tone4now’s BodyBlog

I have some situations in life that I have absolutely no control of it and it really pisses me off. One situation involves this woman I know at my gym. At one point we were friendly because we worked by each other and would always run into each other. My ex-fiance and I even went out to dinner with her and her husband a few years back. But one day this spring I caught her cheating on her husband. I had noticed she was spending a lot of time at the gym talking to a guy that was not her husband. One day I was walking down the street and I literally ran into her and this other guy. She begged me not to tell anyone. I didn’t but I was disgusted nevertheless.

I have refused to talk to her under any circumstance since but she has been openly flaunting her affair at my gym the past few months. It makes me want to ****ing puke. My blood boils and I seeth with anger. If it were up to me, I would take pictures of her with this guy and send them to her husband. But I have been advised not to do so. So instead, at the gym I have found an outlet for my intense anger.

First thing I do when I get to the gym is mix White Flood powder into maybe 5oz’s of water and slam it. It doesn’t take long before the WF kicks in and a tidal wave of energy hits me. My heart starts beating faster and I start to pace around hell-bent on crushing the weights. The next thing I do is put on Earth Crisis’s "Destroy the Machines." If you have never heard Earth Crisis, that album is more brutal than anything I’ve ever heard. Being sober, listening to them furiously whip Straight Edge East Coast Hardcore pops the veins out of my neck. It’s just so ****ing brutal. At this point, I am so amped up I grab my workout towel from the main room and look up. One last glimpse of this disgusting cheating bitch on the stairmaster next to her scumbag on-the-side hookup. Bile in my stomach rises up and I make a bee-line for the almighty bench press. The screaming from my ipod blasts as I stack the 45’s up. 1. 2. 3. 4.

My heart is beating out of my chest. I’m livid and seething with hatred. The screaming from my iPod rattles my ears and all I can do to block out my rage is lay down on the bench and throw that **** up. When I leave the gym I feel relieved knowing I channel my aggression into healthier outlets today. And I look forward to doing the same exact thing the next day all over again….

I am back on track and more hell-bent then ever to get get my program hitting on all cylinders. From April to the end of July I had completely peaked out physically. My body fat% was extremely low — deep into the single digits. But consistently since then, life has not afforded me the possibility to eat ultra clean without interruption. I’ve had two week-long vacations staying with family members with ****ty eating habits (it was not worth it or fair to force them to bend to my insane eating habits). Also I had a 3-day wedding and a 3-day bachelor party. It was great to enjoy to life and eat whatever I wanted. That really is what life is all about for me. Having fun with friends and family. But now the smoke has cleared and I am more determined than ever to get back real low deep in to the single-digit range. My diet is basically contest prep and I’ve been known to do it for months without cheating. I will eat clean, sleep hard, and train like a psychopath all the way until Thanksgiving. And then I will enjoy my turkey! Have a great Fall everyone…

Day after day, I pour my blood, sweat, and tears into fitness. It starts right after I wake up. I head to the kitchen and pound some oatmeal and a protein shake. Fitness is a way of a life. And while it can get tough watching people live life without abandon (stuffing their face with burrito’s and drinking booze), the payoff does come. And when it does, it’s worth every second of it.

 One of my payoffs came today. We went to the beach to play volleyball. And it felt so beyond good being comfortable in my own skin out there. Back when I lived recklessly, I was not comfortable enough in my own skin to take my shirt off at the beach (if I made it there at all). I looked too sick and unhealthy. Life is different today. I was so proud to show my full self today. My transformation is something I take great pride in. I am just so much happier like this. And if being comfortable in my own skin and having a good time means I can’t stuff my face with cookies, smoke a pack of cigs everyday, or drink booze — then that is a sacrifice I am willing to make.

The bottom line is when I eat right, work out, and take care of myself — I am more confident, out-going, and happy. Two full years of hard work have paid off and I am forever grateful for this new life I live.

