Challenge 2 Week 6 Recap 18 weeks

Weigh in went well and the additional cardio had me going in the right direction this week.  The scale had me at 238 lbs and body fat was 26.3%.  Since the start of the second challenge, I have lost a little over 4lbs of fat and the lean mass has gone down about 2lbs.  At first I was a little nervous of why I was losing lean mass, but it finally dawned on me that some of the lean mass weight loss could be from water retention or fluids and at the same time being replaced with a little muscle, blood, etc.

My strength continues to increase and the inches continue to dwindle down.  I do see more and more definition in my arms, shoulders, and legs, and will continue to chisel away at the belly.  I've lost an inch on my chest and waist, lost a little on my calves and shoulders, and gained a little on thighs and forearms.
 

Challenge	Week	Date	Weight	Chest	Arms	Waist	Calves	Hips
2	START	02/06/12	244	47	15.50	46.00	17.25	43.00
2	6	03/19/12	238	46	15.50	45.00	17.00	43.00

Week	Shoulders	Neck	Thighs	Forearms	BF% Omron Monitor	Lean Mass	Fat
START	51.00	17.50	24.50	12.13	27.30%	177.388	66.612
6	50.50	17.50	25.00	12.25	26.30%	175.406	62.594

I've changed a slight approach on my nutrition to help the muscle building and fat burning concept.  On cardio days I am following the BFL program 100%, but using an app on my Andriod phone to keep better track of calories.  I tend to stick to 2 Myoplex shakes a day, 3 meals that stick to the nutrition program, but then my last shake is usually a whey protein shake with water with 40g of protein and very little carbs.

On lifting days, I'm following three meals for BFL, but tweaked three meals.  I'll explain a little here, but will do a post explaining it more in detail.  First, I take 20g of protein pre workout 30 minutes before my lifting.  Then post workout I take 10g protein, creatine, 2oz apple juice, and about 10 oz water.  45 minutes later, I eat a meal that contains about 1.5x amount my normal protein for a total of 65g and then kick up the carbs to 90g, and keep the fat down very low.  Then 2 hrs later I have another meal with the same breakdown, but allow a little more fat.  It's basically 5 meals instead of 6 and borrows some protein from one meal and you use it in the two meals after working out.  The idea is to feed your body and help promote muscle growth and have it increase insulin levels on lifting days.  And on the cardio days, keep the regular meals, to help promote fat loss.  I've really liked this approach and have 6 weeks into it and will continue this approach going forward.  I don't recommend this for first time challengers, but when you are ready to tweak, this is something to definitely give a shot.  It gives your body a constant change in calorie intake and let's you both gain muscle and lose fat.