Inside the Mind of Deserusan

Just heads up here, CBS just aired a segment on the recent Tren Xtreme scandal that’s sweeping the nation. To view the video please check out CBS’s website here. I’ll be putting up a full commentary later today. So be sure to check back!

Over the years as I’ve transitioned from being a supplement consumer to working in the supplement industry and in essence my “image” online has changed dramatically due to liability. I learned my first lesson in this when my screen name popped up in a federal lawsuit for statements I made as an educated consumer a few months before I began doing work for Gaspari Nutrition. It was a bit of a reality check to be honest but then again, I didn’t state anything that wasn’t true so what’s the worse that can happen right?

For the most part, I do miss the days of being able to speak freely without recourse and at times, my emotions get the best of me still. While there are a lot of great people in the industry, there are a few toxic personalities which for lack of a better word, are straight scumbags. They are obsessed with the successes of others and instead of evaluating the causes of their own demise, they prefer to be antagonist which to me just seems like a cry for attention.  I guess since the established industry would rather see them in prison, they feel empowered to drum up some fan support on forums like Bodybuilding.com’s.

Recently there was a blog article written about me which I found pretty cool.  They say hindsight is 20/20 and had I known a few choice quotes of mine would have been blog worthy I probably would have blasted one of these industry scum bags even more. The thing is, few of you out there get a glimpse of the wild, wild, west nature of the sports supplement industry and this certainly was a peek inside of it.  Perhaps you’d like to see what’s really going on inside the mind of Deserusan? Time will tell. Either way, hopefully if there is another blog about me they’ll use a better picture…lol!

Man, it’s about time isn’t it? This project took longer than expected but all you guys and gals out there will certainly appreciate the feel of this product. Here it is hot off the press at my desk! Expect more info to come soon…

I won’t be going out or anything tonight just because I’m starting to get over being sick. However, to all of you who are celebrating with a nice Guiness or some shots of Jameson, ENJOY!

I’ve talked to a number of people over the past week who attended the Arnold Classic weekend and many have actually fallen under the weather. In reality, about half the people I know who went have come down with anything from a simple cold to the flu. I guess this is bound to happen when you get tens of thousands of people in close quarters with one another. I myself came down with a really bad cold and stuck in bed the following Monday and am still feeling the effects a week later. Anyway, I’m sorry about the lack of updates to my blog but I’m feeling better and am returning to the gym tonight!

What an exciting weekend this was at the 2009 Arnold Classic! While it was a lot of work being a part of the behind the scenes action for Gaspari Nutrition we all had a lot of fun. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to spend as much time as I wanted to at the actual expo primarily because I was in meeting throughout the weekend. However, I did get to see Kai Greene tear it up on stage and get a well deserved victory as the 2009 Arnold Classic Champion. It was also nice to attend a dinner party with Arnold Schwarzenegger himself considering he has always been a true hero of mine ever since I was a little kid. All in all, the weekend was a success and here are a few pictures from the Arnold Weekend.

I don’t make a good product model.

Dangerous Minds…

Sldge (Driven Sports), Iceman (Gaspari Nutrition), Deserusan (Gaspari Nutrition)

Deserusan (Gaspari Nutrition), Dvsness (Prolab)

Marzia Prince and Moi!

I’ve never met John Romano face to face and on maybe one or two occasions exchanged words with him on the Muscular Development forums. They weren’t the most positive of exchanges but that always makes for a healthy debate. However, I must say (and without choosing sides regarding his recent termination from Muscular Development) he has a way with words. If you have a chance please read the former Senior Editor’s compelling story explaining why he and Dave Palumbo were extricated from a community they built from the ground up.

WTF Happened?? By John Romano

Has there ever been a time in your life when you looked in the mirror and were absolutely disgusted with your appearance? I don’t mean the typical thoughts of “I could really lose a few pounds” but rather the stark realization that you are really out of shape and actually look like a different person from what you used to a few years before? Well I had the realization one morning this past summer when I couldn’t find a single pair of pants to wear to work that I could button up. I never thought I’d ever see myself laying on a bed trying to flatten my stomach out to achieve a feat that was never a challenge to me before. That’s when I decided something had to change.

During high school and even college I was always very active and in shape. I had time to work out consistently, play in competitive sports, and even kept pretty good tabs on my diet. However, once my student days were over the reality of working long hours and the stresses of the “real world” mounted more and more my waist began to grow. Hey, I figured if I looked like a somewhat muscular guy in tank top then my gut shouldn’t really be a concern right? Wrong. I was tipping the scales at 272lbs and could barely see my feet because my gut protruded out so much.

I have always considered myself to be healthy and for the most part I have been consistent with training in the gym. However, the one factor which always seemed to be out of control was my eating habits. Things like lack of portion control, snacking in the middle of the night, and eating fast food just seemed  to become an ever present reality in my daily routine as my career got more serious and demanding. At times I addressed the issue by cleaning up my diet for a week and maybe even month on end but all it took was one bad binge and I’d be back to normal. Obviously I was kidding myself and ultimately my diet prohibited me from being healthy.

I had to get my priorities straight because my gut could not be hidden any longer by baggy shirts and I wasn’t about to embark on the daily squeeze session into my pants for work. I had a 34 inch waist only a few years back and now I was approaching 40 inches. What was next? XXXL shirts and pants with an elastic waist? NO! This is where things got serious.

