ADAMS PREPARATION FOR MATT MASH FITNESS PHOTO SHOOT: ~My journey from 10 % bf to sub 5 % bf ( 12 weeks ) I have been asked by a few people what my diet looked like on the lead-up to my photo-shoot with Matt Marsh. Additionally, a lot of people have asked to hear my philosophy in action after seeing my videos on YouTube: so I thought I’d kill two birds with one stone and describe them both. Around February 2013, I decided that I was going to get into shape for Body Power, using myself not only as an example of my own philosophy at work but also as an advert for my nutrition company. My starting weight was around 14 stone with around 10% body fat. Knowing that I wasnt doing a competition as such, this relieved me of the feeling of necessity and - in hindsight - what seems to be an imprisoning perfectionist ideology, manifesting in what would usually be a positive competitive attitude. Simultaneously, this relieved sense of urgency attitude catalysed what seemed to be an oxymoron outcome which started with very little change in effort or care. My first tangible move was to remove all sugar and half of my starchy foods.( decreasing available glucose increases utilisation of fatty acids and ketones = reduction and fat stores and appetite win/win ) An example day during my first week would look as follows (please note that every day could involve different foods but the macro-nutrient proportions and totals would be very similar). 7AM:Scrambled eggs (2 whole eggs, 4 egg whites), 2 bits of wholegrain toast with garlic and Flora butter. 10:30AM:Low GI Crunch 11:30AM:Training 1:30PM:Sea Bass, mashed potatoes, peppers, salad, olive oil. 6PM:Vegetable soup (spring onions, green beans, peas, sweet corn, onions, tomatoes, mixed peppers, broccoli florets with goats cheese, garlic, olive oil and herbs). 8PM:Tuna, spinach, mixed seeds, olive oil 9PM:Vegetable soup (spring onions, green beans, peas, sweet corn, onions, tomatoes, mixed peppers, broccoli florets with goats cheese, garlic, olive oil and herbs) 11PM:Total Zero yoghurt, crushed raspberries, almond milk The first observations in that week were the reduction in my waistline and increase in energy levels. After training for over 18 years, plus understanding nutrition and my body for the last 10 years, I completely allowed my intuition and senses – along with my understanding of hunger – to control the outcome. By week 3, my energy levels had really increased and my body fat had dropped by around half %. At this point my appetite seemed to be sailing in terms of satisfaction and my training – while intense – seemed to be in cruise control. My conclusion was that although I had taken away excess energy, my body was in a peak surplus condition. Knowing that there was so much more stress that I could put on my body, I decided to burn the candle at both ends increase training , decrease food with the prediction that my body’s response would be to use one of these lit ends to counteract the other end increase intense training = decrease appetite – ( increase in blood lactase , Ghrelin and peptide YY )so although the candle may be alight at both ends, my body would only actually feel one of those ends burning ( training ) – this being a metaphor for my next stage during week 4 (too many fours there!) which was to double my training while decreasing food intake. An example day from Week 4 could look like this: 7AM :Brown rice puffs, 2 boiled eggs 11AM:Low GI Crunch 12:00:Training 1:30PM:Tuna, spinach, peppers, onions, tomatoes, mixed seeds, garlic & olive oil 6PM:Sour beans and spinach, mixed salad. 8PM:Vegetable soup (spring onions, green beans, peas, sweet corn, onions, tomatoes, mixed peppers, broccoli florets with cottage cheese, garlic, olive oil and herbs) 9PM:Vegetable soup (spring onions, green beans, peas, sweet corn, onions, tomatoes, mixed peppers, broccoli florets with goats cheese, garlic, olive oil and herbs) 11PM:Tuna, spinach, peppers, onions, tomatoes, mixed seeds, garlic & olive oil After changing my training quite drastically, now my body was starting to feel distressed – and I could feel my physiology reacting accordingly. Although my energy was high and my performance was higher than before, tiredness and hunger were starting to set in, especially in the evenings, where I felt an influx of both lethargy and a lack of ability to fall asleep easily. I was now in Week 6: my body fat had dropped to 7% and my strength had increased significantly. To counteract the feelings of hunger