Starting BP

[beachpirate]

I am new to the site and purchased the ebook this past week. I have been studying it and this site daily trying to absorb everything I can and I will say the ebook is loaded with good info.

I have been back in the gym for the past year after a 6 year break and have not been happy with the way my progress has been going. During my down time I gained a lot of weight and two years ago made a conscious effort to loose as much weight as I could prior to a scheduled physical. I lost 60# and got my weight down to 237#, however, I have rebounded and my weight has slowly increased to 265#.

I have tried to eat at a caloric deficit for a long time and honestly, I am not very good at it and I am tired of it. I believe poor nutrition and over training is why I am struggling in the gym. As I was searching various forums, I noticed all the hype with e-bol and in conjunction with this supplement heard about the blueprint. I wasn't sure what it was but I was planning to spend $45 on a trainer to specifically discuss nutrition and decided to spend it on the ebook instead, it was cheaper .

As I was learning and hearing about the positive benefits of e-bol, I came across the Big Bol stack and purchased 2 bottles of each through the Thermolife site. I noticed the support Rob was giving to members regarding both BP and e-bol and thought this might be a good option for me. I will want to run this program as a recomp and try to keep my gains as much lean muscle as I can since I am an easy gainer. I have little experience with supplements and the most I have taken is NO Explode and some thermogenics. I have not taken anything in approx 9 months other than protein supps. So I am looking forward to running a program that will help me get the most out of this stack.

I understand that during the Famine stage, I eat 8x my body weight but I have also seen some reduce calories based on what appears to be LBM. I think this is the way to go since I have been trying to eat below my maintanence to loose weight. I am wanting to start the Famine on Monday and run it according to the BP.

Do I need the Multisticks for this phase and can they be picked up at a local pharmacy OTC or do they need to be special ordered? I will be doing my shopping tomorrow and will have my third day of resting heart rate in the morning and I have taken a week off from the gym. I know there are some other supplements I will need to get to help the process and I will pick them up as I find them.

I am looking forward to the next 6-8 weeks and a great opportunity to be part of this program.

Brian

[TURBOFLEX]

welcome to the team bro!! good luck to ya

[RobRegish]

Welcome to the forums! And I appreciate your kind words on The Blueprint. In retrospect, it took 25 years to write..

And I particularly appreciate the background and what your goals are. It allows me to fine tune your recommendations.

Now, with regard to your questions:

The famine is based on BW, not LBM. This figure was carefully chosen not to support LBM, but generate the anti catabolic response lay dormant during homeostasis. Therefore, establish cals at 8 times Bodyweight.

Second, the Multistix(tm) aren't completely necessary, but are a nice diagnostic tool we use to measure protein breakdown in BP's various phases. They are available in some pharmacies (very few have it stocked) but you can special order it through them. Best bet is the web though by far, IMO.

Finally, I speculate the reason you've flatlined in your fatloss is due to a fixed caloric intake. After about 3 weeks on your new diet, it isn't seen by the body as new anymore and BMR down regulates to match energy intake.

Solution? When you begin feast strategically rotate 100% of maintenance calories on training days with 70% of calories on non-training days. This mitigates any down regulation in metabolic rate and in your case, will likely elevate it some.

Finally, you may be a candidate to replace sugar in your peri-workout drink with an equal amount of L-Glutamine. Little known fact; glutamine can raise blood glucose as much as sugar on a gram for gram basis. It does so though via glucogenesis, which will be far less likely to lay down any fat the sugar would.

Appreciate the opportunity to answer any and all questions!

[beachpirate]

Thanks for the welcome TURBOFLEX and Rob.

I have done my shopping for the week and will get everything planned out tonight for the rest of the week. I will be shooting for 2120 calories/day bases on BWx8. This is about as much as I would eat on a normal day so this is going to be interesting getting all the calories from fruits and vegetables.

I'm going to write out my diet and exercise plan tonight so there will be no guessing tomorrow morning.

I only have 1 question so far in regards to cardio. Is this 1 hour daily or on workout days?

[RobRegish]

No, that would be best on your "off" days..

[beachpirate]

Gotcha! Thanks

[askmass]

Welcome, BP!

[dracotdrgn]

Welcome aboard matey! I've been there, was once so focused and for life's reasons, took about 5 years off. A lot of bad food and good parties no I mean bad parties . I was unhealthy and over weight. Started running to loose weight and altered my diet. Quit the bad stuff, got a gym membership and took control. We are all here to back, and support you buddy. Good Luck!

[beachpirate]

Thanks for the support draco. I'll begin my log tonight to include day 1.

[RobRegish]

Looking forward to this one.

First week is difficult but we'll be there for you. Once out of the shoot you're in for a treat

[Hank!]

Beach

I found cabbage to be really satisfying, just sautéed in EVOO with some onions and garlic

[beachpirate]

Hank, I've never been a fan of cabbage. It might be the smell, idk. But I also couldn't stand V8 but I polished of a bottle tonight. I might have to give cabbage a try. Thanks.

[RobRegish]

The V8 "fruitables" or some some spin on the drink might be another to look into.

Fresh juiced is best!

[beachpirate]

I have the V8 vegetable juice and just opened some V8 Fusion lite. I like the V8 Fusion. I don't know if they still make V8 Splash. I have had that in the past an liked it.