2008 Transformation Contest

Well its over, and here are the final pics.

Here are weeek one pics…

I notice the most in the side shots.

Thanks again to all the great Sponsers…you gave us all a great kick start..

My losses are minimal…I almost feel bad my team name was Team Xtreme…yikes!But I put on some great strength, dropped approx 5% BF, and put 25 lbs on my bench…not to shabby..looking forward to the future to come.

Its been fun!

Well my camera is shot, so I will not be able to take pictures or video at least until I find someone I can borrow it from. But I can share some of my thoughts with everyone willing to read this journal.

I have intentionally placed everyone in the category because this post is about everyone in this competition. I would like to share my opinion about the competitors and how I have seen them in short time I spent in this competition, and also, I would like to encourage others to write the same in some of the next blogs as we near the end of this game we play.

As I said this blog post is about everyone taking part in this competition, not only the competitors but the people made all this possible. I would like to avoid sounding like a miss pageant so I will skip "thank yous" to the sponsors and yada yada yada…I believe they know we are grateful for the opportunity.

Anyways I would like to say special thanks to the man Richard, our admin. Without his efforts we would be lost half way. Thank you Richard.

What can I say about Isaac? Well I learned he’s got great taste in music and I always enjoyed his videos he posted, and I enjoyed some of the great stories he told us, some were true adventures. I must admit I am a bit jealous of him, after all he is a great photographer, something that impresses me a lot. What ever happened to your shaping goals man, we are still backing you up!

And there is Josh. I still hate my self for entering this competition through his misfortune. Life is one big, well I guess you know what. If I understood correctly, SCT is almost fully recovered from his injury and already planning a new challenge by Muscletech, and I want to wish him all the best with his future goals.

Jason is another mystery for me. I have a feeling he is such an emotional person, in a good way of course, and the fact he found his happiness with his wife and daughter just makes me warm in the heart. I know you can’t see much progress but there is a great achievement behind you already. OK, maybe you didn’t lost much weight, or achieved the look you desire, but you made a positive change in life. Sometimes, no matter how hard we fight, sometimes life gets the better of us. I just wanted you to know you have my full support, and when this thing ends in a couple days, don’t think I will forget about you, you can count on me any time.

Dave is a big man, in more than one way. I found we have much more in common than it could be seen in the beginning. This man has a great sense of humor but he can be serious when needed and place a right word where needed. He has a long fight before him and I just know it will not be an easy one. That just makes him a biggest fighter of us all, I mean we have to loose 20 - 30lbs and we are there, but he has to loose a whole Maddie to get where he wants to be. Dave my man mark my words: If you ever decide to quit and give up on the battle you started and start listening to that demon from Narnia, just remember there is one crazy Serb out there waiting to kick your a$$, and we all know demons can’t compare to Serbs

Maddie, well Maddie is Maddie, right I mean she is the reason we others loose motivation with every new progress pictures upload. Couple more weeks and she is ready for a fitness competition. You came a long way and you showed us all how the fine finish is done. You showed great progress both physically and psychologically, and through some of your posts you gave us insight to your librarian soul and I have seen it’s a wast and beautiful place. Which ever the path you decide to take after this competition I wish you all the best.

Finally there is Steph. I am not sure if I can write anything else about this woman I haven’t said before. I remember when she left the first post on my BodySpace page, I was thinking she was a random visitor but than she came again and again and than every week she gave me encouragement and she still remains one of rare cyber-friends I gained over the time. Determination, strength, especially strength intensity, I mean I could go on forever with these epithets that go with her and I would still not do her justice. When I take a step back and take look at this group from the day you told me there is a competition going on at bb.com to this very day, I just know you are the one who deserves the gold and highest pedestal to stand on.

~malibuilder

So getting near the end of this contest. My progress thus far has been purely in strength gains, my fat loss has been very minimal which I’m not super happy about, but progress has come.

Due to my lack of a good camera you’ll have to excuse the bad video quality, and lack of editing as my Movie Maker app wont edit .mov files which is what this camera puts them in.

Anyways, just a quick comparison of pushups from the start of the competition, until today…today I go lower, and to me seem a little faster….one day I’ll do them Malibuilder style.

Now…Please excuse the heavy breathing (still pushing allot of weight here ) and excuse the small excuse for a dog in the background.

Then…

The past few days have been very nice here in Georgia. Weather has been in the mid to high 60’s, today its at 72…humidity is low and there is a slight breeze. It seems that everyone is outside. I took a quick ride into town, and your either in a drop top sports car or a motorcycle…the roads are loaded with people seeking Solace in this great weather.
Since I’ve spent the last few weeks prepping for the move, construction work in the area we are supposed to move, and moving itself. I havent had a chance to play, and do much with my 2 year old Daughter. So today after dropping Mommy off for the Wedding Shower of a Friend…..we hit the roads for a Father Daughter day.

We start the afternoon out with a bite to eat, we got Ansley’s favorite….Chicken and Fries…or as she would say it…Ticken and Friiiiiiiiiieeeeeees. And of course the Ketchup better know in 2 year old land as "Bip" more Bip please!.
After feeling to our hearts content we took a ride to the nearest Park….Park 1 was jam packed no place to put the car, so on to option B Park 2.

Park 2 was also packed but has plenty of parking, the sheer joy on a 2 year olds face when you pull into a park with swings, sand, slides and everyting in between is pure bliss. It makes you smile knowing how happy they are. Watching all the other little ones run around, smiling faces or other parents and grandparents. Its all worth a smile.

After spending some time at the park we headed home, and the little one didnt make it 2 miles…………dead asleep in the car seat.

I wish every day was as nice as today, I love the outdoors and doing stuff with my daugther. She is an absolute sweetheart (minus all the 3:00am wake up calls).

Its amazing how much Solace you can find in just spending time with the ones you love, in great weather, where everyone is having a great day at the Park!

My 2 year old seen here………

Dont let that innocent face fool you, she has daddy wrapped around that pinky already.

Ok so about 2 weeks ago my Car dies, and its approx 2500 or so to fix. Ok I’m finally over that, then we are caught up in our move, getting things ready etc and I cant locate my camera for last week. No biggie. Got it this week, so got my Workout video all set and ready. Whoo hoo! Turn the camera on and it errors out, says to turn power off then back on. So I do, and same error. Then I notice the stinking optical lense is stuck…when I first turn it on it try’s to come out click click click then stops. Then error. Well thank goodness I bought the extended warranty……..honey I had put the extended warranty paperwork in the……..

1+ hours later and I still cant find the receipt or anything. I’m frustrated to no end here. I’d just like something to go smoothly for once around here, things be organized where we can find them…etc..etc..

Yes I’m venting, but also needed to let everyone know why my video isnt up yet. Its not fair I think to just not post without reason. I’m going to borrow a relative’s camera and get to it ASAP. Should have the video and pictures all tomorrow at the same time.

So this week we started a new contest at work. Golds Gym is running it this time. I took my personal fitness test with a certified trainer last week. Its a 12 week program, which overlaps this one. It will help to keep me motivated for many more weeks to come. Here were my results.

Pushups in 1 Minute- 29 ( Want to hit an even 60 by contest end)
Distance In 10 Minutes on treadmill- .75 Miles ( Want to hit 1.25 Miles in ten minutes)
Situp in 1 minute -14 (Want to hit 30 by contest end)
Stretch- 42" inches ( want to hit 48-50")

We have three months and the contest is based on your improvements over your baseline, number of workouts at the gym, weight loss, and fat loss.

In addition I feel the need to set some last short term goals for this contest.

1. Lose 10lbs over the next 5 weeks
2. Lose 2" off my Mid Section
3. Lose 1" off waist line

My body is responding slow to change, just one of those things. I’ve heard that the mind can heal people, I’ve seen stories of people using positive thoughts to heal cancer. Regardless I think my laid back/ easy going personality in life is holding me back. While I might push it in the gym, I always think mentally that my results will come in time. Maybe if I mentally think about things changing more rapidly they will.

It never ends for me, 4 steps in the right direction 10 backwards. Anyways had car issues, I know this isnt a car forum but a couple of video for proof of the car issue. And one Gaspari review.

So I’ve decided that for the next couple of weeks I am going to wear a shirt, not to hide my body from public view, but I hope that it will hide some progress. Give it a few weeks and I will take it back off. My goal is to surprise everyone.
Anyways here are this weeks pics. Notice in the arm flex shot, can you tell I am right handed…my left arm as you can see is for sure smaller. Even in the gym its weaker on specifically bicep work.

Strong legs, always have been always will be.

My poor left arm..LOL

The Vault…

Keeps the blood flowing at work, few times a day like this and might skip the gym……….NOT!

"Paralyzed by Analysis" its happened and its happening to me right now. That saying comes from the Body for Life book I have sitting on my dresser, which also sits near the latest Muscle and Fitness, which lays on top of the Zone Diet book. WHich all sits within arm reaches of a person ( that person is me) surfing on Bodybuilding.com reading about nutrition, workouts plans…etc…

Its happened, I have read so much over the years…have read so much in the past few months, weeks, days…that I am officially "Paralyzed by Analysis" I’m trying to figure out why my body isnt responding to all the work, and nutrition I throw at it. And based on my current caluclations there about 1 bazillion ways to fix it…if I could just find the fix..but since I am "Paralyzed by Analysis" I’m overlooking something probably very simple.

This many weeks into the contest, I weighed in this morning I’ve lost…….hmmm lets see here.. 3.5Lbs…Oh sure I’ve added almost .5inch to my arms, .5 inch to my chest and lost 2.5 inches around my mid section but even so I dont get the weight loss, sure I know it isnt everything but with great fat loss comes great weight loss…and apparently I’ve got neither.

