BuckSpin - A Year Of Change

As part of BodyHard’s challenge posted in the O35 Forum, as of 12/1 I am going to address some aspects of my build that could use extra work for 90 days. They are:

- S errats
- L ats
- O bliques
- B iceps

or SLOB   as an acronym.

Ironically, the acronym fits perfectly with my current splits. I can hit my Serrats on Monday (Chest & Tris), my Lats on Tuesday (Back), my Obliques on Thursday (Legs) and my Biceps on Friday (Shoulders & Bis).

Today, after frying my upper chest & triceps, I added 2 lifts. 3 sets of Serrat DB Presses and 3 sets of Plank Serrat Pushups. All were done in accordance with my training approach, and each set went to temporary failure.

Not sure what I will add for extra Lat work on Tuesday in that they were already a focus this cycle. Maybe a 2nd set of pullups after they have been pre-fatigued? That sounds painful We’ll see….

I know what I’ll do for the obliques *groan*. More on that Thursday *groan* I’m already doing 4 unique bicep lifts. Maybe some chin ups and one reeeaaaalllllyyyyy sssllloowwwwww forced negative curl?

I am really starting to think I have some variant of an ED.

Prior to my starting my "Biggest Loser" challenge that started all of this I went to an AYCE Chinese buffet for a "Last Supper", if you will. That was February 3rd.

Last Wednesday (11/26) I had a single slice of pizza with my 2 boys. That was my 1st cheat since that day in February!

Granted, I have had a slice of each of my boy’s birthday cakes and some at a relative’s wedding (which I had zero problem with) but this was my first "cheat" in almost a year. I just don’t do it. The nutritional part of this lifestyle is the easiest part for me.

Today I had the afternoon to myself and $11 to dote on said self with. I honestly had every intention of getting a big ol’ piece of really thin crust, New York style cheese pizza (or 2) and just relaxing.

I couldn’t do it.

I looked at various "protein bars" or granola bars, and couldn’t bring myself to get one based on the ridiculous macros in them for the crazy ounces they are (or aren’t).

I ended up getting my week’s worth of no salt cottage cheese, an apple the size of a small grapefruit to snack on and my "big splurge" - a whole wheat multi grain bagel (which was awesome…I don’t do processed grains/flours)

I could have gotten ANYTHING. I drove past place after place, walked aisle upon aisle at the store….and I couldn’t do it. I just could not do it.

Is this type of "clean" approach an ED? I’M REALLY TRYING to be more laid back and loosen up and I’m not having any success, and its really starting to bug me. I honestly think having the occasional less than optimal nutritional choice would be in my long term best interest in that I’m trying to see the big picture and view my next BB commitment in terms of multi-years….and I don’t want to burn out before I get there.

This bites….

I’m reminded of the Coldplay song "Viva La Vida", you know,"…when I ruled the world.."?

I used to rule breakfast. I was the breakfast King. HUGE breakfast.

Now….7 eggs (1 whole, 6 whites) and a big cup of black coffee.

*sigh*

What once took, with a lot of practice & prep the night before, over 30 minutes to make now took, what?…10ish…if that?

Surprisingly I’m not as rundown afterwards as I had envisioned myself. It could be that my metabolism has definitely slowed down. My weight has flatlined at 190.6, which is still 10lbs in just over 2 weeks without doing any cardio of note (by design). It will be interesting to see how this last jolt of lower cals & *sigh* lower carbs affects that.

As far as its physical effect, I have noticed my calves are more angular, sharper, a lil’ more cut. And my back has more definition, which surprises me. I woke up and it felt…tight. Not muscles should be warmed up & stretched tight, but….tight. Snugger? Hard to describe, but its an odd sensation. It does look better when lit well & I do a rear double bicep.

The vascularity in my delts has stayed. Those lil’ pooches in the very upper inner thigh have steadily withdrawn, which is nice (you will NOT be seeing that update pic).

So let’s talk moobs….

I still have traces of my Before "rack". It was really something to see as they started to disappear. They just roooooolllled sssllloowwwwlllyyy down my pecs like lazy window blinds. All that is left are these small crescents under each pec.

And, just like women’s, one is BIGGER than the other! LOL! My dominant side (right) is definitely smaller than the moob on the left. How ironic that I’m now like every non-bolt on woman.

But they have taken a nice hit over the past few weeks. That right one is almost gone and the left one has reduced much faster. Does this mean I have "moob" (singular?) Not sure how I feel about that.

