Since I'm almost out of protein powder, and (as far as we know) Yohimbine only works on an empty stomach, I'm switching back to straight IF for the remainder of this cut. I'll compress the protein shakes to the end of the day until I run out.
I'm skipping the ECA stack because of some recent Alan Aragon reading - looks like for someone with properly-set macros, it'll probably amount to maybe an extra quarter-pound per week. Yohimbine doesn't play nice with ephedrine and adds something I can't get from diet alone, so that stays in and ephedrine stays at the door.
I'll be training in the evenings, so I'm looking at a slightly lighter yohimbine dose on waking and then boosters throughout the day. I originally thought 10g on waking and then 7.5 every 3 hours after that, but now I'm looking at 10 on waking and 2.5 every hour. If I'm waking up at 8:30 and eating around 7 (training at 8), that's 35mg per day (just over twice the bolus dose for someone my size) - I figure I can safely start there and bring it up as I get used to it.
I'm also going to start adding in more cardio - once I'm fasting, I'll be cooking actual meals in the evenings and can start buying groceries in advance. I'll start out just walking to Andronicos/Safeway in the mornings, but once I have a bike I'll try hitting Berkeley Bowl (should be an easy ride - at regular pace it'll actually be faster than the walks). I want to keep this very low-intensity, since (as Aragon constantly points out) fasted cardio has negative effects on lean mass.
I'm going to refine the carb refeeds somewhat based on Lyle McDonald's work - some notes on that:
1) The liver stores about 100g glycogen; muscles store roughly 10g/kg or 4.5g/lb. For me that pegs things around 650g total (assuming slightly sub-10% bodyfat and 160lbs). Due to the liver limitations, (0.5*Sucrose + 1*Fructose) should (ideally) stay under 100g.
2) Synthesis goes fastest following training and tapers off from there. The first meal should come as soon as possible.
3) Outside of the training "window," timing/distribution doesn't seem to matter. The best layout will probably involve a higher-fat and higher-fiber meal shortly before bed to slow release.
4) High-GI carbs do seem to work better overall.
5) A pre-training meal with moderate carbs should improve synthesis by increasing circulating insulin levels.
6) Fat gain stays negligible as long as fat intake stays low (Lyle quotes 88g from a paper and recommends 60-70g for someone 140-160lbs).
Lyle's recommended macro breakdown falls at 70/15/15 C/P/F by lean body mass, which seems pretty reasonable. Right now that's 720/153/68 in the first 24 hours; dropping carbs to 500 doesn't offer much of a change, but it's nice to know I've got a fairly serious buffer.
Based on that, my refeed plan is to wake up, take a full 15g of yohimbine, and have a lowish-fat, moderate-carb, high-protein breakfast about two hours later. An hour or so after that, train and immediately follow with a high-carb, lowish-fat, high-protein meal (min. 100g carbs), followed by at least 3-4 similar meals throughout the rest of the day. I'll be avoiding fruit here - this should help to keep fructose content down, and fruit itself is very filling and gets in the way of other foods that I should be consuming in greater bulk. I can handle the fruit side on other days. The same applies to salad, and for similar reasons. I want this to be satisfying, not unpleasant (which is what the current one's shaping up to be, thanks almost entirely to overdoing fruit and leafy vege).
For starches I'm looking mostly at potatoes (and other roots) and rice, though I'll still allow wheat.
The fat refeed won't involve any shakes - there will be fiber, but for the most part it'll just be two unlimited meals of fatty meat on the bone with some leaves to aid with digestion. This one's very nice and very simple.
Regular days will be a bit more limited. For the upcoming week, I'll just concentrate the shakes into less water and consume more quickly. On lifting days that'll probably just be one scoop at a time; I don't need to worry about frequency so much as just making sure I take in at least six scoops (some of which can go with the meat meal). For nonlifting days, it's at least 9 scoops, which might take some more work to imbibe but shouldn't be a huge problem.
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Once I run out of powder, this switches over 100% to cooked meals. The macros here don't change much - on erg days it's at least 150g protein worth of lean meat with some allowance for fat and very low carbs, plus a small amount of fruit post-workout for liver health (probably berries - again, small). For lifting days, it's the same, just frontloaded so I'm full when I head to the gym. They'll have a higher fat allowance, but the goal's still 150g+ protein spread across two meals totaling around 1500kcal; chicken thighs actually won't be good for this. These days will include greens to keep things going.
I'll hammer out more specifics later, but I'm still getting over crippling abdominal pain from eating too many plants so that'll probably have to wait until next time I'm at Costco.
EDIT: I'm also going to resume contrast showering and stop turning on the heating system - cold exposure activates non-shivering thermogenesis and thereby increases fat utilization. The morning walks should help with this, though that's not happening tomorrow because tonight I'm going to be up until six.
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