Sorry for the lack of posts lately, but I was on vacation at Disney World with my wife and son this past week, along with a couple of past and present training partners and their families.
While I would normally let my diet go to complete hell on vacation, I actually stayed pretty strict this time, because I want to get within striking distance of 198 as soon as possible, so I don't have to lose weight during the meet cycle itself. I'd rather get it down now, and have room to gain a couple of pounds as my training ramps up.
Like a lot of lifters, I find that the easiest way to lose fat is to keep my carbs on the low side, so that's what the goal was here. I wasn't gonna go as far as to walk around loaded down with a bunch of shaker bottles and tupperware like a gypsy, but I knew as long as I kept the carbs low I would be good.
The thing about a place like Disney is that while it can be tough from a willpower perspective (there are amazing sweets and desserts friggin everywhere) it's actually really easy to eat fairly clean from a logistical standpoint. Since a lot of our meals were buffets, it was pretty easy to load up on meat and veggies and skip the starches and sugars.
With the combination of keeping the carbs low and doing a shit ton of walking (a significant portion of which with 35lb toddler on my shoulders) I managed to lose 5 lbs the week we were away. I will likely gain a bit back, especially from adding carbs back in pre and post training, but I'm really happy with this. I weighed in at 212 this morning (from a high of 237 last month) which means I could make 198 right now, but I want to go down another 5 to get a little more in range.
OK, not my manliest post, but I'll get back to the training real soon. Maybe even throw on some real gear.
What does your gear situation look like at 198? Will you have to get some new gear that will work at 198? How do you think your training will change at a lighter weight?
Gear shouldn't be a problem. Since I competed at 198 for a good 5 years or so before, I have plenty of stuff that's already broken in and ready to go.
Training is going to be a challenge for the next couple of months while I adjust to the new leverages. I already have one equipped squat workout in the books since being back, and the main issue was figuring out my technique. Once this is in check, I will be able to focus more on maximal strength. No sense loading up the weights if my form isn't up to snuff. That would be just begging for an injury.
As is almost always the case in this sport, the key will be to stay patient and look for small but consistent improvement over a long time.
Great question, thanks for submitting!