Getting back form taking Frick & Frack to school, I quickly make one of my shakes. What was once used to help me get thru the last 1/2 of a training session I now use to get READY for one.

*ssssiiiippppppp* ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…….

Alas, while I did set a new PR with my Single DB Straight Pullover to start my last week of cut training (Chest & Tris) the cut finally catches me. I absolutely TANK on my Incline DB Presses. Just over 50% of my last session’s reps. I am POd…..

The rest of the session goes OK. I do hit a few PRs, hold my ground elsewhere. Perhaps all that effort crushing on the Pullover just pre-exhausted the pecs and there was no energy left. Dunno…

The rest of the day goes alright. I’m not really draggin’ but no bundle of energy either. A whopping 35-40g of carbs for the remainder of the day.

Tuesday is more of the same. My Back session goes pretty well, and no real blow-ups as far as like what happened with the DB Incline Presses. I hold my own, and even make some small gains as far as a rep here or there.

What I have noticed is that it seems my body is running about a day behind. In other words what goes in yesterday effects me today. Once again I am surprised at how I not just whupped after EggFest but rather doing OK. I’m sure by the time you take out my expenditures I’ll be in the low 1000s as far as net cals.

A highlight is that during my volunteer gig at my boy’s Montesorri school these 6-8 year olds just STUN me with their "homework" - anything 3D, ie sculpture. I am literally amazed at what they have done. One kid, with the help of his dad, built a 6ft tall monument out of granite SLABS that was obviously so big it couldn’t be brought to school so he burned a series of JPEGs of the process onto a CD. Pretty cool!

Tomorrow morning I get to have my oats back , plus some fruit and some decent sized meals for lunch & dinner. Then back to EggFest for 2 more days. Come Saturday AM it will be downhill in that I’ll have 2 non-training days of budget, then next Monday & Tuesday I start to recarb/recal back up to where I was. Next Tuesday will be the last day and will start with the same breakfast I started with 22 days prior….

…which right now would at least make think I rule the world.

I’m still not quite sure what I’m gonna do 2 Wednesdays from now. I’m actually a lil’ concerned at what might happen. We’ll see….

16 days down, 7 to go. Just one week left.

A busy day at work Saturday, which is good & certainly beats the alternative. Also a cruel one. Let me set the stage:

We got a mini-lunch rush. We offer various deli sandwiches: smoked turkey, deli ham, roast beef we make ourselves & curried chicken salad, all on either bread, baguette or as a wrap. Today I had to make 4 sandwiches back to back to back to back. The first 2 were roast beef on baguette with aioli and aged cheddar.

I remember making the roast beef, or more appropriately roast beast. It must have been close to a 20lb eye of round. Took forever to even get to rare (which is how we prepare it). It got a bath in extra virgin olive oil, fresh cracked black pepper, some sea salt and then a gazillion smashed garlic cloves. The aroma when it is cooking is amazing.

This is what I was shaving on the meat cutter to sandwich thin slices (not the whole thing but manageable steaks/chunks of the original behemoth. It was pink in the middle and very nicely marbled. The baguette it was on I had baked earlier that morning. They were soft & dough inside, yet crunchy on the outside. On this I spread the garlic mayonnaise, then piled the shaved beef, some greens, a nice crumbling of aged white cheddar, then some fresh tomato slices (those crazy thin deli cuts) and finally the top.

Now repeat….

The other order was for some Italian soppresetta with provolone. 2 of those.

*sigh* Welcome to Cut Hell….LOL Didn’t even one taste of anything. Nada. Nothing. Zip.

I did have a great lunch. I LOVE my lunch & dinner on off-training days. A huge meal…for me. 9oz chicken breast, 6oz broccoli, 4oz sweet potato and a serving of almonds & walnuts. Get that TWICE on off days!

Plus that grapefruit for snack. Don’t get me started…

Tomorrow will be the same menu, but I also have to set up my nutrition for the last week. 200 more cals & 25g of carbs gotta go to get to 1600 cals & a whopping 125g of carbs, but also stay at a minimum of 200g of protein. I know that my 2 PWO shakes, which my coach & I declared off limits to alternating, have about 80g of carbs between them. Not a lot for the rest of the day on the days I train. I’m afraid I know what is gonna happen, but I don’t want to think about it.

Its now Sunday, the day before the beginning of my final week….I gotta think about it.

I try & I try to save it. I really do. I’m deleting and swapping all kinds of things in CalorieKing’s Nutrition Manager to hit those numbers. But finally, just like a desperate man trying to keep a lifeboat afloat in a monsoon, I throw it overboard.