Well, it’s that time of year. We are about one week out from March and Spring is just around the corner. Even though we have 8" of snow outside, I want to be completely torn up again by the first day of good weather. So I’m beginning to tighten up my diet and experimenting with new supplements. Today I ordered GLYCERGROW by Controlled Labs. I loved White Flood but cycled off it because stimulants are certainly not to be used 365 days a year. I am hoping GG gives me a mean pump and, of course, sick vascularity. The off-season has been pretty good to me but It’s going to take a month or so to get the abdominal region super cut up again. I absolutely have more muscle mass this time around so I’m hoping I will look stronger than last summer. A lot of positive things seem to be happening in my life currently (work is great, moving into a nice place April 1st, etc) and being totally shredded would be icing on the cake. Looking forward to staying motivated through Body Space and consistently doing what I need to do to achieve my goals. Good luck to those starting Spring cuts!!

Yesterday I recieved White Flood (Controlled Labs) from BB.com in the mail. Words don’t describe how excited I was to try it. I have never really used a pre-workout supplement before and lately I’ve noticed my workout routine has gotten repetitive. Some days I’ve lacked the motivation and really had to force myself through workouts. Today at noon I took two scoops, mixed it with water, and chugged it down. By the time I finished my 10 minute drive to the gym, I was overwhelmed with energy. I tossed my clothes in the locker, put my earphones in, and flew down the stairs to the weight room. Today was back/biceps day and I couldn’t believe how quickly I worked my first three sets of seated rows. The main difference I noticed was I needed virtually no rest between sets. It was unbelieveable! Not only did I lift more but the rest between sets was drastically reduced. Even though the recommended dose for someone my weight is two scoops, I believe I will take only one tommorow. It’s been nearly three years since I’ve drank alcohol or done drugs and the slightest thing (like caffeine) effects me mentally and physically more than normal. Two scoops didn’t have me jittery but definitely overwhelmed me. I must have filled my water bottle up twenty times today to keep me settled. But it definitely kept me focused and gave me that extra surge to push hard. All in all, it’s an exceptional supplement. Definitely a whole different world and I look forward to seeing the results in the near future!

Well, I started my Fall bulk fairly early this year (around August 1st) and I gotta admit im loving it. In six weeks I’ve put on a solid 15 pounds and ive been lifting heavier than ever. I am now rountinely doing 3 sets/10 reps of 195 on the bench press with ease. Not bad for an 160 pound guy. My body fat% has gone up a good deal but what is the point of having six-pack abs during the winter in Chicago? What am I going to do? Walk around my gym shirtless? My bulk has been relatively clean but much more lax than during the spring/summer. I’m still not eating pizza, sweets, fast food, or fried foods. I want my body fat% to stay fairly low so when I cut it won’t take too long to bring back my six-pack. I’m consistenly eating 3000-3500 calories everyday (about 1000-1500 more than during the summer). My goal is to get up to 170 pounds by Febuary and start my 3-month cut in March. Hope everyone enjoyed the summer but now its time to BULK BULK BULK!

My experience in the little over a year I’ve been working out, is the battle is truely won in the kitchen. Complete body transformation requires complete dedication to eating healthy. For me, getting to the gym 5-7 times a week is easy. The difficult part is eating clean 5-6 times a day EVERYDAY. The payoff, however, is huge and life-changing. My entire world has changed since I got fit. In May of 2007 I weighed 167 pounds and was desperately out of shape from a diet of Philly Cheesesteaks, Pizza, and cigarettes. I hadn’t worked out since High School! Not sure what my turning point was but I all of a sudden had the urge to get physically fit. After a month of fat-shedding cardio, I started doing full-body work outs (upper body one day/lower body the next) on the weight machines. Eventually I switched to muscle-isolation workouts (triceps/chest, biceps/back, neck/shoulders) with free-weights. All this has been good for building muscle, but getting tight ab’s is a war won almost 100% in the kitchen. A lot of my diet is common sense. Some of it comes from people, like xNickEdgex, on here. No fried foods. No fast food. No sweets. No overly processed food. Generally speaking my diet consists of McCann’s 100% whole grain Oatmeal (every single day without fail), egg whites, ezekial bread, boneless skinless chicken breast, Chilean Sea Bass, salmon, broccolli, spinach, green beans, cucumbers, banana’s, apples, all types of berries, light tuna in water straight out of the can, skim milk, Kashi heart to heart, almonds, cashews, vegan unprocessed Larabar’s, etc. Of course I also take loads of whey protein and have atleast one protein shake every day. This diet has helped me maintain an extremely low body fat%. This dedication has transformed me physically AND mentally. I percieve the world differently today. I have never felt so good.