TheVelocityDiet.com

Skin Changes

I just noticed yesterday after a shave that my skin felt a lot better than it has in a while. Then this morning while I was brushing my teeth I noticed that under my eyes and on my nose the pores were much smaller and cleaner. These areas tend to have dirty pores no matter how much I clean them.

My hands have no missing skin and look fine which is unusual as there is usually a crack of a tear somewhere.

So maybe it’s the addition of the multi vitamin or the removal of crap food but it seems my skin has responded well to this too!

Day 24

Sleep

I got a full 8 hours again last night, I think I’m still just catching up on the weekend and with BJJ last night for two hours I would’ve really needed it.

Exercise

Weights today! I didn’t expect much because of BJJ last night, it’s really quite a workout of it’s own. If you imagine doing an hour of weights and then following that up eight hours later with another hour then you can see why I wouldn’t expect greatness.

Still I didn’t feel tired and I pretty much didn’t move backwards on anything I just didn’t complete all sets with the increased weight I put on. I think Mondays are my forward progress days these days with Wednesday and Friday being about stabilising and putting in the work.

Really enjoying the cable setup and love doing cable curls and back exercises with it. I’m not feeling like any of the exercises are really working my triceps as well as the skull crushers though so maybe I need to checkout my form.

I ended up walking from work to the train station, then to the next and the next until I ended up walking for 45-50minutes and covering almost 5km. It was good fun with a bit of music and I barely even noticed it. It was a nice night with a nice breeze and it would have been a great run. As it was the walk was really enjoyable too.

General

I woke up to my alarm this morning then slept into sleep for another 45 minutes which says to me I should try and get to bed early tonight. I think after BJJ I should try and get a full eight hours in just to recover and be ready for the following day. I also couldn’t find a ready source of caffeine for my workout so that could’ve effected things.

I cooked breakfast this morning for the guys at work. I made an egg plant, onion and corn fritata because I actually bought the stuff thinking that I’d like to eat that. I didn’t though, but I did try a couple of spoon fulls of it and it was delicious.

I had way too much caffeine today. I got some new tablets a while ago and I’ve used them a few times and thought they were crap. However I took a few today and they just seem to be more drawn out in their effect. I’ve been working for eight hours straight without a break and I could do more except I need to go home!

I ate pretty well today and feeling good. I didn’t notice any changes today but it does feel like my chest is tightening up and there is definitely way more definition in my back now.

I’m heading home from work at 8:30pm which is really late for me. I’ve lost track of how many shakes I’ve had today but I think I have two more until the end of the day so I’ll need to squeeze them in. I am just forgetting to eat now because I’m quite simply not hungry.

I got home about 9:30pm after a 45 minute walk and remembered that I had forgotten on of my shakes! So I had the night shake with another shot of isolate in it just to make sure I’m stocked up. It just goes to show that I’m not in the least bit hungry at the moment and how easy this part of the diet is.

So there is now four days to go and they’re going to fly by!

Day 23

Sleep

I got about 8 hours sleep last night, but I feel so tired today! It’s an effort just to walk. I think given the weekend I might just need to catch up on a couple of hours.

Exercise

Jiu Jitsu tonight was fine. I had lots of energy and went for the longest I’ve gone in a long time, we did drill type training for an hour and then I rolled for about 45 minutes after that. The rolling is tiring in the extreme. However I felt good and while I was tired none of my muscles were really destroyed like they usually are. I tend to feel it a lot in my shoulders and upper arms but they weren’t that bad today.

I haven’t lost any energy throughout this entire diet, and that has surprised me quite a bit actually.

General

I got a good amount of good sleep last night but I do feel just body tired, walking is a bit of an effort at the moment. I don’t know whether this is because I need more sleep or if I’m just having an off day or whether the meal I had last night was good enough. There were a lot of variables yesterday.

I’m looking forward to the end of this diet coming now and being able to have nice salads and veges and that sort of thing. More than anything I’m looking forward to testing myself and making sure the changes have stuck! I’m looking forward to a salad and a tin of smoked tuna. I’m also looking foward to being able to ramp up my exercise again as I’m missing riding to and from work and a run from time to time.

It has sunk in now that this thing is almost over though and that is really cool.

I think I left ketosis today though I haven’t checked, I did have a fair bit of carbs yesterday compared to a normal day though it was a workout day and the carbs weren’t bad. I didn’t go over 120g for the day, so really it’s probably the same as my normal solid meal day.

I’m looking forward to BJJ tonight to see how my energy levels are then and also just to get into it. I think with the lost weight some things will be easier.

