HerveDuchemin’s BodyBlog

If you want to have a top-notch physique, you need to put in top-notch effort.  You need to be disciplined and say no to foods that the average person wouldn’t think twice about.  You need to focus your time and energy around making sure that your meals are carefully planned out in advance, and you need to put in the time toward sculpting your body in the gym with resistance training and cardiovascular exercise.  Putting aside all excuses about genetics and “naturals”, you will understand that the level of greatness you achieve with your physique is directly proportional to the amount of properly executed exercise, and days you remain on a strict and fulfilling eating regiment.  Furthermore, the time it takes to achieve a lean physique is much less than the time it takes to do a lot of other things!  A pre-contest bodybuilder can get completely ripped between 8 and 16 weeks, whereas a concert pianist takes between 10 and 20 years to reach his or her status!  Even someone very overweight can achieve a great physique in 1-3 years!  Yet, as simple as it sounds, most people simply cannot control themselves for that 8 to 16 week time period.  It is just too difficult.  The temptation to cheat on one’s diet is just too great to resist.  The desire for junk food eventually puts all goals to rest, causing you to abandon your goals for the sake of fulfilling your taste buds. 

            William Horowitz, an acclaimed concert pianist, said the following: “If I don’t practice for a day, I know it.  If I don’t practice for two days, my wife knows it.  If I don’t practice for three days, the world knows it”.  If you want a physique that soars above 95% of the people in any gym you walk into, then BE more disciplined than 95% of the people in the gym in regard to your diet and exercise plan.  BE more disciplined day in and day out.  Plan out your meals on paper for the week, and then cook them ahead of time.  Have your food ready to go, and make sure that you are taking in the proper amount of protein, carbohydrates and healthy fat.  STICK WITH IT.   Make sure that a day doesn’t go by where you aren’t drinking water all day.  Carry that jug with you like a mother carries her newborn, and DRINK from it!  It should be your way of life regardless of what anyone else says or thinks.  Let them live how they want.  You live how YOU want:  like a LEAN and HEALHY individual.  Be sure you are taking a multi-vitamin to ensure you are getting the proper minerals in your diet.  Snack on green vegetables while everyone else snacks on junk.  Drink club soda / diet soda and lemon/lime at parties while everyone else chugs mixed drinks.  Or have some shots or red wine if you want a buzz.  But don’t eat into your sleep, unless you are hard at work, or doing something that will prove to be productive in your life.  If people don’t understand, then eliminate them from your life.  You are doing what you are doing for a reason.  STICK WITH IT.

            If you see someone at the gym whose physique you admire, befriend him or her.  Don’t be afraid to ask them what they do.  Don’t ever be afraid of criticism.  Welcome it.  Let it drive you to be better.  Feedback from the right person is crucial.  Without it, you don’t get any better, and then you eventually stop caring.  If you aren’t fortunate enough to get feedback, seek it out, quick.  Or else, set out regular, attainable goals for yourself that you strive to reach each day and week.  See yourself reaching your goal, and then when you hit it, set another one.  STICK WITH IT.

            Soon you’ll start to admire your discipline.  You will begin to see that all the hard work is paying off.  But don’t let it fool you.  If you slip up repeatedly, you’ll soon be right back where you started.  Stay strong.  Keep focused.  Day in and day out.  You will eventually rise above and beyond the level of leanness of the average person, and if you stick with it long enough, at the same level and beyond what most people will ever achieve and see in front of their eyes.  Pat yourself on the back for a job well done.  You’ve made it at least once in your lifetime.  Then it’s up to you to decide whether or not you wish to take it even farther, or relax for a bit.  But always remember what it takes to get there, and what sacrifices you need to make to be great at anything.  There are no naturals.  STICK WITH IT.

  “You’re born with a spark. … to search for the truth, for the best you can be. Practice. Disipline. Preparation. Try and try again. Then one day you‘re on top and they say you‘re an overnight success, ”a“natural.” You smile, you know.”” 

-Anonymous
“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.”               
                                    — Calvin Coolidge, The 30th. President[1923-1929]
 

Why do I choose grilled chicken breast over fried chicken? Why do I sit in the 180 degree sauna with a sweatshirt and sweatpants on as if it was freezing cold, while people stare at me? Why do I drink 2 or more gallons of water a day? Why do I drink 2 gallons of water a day, and put my body and mind through immense torture that most people would consider "crazy"? Well, for one, I like the attention. I like being more ripped than most people at any gym I walk into. Two, I like to exercise control over my desires and prove to myself that I can do it. I like to be master of my domain. But it would also be nice to find a woman who would like to do the same. I know they are out there. Where is the woman who will sit next to me in the sauna with a sweatshirt on listening to her headphones in her own world? Where is the woman who when I want ice cream and pizza, will cook egg whites and peppers for her and I and shove it in my face to keep me on track? I know I have many of my boyz out there who agree with this one. Hit me up! Peace and God bless.

In modern life, people think that their body belongs to them and they can do anything they want to it.  When they make such a determination, the law supports them.  This is one of the manifestations of individualism.  But, according to the teachings of emptiness, non-self, and interbeing, your body is not yours alone.  It also belongs to your ancestors, your parents, future generations, and all other living beings.  Everything, even the trees and clouds, has come together to bring about the presence of your body.  Keeping your body healthy is the best way to express your gratitude to the whole cosmos, to all ancestors, and also not to betray future generations.  If you are healthy, everyone can benefit from it.  When you are able to get out of the shell of your small self, you will see that you are interrelated to everyone and everything, that your every act is linked with the whole of humankind and the whole cosmos.  To keep yourself healthy in body and mind is to be kind to all beings.

