Alan's Blog

Have just uploaded a tweaked version 3.0 which removes the bug in high resolution Vista installs, which allowed the calendar to peep through on the profile page.

That bug did no actual harm but it just looked weird, seeing a tiny sliver of calendar next to the illustration of how to use skinfold calipers

Man counted calories, watched the pounds go

"Instead of eating a few large meals every day, he ate six small meals, keeping track of how many calories he consumed. He had been eating more than 2,500 calories a day, perhaps 3,000, so he cut this down to 1,500 calories a day. That meant losing a pound every two or three days.

"As long as you know how many calories you need and how many calories you eat, it's just math," he said."

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/diet.fitness/07/18/weight.loss.sujit/index.html?eref=rss_health

Salt is Anabolic?

"When you cut your sodium intake, your body will quickly compensate by
holding more sodium in and releasing potassium out thereby decreasing fluid
inside the muscle cell. When you increase your sodium intake your body will
compensate by holding more potassium in (increasing intra-muscular fluid) and
increasing the excretion of sodium.

Sodium, potassium and the balance between the two can have a prominent
impact on muscle size and anabolism (increased cellular fluid inside the muscle
cell promotes an anabolic response in muscle tissue) as well as strength
through increase joint leverage"

Yay, Forum Thingy!

Have set up a little forum thing so all you eager hoardes of Biggly Bloggers (ahem!) can do that social intercourse thing.

Big Breakfast is Good for your Diet

Been awhile since I updated this blog, sorry about that. Was prompted into posting after reading an article on the BBC stating that research suggests a large breakfast is good for dieting.

Just got back from a "holiday" in Langkawi, which I'm tempted to babble about but won't bore you with it :)

Miracle Berry

Earlier I mentioned the problems of artificial sweeteners, stemming from the fact your body is expecting sugar but doesn't get any.

Which leaves me a little uncertain how to respond to this all-natural alternative. No, not stevia, good as that's meant to be, but "miracle berry":

Also known as "miracle fruit" or Synsepalum dulcificum

Grown in Africa, first documented in 18th Century

Acts on the sour receptors of the tongue, turning sour tastes sweet

Effect lasts 30 mins - two hours

Effect is destroyed in hot foods - eg coffee and baked foods

Renders an accompanying dry white wine sickly sweet

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7367548.stm

According to the BBC article if you've nibbled one of these berrys you can then munch on a lemon and it;ll taste delicious!

Ooer.

Of course such a thing could pose a big threat to Big Sugar and even more so to artificial sweetener companies.

Naturally then, the FDA banned it.

Biggly 2.2 Released!

Regarding the ebook, for awhile I gave it away freebies. Well downloads went up, sales didn't, so it's reverted to normal. However rather than 2 different products I've just bundled em together, as virtually everyone buys both anyway.

Have been busy writing articles for some guy in New York (waves at Gennady) and also updating an old non-profit site of mine. Time to get back into working out again!

Version 2.2 of Biggly will be released in the very near future!

Fancy being able to enter sets in the scheduler? Want to know how much weight to put on the bar for 8 reps? Wider range of weight lifting exercises?

Anabolic Burst Verdict

Importantly I also learnt more about how my own body responds to calories. I'm just on a maintenance level at present but yes, I'll probably do another burst soon, hopefully even more effective now that I know my body's limits. It's not as simple as it sounds though, takes a fair bit of preparation and generally messing about concerning food and is not practical as a casual technique.

I give a detailed day by day account of my experiences in the new version of the Biggly Body Plan, available on the main site. I've also changed things considerably by giving away the basic parts of the book freebies, only the plan itself is password protected and paid for.

Anabolic burst update

Well the anabolic burst continues, ie I'm still stuffing myself with nearly twice my normal calories.

Bodyfat has crept up close to when I started but muscle mass is growing faster - as a technique for growing muscle it seems to work, as a slimming technique not so much! Although the usual advice is to quit cardio during the bulk I'm going to incorporate a little FBZ stuff in the mornings. That won't make any noticable difference calorie wise but will burn off a bit of fat. The original research was of people doing 40 mins or aerobics every day so I'm following the research more than the talking-head hype!

Back to Bulk

Well my Biggly software tracks various things and gives an overall score, on the "Biggly Body Index". While I was cutting my score started getting higher and higher, suddenly going near vertical at 9 days - and on day 10 it headed south! I took that as a clue, if not a cue, that it was time to hit the big calories again!

12 days is the standard concept - but when Biggly says 10 days then 10 days it is. Have been bulking for 2 days now, too early to tell yet. Dig this though, on my first morning after my first bulk, ie the day after stuffing myself silly, I'd lost almost a pound in body-fat. Weird eh?

Anabolic Burst Continues

Have settled on 1600 calories, with a nasty 1800 slippage yesterday. Had lost over 4lb but gained some back yesterday, so currently only 2.4lb lost, that's after 8 days of low calories.

