Brandon’s Fitness Blog

Two years, 3 months ago I started my first year of college.  I was 5′6 and less than 130 lbs.  I had no interest at all in lifting weights or getting into shape for that matter.  I was in love with skateboarding and that’s where I put all of my attention.  What I did not know was that my skateboarding journey was going to come to a halt.  And what a halt it was.  I broke the 5^th metatarsal in m foot which put me out of the sport for a couple of months. 

During this time I decided that I needed to focus my attention on a new hobby.  I was taking a health and fitness class that semester which required us to exercise once a week.  Once I got into the gym I started to see the “buff guys and wanted to be like them.  The buff guys get the girls right?  Talk about some inspiration.  The only problem was that I had no clue on how to achieve a muscular figure.  What did I do?  I mimicked what the big guys did in the gym.  I performed some of the same exercises as them and did a lot of machine exercises.  I was afraid of getting hurt so I stayed away from a lot of free weights except for dumbbell curls.  I took a vicious approach to getting my biceps bigger.  I worked them out every day.  Was this the right thing to do?  Probably not, but it worked for a while.  While I was focusing on my arms (mainly biceps), I was neglecting my legs due to my foot injury.

My foot injury wasn’t getting any better, but I could tell a noticeable difference in the size of my upper body within the first three months of lifting weights.  I was going to the gym every other day for about an hour at a time.  I would supposedly be doing a full body workout in that amount of time, but now having more experience, I’ve learned I was only working a couple of muscles by doing bicep curls, chest flies, and rows.  I may not have been doing it completely right, but I had DETERMINATION.  I did not give up and kept on working out which produced descent results.

It wasn’t until about a year later that I started to watch what I was eating.  I wanted a six pack so my gut had to go.  I did not have a clue of what to do.  My foot injury was still reoccurring so running was out of the picture.  So I relied on my diet.  I started cutting out things little by little.  Over the course of a year I was adding and cutting different things to achieve the diet I am now on.

The Start of a Diet 

The first thing I started cutting was food high in fat and soda beverages.  I ate a lot of “Fat Free products not realizing that a lot of them are potentially just as bad for you as the regular food items.  All I drank was water, and I drank a lot of it.  Once I cut out fat I started fixing a healthier breakfast.  I would buy the “healthy cereal and fat free milk.  Nothing else changed much and neither did my body.  What else could I change?  I started eating a lot of protein (I didn’t buy protein powder until many months later).  I would fix chicken or tuna almost every night.  And to my surprise I started growing:growing fast!  I was adding decently lean muscle, but I was still wasn’t happy.  I needed to cut down just a little more.  So I quit eating my cereal for breakfast and opted for 6 egg whites with one yolk.  I also had some toast and jelly with it.  This was always a great way to kick-start my day.  What did I change next you ask?  Carbs.  I no longer ate regular white carb products.  I relied on 100% whole wheat not to mistaken with regular “wheat products.  My body started looking a lot better, but there was one more thing I needed to do.  I had to cut out my sugar.  Once I did that everything started coming along nicely.

My Diet Now: