2008 Transformation Contest

Thats right burn baby burn!  I previously posted my experience with a man in uniform, now I want to tell you about my experience with one of the gifts he brought me-Cytolean.  Now you may not know this but I dont use a lot of sups because quite frankly, most fat burners dont seem to do squat for me.  I think growing up with asthma and lots of albuterol has my system jacked.  To get back to the story.  I took my first two cytoleans this morning at 4am and wow.  By the time I started my cardio, I could feel that my body was all revved up.  That right the heat was on.  Cardio was fabulous.  

Before cardio, I usually stop by and check out some posts here at bb.com.  This morning I received a wake up call from my "Mickey".  That’s right Ninjabill sent me the Eye of the Tiger Rocky video.  Got me all pumped up and ready to rumble.  That treadmill had it coming.  We were going to play rough now.  GRRR.  Thanks Mickey.  I know you got my back.

Here is todays plan.

4:00  2 cytoleans with 12 oz water

5:00 Cardio 52 minutes of cruising treadmill fun.  Oh let me get all hot and sweaty.  Went 2.83 miles and burned 366 calories

6:15  Meal 1: 1 cup Kashi cereal with 1/2 cup milk and 1/2 cup strawberries.  Animal pak and flex

9:00  Meal 2  Intrapro protein with a small banana.  Cant wait to taste the Intrapro.  I got in three fabulous flavors.  MMMM…. Gaspari is so good to us.

11:20  Cytolean - 2 capsules

12:00  Meal 3: 4 turkey meatballs with 1/2 cup marinara sauce and 2 TBSP Parmesan, 2 cups steamed vegs, and 1 scoop shredded mass creatine

2:30  Meal 4  Instapro protein and superpump 250 (1 scoop each)

3:30  Weight Training - Legs, Calves, and abs
squats  15,12,10, 8
lunges 12,10,10
leg extensions 15, 12. 10  Last two sets are drop sets
deadlifts 12,10,10
Leg curls 12,10  partial reps
calf raises 15,15,15
Decline weighted crunch 10,10
Straight leg crunch 15,15
Hanging oblique knee raises 12,12

5:30  Meal 5: 3oz sirloin, 2 cups grilled bell pepper and zucchini

Gonna be a great day.  Started off good.  
Oh and heres to Day 3 of no diet mt dew.  Woohoo. I so got this.  Team c.w. all the way.  Catch us if you can.

Especially when he is bringing me a large box full of goodies.  Who dont love presents?  Thats right I almost pounced on the UPS driver.  GRRRR… The animal was coming out.  I told him I was waiting for him all day and he had something that I wanted and was looking forward too.  He gave it to me with a smile and said enjoy.  Boy, I hope my normal UPS driver dosent get jealous.   LOL   I couldnt wait to open my box.  Gaspari products.  Oh, I was in heaven.   There was so much hope and excitement in that brown corregated box address to me.  Yes, I made sure all in the house realized that these were my goodies and I wasnt sharing.   Then I flaunted my new dragon slayer t-shirt and my autographed photo of Rich.  Yes, he even wrote a little message of encouragement to me.  I brought it to work today so I could post it in my office.  Motivation Baby.  Its almost time for cardio.  Enjoy the day and stay motivated.  I will post more on my return from the gym.  Thanks Gaspari! You made my night and now your going to make my day.

So its been quite some time since I got up so early for gym activity, in fact I think the earliest I’ve ever gotten up for the gym was about 6:15, and let me tell you when you have a 2 year old that doesnst like to sleep, getting up at 4:45am isnt easy. But non the less I did, got to the gym and did my chest/ab/carido routine for the day. You can read more about that in my personal workout tracker.
I will say it will be nice once my products arrive, I’m doing a similar diet to SCT but not quite the same, I have carbs throughout the day but its only complex low GI green fiber veggies mainly, which if you didnt already know do very little (at least for me) in the way of energy at the gym.
So to cover this right now I start the morning out at 5:00 with some lean protien, and 1/2cup oatmeal, and some almonds…Then about 30 minutes before the gym I’m taking down a whey shake to get some BCAA’s in me.
This morning felt pretty good, I’d like to say week one is conditioning week and thus the lower intensity but that isnt correct, I’ve just plain lost some strength since I layed out of the gym for about 4 week’s prior to this……this is what I get for being lazy, most of my routines are at least 10-20lbs down from normal.

