My Cutting (and bulking) Progress in NS

It has been pretty long since I have posted on my blog, with the most recent post being more than a year back (damn). I've always been wanting to update my blog but couldn't find the time nor a strong enough reason to - thus been using Instagram to jot down my mini events and thoughts throughout NS. Now that I'm going to ORD in less than 2 months time, and life is already pretty lull, I figure that I should relive this blog. More importantly, the post today is to document and share my fitness journey in NS, particularly after commissioning as an officer, and more specifically since July-August where I had more time to workout consistently with a clearer aim in mind. This is a milestone for, me as I have never actually been so serious in this cutting phase - with an attempt towards a leaner/shredded physique and six packs.

My past

Left: 73kg | Right: 62kg. 

Back in JC in those 1.5 years, I did cut too, but it was more of a simultaneous cut and bulk at the same time, possible cos of newbie gains. The physique I had back then was more of a lean one rather than muscular, weighing at 62kg at my lowest (after O levels I was 75kg LOL ). After A levels, after putting on some weight and losing some muscle mass, I attempted to get back my shape and in BMT I got lean again. But after going into OCS, that's when my progress stagnated and declined, and I had no time to gym consistently, for more than a year.

Bulking and cutting journey begins 
Thus fast forward to the phase of an officer: I had more privilege, time and autonomy. Around July-August, after the major outfields and conducts, I could focus more on bodybuilding, with a more specific difference this time - nutrition and diet. I lean bulked for about 2 months - with my diet pretty much remaining uncontrolled but just an attempt of increasing my protein intake. I was weighing around 70kg at my highest. Somewhere in August, I told myself I wanted to cut, and thus tried to eat less carbs and more cleanly. For a month or so, there wasn't any progress in fat loss and my weight remained at 70kg. I figured I was actually still lean bulking. It was actually rather disappointing as I was telling everyone around me I was cutting so I would refuse eating unhealthily particularly fast food. So somewhere in September, I knew I had to do something different  and started becoming more serious by tracking my marcronutrients and calories with Myfitnesspal app. My daily calories goal is 1800 kcal - 500kcal less than my daily maintenance calories requirement.

Cutting in NS, possible? 

Tracking my macros
It was no easy feat to track all the macros in my meals accurately, because I do not know the exact weight of my food, what other ingredients are in the dishes, amount of oil or cooking method. The macros breakdown of every meal calculated and displayed at the cookhouse did not help at all and it was grossly overestimated, which lunch ranging between 1000kcal - 1300 kcal, which takes up 70% of my daily calories goal in single sitting LOL. Thus, I resorted to keying in individually every dish with an guesstimate of the weight and selected from the options in the app the one which I feel is the more accurate one. All these numbers do not actually portray anywhere close to the true count, but the tracking itself was a way for me to be able to get a sensing and figure out the amount of calories I'm putting into my mouth - which allowed me to make better food choices. The calories making up the total calories count from my carbohydrates and protein is 35% and for fats is 30% (I researched the best percentage for this to suit my body type and goals in cutting).

Diet and Nutrition

I can't emphasise the importance of nutrition. Like keeping all constant like the amount of working out etc, nutrition alone can be the determining factor on whether you are losing fat, losing muscle, both or gaining muscle.

Order of Importance for Nutrition

My meals mainly comprise of cookhouse food for lunch and then for dinner it will be normal outside food with a conscious choice of incorporating more protein into the meal. Cookhouse lunch is great cos I can request for more meat most of the time, and eat less carbs. I also replaced sugary cordial drinks with milk tea (and then black coffee in the last 2 weeks) and ate more veggies. I was aiming about 150g of protein a day. On days I workout I consume more carbs and less fat while on rest days I consume more fats and less carbs; I followed dyeven's macros profile strategy which made sense to me. It is actually pretty hard to get enough protein in camp, and I can't just solely rely on protein shakes all the time.

Protein sources

So I started bringing in eggs and canned tuna (inspired by one of the junior officers bunking opposite me LOL). I eat 2 whole eggs and 1 egg white everyday for breakfast, along with bread and natural peanut butter initially and slowly moved on to instant oats mixed with whey, peanut butter and sometimes almonds. These food and the fats in the food keeps me satiated for long and I have no cravings or hunger pangs (wholemeal food do the job too btw). Heathy fat sources to help you lose fat will be nuts, egg yolks, avocadoes, peanut butter and salmon which provide the healthy monounsaturated fats. Yoghurt apparently helps you to lose weight according to research. All these knowledge is from an ebook my friend sent me called The Abs Diet, which really changed my perspectives and improved my eating choices, based on the reasoning and research given. Anyway, I purchased meal replacement bars in hope of replacing my dinner but I only did it a few times and I still have a lot left. As much as possible, I avoid fast food and also fried food, so for dinner after gym I would eat stuff'D kebab which really keeps me full and has pretty good macros.

