NPC New Englands - Competition day

6:30am weigh-in 197.4 after “shit happens” 196.8

It looks like I am going to be a light heavy weight, I would much rather be a big light heavy weight, then a smaller heavy weight.

My best friend (the mirror) couldn’t be any happier and my wife is even happier.

I’m hard, ripped, dry and ready for a pump, I could not ask for anything more.

Again today, I will eat every 3 hours starting at 7:30am, 6oz chicken, 10oz potatoes and sipping coffee.

I’ll eat clean just in case I win my class. I want to stay in condition for the overall pose down, which happens during the evening show

You can pretty much tell if you have a chance to win your class during the prejudging, by how they move you around and compare others to you.

Put it this way, if you are at or near the end of the line-up and they move you to the middle, that’s a good thing, the other way around, is bad thing

And in honor of my son Anthony I will bring a peanut butter and nutella sandwich on matzo for a victory snack.

I have already won, because this is the best condition I have ever competed in.

Happy Halloween

Time to compete

1 day out from competition – Final carb-up day

6:30am weigh-in 198.2

My mirror (best friend) says… dry, ripped and filling out :-)

I started eating yesterday at 7:30am, 6oz of boiled chicken, 10oz of boiled skinless potatoes, my morning cup of black coffee made with distilled water, taking my second cup on the rode

Every 3 hours, 6oz of chicken, 10oz of potatoes, sipping my crystal light flavored distilled water as needed, trying not to over do it.

2800 calories yesterday doubling the calories without the carbohydrates, but now with the carbohydrates, my muscles are filling up with water becoming harder

I knew by 4pm I was starting to become slightly dehydrated and needed more water. While flexing my intercostals they started to cramp, but it went away with a little stretch and didn’t last but a second.

The carbohydrates in my body are looking for water, but not too much, the cramp did not last long (slight dehydration). Try listening to your body and know why things happen. I just needed to drink a little more water.

Carbohydrates hold water in your muscles, along with potassium (potatoes having the most potassium) any water sitting in my skin will be pulled into the muscles from the carbohydrates, because I’m limiting the water intake or I’ll sweat it out with no return. I’m not taking in any sodium and sodium holds water under your skin, this is how we “saran wrap” the skin

Today will be a repeat of yesterday’s food and water intake, another day and I should be right where I need to be for Saturday.

Will get the last spray tan and hit some compulsory poses for my buddy Mark (the guy with salons) there are 8 compulsory poses (judging poses).

Tonight I’m going to apply Pro-Tan on as well, 3 coats should do the trick. You can never be dark enough for the stage.

Let the games begin…

Time for a protein drink

2 days out from competition – carb-up day #1

6:30am weigh-in 197.8

Down just over a pound again from yesterday… looks like I’m going to be a heavy weight this time around (over 198) unless I lose more weight during the carbing up, which is possible, by not likely

At this point I don’t care what weight I’m at, I just want to keep the look I have now for the stage

I am extremely pleased with my BF (the mirror) this morning, besides being ripped, I’m dry too, and this is the look I need to keep for the stage.

Now I’m going to carb up, so I become Bigger and Harder!

Last night I finished making the remaining 3 packs of chicken (9 pounds) and boiled 5 pounds of Russet potatoes. Russet’s always seemed to me to be the driest of all spuds.

So basically I’m going to eat ever couple of hours 7oz of boiled chicken and a couple of potatoes (300 grams). I’ll drink my distilled water as needed, trying just to sip.

But today I will do what my body asks for in terms of how much water to drink, however tomorrow is a different story. Tomorrow depending on how I look in the morning, I may want to be keep myself slightly thirsty throughout the day into Saturday

Got sprayed tanned again last night and I’m starting to get really dark, one more time should do the trick on Friday and I have Pro-Tan just in case and I’m not afraid to use it ;-)

All I’m looking to do is fill out a little in terms of hardness which the carbohydrate will do for me. This will give me the muscle contractions I need to flex really hard.

Something I will be doing all day long these next couple of days. Just keep flexing and watching the muscle fill out and staying dry and ripped.

I don’t want to go too crazy eating too many carbohydrates and drinking too much water, but I also want to eat and drink enough so I fill out and more importantly take on a nice pump back stage before going out.

It should be an effortless pump; I shouldn’t have to work on trying to get a pump. If everything works as I planned it to, then I should easily get a long lasting SICK pump!


Time for a protein drink

3 days out from competition – 0 carb day #9

6:30am weigh-in 199

Down one pound after training the whole body last night, I figured this much.

I couldn’t be any happier with my best friend, (the mirror) my legs are in the best shape they have ever been. Though today I am very flat, after a couple of days of carbs that will all change

Tonight I’m off to my buddy Mark's place to get spray tanned, I need to make sure I hit under my arms. I was hitting poses last night and when I hit the front double bicep shot you could see under my arms where the spray didn't get me.

For only one level 3 spray, it really made me dark and that little darkness, really looks nice when your skin is thin, brings out even more lines

Today I am using distilled water to drink and no fat free coffee creamer this morning in my coffee, today will be the lowest sodium intake so far, were these last couple of days it was around 50 milligrams … by switching to distilled water and cutting out that coffee creamer, total sodium intake will be about zero.