Bye bye morning bowl of steel oats

I am officially NOT in a good mood and NOT looking forward to the 4 training days when I can’t have that. I will be able to on the 3 non-training days.

What Must Go For Week 3:  
- The 1/4 cup of steel cut oats on training days (Mon, Tue, Thur, Fri)
- 33%% of the Fa-Ge 0% yogurt (damn!)
- 50% of the walnuts
- 15% of the almonds
- 1/2 of the grapefruit on non-training days (Wed, Sat, Sun)
- 20% of the broccoli on non-training days, ironically, if I want to keep my 2 4oz servings of sweet potato, which I do

What I Gain For Week 3:  
- 2 egg whites for breakfast. At least a 7 egg breakfast sounds cool, plus I should get some more training day sleep in that it will take me no ^%$#@#! time to make my lame excuse of a breakfast.

I am definitely going to savor these last 2 meals today.

On a bright note, Mother-In-Law BuckSpin offers to watch Thing 2 & Thing 1 and allow Mrs. BuckSpin & I to go to JCPenney’s and spend some of her birthday money (its tomorrow). This is gold….

I score some badly needed jeans! My 32"s have become baggy as hell, and I can now wear 30"!!! They are a tiny bit snug, but pass her test. Ironically, one brand’s (Arizona) 30s are a joke…not even past my thighs! Reminds me of my "Before"! But 30s from Union Bay are OK.

On a whim, I check out the Arizona rack one last time. Damn if they don’t have 31"s! They fit just a lil’ better than the Union Bay 30s, so I get those. I like em! Boot cut….sylin’

On the way out I notice a sale rack with these SWEET faux black leather biker jackets with sewn in black hoodie. DISCLAIMER - LEATHER JACKET JUNKIE! I have about, oh, too many leather coats. I can’t help it. I can even wear "Ol’ Rusty" (brown bomber jacket from American Eagle) again from back when I was 18!!!!

I know I am gonna look goooood in this. I try it on. Mrs. BuckSpin, who is tired of seeing me in XL coats, make a very complimentary comment. Its waist cut, kinda faded, some zippers, just sharp.

And on sale for 1/2 off…

So Birthday Girl treats moi to said jacket! And even, courtesy of an internet coupon, knocks an extra $5 off! Score one jacket for $24.99!!! Upon leaving the store I detag it & wear it home. I’ve become such a fashion whore!!! LOL

This will make tomorrow morning (Weigh In as well) a lil’ more bearable. The last week of The Cut begins. I am soooooooooooooooooo planning a carb bender for the day before Thanksgiving! I will have an absolutely pornographic bowl of oatmeal to start the day, after which…..well, more on that when it gets here.

Avg. Daily Cals: 1802
Avg. Net Cals: 1328
Protein: 226g (49%)
Carbs: 151g (32%)
Fat: 40g (5.5g sat) (19%)

14 down, 9 to go. 2 whole weeks done.

I am now officially on the downward side of this. Today is day 12 of 23. I’m over 1/2 way….whew!

This has really been a learning experience thus far. Aside from the fact I’ve been able to shed some unsightly pounds over the past 2 weeks (I kinda eased into this about 1/2 a week before my "official" start) it has given me a teeny, tiny taste (maybe "taste" is a poor adjective in this case!) of what it takes to do a pre-competition cut. It definitely has taught me a lot about what I thought was a pretty strict "clean" nutrition plan…mine! Plus just a lil’ bit of the mental fortitude that it must take to REALLY do something like this.

Granted its only been a few weeks, mind you. Many of these amazing physiques on BB have gone thru 1/2 year cuts, which while much slower and starting much higher than my 3 week trial, are still humbling to think of in terms of 24 WEEKS!

I’m gonna need everything I’ve learned for next week when the hammer drops.

Today is Shoulders & Bis. I like my Friday training. Its the last one of the week, so I just go for it and plus I like the "pump" afterward, especially after my last exercise of the week - JackKnife Push-Ups - after the entire session. I get fired up for these and take it very personally how well I do. I try to "own" these. They are not easy, especially after frying your shoulders and biceps prior. They are always to "Kickstart My Heart" by Motley Crue.

I finished the 2nd week of my cut on a high note. I PRd many lifts and REALLY got a great burn adding a new DB Standing Raise. Mrs. BuckSpin does these, and in that I was looking to replace those deadlifts I needed to add something. MAN do these hit the target muscles! Shoulders & biceps are aching - a great add.

Increased my Preacher Curls by 10%. I’m treading slowly here and really focusing on form. These can $#@! up your elbow in a hurry. All in all a great session.

