Ponyboy76’s BodyBlog

In a few weeks I am going to stop with the NO-Xplode and bulking up and I`d like to burn some more bodyfat. Anyone know of any decent workout routines that I can use that won`t have me lose the muscle I have gained and shed some of this excess fat? I don`t mind losing a little strength but I really want to be able to keep the muscle. When I just ran twice a day I lost alot of muscle in the process. If I do that again, it will feel like I`m going backwards. I guess I need a good "cutting" routine.

Thanks

How do you explain to your significant other that working out/the gym is very important to you and  a good thing, especially in the long run? My girlfriend is an attractive woman and she is great but she doesn`t seem to get the whole fitness, athletic look thing. I`ll be honest. I find woman that work out and I mean work out, not just run on a treadmill, eliptical, or take jazzercise, to be very hot and not just physically. These people dedicate themselves to a task. That task is more of an internal motivation then the external. These woman want to look and feel better about themselves. They want to feel stronger, more confident, content and happy when they look in the mirror. I think alot of people feel this way,(men and women), but they are dong something about it. In their dedication, inner and outer strength , I find them more attractive then the "average" woman.  That is not a knock on women that don`t workout because a lot of women look fine the way they are and don`t feel that need to change their bodies. Nothing wrong with that. Its all about choice and priorities.
  Anyway, I think that the female "gymrats" as I lovingly call them are great, but when trying to explain that muscle is a good thing on a woman to my girlfriend, I get comments like  "eeww!, why would  you want a woman to look like a man!" Mind you the pics I have shown her weren`t of heavyweight bodybuilders who  most ,in my opinion are very feminine, they were women on this very site that to me epitomize, strong, healthy, beautiful women. I do not see how a woman having a sexy pack of abs is in anyway "manly". What`s funny is my girl has serious feminist leanings and yet she makes a comment like that. She tells me that she isn`t against working out, but she thinks its an "unnatural" look for a woman and takes away a woman`s proper curves. To me, it only enhances them. The older you get, the more muslce tone you have, the less you sag. There are women on this site that are 39 and up and have bodies 20 somethings  and women their age can only dream of.  They put in the work and dedication, whether they enjoy it or not. They understand that its for their own betterment. To quote scholar, Paris Hilton " That`s Hot!"
The bottom line is I`m kind of tired of arguing the point with her. I`ll keep my going to my gym, to better myself and will always consider fit athletic looking women, in high regard.

Well, the 4TH of July has come and gone and I did not meet my goal of getting done to 250lbs like I wanted to. In fact I`m pretty sure that I`m back at the 260-something range that I was at the beginning of June. Did I fail? Well technically yes, I did. I did not meet my specified goal. The ironic thing is that I think I actually look and feel better than I did when I was half way there. I haven’t actually weighed myself so I`m not sure but when I lost those 9 pounds in that first month I was happy but felt like crap. I also did not see much of a change in my body. When I talked to this dude at my gym and told him what was going on, he said that the 9lbs had lost was a combination of muscle and fat. It makes sense because all I did was cardio, lifted light and ate barely anything. Barely anything is still alot to most, considering my 6′9" frame, but I wasn’t putting back enough protein and just didn`t have enough nutrients to keep the muscle I had. I was dead tired during the weekends and just had no energy.
Anyway, after I started taking more protein, no-xplode and cellmass, I noticed a difference for the better. I have been gaining muscle slowly but consistently. I do admit that I have cheated a few times, but diet has always been the hardest thing for me. I am going to recommit myself to my goals. It`s not the same old goal of getting down to 250lbs, but its the overall one of looking and feeling better about myself. I still want to be able to take off my shirt at a beach by the end of the Summer or pretty much at any point in this year. I just need to regain that desire. I always wanted a quick fix, but realize that this body thing is a about slow meaningful progress that lasts. Like everything, it just takes time and dedication. I see people like Chicken Tuna and alot of the others that have commit themselves to achieving their goals and I hope that I can be half as dedicated as they are.