2008 Transformation Contest

This morning I am eating turkey in stir-fry vegetables for breakfast.  Being an introspective type of guy I ponder why my diet is so successful today compared to the previous attempts at cleaning up my food intake?  I don’t bother with measuring or weighing out my food.  I don’t bother with tracking my macro’s.  In previous attempts I would do both in a compulsive way.

As I chew through a chunk of turkey, water chestnut, and pea pod I came up with a few changes.

The food replacement game:
How many out there have tried to replace their favorite food with something that fits their diet.  You know the game.  If you are avoiding pasta you get giddy when you discover Spaghetti Squash or you look for the lowest carb version of pasta.  This can lead you down the artificially created foods such as the Olestra chips.

I don’t play the food replacement game any longer.  Favorite foods that do not fit the diet are gone.  That is just the way of things.   Favorite foods that fit the diet but I find I ‘can’t eat just one’ are gone.  My body and my life has no room for these foods.  

Instead of the food replacement game I am playing the favorite replacement game.  An example is ice cream.  I love the stuff.  I can’t eat enough of the stuff.  There is no place in my diet for the stuff and it is gone from my diet.  There is no ice cream like replacement in my diet.  I am not eating frozen yogurt or ‘fat free’ ice cream.   Ice cream simply does not enter my body.  What I have done is shift my favorite food from ice cream to cottage cheese + blueberries + walnuts.   It is not that I get a craving for ice cream and try to satisfy it with my CBW, I get a craving for CBW and no longer for ice cream.  Hard to believe?  It is the truth.

Pasta and pizza are another prime example.  They are favorites of mine and I have zero control when I start to eat them.  My diet right now calls for no carbs outside low GI/GL vegetables.  Instead of trying to find a replacement for these foods they are simply gone from my diet.  What is funny is that I don’t crave these foods.  Sure, when the family brings in a pizza I would love a piece, but I stay away.  There is no substitute for the pasta or the pizza.  I have retrained my palate to prefer a steak and steamed broccoli to the pasta and pizza.  This took time but if you would place the two side by side I would choose the steak because I like it more not just because it is better for me.  

And that is the big difference in my successful diet and non-successful diet.  Instead of trying to find foods to act and taste like my old favorites I have changed my favorites.  It is a mind game.  Am I lying to myself about what I like best…..sometimes.   But after lying to myself about what my favorite food is I start to believe it until I find I am no longer lying.  In the end I find that I am a changed person.  

I encourage anyone that has a great deal of weight to lose to think about changing their palate of favorites.  It takes work, time, and concentration.   It takes the willingness to eat foods you previously found distasteful……wow you mean I actually like zucchini now?  Yep!   If you don’t change your favorite foods and simply substitute some facsimile I guarantee you will fall back to eating as you did before.

Darn that turkey and stir-fry was good.  Those vegetables were so sweet and flavorful! I am satisfied nutritionally and palate-ly.  Change is good!

It is funny that Isaac brought up Yoga a few posts ago…or did he mean Yoda?   Anyway, I recently questioned several people I know concerning Yoga.  My flexibility and breathing are not the best and I put a great deal of worth in meditation.  That sounds like Yoga for me.

I tried Yoga in a previous weight class and found it to be extremely challenging, meaning hard.  After my discussions with people about Yoga they almost all directed me toward Tai Chi.  The concentration, increased flexibility and breathing are all things Tai Chi is reputed to better.  So I get on the Internet and begin to research Tai Chi.    As with most things it is not a simple matter of picking up a video of Tai Chi and beginning a new training program.  There are zillions of styles that have been developed from 4 basic schools of Tai Chi.  

There is a class of Qigong at the local community college that I will probably take.  If anyone has any thing to add to this topic please leave a comment.

Rest and relaxation was the goal of my weekend.  Massages, hot bubble baths, and quiet time reading my favorite fiction author, J D Robb aka Nora Roberts were a few of the activities enjoyed. I repainted my nails too.  I was smiling to myself when I could reach down and paint the nails without struggling or fighting with the stomach being in the way or doing some acrobats.  It used to be such a chore.  Now it is a breeze.  For a moment, I could actually enjoy being a girl.  

The weekend presented time to enjoy the family.  Numerous games of Sorry, several family style movies, some time at the park, and a couple story time sessions kept the kids entertained.  I did get in a workout or two to capture my video for this week. My daughter went to the gym with me.  We had such a great time.  At age 8, kids are so proud of what they can do.  She took quite a few of the clips for the video.  I amazed myself when I got the clips to load into window movie maker.  This has been a major source of frustration for me in the past.  With movie maker, I was able to put together a fun little video.  The next battle is getting it to load into youtube so it can be seen by my bb.com friends.  If all goes well, it will be posted soon.