Now its JackKnives….crank up Vince, Nikki, Mick & Tommy plus get a lil’ gonzo…

I nailed these. CRUSHED my PR! I am stoked! My shoulders feel like they are in my ears!

The upside to everything is that its around 11am and I still have 5 meals LEFT! Yeah!

The weekend is gonna be sweet…literally. 2 days of having a grapefruit plus actually eating a decent meal. I love my off-day lunches….can’t wait.

12 down, 11 to go. I WILL do this.

Well, it was Hokey Pokey au natural again this AM. I felt lean & was pretty sure I would see a weight loss, but what I saw stunned me. I got off & on that scale at least 10 times…

190.6!  

Thats about 2.5lbs since SUNDAY! This is officially the least I have weighed during my entire transformation! I made it as low as 191.4 sometime in June, and since then have been actively trying to GAIN weight. But the funny part is that this 190.6 looks a LOT bigger & better than that 191.4. I’ve definitely added some lean muscle mass in the past 1/2 year, but never quite thought I could have my ca….(bad analogy)…carbs?…and eat them too as  far as weight AND mass.

Its Leg Day, and if you have been following along you know my last Leg Day ended up giving me DOMS for about 4.5 days. I adjusted my session and decided to not deadlift the day after Leg Day, but rather ON Leg Day. My idea is to reduce my sets to 2 (from 3) and drop the last failure set & add a whole entire lift. Overall the session is 2 sets shorter but one lift greater.

I also refuse to get weaker on this cut. And I’m proud to say thus far I’m gaining in reps or weight. Changed up how I do a few of the lifts & their order in the session and WOW! what a workout! I again ended up prone on the floor for a few minutes afterward.

Tomorrow ends the 2nd week of training during this. I always look forward to working my Shoulders & Bis. I’ll be replacing those deadlifts with something new, and maybe shuffling the order as well.

But for now I’m just diggin’ the fact that in about 2 weeks I’ve cut 10lbs, or 5% of my pre-cut body weight. Did some checking before bed. My back is even slowly getting a lil’ more definition.

The last time I weighed this much (less?) I didn’t even have a driver’s license PERMIT yet!!! Pretty cool to be back there at age 42!

11 down, 12 to go. Tomorrow is the "hump". I’ll be over 1/2 way.

…give these a try:

Zercher Squats

I just added these over the past few Leg Days and DAMN do they deliver as advertised. Highly recommended as a great addition to anyone’s Leg Day!

Oh, and its supposed to be ZERCHER….

This must have been how Solomon felt….

I’m holding a grapefruit. Its early in the morning and I AM HUNGRY! Woke up that way. Well, a "bird and a bee" helped to create that situation (actually more like a swarm of hornets ) but I digress.

Do I be a piggy and eat it now, or hold off and have it over the course of the day? Did I mention I AM HUNGRY?

*sigh*

I make my oats & eggs. The grapefruit lives….for a few more hours anyway. I’m working today, so no weight training. I was planning on doing my Ab/Core work this AM, but Frick n’ Frack are still zzzzzzzzzzz and cranking Motley Crue is probably not a good idea now. I’ll do it tonight after work, which in itself will be tough in that I won’t have a lot of opportunities to refuel after.

Drop off the boys, get to work, we have a staff meeting. Finally, I get to snack.

I have never enjoyed peeling and skinning a grapefruit this much. Its practically performance art. I split it into halves and save one half for the afternoon.

Its true…absence DOES make the palate, er, heart grow fonder. Oh mannnnnnnnnnn is this good! And, as a plus, the nuts I usually have with my snack now get bumped back to lunch. Lunch is gonna be huge (for me, anyway). 9oz chicken, 6oz broccoli, 4oz sweet potato AND those nuts. I can’t wait!

After a slow day with lots of standing I get home around 6:45. By 7:09 I’m prone with the Swiss ball under my feet for Pikes. It begins.

I swear I can FEEL all of these movements more. I don’t know if its in my *eerrrrrrrrrr* mind or *auughhh* torso, but I can just feel every contraction more. Could the growing absence of fat allow these muscles to work MORE? I’m slowing doing all the movements just a lil’ and really focusing on the contractions, holding each one for at least a second, on a few exercises (Weighted DB Crunches with Raised Legs) I hold that contraction for 3 seconds, lifting the 65lb DB on my upper chest to the ceiling over & over, getting 15 in a minute.