The only thing left, which I will make sure during my carbing up, is making my coffee with distilled water, and then I will be at zero sodium.

When I do carb up, I’ll most likely use potatoes, because they are rich in potassium (which hold water in your muscles) and even though they are naturally a sodium free food, I will boiled them and peel the skin... more on this later


Time for a protein drink

4 days out from competition – 0 carb day #8

6:30am weigh-in 200

Chicken and water all day yesterday and I have to say, it was pretty easy. Chicken went down with out a struggle and I looked forward to every meal

My best friend hasn’t look this good ever… I can say I’m in the best shape of my life!

I went to my buddy’s place last night, (Mark the guy with the tanning salons) to get spray tanned. He wants to me to go back on Wednesday and Friday and that should do the trick.

http://www.glowtanningcenter.com/ thank you for hooking me up Mark!

I did buy some Pro-Tan (the shit that stains you) just in case come Friday I’m not dark enough, you can never be dark enough for the stage

Mark did see me at the Jay Cutler classic back in May and he knew right off the bat, I was 100% better then back then

Bigger, Harder and more cut. I could tell be the way he was looking at me and asking me to hit certain poses, he knows I am going to do really well this coming Saturday at the New England’s

Tonight I’m going to hit the whole body at the gym. Just like the other day.

My training partner, who has some type of bug or something is feeling 90% better and has planned to workout with me tonight.

This will be cool, because as I’m doing one exercise he can be on the other, as we go back and forth. That way we won’t lose one machine when we are on the other.

Can’t wait to train tonight and squeeze even more water out on my muscles!

Time for a protein drink

5 days out from competition – 0 carb day #7

6:30am weigh-in 200.8

Well I can’t completely call yesterday a zero carb day. I did have that Carbo Pump yesterday morning at 9am and by 10am I was already starting to get hard, starting to be able to really flex everything so intensely. Something you lose when completely depleted (carbs are used for contraction) and I had no change in definition, zero sodium did the trick.

Legs stayed deeply separated all day as I continuing eating 7oz of boiled chicken breast every two hours and drinking my Crystal light and they even started to get harder as the day went on

So last night I decide to try something… the last thing I tried to eat before I want to bed was one box of Matzol, which has an 1100 calories to the box and it’s a dry complex carb, no salt. But I was only able 8 of them down, which are 800 calories and 16oz of water, I could have drank more, but chose not too

I wanted to see what would happen to me in the AM… I’m so lean right now and hardly have any water in or on my muscles

If you remember last weekend I eat 10 pounds of potatoes and I was able to flatting back out in one day of zero carbs.

I wonder how I would have looked last weekend if I was zero sodium when I was eating all those potatoes…

This is why I wanted to see what these 800 calories of dried unsalted complex carbs would do to me

My best friend the mirror says… perfect! I found my formula; I put 2 pounds of water back into my muscles, I’m nice and filled out, hard and separated, I can’t ask for more

Now if I can bring this look to the stage, (I don’t see why not) I will be a force to be reckoned with

The best thing is I still have 5 more days to become even better, if that’s even possible… but of course it has to be… never settling…

Back to boiled chicken and water for the next 3 days

Time to find my buddy and work on my tan~! http://www.glowtanningcenter.com/

Time for a protein drink

6 days out from competition – 0 carb day #6

6:30am weigh-in 198.8

I lost 2.5 pounds of sodium held water in one day of going zero sodium. This is water held under your skin, not in your muscles

Man, I’m not going to lie or play it off. The first day of just eating boiled chicken every 2 hours (3 pounds) and drinking just water really sucked to say the least. I ended up drinking 1.06 gallons of water, thank god for crystal light

My best friend (the mirror) is looking unbelievable right now. Just when you thought you had deep cuts, well after this past day of zero sodium, WOW they are deep now.

I keep saying how my legs never looked this good, so separated with deep cuts. Well, I’m going to say it again today; they have never been so separated as they are this morning. And I still have 5 days left, I am very happy.

I think this morning I’m going to drink a Carbo Force. I would normal drink one before every work to help give me energy for an intense workout

The Carbo Force is a 400 calories drink with 100 grams of carbohydrates that are not simple sugar carbs. This drink gives me an amazing pump in the gym and I prefer never to workout without drinking one first.

I’m looking to see how much it fills me out and how fast. Seeing I’ve just about gotten rid of all the sodium held water under my skin.

Now the Carbo Force does have 110 milligrams of sodium, but it’s so low and what I’ll get from the drink, will out weigh the little sodium it has.

I want to see if I may be able to use this drink as part of my carbing up carbohydrate. If that one drink fills me out enough, then I would think about staying pretty much 0 carbs right up to the show and maybe having 2 pounds of potatoes the night before and having a Carbo Pump an hour before going on the stage.