Hope your weekend was fabulous.  Its now time to get back into the game.  My offense is planned (diet and workouts), my energy is high (just recharged those batteries), and my head is in the game (focused on the goal).  Bring it on baby!!!

Another classic from my music collection. This entire CD is good for getting in the zone while working out. Some of the lines to this song I think represent what myself and others here are feeling. Listen to the lyrics on this song and I think you’ll agree.

But I feel that a change is
A change is gonna come
I said I feel so alive now
And you know I feel that a change is
A change is gonna come

This morning I woke up feeling great. I’ve noticed that if I have a shake before bed I have a ton of energy in the morning. I’ve implemented SciFit Chocolate protein - 2 scoops of chocolate. This protein mixes better for me in a simple shaker and no nasty after-taste. I also use MuscleTech Nitro-Tech Hardcode Chocolate Protein which also mixes well.

I normally head to the gym on an empty stomach and have been taking MuscleTech Gakic an hour before my workout as well as MuscleTech Nano Vapor about 15-20 minutes before my workouts. I will write more on these two products later but this morning I decided to mix things up a bit. I used to take Yoga 3-4x a week but I haven’t done it in about 2.5 years. I decided to take a yoga class this morning at Greenwood Athletic and Tennis Club. The room was heated and after getting used to the temp it was so relaxing. You’ve heard me babble about my friend Sara before and usually it is her kicking my ass in the weight room, but today it was in yoga. It was the first time I’d taken her class and certainly won’t be the last. It was humbling being in class and realizing I’m not quite as flexible and limber as I once was. So I’ve added a new goal within the next 6-8 weeks I will get more flexible and I will be able to do the yoga poses I did with ease a couple years ago.

Implementing yoga into my routines is not only physically beneficial but mentally as well. It teaches me to focus on me and block out distractions. It was an awesome class and I sweated my arse off. I probably lost a good 3lbs in water just from the class.

After class I downed some water and hammered out legs with Hurrle. We did a new, well new for me, excerscise at the end. Find a flight of stairs and do calf raises. Each stair you do the number you are on. So one calf raise for the first stair, two for the second and so on. It seemed pretty easy until about stair number 15 when you’re doing 15 reps and your calves are bellowing out STOOOOOOP MO FRO STOPPPP. It was good.

I’m off to check out a Sportsman’s Expo and Outdoor show which is fun to see the hunting crew and sea of camo. I attend these to check out the new spices and rubs along with jerky or various wild game meat. I’ll let ya know how it goes later tonight.

ohhhhhhhhhhhhhmmmmmmmmmmmmm OUT!

On Friday night, I caught a Denver Nuggets basketball game. Good company, good entertainment and good times. It had been awhile since I experienced the live energy of a game. When I returned home I wasn’t quite ready for bed so I hopped online to check my email and amongst the spam of how I can make my "schlong longer" or "please my woman better". You know the usual crap that clogs up our email. Amongst these emails and a few legitimate ones I see an email from a girl I used to date. She was big into fitness and very attractive. Things ended when I got to know her for what she really was and the more I learned the uglier she got. Hence the reason why we were no longer seeing each other. A physical relationship can only take you so far.

So anyways, I open the email and it’s a forwarded email about presidential candidate, Barack Obama. The title read "Obama to doom the United States" and she adds a comment of, "Im scared for the United States!!"

As you can imagine, The email was full of such rubbish I couldn’t believe it. One line said, "The Muslims have said they plan on destroying the US from the inside out, what better way to start than at the ighest level - through the President of the United States,one of their own!!!!"

The email was much longer but it straight up pissed me off. Keep in mind, this is coming from a girl who didn’t know who Jimmy Carter was. One who never wanted to discuss politics or anything of any substance. She’s 28 and I’m sorry but if you don’t know who Jimmy Carter is you need to study US history again. So, I respond with "That’s crap. You don’t even follow politics and sending this poop."

Her response, "Knowing we have a muslim running to be president is problem enough.  So I don’t wanna hear it.  You always have to stick up for everyone in your open minded ways"

We went back and forth a couple times until she wrote the most horrific response I’ve ever seen from someone. I am disturbed just copying and pasting it. It makes me sick. Warning this is everything that is wrong with America today, moronic, narrow-minded views and such racist language. Her response to me telling her to check her facts before sending out such garbage, "I have, and I don’t believe it. Of course he and all his people, media etc is going to deny it and say otherwise. There’s no way he would win if people knew who he really was. Obama Bin Laden baby. hahahaha…. Damn Muslim. He is LITERALLY a sand ******. hahahaha"

SERIOUSLY WTF IS THAT?! I am embarrassed to say I know this person much less any type of relationship with someone who could actually write that.

