Bodyweight: 164.0
Countdown: 5 weeks, 5 days
Diet
Things are changing day to day now. I’m having big swings in weight (4-6 pounds) per day, depending on the day since I started my hard carb cycle:
- Day 1: High Carb (300 g’s)
- Day 2: Mid Carb (100 g’s)
- Day 3: No/Low Carb (0-15 g’s)
- Day 4: No/Low Carb (0-15 g’s)
So, take for instance last Friday was Day 4 (2nd no carb day) and I was down to 160.8, however by Saturday afternoon (high carb day) I was around 166.
I actually think these swings are helpful and beneficial to losing these last few pounds… which I why I do the cycle like this.
Appearance
Also how I look depends greatly on the day. Friday (2nd no carb day) I looked extremely lean and my abs were looking great. On Saturday morning (after about 150 g’s of carbs) I looked even better because my veins were highly visible and my muscles were full. But by Saturday afternoon and all through Sunday I just looked bloated. I just have to keep this in mind while I’m evaluating how I look.
Mood
As you might’ve guessed, mood also depends on what day it is. Here’s what I notice… Day 1 (high carb) I’m usually cranky from the previous day (no carb)… then my mood is good through Day 2, 3, and by Day 4 (2nd no carb day) I get cranky again.
Cardio
I’ve been able to keep my schedule on cardio pretty good… I still walk everyday for 30 minutes and I switched over to stairs and I think it’s helping. I’ve been doing 20 minutes right after working out. If I don’t workout I walk in the evening for another 30 minutes. I also have still been climbing the stairs at work over lunch.
Other Thoughts
I think I’m in good condition. I actually think I could compete today - I probably would place very well, but I wouldn’t get laughed off the stage either. So now I have a little less than 6 weeks to put myself in position to win.
Bodweight: 164.6
So I’m back from the mini-vacation and am totally focused. We’re in the home stretch now and I really have to focus and take care of business… which is what I plan to do.
My calories are already down to about the lowest they will get - I just did a rough calculation and it looks like I’m taking in only about 1500 calories per day on average. But I’ve kept my protein up to around 230 g’s per day. 1500 calories is pretty low, but at this point in the game I really can’t alter that.
What I can do is up my cardio. The bike hasn’t been cutting it, so I’m switching to stairs. I did 10 minutes of stairs last night and I will start doing 15 minutes of stairs tonight and going forward I’ll do 15 - 20 minutes.
Carbs go like this now, Day 1 - High Carb (210g), Day 2 - Medium Carb (90g), Day 3 - No Carb, Day 4 - No Carb… then repeat. I also will no longer take high carb days off from cardio… I will do cardio every day from here on out.
Bodybuilding is a different type of competition - every day of pre-contest is the real contest. You don’t get to see your opponents until after the contest is over. Everyday at 5 am is the contest… that’s the competition. The night of the show is just the award ceremony - you can’t beat your competition that night… it has to be done now.
6.5 weeks to go… time to do work.
If bodybuilding were “my life” then I wouldnt’ be doing this. But since bodybuilding is just something I do and I still have friends and family I will do this. My wife Pearl, daughter Brooklyn, brother Zack, and his girlfriend Lacy, and I are all packing up tomorrow morning and heading to KC to go to Oceans of Fun and we’re staying Saturday night in KC and come back home on Sunday.
I will have fun, but I also won’t stray from my diet — I cooked last night and have plenty of chicken all frozen and ready to go. I’ll also probably get some dry packs of tuna before I leave as well. I will still eat every 2-3 hours while I’m there and it will be a real hassle…. leaving the park, walking out to the car, choking down some dry chicken with some water, and then walking back into the park. But it’s nothing I haven’t done before.
I’m not really doing this for me… I will have fun, but I won’t at the same time. However, my family shouldn’t be denied a little vacation because I’m dieting. I’m still a father, husband, and brother…. I just need to balance.
Bodyweight: 165.6
So today I began doing more cardio… I started walking 17 flights of stairs at work on my lunch break right before I eat. So, now I’m doing cardio 3 times a day - but never for more than 30 minutes. Here’s a look at my schedule:
5:00 am - Cardio 1 - walk for 30 minutes
5:30 am - Meal 1 - 1 cup egg whites & 1/2 cup oatmeal (depending on if it’s low-carb day or not)
8:00 am - Meal 2 - 5 oz chicken
10:00 am - Meal 3 - 1 scoop of protein powder with water
12:00 pm - Cardio 2 - 17 flights of stairs (approx. 10 minutes)
12:15 pm - Meal 4 - 5 oz chicken
3:00 pm - Meal 5 - 5 oz chicken
4:20 pm - Meal 6 - 1/2 cup of oatmeal (if not low-carb)
4:45 pm - Meal 6.5 - 5 oz chicken
5:15 pm - Workout
6:30 pm - Cardio 3 - Bicycle for 10 minutes
7:00 pm - Meal 7 - 5 oz chicken or fish and 1/2 cup oatmeal
9:00 pm - Meal 8 - 4-6 oz fish with broccoli
As a reminder, here’s what I looked like 14 weeks out:
Here’s what I look like today, 8 weeks out:
Bodyweight: 166
I’m approaching 8 weeks out. This last week has been really tough. No energy for workouts… I can’t get any pump in my muscles… this morning I woke up exhausted and with a bad headache. Luckily I snapped out of it and feel pretty good now. Nothing has changed much since my last post. I’ve been doing 10 minutes on the bike after workouts except for yesterday because I was dragging so much. I’m really looking forward to tonights workout being over… we’re taking Friday and Saturday off and I have my high-carb day on Friday. Hopefully I can get some carbs in while I’m at work.