As I wrote above, I had heaps of energy and so the lack of food hasn’t effected me in the slightest. I had a protein shake about an hour before and about an hour after so it wasn’t too bad. I should have had one directly after but it was just bad planning. I still feel pretty good though I need to get some sleep for weights tomorrow morning!

I bought the gear for breakfast tomorrow morning for the guys at work. I don’t partake at the moment but I will be from next week. One thing I’m doing different this week was some egg plant with onion, garlic and egg. We have a vego, but I bought the stuff mainly because I thought I’d like it! I want to add some polenta from next week too. My eating habits are going to be so awesome after this diet.

This last week is the easy week. It’s going to be no worries from this point on.

Day 22

Measurements

I was a little disappointed to not be under 100kg again but it’s pretty much assured I’ll be there next week.

Again the first number is from the last measurement, last week, and the last number is since the start, I’ve adjusted for what I was at the beginning extrapolating from my first run.

Weight : 100.4kg (-1.4kg, -10.4kg)

Waist : 95.5cm (-3.0cm, -11.5cm)

Thighs : 65.5cm (-1.0cm, -5.0cm)

Calves : 42.0cm (-0.5cm, -3.0cm)

Upper Arm : 35.0cm (+0.5cm, -1.0cm)

Forearm : 29.0cm (-1.0cm, -2.5cm)

Chest : 106cm (0.0cm, -4.5cm)

Sleep

I got about 5 hours sleep last night as I went out at night and got up early to be at a friend’s house. I wasn’t tired though and had lots of energy.

Exercise

I did back and shoulders today. I increased my weight and volume on deadlifts, rows, lat pull downs and the shoulder press. So pretty much everything went up. Deadlifts were suprisingly easy actually.

I also increased the weight on my squats so that I am squatting 70kg for 20 reps now at the end of my workout. It feels good to smash my legs so hard.

General

I had a great day. Starting off with weights and with it being a public holiday I almost kept forgetting that I’d already done so much exercise for the day. I felt lazy but then had to remind myself I’d done an hour of good weights.

I’d really, really thought I’d be under the 100kg mark today but I was literally within pissing distance! So at least I know I’ll be under the 100kg by the end of this but given the rapid starting weight loss the remaining weeks have been a bit disappointing. I still have to remember that losing 1.5kg in a week with only three weights sessions is pretty damn good!

I still lost good amounts on my legs and waist so I’m still dropping size which is the main aim really. I can still see changes in my thighs day to day.

I spent the day with a friend and her daughters and then some with her partner too. Most of it was great fun and eating the shakes was pretty easy. I just prepared it in bags before i left and mixed them together as I needed to. To me the weight loss is noticeable but it’s probably in areas that people wouldn’t tend to notice like my upper arms, upper legs and waist, but they did say that it was really noticeable in the face now too.

I had a solid meal at night to fit in with them though but that will be my solid meal for this week. It was free range chicken breast with some pasta that had olives, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, garlic and basil tossed through it with some olive oil. I made sure to keep the pasta portion small and the chicken portion big so it wasn’t any different to my usual solid meal.

So all in all I’m feeling really good and it’s just starting to settle in that I’m on the home stretch with only six more days to go. At this stage I’m doing it for the achievement rather than any further gains. I do want to lose more weight, but the food changes and all those other benefits are here. I just want to be able to say I did the whole course and now I know it’ll be a cake walk!

Other Benefits to the Velocity Diet

The primary benefit that most people will be going for is the weight loss, that’s the goal and the main reason why you start this type of diet. However there are plenty of other benefits you get that aren’t well documented or really pushed.

For me personally it’s shown that I do still have control over how I look and how I eat. I had become a slave of thinking that certain things were in my way from change and this has shown that they aren’t. I think it’s given me back the motivation to be healthy and know that there will be good results from that.

It’s given me a stack of extra time! Not only do I not have to shop for food anywhere near as much but I don’t have to cook or eat it either. I just make up shakes and down them. Each meal takes about five minutes as compared to between ten to 45 minutes. That really adds up and you can almost take up another hobby! I’ve been doing a lot more reading.

It changes your view of food and you realise that you’re in control of what you eat and it removes those weaknesses you had. I have found myself from time to time just open the fridge out of habit but instantly I kind of think about why I’m doing it. There isn’t any point and there is no reward to just eating for no reason. This eating pattern has definitely made eating more healthily and for the right reasons more important to me.

Further to that it has removed the eat-as-reward thing that myself and I think a lot of people have. It’s a habit and after 21 days of not doing it the thought really crosses my mind. I in no way have considered having a wicked meal to celebrate my completing the diet and the biggest no-no I’ve done during the diet was to have a couple of peanuts to test the seasoning I put on them. Seriously it was like 10 nuts. Other than that when I had a craving for something solid when I was feeling depressed I made a flax seed muffin with my shake contents and ate that with water. I don’t want to reward myself with food anymore and instead will probably reward myself with clothing, books, music and gadgets.

