Daily News Archives
May 2007
05/31/2007 - Feeling much better today; Fall/Winter plans.
05/30/2007 - Crash; Diet change for next two days.
05/29/2007 - Monthly photos will be taken as scheduled; A couple of new pictures.
05/28/2007 - More temptations; Down to 195 pounds; Monthly pictures to be delayed?
05/27/2007 - Excellent week of progress!
05/26/2007 - Beating intense cravings.
05/25/2007 - No more refeeds; New pictures of my legs.
05/24/2007 - Special mid-week measurements & body fat reading; New products from AtLarge!
05/23/2007 - "We may be through with the past, but the past ain't through with us."
05/22/2007 - Cod for breakfast?!; June "100 Challenge" open for entry!
05/21/2007 - Diet and training changes!
05/20/2007 - No progress this week.
05/19/2007 - My morning routine.
05/18/2007 - No progress so far this week; Membership packages have been upgraded.
05/17/2007 - More on my summer training; General diet outline for summer.
05/16/2007 - Tentative summer training split.
05/15/2007 - Upgrades completed; New forum style added; Skipping workouts.
05/14/2007 - Forum upgrade to take place this morning.
05/13/2007 - Weekly measurements; Happy Mother's day!
05/12/2007 - Saturday morning grumbles...
05/11/2007 - I love HIIT cardio; New 2007 cutting low; Feeling awesome this morning.
05/10/2007 - Feeling great this morning; My new home construction journal is "live"!
05/09/2007 - I can't think this morning.
05/08/2007 - Dealing with low blood sugar weakness; Plans for the summer!
05/07/2007 - Meal plan changes.
05/06/2007 - Weekly measurements and body fat reading.
05/05/2007 - Loving the new camera; New picture; Final rewrite for new home.
05/04/2007 - Below 200 pounds; Weight chart discussion.
05/03/2007 - Deadlifts; 2003 vs. 2007 back comparison.
05/02/2007 - Return of the deads; A few new pictures taken with my new camera.
05/01/2007 - New progress photos are up; April in review.
May 31, 2007
Yesterday's diet made a world of difference. I feel "normal" this morning. The mind fog has lifted, the feelings of frustration and doubt have vanished and all my muscles look fuller. Even though the carbs I ate yesterday were from "clean" foods, my body is retaining water this morning. I'm up to 197.2 pounds and feel a little water-logged. I think a lot of the water is in my muscle, though, because I still look pretty vascular and my mid-section doesn't look too bad, I guess.
I was talking to Mastover about my lower ab fat/skin/water (whatever the heck it is) that never seems to go away. He feels that even at 6% body fat it's still going to be there--at least for now. The plan is to hit my body fat goal, enjoy the summer, then go on a slow, controlled bulk this fall/winter. I won't get above 220 pounds or 12% body fat during this bulk. I'll do cardio and carb cycle while bulking. Then I'll cut down again--probably to 6% body fat, or maybe even less. Mastover feels that I can get rid of my problem area completely, but it's going to take a lot of time and hard work. I'm fine with that.
May 30, 2007
I crashed yesterday--hard. I felt tired, lethargic and weak. My brain was in a fog and I couldn't think. I was feeling depressed and irritable. I did some posing in front of the mirror and thought my muscles looked flat and I looked small. The last remaining fat around my mid-section seemed to stand out more than ever. Overall, I honestly thought I looked better a month ago. After how hard I've worked this month, this put me in an even worse mood. I started to question why I bother, and what was the point of all my hard work if this was how I was going to look...
I was very tempted to go on a massive junk food binge. Instead of doing something stupid like that, I decided to contact Mastover and ask for his advice. His reply started off like this: "The PM you just sent me indicates that you are right where you need to be, both mentally and physically." That caught me off guard, but I know he's been in this spot countless times, so I read on with interest...
I'm glad I didn't break my diet or give up. After discussing what I'm going through with Mastover I feel much better--especially because Dr. Mastover prescribed CARBS and STEAK! Yep, for the next two days I finally am going to get a break from nonstop cod, and I'm also going to get some carbs! I'm not going to bother to enter this into my spreadsheet, but I will make a note of my diet for today and tomorrow in my food log, along with a link to this update. Starting Friday I'll resume my posted diet.
Here's my diet for today and tomorrow:
WEDNESDAY
Meal #1: 6 oz steak, 5 egg whites, 1 grapefruit
Meal #2: 6 oz chicken, 1 cup broccoli
Meal #3: 6 oz steak, 1 grapefruit
Meal #4: 3/4 cup oatmeal (measured before cooking), 5 oz sweet potato, 3 egg whites
Meal #5: 1 medium banana, 1/2 cup oatmeal, 4 oz chicken
Meal #6: 1 medium banana, 1/2 cup oatmeal, 1 grapefruit, 10 Mass Aminos
THURSDAY
Meal #1: 1 cup oatmeal, 1 medium banana, 3 oz chicken
Meal #2: 6 oz sweet potato, 1 medium banana, 3 oz chicken
Meal #3: 6 oz steak, 1 grapefruit
Meal #4: 6 oz steak, 1 grapefruit
Meal #5: 6 oz steak, 1 grapefruit
Meal #6: 6 oz steak, 1 grapefruit, 3 tbsp nat. peanut butter
I knew getting down to 6% body fat would be a huge physical and mental test, and so far it has been. I feel like I am a very disciplined person, and my mental toughness is one of my strongest assets. So, even though I knew this would be a very challenging endeavor, I have been caught off guard by some of the insecurities and doubt that have crept up as I've progressed. I didn't expect this sort of doubt at this stage of the game, and it's proven to be one of the most difficult tests for me to pass.
