Days 28...the last day!

Well folks, or for those of you who managed to stay with me for the past month while I ran my trial of the LGIF protocol.....this is the end of the trial run with full results.

I weighed in this morning after yesterdays (Wednesday) rest day (just 30 minutes of HIIT cardio on the spin bike) and found myself at 187.0 and 8.5%. Objectively speaking what I got from this past 2 days is:

+2.4lbs, +0.3% bodyfat

Compared to the gains I was making in the 4 weeks time prior to using Lean Gains Intermittent Fasting protocol this is well......exactly the same rate of gain I was at. I have some photos I took with my tablet and did a side by side and the gains although measurable are not very obvious in the pictures if at all. Gaining 2.4lbs on most anyone let alone a 6'2'' stork like me is almost invisible to the naked eye. I will attempt and upload them but I often have issues when I go from my Nexus tablet to my laptop.....not cool!

So the lessons learned from this 4 weeks trial are as follows: (with respect to myself and perhaps a stretch to generalize to others.....take it for what its worth folks...)

• Eating 6 small meals all day long or 3 huge meals in a tight 8 window makes no difference in terms of weight gain over all or rate of weigh gain over time. 
• The body can in fact digest, breakdown, absorb and assimilate more then 30-40-50 or even 60g of protein in one meal.....this depends on about 20 factors to know exactly how much can be used by the body in 1 sitting.
• It was very convenient to be able to only have just 3 time points each day, squeezed in just 8 hours to worry about any foods or meals. More so during the week when I have multiple fitness classes to lead, consults to hold, gyms to clean, my own workouts to fit in and anything else life has for me on a given day to work around. I did like that very much! 
• I may have skewed the results of this trial a bit in that the last 10 days I swung a 180 and decided to start a progressive taper diet to get ready for my upcoming men's physique contest on September 21st. Dropping out about 900 calories a day for the last 10 days might have short changed the true gains I would have otherwise made......but who really knows?
• All in all at the end of the day if I am taking in 4000kcals a day in 6 meals, 3 meals, all day, part of the day....it still registers as the same number of kcals, fats, protein, carbs in a 24 hour period. Meaning the body adapts to it the same exact way in the end. 

So is LGIF good or bad? Neither! It works as well as traditional dieting tactics do in my opinion. It comes down to weather or not the manner you eat (fast for 16, eat in 8) 3 big vs 6 small etc......is a better option for you via lifestyle, work, preferences....etc...

So with this review I have now decided to go back to......almost what I was doing prior to LGIF in that I will be doing 5 meals a day every 3.5-4 hours. My macro breakdown now is 220c, 90f, 265p. Its 200kcals down from my last drop but mind you I have added in almost 0 cardio beyond what I get through work teaching group x and small group fitness classes 4-5x a week. All I may do is 30 minute HIIT sessions 1-2x a week when I really feel up to it. Diet is taking care of the rest as far as getting lean goes.


Today's workout went down like this:

Legs:

Mission Rancho 24 Hour Fitness: 6pm-730pm

pillar prep, hip matrix, pnf band stretch....

1. sumo deads: 225x6, 275x6, 275x6, 315x5, 315x5, 335x3, 335x3, 335x3, 225x10
2. horizontal leg press: (close stance) 195lbx12 (4 sets)
3. standing calf press machine: 95lbx20 (4 sets)
4. ab crunch machine: 4x20
5. leg extensions: 1x30
6. seated leg curls: 1x35

Daily Grub:
900
6 scoops EAS Lean 15

1200
8 oz lean sirloin steak
2 tbsp cashew butter
normandy blend veggies

1545
8 oz lean bison patties
5 soft corn mini tortillas
sauteed mushrooms

1945
1.5 scoops cellucor whey whipped vanilla
4 soft corn mini tortillas
2 potato buns
large garden salad with walden farms dressing

2300
2 scoops cellucor strawberry whey
2 cups 30 calorie unsweet vanilla almond milk
2 tbsp gnc super flax meal

As of this weekend I will be 4 weeks out from show day! I am as excited as ever to FINALLY be getting back on stage after a 5 year hiatus with many clients being coached to the stage but not setting foot up there myself.......been too long as it is......time to do work!