I MADE IT!!

Whhhhheeeewwww Hooooo!!!!

So the final week of training was the hardest part knowing that I was so close, but still had to stay sharp! My strategy was spot on and although I've heard not to train the last week, I felt great and I was able to come in lean as hell and full.

Thursday night I went to my trainer's house where he took a final measurement of 28 and 1/8th for my waist, THE SMALLEST IT'S EVER BEEN! We then practiced posing and went through a strategy for Friday and Saturday.

Friday I still kept the carbs and calories low, increased my potassium and lowered my sodium just a little bit. I drank about 1.5 gallons of water right up until 6pm.

Saturday I woke up and lost about 4 pounds and my waist was definitely below 28...crazy. I took a couple of photos which can be found on my facebook page. After my first and only coat of Protan it was breakfast time. I ate two glazed donuts, 4 rice cakes with Nutella and a cup of oatmeal. Up until the show I sipped water and sucked on candy from 10am til I went on at 2pm. I had a scoop of NO2 power about 30 minutes before I got on stage and poof, full hard and ripped!!!

Posing was definitely a challenge and I did get a little tired as the show moved on. After two classes and a lunch similar to breakfast I was ready for the night show. My routine went very well and I got a few cheers! Then during the posedown they lined us up and started to announce the winners....I thought for sure I was getting 3rd or 4th...low and behold I won 2nd place! This after a 4 year break from competing!!! I was and am still so excited and I felt that my hard work really paid off.

The post contest binge was amazing for that night and day after and after gaining 20 lbs and losing 15 of them I'm back on a healthy eating plan slowly increasing calories. I can't WAIT to do it all over again.

7 Days aka Peak Week

So here I am...28.5 inch waist, good legs, solid upper body. Definitely top 3 material depending on who shows up (which is about 105 competitors for anyone who cares). This is the week a lot of people try to do various carb up sodium loads and water depletion. Crazy stuff really...then when they don't win they blame that week rather than lack of condition on why they didn't pull it together.

So here I am...dieting hard still until Thursday night and awaiting the response from my coach on what to do. My conditioning is great, I feel good enough and I can't wait for Saturday morning to hopefully come off stage knowing that I've given it my all these last few months and I am a winner.

2 weeks out

Is is sad that my "cheat meal" is a bowl of green beans and/or lettuce??? Yep that's where I'm at. I have given zero thought to food and essentially am sticking to my plan to get to the stage. Although one thing I did change this past couple of weeks was putting more essential fatty acids in my diet. I'm finding that with the extra omega 3s my mood is better and I feel a lot better overall. Combine that with the fact that I hit a new record at 164 lbs and 28.5 inch waist I'll take it!

So everyone in bodybuilding knows about "peak week" it's where most people eat excessive carbs to "recover" from 12 to 24 weeks of severe dieting. I'll probably not have that luxury. There's a good chance that I'll be dieting hard right up until Wednesday or Thursday. I find that I look best in the morning before I eat. Therefore I'll probably have a mild reintroduction to carbs and try to just hold my condition. I'm starting to feel like I can do well though and my conditioning is great.

Thanks coach Ted!

5 weeks

Holding strong at 166 28.75 inch waist. The upper body is definitely looking good. My coach said that he'll let me know when I look freaky...awesome.

Some things to do in these last few weeks:

Join a tanning salon: UUGGHH! I HATE tanning in a booth. It itches and I just don't like lying there in a pool of sweat...but it gets me nice and dry looking and hey who doesn't look better with a tan.

Pick a color for my trunks. Color is key here because with my skin tone it'll make you look better or just average. I've always gone with a darker blue or green.

Order Dream Tan. This will be new for me as I've always used pro-tan/jan tana. I've seen people in dream tan look really great though so I want to order a bottle early and try it on a small part of my body to see what it'll look like on me.

I'll figure out a posing routine at some point too...not too concerned though and I may just use the first one I did back in 2003.

That's all for now!

6 weeks out

Weight...it's such a bitch. When I first started this blog I weighed 182 and said I felt like I was about 10lbs away...well I'm down to the 170 mark and still have a bit to go. Last week I came in at 166 with a 28.75 inch waist...I think my upper body is really looking good. I have muscle striations in my chest, ab veins that extend up to my lats and my serratus is showing in full force. So knowing all this, how can I think about losing more fat...MY DAMN LEGS! I have been blessed/cursed with a large lower body. The issue is that this is now my 5th contest and yet I still have never had great definition in my legs. Granted I can at least see the separation and they are looking the best they've been, they still are jiggly.

So I'm trying something new...although I like the elliptical, it's just not very challenging anymore. It's great for getting the heart rate up and burning fat. Now this may be more theory than fact and I admit that (I'll leave the studies to my wife), but I'm going to try some sprint workouts and stair climbing. So cardio is a big focus for me this week...not length but type and quality. At 6 weeks out I'm really focused on the little things.

