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spikeithard

spikeithard

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I have decided to start a thread with the intention in mind to stir up talk about fitness goals, advice, inquiries and motivation for others.

I am a college graduate of Fitness and Health promotion (Fanshawe College) , a former personal trainer, GNC salesman and current self study 'guru' of all things health, fitness and natural healing.

I am on my own quest now to go from about 12% BF to about 5-6 % by early June.

Please use this thread to talk about anything food or fitness related. I will help anyone who has any questions about supplements or exercises etc. I know there are at least a few on here training hard right now to reach their goals! :)

Until then here is a legendary motivator doing what he does best. Inspire myself and others until his untimely death this past January. (As you can see in this video he was trying to outrun a train - that was his demise, trying to outrun a train again but on the tracks this time :( ) I watch this clip everytime before I go to the gym. Everything he says is spot on about life.


Good health...
 
spikeithard said:
As you can see in this video he was trying to outrun a train - that was his demise, trying to outrun a train again but on the tracks this time
Click to expand...

i thought this was some sort of euphemism, but nope.

spikeithard said:
Everything he says is spot on about life.
Click to expand...

might want to add a caveat about that time he said, "i'm gonna outrun this train."
 
Hey spike. Obviously this would be just a guess without doing measurements in person, but could you guesstimate my BMI? I'm 5'6", fluctuate between 140-145, somewhat muscular.Headed to Vegas in July for a bachelor party so I'm trying to slim down some before then. Just getting a general baseline to work from would be great!
 
firstly , never use a BMI index. Its a one size fits all scale and I would technically be 'overweight/obese' according to it. Its ok for the average person though but even then. meh
If you have decent amount of muscles you will rate higher than you should. A lean bodybuilder with a 4% body will come off as overweight most likely.

You have lots of time... My advice is get 'myfitnesspal' app for your phone. set up your profile and learn how to use it. Set your goals based on your current weight, height, sex etc. put it to 'lose 1lb a week' for safer weight loss. Follow the daily calorie count for the day to a 'T' and nail your macro nutrients down and wallah.. fat loss.

Weight loss is really not that tough. People think it is. fat loss = calories in are less than calories out. BUT to be healthy while doing it you need to dial in your macros. ie for me is 45% protein (270-300 grams a day), 25% good fats (polyunsaturated) and the rest is carbs (low glycemic like oats and sweet potatoes etc)
for 1lb a week loss, go about 500 calories under your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure). Myfitnesspal with auto find this number for you. eat in a surplus and you maintain or gain weight.

I go with 45% protein and BCAAs while I work out so I dont lose any preciously gained muscle gains

Here is my diet from yesterday. I am allowed 2400 calories a day. I went over by 18. bad boy
my 'smoothie' consists of: almond milk, 1 avacado, banana, organic berry power blend, protein and flax

Untitled_zpsz4cthkey.jpg
 
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Thanks Spike. I actually do pretty well already, I just need to adjust my diet a touch and cut down on the booze.

I typically spend 4 days/week in the gym, do a mixture of cardio and weight training, lean proteins/polyunsaturated fats, whole grains, etc. I'm going to sit down on Monday for an hour or so and write out my meal plan for the next two months and start on May 1st. For me, the first 2-3 weeks are always the toughest. As long as I don't get too hangry and kill someone I should be ok lol.

I have been hearing from others that 'myfitnesspal' is great so I'll give it a look.

Do you happen to have a recommendation for an decently accurate pedometer? It's out of curiosity more than anything. I'm in an industry where I'm on my feet a lot and live in a very walkable city so I feel like it'd be interesting to see what number it would give me.
 
Great thread Spike. I'm on my way down to 10% BF. Aim to get there in summer. Currently have 16%. When I changed my ways of eating and training almost two years ago, I had BF of 31 or 32%, if I recall right.

I am too lazy to measure things I put down to my throat too strictly. I just use common sense. Lately I have lowered my carbs and added some fat and protein intake. I do gym bout 4 times a week, running 2-3 times a week plus 2-3 HIIT/TABATAs on top of those. I really love and hate those high intensity jump exercises.

Last time I ate sweets was last Christmas. Twas two small pieces of chocolate. But I will drink a beer or ten if I like to. Or eat occasionally a kebab if I feel like it. With no bad feelings.

Shirts? Size has gone down from XXL to L-M. Jeans? Waist from 38 down to 32-34.

I'm relatively short/average with 175 cm, so I don't want to add too much muscle. Just want to have a lot of strenght and lose fat and be tight.

Will be following this thread with great interest.
 