A large percentage of the country has absolutely no control when it comes to the foods they choose to put into their mouths.  In a mental battle between right and wrong, the mind is a funny thing, and will almost always push you toward the wrong choice.  Hence, you must master your mind, and direct it to “proper action.  You must do what needs to be done in order to achieve your goals, for no other reason than “because that’s just how it has to be.  You must do the right thing, “because it is the right thing to do, and because you made a conscious choice to do what is right.  Then, and only then, will you be able to walk with the sheer, honest confidence that radiates from within the individual who sets inviolable standards for him or herself.  If you can maintain these standards 90% of the time, then the remaining 10% of the time where you falter, will be attributed to human error.  We are not God.  We are only human, and will occasionally falter as humans do.  But the true test is how you pick yourself up and recover from your mistakes, as well as what your attitude is both during the recovery process, and thereafter.
Food can be compared to a drug.  It has an effect on chemicals in our brain, and throughout our bodies, thereby affecting our mood and behavior.  If we constantly make poor and unhealthy food choices, it will almost always be evident in the way our body looks, as well as in our behavior and attitude as well.  If, on the other hand, we curb our “addiction to unhealthy food, and “train our brains to desire to function off of healthy foods, we will look better, feel better, sleep better, and have a better mental disposition overall.  Going back to the percentage analogy, if a healthy diet is in place 90% of the time, our bodies will be properly fueled to go through life the way they were designed to, and the remaining 10% of the time will have a nearly negligible impact on us.
As with cessation of drug or alcohol use, the decision to “quit eating unhealthy foods on a regular basis, begins in the mind.  YOU have to make the conscious decision to change your eating habits, and YOU have to have a burning desire to do so, because you know that it will get you closer to your end result of having a fit-looking and healthy body.  YOU must train your mind to eat for nutrition and NOT for taste 90% of the time.  And YOU must UN-train your brain to desire junk food, except for 10% of the time, where it won’t matter.  This is NOT an easy task, and may be even more difficult than quitting cigarettes.  But the end result, is that you will change the “internal chemistry of your body.  Eventually, you will desire only healthy, nutritious food, and so will your taste buds.  Your  brain will be re-wired to support eating habits conducive to maintaining a lean, healthy-looking physique.  Finally, after changing the internal chemistry of your body, the most important thing to understand is that the 10% of the time that you DO eat garbage, you will know how bad it is for you, because you will literally feel SICK to your stomach when you indulge in such foods!  It may take you a while to get to this point, but once you are there, you will be forever thankful that you made the change!

For all you lean people out there….I’m wondering if you get the same feeling as me.  When I’m eating my regular diet, clean food, every 2 hrs, I feel fantastic.  If I keep on the diet for 7 or more days, and then have 1 cheat day where I eat a bunch of garbage, I look better the next day.  It doesnt even effect me really.  But if I do it TWO days in a row, I look like crap the next day, AND my mood is just completely all out of whack.  I feel down, with less energy, and it’s almost as if I changed the chemical makeup of my body BACK to "garbage mode", where most people live out the duration of their lives.  Then, when I get back on my regular eating plan, my body takes about two days to return to where I was, and on the third day, I wake up feeling fantastic again, full of energy, and uplifted.  This is how it works inside "me"….But I was wondering if anyone else experienced the same thing

So a funny thing happened the other day.  My girlfriend was arguing on the phone with me, while doing cardio at her gym.  Picture this cute little blonde girl on a treadmill, screaming at me at the TOP of her lungs on a cell phone.  Now, the cardio machines are in one room, and the weights are in a separate room.  While she’s blurting out obscenities on the phone, in walks this guy in the background, doing dumbell military presses WHILE WALKING!!!  For Godsake buddy, if you’re trying to get a girl’s attention at the gym, at least make it a LITTLE less obvious by picking an exercise that is SUPPOSED to be done while walking!!  Anyway, in the midst of screaming at me, my girlfriend gazes back to see this guy staring at her while doing his "walking military press", and she gives him a cold stare that sent him scurrying back off into the weight room!   She told me about it the next day and I thought it was pretty damn funny   That one goes down in the gym etiquette file!

I just wanted to wish everyone a happy new year, and much success in 2007!  All of your goals and dreams can be accomplished through dedication, honesty, strong willpower, and a standard of INVIOLABLE moral values that you set for yourself, which no one can cause you to deviate from.  For me, this discipline starts with my diet, and radiates outward.  If that is in place, everything else comes as well.  We all have our own ways, but find what works for you, and focus your energies on becoming a better person everyday!  Dream big, ACT bigger!!  Happy New Year!

Well, after 14 days of eating extremely clean, I finally cracked.  I’m pretty lean now though, so I think I’m ready to do it once every 7 days.  Yesterday night, I had General Tso’s Shrimp from the Chinese restaurant, then a whole chocolate bar, half a chocolate cake, and a little natural peanut butter.  Whew.  It was what I call the DIRTY REFEED.  I woke up this morning, and DAMN do I look sick!!  Veins everywhere, cuts, wow.  But I do feel it in my stomach.  So this morning I woke up and did 45 mins of cardio in a sweatshirt as soon as I woke up.  I also know I have a bunch of preservatives in me, that’s why I was sweating more than usual.  I am also very hot today because of the "trick" I pulled on my metabolism with the blast of calories and non-diet food.  My muscles are full, and I will back off on the carbs today (getting them mostly from cucumber, and broccoli).  I will drink a lot of water today, and eat only protein with my meals until later on if I feel I need some carbs.  This day is the "quick flush" day to rid my body of the preservatives after the dirty refeed.  Then tomorrow, it’s right back to my regular day filled with complex carbs for another 7-14 days, until the next refeed day!  It’s how I like to do it!!

Still leaning down for a few things coming up in January.  Here’s today’s diet plan: