I had a cold/flu that knocked me out for a couple days. One thing I've learned as I've gotten older is to listen to your body. Trying to appease your ego can often lead to injury and regret. I took 2 days away from the gym and just did home cardio for 45 minutes. Rested and slept some more. The added rest and being out of the gym gave my body a chance to recover but also mentally made me want to get back into the gym. 

I'm headed to LA this weekend for the FIT EXPO and look forward to meeting a number of new people as well as reconnecting with some long-time friends. Planning is the key when traveling. Plan ahead with food and workouts. No excuse to miss a meal or not get your workouts in when traveling. 

Anyone going to be at the FIT EXPO this weekend? Holla!

I was hitting my morning cardio today and after 45 minutes I felt like I was going to hurl. Turns out that's what I did... YUP good old chuckage. It started with a sore throat and turned to body aches and now puking. Hopefully this passes before I head to LA for the Fit Expo. Took it easy today and hitting the bed early.

One thing I've learned over the years... listen to you body.

I'm currently about 9.5 weeks out from the first ever NPC Men's physique competition. It's been a challenge to get back into eating multiple meals a day and working out with high intensity. I'm 34 but some days I wake up and feel like I'm 80. This is where proper nutrition and supplementation play a huge role in recovery. I've been taking videos and progress photos. My goal in the next two weeks is to get those photos and videos up on this site.

I'll be heading to the LA FIT EXPO this weekend and looking forward to catching up with all the peeps at Bodybuilding.com and those attending with other companies. Time for another meal and to get the work out in.

Check back as I report more extensively on my quest to get back in shape and compete again (the last show was about 5 years ago).

DEADLINE IS THIS FRIDAY - JANUARY 14th!!!!

The WWE and the USA Network are bringing back the hit reality competition, Tough Enough. Casting producers are currently searching the globe for hardbody men and women to cast on the show. This is your chance to be the next WWE super star. One lucky competitor will earn a contract with the WWE. See complete details below.

Are you TOUGH ENOUGH to be the next WWE SUPERSTAR?

WWE and the USA Network are bringing back the hit reality competition show Tough Enough! One competitor will earn a WWE contract and be the next WWE Superstar!!!

Casting Producers are searching the world to find extraordinary men and women with the following qualities:

• CHARISMA
• PERSONALITY
• ATHLETICISM
• AGILITY
• STAMINA
• STRENGTH
And an INTENSE DESIRE to be the next WWE Superstar!

If you believe you have what it takes to not only earn the contract, but excel in World Wrestling Entertainment…

Email: ToughEnoughCasting@shedmediaus.com with your name, age, city and state, phone numbers, a current photo of you, and a brief paragraph about you and why you think you can make it in the WWE.

When this interface change? LOL! I've got my sites set on the 2011 NPC Northern Colorado in Boulder, Colorado. I will be doing the first ever Men's Physique contest in Colorado and stoked. I've got some exciting news to share once the paper work is signed. I'm just over 12 weeks out and have about 25-30lbs to loose. Will I do it? Yes and you can follow along with me. I'll be tweeting, doing video blogs, etc.

More info to come. Stay tuned...

One key to stay on track with your fitness goals is to write them down. Another thing that is VERY helpful... Make a list when going to the grocery store so you know exactly what you need to buy. I hadn't done that in awhile but did yesterday and went shopping for the next couple weeks. Here's a look at my shopping cart. Eating healthy isn't cheap but look at it as an investment in your life.

It's been awhile since I've posted here on Bodyspace but it's time to keep in touch. I've had a busy year covering shows across the country for Bodybuilding.com and it's been a fun year. We've provided some of the best coverage and images of each show through out the year.

Along the way, I found myself working out less and eating not necessarily bad but not often enough. It's challenging to eat healthy while traveling but not impossible. If you plan properly, it can be done. That said I needed a goal. Saying, "Oh I want to get my abs back" or "I'd like to be in shape again" wasn't cutting it. The NPC has introduced a new division in the NPC... the Men's Physique division. It's essentially a division for guys like me who like to workout, can eat healthy, look aight but don't have the genetics (or desire) to be a pro bodybuilder. I've done two bodybuilding shows and they were challenging but fun. I have no desire to compete in bodybuilding as I have nothing to prove. The new Men's Physique division gives me a new goal for the new year.

That said I will be journaling throughout the next 16 weeks as I go from flabby to fit. I'm happy to be working with one of the top trainers, Dylan Armbrust from Armbrust Pro Gym in Wheat Ridge, Colorado. Armbrust Pro gym is a no-nonsense gym where top IFBB Pros like Phil Heath work out. I'm about 30-35minutes away so the gym won't be my daily gym but I will be making the trip every other week. This will keep me on track with my diet plan that Dylan came up with and also help with a good workout.