I'm going to go get my cardio done so I can get to work on some of this food!!
May 29, 2007
Yesterday I wrote that I was leaning towards delaying my June monthly pictures until I hit 6% body fat. I've decided against doing this. I expect to hit 6% early in June, but in reality it could take longer than anticipated. I don't want to feel pressured to end my cut early just because I need to take my monthly pictures, so I'll continue as I always have and when I reach my goal I'll take some additional photos.
Speaking of photos, I took a couple yesterday. One is of me laying in the sun while one of my dogs (Turtle) looks on, and the other is a back double-bicep shot taken post-workout. My posing is not very good in the back double-bicep shot (what else is new?) I should have taken the photo standing up. Anyway, it's awesome that my "love handle" area is finally leaning up. Both photos can be found in my photo journal starting here. Please ignore my whining about my lower ab fat. I was having a bit of a low-carb meltdown last night. Sigh.
May 28, 2007
Lisa and I relaxed and watched movies all day yesterday, which of course involved massive quantities of delicious snacks and treats...for Lisa. Yes, yesterday was another day full of dietary temptations and unbelievable cravings. The growls in my stomach were almost as loud as the crunching noises coming from my left as Lisa chowed down to her heart's content in all her ectomorphic glory. I kept grabbing the bowl of snack mix and inhaling deeply, imagining that I was eating it. Yeah, things are getting a little weird. At one point I grabbed two snack crackers from the bowl; Lisa's jaw fell open in amazement! Her astonishment melted into a smirk as I tossed a cracker to each of our dogs.
My "treat" came this morning: I'm down to a new 2007 cutting low 195 pounds, and looking extremely lean! My trouble area just below my belly button is much less pronounced now, and the fat in my love handle area is nearly 100% gone. It's amazing how much difference another 4 or 5 pounds of fat loss make once you are below 8% body fat.
So I'm kind of playing around with the idea of making a break from my normal protocol this month. Normally I would be taking my monthly pictures this coming Friday morning, but I may wait until I hit my goal of 6% body fat to take my June pictures. I don't think it will be more than a week (give or take a few days) from June 1st until I reach my goal, and I'd like to have a set of monthly progress photos at 6% (by July 1st I will surely have crept back up to 7% or so due to my somewhat relaxed summer diet). Yeah, I'm pretty sure I'm going to do this...
May 27, 2007
It's measurement Sunday, and this has been a good week! After a week with no apparent fat loss progress, last Sunday Mastover made some changes to my diet and training. The changes have been tough, and I've had some pretty intense cravings, but the results have been worth it.
This morning I'm down to a 2007 cutting low of 195.8 pounds. This past week I lost just over a quarter of an inch from my waist, my hips and my thighs. My waist size is actually slightly smaller now (at 195.8 pounds) than it was back in June 2003 when I weighed just 160 pounds!
This morning my body fat reading is down to 7.4% (as measured using a 7-site pinch test with the FatTrack PRO Digital Body Fat Calipers from the JSF Amazon Mall).
I've lost over 40 pounds since January 1, 2007! Doing a little math (and assuming my 19% BF estimation at the beginning of the year was accurate), I had about 191 pounds of lean mass (muscle, bone, water--everything but fat is considered "lean mass") on January 1, 2007. I now have around 181.5 pounds of lean mass. So I've lost over 30 pounds of pure fat, and less than 10 pounds of lean mass. Keep in mind that a significant portion of the lean mass I've lost is water (I was very bloated at 236 pounds). I can safely estimate 6-7 pounds of the lean mass I've lost was nothing but water. That means I've only lost around 3-4 pounds of muscle over the past 5 months. It's impossible to cut 40 pounds and not lose some amount of muscle, and that I've only lost 3-4 pounds is pretty amazing. All the credit for this must go to USBF & NBI Pro Natural Bodybuilder "Mastover", who has been kind enough to work with me over the past 5 months.
I'm off to do my cardio and EAT. Man am I hungry...
May 26, 2007
Last night I had the worst craving for junk food. It was relentless! In fact, I can't recall any other period of time over my entire 4.5 year transformation in which I was so utterly consumed by thoughts of food. The worst of the cravings started right after meal #5 (which is just 75g of Nitrean); I finished my protein shake and still felt completely famished. I was very tempted to run up to the BBQ place or order a pizza, but I dug deep into my bag of mental "tricks" and absolutely refused to give in. Of course about this time is when Lisa decided she was ready to twist the proverbial knife and eat her dinner: Chinese bourbon chicken & rice. The smell of her dinner made me feel slightly homicidal. Instead of killing Lisa and taking her food I focused on my goals, and how great I would feel this morning if I stuck to my diet. It really worked, and I didn't go off my diet.
I can not cheat right now. I'm literally less than 4 pounds away from my goal of 6% body fat. Going off my diet is simply not an option at this point. I've worked way too hard over the past five months and come way too far to take my eye off the prize so close to the end. The satisfaction I feel this morning for overcoming some of the worst cravings I've ever experienced is indescribable. Not only I'm I down to a new 2007 cutting low of 195.8 pounds, but I feel mentally strong and... powerful. I guess "powerful" is a good word, but honestly it's hard to describe the feeling. I'll tell you this much: If I'd given in last night I would have enjoyed the food for 30 minutes or so, but this morning I wouldn't be very pleased with myself. Now I get to walk around all day today feeling great knowing I'm that much closer to my goal.