Finally, for pictures I'm going to just post the finished product. I've decided that I'd rather show off the work I've done when I'm done doing it and when I know for certain that I've left nothing on the table. So until April 17th, you have to come to the show to see.

8 weeks out

So after an extreme diet week I weighed in Friday (today) 2/19 at 168.5. Right now the mental aspect of prepping has been creeping up on me. I find myself weighing in every morning and only focusing on losing the belly fat...every week my coach says that I'm looking better and he's not the one to just throw compliments out. One comforting thought is that I was browsing an old training journal from 2006 and saw that 1 week out my waist measurement was 30.5 inches. I remember thinking that I was in pretty good shape then and now today I measured 29! Also when I took the 30.5 that was at my belly button which is typically the smallest part of the waist. Today I measured at my lower abdomen where I store the most bodyfat. Basically at the same weight as 2006 I'm at least a full 1.5 to 2 inches tighter. Typically an inch is 8 to 10 lbs, so folks here's the conclusion...I weigh the same as '06, two pants sizes smaller so if my math is correct which means that I have 10 to 15 pounds more muscle on me for this contest.

So as you can see I'm thinking a little too much about all this but I know that my training is going well and I should come into the show with the best conditioning I've ever had. Tomorrow is my official weigh in so I'll share the results. The big change for the week was that I switched my calories to all solid food and no protein shakes. I think that has definitely helped.

My 3,100 calorie superbowl

Superbowl is probably my favorite party. Every year I get together with my training partners all of whom train for competition or extreme fitness. This means that we all eat like animals for 4 beautiful hours....it was pure bliss.

So here's my list of foods that totals to about 3,000 calories (yes I had to know).

Started with 16 mini nesle crunch bars - 800 calories

4 boneless buffalo wings - 250 calories

12 oz. rough estimate prime rib of beef - 500 calories

1 large brownie - 200 calories

2 slices of giant soft cookie cake - 200 calories

1 jelly donut - 250 calories

1 serving strawberry shortcake (two pillsbury biscuits, vanilla ice cream, strawberries) - 500 calories

Chips, dips, crackers, cheese, guacamole - roughly 400 calories

Total 3,100 calories

I rule :-)

The diet and cardio this week has been INSANE and I weighed in two pounds lighter than last week pre superbowl this morning...I'm thinking the temporary boost in metabolism was a good thing. Good night.

It's go time - 11 Weeks

So here's where the process gets to be fun. I'm 11 weeks out. My waist is down to 29.5 inches and I had to buy three new pairs of pants. My diet is now two weeks of low cals/carbs/fat and one week of normal intake. I weighed myself at 173 at the end of the day today, which means I'm probably hovering under 170...I haven't seen that number in 4 years...head trip for sure. Those ab veins are fun to look at though. Putting together complete sentences on day three of zero carbs at 10 pm is a challenge...good night.

4 months til go time

So it's been 2 months since my last post and here's why. I'm just not that interesting. When I first started dieting for competition I thought it was extremely difficult and really was supposed to take a huge toll on the body. Don't get me wrong, at 4 months out I still have a long way to go, but I have to say this journey has been much easier so far. About 5 years ago a co-worker said to me "a calorie is a calorie" and as long as my protein was on point I could get away with some "non bodybuilder foods." Things that I like such as white rice and bread, occasional sweet or some fried calamari and of course my most favorite cheat item...wine and beer.

Now let's not get too crazy...I only have bread maybe once a week. I've SAMPLED a fried food here and there and when I drink it's usually no more than 3 drinks. Also, I definitely make sure I keep my diet really tight leading up to any type of eating/drinking event. Also, if I eat something bad I won't drink or vice versa. Finally when I do cheat I generally keep it within my 2,500 calorie budget, make sure I eat my protein and will definitely eat less and work out more the next day.

That being said here's the progress report. As of 12/21 my weight is 174 pounds this was coming off a week away for work (which means I eat out every day, every meal!!!). My tight waist measurement is 30 inches!!! This is the leanest I've been since 2006 and the last time I was this lean I was 12 pounds lighter.

Diet is two weeks of 2,500 calories, 300 grams of protein and low fat. Then I'll do a "diet" week where I have 3 to 4 zero carb days. The goal is to trick my body to shed fat, but not be low carb all the time to keep my metabolism high. Also, at this rate I may only have to hard contest diet for 3 to 4 weeks or less!!! I have to say that even though I'll have some cheat food for Christmas, New Years, Superbowl and my birthday I'm already thinking about the week after the show. I know that I will enjoy some pizza, cookies, a dessert item from Common Grounds in Branford, a danish from Panera Bread, definitely some cupcakes from my friend Brenda's bakery Sugar (Main St. East Haven) and many many more food items. Until April 25th though it's all about controlled cheating...no pig outs for me...