I tried to cook my own meal when I had offs and it was really way cheaper and easier to fulfil my macros. Like 300g of chicken breast with 90g of protein worth from supermarket can cost only $2.50 and it is super easy to cook with simple ingredients. I would couple it with broccoli/sweet potatoes and eggs - this can feed up to 3 meals! 4 times cheaper than outside since cooked protein outside is really damn expensive.

At the start of (failed) cutting, I tried intermittent fasting. It is actually a tried and tested way of eating that works for many according to articles and youtube videos. Basically you have an 8h eating window and 16h fasting window where you can only consume calorie-free liquids. For me the problem was I get hungry around 11am cos I wake up at 7am for PT. Then during the eating window I have a tendency to eat a lot of also a tad more unhealthily to satisfy my cravings. It is difficult for me mainly cos I can't fit many meals into the eating window from 12pm to 8pm esp since I would be in office, and I usually have my dinner only after 9pm on days I work out at night. Thus, intermittent fasting is not really for me cos I don't make my own food and I actually like to eat and snack, so I stuck to 4 meals a day (ideally 6 small meals throughout the day) to meet my macros through the additional breakfast slot.

Supplements
Since I'm in the cutting phase where muscle breakdown tend to occur and you might lose your muscle, I take BCAA pills to prevent that, which also helps to reduce soreness and I can push more for my workout.

Caloric deficit also caused me to have low energy levels most of the days, so I drink Pre workout which contains caffeine, some BCAAs and creatine, and other stuffs which all will help me to be more pumped for the workout and give the extra focus and push during workout, This would also maximise my gym time where I gym about 1.5h usually.

I also take Creatine daily (except weekends cos lazy, but should be 5g/day) to help increase my strength during workout through release of more ATP, so I can lift more during workouts - more strength = more gains. It is 1 one of the most heavily researched supplement btw, and the price I bought at is like only 10 cents/serving - dirt cheap!

Not forgetting my whey- I take Myprotein Diet Whey (sorry no discount code) (actually have if you buy first time hahah) and I take about 35-40g on days I workout. Convenient source of protein especially in camp.

Lastly, I also take daily Multivitamins, which helps me improve my overall mental and physical health and well-being, and aid in bodily processes and functions which are pretty essential in bodybuilding.

My Workout Regime

My workout mainly focuses on strength through heavy low reps (4-6) and compound exercises. Strength training helps to build muscles during bulking and maintain muscle during cutting, and they target more muscle fibres compared to hypertrophy which is attained through higher rep ranges (8-12) Compound exercises are damn good overall body strength builders and also help to increase metabolism rate - examples are deadlift, squats, bench press and military barbell press - all which I incorporate in my workouts.

It is however important to tackle all rep ranges, so based on my research I'm following this regime, where for example like chest, my typical workout would be Inclined and flat bench press @ 4-6 reps, cable flys @ 6-8 reps and then dips @ 8-10 reps for chest day. Low reps are especially useful for compound movement, which I begin with for every workout.

Legs are not really my priority but I do squats, deadlifts and machine leg presses to train them.

As for cardio, I do fasted cardio-  5km morning runs on Mondays and Fridays in camp as they are compulsory for all, and HIIT Circuit Training on Wednesdays. Tuesday mornings I will do Tabata with the people in camp mainly focusing on abs. I incorporate abs workouts in my supersets or right after my workouts, whenever I can. On days or weeks when I can't cardio due to duties, I either eat less or do a short cardio by cycling in the gym after workout for 10min.

Tracking My Progress
Ever since I have gotten more serious, I brought a weighing scale to camp to track my weight loss. I would weigh myself some mornings when I first wake to track my progress. To do it effectively, you are supposed to weigh yourself every morning when you first wake up (or any other same time of everyday) and then take the average at the end of the week, because your weight can actually fluctuate up and down up to 1.5kg - the number you see comprise of many other weight like water mass or wastes and other stuffs. A good progress would be losing 1 pound a week. My progress wasn't that good - 4kg+ over 12 weeks.

I also use visuals by taking pictures of myself in the same place and lighting every week to track my shred progress - it really helped me see the improvement and motivated me to continue the grind everyday and made me loo forward for more results.

Lastly, I bought a fat % measuring calliper for $3 to track my body fat percentage. It is more of like a gauge for me, and I know it not accurate fat % reflected. So I use it now more like to make sure I don't put on too much fats when I bulk; aim is to maintain same fat %. I think this would be useful cos it is damn hard to see the fat % through pictures or weight alone cos you can't exclude account muscle gains.

Challenges 
One of the greatest challenges is discipline - to stay true to your diet and not give in to the temptations of the delectable delights and snacks, as well as working out and doing your fair share of cardio. In eating out, I would suggest healthier food places with my friends, at WHEAT, subway, or salad places. Of course I have 1-2 cheat meals every week, and in fact, in most of the period of my cut, I drink alcohol almost every week LOL . At 1 point I also ate like 2 fattening chocolates from Australia my bunk mate bought everyday cos it was on the table and it was super tempting - so bear in mind to create the most conducive environment for yourself to cut.  As such not achieving a low enough body fat % and super visible six packs were expected haha. So I would advise that you ease into clean eating slowly, and do your research on what suits you and your lifestyle most easily in this cutting phase. Allowing yourself to have cheat meals is important in resetting your metabolism (fat loss mechanism) and making sure you are still sane with your food.

Another major challenge is patience in the grind - to achieve the results. There was a period where 3-4 weeks I compared progress pics and still noticed no difference, and my weight did not change significantly (cos I actually didn't do the weekly average thing but just taking a rough mental average). I really need to emphasise that results happen over time and NOT overnight. Work hard (and smart), stay consistent and be patient. You got to fall in love with the process and the results will come. Having a group of friends to gym with will really help. Positive vibes.

Lastly, working smart is not easy. This is actually an experimental phase. I was never a bodybuilding expert. All the knowledge was obtained through research, videos, Instagram pages and trial and error. Consistently adjusting and calibrating the training to optimise results are what will bring you closer to your goals. Platueus in weight loss and strength gains can happen. Bodybuilding itself is as broad and in-depth specialisation as like any sport like basketball, or photography - there's so much to learn to master the art of it, and it is up to you about how serious you are about your gains. Of course, to accelerate your progress you can engage in a personal trainer. But ultimately, your focus should never be in the routine but the hustle to better, to improve, and to emerge stronger. And how? Through seeking more knowledge, applying, correcting the mistakes, and  rinsing and repeating what works.

A Fulfilling Journey 

I really learnt and discovering a lot about myself through this journey. I learnt the grind, the patience and the hard work - are all essential in achieving anything you want in life. Dreams don't work unless you do, and thus the first step is to get STARTED and take action. Many a times people give up too early or easily, as they are eager to see results quickly. We need to be optimistic about the journey, and be disciplined enough to consistently have faith and put in the hard work. Good things don't come easy; and if it is easy, every one would have gotten it, and no one would have wanted it so hard.

You got to do what you got to do - to get what you want. Whether it is having to sacrifice your rest time, or nights out, to hit the gym, even alone, or to sacrifice your frequent eating of 'good food', you know what you will do based on how badly you want to achieve those goals. It is all in the state of mind tbh. Need to curb those cravings? Just remember: A moment on the lips, a lifetime on the lips (credits to Khoo Teck Phuat hospital).

Part of me want to embark this journey due to wanting to achieve what most people can't, and to prove to myself and others that I can do it, through hard work and dedication, and then inspire people to take action too with my results - something I actually enjoy doing; to give advice to people wherever possible, so that people don't make the same mistakes I did, and work smarter. Of course, this would not have been possible if I don't love the process; I actually enjoy working out somehow, and feeling good after, more energised and pumped up than ever.

I also ate more healthily, and understood that someone possessing a lean muscular physique, definitely needs to have healthy eating habits and lifestyle - a key factor in longevity too. I felt better about myself and loved myself more.

At the end of the day, what works for me may not work for you, and you have to go find, trial and tested the best suited method for yourself to effectively reach your goals, cos everyone is different. I have friends asking me what is my diet, or workout - but ultimately, there's no one size fits all method. Not everyone can or is willing to do what I do based on different lifestyles and preferences. Now I'm onto the next phase of bulking for perhaps till May before I do a cut again, so that I can gain as much lean muscle mass as possible and see how far I can go.
If you have any questions, feel free to PM me and I will gladly answer and help you out when I'm free :) Hope this post is informative and helpful! Comments and feedback will very much be appreciated and maybe if responses are great, I will share my journey and learnings more on my blog or insta :-)