thepackleader’s BodyBlog

Well, I had done another 12 week cut.  Lost only 8lbs, but lost 6% bodyfat.  So I was able to put on muscle at the same time.  Which felt good.  During it I was a little frustrated with the scale, but I was able to see my changes.  This week I have taken it very easy.  I got a new tattoo on my back so letting it heal and not doing much at the gym.  I can tell that my self image is a struggle when I’m not working at the gym.  I have not gained a single pound but I feel like I’m all bloated, fat and ugly.  Some of that is just viewing myself as I was many many lbs ago.  Changing somewhat quickly doesn’t allow for the brain to catch up I guess.  Hopefully the self image will improve with time and get better as well when I start back up full force next week.

I’ve done a few days of the Insanity workout.  Just the 12 minute warm-up though.  Going along with taking it a little bit easy.  Though I have to say even that warm-up really gets my heart rate up.  It is comparable to when I do 20 minutes of HIIT.  I am just as out of breath if not more.  I can say that I pour more sweat!   This I like.  So with some of that and some P90X added into what I already do maybe I can get this fat off sooner.  Through most of this I was working extremely hard to keep my muscle.  I think I’ve moved past that for now.  I think I want to just lose this fat and do it ASAP.  Then worry about adding muscle once I am lean.  That should help my self image.  Hoping that will make things a bit easier for me mentally.

I owe my success of the past 12 weeks to SteveP78,Team Poynter, and www.fitnesspoynters.com.  The Psychotic Fat Burning plan from Steve gave me a great meal plan and constantly changing workouts.  Then all the moral support and encouragement from the Team pushed me to new limits.  As I said only lost 8lbs, but 6% bodyfat.  Thanks a bunch!

I dunno who may be interested or not, but I got my blood work done. As I do every 3 months for my diabetes. I am not sure who knows what, but my A1C (which is like a 3 months average for glucose level) is only 5.9. With the diabetic med I once had a 5.9 and even a 5.7. That 5.9 is with no med. My cholesterol the last time with a med was only 111, but my good cholesterol was only 36. Should be 40-60. This time my cholesterol is 123 (no med) and the good cholesterol is clear up at 47. My triglycerides were 117 last time and down to 82 now.

To give you comparisons. When I was diagnosed in Nov of 2007 my A1C was 9.2. Cholesterol was 212. My triglycerides were 298. Good cholesterol was 34.

I can just imagine how healthy I can become with I get even more of this fat off!  Not like my dad ever gets online or reads something like this, but Thank God for my dad! He made that first step for me by getting me signed up for a gym. I was on a path of early death.

I have to give a big thanks to the MT Transformation Contest.  It gave me something to push towards.

An even bigger thanks has to go to Bodybuilding.com.  If not for the contest, bodyspace, the forum, and great feedback on here I wouldn’t have accomplished any of this.  So if you doubt, just take a look at my progress.  If you need inspiration look all over bodybuilding.com.  Want advice ask people on here.  Read articles.  There are many fantastic articles on this site that give options and that answer loads of questions you might have!

Whatever your goal, you CAN do it.

So I’m getting help from Team Poynter.  I’ve gotten SteveP78’s Psychotic Fat Burning Plan and I am excited to get it started tomorrow!  I had stalled out.  While I hadn’t gained a bunch of weight back I hadn’t been losing anything either.  I got the plan a few days ago and started the diet already.  Simple and easy to follow.  I can feel my metabolism ramped up again already.  The workout looks serious, but I’m going to rock it hard.  I can’t wait to see myself at a much lower body fat %.  Hopefully eating properly and losing more weight I will have more energy to play with my kids during summer break!  Thanks to SteveP for being such an awesome guy.  You rock man!

I did my 12 week transformation for the MT contest.  I need more work and am definitely not finished.  I am already 2 days into my next 12 weeks.  I plan to lose weight a little slower this time and preserve a much muscle as possible.  My goal is to lose 1.5-2lbs per week.  I am hoping to get myself down to 6-8% bodyfat.  Hopefully I can put on a few lbs of muscle in that time.  I shall continue my journey.

This contest has given me a great opportunity in which I have seized the day.  I am a type 2 diabetic with high cholesterol.  I no longer need to take any meds.   I have been able to get both fat way down and my diet under control.  This contest has been a wonderful lifestyle change.  I was able to burn off a bunch of fat through hard work and determination.  I was able to keep my muscle and build much more thanks to Anabolic Halo for post workout.  Without it I wouldn’t have been able to work so hard.

My diet has drastically changed.  At first it was hard to eat “clean” but as I did it I found it got easier.  Things started to taste better and I was able to spice it up.  I now eat on a great schedule for a diabetic to keep my glucose controlled.