6 months to go

So it's been a while since I've posted something on here. With good reason. Basically yesterday was 6 months to the day until I get back on stage. Frankly I don't think it's very interesting to update this even weekly when a lot of my goals right now are to just maintain my current weight and slowly lose some body fat. Contest diets are interesting like that, you really don't have to go all out until maybe 12 to 16 weeks before the competition. So right now, I'm counting calories, working out hard and doing a little cardio. I'm still enjoying a drink or two, eating bread and the occasional cheat food.

The good news is that I'm currently at 181 lbs and my body fat is starting to get low. The clothes are looser, the veins in my arms and lower abs are starting to become more pronounced and my face is getting thinner. I'm starting to cycle my carbs just a little bit on a two week high one week low type of schedule. Nothing too difficult yet, but time is ticking.

Meaurment Day 9/12

Well I gained back 3 of the 4 lbs. The good thing is that all of my upper body measurements increased significantly. The good thing is that when I was 182 my arms, chest, and shoulders were all smaller with the same waist. Now I'm 181, waist is still 30.75 but the upper body has increased .25 inches or more. The short of it is that I'm trending in the right direction.

Calories are lower this week at 2,500 and a nice curveball has been thrown in ala traveling for work. I'll be heading to Baltimore and eating what's given to me. Luckily my company was started by the owner of the Baltimore Ravens, meaning that it's made up of athletic folks and usually lunches are some type of leaner meat and there's always fruit, yogurt and I'll bring some protein. The hotel gym sucks so I'll just be trying to maintain strength by doing the same amount of exercises, just using the machine they have...we shall see.

Meaurment Day

Holy Shit I lost 4 pounds!!! I think this is the result of two weeks ago having two days of zero carbs and almost zero fat. What's great is that my strength is either the same or up still and I'm not feeling the effects of being a hair smaller. I did also undereat a couple of days because life on the road has been hectic. I'm definitely going to do a better job of keeping food with me at all times. Unfortunately when eating out for lunch no less than twice and sometimes up to 5 times a week my options are limited. The good news is that you can generally find some slab of meat and sides at any restaurant. The bad news is that my protein requirement is high and usually the cheap starchy sides override the more expensive cut of meat. Also, if I order a salad usually the average meat portion is 3 to 4 oz. NOT ENOUGH!!! So I will be carrying around protein powder from now on. As my competition draws closer I'm sure I'll be carting around pre cooked rice and sweet potatoes as well in a cooler. It's been a while since I've done that, but I have a plan. Basically I will order a salad with chicken during lunch, explain to the client that I eat light because I don't want to crash mid day and then after lunch is over hit my cooler in the car and chow on whatever extra food I'll need to hit my nutritional intake. Hey at least half my meal will be free!

Anyway, my waist is now down to 30.5 inches which is an all time low outside of competition. I'm probably only 10 lbs from contest shape and I feel great! It's nice seeing abs again! We finally unpacked our camera too so pictures to come.

The week is almost over

Waking up is getting tough...I have this nice new house with a nice huge bedroom...great right? WRONG!!! I'm so damn comfortable and it's so dark in the morning that waking up to go and work out is just plain hard! Of course the idiot that lived here before me decided that all she needed in her master bedroom addition was a french door. I guess windows are overrated! Well because of this it gets pitch black in my room at night making it even harder than normal to wake at 4:45 for my workout...AARRGGHH.

So I felt a bit tired today for my back workout. I managed to muscle my way through it of course. I've been using a preworkout supplement for energy that last few months and I'm not a huge proponent of supps, but this stuff is decent. Needless to say I'm out and won't get another can until Saturday, maybe it's mental maybe not...either way I'm tired. We'll see what the Saturday measurements bring. Still pushing for 2750 calories and 250 grams of protein.

Being less fat is good!

Bad news is that my waist stayed the same along with my weight...good news is that I lost some fat elseware and my upper body is really tightening up! My upper abs are really starting to get a nice deep separation and lowers are getting better and better each week.

I'm going to cut out bread this week just to see how I react to it. I haven't done that since my last contest and even though I have over 230 days til comp. time, I more want to experiment to see if it makes a difference. I'll still eat plenty of carbs, just from rice, potatoes, veggies, oats and beans. I'm just trying to eat only things that come from the ground OR are less processed. One thing I've learned from dieting is that most carbs are processed and/or refined. You can't really escape it... I still have to unpack my camera so no pictures yet. The unfortunate part of pictures is that they don't lie...I think I look good, but a photo really is able to find all the minor things that people overlook, this causes second place finishes. Unacceptable!

What a morning

There is nothing more motivating than feeling nice hot coffee drip down your leg....the reason of course is because I didn't close the stupid lid enough and guess what, when the lid is not closed properly the coffee leaks out when you have the cup in your pocket while taking out the trash. Fantastic.

