OVERCOME: My SS log to become a MAN

[bamzi]

I didn't measure my cortisol levels. Actually I was about to see a doctor about this two days back, but just canceled the appointment. I have given this program one year and now I need one month to get in full health and then nail this program again.

Am I right in remembering that you have been measuring your body fat % with some bio-impedance scales? They can actually be a reasonably objective way to measure whether you are going catabolic and losing muscle. Do they give you a lean body mass (LBM) or muscle readout? If not, just convert the body fat % to weight and then subtract that from your body weight, which will leave you with your LBM. If you've been keeping records, it will be interesting to see if your LBM decreased after you got back from your holidays.

I know a lot of people think bio-impedance scales are useless and inaccurate, but I think that, if you are consistent with duplicating the measurement conditions (not eating or drinking at least an hour before hand, and ideally measuring before your evening meal), then the readings can give you a useful indication of broad changes in your body composition. This is objective feedback that can help you to tweak your diet. Sure, the readings will jump up and down - it's the trend you need to be looking at.

[ivankannan]

I have stopped using the BF monitor (omron handheld bf monitor) recently, but the overall picture is clear.
At 130bs, I was around 12% -> 114lbs lbm
At 155lbs, I was 20% -> 124lb.
So 10lbs increase in muscle mass and 15lbs increase in fat
It became worse recently. Was kinda better even when I was around 145lbs. Now I feel very uneasy and I notice that I stopped doing many things that I would do, everytime telling myself I will do later on when I look better (either a bigger chest or a flatter stomach) because everytime I am outside I am sucking in my stomach. My confidence levels have taken a huge hit these days.

[bamzi]

Something's definitely not right then. I'm a novice too; I started at the beginning of this year, and I've put on 10kg (22 pound) of muscle and about 7kg (15.4 pound) of fat. But for me, the muscle didn't really start to grow until I got my deadlift sorted. I dicked around at 115kg (253) for weeks because I was rounding my back, but then I knuckled down, read the deadlift chapter a few times, recorded all of my sets on camera, and got my back straight. Then I started making progress on the deadlift, and in the next 3 months I put on 6kg (13.2 pound) of LBM while holding my BF at 15% (about 2-3kg of fat gain). Unfortunately the muscle gains have slowed down in the past couple of months and the fat is coming on faster, which is a sign that I'm probably just about due to change to the Texas Method.

I think that you haven't reached the point yet where the weights are heavy enough to stimulate the muscle gains you are capable of, which is why you've been putting on more fat than muscle. Like I said before, hold the course. You are about to hit weights which are gonna get really hard, but this is the point where you are gonna make maximum gains.

Just out of interest, do you have a pre-holiday and a post holiday BF% reading?