The Journey

I tried to plan this whole day 2 days ago, so that I wouldn’t cheat/mess up my diet.  Unfortunately, there were a couple foods that I didn’t realize how many calories came with them.  For instance, yellow corn.  For thanksgiving dinner I am estimating that I had about 6-8oz of turkey (white meat), 1/2 cup yellow corn, 1/2 cup sweet potatoes.  I hope this doesn’t effect my overall cutting.  1 meal shouldn’t do me in because I stayed strict the entire rest of the day but if my calculations are correct I consumed an excess of calories, which means tomorrow when I have access to the gym, I’ll probably have to up the cardio time to about 40 minutes.  On the other hand I was thinking that since I have been up since 2:30 in the morning those calories probably count differently since I didn’t go to sleep last night and my body needed them differently today.  I will see where I am at tomorrow when I go to the gym here.  I don’t have cottage cheese here in Jersey so I drank about 1 & 1/2 cups of skim milk before I went to sleep.  Need my slow absorbing protein!  Let’s up I stay strict for the rest of the time I am here!  I can’t deviate!  I must prevail!

I have perfected my control over how much weight I gain/lose/maintain each day.  It comes down to pure mathematics.  The cardio, although heart healthy, is just a supplement to my diet to put me at a decent deficit to burn fat.  I am about 1-2 weeks away from where I really want to be.  So I think I might meet my goal straight on.  I don’t want to lose too fast though like I did this past weekend otherwise I’ll go right into burning hard earned muscle. 

I’m somewhat worried about tomorrow because I won’t have my food scale or my measuring cups to control my portions, when I fly to New Jersey to visit my family.  My friends tell me that I should use tomorrow as a total cheat day.  I have been hypocaloric for the past 9-10 weeks measuring my portions for about 6 of those weeks, I don’t know if I could even think about cheating.  Thanksgiving is so hard because you have all this food around you and SO many BAD carbs.  I will have to count on "eyeing" my portions to determine 1 cup and so on.  I hope 1 day won’t set me back.

Anyway, I was thinking I would post my meal plan for a regular "cutting" day here so that maybe in 5 years when I’ve gained like 35 pounds of lean muscle mass I can look back on this and either laugh or say wow, that’s when I really started doing it right.  Feel free to critique it if you want, but it has worked for me so far.  So, here it is:

Meal 1 - 1/2 cup oatmeal or 1 cup Kashi Go lean Cereal or 1/4 cup Bob’s Whole Grain Cereal (all depending on how I feel), 1 whole egg, sometimes a protein shake (if I need the calories)

Meal 2 - 4 oz. can of low sodium tuna in water, 1 oz. slice of cheese

Meal 3 - 6 oz. Boneless skinless Chicken Breast, 1/2 cup brown rice or 1/4 cup Bob’s Whole Grain Cereal or 1/4 cup Couscous or 1/4 cup Quinoa (depending on how I feel that day), 1 cup broccoli

Meal 4 - Kashi Chewy Bar, 1/2 a banana

Meal 5 (Pre-workout) - 1/2 Cup oatmeal, 1/2 banana
(15 minutes before workout 1 scoop Green Mag, 1 scoop White Flood in 12 oz. water)
PWO Shake - 2 scoops Protein, 1 tsp. flaxseed oil, 2 tsps. glutamine

Meal 6 - 4-6 oz Ground Turkey Burger (no bread), 1 cup broccoli

Meal 7 (Pre-sleep) - 1/2 cup - 3/4 cup no-fat cottage cheese, 1 tbsp. organic peanut butter, 1 packet splenda

Depending upon the calories I put in more, or less.  When I start bulking I will just be taking in more of calories these good foods!!