It's been a good week though, my zero days were fine and I definitely feel like I lost some bodyfat. Of course usually when I feel like I've had a good week...POOF I gain fat. Not this week though, my diet was spot on and my calorie intake was accurate. All my lifts went well and today's chest/shoulder/triceps was a good one. Of course the hardest part is actually exiting my bed at 4:45 AM. I don't care who you are, there's no getting used to waking up that early. The nice fresh sea air helps a lot though!

I'll post my measurements tomorrow and see if I can get my wife to finally take some pictures.

Zero is done

MMMMMMMM carbs. Just pounded about 1,000 calories for breakfast including two wonderful delicious hard rolls with jelly. The coffee intake will be great today because usually the extra carbs make me sleepy. Well worth it!

Once again it was destroy back wednesday and I can still feel the remnants of the work out from an hour ago. I definitely feel like the two "zero" days dropped some bodyfat, but so far my strength at the gym has been great. I even increased on some of my reps today! Go figure I have a decent beach body at the end of the summer. Hopefully I can get at least one or two more weekends with some beach weather. Ah well, off to the jobby job.

242 days to go

Bodybuilding is such a mind fuck. Today is an off day...I know I don't have to lift, I know that the rest is just as important as the training, yet I STILL want to just go to the gym and do some type of activity. Oh well. On this off day I reminisce of my first competition...much of the training was done up north and when my family saw my weight drop rapidly a lot of people thought I looked terrible. "Emmaciated" was used quite a bit. Interestingly enough I had almost the same amount of muscle on me just a whole lot less bodyfat from when I was 200 lbs. Although to sympathize not many men have a 27" waist!

So on this off day I will have another low carb/low fat day. My calorie intake will be around the 12 to 1500 mark. Hopefully that'll help get this lower ab fat off damnit! Diet will consist of three things...protein powder, chicken breast and maybe a steak for dinner...like I said every nutritionist's nightmare :-)

243 days to go!

Zero yesterday was pretty easy...luckily there's so much to do around home that my focus doesn't stay on food so the 1200 calories I ate wasn't that bad. Good news is that my strength in the gym was great! I maintained or went up on all lifts. Tomorrow is another off day since I switched my scheme from 5 days to 4. Definitely great for sleep time. I'll do my second zero tomorrow figuring that I'll minimize muscle damage when doing them on off days.

One other note. One of my workout buddies heard something on TV that makes perfect sense and I've been preaching this for years..."ABS ARE NOT MADE IN THE GYM, THEY ARE MADE IN THE KITCHEN." I love people that try all these crazy workouts, crash diets and weird butt cleansing stuff. Folks, you have to maintain a consistent, balanced diet first and foremost. I BARELY work abs doing only 6 sets of 10 per WEEK!!! I'm starting to see lower ab veins and I definitely have a decent six pack and I'm eating 2750 calories a day! I even manage to fit in a drink or cheat food during the week. The key is no binging and 90% clean food diet. Right now this falls on deaf ears, but hey one day I'll get more than 1 follower.

8/23/2009

Yesterday was a good day and overall had a good week considering I switched gyms. Waist measurement held at 30.75 inches (this is tensed not relaxed). The great thing is that all my upper body measurements increased! I tend to hold my fat in my legs and lower abs so the lack of increase there was great.

According to my trainer my day of contest weight could be somewhere around the 172 mark but shredded! The last time I competed I weighed 169, BUT I was not in good shape at all...I held way too much water and definitely was not in condition. It's really quite embarrassing when you prepare for 12 to 24 months and then show up only to look like crap. It's also a pretty good gut check on whether or not you really prepare properly. That won't happen again, I've worked out and watched my diet since college and have worked with my current trainer for 3.5 years. Although I'll probably compete novice I intend to win...that's my goal. He only trains winners. Call it what you will, but this is my sport, my passion and the activity that's changed my life. Going from a fat beer drinking offensive lineman to a lean athletic competitive bodybuilder was and is a big deal to me.

Anyway enough of the serious stuff. Today is an off day although I'll play some racquetball. I also have to do every nutritionist's nightmare, eat low carb AND low fat for two days. This will strip off bodyfat, but by not doing it longer than a couple of days I should retain my muscle mass. Hopefully I'll lose another quarter to half ince off my waist. I'll get some pictures up ASAP.

It's Friday!!!

Nice off day yesterday...although with some frustrations at work and other things annoying the shit out of me I had a great start to my day this morning with a chest/shoulders/triceps drop set day.

Tommorrow will be interesting to see if not doing cardio for two weeks yet eating high calorie will change my measurements. Hopefully my waist will stay the same, but my other measurements will increase. We shall see. Will update later as I have to get my ass to work for some training!