I look and feel better.  My immune system has gone from poor to strong.  My wife and children are proud of me.  I don’t  feel  fat or see myself as ugly.  It gives me a more positive outlook on all of life.   My inner and outer transformation has influenced others to try the same.   Where would I have been without MuscleTech and Bodybuilding.com giving me this opportunity to change?  I would still be on meds and feel terrible.  Thank you for this chance at a new and better life.  [i]Thank you to all the positive motivational people[/i].

Grrr…  My wife has been testing me with a caliper and doing the 7 fold pinch test.  Last check was 11.62%.  I heard the 9 fold was even more accurate. It says 11.18%.  There can be no way I am that low!  I can’t see my abs.  I see a lot of fat on my abdominal area.  Sure my legs are getting pretty lean, my arms pretty much, and my back.  But under the arms or side of the chest isn’t neither is the abdominal area.  Is it possible to have that percentage and still have that much fat there?  I am truly doubting it.  I am at 244lbs.  So to be at 8% if I was at 11.18% I would need to lose about 8lbs of just fat.  But still…  So frustrating.  Wish I knew where to get hydrostatic testing done or if I can even afford it.  Posting my stats with that percentage make me feel like a liar, but I can only post what I come up with on the caliper testing.  I feel better when I see number changes.  Just looking and seeing if I look better doesn’t help me as much as it does for some.  Mostly because I don’t trust myself.  Since when I was much fatter I told myself I looked fine.  I can see this or that muscle when it was NOT true!

I had posted my back picture in progress and I didn’t mind it.  I thought it could use work, but I didn’t hate it.  I feel my front still has lots of work to be done.  The loose skin gets to me at times.  I really have had a hard time giving myself credit for the hard work I have put in.  Someone in the forums did a lot of putting before and after pictures into one for comparison.  So I thought "Hey, why not".  So I did it.  I didn’t even pay that much attention while I was doing it.  Then when I looked at the finished product, I was blown away.  I broke down and cried.  That doesn’t even look like the same person.  While I still have so much work to do on the front I actually feel a little better about my appearance seeing closely what I’ve done so far.  If it wasn’t for mostly good supportive people in that thread, some fellow bodyspacers, MuscleTech, and BB.com doing this contest I would still be that too big guy.  That didn’t feel comfortable with himself.  Can I even put a price on that?  Can Thank You even start to cover it?  Probably not, but Thank You all!

I’m going hard and all the way for this transformation contest.  I hope that the MuscleTech judges don’t over look me if I don’t come in as "ripped" as some of these hard workers have.  Starting out with so much more fat makes that totally ripped look in that amount of time quite a bit tougher.  If I place or not I am still becoming comfortable with how much better I look and feel.  I have to remember, no more diabetic med.  I even don’t need my cholesterol med.  No matter what I have to remember that I didn’t slack.  I didn’t give up.  I worked arduously on both cardio and weights.  No strength loss thus far, but a great deal of fat loss.  I will post my final pics and essay by May 7th.  I have to post them with a measure of proud accomplishment even if I am hard on myself.  Thank you to all the bodyspace people who have encouraged and been so positive.  You have helped me in so many ways with kind words and a little advice!

I am having a hard time with this transformation.  Stayed right on in the diet.  Working hard on both weights and cardio.  I have lost a lot of poundage without losing any strength so far.  Being at 15.8% bodyfat puts me finally at where a lot of people in this started at or there abouts.  I feel soooo far behind.  I look at myself and think I’m still way too fat.  I look at my muscles I can see and say they are too small.  I see my stats raising on my lifting but I say that isn’t much.  The past few days I am weighing a bit more on the scale.  Why?  I haven’t eaten more.  I haven’t worked out less.  I’m using Hydroxycut Hardcore.  Whenever I can look at myself and think well yeah I have lost a good amount, I see that loose skin.  Then I start thinking about how terrible that looks.  The ugly stretch marks.  I am really annoyed with myself for not allowing positivity into my thoughts about my appearance.  All of it and even this blog seem whiny to me.  Which again annoys me.  I also angry at myself for allowing my weight to get to that point in the first place.  I wouldn’t be having loose skin and stretch marks if I hadn’t allowed it to become such a problem.  I wouldn’t have all this disgusting fat to lose if I hadn’t allowed it to accumulate.  I am good at seeing the positive changes in others and giving out encouragement to them.  I truly feel the positivity and encouragement that I say, just not for myself.

Giving Hydroxycut a try for these last few weeks.  I am hoping that it can help me lose the last bit of lbs I want by May.  Had to take out my carnitine and green tea to pay for it, but at least the Hydroxycut has the tea in it.  My overall goal is to be 8-10% by May.  Was at 16.8 last time I checked.  It is a tall order, but I think I can do it with enough hard work and dedication.  Would have been nice if I could afford the whole arsenal of MuscleTech products that others we able to use.  If I had been smarter and started in January when I first notice the contest I might have already been where I need to be.  Which would have helped tremendously so I had time to fine tune things.  But no excuses!