Looking forward to getting my supplementation from either BB, or Gaspari

Well, I am up way past my bedtime.  Normally this old guy is in bed by 9 and up at 5.  If you have been following my bodyspace blog you know that I have been sleeping in late.  The big day is tomorrow.  We will be weighing in on video and taking the traumatic before pictures with obligatory newspaper.  

Here is what tomorrow holds for me.   I will wake up when I wake up.

Morning Meds and 3 ACIDOPHILUS and BIFIDUS, 2 Ginseng, 2 ZMA

Exercise
Treadmill for a 30 min walk that keeps my heart rate at about 75% max
Extensive stretching routine  

Feeding 1
Breakfast: 1 cup cottage cheese + ½ cup blueberries + 1 oz walnuts + 2 cups spinach, 1 NOW BRAND Superenzymes, 2 Fenugreek, 1 Ginger root, 1 tsp Fish Oil
Swim 30 minutes – break – swim 30 minutes more

Feeding 2
Breakfast + 3 hour feeding:  beef cabbage soup + 1 cup kale + mushrooms + onions 1 tsp Fish Oil

Housework

Exercise
Dull axe Tree Chop – 30 minutes with no longer than a 5 deep breath pause

Feeding 3
Breakfast + 6 hour feeding 5 oz cod + 1 oz mozzarella +  Salsa (homemade) + mixed greens salad with oil/vinegar dressing, 1 NOW BRAND Superenzymes, 2 Fenugreek, 1 Ginger root, 1 tsp Fish Oil

Housework/free time

Exercise
Counter pushups 3  x 15
Bench squats (no weight) 10 X 10
Treadmill for a 30 min walk that keeps my heart rate at about 75% max
Extensive stretching routine  

Feeding 4
Breakfast + 6 hour feeding 5 oz cod + 1 oz mozzarella +  Salsa (homemade) + mixed greens salad with oil/vinegar dressing, 1 NOW BRAND Superenzymes, 2 Fenugreek, 1 Ginger root, 2 ZMA, 1 tsp Fish Oil

Exercise
Core: Crunches, Swiss Ball Work

Feeding 5
Breakfast + 6 hour feeding 5 oz cod + 1 oz mozzarella +  Salsa (homemade) + mixed greens salad with oil/vinegar dressing, 1 NOW BRAND Superenzymes, 2 Fenugreek, 1 Ginger root, 1 tsp Fish Oil

Weigh-in

45 min Prayer/Reading

I will be drinking mostly water with a couple of glasses of green tea and licorice tea.

My focus for the first week is to take care of my digestive system, immune system, and maintain energy.  Other than the axe work my day is fairly low intensity and nothing is done for a great length of time, but the work is throughout the day keeping the metabolism working hard.  Fish oil is a big key.  On Saturday and Sunday I will be taking cod liver oil for the D due to the lack of sunlight.

A sample breakfast of what I eat approximately 1 hour after working out. I work out first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. This may not work for everyone but I’ve found it is the best way to start my day.

Sample Breakfast:
• 8 Eggwhites - 1 Yolk
• 5 strips of 90% fat free turkey bacon
• 1 tablespoon of diced mushrooms

Spray the skillet with Pam cookie spray - dice the turkey strips and mushrooms - mix them up and cook everything together. I like my eggs hard and not mushy. I also put pepper on the eggs while still cooking.

Along with my eggwhites. I eat:
• 1 cup of Oatmeal
• 2 packets of Splenda
• Cinnamon

Mix this all together in a bowl - add a little water and put in the microwave for 1 minute. I don’t like my oatmeal "soupy" so I microwave it without much water in it and it ends up as having a thick, hard consistency to it. It tastes like an oatmeal cinnamon cookie, well in my mind it does.

I have a gallon jug of water with Orange flavored crystal light which tastes as close to tang as you can get. I have a glass of that with my meal. Along with this I take my vitamins and UDOs. Throughout the day I try to take in at last 1 gallon of plain water along with an occasional Diet Coke or Crystal light flavored water.