Bono says it best at the beginning of this U2 song. "God does not hate. This is a song about people who recreate God in their own image, tiny, pathetic you knwo the kind of people I’m talking about." Yes Bono, I know EXACTLY the kind of people you are talking about.

The energy this man is able to create in such a positive way is everything that is right in the world. I’ve wasted enough of my energy on this foul woman and will not communicate with her in any fashion. I urge everyone to show some love for others and themselves.

On a happier note, this is one song I jam to in the gym and gets me pumped while lifting. As it also applies to the story above as it’s a reminder to elevate myself from the negativity and narrow-mindedness that exists in the world today.

Well I had a glorious, fantasmical workout this morning.

There was this incredibly good looking couple there doing their thing, which inspired the heck out of me.  Usually I feel like the most hardcore person at my gym.  But these were some BONIFIED fitness persons in the flesh.  He was grunting, loudly, unabashedly, working out hard.  She was running and lunging away.  

INSPIRING!  This is what I need!  People ahead of the game to lead me on.  

We all need inspiration do we not?  

People that work out fast and furious inspire me.  I have to remember that when I am working out hard, doing MY OWN thing, that I may feel like a crazy bitch…lol…and I am…(look out!)…but maybe, just perchance….I may be inspiring other people as well.

I try to keep my head in my own game.  

Both in the contest, and in life in general.  It is good to have pace setters, but if you keep your eye too much on other people you will eventually lose your own focus.

Concentration.  This is something that BODYBUILDING has taught me.  When I lift, on the very good days, I am totally and completely concentrated on the task at hand.  Working my back today, it was like this.  Some sets are just so blissful, that I lose myself in them.

Bodybuilding is a LOVE for me; a passionate desire.  

This is a LOVE that no-one can ever take from me.  It is a love, in which, the more you give, the more you get back in return.  

Till death do we part, and then again.

Bodybuilding IS… my resurrection.

I’ve received a number of emails and messages asking where my photos are at and what’s happening with me. One of my goals it to motivate people here in a variety of ways. Lately I’ve been using music to help motivate others. Don’t be fooled, that doesn’t mean I’m hiding or I’ve fallen off the workout wagon. My man Jumbo asked me a few questions and check out my responses below. I’ve also posted my progress photos that were taken on Monday, ya nothing like a few days late eh? As a reminder I am not competing against the other five for the prizes but rather lend a hand at some advice and inspiration while going through the same transformation process. Aight, enough babbling. Here are the questions/answers and my progress photos.

Jumbo: I was wondering if you would give us a little more information about yourself. I see that you got into tremendous shape and competed on stage. What was that like?
Me: Yes I have competed in bodybuilding contests 2x. I work with a number of the top fitness, figure and bodybuilding personalities. Many times clients would say "oh I’m dieting" or "I can’t worry about this now". I decided to go the extra step and find out what it would be like to compete. Are these people full of crap or is it really that tough? If you haven’t stepped on stage to compete, you really truly have no idea what is involved. I am 5′11" and weight 167 my first show, the second show I weight 176 on stage. Both times I was ripped and I had fun. It was an experience that was unlike any other. Lots of people can look good in the gym or in street clothes but to be on stage in nothing but a speedo is an : entirely different experience. I gained perspective on what my client went through and while I never claim to be a bodybuilder I do understand what my client go through by having lived through it and followed through.

J: Did you find the last few weeks leading up to competition to be harder on your body than the previous months of dietand workout?
Me: It wasn’t harder because I was "in the zone". I still went out with friends but I would drink diet coke and water while they got wasted. I’d disappear to go have chicken and rice while they ate fries and onion rings. I also did Yoga a couple times a week which improved my strength and flexibility. Guys in the gym asked me if it was to pick up women but ah no, it was to improve me mentally and physically. The last week going into the show was tough. I wanted to quit more than once but I knew it would be worth it. I would get up at 5:30am and walk on the treadmill (yes walk as to not loose muscle at that point) and then go back in the afternoon, workout and do more walking. This was only for the last 3-4 weeks. The thing I grew tired of was eating. If I went longer than 3 hours without eating I was not fun to be around.

J: How much gym time were you spending?
Me: 1 hour or less. I’d run around the park in Denver in the morning and then hit the gym for an hour of weights. The last 4 weeks I did cardio 2x a day and stopped running and went to walking on an incline. I was boring ass hell but it worked for me. As I leaned out I spent more time in the gym because people would constantly be talking to me. Asking me what I was doing, what I was eating, etc. Even the trainers in the gym would hound me for tips. I started going at different hours to avoid crowds and have my space back.

J: You said that you had gotten out of shape, though we have no real proof of that…  Was it the work or family that caused a slide?
Me: Jumbo see the photos below. This is my out of shape. Last year I traveled at least 2 weekends every month. Photographing shows for bodybuilding.com and occasionally FLEX magazine kept me busy. My downfall was not planning and resorting to airport food or going all day without eating. If I eat 2-3 meals a day I pack on the pounds. I have to eat 6-8 small meals to keep my metabolism sped up. I let my workouts slide and in the process found myself at a weight where I wasn’t comfortable. That’s all changing now.

J: How did you get into the Lift Studios thing? Did it blossom out of your gym work or did the lifting blossom out of you studio work?
Me: I read FLEX and Muscle and Fitness mags growing up and at one point tried weight gainer 2000. How funny thinking back on that. I was very active in high school sports and then went into the Army National Guard. I was in awesome shape coming out of basic training. I tried my hand at college football but after pulling my hamstring and being too small I hung it up. I only weighed about 170 at that point. I proceeded to drink a bit too much and eat like crap for a few years. I found myself eating ramen noodles and vending machine food when I was attending art college. I decided to do Body-for-Life and lost a great deal of weight. That motivated me to not be complacent. At the time I was working at a large ad agency with a great career. I was tired of living in Omaha so moved to Denver. Worked for a small design firm as Interactive Creative Director working with outdoor/sports related clients. My boss at the time thought I was conspiring to steal her clients with a former co-worker and friend of mine. I went in one morning and she told me I was fired. This was the best thing to ever happen to me. I had been procrastinating on starting my own business like I had about my weight for some time. It took a drastic change and challenge to force me to put up or shut up. I took the challenge and ran with it. That was nearly 6 years ago and since that time I’ve combined my love for fitness and sports into my other talents of art, photography and marketing. I believe in the cliché “everything happens for a reason”. Fired from a job for the first time turned into a career I love with my business Lift Studios.

J: Is there a food you must avoid because it would start you off on a crazed binge?
I LOVE a number of foods but it is all about balance. My vices are chips, Italian and Mexican food. I love to eat those foods but I don’t buy them and only have healthy foods in my place.

I’ve babbled long enough here. Thanks for the questions and if anyone has any others feel free to email or post them here. This has been a very productive month for me both physically, mentally and with my business.

My progress pics:

Da back.

Da Front.

Where will I end up? I know this much, much happier in all facets of my life. Rock on!

An old college friend recently emailed me asking me for some advice on working out and loosing weight. I sent him here to find more knowledge on getting back into shape. He was one of my closest friends in college and we lost touch somewhere along the way. I hadn’t heard from him in years but when I did it, brought back many memories. Many times songs remind me of a place in time. This particular song, Cumbersome, was one we used to sing to at the top of our lungs, completely out of tune, and many times over. My friends and I once played pool with this band years later before their show in Omaha, Nebraska. It’s funny to think back how we jammed to this 7 Mary 3 CD in the dorms, shot pool with the singer years later and now I am sharing it with an entirely different audience. ROCK ON!

Crank this one up in the gym and tell me this isn’t a timeless lryic:
"too rich too poor, she’s wanting me less and I’m wanting her more"

So my past 3 weight lifting adventures in the gym have been done with the added supplementation from Gakic. Up to this point I knew little about the product. I can truly say how grateful I am to have gotten a shot at using it. Has it increased my intensity in the gym..yes, I made sure that the past weight lifting routines were only supplemented with Gakic, no super pump, plasmajet etc.

I’ve had no jitters, shakes, etc from taking the product on any of these days. I actually started with only 4 pills the normal dose is 8. I’ve worked up to 6 pills, I never jump in with the full dose just to make sure I dont have any adverse reactions to the products.
I have noticed however that for the full length of the workout I never seem to tire out, sometimes it felt like I shold take a nap during my 45 second rest period. Not anymore, once I’m done with a set I’m much more eager to do another set without rest. Recently I wanted to test just how well Gakic was working in regards to not just my long term endurance but also my strength improvements in the gym. I used the Chest Flye for this, randomly selected one exrecise thats around the middle of my routine. Technically at this point my muscle’s would have been well fatigued. In most cases I work the Chest Flye machine with 130-145 lbs. On this round 145lbs felt very easy, so I moved it up to 160, still to easy 15 reps came to fast. I ended up using 195lbs to finish off, and had plenty of steam left over for the rest of my workout.