I'm stoked to have a new goal and new plan for 2011. I've got a long way to go but it will be a fun journey. Follow along as I embark on my transformation to the 2011 NPC Northern - April 2nd, in Boulder, Colorado.

I just returned from the finals at the Europa Super show in Orlando. Here's the complete results from the show.

2010 Europa Show of Champions

Bikini
1. Nathalia Melo
2. Jaime Baird
3. Missy Coles
4. Kira Rivera
5. Janet Harding
6. Khanh Nguyen
7. Marzia Prince
8. Jessica Lawrence
9. Shay Monroe
10. Shelsea Montes
11. Sheryln Roy
12. Kat Holmes
13. Safiya Johnson
14. Julie Costa

Fitness
1. Camala Rodriguez
2. Myriam Capes
3. Regiane Da Silva
4. Erin Riley
5. Kristina Rojas
6. Allison Either
7. Sylvia Tremblay
8. Nicole Duncan
9. Melissa Fredrick
10. Kayde Puckett
11. Sandi Stuart
12. Victoria Larvie

Figure
1. Erin Stern
2. Marcy Porter
3. Cheryl Brown
4. Latisha Wilder
5. Candice Keene
6. Marie Ann Newman
7. Petra Metrl
8. Ann Titone
9. Candice John
10. Danielle Kifer
11. Elvimar Sanchez
12. Jessica Wright
13. Linda Fodor
14. Tessa Wood-Thomas
15. Listy Allen
16. Tammy Strome
16. Taylor Waldrop
16. Ginette Delhaes
16. Nina DiTommaso Morgan

Men's 202
1. Eduardo Da Silva Correa
2. Roc Shabazz
3. Jose Raymond
4. James Llewellin
5. Michael Valentino
6. Pierre Chamoun
7. John Arendsz
8. Rod Ketchen
9. Vincent Wawryk

Men's Open
1. Hidetada Yamagishi
2. Marcus Haley
3. Eugene Mishin
4. Michael Kefalianos
5. Constantinos Demetriou
6. Tarek Elsetouhi
7. Omar Deckard
8. Mark Antonek
9. Oliver Adzievski
10. Nathan Wonsley
11. Damaso Chacon
12. Stan Efferding
13. Mano Van Steenberghe
14. Joe Palumbo
15. Heinz Senior
16. Grigori Atoyan DNF

Today was the first day that http://www.kfc.com/doubledown/ (KFC) offered their http://www.kfc.com/doubledown/. The sandwich ditches the bread and uses two chicken breasts in it's place. In between the two Original Recipe® chicken filets are two piece of bacon, two slices of Montery Jack and Pepper Jack cheese along with the Colonel's Sauce. The "Colonel's Sauce" is still a mystery to me but maybe it's a guarded secret like the original recipe. The meatwich has 540 calories, 32 grams of fat and 1380 grams of sodium.

I decided to take a trip to my local KFC and give this bad boy a try. I should have known it was a bad idea when I saw a sketchy character wandering around near the exit of the drive-thru but I was determined to eat one on opening day. It's kind of like a baseball fan missing opening day at their local stadium. Okay, not really. I love chicken but don't remember the last time I ate at KFC. Any whoo I pulled up and was delighted to see they had it on the menu. A combo meal was $6.99 but I opted just for the sandwich.

The Drive-Thru sign with the Double Down.

As I pulled up to the drive-thru window, I noticed the shady character stumbling around once again. This KFC, located in Greenwood Village, Colorado, is not about speed. It took about five minutes to get the sandwich but maybe they were making it fresh. HAHA, ya right. I shilled out my $5.36 for the sandwich and started to pull ahead. That's when the bum came up to my car and started yelling, "Can I have some pennies... Do you have any pennies... Can I get a piece of chicken?" I tried to snap a pick but the dude was getting a little too close to comfort. I've lived in this area for 6 years and this is the first homeless man I've seen. I guess the Double Down brings out all types for opening day.

Shady character outside the local KFC.

I headed home and took the sandwich out of the KFC bag. It was presented in a little box that resembled something you'd see at McDonald's or Burger King but with the Colonel's mug on it. There's something wrong with him on anything but a bucket of chicken, but maybe that's just old school thinking.

The KFC Double Down box.

When you open the box up you're still left wondering what the Double Down looks like. It reminded me of a kid at Christmas time and having to tear through multiple wrappings to get to the real deal. The wrapper says, "CAUTION: HOT!" I think they wrap the sandwich with this so you don't get your hands lathered up from all the chicken grease.

CAUTION: HOT BREASTS INSIDE!

