Wednesday Weigh-in

What went in:
Avg daily calories: 2867
Fat: 131g - 40%
Carb: 241g - 31% (32 fiber)
Protein: 185g - 26%
Alcohol: 7g - 2%

Workout Summary:
3x strength
3x CF metcon
1.5x climbing

Note: An unusual amount of running for me this week - a mile or more three times.

What came out:
Weight: 177 (-2)
BF: 9% (0)
Chest: 38.25 (+0.25)
Arms: 11.75 (0)
Hips: 38 (-0.5)
Waist: 32.5 (0)
Thighs: 21.75 (0)
Calves: 14.75 (+0.25)
Forearms: 9.75 (-0.25)
Shoulders: 46 (0)

Analysis
Looks within standard deviations to me, so I think I'll consider this one holding steady. Sad to see the trend of my diminishing waist end - it didn't feel like there was any change there to me. I think perhaps I didn't eat enough to compensate for the running, and my body went back into hoarding its fat reserves.

Looking Forward
I think I could afford to try pushing the calories (fat and protein) a little more to see what happens. If I can do that without upping the carbs as well, even better. Maybe a second cottage cheese snack per day.

Once my weight and measurements seem to have stabilized for two or three weeks, I think I might try adding in IF a couple days a week, probably on rest days, to see what that does. If I can bring myself to skip breakfast and drink my coffee black, then not eating until 11 or 12 will give me a 15-16 hour fast.

I'm contemplating taking a half-volume week - something I've never done intentionally, though I have sort of backed off for a week when I hurt my knees and when I got sick (early May) - so it's been 5 weeks or so. I am planning on taking a week 100% OFF at the Beach during the end of August, which is ~9 weeks away, so actually it's probably too soon. I should do the first week of July half volume, to split the difference. OK, I'll do that.

Thinking about protein
Since I started tracking my food in Fitday and trying to lower carbs, I've been pleased with my leaning out a bit - but disappointed in the apparent lack of muscle growth. Now, my weight has stayed the same while my waist has lost 1.5", so that must mean something, but my other measurements aren't really showing any growth.

When I started CF I was really supplementing protein like crazy. One or two shakes a day plus a protein bar, not really paying attention to carbs, etc, and I did, fairly successfully, gain about a pound a week. My waist also got bigger, though, so I was gaining fat too, so I'm wondering about the muscles... Here's the breakdown of the cycle up to the trip to Ashland, when everything crashed and I had that massive weight loss (which I still haven't recovered from):

Start (3/5) -> Peak (5/14) -> Now (6/18)
Weight: 176 -> 185 (+9 lbs) -> 178 (-7lbs)
Bodyfat: 11.9 -> 14 (+2.1) -> 10.8 (-3.2)
LBM: 155 -> 159 (+4) -> 158.8 (-.2)

Waist: 33 -> 34 (+1) -> 32.5 (-1.5)
Chest: 37.8 -> 38.3 (+.5) -> 38.3 (0)
Arms: 11.6 -> 11.8 (+.2) -> 11.8 (0)
Hips: 38 -> 38.75 (+.75) -> 38 (-.75)
Thighs: 21.6 -> 22.5 (+1) -> 21.8 (-.75)
Shoulders: 45.3 -> 46.3 (+1) -> 46.3(0)

So, while I was piling on the protein (and carbs), I DID gain some real measurements across the board. Of the 9 pounds that I gained, however, 5 of those were fat. Thankfully, I seem to have kept most of that in my current leaning out phase.

I think I'm going to try and get below 10% bodyfat (32" waist will put me at 9.74%, and probably mean another round of new pants), and then try to ramp UP the protein (to 200g/day minimum) and fat while keeping carbs ~200g/day. Haven't run the numbers, but that should mean over 3k cal/day, easily. It's my hope that this could lead to LBM gains without too much fat sticking around.