Any thoughts on soylent? http://www.soylent.me/

I've been using it for breakfast and sometimes lunch primarily because my meeting schedule is busy enough that I don't have a chance to get food, causing me to skip meals. Skipping meals has been horrible for my metabolism. A side effect is that I've also lost some weight from not consuming excessive fats from what I usually eat.
 
NiceShot said:
Any thoughts on soylent? http://www.soylent.me/

I've been using it for breakfast and sometimes lunch primarily because my meeting schedule is busy enough that I don't have a chance to get food, causing me to skip meals. Skipping meals has been horrible for my metabolism. A side effect is that I've also lost some weight from not consuming excessive fats from what I usually eat.
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watched the video.
Its pretty much a high end meal replacement supplement. Ok if your on the go a lot I guess but something I wouldnt want to base my whole nutrition around like they are trying to make it out to be as.

Muscle Milk has pretty much what it seems this does but probably more protein.
I only supplement whey because I have to get in 240g plus a day. Tough to do when just eating meats, eggs and such. I try to eat as box or shake free as possible.

so yes it seems OK if you are on the go a lot but even then.. meh.
 
Puggy said:
Shirts? Size has gone down from XXL to L-M. Jeans? Waist from 38 down to 32-34.
Click to expand...

Congrats Puggy. Keep up the good work! I've had the opposite experience of yours lately, half of my shirts don't fit anymore due to gains lol:p

Never hurts to have a fresh, new wardrobe
 
I have been unable to lose any weight following the basics of spikeithard's recommendation for a LONG time. I finally found a naturapathic doctor in portland ME who really understands metabolism much better than most of the commonly espoused truths.

The issue is that what spike recommends will work for some, but will not work for all, and thus a lot of people give up.

For example, I am an extreme case in the other direction. I need to be eating low carb, moderate protein and high fat. Including saturated fats.

This unsaturated fat thing is a based on bad science. There are a lot of very healthy saturated fats.

In my case, I am doing 75% fat, 5% carbs, 20% protein. I am eating 2 - 2.5 meals per day. Skipping meals is not slowing my metabolism.

I am doing isometric and weight training exercise daily. No aerobic work right now.

For a while I was doing low carb, but not getting enough fat, and was not losing any weight at all. I added a shit ton of fat and not only did the fat start falling away, but my energy went up, and my food cravings went away.

Anyway, if you're more like me, and these so called common sense nutritional plans aren't working for you, check out: http://www.thebloodcode.com/

JoseRios saw my latest blood work at the BBotB5, and pointed out it looked like the blood work of a healthy person. As soon as the weight levels off, I expect I will be.

Dr. Maurer will work with people remotely over skype as well, so for those who want more than a self-help book, I highly recommend him. His solutions are not one size fits all. My mom is doing a very different protocol working with him than I am, and we are both getting great results.
 
Multilunch boxes could be great for those, who are unable to eat often enough, especially if their job includes a lot of moving around. I gotta get me one. Maybe a bit bigger though...

uploadfromtaptalk1430003601003.jpg
 
Chicken Rob said:
I have been unable to lose any weight following the basics of spikeithard's recommendation for a LONG time. I finally found a naturapathic doctor in portland ME who really understands metabolism much better than most of the commonly espoused truths.

The issue is that what spike recommends will work for some, but will not work for all, and thus a lot of people give up.

For example, I am an extreme case in the other direction. I need to be eating low carb, moderate protein and high fat. Including saturated fats.

This unsaturated fat thing is a based on bad science. There are a lot of very healthy saturated fats.

In my case, I am doing 75% fat, 5% carbs, 20% protein. I am eating 2 - 2.5 meals per day. Skipping meals is not slowing my metabolism.

I am doing isometric and weight training exercise daily. No aerobic work right now.

For a while I was doing low carb, but not getting enough fat, and was not losing any weight at all. I added a shit ton of fat and not only did the fat start falling away, but my energy went up, and my food cravings went away.

Anyway, if you're more like me, and these so called common sense nutritional plans aren't working for you, check out: http://www.thebloodcode.com/

JoseRios saw my latest blood work at the BBotB5, and pointed out it looked like the blood work of a healthy person. As soon as the weight levels off, I expect I will be.

Dr. Maurer will work with people remotely over skype as well, so for those who want more than a self-help book, I highly recommend him. His solutions are not one size fits all. My mom is doing a very different protocol working with him than I am, and we are both getting great results.
Click to expand...


of course everyone is different to an extent but physiology is pretty exact.

