Yup, that's right. This is my third time around. Back aboard the crazy train!

Since I've posted sporadically in a few threads, I thought I'd throw something up to introduce myself. I originally did the V-Diet when Shugart first wrote about it, was curious about V-Diet 3.0 and finally decided on a lark to try it two Sundays ago. I already had some Metabolic Drive, HRX, Flameout and flax seeds, but ordered the L-Leucine and some extra Metabolic Drive (forgot to add Superfood to the order).

It's been interesting to see the program changes and reactions over the years, since the original plan was basically Metabolic Drive, an older version of HRX, flax seeds and Waterbury's TBT program.

Back then:

- I didn't have fancy supps like Superfood, L-Leucine, or Flameout.

- I didn't have a fancy workout program which included fancy bodyweight exercises I could download or watch fancy videos for the exercise examples.

- I didn't have a fancy on-line calculator which tallied up my caloric intake (no sir, I used a handheld calculator).

- I didn't have to take fancy body measurements using a fancy body tape.

- I didn't have a fancy forum to schmooze with Shugart.

- When I did my NEPA, I did it walking up a hill. Both ways.

/My lawn, you damn kids - get off of it.

I started V-Diet 3.0 at 195 (I'm 6'2") and three days later I was down to 188. This is the fastest loss out of the 3 times I've done it, which I attribute to not loading up on final "goodbye to carbs" meals the day before the diet. This morning's weigh in was 187, so it's been holding pretty steady for almost a week. We'll see where it goes from here. No body measurements since I still don't have a fancy...ok, in reality I'm lazy and don't feel like doing measurements so the scale weight it'll be.

*Whys and Wherefores*

The first time I did the V-Diet, it was several months after I'd quit a job I hated so much I didn't have another job to go to, was generally depressed and thought at least the one thing I could control was my weight. I was at 225.

The result was so dramatic, it took a month for my mind after the V-Diet was over to catch up to my body. I moved differently, felt differently and whenever I was in line and saw a reflective surface of the people in it, I did a double take and had to look for myself in the reflection because I didn't recognize my bodyshape anymore.

I kept the weight off for about a year, then tried out Joel Marion's Cheat to Lose diet. Gained 10 lbs (not muscle!) and discovered - as Shugart's mentioned - as a FFB, I can't have regular cheat days because I lose my gains quickly. I also enrolled in the fire academy to become a volunteer firefighter. Dropped out after 2 1/2 weeks because of lack of conditioning and my bodyweight (I gained an additional 10 lbs because I thought I could eat whatever I wanted with the energy I was expending. Nope!). So I did V-Diet 2.0 which was about the same as 1.0, but I kept TBT since I didn't like the newer workout programs. Lost another 20 and kept it off.

This year I went back to the academy (15 lbs lighter than last year) and finished it. I had a arm injury in the last 2 months of class which prevented me from seriously working out into February and it seems I've hit a plateau again. While I'm at a decent weight, my bodyfat has crept up and I'd like to get rid of this extra pouch on my midsection.

Your fancy welcome post:

Very cool. Keep us posted!

[/smooze]

*Don't You Know That You're Toxic...*

This should be nicknamed the "Now You Get to See Who Your Friends Really Are" Diet. I've read about the nasty reactions some of the V Dieters here get from co-workers/friends and it seems to be the norm to a degree. On one hand, this is a pretty extreme diet and a lot of people have trouble adjusting to the carb depletion, so it's easy to see why some would question it.

On the other, there's something about dedicating yourself which can really draw the snark out of people. Case in point - after my first V-Diet, I got such a lack of reaction, especially the ones who really liked pointing out how fat I was to others, I became curious and wrote a post to other V-Dieters see how people around them reacted after they finished the diet. That thread's here: http://www.T-Nation.com/...ons_from_people

I didn't get much of a reaction the second time either. Got some serious flak, though. One time I was out with some people who kept asking why I wasn't dating anyone at the time. One girl pointedly asking me if I liked guys instead. Now, I'd told her before about some women I was interested in, and she even set up a date (which later fell through) with one of those women she knew, so she obviously knew better. So why was she being an ass?

Think any of those people in that group besides me were skinny?

These types of people are going to find ways to undermine you which don?t necessarily involve food. Be ready!

*Thoughts About the "Fancy" New Program*

After my first round on them, I thought the addition of the bodyweight exercises was a sadomasochistic twist but in the end a great barometer as to how in shape/conditioning your body's getting into. I did the Beginner V-Burn on the first day and finished it in 28 minutes, huffing and puffing. Yesterday I did it in 20 and wasn't breathing as hard.

I like the 3 program split depending on the level of lifter you are. I'm doing the Intermediate level and the only quibble I had was Friday's workout. I didn't have my Surge with me so I was feeling the carb depletion and I don't normally do deadlifts so I wasn't comfortable with the bar (switching to using the dbells this week).

And doing declines? Seriously? Think of a flipped over turtle trying to get rightside up again and you'll have an idea of how I looked trying to get those weights up off the floor. At least with an incline bench (which I'll be switching to) I could swing the weights up with much less trouble.

As for my NEPA, I'm walking 3 miles twice a day with at least one time wearing a 40 lb vest.

*This Thread is Worthless Without Pics*

Here's where I came from:

The top pic is from Summer 2004. I was at my heaviest: 255. Notice the double chin taking up half my face.

The left pic is me at 230. This was Fall 2005. Less chin involved here.

The right pic is from last year about a month before the academy.

Sooooo, what's the current pic?

Cool intro - glad to hear you have made such progress this far - and I'm sure you'll breeze right through it. There is something about doing it a second, or a third time I think that allows you to realize that not eating food for 28 days is NOT the end of the world. Then it's more bearable,right?

And I'm nosey - where are you from?

Hey there! I enjoyed your posts. Very Funny. I was around in the early days too, but never ventured into the hard-core Fat Fast territory. Trying to think of that guys name - with the white tee. Oh yeah .. Brock. Didn't he end up in jail or something?

BFL eating was enough of a challenge. By the way...that first fat-burner was MD6. Good stuff. HOT-ROX is wonderful too, obviously.

You'll rock this 3rd round!

Ok gotcha...
DC too? Man I just love DC. I think it has something to do with my love for history, social causes, hot weather, mass transit, and oh yeah the male:female ratio helps too

I'm right there with you on the decline DB work. I actually have the same problem on DB bench - I can curl 55s, and maybe body english up some 60s, but for a "heavy" load on DB Bench I have to use at least 70/75s for the recommended rep range. Has anyone found a good technique for this? Right now I'm working without a spotter, so both getting into position with the weight and dropping it afterwards are a challenge.

oo i found ur blog!! u lost more weight then me in 3 days but iv decided to let it pass and still like u! this is only a joke, other peoples success really spurs me on!! good luck hun!! x

One thing I forgot to mention is the week 1 workout seriously pounded me, which was a surprise since I'd been already working out (I guess not intensely enough!). I also woke up really sore, which was another surprise since I'd been drinking my Surge.

Last night's workout went over much better.

It was nice to do pullups right out of the box instead of having to wait till the end of the diet when I was light enough.

Hey, Thanks for stopping by my thread! I'm just going to call you "The Veteran" becuase you've been there and done that. haha. Great progress by the way. I am just amazed at some of the success stories on here. I will be sure to keep up with yours. Journey on!

I've been reading through the threads and noting there's a pretty good amount of people who've complained about lack of energy/feeling rundown, lack of sleep, severe nausea, and a few other things.

Like it's been said, this is a very carb depleted diet and I think people are surprised when that part kicks in so severely.

Don't expect to break any strength records and if you do try to have an intense workout without taking your carb fasted state into consideration, be prepared to bonk (just like I did last night. Heh.). It's tough enough just to get through the day sometimes.

The first time I tried the V Diet, I was so rundown I was taking naps at noon even with full HOT-ROX dosages. Biotest has improved the HR formula since then (my second time was easier because of that), but it's still an ass kicker of a diet. I'm taking the full HRX dosage, drinking a cup of coffee and still get physically sluggish/a mental fog at times. My sleep schedule is also taking a hit (this and the lack of energy is why I'd been sitting on the fence for V 3.0 for awhile).

This third time has been the easiest transition to the V-Diet because I've already been low carb eating for several weeks. The biggest shock to my system was the first time I tried it and I got the same issues as some here: headaches, nausea, etc..

I think another diet twist is if your body even feels like doing it at the time. I've tried to do extreme low carb diets like T-Dawg and had to quit in the same day because the withdrawals were so bad. Other times, I've been able to pull it off. Don't know why.

About the nausea/stomach pangs/headaches: if they really got bad, especially when I was trying to sleep, then I'd have half a banana or natural pb and some crackers. Yeah, this is supposed to be a no-no, but my need for a good night sleep or just being able to function took precedence. Even that little bit helped even me out and I was still able to lose 20 lbs both times with the taste changes this diet is known for to stay intact. Just don't go overboard! Fiber tabs helped somewhat too.

