Eat Train Sleep

Having recently spent 6 months to get my body fat down to 5.7% (and feeling and
looking great for it), the last thing I’d want is to suddenly be putting the
weight back on.  Well, you can imagine my anticipation when, having started a
lean bulk plan a couple of weeks ago, I got the old Harpenden skin fold
callipers out to see how things were progressing.  And I’m sure you can also
imagine my panic when the reading came out at 7.4%.

Now, to many people 7.4% body fat may seem relatively lean, but to me, someone
who has spent 6 months losing 14% of my body fat – that’s 2% a month on average,
an increase of 1.4% in the space of one week is on the road to becoming obese.

A number of things ran through my mind.  I suddenly had the worry that my plans
for a lean bulk would be abruptly cut short.  The mere sight of a carbohydrate
was beginning to make me nervous.  What had I done wrong?  Had I wasted 6 months
of dieting with 1 simple week of carbohydrate consumption?    Did I still look
good?  Will I ever be able to put on size without turning into a tonne of lard?

Getting a grip of myself, I’ve realised that this is part of the process.  Just
as I did when I was dieting, I will have to learn what my body needs to build
muscle efficiently.  And I will only learn this through experimentation and
constant monitoring and tweaking of my routine.  At least I now have a baseline
to start making these adjustments. And after all, 7.4% is still lean, isn’t it?

So, what’s the plan now?  Well, it’s simple really.  I will drop my carbohydrate
consumption slightly – small quantities from each meal - continue as normal and
re-evaluate next week.  Now, if things continue the way they have been this
previous week, I might really start panicking………….

Eat. Train. Sleep.