Calipers and Trusty Tape says virtually all of the 4+lb was fat, while a quick single-set workout showed my strength was the same so working in that sense. Today I'm going to hit the cardio twice, try and make up for that unexpected calorie intake yesterday. It's all very well to be romantic and talk of enjoying the local cuisine but fact remains there's just too much damn rice in the Malay diet.

8 days of low calories, losing a little here, a little there, ground away almost 4.5lb of flab, then ONE large meal with bloody rice and I'm back to where I was on day 3.

New Rule - fuck rice, I aint eating that shit no more, at least not a plateful of the damn white stuff. No vitamins, no minerals, no fiber, it's just a plate of sugar.

Asides from that, things going OK, though discovered something horrid about bran flakes which I was relying on for fiber. New Rule 2 - fuck bran flakes as well!

Anabolic Burst Take 2

Well my last short term burst seemed to work OK, especially as I didn't get much training done. Tried some high-volume (10 sets of 10 reps) early in the week and my arms were killing me; couldn't work out at all for awhile.

Anyway, Trusty Tape says I've lost 3cm off my belly, added 2 cm to my chest and my bodyfat level has dropped by 2%. Not bad for a guy who's been stuffing himself stupid with food...

So, am officially cutting again now, very low calories, seriously low, we're talking 1500 here, for one full week. I'll see how that goes, if OK will extend. Will I make 2 weeks of starvation? Will the anabolic burst work as the science suggests?

From the Files of the Blindingly Obvious...

Well stuck with it until today, Thursday. Will stay high calorie today, then cut tomorrow, as I had a good workout last night and need the nutrients.

Saw an article the other day suggesting thay maybe, possibly, the use of artificial sweeteners may actually make people more fat.

Gee, you reckon? Considering the cascade of different hormones and reactions that occur during hunger or even LOOKING at food, that's a no-brainer really. You gear your body up for sugar than deny it sugar, and your body doesn't react well to that? Who'd have thunk?

Not to mention that feeding rats aspartamame is actually a well-established method of making them obese little rats. You know, for obesity research?

1100 calories

Will continue a little longer but have decided to cut again next Monday, as that's long enough to get the hormones racing and if anything I need to lose some flab more than I need more muscle right now. Plus I need more cardio.

The anabolic burst is a promising system but takes more preparation than I've given it, on such basics as having the right food in the house, avoiding family committments for eating out (nope, Chinese new year and a lot of Chinese friends does not go well with clean eating).

Later I'm going to give it the full 2 weeks and track and blog daily, as I know a lot of people are interested in this but nervous of giving it a go!

Anabolic Burst

Happily no noticable fat gain so far, calves and thighs both show an extra cm, arms about half a centimeter, belly caliper hasn't moved.

I may reduce it down to a week though, not cos I'm a wimp but cos for simple health I'd rather get on with some cardio soon.

A Funny Thing Happened On The Way to the 4th Rep

I posted awhile ago about how I sent out an email to all existing customers about Biggy Bodybuilding Software being released - then later realised I'd forgotten to upload the file. Well today was workout day, even if I do have some lingering cold and sniffles etc.

Removed the weights off my dumbbells, bunged em on the barbell, did some squats. Great. Did some deadlifts. No problem. Removed some weight, heaved the thing onto my bench. Then did wide bench presses.

I'd carefully made sure the weight was exactly 2lb more than my previous workout, easy peasy gains eh?

Yet on the first set my left arm was wobbly as heck, damn near dropped the thing. Only 5 reps. Sheesh.

Rested, tried again - same result, except 4 reps. What's going on with my left arm?

Memo to self - when adjusting weights, check both sides are the same and remove the extra 5kg weight off one end.

How the heck did I miss that!? It's a big chromey thing, it's rather heavy and it was right on the end of the bloody bar. Mind you the rest of the workout was a bit feeble anyway. That cold's still lurking a little I think, was coughing a bit this morning.

ANYWAY, moving on. Am now starting my anabolic burst. Yeah yeah, was gonna wait but I'm the impatient type. Calories today, 800 above normal, will aim for 1000 over tomorrow, 2,000 after that. For 2 whole weeks.

Iron Shock

Boy, this brings back memories! Just had a hard fast-paced heavy workout, heart's pumping, hands shaking, my body's got that kind of "What the f*ck was that!? feeling.

Was intending to work out yesterday, that darn real life thing keeps getting in the way. My hackles were rising as I thought I was gonna miss it today too. That's one thing I love about weights, when you do them you have that great afterglow. Sure, I'm tired, I'll hurt tomorrow but never have raw eggs, milk and honey tasted sooo good!

Example Blog

Have stuck an example blog up on the page that comes up when you click blog in the software, as my updated ramblings could be somewhat confusing for new visitors.

Am gonna continue working out normally for a bit to toughen up again then am going to hit the carb cycling and burst stuff.