This is why I'm good at cutting. I'm able to get myself in a place mentally where I actually enjoy the challenge. Cravings suck, and being hungry sucks, but a weird part of me looks forward to those things because I love how I feel when I overcome those challenges. I can't get to the mental place I need to be when I go halfway: that is why I need to devote myself entirely to the process in order to be successful. I'm not saying my way is how everyone should do it, but I couldn't do it any other way.
I'm off to do my cardio. I can't wait to take my body fat reading tomorrow! See ya then...
May 25, 2007
Today was supposed to be a refeed day, but Mastover contacted me yesterday and said no more refeed days unless he specifically calls for one. This is going to be a challenge, but I'm up for it. Basically the difference between 8% and 6% body fat at my current weight is around 4-5 pounds. That means I'm probably looking at another 2-3 weeks to reach my goal. I've updated my current meal plan to reflect this change.
Yesterday was leg day. Leg days are always very tough, but after 5 days with practically no carbs and at the tail end of a five-month cut? Whole new ball game. Yesterday's workout was one of my toughest workouts ever. Before I started my workout, I took some new pictures of my quads and put them up in my media gallery: my wheels.
May 24, 2007
I normally take my weekly measurements and body fat reading every Sunday, but Mastover asked me to do a special mid-week check-in with him this morning. As long as I'm taking the measurements, I might as well post them here, too!
This morning's readings are very encouraging! First, my scale weight is 197.2 pounds, which is still about a half-pound heavier than I was this past Saturday morning. Last Saturday was a refeed day, and on Sunday I was very bloated from all the carbs. My post-refeed scale weight on Sunday shot up to 199.2 pounds, and my body fat reading and tape measurements were identical to the prior Sunday. There's little doubt in my mind that the water I was retaining was obfuscating my progress.
So, while this morning my scale weight is slightly higher than expected, my other measurements and body fat reading show some excellent progress: I've lost another quarter inch from my waist, my hips and my thighs.
And my body fat? This morning my body fat reading is 7.9% (as measured using a 7-site pinch test with the FatTrack PRO Digital Body Fat Calipers from the JSF Amazon Mall). Yep, I'm finally below the "8% barrier"! This is the first time I've been below 8% body fat since 2003, and it feels great! While there's no way I'm going to hit my goal of 6% body fat by June 1st, that doesn't matter to me. I'm very close, and it won't be much longer now...
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May 23, 2007
Even though my scale weight is still curiously reading a little higher than expected (198.6 pounds), this morning I believe that my body looks the best it's looked so far on this cut. Even the fat below my belly button is slowly starting to become less prominent (there's still plenty of work to do, however!) My low body fat is magnifying another problem: loose skin. There is a little loose skin just above and to the right of my belly button. This extra skin has been there ever since I lost all that weight back in 2003, but it becomes especially prominent as my body fat falls below 8%. I always hoped the loose skin would shrink over time, but it has not. I suppose there is not much I can do about it. I'm reminded of a line from the P.T. Anderson film Magnolia: "We may be through with the past, but the past ain't through with us."
That quote is a pretty simple truism, but many of us don't realize how accurate it is. When I was younger I lived my life without putting much (if any) thought to the future. While being spontaneous and carefree certainly has its place, for the most part I believe that living like there is no tomorrow is a huge mistake. The choices we make today will stay with us for the rest of our lives. If you smoke, drink excessively, eat poorly, don't exercise or do drugs then those things WILL catch up with you sooner or later--I guarantee it. Each day that you continue to abuse your body increases the odds that one day you will pay dearly for it. When that day comes--and it will--what would you give to go back to today and make better choices?
May 22, 2007
OK, here's a newsflash that will come as a shock to absolutely no one: cod for breakfast sucks. I'm not even going to try and pretend that I liked it. My body wants egg whites or oatmeal in the morning, not more fish. Like I said yesterday, I've actually grown to enjoy cod, but four portions every day is testing my limits. I have a feeling that once this cut is over I will never eat cod again. I also promise to never complain about chicken breast again. Right now a chicken breast would taste like fillet mignon to me.
Despite all my whining, cod is an excellent source of clean protein, and it seems to help me shed water and feel "tighter" than I do when consuming mostly chicken breasts. I'm actually still holding some water from my refeed day, but it's slowly dissipating. I drank about 2 gallons of water yesterday, and will do the same today. That should take care of the rest of it.
I've opened the June 2007 "100 Challenge" for entry a couple of days early. See immediately below for all the details. Have fun, and good luck!
Registration for the June 2007 "100 Challenge" is now underway! Your Official Challenge post must be made by 7:00 AM (EST) on June 1, 2007 if you plan to participate--NO EXCEPTIONS! To participate, you must be a member of the forum. If you are not a member, simply create a free account. It can take up to 24 hours for your account to be activated, so don't wait until the last minute to register! For all the details, official rules and sample entry data, just head over to the June 2007 "100 Challenge" thread on the forum. If you are ready to work hard and want to challenge yourself in a fun and competitive environment, then please take part!
May 21, 2007
As expected, Mastover has made some changes to my diet and training. As always, I'm going to go over the changes in detail...