FYI: A chronic energy deficit WILL cause fat loss. period

Let me explain why: energy is required in order for the body to function. If you consume less energy than your body uses to function, it must use stored energy (fat, sugars and/or amino acids) to make up for the deficit. Since those stored energy reserves have weight, one must lose that weight when relying on said stores for a percentage of daily energy requirements.
And remember, 'weight' could be muscle loss, fat loss, water loss etc. Your body thinks survival first, it doesn't care that you want to look good or not.
I tend to think most you feel they are not losing fat in a caloric deficit are not calculating something correctly. either units in or units needed etc

 
My wife is all about Advocare (ugh, giant pyramid scheme, makes we want to hurl.) I would think that with sufficient knowledge, equivalent or superior results could be achieved for a lot less money using products from someplace like GNC. Do you have any insights on that?
 
spikeithard said:
of course everyone is different to an extent but physiology is pretty exact.

FYI: A chronic energy deficit WILL cause fat loss. period

Let me explain why: energy is required in order for the body to function. If you consume less energy than your body uses to function, it must use stored energy (fat, sugars and/or amino acids) to make up for the deficit. Since those stored energy reserves have weight, one must lose that weight when relying on said stores for a percentage of daily energy requirements.
And remember, 'weight' could be muscle loss, fat loss, water loss etc. Your body thinks survival first, it doesn't care that you want to look good or not.
I tend to think most you feel they are not losing fat in a caloric deficit are not calculating something correctly. either units in or units needed etc

Click to expand...

I was eating the same number of calories 6 months ago as I am now. The difference is that by ramping up the fat, my metabolism started moving. Knowing your base metabolic rate requires a pretty fancy piece of testing and the guideline calculations don't hold true for all individuals. Lowering my calories further just made me feel unwell. And weight loss was slow to non-existent. There really are people with metabolic deficiencies that need to ramp up their metabolism more than just lower their caloric intake. Believe me, I work harder at this than 95% of Americans, and I'm still profoundly overweight. Sometimes there really is an underlying metabolic deficiency that gets in the way, and trying to create a caloric deficit alone by restricting calories in is not the healthy solution.
 
Chicken Rob said:
I was eating the same number of calories 6 months ago as I am now. The difference is that by ramping up the fat, my metabolism started moving. Knowing your base metabolic rate requires a pretty fancy piece of testing and the guideline calculations don't hold true for all individuals. Lowering my calories further just made me feel unwell. And weight loss was slow to non-existent. There really are people with metabolic deficiencies that need to ramp up their metabolism more than just lower their caloric intake. Believe me, I work harder at this than 95% of Americans, and I'm still profoundly overweight. Sometimes there really is an underlying metabolic deficiency that gets in the way, and trying to create a caloric deficit alone by restricting calories in is not the healthy solution.
Click to expand...
ya that is weird. because usually, taking your BMR (few ways of finding it - some methods are more modern and exact than others) and then adding your daily energy output needs. Mine is 1.6 x BMR ... or 3400 calories just to maintain daily living. So I am now eating 2400 a day for about 1.5-2lbs a week loss. I am seeing decent results after about 2 weeks now. Some upper abs are starting to come in nicely.
1.6 number comes from how active you are, your age and slow, mod or fast metabolism.
here is greg again talking about how to find your numbers. He was on more mag covers than anyone else and was just recently voted best physique of all time. (although I think Arnold should take the honors there!). I am a believer in proof is in the pudding...when I see someone have great success, I dont tend to look at how many letters they have after their name but their triumphs and successes.

this good video may give some of you some better insight on how to get started and also some motivation again. :)

 
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Ben said:
My wife is all about Advocare (ugh, giant pyramid scheme, makes we want to hurl.) I would think that with sufficient knowledge, equivalent or superior results could be achieved for a lot less money using products from someplace like GNC. Do you have any insights on that?
Click to expand...

does GNC sell steroids yet? :) if not, stick to real foods and only use supp's for filling in the gaps you cant reach otherwise.
 
Am I only the one that found this hilariously ironic?

There is a part of the video where he says "Winner and a loser, both fail. The winner gets back up and tries again."

The video cuts immediately to him trying to outrun a train.

He got killed trying to outrun a train on the tracks.

Technically, he's a loser, right? I'm certain he didn't get back up and try again.
 
RichMahogany said:
Do you happen to have a recommendation for an decently accurate pedometer? It's out of curiosity more than anything. I'm in an industry where I'm on my feet a lot and live in a very walkable city so I feel like it'd be interesting to see what number it would give me.
Click to expand...

I got this one awhile back and it's been pretty good for me. Not as pricey as a FitBit and I didn't want all that extra stuff.

http://amzn.to/1HKOrD4
 

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