1 - Multi-Vitamin - AST Multi Pro 32x, 100 Caplets  
2 - Chewable Vitamin C
2 - Enchincea pills
1 - tablespoon of UDOs oil
1 - table spoon of Higher Power Glutamine

I will explain more on the UDOs oils later but it is refrigerated and has all my Omega 3-6-9 oils in it.

That my friends is what my usual breakfast looks like.

Ok so maybe it doesnt deserve an entire post, but anyways..

Forgot to add I’ll be taking ZMA at night.

And they finally posted up all the items they will be adding to the gym in Jan 08, once every year or so the golds adds some equipments etc.

In addition to the 20 TV’s we already have they are revamping the cycle room, and adding a 110" screen surround sounds etc.
Its called Cardio Cinema….

Should be interesting. I might make a video of my gym so everyone can see what I get to work with..

Supplements can be a wonderful thing.  Because of the intensity of my training efforts and my desire to burn some major fat during this contest, I will be adding the following supplements to my diet.  I want to thank Gaspari Nutrition and bodybuilding.com for giving me the hook up on the majority of them.  I would also like to thank Daniel and Fern for helping me make the decision on which to use.

1. Gaspari Superpump 250
2. Gaspari IntraPro Protein
3. Gaspari Cytolean
4. Gaspari Plasmajet
5. Universal Animal Pak
6. Universal Flex
7. Now Acetyl-L-Carnitine
8. Higher Power Beta Alanine Plus
9. Shredded Mass Creatine
10.  Water! Water! Water!

Why does it seem like I’m following SCT with my posts…sigh. Hopefully in the end I’m not following the leader

My supplement plan is pretty straight forward. Since my current supplements are limited to mainly protien and creatine this will be a good adventure for me.

Of course I’ll be taking the Gaspari Lean Mass Stack, if you want more info read SCT’s long post.

My additions.

1- Optimum Nutrition Opti-Men Multi Vitamin- Gotta keep that immune system up, and the vitamins a flowin since my diet wont provide all the vitamins needed
2-Optimum Nutrition Whey- MMMM mmm good. It mixes easy, taste great, and I dont get sick off of it…what else is there to say?
It will be used for last minute meals when I dont have a hunk of meat available
3-Controlled Labs Creatine- Apple one of my favorite flavors….mixes easy, tastes great…Might drop this product if Gaspari lineup takes care of this area
4-MAN Vaporize- EFA’s baby..cut inflamation, helps overall health and of course aids in fat loss.
5-wATER- Flavored with Lemon, Lime, Stawberry, whatever fruit I have..1-1.5 gallons a day.

These supplements will help in taking my whole foods nutrition plan, and pushing my results to the ‘XTREME’

So, as part of bring my most complete transformation possible, I have decided to BRING IT when it comes to supplementation. This is of course with the gracious and GENEROUS assistance of both Gaspari Nutrition and Bodybuilding.com. Below is my supplementation plan for the 2008 BodySpace Transformation Contest:

I will list each supplement, the logic behind taking it (for me):

**Notice ? All products will be dosed as directed by the box/bottle/container they come in, unless otherwise cleared with a Company Representative.**

#1 - Gaspari Nutrition Cytolean  - This will be the corner of my fat loss based supplements, I have yet to be able to try the product, but based upon review of the formulation have very high hopes for the product.

#2 - Gaspari Nutrition HALADROL-Liquigels - This is going to be the  most fun supplement for me to run, as I fully expect that this will  help me to maintain strength and lean body mass while cutting bodyfat at the same time.

#3 - Gaspari Nutrition Plasmajet - I am actually somewhat afraid of  the potency of this product. The very idea of using a product only 4 days a week either means it is overhyped or too potent. And with Gaspari, we KNOW it isn’t overhyped.

#4 - Gaspari Nutrition SuperPump250 - Adding SP250 to the already insane stack of HLG and Plasmajet is just a dream come true for a supplement junkie like me. At this point, my stack is heavenly.

#5 - Gaspari Nutrition IntraPro - With the rising cost of protein and the amount of different proteins saturating the market it is nice to see a protein that has been ‘formulated’ instead of just thrown together.