First off, we'll be eliminating my HIIT cardio entirely (for now), but increasing the amount of LISS cardio I'll be doing. I was doing three 30-minute LISS sessions per week, and I'll now be performing four 45-minute sessions per week (fasted, AM). As always, my training page has been updated to reflect the changes.
There has also been some changes made to my diet. Here is the plan for weeks 21-??. Let's talk about the changes:
My egg whites have been eliminated and replaced with (what else)... cod. I'm pretty sure that by the end of this cut I will BE a cod fish. Actually I don't mind this change, because I've somehow grown to love cod. Either that, or I'm just so hungry all the time that I'd probably eat anything. Either way, it's cool. The only downside to all this cod is it is very expensive!
There has been some tweaking done to my fat intake: no more natural peanut butter. Instead I'll be increasing my fat intake via more Udo's choice (which is an awesome blend of EFAs).
My intake of broccoli has been slightly reduced: meals that used to call for 2 cups now call for 1.5 cups. It's funny, when I started this cut I had to force the broccoli down, but now I absolutely love it. It's interesting how our tastes can adapt and change.
My 11:00 AM meal on low carb days has been slightly changed: a little less Nitrean and a little more Bulk BCAA powder.
That about covers it! My daily caloric intake is quite low now, so I'm going to have to dig deep to make each strength training workout intense.
Another huge "THANKS!" to USBF & NBI Pro Natural Bodybuilder "Mastover" for his invaluable assistance with this year's cut!
May 20, 2007
This past week has been tough because I've had some pretty intense cravings (all of which I've ignored, by the way), and I've also fought through feelings of lethargy and mustered up some pretty amazing workouts. The results of my efforts? No progress this week. In fact, yesterday was a refeed day and this morning I'm bloated from all the carbs. I'm actually 2 pounds heavier than I was last Sunday, and every single tape measurement is absolutely identical to last Sunday's measurements. Ouch.
At least my body fat reading technique seems to be consistent! This morning my body fat reading is identical to last week's reading: 8.2% (as measured using a 7-site pinch test with the FatTrack PRO Digital Body Fat Calipers from the JSF Amazon Mall).
Now, I want to be clear that I'm not in any way discouraged by this. Yes, it's frustrating to bust your butt for a week and not see any results, but sometimes it happens. When you plateau sometimes you simply need to stay the course, and sometimes an adjustment is in order. No one said getting below 8% body fat was going to be easy! My "gut" tells me that a tweak to my caloric intake is needed (as much as I hate the thought of eating less!), and perhaps a bit more cardio. Despite my own personal feelings, the choice of what (if anything) to change is 100% up to my trainer, Mastover. I strongly believe that when you place your trust in a trainer, his or her word is the law. I have every confidence that at this time next week I will have busted my plateau.
Thanks for stopping by--have a great day!
May 19, 2007
Normally I get up at 6:00 AM, flip on the coffee machine, let the dogs out, feed the dogs and then take care of various administrative duties required by the forum. By the time I finish doing all that my coffee is ready; I pour a big cup (jet fuel strong & black), relax, read the forum and read my email. While I'm reading the forum, I think about what I'm going to write for the JSF Daily News update. Occasionally I'll think of something semi-interesting to focus on, but the majority of the time I wind up typing with nothing particular in mind. After my update I'll do my cardio (if it's a cardio day) and eat my breakfast.
This is an absolutely riveting routine, I know, but it is a routine I'm very fond of. I have a lot to accomplish in the hours between 6:00 AM and 9:00 AM, and having a familiar process helps me maximize my time. I don't like it when my routine is disturbed, because it throws me off and I'm not too good at thinking on my feet at 6:00 AM with no coffee. This morning I forgot to turn on the coffee when I got up, I forgot to run the dishwasher last night, my Internet access keeps going down and I'm feeling a little foggy-headed. Rather than sit around waiting for the coffee to brew (with no Internet access), I decided to do my cardio first. Keeping my heart rate around 133-135 is very easy for me, so I seriously came very close to falling back asleep while doing my cardio. Normally I like LISS cardio, but I'm normally much more awake for it and can make better use of the time mentally.
My Internet connection is still down, so I guess I'll be using my backup 56k modem to upload this update to the server. I hope it still works--it's been a long time since I've used it!
Clearly this is one of those days where I had absolutely nothing in mind when I started writing. Talk about a rambling, disjointed stream of consciousness!
May 18, 2007
I seem to be in a bit of a plateau right now. Despite strict adherence to my workouts and diet, I've made virtually no progress this week. My scale weight is
the same and my waist measurement is the same. It's a little frustrating because I've been doing an extremely admirable job of fighting off some pretty
intense junk food cravings this week; all I want in return is to be rewarded with a little progress, damn it! 
Of course my official weekly measurement day is not until Sunday, so perhaps things will change before then. If nothing changes by Sunday morning,
I expect there will be a little dietary tweaking.
Yesterday I upgraded all the JSF membership packages: I doubled the maximum amount of PM space, and doubled the maximum amount of attachment space for all membership levels. These changes are permanent, and will benefit all current and future supporting members. You can read more about the changes and check out the upgraded membership packages here.
Have a great Friday!
May 17, 2007
Yesterday I posted a tentative training split for my upcoming summer maintenance program. I asked Mastover to check it out and see what he thought, and he offered some suggestions that made a lot of sense to me.