I’m currently in the state of "Paralyzed by Analysis" because I dont know where to go, I’m eating clean, and usually in the gym for 1-1.5 hours for 4-5 days a week sometimes more. Pushing myself to the limits each time, sprinting till my knees beg for mercy, riding a bike so fast although stationary it might actually start moving.

I’m wondering if I need to take a visit to the Dr? Maybe my body is insuling resistant, maybe like my grandfather did I’m becoming a diabetic early in life…geez who knows.

But I must say…………someone help!

When you look at yourself in the mirror, and hold up a picture of yourself from years ago do you ever wonder how did I get here? Why am I standing in front of this mirror for the 3rd, 4th or more years saying that you need to lose weight, get in shape, blah blah blah.
We’ll I’ve been saying it for years, when I met my current wife I weighed approx 230lbs…now even at that weight my physical condition wasn’t perfect but it was much better then it is today. Through our dating stages we ate out a lot, hey isn’t that what dating is all about anyways? Through our dating up to our wedding I added on 25 lbs, so our wedding day I was 255 lbs.
Then hit the early years of marriage, life was good, this new feeling of freedom and being married was great. I got a new job in Atlanta and everything was going good to me….or was it? Due to the added job stress, lack of time for decent meals, and just pure addiction to all things bad I gained another 40 lbs…putting me all the way up to 295LBS. Yikes! Promptly we joined the gym back in 05 and attempted to make it a successful run, very little came of it. It was a pure yo-yo schedule two weeks at the gym, 3 months away. Sad to say the least.  
My desk job was stressful; my hours were up the wall usually about 60-70hours a week, long nights and a sedentary behind the desk lifestyle. All I could do is reach for something out of the vending machine to make things better. Man this payday bar is good; it’s also when I fell in love with Sunkist. For the next year or so I hovered at this weight. Once I hit this weight of approx 300lbs (120 lbs over my doctor recommended weight). It actually gets to where you accept the weight your at, even if it’s high. I knew I looked terrible, knew my health was at risk but looking in the mirror my mind wasn’t putting two and two together. I also have a very relaxed attitude, which probably added to my acceptance of such a bad physical condition.
I worked with a friend of mine doing the BFL Challenge..which we did for about 5 weeks then stopped. My weight stayed around the same and I was eating well at least. I had dropped down to 290.
Then about 1 year ago something just clicked, maybe it was the kidney stones, the chest pains (related to acid reflux and hiatel hernia thankfully), my overall body aches and pains that finally made my mind realize we have got to change. Besides that I was nearly 300lbs and my wife was tipping the scales at 125..it wasn’t fair for her to have the guy she dated put on 80lbs and turn into a sloth. When she looked exactly the same as the day I met her.
So here I am in the bb.com transformation pushing to make myself better and better each day. Its working I know, I feel better then I did 1 year ago.
My results on the other hand are limited; my strength and muscle gains are up…however my bodyfat just doesn’t want to budge. Then I remembered the doctor told me I had an excess of Visceral Fat
*Visceral fat-Visceral fat is different from other body fat. Visceral fat, also called intra-abdominal fat, refers to the fat that surrounds the internal organs. Subcutaneous fat, on the other hand, is body fat that is close to the skin’s surface and is considered less dangerous, and easier to lose, than visceral fat.
Studies have shown that those with visceral fat are more susceptible to heart disease, stroke, diabetes and hypertension. Sedentary people, smokers and drinkers have been shown to have more intra-abdominal fat, or visceral fat, than active people who are non-smokers and non-drinkers. Stress may also be a factor in the storage of visceral fat on the body.
Visceral fat is harder to lose than subcutaneous fat because it is more deeply embedded in the body’s tissues. Visceral fat is only measured accurately by an imaging machine that can see how much of the abdomen is made up of visceral fat. A person may be within a healthy weight range, but still have too much intra-abdominal fat around the internal organs.

My Diet is on, my workout routines are intense…..I’m looking forward to my end results even though they may be slower then the others. It took several years to get here, I can’t expect a rock hard stomach in 12 weeks.
As opposed to some competitors remarks my heart is in this competition more so then you even know. I know the pictures don’t always show great results on my end but they are there, I can feel them regardless as to what everyone sees. The future looks bright, I just wish the future would get here sooner sometimes.

I have no idea what week this is? LOL Just tell me when its over I dont have time to stop and think about the weeks left, just push push push until the end baby!

Shoulder work at home, I like to do these things when I feel my body getting tired. It gets the blood moving, and the energy for the next few hours thru the roof! Completing all movements without rest, keeps the heart rate up. Its this high rep movements that have shown more success this week for me.

Press is 37LBS, the Remainder of the routine is 17lbs.

Here they are, added pics from week one for reference.

Week 1 Pics

Progress-???

Week 1

Progress???

Week 1

Progress???