I’m still not hungry. That’s the one thing that is a lot different than last year’s diet - last year I was always hungry… this year I have to force myself to eat a lot of times. I have my mind on a lot of other things instead of just bodybuilding this year, which I think helps. But I’m at the point now where I want to be done dieting… but I need to keep going… 8 more weeks, 2 months… I’m in great shape to come in great condition for this show if I push myself this last 8 weeks.
I’ve also got my money together now so I’ll be sending in the registration forms and buying my tan this week!
Appearance
I realize why I don’t have many pictures from last year’s diet/competition. I look in the mirror a lot right now… but I’m not doing it to admire myself… I see a lot of stuff wrong… for one I’m not lean enough. I was hoping to be leaner and more cut by now, but I’m not. I’m still moving forward because according to the scale I weighed 167.6 this morning. I am seeing some changes weekly and daily. I’m also sure I’ll come in contest condition - but I hope I can reach the goals I’ve set for myself in my mind.
One thing that I have to keep in mind is that, I’m 9 weeks and 1 day out today. I started dieting 17 weeks out… that means I haven’t even reached the half way mark yet. So I still have a lot of time to make some improvements…. and I’m sure I will.
Cardio
I’ve still been up at 5 am about 5 days a week. Walking for half hour. Somedays are better than others… I have energy and I feel great. Others I don’t feel great, but I don’t feel too bad either… I just get up and do it.
This week I also started incorporating a 10 min bike ride right after working out. I’m going to do this after every workout from now on.
Diet
I’ve stuck pretty much to my original diet. I’ve been having a high carb day on Sundays and the rest of the days 0 - 150 or so carbs. My high carb days I don’t really count my carbs, but I don’t get carried away either. I would guess around 300 g’s on high carb days. However probably this week or next I will start cycling carbs a little faster… probably have a high carb day every 5-6 days.
Another thing I’ve been doing lately to change my diet up, is I’ve putting ground red pepper on everything - egg whites, chicken, fish. Just a change.
Mood
I’ve actually been very pleased. I have really been able to not let the small things bother me. Maybe my friends and family would disagree, but I feel I’ve been pleasant to be around - which is important to me. I try to still have fun and do things.
Posing
Last night I started working on my routine… I have it about halfway done. I’m pretty excited about it… I like the music and I like what I have for my routine so far. I think posing is good to bring out cuts - but sometimes it’s hard to find time to dedicate to locking myself in the room and practicing.
Bodyweight: 170.6
Over the weekend, Zack competed at Nebraskas Strongest Man and took 2nd by half a point. He had a great day winning 3 events and taking 2nd in another… but the points just didn’t add up in his favor.
I’m sitting at about 10 1/2 weeks out right now from the CB show. I’ve reached 170 in bodyweight so I’ll probably be down in the 160’s by the end of this week or early next. I’m pretty happy about that… I’d like to be in the condition I was for my last contest at about 4-6 weeks out… that would give me some extra time to get even leaner.
So I feel like I’m right on track. I’ve still been walking for about 1/2 hour at 5 a.m. about 5 days a week. That’s the only cardio I’m doing right now. I also started taking caffeine to help in the fat loss - I take 400 mg in the morning, 200 mg at noon, and 200 mg in the afternoon. I’m not sure if this really helps… but for less than $3 a bottle I wouldn’t mind if it’s a placebo effect.
Lighter and lighter weights are getting heavier now… I squatted yesterday - I did 3 sets of 315 x 6. It was tough.
I’ve also picked out my posing music, but I haven’t plotted my poses that I’m going to do to it yet. I hope to have that done by next week so I have about 8-9 weeks to practice it.
Bodyweight: 174.6
I’ve decided to not do the Gold’s Classic in Kansas City and instead do the Bluffs Classic in Council Bluffs on September 27. It’ll fit my schedule a lot better and save on money and stress. Plus I think I have a good chance of being very competitive at this contest.
So as of today I’m 11 weeks and 5 days out. I feel great about where I’m at.
We had a great workout yesterday at Jesse Jobe’s when two strongman competitors came down from Kansas to train… we had some good music and soem good, serious training. It was a nice change from FairyLand (Golds Gym).
Saturday is Zack’s competition at the Nebraska Strongest Man.
I’ll continue training hard this week and I’ll keep walking Mon-Fri in the morning. I had a good high-carb day yesterday with some Ezekial Bread, Oatmeal, and brown rice. Today it’s back to low-carb, but no workout today. I’ll post some pictures later this week.
Cardio
Today I started doing some early morning cardio. I don’t like doing cardio - especially hard, death cardio. I take walks early in the morning, around 5:00 am when it’s nice and cool. I really like this cardio… it’s refreshing and a great way to start the day. Some bodybuilders don’t like doing cardio before breakfast… but I think it has some benefits… plus it’s a great time to do it for me.
So I’m walking in the mornings 5 days a week for about 20-30 minutes from now on. I also do some walking maybe about 2 or 3 days a week in the afternoon with my family. This is enjoyable cardio too. Hopefully this is all the cardio that I’ll have to do.
Carbos
As for carbs… I started cycling my carbs last week. Here’s what my schedule looks like for carbs:
Sunday - High Carb Day (250-300 g’s)
Monday (Non-workout) - Low Carb Day (0-50 g’s)
Tuesday - Medium Carb Day (100-150 g’s)
Wednesday - Medium Carb Day (100-150 g’s)
Thursday (Non-workout) - Low Carb Day (0-50 g’s)
Friday - Medium Carb Day (100-150 g’s)
Saturday - Medium Carb Day (100-150 g’s)
That kind of seems jumbled, but basically I have a high carb (refeed) day on Sunday and go low-carb on my non-workout days.