After a grueling four month bulk followed immediately by five plus months of cutting, what my body needs more than anything is rest and recovery. Mastover thought the three day split was a good idea--especially for the first month or so. While I've managed to maintain a surprising amount of strength over this cut I have (of course) lost some. With all this in mind, Mastover's suggestion for the first month is to not do any direct arm or shoulder work (with a couple of exceptions, which I'll talk about below), and to instead focus 100% on big, compound lifts and getting my strength back up.
I think these are good suggestions, and will take his advice. He suggested that I throw in a few isolation moves only for my lagging body parts: side delts, rear delts and traps.
So, here's the split I'll be using for the first month of my summer maintenance program:
Monday: Chest & dumbbell lateral raises (drop set)
Tuesday: 45 mins AM fasted LISS cardio and/or 14-20 mins PM HIIT cardio
Wednesday: Legs
Thursday: 45 mins AM fasted LISS cardio and/or 14-20 mins PM HIIT cardio
Friday: Back, traps & rear delts
Saturday: 45 mins AM fasted LISS cardio and/or 14-20 mins PM HIIT cardio
Sunday: Off
Once the first month is over, I'll use the split I posted yesterday for the rest of the summer.
I'm working on my summer food plan now. Because I'll be having a couple of cheat meals per week, I'm not going to need to raise my calories for the other meals too much. I plan to eat lots of chicken, seafood, eye of round steak, veggies, brown rice, yams, egg whites and oatmeal. I'm also going to throw in some whole grain bread with breakfast, and maybe even some a once or twice per week with lunch (I miss sandwiches!) I feel so good eating a natural diet that I don't want to stray from it. Some of the cheat meals will certainly contain some processed items, but I'm not going to be sitting around eating Doritos or anything like that.
I'll be closely monitoring my body fat, and will make adjustments as needed. I'm not going to allow myself to get above 8% body fat this summer!
May 16, 2007
I've been putting some thought into what I'm going to do for my workout and cardio routines over the summer. As you may know, this summer I'm going to maintain my physique while relaxing and having fun. I'd like to do a three-day training split, and a mix of LISS and HIIT cardio. I was thinking of trying a push/pull style routine. Here's the tentative plan:
Monday: Chest, Back & Traps
Tuesday: 45 mins AM fasted LISS cardio and/or 14-20 mins PM HIIT cardio
Wednesday: Legs
Thursday: 45 mins AM fasted LISS cardio and/or 14-20 mins PM HIIT cardio
Friday: Biceps, Triceps & Shoulders
Saturday: 45 mins AM fasted LISS cardio and/or 14-20 mins PM HIIT cardio
Sunday: Off
I've never worked my chest & back on the same day, but have always wanted to try it. In case you haven't already guessed by now,
I'm thinking supersets. 
On Friday I'll work my biceps & triceps using supersets, which I have done many times in the past with great results. Because my shoulders are the weakest of the three muscle groups I'll be working that day, they will be worked first.
As for cardio, I will do at least three sessions per week, and may even do double sessions on some days. I enjoy doing both LISS and HIIT cardio, so I want to keep both styles in my summer maintenance program. I want some flexibility with cardio, so I've sort of built that in to my plan. For example, if I'm going to be gone all day it will be easier for me to do 45 mins of AM LISS. If I'm sitting around watching movies on a Saturday, an afternoon HIIT session will probably just what I need to shake the cobwebs off!
I haven't thought too much about my diet yet, and will definitely be speaking to Mastover about it. I'm looking for simplicity: I don't mind eating the same things over and over, and I'll have a couple of cheat meals each week to spice things up! Of course I will be posting my complete meals plans, but I'm not going to try and count calories when I go out to eat for a cheat meal or anything like that.
Wow, I'm running out of time. I'll talk some more about my summer plans in the coming weeks, but right now I need to get my butt on the bike. Have a great day!
May 15, 2007
The forum software upgrade was completed yesterday with no major issues.
Also, by request, this morning I added another very light and very "plain" skin for the forums. The dark skin (forum default) is my personal favorite, but I've always offered a lighter skin based on the same design (called "Old School New Beat") for those who don't like the dark skin. As of this morning a third skin is available (aptly titled "Plain"), which is the simplest of them all.
In case you didn't know, you can switch between the skins at your leisure using the "Style Chooser" drop down box at the bottom left-hand side of the forum:
I'd like to give an extra special thanks to everyone who has helped support this web site and the forums by purchasing a membership upgrade. None of this would be possible without you.
So last night I had to force myself to do my workout once again. And--as usual--once I got in there and got going I felt great. I had an excellent workout, and I felt awesome when I finished.
I've got a lot going on in my life right now, and the temptation to skip workouts seems stronger (and more frequent) lately. I'm sure the caloric deficit I'm in and the low carbs are playing a role, too. The bottom line is I have a goal to reach, and unless I'm sick or injured there is no good excuse to miss a workout. Besides, when I finish my workout I always feel like a new man.
Of all the times I didn't feel like working out but forced myself to do it anyway, the number of times I finished and regretted my choice is ZERO. I keep that simple fact in mind whenever thoughts of skipping a workout are trying to claw their way into my mind.
May 14, 2007
I hope everyone had a good weekend! This is going to be a short update, as I have a lot of work to do:
Jelsoft has released vBulletin v3.6.6. This is a fairly major upgrade, and fixes dozens of bugs. Because many of the templates have been changed, I'm going to have to upgrade the skins to the latest version and reply the JSF customizations manually.