17 minutes later I’m done. Fried. Toast. (hmmmmmm…fried toast)

Its too early to go to bed, but I only have my last bedtime meal left. And I AM HUNGRY!

How ironic. The day begins and ends with cardio in the dark leaving me tanked.

Tomorrow is Leg Day plus weigh-in. I did do a Ms. Fitness-esque pose in the mirror early this morning (scrunching torso) and except for my &^%$#@! kangaroo pooch its looking good.

We’ll see…..

10 down, 13 to go….

What a difference a day makes…

Woke up this AM from a pretty good night’s sleep and felt very rested, great actually. Well, great compared to yesterday. It could be that I’m adjusting faster to the reduced cals & carbs….dunno.

Oh. My legs are BACK! Finally!! Feels nice to feel human again!! I was worried there for a while.
Ate my sad excuse of a breakfast then, due to Veteran’s Day, was able to train Back without having to take Oingo Boingo to school. Yesterday went well, and I was looking forward to hittin’ this one hard.

I like Back Day. Its a chance to move some descent weight, plus I just like working my back. It’s possibly my favorite aspect of the new me.

This cycle I added Wide Grip Pullups, and I added at least one rep to each set over last week. That was my goal - just add one. My lats are s-a-d and I hope these will help.

The rest of the session? Killed it. Nailed it. Love it. I will NOT let these reduced cals & carbs weaken me, even if it kills me! LOL Even added a new lift and did a number of them with held/forced contractions.

Later in the day I finally got to those &^%$#@! leaves I’ve been trying to finish up for a while now. I eventually just got mad & grabbed a large yard rake and started to heft massive clumps of leaves onto one another (I had them all in a line courtesy of my riding leaf blower, er lawn mower). I’ll tell ya - that was a nice lil’ effort AFTER Back Day! Plus the fact it was COLD out!

I finished with a pile at least chest high on me and well over 10 feet in diameter.

Then the boys saw it…ZOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM *jump*

Well, about a 1/2 hour later we were all (including Tucker the chocolate lab stallion, er, pup) just covered in leaf bits, laughing hysterically at/in/on/under that pile. Mrs. BuckSpin took many pics. I’ll post one later.

Only regret was all that expending energy and not a lot to replace it with. Also, it was waaaayyyyyyyy too early to eat either of my last 2 meals. So I killed time and just chilled (literally…did I mention it was cold?). Treated myself to a flavored sparkling water at the corner mini-mart (I typically don’t do the aspartame thing) Oh MAN did that taste good!

I’m already debating on when to enjoy my grapefruit tomorrow. Do I be a piggy & eat it with breakfast, or do I enjoy it later on…maybe over a few snacks?

We’ll see. I can tell you I am sooooooooooooooooo looking forward to that headache of peeling & skinning a grapefruit!

9 down, 14 to go (2 weeks left)…

This is sad….

I’m looking at my breakfast:

1/4 cup steel cut oats with cinnamon & stevia
1 whole egg & 4 egg whites, scrambled
22oz black coffee

Man, I used to RULE breakfast. A HUGE breakfast. A healthy breakfast. Would need to get up at 4am to make it breakfast.

*sigh*

Perhaps I approached this with a bad attitude, but I woke up tired & hungry, much more so than typically. The day is not off to a good start. This is sleeping in late, mind you. I made extra coffee, but I’m not in the mood….

After getting the boys to school I needed to do some shopping. I’m running on fumes. My breakfast energy peaked & went well over an hour ago. The morning is dragging. I am looking forward to Chest & Tris primarily to get my hands on that Sweet Potato Pie Smoothie PWO shake. I need it.

Thank goodness I have that coffee left over. Another 22oz of caffeine pre work out. I NEVER do that. Now the shake.

I almost feel like a carb junkie, rolling my sleeve up, flicking my veins (see my Progress pics….they’re EASY to find), insert the straw, gotta get that fix….aaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh *eyes roll back*

Now to focus. I have about 20 minutes until this hits. Stretch my shoulders. Have a great stretch. Day is looking brighter. Maybe its the caffienesweetpotatocarb80shairband delerium…

I am determined to have a good training session. I am NOT gonna let this lack of cals & carbs weaken me. Focus….hard….

And I do..

I had a great workout. Set a few PRs, otherwise held my ground. Emphasized form hard. I’m happy.

Of course the leu of a 2nd shake is icing (hhmmmmmm…icing) on the cake (hhhmmmmmm….cake).

The rest of the day goes alright. Hopefully this 1st day of my new cals & carbs will be the worst.

8 days down, 15 to go (1/3 of the way there)