I needed a solid and unforgiving goal which would help me focus on my goal to win back my athletic physique of old. “Entering a bodybuilding competition seems severe enough,” I told myself. I work for a major supplement company as a research assistant and just helped design one of the most revolutionary fat burning cycles ever. Perhaps it’s time I put the soda and pizza down and actually walk the walk with the very tools I assisted to create for the masses? It most certainly was that time. I knew they worked well from our alpha testers, but now it was time for the ultimate test on me.

I made sure to tell all my friends and family what I was up to and many were supportive but it seemed most really didn’t have much confidence in me to tell you the truth. I hadn’t been in great shape in quite a few years and now I was supposed to get into “stage ready” bodybuilding shape? I was the guy slamming soft drinks like there was no tomorrow making frequent trips at all hours to get my beloved extra value meals. Working odd hours can to do that to you and unfortunately this was my lifestyle. I guess my goal was too farfetched for most of them and rightfully so. They had no reason to believe otherwise because I had not proven I was capable of achieving such a lofty goal.

Sometimes the best approach is to jump in head first and just get the ball rolling. Day by day, week by week I began a comprehensive schedule of dieting, weight training, cardio sessions, all the while cycling Mitotropin and Cytolean V2. Week by week I began noticing extreme changes in my physique.  As I had mentioned before, I was a big guy weighing 272lbs but basically had no definition in my muscle groups. It was covered under a bunch of unsightly blubber. Slowly but surely, I started noticing various details appearing as the weight began to drop off.

I was actually amazed and so were many of my friends and family because after only two and half months of training and dieting consistently I was already down over thirty five pounds. When I discussed my lofty goal of making it to the bodybuilding stage I could see the confidence building in them because I was met with real enthusiasm. Everyone kept asking me, “What are you on Dan?” My reply was usually , “Remember the projects I was working on at all hours of the night in the medical research library? Well I’m putting them to good use.” I was actually walking the walk for the first time in a long time. It felt great using products that I had poured virtually every waking moment into for over a year, both researching and developing.

After 22 weeks of truly busting my ass in the gym, consistently adhering to a strict diet, and cycling between Mitotropin and Cytolean V2 I had lost 74lbs and was as ready to walk on the bodybuilding stage for the first time. My waist was also down 8 inches to 32 inches which I had not had since high school. Forget about the 34 inches I was hoping for! I stepped on that stage as a new man weighing only 198lbs and walked off winning second place as a light heavyweight in my very first bodybuilding competition. However, the biggest victory for me was that I overcame my own worst enemy: me.

In doing so I had finally walked the walk and was finally proud enough to take off my shirt without being embarrassed by having a gut anymore. Even better, I proved to myself countless hours of research and development were not in vain in delivering the ultimate fat loss cycle so others can potentially achieve a similar self-victory no matter how big or small. Mitotropin and Cytolean V2 actually deliver and I’m proud to say I’m proof of it.

If you ever come to the same crossroads I did I challenge you to take the path less traveled and actually walk the walk. It’s never too late to get back into shape and if you feel that it is, then you are just making excuses. Either way, Morihei Ueshiba’s proverb is something you should all consider then next time making an excuse seems like the only option, “True victory is self victory, let that day arrive quickly!”

Daniel Pierce

Gaspari Nutrition Research & Development

Don’t get me wrong, I have utmost respect for first family. However this slip of the tongue was just too good to not bring to your attention.

Among supplement consumers there is a love/hate relationship with the FDA. On one hand, they want to be protected from potentially dangerous ingredients or mislabeled products. They want protection essentially. On the other hand, they often complain about government intervention and oversight into their private choices. Often you’ll hear these cries when popular stimulants like ephedra get banned or popular DSHEA compliant hormonal products like “andro” get scheduled as controlled substances. Regardless of which side of the fence these fickle consumers are sitting on any particular day the FDA often has bigger fish to fry other than the supplement industry.

Just recently Coke a Cola received a pretty strong warning from the FDA regarding the labeling of their Diet Coke Plus product. Essentially, the FDA feels that the fortification of carbonated snack beverages with vitamins and minerals is not in the best interest of consumers unless it falls within an acceptable range for the established Recommend Dietary Allowance (RDA). You’ll see these RDA’s often listed on nutrition and supplement labels (yes there is a difference). Obviously the FDA is not happy and is quite clear when stating “The above violations are not meant to be an all-inclusive list of deficiencies in your products or their labeling. It is your responsibility to ensure that all of your products are in compliance with the laws and regulations enforced by FDA. You should take prompt action to correct the violations. Failure to promptly correct these violations may result in regulatory actions without further notice, such as seizure and/or injunction.” Obviously, they FDA is not mincing words.

I guess my point in bringing this up today is that the FDA isn’t always the bad guy and actually spends most of its active enforcement efforts on food products as opposed to dietary supplements. Believe it or not, the large majority of warnings and recalls issued by the FDA are regarding food products and rightfully so. Contamination and mislabeling of food products is actually a common problem in the United States and the FDA is stretched to the limits sometimes enforcing proper safety initiatives to protect you. While supplement consumers often point fingers at the FDA it is my hope they understand  most of their enforcement efforts don’t involve the supplement industry in all reality as this recent enforcement effort with Coke clearly shows.