I'm planning to do this work this morning, probably starting around 7:30 AM EDT. You can expect about 1-2 hours of forum downtime while the upgrades are completed and tested.
I will update this page once the upgrades have been completed.
10:14 AM Update: The software upgrade has been completed without issue.
All forum skins have been upgraded to the latest versions.
If you are experiencing any difficulties, please:
- Clear your browser's cache
- Do a hard refresh (Firefox:shift+ctrl+r) (IE: CTRL + F5)
May 13, 2007
I made excellent progress this week! Now that I'm well into single digit body fat percentages the fat is finally starting to come off my mid-section. This week I lost a whopping half-inch from my waist (down to 31.5 inches) and a quarter of an inch from my hips (down to 38.25 inches). My scale weight this morning is a new 2007 cutting low of 196.8 pounds.
My body fat reading has dropped to 8.2% (as measured using a 7-site pinch test with the FatTrack PRO Digital Body Fat Calipers from the JSF Amazon Mall).
Even though I'm right at 8% body fat, there is still quite a bit of fat around my mid-section left to lose. Yesterday I went shopping for summer clothes, and I tried on a pair of shorts that were WAY too small for me. When I put them on and buttoned them up, I looked totally ripped except the remaining fat around my mid-section formed a nasty muffin-top. I said to Lisa, "Dang, I definitely still have some work to do!"
The nice thing is that last remaining bit of fat is probably only another 6 or 7 pounds. Those last few pounds are going to make a gigantic difference in my shirtless physique.
I want to sign off today by wishing all you awesome moms out there a wonderful Mother's Day! Mom, I love you and miss you. Thanks for being such an inspirational role model in my life.
May 12, 2007
Blah, this morning I have to take my car to the dealership for its first annual "Service B". It's such a rip-off! "Service B" for my car is nothing more than a glorified oil and air filter change, along with a dozen or so "inspections" of various engine parts. This service is required annually to maintain my warranty. Never mind that I have less than 2000 miles on my car. It's still required, as they put it, "on the more performance-oriented cars". The price for this oil change? $550! No, I did not add an extra zero to that.
This morning I'm up a pound over yesterday's weight. Yesterday was a refeed day, and this is the first time I've added water weight after a refeed day. Now that the refeeds are spread further apart and I'm eating foods on non-refeed days that do not promote water retention, this bit of water gain is not surprising. I'm sure it will be gone in a day or two.
Well, I'd better go. I've got to get my cardio in and get to the dealership. It's bad manners to be late for an extortion.
May 11, 2007
Yesterday I talked a little bit about my HIIT cardio training, and how much it has benefited my overall cardiovascular health (and, of course, has been very effective at helping me get ripped). Last night was leg night, and while doing squats I found myself recovering faster than ever, and I was noticeably less winded after each set. Not only am I getting closer to my goal of 6% body fat, but I truly feel like I am in excellent shape. Even though I've had very few carbs all week long, this morning I'm feeling energetic, alert and happy. I believe I feel this way because I'm still feeling the effects of my Wednesday evening HIIT cardio session. The afterburn lasts for days.
I went for quite a long time doing only LISS cardio, and I forgot how great HIIT makes me feel. I'm going to make sure HIIT training is part of my fitness regimen from now on. I just love it.
This morning I saw a huge drop in scale weight: I'm down to a 2007 cutting low of 197.4 pounds! I suspect that when I take my body fat reading on Sunday I'll be at, or below, 8% body fat. I snuck a waist measurement in yesterday, and it was below 31.75". Clearly the fat is finally starting to come off my "worst" areas now. This progress has provided me with a huge mental boost, which I very much needed at this late stage of the game.
Today is Friday, and it's a refeed day! Oh, I am so looking forward to massive helpings of oatmeal, yams and rice (I've already had one big bowl of oatmeal)! I'd better enjoy it, because my next refeed is not until next Thursday. Yeah, that's a pretty long low carb stretch, but I'm up for the challenge.
Happy Friday!
May 10, 2007
I have no idea why I was so foggy-headed yesterday morning while attempting to write my update. Once I did my morning LISS cardio and ate breakfast, I was just fine. Today is day four of my current low carb cycle, and this morning I feel great. I am looking forward to tomorrow, though--it's Friday and a refeed day!
Yesterday afternoon's HIIT cardio session was incredible. My cardiovascular fitness level is probably close to the best it has ever been in my life. My intervals are extremely tough right now, but I love the challenge. The endorphin rush after I finish a HIIT cardio session is very similar to how I feel after intense weight training (minus the pump, of course).
As most of you know I'm having a new home built, and will be moving towards the end of this year. I may occasionally mention major events on this page, but for the most part I won't be discussing the new home in my daily updates from this point forward. Instead, I've decided to keep a detailed journal on the forum. My new journal will document the entire construction process from start to finish. I'll be on the job site several times per week taking pictures, asking questions and shooting video. I'm going to make frequent updates to the journal, and will be answering questions and posting my thoughts along with tons of pictures and video. I've already put up some job site photographs, the floorplans and a few other things. I've still got a lot more information I'd like to document before they actually break ground, so I'll be adding lots of new stuff over the next few days.
I decided to put my new journal in the VIP section of the forum because there is a lot of personal stuff in there that I really do not want archived by search engines (search engines can't crawl the VIP forums). So, if you want to check my new journal out and you've already upgraded your JSF membership, then you're all set: John Stone's New House Construction Journal. Otherwise, you'll need to instantly upgrade your forum membership.