Point in case. Muscltech’s Gakic…….works! and works well.

I admit, I’m a sucker for some of the reality shows at times. I caught this clip a few months back on the show "America’s got Talent". I remember seeing this cat walk out and thinking, "oh great another horrible goofball". Then he busts out one of the coolest renditions of this song I’ve ever heard. The judges on the show made similar comments about the singer, Cas Haley. I am posting this as another tune that I absolutely love but this clip is more than that. We’re all guilty of judging a book by it’s cover. All too often we make assumptions and stereotype people based on their appearance.

This is a reminder that we all have our own talents, no matter what you may look like or how much you weigh.

My tune of the day comes via the John Butler Trio. I had this one cranked in the gym today as well as on the way to the gym. I enjoy the banjo and the beat of the song but when you take a minute to listen to the lyrics it’s an interesting song. Do we sometimes let being "better than that" let the get the best of us? I know I’ve been guilty of it before and while I am always striving to be my best I try not to let it get the best of me. Enjoy today, you never know what tomorrow what will bring.

All you want is
What you can’t have
And if ya’ just look around, man
You’ll see you got magic

So just sit back and relax
Enjoy it while you still have it
Don’t look back on life, man
And only see tragedy ’cause

chorus
You can be better than that
Let it get the better of you
What could be better than that?
Life’s not about what’s better than

JR:
I really believe that unless you have had to lose triple digit poundage you don’t understand the challenges faced. You lost 110 pounds. That is awesome. How did you handle the ups and downs through that long journey? Any tips for those of us needing to lose 100 pounds or more?

Angel:
Gosh, so, so many and I’ve already written a book just about! heheh. There ARE a lot of ups and downs. I still face them. But the one thing I will say, the one thing that saves me EVERY TIME, the thing I bang over your head JR (heh) is: NEVER GIVE UP. Start, don’t stop, never give up. Start, don’t stop, never give up. That is the ONLY thing that sets you apart DESTINED for success. Even when I question myself, or feel discouraged it passes quickly because the thought of I’m not giving up anyways comes so I snap out right out of it! I use the word REFUSE to give up. It is powerful to make that decision. I will not waver from it. That tenacity ensures success.

JR:
I just want to end by letting you know that you were always a beautiful woman. Your body simply allows you to show that beauty a little more. You told me to live and act in the NOW. That has become my mantra. Every time I get bummed about blowing my nutrition plan the day before or when the scale does not go down I tell myself to get my ass back in the NOW. Every time I look to the end of the journey and get frustrated with the length of time and amount of effort the is ahead of me;I pull myself back into the NOW.

Your support, wisdom, and beauty give me strength when I can’t find it myself. Thank you.

JR:
Thank you Dave, it means a lot that I have encouraged you. I am thankful for my history, struggles and successes because it has not only made me a stronger woman but given me opportunity to help others like you. And yes, there is only Now. You are a strong man and it starts on the inside. Be and enjoy the discovery of where you are at. You are in the moment of creation! Thank you for the opportunity to share my story!

Kathleen

Guess who’s back?! That’s right, me! Albeit with a slightly altered user-name granted to me during the Epic BB.com CSR thread of January 24th, 2008.

Aside from some sore neck issues (which have been very prevalent lately) I’m back to full health and ready to rock things out in the gym. This morning will be lower body + cardio and tomorrow will  be an hour of cardio before work. I am going to be upping both the intensity and duration of my cardio effective immediately, as well as adding in a few new goodies to the plan.

After seeing the results both of our female competitors have made in the first month, I am more determined than ever to kick the men (myself included) into gear. We gotta represent yo! As such I have loaded all of the Rocky movies onto my video I-pod, so nothing can stop me now.

Changes To Soon Be Implemented:
- Avant Research Napalm (Topical Fat Burner) to be added (which means I gotta shave my tummy, hahaha, that’ll make for some interesting progress pics)
- Caloric levels will be dropped by 250 a week until I hit my sweet spot
- Cardio will now be a mix of interval training, endurance training, and some lower intensity during active recovery.
- Every upper body lifting day will also include some bag work (speed bag, heavy bag) if I can get into the aerobics room (sometimes there are classes going on and they won’t let me use it)

Are you ready?