#6 - Prolab Protein Component - It is funny to see Gaspari and Prolab side by side in this list as it reminds me of Deserusan and Dvsness, aww hot cute. In reality Protein Component by Prolab is quite possibly the top rung of the low carb protein ladder, and I love the fiber content. Plus it is Cinnamon Oatmeal.

#7 - Gaspari Nutrition Novedex XT - Adding Novedex XT will come in later in the game plan, possibly at the end of my HLG cycle to assist in raising test levels and giving me the final push to the end.

#8 - Natrol Biobeads - A billion little live cultures all designed to help my immune system and digestive tract, can’t go wrong with these. In addition, they are very economical. Another product I must blame Dvsness for getting me interested in.

#9 - NOW Super Antioxidants - Another product designed for overall health and well-being. Keep in mind this is a doctor recommended formula. I had wanted to go with a different product that I have been waiting on to be released, but Dsade (owner of RPN, nudge nudge) is
being slow about it.

#10 - Scivation Xtend - This is probably the other cornerstone of my supplementation plan, as I am a big fan of BCAA supplementation. In addition, I?ve heard recommendations of extra Glutamine when consuming HLG, so I?m hoping these two work well together.

#11 - Millennium Sports Ragnarok - This will be my Creatine product for the Transformation Contest. I love the taste and have had good results with it previously.

#12 - NOW L-Carnitine - An additional product recommend by Deserusan to assist with the transfer of fatty acids for cellular energy production.

#13 - Palo Alto Labs Incarnate - This will be used mainly for the Beta-Alanine in a pill form, but the additional Cissus is a welcome benefit as well. This will be lower dosed at first as I’m unsure how the Cissus vs. AA will play out. William Llewellyn stated in a forum post, "We’ve done a good amount of testing on it, and there doesn’t seem to be any strong interation between cissus and X-Factor. Initially we were concerned because of the proposed anti-inflammatory action, but it doesn’t seem to be an issue. Like most things with a weak AI effect, I suspect it might possibly be an issue if used to the extreme, but thus far we haven’t seen it." And as such, I so go lower dosed at first before going crazy.

I do have quite a few other goodies that could be added if necessary, but for now we are sticking with the above 13. This plan may be modified, updated, or changed at any time based on results and expected needs. You will notice that I have left out iSatori based products, as I do not feel that my personal transformation journey should be a promotional one for the company I am a representative for. So while I do believe in the products I represent, I will let them stand on their own two feet.

I would also like to again thank all of the sponsors involved in the contest for their amazing support and advice, this is going to be a great ride.

If you have any questions regarding any of the products listed, please feel free to ask away, if I cannot answer I will direct you to an appropriate company representative who can.

Stonecoldtruth

I’ve finally got some free time today to post some information in regards to my plan for the next 12 weeks. I’m not big on Fad diets much like SCT, FAD stands for Failed Attempt Diet to me……..they might work intially but for the long haul forget it.

With my goals primarly being to loose as much bodyfat as possible, and not so much high weight loss I will be following a nutrition plan that includes 6-7 Meals a day. Each meal will consist of at least 6oz of lean meat, 1 green vegetable, and some good fat be it from nuts, or some other source.The diet will cycle through complex carbs with the majority of the limited amount in the morning, or pre and post workout. I plan in starting with a 3k calorie diet. I’ll be supplementing of course with Gaspari products, but in addition I will add Multi-Vitamins to keep my immune system flowing, Sesamin and Fish Oil Mixture for some natural fat burning and mild ketosis, ZMA before bed up the test some, and lots and lots of water at least 1 gallon a day.
Protien shakes will only take place in tight situations and to make my famous protien based pudding.

My workout plan will intially consist of a Middle Weight medium 10-12 rep routine, later rolling into a pyramid system to really push the bars.  The last 4 weeks I will be adding a interesting mix to take it to the next level of fat loss. Each weight routine will be followed by at least 30 minutes of low intensity cardio….however this might change as time progresses depending on results.

One really awesome piece of news I just got, the Golds Gym I attend will now be open 24 hours starting Jan 2nd….no more excuses for closed gym time!