May 9, 2007
My workouts the past couple of weeks have been very good. The hardest part is getting started after a long day of work--especially while eating so few calories. Sometimes I have to force myself to get my butt in the gym, but once I get going I'm always fine...
...wow, I simply can't write this morning! My brain is shrouded in a low-carb fog, and absolutely nothing is coming out right. Almost every time I manage to force out a sentence, I read it back, cringe, and then delete it. I've only kept 4 or 5 sentences and I've been working on this update for almost 20 minutes! It just isn't clicking this morning.
I do have one bit of good news: I spoke to the mortgage company we're using to finance the new home, and it seems we finally have an official approval on the new house! Of course this approval is contingent on the sale of our existing home, so that is the last hurdle we must overcome. Once this house sells, I can relax.
Well, if I can remember how to find the room where my home gym is located I'm going to go do my cardio now. I sure hope my head clears a bit, because I feel like I'm operating at about 30% of my usual brain power, which pretty much classifies me as functionally retarded.
May 8, 2007
I just finished my breakfast, and my body is thinking, "Um, seriously? That's it?" I'm so hungry right now! I woke up starving to death, and now that I've eaten I'm even more hungry.
You know that weak, shaky feeling most of us experience when our blood sugar is very low? That's happened to me several times on this cut (usually after meal #1), and I've had a hard time dealing with it. I spoke to Mastover about it, and he suggested something that really seems to be working. Whenever it happens I mix 2 scoops of Beverly's "Glutamine Select" in water and drink it down. I've done that twice since Mastover told me to give it a try, and both times it's totally helped. Of course I'm still hungry, but I can deal with that; it's the weakness and shakiness that makes it hard to function, and the Glutamine seems to really help that. I'm right on the edge of feeling that way this morning, so if it gets any worse I'll be utilizing that little trick again today.
I had a long, grueling bulk over the 2006 fall and winter months, and that was followed immediately by this cutting phase (which is now into its 5th month). I'm so looking forward to relaxing this summer and enjoying the fruits of my labor. This summer I'm probably going to switch to a 3-day training split, and do cardio 2 or 3 times per week. I'm also going to relax my diet somewhat. Of course I'll still eat healthy most of the time, but I'll probably allow myself 2 cheat meals per week. My goal is to find a nice balance between having fun and maintaining my physique. I won't be able to maintain 6% body fat all summer, but I don't want to get any higher than 8%.
May 7, 2007
As expected, Mastover has made some changes to my diet plan. Here is the new food/supplement log for weeks 19 - ??. There are only two changes...
First, the amount of oatmeal I'll be eating for meal #6 on refeed days has been cut in half--I'll now be eating 1 cup of cooked oats instead of two. I honestly don't mind this change at all, as I am always pretty full on refeed days by meal #6, and had to force the 2 cups down.
Supplement intake remains identical. This is week 19, so I'll be cycling back on the "Lean Out". Lean Out is not a fat burner or a thermogenic, it is basically L-Carnitine. I've lost nearly 40 pounds since January, and I have not used any fat burners to do so.
My low carb/refeed schedule has been made a little more difficult. Now I'll be refeeding every 5th and then every 6th day instead of every 4th and then 5th day. Here's the new schedule (L=Low carb day, R=Refeed day):
| DAY | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | etc... |
| MEAL PLAN | L | L | L | L | R | L | L | L | L | L | R | L | L | L | L | R | etc... |
That's about it for this adjustment! Depending on my progress there may be some further changes before the end of my cutting diet, but this very well may be the protocol I follow to the finish line.
I'd better get to work, I'm running late. Have a good Monday!
May 6, 2007
It's Sunday, and that means it's time for my weekly measurements and body fat analysis...
It's been a pretty lack-luster week, unfortunately. I lost a little over a pound of scale weight, but all my tape measurements are virtually identical to last week. My waist measurement did drop slightly, but it's still just above 31.75 inches so the "official" reading is unchanged at 32 inches.
My body fat percentage dropped, but not by much. This morning my body fat reading is 8.6% (as measured using a 7-site pinch test with the FatTrack PRO Digital Body Fat Calipers from the JSF Amazon Mall). Last week's reading was 8.8%, so that's a pretty unremarkable change.
I suspect that Mastover will be making some adjustments to my diet in the form of a caloric reduction. I will, as always, update my food logs with any changes!
May 5, 2007
I've been having a lot of fun playing around with my new camera over the past few days. I really like it! It works really well as a simple "point and shoot" camera, but also has lots of manual features for more advanced photographers. My only complaint is that the flash recharge time is somewhat long--around 5-7 seconds. Other than that relatively minor complaint, I love everything about it.
Speaking of my camera, I posted a new picture this morning in my media thread. Now that I'm around 8% body fat, the cuts between my delts and upper arms are starting to make a big difference in how my arms look. I'm digging the vascularity, too. Here's a direct link to the new picture.
Well, today Lisa and I go for what's called the "Final Rewrite" of our new home. This is where we confirm all the design selections we've made: colors, carpet style, cabinets, electrical customizations, low voltage wiring, placement of phone, cable and Ethernet jacks, security camera locations, plumbing, appliance selections and so forth. Once we sign off on this, the builder will apply for the building permit and then go to work building our home. Can you believe we still do not have an approval from the mortgage company? The underwriters are so backed up that they are way behind. It's been a very frustrating wait for us, but there's absolutely nothing we can do about it. I'm very hopeful that we'll have final approval next week, but I'm not going to hold my breath.
