I just finished up the 12 Week BodyBuilding.com Transformation Contest, but I'm sad to say I didn't reach my ultimate goal of being about 6% bodyfat and very trim (<200 lbs).  I made some great progress, but plan on giving it another month or more to try and get another 10-15 lbs off, hopefully most of it being fat.

I overestimated my metabolism to start off the contest and was eating too many calories so I didn't lose weight like I wish I had.  Eventually I cut my calories and carbs down while adding some cardio (but not too much) where I was finally seeing some consistent weight loss.

All my meals were kept clean except for scheduled cheat days/meals.  I would usually rotate my carbs from day to day, for example, going 300g > 100g > 100g > 100g > High carbs or something along those lines, as long as it fit my overall calories.  I did this to help with food cravings and energy levels for training and to hopefully spike my metabolism a little bit.

I also incorporated a fat burner about a month in to help keep my already slow metabolism elevated best I could.  Other supplements I took were whey/casein protein, BCAAs, and a preworkout supplement (SuperPump MAX).

I weight trained about 4x/week - Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Fridays and then did cardio on the other days.  As the weeks went on, I incorporated high intensity sprints after my weight training to get added cardio in.

When I started the transformation, I was over 220 and now I'm under 210, so that's great progress and my clothes are a lot bigger on me.  As I mentioned earlier, I plan on continuing for another month hopefully getting those last 10-15 lbs of fat off me so I can be leaner and this time I plan on having more control instead of ballooning up while I try to add muscle!

A darker tan and better lighting certainly would have helped my AFTER pictures a bit better too, but maybe I'll get some professional shots when I lose more weight.

Development for my new website plentyofprotein.com has officially started.  I'm hoping to have it done by the end of March.  Unlike my last webpage, keithehlis.com the content will be a lot more useful.  I'm going to have videos and photos of different lifts.  Along w/ a calorie calculator and nutrition info.

I'm hoping it'll be a great motivator for someone just getting into working out or for someone who might like my end physique and see how I got it that way.  I hope to keep the content updated on a consistent basis somehow so there's always season to come back.

Stay tuned and be ready to get your dose of Plenty of Protein!

A few more weeks before I start my gradual leaning down nutrition plan.  I won't be too strict the first 4 weeks, but once October gets here, I'll probably cut down a lot more.  Most of September I'll just eat around 3700 clean calories w/ 300ish carbs while doing cardio 3 times a week.  I should lean down, drop about 4-8 lbs in September and then cut the calories down another 15% and maybe start rotating carbs.

The toughest part about it will be going to class and eating clean at the same time.  I'll be having food in my backpack to eat while I'm at class all day.  Hopefully I can get some progress pics posted soon to help motivate and educate (threw in 'educate' just to make it rhyme).

I had to take an unexpected lifting break last week as I think I came down w/ bronchitis (or however you spell it) and have a bad cough.  I really probably shouldn't lift and should probably get checked out my a doctor, but working 40 hrs a week in an unfamiliar location... seeing a doctor isn't the easiest thing to do.  As for Monday morning, I'm going to start lifting again continuing on w/ my DoggCrapp training.  I'd like to harden up before and be pretty solid before I start leaning down.  I'm a very smooth 237 right now, but not really 'fat' though I do have a big belly.

 I've started construction on keithEhlis.com 2.0 which I'd like to be released this fall or winter.  It won't be completely done until I'm lean and tan so I can take training videos/photos to post.

 When the site is done, it'll have free content of how to do certain lifts as I know a lot of people want to get started, but can't necessarily afford a personal trainer and have no clue as what to do.  So I'll have pictures of different lifts along w/ videos.

 My plan is to expose myself and also help people.  I'd like to someday see myself in a magazine somewhere as a fitness model as my body is something I can improve, unlike looks with my really ugly face

I started my loading phase of Cell-Tech last Wednesday (7/4), trained hard that day, then hit the weights even harder on that Friday, but I've had a consistent cough which just worstened after my back/bi's training on Friday.  Had to lay around all weekend w/o much eating w/ my reduced appetite, but in the end, it's better to rest now and miss minimal time from the weight room than it is to try and work through it and makes matters worse, which I may have done

This is holding me back from trying to pack on another 5-8 lbs by September 1st, but maybe I can just lean down while possibly maintaining my current weight (~238 lbs) before I begin the hardcore leaning down come early September.

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