As for stomach reactions to the HSM, got me on that one. Pretty much all of my HSMs have been straight steak and potato types and I've never had an HSM issue. The only time my stomach had a bad reaction was the 2nd go around and that was due to the natural PB. Every time I mixed it with a shake, I'd regret it. Weird thing was I'd had natural PB before and have no issue putting it in my shakes now.

Hopefully this'll help some of you. Any questions, feel free to ping away.

Thought I'd give an update since I'm a bit overdue (like being on the 4th page).

Like I said, I'm not doing measurements, just the scale and my weight?s been holding steady around the 184 mark since the end of last week. For those of you who get concerned about any sudden scale weight gains - remember, it's wonky, hence the body measurements.

For example: yesterday I got off a night shift, decided to weigh myself at 8 am and was 185. Did it again on a lark 3 hours later after waking up from a nap and was 183.5. Today I'm 184.

For anyone thinking about doing this diet again at some point, it does get easier to an extent since you already know what's coming. At the same time, it still sucks to smell cooking foods or see food porn pics. It's also tough dealing with the sleep issues (even with Z-12 and melatonin for me) as well as the general lethargicness (even with the max dose of HRX and a daily cup of coffee).

What I would suggest for anyone about to do this is reducing your carbs for at least a week before the diet (with a final "goodbye to carbs" dinner or something), I think it'll help prep your body as well as reduce the severity of any headaches/nausea. Like I said before, this is the easiest transition I've had into doing this diet and I think my eating low carb beforehand had a hand in that.

Once again, the plus side is seeing the change in the mirror, as well as seeing the difference in the clothes. I'm at a weight I haven't been at since college (and I'm in better shape than I was then) and can feel the weight loss difference in moving around, even something as simple as going up one flight of stairs. I had to create a new belt notch today since my pants are that much looser.

My vburn times have improved markedly each time. 1st week: 28 mins. 2nd week: 20 mins. 3rd: 14:48. I'm also much less out of breath. When I did week 1, I felt floored going into the 2nd circuit. Week 3, I didn't start feeling it until the 5th circuit.

I like the workouts better in this version. The 20 second rest for the week 3 workout was an ass kicker, though. It felt like just when I finished the set, I'd have to start right back up again. Can't wait for the 15 second rest next week. :P

Great to know about this being easier the second or third time around. I definitely read a lot and knew what to prepare for with this diet. I think I'm lucky in the fact that I have never really had a major food fetish problem. Don't get me wrong, I love to eat, but I have never had a real problem with over eating or junk food binging.

I think it really helped me transitioning to this diet. I have a lot of praise for those that have real eating issues and still stick it out through this routine. If its not easy for me, it must be insanely difficult for others.

Food porn time!

Since everyone else has been so "kind" as to share what they've been eating for an HSM while others are sucking down shakes, here's my contribution.

My I present, for your consideration (if you live near a Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant), my weekly slice of heaven - the 18 oz Gorgonzola Bone-In Ribeye.

My apologies for the graininess of the pic. It was dark and I didn't use a flash.

It takes me about 45 minutes to have the entire plate, mainly because I have as small bites as possible to make the meal last that much longer.

This is my final week on the V Diet before the transition and I did the V Burn yesterday. Came in at 11:14. Last week was 14:48 and I started at 28 minutes. My endurance is getting markedly better each time since yesterday I did a NEPA walk with a 50 lb vest after the burn and when I started at week 1, I was lying on the floor gasping.

There's something about being at 185 that my body likes because that's been the weight I've been at since just after week 1. If this wasn't my 3rd time, I'd probably be freaking out based off of no scale weight change. But I know better since there's still some continuing changes (V Burn time improving each week, some size large shirts are getting baggy).

The biggest surprise has been the change in movement. Everything seems easier to do, even just walking. It feels like almost a big a difference as the first time I did the V Diet, even though I lost more scale weight then (20 lbs).

Ah! You do have a thread on here. 3rd time around huh? Thats truly inspirational for me as a first timer. To be honest though, I hope Ill never have to do this again because Id like to actually go through with clean bulking from here on out. I guess once I finish this first go around Ill decide whether Id do it in the future should I need to.

Its good to see a fellow firefighter (congrats on finishing the academy by the way) succeed and do well at it too. I havent seen any others in the forums, but I havent looked real extensively either. Keep doing what you do man because its working.