So I’m still alive and I’d forgive anyone for thinking that I wasn’t if they read this blog. I’ve basically been helping a friend set up their own blog style website and so my free time around training and work has been a little limited. To make matters worse, I was due to go and see my mentor on the day I had planned to post my last update but woke up to a ton of snow which pretty much scuppered my plans. I’m still yet to see the mentor but will be doing that almost certainly this weekend.

A few things have changed since the last post. Nothing major but I’m definitely starting to look leaner and feel denser. I mentioned that I was putting creatine back in to my supplementation which has been great apart from the fact that it added some initial fluff (water retention) that masked my fat loss by increasing my scale weight. With that said, if you have experience with creatine and know what to expect it’s not a big deal. I’ve added a picture below that I took yesterday. I thought I’d add a shot of my legs as I don’t think I’ve displayed them and I was beginning to think that any reader might think I had chicken legs or something.

105.8kg, Current Macros below

By my calculations, I’m now 16 weeks out from my show which is the last Sunday in May (26^th, I believe), so what’s changed? After adding the creatine, my strength jumped and I hit some highs on my lifts which was great. Unfortunately as I mentioned, so did my weight which when you’re trying to monitor scale weight is a little confusing even if you are expecting it. I basically went from 106kg at the time that I posted last to 108kg within a week. As a result of the creatine, I felt really full and thirsty all the time (keeping notes to myself). I carried on as normal for the next week or so with my calories at a steady 400c, 330p, 60f (carbs, protein, fats). The weight gain levelled out but I had gone in the wrong direction so I made some adjustments knowing that my strength was up.

After 9-10 days I started a basic carb cycle routine which I’ve had success with in the past. I removed 20c from my training days, and reduced my rest days to 250c, whilst keeping the other macros the same. I also increased my water intake to flush some of the fluff that came with the creatine, which brought me to where I am in the image at 105.8kg. The end goal is sub 100kg so I need to keep it moving. I’m now keeping an eye on my weight to make sure I’m not losing more than 0.5kg per week so If my update is on time next week (hopefully) I should be just over 105kg and if it’s late, I should be less.

Here’s a summary of my dietary changes;

• Training day intake reduced by 20g carbs
• Rest day intake reduced to 250g carbs
• Creatine supplemented at 5-7g per day
• CLA with L-Carnitine  (conjugated linoleic  acid) added to supplementation. 1 with a meal, 1 pre-workout

If you have any questions, drop me a comment. If you want more regular picture updates including nutrition, follow my Instagram (akin_a_f). If you like or found this useful please share the post using the buttons below!