First ever log - RFL CAT 2

[minameaar]

Hi all,

Background
I've been lurking on these forums for a few years now & have learnt a lot from your discussions. A while back I had success with RFL to get to a 10mm suprailiac skinfold, however over the past 6 years my lifestyle at work/laziness has gotten me to around 20mm albeit with a fair amount of LBM. I'm looking to use a 4 week RFL to kickstart a standard diet. Any words of wisdom would be appreciated throughout my log.

Stats
Weight = 109.5 kg
BF% ~ 20% (does this look right?)
Height = 6'1"

Workout Plan
Prefer upper/lower split however for RFL I will reduce the frequency and volume

Mon, Weds, Fri = Push, Legs, Pull
May do light cardio once or twice per week.

Planned Supplements
Fish Oil
Calcium
Multivitamin
Glutamine - ward off colds

I've added before front/back and side shots.

Let's see how this goes! Log to follow

[minameaar]

Nutrition
Meal 1
Two bone-in chicken breasts skin removed

Meal 2
600g chicken breast fillet - roasted, jerk seasoning
300g spinach
Fish oil - 6x1g

Routine
Bench - 130x3, 125x4, 120x4, 115x6
CG Bench - 100x7, 100x5, 90x6
Lateral Raises - 10x12, 10x10, 10x9, 10x8

Comments
Felt fine to adhere to diet today. Big issue having 600g chicken breast in one sitting. Will break it up in the future.
Positively surprised at my gym session as I've had 3 weeks off lifting with little loss of performance. We'll see how the strength holds up over the course of this diet.

[minameaar]

Summary
Lost quite a bit of water here. Must have been carrying a lot over the weekend. Let's see what the number is tomorrow. No mental fogginess as yet and still feeling motivated.

Diet
Two chicken breast quarters - grilled
Spinach - raw

50g Whey
3x1g Omega 3

250g Smoked Haddock
1 Tsp Olive oil
Tomato
Onions
3x1g Omega 3
200g Spinach - steamed

Training
25 minute light jog - nothing too strenuous

[Schlansky]

Hello,
I will be following your progress! With your lbm this will be an insane after picture

Good luck!

[minameaar]

Originally Posted by Schlansky

Hello,
I will be following your progress! With your lbm this will be an insane after picture

Good luck!

Thanks a lot! All's going well so far. Any advice would be appreciated along the way!
Just seen the progress of your cuts. Inspiring stuff!

[minameaar]

Summary
Chuffed to have continued dropping after yesterday's big drop. Energy felt fine today. Starting taking 1 x Green Tea with a double espresso twice daily as per dosage guidelines somewhere on the site. Didn't have much appetite today, even trained fasted with no major issues. As a result, the majority of calories were from shakes today but will be back on the whole foods tomorrow.
Planned free meal tomorrow afternoon. Will reduce planned extra fat intake as I intend to have a couple rum & diet cokes at an event.

Diet
250g Chicken Breast Slices
200ml Chicken & Vegetable Soup
50g Whey
3xOmega 3s

75g Whey
125g Haddock
100g Spinach

Training
Felt great training ATG with a weightlifter and pausing for a second at the bottom. Most flexible I've ever been.

Squat - 120x3, 120x3, 120x4
Romanian Deadlift - 120x5, 120x6, 120x5

[minameaar]

Summary
Majority of the day went well. Consumed half of my usual calorie intake before 'free meal'. Felt hungry upon waking but subsided after 30 mins. Felt nauseated post free meal. Possibly not used to the portion size? Lesson learnt for next week. No training today.

Diet
280g Chicken Breast Slices
140g King Prawns
50g Whey
3xOmegas

'Free meal' - 8x single rum & diet cokes. Grilled chicken breast burger, small fries.

I understand that my interpretation of free meal was a but loose however this was a one off occasion that I don't plan to stress about. Felt fine post drinking but felt sick as soon as I finished the burger. Slightly annoyed that I don't even like the restaurant we visited but we were in a large group. Also haven't experienced any change in alcohol tolerance as expected on RFL.

Will probably limit tomorrow's refeed to being my PWO meal then back on RFL for the rest of the day.

[Schlansky]

Originally Posted by minameaar

Thanks a lot! All's going well so far. Any advice would be appreciated along the way!
Just seen the progress of your cuts. Inspiring stuff!

Thanks!

Luckily, you wont get into most problems in those 4 weeks.
For me some of the most difficult parts of RFL are not messing up diet breaks, refeeds, free meals. It takes some trial and error to make these things a habit and incorporate them in your social life. But if you do it only for 4 weeks you can just power through. Just remember that you could outeat your deficit quite easily, so drinking 8 cocktails was really risky imo, I would have eaten 2 pizzas afterwards and ruined the weekly deficit

To make things a little easier I would look into protein pancakes, they are delicious and help with sweet cravings. Whey + egg whites + zero calorie maple syrup made me cry at times.

Hot sauces helped me tremendously to eat the same thing every day without hating my life.

Good luck!

[minameaar]

Originally Posted by Schlansky

Thanks!
... I would have eaten 2 pizzas afterwards and ruined the weekly deficit

To make things a little easier I would look into protein pancakes, they are delicious and help with sweet cravings. Whey + egg whites + zero calorie maple syrup made me cry at times.

Hot sauces helped me tremendously to eat the same thing every day without hating my life.

Good luck!

Cheers!

Pizza = my ultimate weakness. Luckily my mindset is pretty strong as it's week 1. Those drinks are likely to be a one-off. None planned for the next few weeks.

Never tried the pancakes. I will have to give them a go. Haven't had egg whites on their own for years as I can't bear to chuck yolks!

Agreed on hot sauce! Live on the stuff. Got bottles in my drawer at work!

[minameaar]

Summary
Positively surprised here! Expected the scales to have gone up this morning so I'm pleased with -0.2kgs. Felt strong for my workout and started refeed immediately post-exercise. Refeed went well. Much easier than the mammoth amounts as a Cat 1 without the side effects (dry mouth and heat).
Noticeable visual improvement, particularly the way clothes fit. Will post picture on Monday.

Training
Weighted Pullups - 40x3, 35x4, 30x4
T-Bar Rows - 60x8, 55x7, 50x7
Dumbbell Shrugs - 50x8, 50x7
Dumbbell Incline Curl - 18x5, 14x5

Felt strong today. Only got minor pump for a workout where is usually puff up but not too fussed. Only focussing on the poundage. First time curling in about a year, forgot how much my biceps can burn intra-set.

Nutrition
Trained fasted. Split all calories during refeed window PWO. Fell asleep quite soon after eating. Intrigued to see weight tomorrow.

50g Whey
125g Chicken Breast
80g Rice
Spinach, beansprouts, carrots, radish
3xOmega 3

2xChicken breast quarters
130g Rice
3xOmega 3