Cardio time. Enjoy your Saturday!
May 4, 2007
I finally broke the 200 pound mark: this morning I'm down to a 2007 cutting low of 199.2 pounds. This Sunday's measurements and body fat reading should be very interesting
A few people have emailed and asked why my weight chart seems so different over the past few weeks. Specifically, people want to know why in the past my weight changed almost every day, but for the past three weeks my weight chart shows flatlines, drops, and then flatlines again.
I should have explained the reason for this phenomenon sooner. Actually, the reason is pretty simple: my digital bathroom scale seems to only shows changes when there is a difference of more than one pound since the last reading. The reason it used to change every day (even if there was a difference of less than one pound) is because up until three weeks ago I would always weigh myself before bed. My night weight was, of course, always 3-5 pounds heavier than my morning weight. This sort of "reset" the scale for my morning reading, since my morning weight is always more than one pound lower than my nighttime reading. I stopped taking the night reading, so now the scale only shows differences of more than one pound from one morning to the next.
The next logical question is, "Why did you take nighttime scale readings?" Again, the answer is simple: curiosity. I never obsessed over the scale weight, or really cared what the scale showed.
I like to see how my body responds to different foods, etc. I found it interesting to see how much water I was holding at night, and how much I lost in the night through sweat and urination
(hopefully with corresponding midnight trips to the bathroom! 
)
So why did I stop weighing myself at night? I dunno. I guess after all these years I have enough of a feel for my body that I don't find the morning/nighttime weight differences particularly interesting anymore.
I hope that helps clear things up! Now it's time for me to eat and get to work. Have a wonderful Friday--see you tomorrow!
May 3, 2007
Deadlifts are such a HUGE exercise. They are right up there with squats when it comes to what I consider "must do" exercises. If you are in doubt about how many muscles deads hit, don't do them for a few weeks and then go heavy. That's what I did, and now my entire back, my traps, my glutes, my quads and my hamstrings are all on fire after Monday's back workout. I know a lot of people don't bother with deadlifts, and I think that's a big mistake. Many people consider the squat the "king" of all exercises, but for my money the deadlift equals, and maybe even trumps, the squat. Of course I'm a little biased, because I love deadlifting.
If you've never done deads before, start very light. The deadlift is not a very technically demanding exercise, but you don't want to do it wrong. All kinds of bad things will happen if you let your form slip. Keep your head up, your shoulders back and your back straight. Power up with your legs and do not let your back round out. If your back rounds, you're going too heavy and will injure yourself. "Lock out" at the top of the movement by thrusting your hips out. I keep a slight bend in my knees. When you bring the bar down, keep it very close to your body--many deadlifters (myself included) will actually scrape the bar down their shins.
Of all the back exercises I do, the deadlift is the one that I believe is most responsible for my back development over the years.
May 2, 2007
I swapped my Monday and Tuesday workouts (I do that sometimes depending on my mood), so I worked my chest and triceps on Monday, and my back and biceps yesterday. My back is already killing me this morning, but in a good way! I did deads last night for the first time in several weeks, and they felt great. I took hiatus from deads because awhile ago I started experiencing some pain in my hip, and I think it was caused by of all the heavy deadlifting I was doing. It was nothing more serious than a strain, but it was not improving. Taking a break from deads did the trick. Last night I went pretty heavy and experienced no hip pain at all.
My new camera came in yesterday, and so far I love it! The pictures look great, and it's got some very cool features that my old camera didn't have. It's been a while since I've posted any new pictures (aside from my monthly photos), so I took a few last night and put them up in my media journal. Here they are.
I'm going to go get my first cardio session of the day in and eat--I'm already starving!
May 1, 2007
It's the first of the month, and that means it's monthly picture day! As always, I've posted my monthly progress photos on the pictures page. Let's go over the progress I've made this past month...
First, the numbers: I lost 6.8 pounds in April, and reduced my body fat from 10.7% to 8.8%. I lost a half inch from my waist, and a full inch from my hips.
Looking at my pictures, I think I made some good improvement last month. My shoulders, chest and lats look pretty good. My abs are starting to get pretty well dialed in, too. As I mentioned earlier this week, the fat below my belly button really stands out now that the rest of my body is so lean. I'm very hopeful that it will shrink in May as I continue the journey to 6% body fat.
Mastover feels that by putting on so much fat over my last bulk I exasperated my problem area. I totally agree with him. The plan is to get down to 6%, and re-evaluate. If the fat is still there, then we're going to address it. Whatever the case may be, I am not going to stay on a hardcore cutting diet through the summer. I've got a life to live, and I'm going to enjoy this summer. Perhaps the answer lies with another slow, controlled bulk, followed by another cut very similar to this one. If so, I'm all for giving it a try--in the fall!
No matter what, I'm never going to allow myself to get above 12% body fat again. The 19%-20% body fat level that I hit over this past bulk is ridiculous. I look at the pictures from December 2006 and January 2007 and just cringe. They are horrible. I have no idea how I did not see it at the time. It's amazing how we can sometimes lose any sense of proper judgment when it comes to our own bodies.
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We're coming down to the wire now! Basically the next month is going to be spent dialing in my mid-section. I doubt I will be at 6% body fat by the end of May, but I should be closing in on it. I'm not stopping until I hit my goal!
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