Xenadrine RFA-1

[semag]

thanks for the info, couple more

Thanks for the reply anakin... few more questions

A) WHen I was asking what you do for HIIT, that was a good response. Can you enlighten me just a tad bit more on WHAT you do? Bike, run, treadmill, elliptical... etc? I jog on down to the beach and run up and down by the water.... talk about lucky eh?

B) About your BF... 11.5% is great, and I wanna go for about the same thing you've done. I started around 20%, and want to get down to the 8-11% range. Right now, I'm 5'11 or so, and 180 lbs (81.82 kg). With your body fat reduced to what it is, I imagine you can tell a difference. Can you see it in your body? I remember earlier you said:

I'm not that close to being ripped right now...I think I would have to get to about 11% BF or below to be ripped...I feel slimmer...yet not enough has come off the belly so far...so I think at least one more cutting cycle is needed...at least! Nevertheless, results are showing themselves, only slowly..but surely!

Now, you're around that 11% mark, so was your prediction correct???

C) Ok, you started out wanting to get on an 8 week. You were at 2 weeks left on the 21st right?? And now it's about the end of that 2 weeks?? I 'm planning on about 10 weeks, so I'm wondering if I picked about the right amount of time.

D) Lastly, thanks for bearing with me. I'd appreciate some critique on this. I know EVERYONE says that the #1 factor is a diet, so I wanna make sure I have my diet set up correctly for a solid base. Here we go.

I go for about 1600 calories a day...
Here's what I base everything around.

            Calories        Protein/protein    calsCarbs/Carbscals        Fat/fat cals


Cottage 
Cheese 
(2cups)      324            56 / 224            12 / 24                   4 /36

 Tuna 
(1 cup)      178            39 / 156            0                         1 / 9 
 
Orange 2     122            2 / 8               30 / 120                  0

Milk 
(3 cups)     260            25 / 100            35 / 150                  1 / 9
 
Totals       884            122 /488            77 / 308                  6 / 36 
   

In addition... on workout days, I have a protein shake after the workout... which accounts to this.


 Protein
 shake 
(2 scoops)   180            34 / 136            6 / 24                    3 / 27 


And, for breakfast, a couple of eggs.

           calories         Protein / cals      Carbs / cals             Fat / fat cals
Egg 
hard 
boiled       155            12 / 48             1 / 4                    10 / 95        
 
Egg 
white        16             3.5 / 13.5          0 /0                     0/0             
 
Total….      171            15.5 / 61.5         1 /4                     10 / 95       
 


So the totals are....

           calories         Protein / cals      Carbs / cals             Fat / fat cals


 total       1177           144.5 / 578         60 / 238                 32 / 290    


So only a few cals left... prolly need some more protein, like some more tuna or something.

So in essence, I get that every day, and then add a little bit on to it, guestimate with things to try to hit 1600. Things like chicken one day, leafy veggies another, maybe some roast beef.... etc.
What are your guy's thoughts??


Thanks for help

 

[InLawsHateMe]

I took Xen, with Ripped Fuel for a year..... lost a lot of weight. I think I was 220, dropped to 184 years time. But I truly think it has affected me in a bad way.....

When I started, it was Ripped Fuel, I liked it a lot. Took it with my coffee in the mornings, I couldn't be stopped. Use to rush down to the office gym every hour to do bech presses, and curls, and I did 20 pushups every 1/2 hour. Not everyday but almost. Then I started taking Xen. So it was Ripped in the mornings, and Xen at 1 or 2 pm. Xen made my heart hurt. I felt a little pain there. So I stopped taking it. Then I thought, man, taking this stuff for a year, this can't be good. All those gel capsules..... oye. So I stopped. I'm sure it's taken some years of my life away. Anyway, when I stopped, the weight came back.....

 

[Demon]

Ooooo... pharmaceutical-grade ephedrine... I want some of that.

 

[anakin]

Can you enlighten me just a tad bit more on WHAT you do? Bike, run, treadmill, elliptical... etc?

I used to use the cross-trainer that also measured heart rate, but I have since started attending the Uni gym and now undertake my HIIT sessions on a bike.

With your body fat reduced to what it is, I imagine you can tell a difference. Can you see it in your body?

Yes, over time in particular, I see a real difference in my body although I was wrong in thinking I could achieve a six pack by getting my bf at around 11%. I hear that around 8% bf is the six pack range.

Ok, you started out wanting to get on an 8 week. You were at 2 weeks left on the 21st right??

I had two weeks left of the cutting, but because of so much Uni work, I took a break in order to clear up my work, before resuming cutting. Now, I have another 3 weeks to go before I finish this cutting cycle. I will then take a break and prepare for a bulking cycle.

I'm planning on about 10 weeks, so I'm wondering if I picked about the right amount of time.

Yes, that’s fine. After 10 weeks, be sure to take a break of about 2-3 weeks before resuming another cycle, whether it be bulking or cutting.

I go for about 1600 calories a day...

How many calories do you take at the moment? Never go below 1600 calories per day…
As DIESEL says, start at your baseline, then progressively cut 200 calories each week until you hit somewhere close to 1600. Otherwise it will have repercussions on your metabolism (see Guide to Cutting Up).

Why have you included the cottage cheese? If you feel that it is necessary to consume fat, why not flax seed oil? On a training day, around an hour prior to my workout, I take oatmeal, in order to enhance my lifting. On non-training days, I stick with liquids in the morning, (water and protein shake). I have to say that my experience and knowledge on nutrition is not too great. . . so I do not feel too qualified to advise on that…perhaps some other guys can offer a much better critique…nevertheless, I can still tell you what my current diet is composed of:

Mornings: Protein shake and water (on training days I take Oatmeal with semi skimmed milk [0.3% fat] 1 hr before working out)

Mid-mornings: water with a soluble vitamin C tablet.

Lunch: in Uni...a variety of meals each day...Carbs (rice/potatoes/pasta/or mixed vegs) followed by with salad, meat, and a fruity dessert. (On training days, shortly before lunch, I take whey protein mixed in skimmed milk as I have just worked out and consume). My workout is timed to finish so that I can follow it up by lunch within 30 mins of my workout ending. This is the meal where I take most of my carbs for the day.

Late afternoon/early evening: protein drink or tuna tin + lots of water

Evening: Fish/chicken breast with mixed vegtables (low carbs)

I’m not so much a precise calorie counter, but I am sure the above keeps to around, if not below 2000 cals per day. Combining that with HIIT and you will see results!
Also, on page 1, check out Prosemont’s diet, I thought his was diet also excellent. Any other guys wanna critique Semag’s diet?

EDIT:

Originally posted by InLawsHateMe:
When I started, it was Ripped Fuel, I liked it a lot. Took it with my coffee in the mornings, I couldn't be stopped. Use to rush down to the office gym every hour to do bech presses, and curls, and I did 20 pushups every 1/2 hour. Not everyday but almost. Then I started taking Xen. So it was Ripped in the mornings, and Xen at 1 or 2 pm. Xen made my heart hurt. I felt a little pain there. So I stopped taking it. Then I thought, man, taking this stuff for a year, this can't be good. All those gel capsules..... oye. So I stopped. I'm sure it's taken some years of my life away. Anyway, when I stopped, the weight came back.....

Woah! No wonder that you had bad side effects...man, consume one at a time...!! Coupled with the fact that you worked out too hard..and you took it with coffee...no wonder it made your heart hurt!!! btw, you also ought to cut out caffene from your diet when taking thermogenic products.

Anakin

 

[prosemont]

Whoaaa Johnny!

Anakin,
Just checking in and I see that you went from 19% bodyfat
to 11.5% bodyfat!!! Holy smokes! Nice job and congrats!

I'm wondering if you tried the belt idea that I mentioned on page 1 and, if not, why the fvck not? j/k. I think you ought to try it if you haven't already. I also forgot to mention that the more you wear that belt, the more it will work. The most effective or "best" time to wear it is during cardio when you can literally sweat out your ab fat but wearing it any time is good.

Also, it is just my humble opinion, but *I* would not go on a bulking program until I reached my bf goal of 8% (if I were you).
I would increase my calories temporarily for three weeks (but not into bulking zone) and then hit the cutting cycle again and repeat until I reached goal.

Besides, it's Summertime, dude, and you want to be R-I-P-P-E-D don't you??? Btw, where in Germany are you?

 

[Demon]

He wants to be ripped not R.I.P.'d.

Don't overdose the drugs. I have yet to meet anyone who's as tolerant as I.

 

[anakin]

Originally posted by prosemont:
Just checking in and I see that you went from 19% bodyfat to 11.5% bodyfat!!! Holy smokes! Nice job and congrats!

Hi Prosemont! Thanks man, I'm happy with the change, the most important thing, I think, is to be patient and persistent. There are times when I just got fed up with the diet and the enthusiasm withered for a moment, and my sweet tooth craved some chocolate or some junk food. But I persisted, and thought of changing my body to be leaner and meaner once again...to be healthier, mentally and physically.
Change is slow to see, personally, but the most notable comments come from people who had not seen me in a while, who really saw the difference, more than myself! Just keep going..keep pushing and remember why you are doing what you are and what you want to achieve.

I'm wondering if you tried the belt idea that I mentioned on page 1 and, if not, why the fvck not? j/k. I think you ought to try it if you haven't already. I also forgot to mention that the more you wear that belt, the more it will work. The most effective or "best" time to wear it is during cardio when you can literally sweat out your ab fat but wearing it any time is good.