and lethargy that I was getting in the evenings, I decided to make experimental changes, which I thought would fit my body’s responses perfectly. I decided I would consume over half my daily calories after I got home (6-7PM) and sometimes after two training sessions in a day. This correlating with the biochemical response to intense training and mechanisms of sleep - Intense training releases AMPK which reduces appetite making less food not only easier to handle but almost follow the bodies feedback mechanisms , this working with a synergistic efficiency as at the same time mTOR - responsible for caller growth and protein synthesis is kinda restrict by AMPK On Week 7, an example day would look like this: 9AM:Protein Shake 10AM:Training 12:00:Tuna, spinach, peppers, onions, tomatoes, mixed seeds, garlic & olive oil 3PM:Protein Shake. 5PM:Training 6PM:Vegetable soup (spring onions, green beans, peas, sweet corn, onions, tomatoes, mixed peppers, broccoli florets with goats cheese, garlic, olive oil and herbs) 7PM:Spinach, goats cheese, mixed peppers, mixed seeds, olive oil 8PM:Total Zero yoghurt, crushed raspberries, almond milk 9PM:Protein Bar with peanut butter 10PM:Ryvita with peanut butter 11PM:Ryvita with cashew butter Midnight: mix nuts and cashew butter Following these changes, I observed that although I was training twice a day, I was fuller and far tangibly stronger than previously. I also noticed that in the evenings (when I was eating frequently) I didnt feel any of the previous lethargy – plus I was able to fall asleep like a baby. By week 12 I was now around 6% without any dramatic change in my well-being – ( blood test )in terms of heart rate, cholesterol, organ values – with skin seeming to maintain hydration levels and a nourished appearance. I now decided that as things were going so well I would see how far I could push my physiological limits without compromising psychology and sense of wellbeing . This correlating with works done by Zuckerbot not only showing the importance of feel satisfied with your food as a important factor to a successful diet but also how satisfaction alone is a important variable beyond and outside nutrition profiles. Knowing that I naturally have a strong appetite and desire of food, I didnt want to compromise hunger at all, nor the enjoyment that I got from improving performance in the gym (the most I had lifted in 5 years). I decided to increase training sessions for even longer as a way to pull off the fat from the body that it wanted to hold on to. What I was finding was that I was slowly and surely moulding a way of getting down to the levels of body fat that were not necessarily healthy. Under these circumstances the body will respond by sending out any signal it can, signalling its systems to prevent further fat loss. My objective was to avoid feeling the consequences of those signals by second-guessing them, understanding them, counter-balancing them and understanding the timing of them. I was now training for an hour and a half in the morning plus an hour in the evening. My condition was improving, my strength was still increasing and my wellbeing seemed fine. I seemed to have embraced training during the day, being psychologically rewarded during those sessions and in the evenings I enjoyed a sense of euphoria as I continuously ate until I fell asleep. The evenings actually left me in a state of satisfaction that I have not previously achieved when I forced my body to be in this state. I finally ended up at around 5% (or lower) body fat and the scales still hovered around 14 stones. What I was trying to show using myself as a example is how in the industry of body-building fitness and nutrition has create a generic mirror of the psychology it seems to encourage , were regime’s ,schedule and over powering sensations have been at the root of focus - As far as getting starting and having a platform to learning this is a great technique - yet this same technique goes against the principles of physiology and can inhibit maximum progress as well as limiting choices in lifestyle – I hypothesise that the industry has got itself in a more stagnant environment and could be more flexible and productive and I would urge trainers and athletes to not be so concerned with changing their or their clients lifestyle to fit their diet but counter with fitting there diet around their lifestyle – Feel Free
Posted on: Tue, 11 Mar 2014 17:59:50 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015