percentage by Jackson/Pollock 7 sites: 6.06% (-0.57%)
Weight of body fat by Parillo: 12.69 lbs (5.77 kg)
Weight of body fat by J/P: 9.71 lbs (4.41 kg)
Body fat difference by Parillo: -0.94 lbs (-0.43 kg)
Body fat difference by J/P: -0.95 lbs (-0.43 kg)
Weight of lean body mass by Parillo: 147.47 lbs (67.03 kg)
Weight of lean body mass by J/P: 150.45 lbs (68.39 kg)
Lean body mass difference by Parillo: +0.28 lbs (+0.13 kg)
Lean body mass difference by J/P: +0.29 lbs (+0.13 kg)
 

August 25:
I’ve been supplementing Yohimbe HCL for about ten days now and I can honestly say that it has made quite a difference! After only four or five days I noticed that some of my hardened and stubborn fat had got a lot looser, especially in my lower back and between the muscle bellies in the upper arm and deltoid area, as well as in my legs and around the belly button. And I have a lot of energy and feel really great too.
I also had my first cardio session during the diet on august 20. I tried to run some intervals, but my lungs couldn’t handle it. So instead I had to settle with a much less effective (and time wasting) power walk. To make the best of it though, I loaded my MP3-player with a good educational audio book. Listening to music would really be a waste of time, but books, interviews and recorded seminars seldom are. Since I already study 2 to 3 hours every day of the week, I might as well do it while walking. Anyway, I walked for 45 minutes on Monday and another 30 minutes on Thursday. Since you burn very little energy during power walks and since there’s no EPOC (afterburn), I don’t think these sessions made any difference at all. But it was nice to at least exercise my lungs to some degree.
When it comes to weight training I started a new training block (of four weeks) this week. After mixing it up for a couple of weeks I’m now back to what works best for me; my upper- and lower body training split with four workouts a week. It’s the one from 2002 that I recently posted on the blog. Only difference is in the selection of exercises (varies with every training block).
 

August 25 – after eleven weeks:
Morning weight: 159.28 lbs (72.4 kg)
Morning weight difference: -0.88 lbs (-0.4 kg)
Waist measurement: 31.61” (80.3 cm)
Waist measurement difference: -0.24” (-0.6 cm)
Body fat percentage by Parrillo 9-sites: 7.29% (-0.63%)
Body fat percentage by Jackson/Pollock 7 sites: 5.57% (-0.49%)
Weight of body fat by Parillo: 11.61 lbs (5.28 kg)
Weight of body fat by J/P: 8.87 lbs (4.03 kg)
Body fat difference by Parillo: -1.08 lbs (-0.49 kg)
Body fat difference by J/P: -0.84 lbs (-0.38 kg)
Weight of lean body mass by Parillo: 147.67 lbs (67.12 kg)
Weight of lean body mass by J/P: 150.41 lbs (68.37 kg)
Lean body mass difference by Parillo: +0.20 lbs (+0.09 kg)
Lean body mass difference by J/P: -0.04 lbs (-0.02 kg)

The results from the body comp this week were very much like the week before. Parrillo’s 9-site method shows somewhat greater fat loss, which is good since it contains more troublesome locations such as the lower back (where I lost 1 mm this week). The abdominal reading also went down by 1 mm, from 5.5 to 4.5 mm. For the last couple of weeks I’ve only lost about .5 mm every week in these areas. So I’m now pretty convinced that the Yohimbe HCL supplementation helps a lot, especially with stubborn hardened fat. I’ve also noticed some improvements in the shoulder area.

Here’s a new picture from this Saturday morning:

 
And here’s a new comparison picture with the “before” photo, and a photo from week 3, week 8 and week 11:

 
The results after eleven weeks:
Morning weight difference: -8.36 lbs (-3.1 kg)
Waist measurement difference: -3.51” (-8.9 cm)
Body fat difference by Parillo: -15.46 lbs (-7.03 kg)
Body fat difference by J/P: -13.09 lbs (-5.95 kg)
Lean body mass difference by Parillo: +7.09 lbs (+3.22 kg)
Lean body mass difference by J/P: +4.73 lbs (+2.15 kg)

 
Once upon a time I joined an online bodybuilding community called Bigboys where I was one among many who wrote articles for free. In 1996 the founder John closed down Bigboys and I started Thorax’s Iron Page. In 1999 we had more than 15 contributing writers and we decided to change the name to Iron Magazine Online, or “Ironmag.com” for short. I also registered the domain name ironmag.com on December 12, 1999.
Some archived pages by the wayback machine can be found here.

In 2001 another Iron Magazine emerged and my co-founder was not particular happy about it since they tried to cash in on our name. But I couldn’t care less since I had jumped onboard the Swedish Edition of Ironman Magazine as Editor-in-Chief and was working and traveling +12 hours a day. Our Ironmag was put on ice in 2002 since all of us who started the magazine back in 1996 and 1997 where busy with our careers. Ironmag was after all a free non-profit project who gave a lot of writers a good start to launch their careers (including our own).

I never had any contact with the people at the other Iron Magazine but my cofounder did and he told me some funny stuff like they actually believed that they were first with their magazine and that they wanted our domain name “that we had stolen”. That really made me crack up, but I never wasted any energy on it. After all, we started in 1996 and registered the domain in 1999 while they stared in 2001 (which is also stated on their website).

The other day though, I found a hidden webpage. And this is so funny I just had to share it!
http://www.ironmagazine.com/nutrition1.htm

If you can’t reach the site, here’s a screen shot for your amusement.

Damn! I can take the lying and pathetic crap since it’s probably real in his little fantasy world… but poop! Poop is such a strong word coming from an adult. Uh, my abs are cramping up. Crap.

Anyways, I wish them best of luck. And since Ironmag was my child, I’m sure I’ll renew the domain for another two years.

 
I’ve received a few requests to post my upper- and lower body training program (in full) that I initially used during the start of OLB II. As I mentioned in the first OLB blog, I’ve been using upper- and lower body splits with undulating periodization for years with great success on my clients – and it’s one of my personal favorite ways to train. The particular program I used this time is a simple 2-split with four workouts a week that I devised back in late 2002. It utilizes muscle group pairings in a “alternating set” fashion alternating (undulating) between heavy and moderate workouts. It also contains a few pointers to how to progress with the help of training blocks (meso cycles). The original program (released to some clients in May 2003) can be downloaded here:
2-split_4w_undulating.pdf (Adobe PDF 6.0)

Weeks 7 to 9 of the OLB II journey is now online. Check out the results here: OLB II – weeks 7 to 9.