I liked the idea about the belt and I have certainly considered it, at the time of first posting, my chest was (and still is) a weaker part of my body and I originally thought all those months back that I wanted to strengthen my chest more than revealing my abs. Is a belt feasable for a 12-15 minute HIIT session, esp. on a bike? If it is feasable, sure, I'll make the investment and give it a shot...especially since you seem so confident!

It's Summertime, dude, and you want to be R-I-P-P-E-D don't you??? Btw, where in Germany are you?

haha, I know, I know...summer is here, you want to be seen shirtless and looking good...but personally, I don't like going shirtless, or really 'showing-off' about my developing body, as a trophy to be admired. However, on hot days, I prefer a good fitting white t-shirt as opposed to going shirtless! I'm in northern Germany.

Anakin

 

[semag]

Update

Hey again anakin (and anyone else)... I thought I'd post a little as to my progress like you have done, although I haven't gotten in touch with a way to get body fat measurements yet. Here's my breakdown (and attempted explanation) for what's gone on.

week 1: Well...For several weeks, I kept telling myself that I was gonna cut up. The whole mentality lead me to start eating healthier as a few weeks went on... and I think the effect was the gradual calorie drop that DIESEL recommends. Anyway, I got all my supps at about one time, and the financial committment really got me going. I started up my diet hardcore, and drank 5 liters of water a day... However, after about the first week, I noticed that my weight had actually fluctuated about the same, if not adding a pound or two. Attempted explanation: I figure the extra weight is my body retaining a bit of that water since I was getting so much more than I was used to... nevertheless, a little disheartening, but I perservered.

week 2: Week 2 went well... I got more comfortable with my eating plan and kept it up pretty well, along with the water. I didn't get a good consistent time TO go to the gym, although I hit the gym all the days I was supposed to... Because of the lack of consistency, I didn't get to watch the weight too much, so I'm not sure... if I'd have to estimate, I'd say it dropped back to about 180, where I started. Note: You get damn hungry at about 11-12 at night when you're cutting... hahah

week 3: I just started week 3 about today... and I think my body has finally adjusted to the water/new diet. I went into the gym AFTER dinner today, and was about 176 lbs.... and that went up to 179 at the end of the workout... after about 1.5 - 1.75 liters of water... so I'm a little happier now...


I wanted to check to see if you noticed about the same pattern at all, or if anyone notices the same pattern? Shouldn't it take your body about a week or two to adjust to an increased water and lowered calorie intake? Or are my attempts at explaining what was happening completely off... Thanks for any input/experiences!

 

[anakin]

Re: Update

Originally posted by semag
although I haven't gotten in touch with a way to get body fat measurements yet.

Not even in your local gym? They should all have one, even our Uni gym has one. There are some cheap ones on bodybuilding.com - although I cannot question the accuracy of them!

week 3: I just started week 3 about today... and I think my body has finally adjusted to the water/new diet. I went into the gym AFTER dinner today, and was about 176 lbs.... and that went up to 179 at the end of the workout... after about 1.5 - 1.75 liters of water... so I'm a little happier now...[/B]

Do not measure your body mass so much...taking into account of the daily fluctuations. Once a week is fine. I also used to measure mine in the same point in the day, each week, meaning that it could be a fairly accurate reading. That way, you are more likely to see which direction you are headed in and can modify, if necessary, your program. I measured bf once a month. You ought to too...as you may put on more muscle mass than fat lost...and when you look on your scales, you see an increase, whereas, it could actually be a decrease in real terms.

Are you taking a fatburning supplement? How did it make you feel? And is your diet composed of what you originally posted above? (any critics out there??). Perhaps water retention was a factor...but normally, in my experience, the Xenadrine definitely did not act way!

After the first 3 weeks, as you say, you think you have adapted to the cutting routine...that's good. Also, remember to tailor it personally too...keeping the fundamentals the same.

- Keep going! persevere with your plan; keep lifting hard to maintain muscle mass whilst doing cardio training (preferably HIIT) and keep eating well. No junk food!
- do not stand on the scale each day, once a week is fine.
- make sure you find a way of calculating your bf.

Anakin

 

[semag]

Heh... thanks again for the reply anakin. It's cool to have you here to help, since you started just a little bit earlier and we're pretty close comparitively.

Are you taking a fatburning supplement? How did it make you feel?

Yeah, I'm taking an ephedra free one, and I think it's working all right. Gives me a bit of an increase in energy, and makes me thirsty.... prolly the caffeine.

They should all have one, even our Uni gym has one.

yeah, I'm lookin into that now.

And is your diet composed of what you originally posted above?

Pretty much yeah... I stick to that as a core, and then throw in a few things that they offer daily at the dining commons... i.e. Bowl of stir fried chicken and veggies, some roast beef, a piece of wheat toast, a chicken breast... stuff they have lying around.

Oh, and in addition, I changed the core a bit. I start the day with 4 eggs, hardboiled (just the whites) and have 4 more at each of the other two meals. That's 12 eggwhites a day....

Thanks for the support and advice anakin, I appreciate it.