I’ve saved money! Again with the change of food habits I’m no longer spending money on crap food or booze. Crap food was probably $50 per week with lunches and ice cream and soft drink and things like that. Booze would probably be $50 a week too and so with both of those gone that’s a pretty good treat for being good each month! Or I just save the money for a rainy day. Either way, this diet works out cheaper. With these habits sticking that’s basically $100/wk and more that I’ll save for the rest of my life.

So there are plenty of other benefits to this diet and so I’d recommend people consider it just for the above reasons. For the weight loss you can do it for anywhere between a week to the full four weeks. For the other benefits though you really need to stay the course. My first run will be for 28 days, but my subsequent run/s will just be until I’m happy with my weight.

Better Velocity Diet Muffins

I have the V-Diet Muffin recipe that Daven from T-Nation created but I hate heating the oven to make a batch and having to wait so I decided to try the microwave. I put the usual shake ingredients of about two scoops of protein, two tablespoons of flax in with 1/4 cup of water and put it into a coffee mug that I’d sprayed with oil. I cooked this on high for a minute and it was done.

I just ran a knife around the edges of the cup and out it came. I cut it into slices to try it and it’s VERY dry but perfectly edible. It’s probably easier to cart around in this form than in bag of powder with a shaker.

So I think I have some very portable velocity diet shakes now!

Day 21

Sleep

I tried, but I could only get 5.5 hours sleep last night. I went to bed just short of 3am and ended up getting up at about 8:30, that’s just all the sleep I needed. I don’t feel in the least bit tired or anything and will probably have another last one today.

Exercise

I usually run today but I wanted to try a week with the required low level of exercise. I’ll go for a walk today and that should be enough.

General

I woke up after so little sleep and I felt absolutely wicked! For some reason I don’t really seem to need heaps of sleep at the moment. I’m still trying to get it though.

My eating on the weekends seem to be fairly good but I’m missing my breakfast due to waking up later unless I’m running on Sunday. I don’t think that’s any problem though as I can just up my intake in a couple of shakes to still make up the daily intake.

I’m not sure what to say really, things are going easily, I really want to be onto the solid meal a day option soon but another week will pass super quick.

I’ve noticed a bit more definition in my thighs, there is maybe a ligament or something running by the knee cap that I don’t remember seeing before. So changes are still coming day to day, and I’m still noticing little changes here and there.

I went out dancing from about 11:30 until 2 in the morning, and my mouth started to taste like arse. I thought that I might have slipped into ketosis again so I checked when I got home and I’m in ketosis again. I just can’t seem to stay out of it so I’m probably going to stop trying not to. I’m at the second marker which means I’m definitely in ketosis, the first marker is ‘traces’ which is where I was before I went out of it. During the first part of being in ketosis I was onto the third marker at times. I think to be really in ketosis you want to hover between the second and third marker.

Tomorrow is weigh and measure day, hopefully tomorrow I’ll be under the 100. I’m looking forward just to knowing where I stand really. Looking forward to weights too as I am still noticing changes day to day and it’s good to have new exercises and the ability to push myself harder because of the self spotter bars.

When I went out this evening I tried on a tshirt that had always been tight even when I was smaller than when I started this and it’s probably the loosest it’s ever been! Even when I bought it, it was tighter. The pants too were loose in the legs and arse and they had always been tight. Things are still changing. It makes me determined to finish this, eat healthy for four weeks or so and then do another run.

Day 20

Sleep

I went to sleep late yesterday but got about 6 hours in the end. I woke up and couldn’t get back to sleep and feel totally fine so I guess that was enough.

Exercise

No exercise today, it’s my day off!

General

I started the day a little later today but got into the shakes as soon as I got up. I felt alert and ready to go from getting out of bed.

I’ve increased my psyllium intake a fair bit and hopefully that’ll help everything out.

I did some shopping for some clothes today, there was quite a bit on special so it was good to pickup some new stuff. I walked through the shopping centre with my iPod on and it made everything a whole lot more bearable.

In the line at Woolworths they had the standard setup of chocolate bars and so on and I know every time I’d go past them normally I’d grab something. This time I looked at them, I even tried to generate some desire for them to test myself but it wasn’t there! In fact what I wanted to do was eat a roast potato or have some salad with balsamic vinegar. Pretty cool!

I’m sitting waiting for the get together this evening. It’s a very un-Australian thing to do to not drink on Australia day but that’s just the way it’s going to be. That’s normal or me now though, drinking would be unusual.