I finally get a glimpse at the double breasted beauty and it was glorious. I expected it to look nasty and disgusting but nope it looked strangely inviting.

The Double Down makes its appearance.

The masterpiece began to crumble when I picked it up. Grease soaked through the wrapper and the meaty breasts began to slide in opposite directions. I had to contemplate how I was going to actually eat this thing. Finally I decided to just go for it.

The double down begins to break apart.

The Colonel's Special Sauce caught me off guard. It had a funky mayonnaise taste to it, which I'm not a fan of. The chicken breasts were moist and actually tasted quite good. The more I ate the more I enjoyed what I was eating. I finished the sandwich and realized why I was given about 15 napkins. My hands were coated in grease and it was a fairly disgusting.

The greasy ending to the double down.

I was surprised that the sandwich didn't taste as bad as I thought. I was about to praise this meatwich on twitter until my stomach started having a throw-down. Ten minutes after I had finished the greasy goodness my body temperature went up and I broke out in a sweat. I kid you not, I thought The Kentucky Fighting Championships were taking place in my belly and the special sauce was winning. Another five minutes passed and I found myself here...

The Double Down's new home.

It went down my stomach, fought a bit, came back up and then went back down only this time down the toilet. It brought new meaning to the Double Down. I'm guessing you won't see my experience in any KFC commercials but sadly folks that was reality. I definitely experienced something unique today. I near beatdown by a bum followed by Double breasted meatwich that kicked my ass.

That's my experience, pretty gross, huh? Did you try the Double Down? If so what was your experience like? I wonder how many of these sandwiches "Furious Pete" could throw down. Hmmm... Might that beat one eating contest he can't win? I won't be participating but if anyone would like to challenge him at the BFE, I'd love to see it.

It's that time of year again when the competitive season gets under way. Another Arnold Classic is in the books and now it's time for a number of NPC and IFBB events. I'll be heading to Utah this weekend to photograph the NPC Top Form Classic. Any Bodyspacers competing or attending this event?

Friday afternoon I'll be photographing some of the top UFC fighters as they prepare for their upcoming events. One of the fighters I'll be photographing is undefeated Shane Carwin. Shane will be competing against Frank Mir later this month and hopes to get his chance at the belt, currently held by Brock Lesnar.

Next weekend I'll be making the trip to Culver City to photograph the first stateside IFBB Pro Bikini event. I'll be doing a number of photo shoots the following day and looking forward to the trip out to sunny Cali.

I've fallen behind on this blog as I've been busy running http://www.hardbody.com. Check it out if you get the chance and I'll do my best to post here more frequently.

Happy St. Paddy's Day!

Often times competitors get so caught up in winning that it is borderline unhealthy and to the point that it becomes an obsession. When the outside world looks at what a competitor goes through, many would and do consider it an illness.

I used this concept for a recent photo shoot in my studio with Tracey Greenwood. It is already causing some controversy on http://www.hardbody.com/news/2009/09/01/hardbody-shot-of-the-day-competitive-obsession which is good as it creates a discussion. Here's a sample of our shoot.

Many people in the fitness industry know him as "Jamie Eason's Boyfriend" but to the rest of the world he is Rich Luzzi, lead singer for the group Rev Theory. I had a chance to meet up with Rich as he performed live in my backyard of Lone Tree, Colorado. Rich tells me he works out every day and no matter what city they are in he finds time to make it to the gym. That's almost as impressive as their music. Check out this live acoustic version of "wanted man" I filmed during their apperance at BEST BUY.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_fviZ5K_uA[/youtube]

This month is going to be busy in the land of LIFT. I'm headed to Vegas this Thursday for UFC 100 and it is sure to be a great time. I'll be doing a couple shoots while in Vegas that should turn a few heads. Stay tuned for more live from vegas this week and you can also follow me on Twitter. http://www.twitter.com/liftstudios

Can you guess which Bodyspace Member this is? We met up in my studio recently for a photo shoot...

Rock'n the tops and bottoms with bodybuilding.com logo.

Bodybuilding.com's resident Richard /GlobalGossip/2009/06/24/isaac-tries-peanut-butter-for-1st-time/ about me not eating peanut butter before. Well, that wasn't entirely true. I hadn't tried the special blend of peanut butter that is made in the great state of Idaho. He failed to mention that little detail. This blend of nutty goodness contains rare nuts found in undisclosed locations. Most people are aware of Idaho's famous potatoes but you rarely hear anyone talk about their peanut butter. Yesterday, I tried a vat of the nutty butter and it was in fact very good.
I strayed away from this hidden gem out of fear I'd turn into the elephant man. Richard and his handy man Dean convinced me otherwise and I'm happy to report I didn't end up looking like this...