Ok scratch the morning cardio idea.  It just came down to caloire deficit.  I woke up this morning and I was 144lbs.  This is bad.  I lost too much muscle this weekend.  I have been playing with calories in & out for the last week.  It seems when I take in less than 2000 a day and do 40 minutes cardio I lose too much weight.  If I take in more than 2100 and do 40 minutes cardio I hardly lose anything.  So It seems I have to be right at exactly 2000 calories plus 40 minutes cardio to hit the right amount each week.  Over the past 3 days I lost 2 lbs going from 146-144.  That’s no good.  Fortunately, out of that 2.5 lbs. I lost about .5% bodyfat to bring me down to about 9.1%.  I would rather not lose that much weight to lose that much bodyfat though.   At least now I know how to be dead on with my fat loss and calories each day.  It amazes me how much science and math takes part in this type of thing.  I am dedicated to finding the path for myself that gets me to where I want to be.

Someone asked me the other day why I was doing this.  Firstly, it’s a goal, we all have goals and I am one to never give up on them.  Secondly, I will be going through a bulking cycle through the whole month of January.  Since I have never really gone through a cutting cycle before I want to know exactly how to do it again after I bulk in January.  I definitely learning so much about my body along the way, and this is really going to make things easier for me in the future.  Now if I could just master the last few pounds of fat.  I’m patient, and perseverant with all that I do.  It will come.

With exactly 3 more weeks until my goal date I am flustered.  My body-type leans towards storing fat no matter how well I eat.  I basically have a prestine diet (for my height & weight) and I do cardio at least 6 days a week.  What’s wrong with this picture?  Do I have to reduce calories again?  I’m already reduced to about 2000 a day.  I started at about 2600, which is about maintenance for my weight and height, and I have gradually dropped so as to not lose muscle, taking every precaution I can.   I was at 2000 calories last week, maybe it’s time to drop it another 100 calories to see what happens.  I’m also going to start doing 2 cardio sessions a day.  Yes this means my lifting is going to suffer, I know this.  I’m well aware of that and have already changed my split to accomodate such heavy cardio stress.  I will switch my routine to a 3 day Push/Pull/Legs split, and reduce the volume tremendously.  If I keep going with the added cardio and my 5 day split I think I’ll pass out by the end of the week.

This week is going to be tough because I am flying to New Jersey Thursday to spend time with family for thanksgiving.  I have planned to do the 3 day split the first 3 days of this coming week.  I was also researching bodyweight workouts that I could do at home as well.  Fortunately, I have been measuring my food for so long with scales and cups that I know exactly what 1 cup of rice or broccoli looks like etc.  So when I sit down to have the turkey I’ll hopefully be able to "eye" my portions.  I will also have to run outside in the cold Jersey weather to get my cardio in.  At this point, it’s "WHATEVER IT TAKES".  I’m going to push my body.  Yes I may get extremely tired and probably not have a social life besides fitness, but I have set this goal for myself.  There can be celebration afterwards when I start to bulk for 1 month in January.  God I can’t wait.  This is hell.

Well, it seems I have figured out exactly how my body needs to lose that last bit of bodyfat to get me down to 8% and below.  The cardio I was doing before (Low Intensity for about 50 minutes or HIIT) wasn’t cutting it anymore.  I have changed the cardio to 6-7 days at a jogging pace of 5.2 on the treadmill which burns a total of more calories than both other ways.

Yes I know all you HIIT Cardio people out there might disagree, but whenever I do HIIT Cardi it seems it doesn’t change a thing.  Maybe my body is so used to cardio now that I really need a good effort over the course of a longer time period.

Anyway, as soon as I bumped my cardio up to just a run/jog everyday my measurements of bodyfat progressively have gone down.  This sucks because that means I have the body type that really needs a concerted effort to get to the lower digit bodyfat levels.  Dammit.  Whatever it takes, though.  I might have to extend my goal to 14 weeks to get the results that I want.  I hate that, but I’m not the type of person to quit when I set a goal.  I was stalled at 9.7 now I am seeing results again.  The correct amount of time I need with the amount of cardio I am doing probably will be right around that 2-3 weeks maybe a little more.  I just have to keep up my efforts and make sure I don’t lose too much "weight" at one time because we all know that is muscle loss too.

