Velocity Diet 3.0 by T-Nation.com
Okay, so I’ve been on the Velocity Diet 3.0 program for a week at this point. First things first:
Man, do I miss spicy food.
The requisite gripe now dispensed with, let’s see A) how well the program is being followed and B) how well (or if) it’s working.
Unlike a lot of long-term diet and fitness programs, this is one of those that really, really wants (and rewards) strict adherence; since it’s only four to six weeks long, you can build up a good bit of aggro towards its inflexibility. In light of the above complaint, I have fairly seriously considered suggestions to put a half teaspoon of cayenne pepper into the protein shakes to get my capsaicin fix.
There’s a reason I don’t write the recipe guides around here, folks. You’re all welcome.
Sticking to It
As averred to in the introduction to this endeavor, last time around, “half-assed” would be a good way of describing how well I managed to do so, at least as far as the food side of things was concerned. This time, while I’m certainly not perfect, I’m doing better. Five protein shakes a day is… well, there’s no polite way to put this. It’s boring. Part of this is my own fault — I don’t like vanilla, and fruit-flavored shakes give me unpleasant flashbacks to Strawberry Kwik. So, yeah — chocolate, and cookies & cream. I’ve been substantially more compliant this time around, only deviating for one light (and generally healthy) meal per day. Not perfect, but better than last time.
Workout-wise, that’s a lot easier to stick to, since the daily workouts are all fairly straightforward, and having a sheet to make notes on as you go through each session is something I find to be really handy. One difference I’m noticing is that I’m working a lot harder on the three-and-a-half scheduled workouts a week, because I’ve cut way back on my own usual gym time. As a matter of fact, Mike even chided me for skipping our lunchtime workout sessions on consecutive days last week. Fewer, more intense workouts is definitely a change of pace, and we’ll see what kind of results it gives.
Progress
Speaking of results, I’m pleasantly astonished to say, “Yeah, there already are some.” I’ve lost just over three and a half pounds, and, based on the Virgin Health Miles kiosk at the office gym, about two percent body fat. The numbers I saw at lunch today are the lowest for both of those I can remember seeing since sometime in the late 90′s. Body composition progress FTW.
As far as improvements in strength, that’s tougher to gauge, since each workout has only been done once so far. The weekly weekend benchmark, the V-Diet Challenge, has been pushed back to tomorrow (Tuesday) due to my spending the better part of two hours picking up and unloading a weight bench I found on Craigslist.
So, a week in, it looks like the verdict is looking pretty good — you get out what you put in in terms of effort and discipline. We’ll see how well both fare in the weeks to come, and hopefully, there will be more good news all around!
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I’ve always been interested in trying something like this. However, I’m allergic to soy, and most protein shakes and supplementary foods have soy in them. . . I’ve looked at the web site but I haven’t found an email address for them.
I believe that the T-Nat/Biotest stuff is soy-free (they prefer whey isolate protein).
You might try orders@biotestedge.com for inquiries – that’s the customer service address I have for my order confirmations, and it’s gotten a reply on the rare occasions I’ve had to use it.
How much did it cost you for your six weeks of food?
Doing the barebones program (no Hot Rox, no Surge Workout Fuel) the BioTest stuff comes to just about $200 for a month’s worth – 2x Metabolic Drive Low Carb, 1x Superfood, 1x Flameout, 1x Surge Recovery.
Not sure how much the milled flaxseed would be. Peanut butter is relatively cheap. I tend to drink a lot of tea and water from either the Brita at home or the water cooler at the office.
So, relative to eating out even fairly infrequently and inexpensively, it’s not a bad deal; you’re just buying the entire month’s groceries all up front.
When I’m *not* on the program, I do tend to use the Surge Recovery stuff after each workout, and the Workout Fuel on days when I know I’m going to be pushing a little bit harder than usual, along with the Flameout and a couple of other things on a daily basis – the whey protein or MetDrive shakes are breakfast and occasionally lunch, just for convenience sake at the office, for instance.
[...] honestly feels weird to be working out so much -less-, but that’s what the VD3 calls for, and I’m trying to behave [...]
[...] perfect, but better than last week. There was the aforementioned Chinese takeout (I admit it, I am a fiend for wanton soup, and [...]
I’m on Day 4. For all the supps, and with my enormous girth (240#), my charge was $650.
I’m losing about a pound a day, so far, but with only 3-4 days, it’s hard to say for sure.
I also agree that cutting back on the workouts is strange. But, the three days that I do work out, are very different than I’m used to, and my ass gets thoroughly kicked.