I was out at a get together until about one in the morning so I took two shakes with me and drank them while I was out. It was your typical beer and snack foods, chips and sausages and stuff but I didn’t have any of it. It was surprisingly easy really. Even at the kebab store where the smell was amazing, I was thinking of a roast potato. I don’t think I could stomach a kebab right now, it’s something I’d need to build up to.

I didn’t eat last night for about four hours at the most but that’s the worst so I don’t think it’s that bad really. It’s surprisingly easy to prepare things these days.

So everything is going well, all very routine and the changes are noticeable in the mirror and in clothing.

Microwave Steam Bags

Let me just sum up this entire article. These things are great!!

I bought them thinking they might be a bit of a gimmick but they aren’t, they’re highly effective. As advertised they do indeed steam your veges rather than boil them in their own juices so most of the moisture from the veges is released rather than staying in the packet.

I cooked some potato, some broccoli and some brussel sprouts, so a wide variety of types of vegetables and all came out really well. Especially the broccoli which was still very green, firm and not stewed as tends to be the case with microwave broccoli cooking.

It also speeds up the cooking process over containers, and it seems to cook more uniformly as I used to have to stir the potato for instance but in the bags even clumps of potato seemed to cook very well.

I think they’re built not to be re-used but I’m going to try and reuse mine for the next meal and see how they go.

I think if you’re eating a reasonably amount of fresh vegetables and you want to have them done quickly and use less water and electricity doing it then you can’t go past these microwave steam bags.

Day 19

Sleep

I forced myself to go to bed earlier than usual last night and did a bit of reading before falling asleep. So in the end I got 7.5 hours sleep but ended up waking up before my alarm went off.

Exercise

I got up this morning and did weights after my protein shake and a bunch of water. I felt pretty good and did my usual chest and arms workout but swapped a few exercises for cable exercises such as dumbell curls for cable curls. I also added some lat pull downs and then finished off with a set of 20 squats. I increased most of the weights this morning and while I couldn’t finish some sets I probably will next time around.

I did about 20 or 30 mins of really quick weights this evening. I did 12 sets in that time concentrating on back and arms using the new pulley system. Truth be told I just want to use it a lot because it’s new and fun. I concentrated on high reps with lowish weight.

I’m going to a party now but will get to sleep in tomorrow. I’m taking a night shake with me.

General

I woke up before my alarm went off this morning but I’m going to keep trying to get more sleep rather than take that as a sign that I’m getting enough. The warmer weather doesn’t seem to give me as good sleep as I can get so getting a bit more is probably helpful. Part of the reason I’m waking up probably has to do with being too warm.

Weights was good today and I was pleased with what I did. After the set of squats my legs were like slurry and it took a minute or so to stop the shaking. I’m really liking adding squats into my regime and everything I’ve read touts them as the exercise for building muscle. Lets hope so.

Hopefully my MyoPure delivery comes today, it’ll be good to finish the week on the proper nutrition with lots of micellar casein. It’ll also probably give me enough protein to use for the next run. I’m getting some egg white protein too which’ll be handy for high protein solid meals.

Even after my 60g of carbs after my workout I’m still in very mild ketosis by the look of it. I’m doing virtually nothing besides my weights at the moment so I think this is just how my body will react. I’ll see how things look on the scale on Monday before making a decision about leaving exercise at walking or increasing it a little just to keep me sane.

I had my solid meal today because it won’t fit in anywhere else on the weekend. I had the usual 300g of roo with about 500g of mixed veges. It was really delicious and I’m looking forward to starting the solid meal a day week after next. It’s not like I’m chomping at the bit for solid food but I am looking forward to salads and veges and all sorts of new flavours.

Noticing some veins on my forearms and shoulders that I haven’t seen before. The shoulder one is becoming more prominent but the forearms are mainly noticeable after exercise. Maybe with another week on this diet they’ll be even more visible.

I’m keeping on taking the parafin. There has been movement but it’s not easy and it was there for the first week and a half. Something changed, I think it’s the new protein powder. I’ll know when I start using the MyoPure stuff with more Casein and Whey Concentrate. I’m keeping my fibre intake and water intake high to try and help things. To explain properly, it’s not a problem but the first week and a half was free and easy, after that it’s been difficult and was days apart without the laxatives.

I found these wicked snack size zip lock bags that perfectly fit a shake plus flax. For the night shakes though you need to put that in a shaker and cover the peanut paste with powder so that it doesn’t stick to the sides. It’s easy though to be prepared.

This is really cruisy now, so routine. I’m not even missing food and enjoying the changes I’m noticing basically every day or two apart.