Thank god I found out what my problem was because I was really starting to get pissed off. Focusing on total calories burned has been the key for me now.  According to the treadmill, which is more or less accurate because it takes my bodyweight I burn 400 calories in 40 minutes at a speed of 5.2.  This seems to be sufficient to engage my progress each day little by little.

I feel like my progress has almost stalled.  I have read that your body gets used to lots of cardio after awhile, that’s why I instituted HIIT cardio and a moderate (running steady-state at a faster pace) cardio.  I have seen increased definition all around, but it’s either taking twice as long now to shed like the last 1-2 pounds or I am doing something wrong.  I’m basically on a 40/40/20 macronutrient split 6 meals a day, cardio basically 7 days a week with variances…Maybe it just takes time to hit the low percentages.  For now I am somewhat stuck at 9-9.5%.  Some people have recommended carbohydrate cycling for me, but when I take in low carbs my workouts suck major ass.  I don’t want to sacrifice intense workouts.  Any ideas anyone?

Last night I went to a bar with some friends, who had to really convince me to go.  I got my usual, water.  Alcohol messes too much with my progress so I just stay away from it.  I walked up to the bar to order my usual water and these 2 girls start talking to me.  I was flattered, but I knew that this conversation was going to take a turn for the worst when they asked the same old question that I have recently been getting a lot, "why aren’t you drinking? (alcohol)."  Sigh…It just frustrates me to no end when I get this question.  Then, I have to go through my whole schpeel about how I basically gut it out of my diet, and I going through a cutting phase, and blah blah blah.  I could tell after I went through that the 2 girls were basically uninterested anymore.  I understand fully now the sacrifices that people make to reach their goals.  We go up against people who just don’t understand and don’t want to understand, but I’ll tell you what.  We are better for it.  I will be better for it.

Needless to say I still got their phone numbers, but I don’t think I will be calling them because if people don’t understand that goals in general require some sacrifice, then they are not worth my time.

There are now 3 weeks left for me to meet my goal of 8% bodyfat.  I actually am not even sure if I want to stop there.  The journey so far has taught me so much, it’s almost like why be satisfied with just good?  Why not go for awesome?  Who knows.

There are 2 more days in week 8 of my 12 week cutting cycle.  I haven’t taken my bodyfat yet this week, but as I look in the mirror the cuts in the abdominal region and pretty much everywhere else are starting to get very pronounced.  There is just this little tiny bit of fat at the very bottom of my stomach that I figure will be the last thing to come off me.  I would estimate I’m right at the 9.2% range maybe a little bit higher.  The thing that I am most happy about is that I am starting to see strength INCREASES in certain muscles.  Yesterday, I did Stiff Legged Deadlifts at the highest weight I have ever had, which tells me that my hamstrings are finally starting to come up.  My back is also starting to become a pinnacle in my training.  Back day is probably my favorite lifting day because I get to do Full Deadlifts.  Anyway, I’ll update more progress this coming week.  Soon going to be starting the last 3 weeks of cutting.  If I don’t reach my goal I’m not entirely sure if I am going to keep cutting or not.  We’ll have to see.

Success is determined by those individuals that when confronted with a task, put 100% of themselves into the discipline and sacrifice that it takes to achieve completion of this task. Patience, sacrifice, endurance, diligence. I must know these virtues. I must live by them to reach my goals. Although, the journey is the most educational part, the end result will yield the reward of a liftime. I know what I want. It doesn’t matter when people ask "why?" It doesn’t matter when you think you cannot. It only matters that you DO. That is all. Nothing will stop you. Do it for myself and myself alone. For what I get out of it, no one can take from me.

Week 8 and I am well on my way.  Only about 1-2 more percent of bodyfat to go until I reach my ultimate goal.  I’ll keep hard at it this week.  I took a rest day yesterday.  It was much needed because I have been going strong and hitting it hard for almost 2-3 months straight.  My body deserved a day where I just did nothing.  Anyway, back to the grind.  I have the last 4 weeks ahead of me till my goal is realized.  Wish me luck!!!