All I’m looking to do is fill the muscle up with a little water to become big and hard. (Carbohydrate held water in the muscles) with out spilling over and smoothing out, by over doing it

First I need to see how much of a reaction I get from this drink today… I’m so ripped and dry right now, this will not hurt me, and if anything it will help me make it through these next 5 days with out emaciating myself, the extra calories will help that

Time for a protein drink

7 days out from competition – 0 carb day #5

6:30am weigh-in 201.2

So last night after playing bowling ball helper (setting up the pins) at my son’s school’s Halloween event, I headed over to the market to buy some chicken and a few gallons of water

I figured 7 days left, 8oz servings x 8 = 4 pounds of chicken a day, so I bought 28 pounds on sale for 54 bucks. I wasn’t thinking…

After cleaning up 6 pounds, it turned into 4 pounds, then after cooking, it turned into 3 pounds. So if 6 pound turned into 3, then 28 pounds in more like 14 pound when it’s all said and done… I'm going to need more chicken

Minus that 1500 milligrams of sodium I would have been taking in, I will probably drop a pound or two and my skin will become even more transparent, in the next couple of days…

Boy I love this stuff!

You are what you eat comes to mind… it’s so true and no I’m not going to turn into a chicken… what it means, by eating certain foods you can change yourself and not just for bodybuilding, but for life, for healing, for health, food is everything.

(Please understand what I’m doing now is extreme and is preparation for a bodybuilding competition and not recommended for a day to day healthy life style, this is only short term)

Starting today and for the remaining workouts, I will be training my whole body.

I’m not looking to breakdown muscle tissue as I would normally for growth. What I'm going for is to get a good pump, and really squeeze the muscles to make them even deeper with cuts and separations.

This will also give the muscles a reason to suck in the carbohydrates when I start to carb up. I will group push and pull muscles together and go back and forth between exercises

Basically the workout will go as follows

Dip and pull-ups 3 sets
Flat bench and bent over rows 3 sets
Chest flies and low rows 3 sets
Pullovers which works both chest and back, 3 sets

Then for shoulders, I’ll go from over head pressing, to side laterals, to rear laterals, to front raises and I’ll run through this for 3 sets

Then onto arms where I will do lying down triceps extensions with standing barbell curls for 3 sets
A triceps push downs with a bicep preacher curl for 3 sets
An over head triceps extension with hammer curls for biceps for 3 sets

Then for legs where I will go from calves, to legs curls, to legs extensions and I could do this as many as 6 times around, along with flexing and stretching and really squeezing the whole body throughout the workout

So all day today and for the next 7 days, I will eat 8oz of chicken every 2 hours and drink crystal light flavored water

Then 36 hours out from competition, I will start to carb up and add potatoes to my chicken meals

Time for a protein drink

8 days out from competition – 0 carb day #4

6:30am weigh-in 200.8

No change except for my BF, my legs are even tighter

So last night I started thinking about my sodium intake, at this point that is the only thing that is holding any water under my skin.

When I competed 20 years ago, I remember I would take in close to nothing for sodium.

So I deiced to have a closer look at what I’m taking in for sodium

Here is the breakdown

Whey ISOCOOL 40 milligrams a serving (scoop) x 2 = 80 x 5 serving a day = 400 milligrams of sodium

Ground extra lean chicken breast 8oz serving 500 milligrams x 2 serving a day = 1000 milligrams of sodium OUCH!

Tuna in a can 70 milligrams x 2 = 140 milligram of sodium

Total intake of sodium is over 1500 milligrams. This is WAY too much!

Back in the day I would boil chicken breasts, there is no sodium in boiled chicken breast and I would eat eight 8oz servings every two hours each day with water (crystal light) on my carbohydrate depleting days

Know I remember how much the last week sucked!

But I didn’t come this far to care because with suck-ness comes, F N Awesome-ness!

So its time to suck it up… no pun intended~

Off to the market for… you guessed it…

Time for a chicken breast

9 days out from competition - 0 carb day #3

6:30am weigh-in 200.8

My best friend (the mirror) says… F N A… so tight, so dry…. It’s almost effortless just to flex to see my abdominals, my skins is so tight.

This is exactly where I want to be at 9 days out... I am flat having no carbs, but as you all know that can change in 36 hours

Day 2 of no carbohydrates was a lot better the day 1 and my stomach wasn’t trying to eat me alive… and in just 2 days, I lost the 3 pounds of carb weight I put on over the weekend and then some…

Legs work out was solo last night which worked out perfectly. Because I trained my legs in reverse, starting with calves, then went back and forth between leg curls and leg extension, I was really squeezing everything as hard as I could to bring out the cuts.

I have to say this is the best I’ve every seen my legs at any weight.
I did do a few set of hacks, but I didn’t want to have such a pump that I would lose all feeling to flex my quads.

I did a lot of stretching and flexing in the beginning and in between any set that I didn’t jump onto another machine right away, which was what I was doing most of the time, not resting in between set, but just jumping from one machine to the next, just to keep the blood flowing through the legs

Everything is working out according to plan. I’ll most likely drop down below 198 before I start to carb up 36 hours out… but we shall see

Time for a protein drink

10 days out from competition - 0 carb day #2

6:30am weigh-in 202.6

It didn’t take but a day of zero carbs to drop my weight back down.

My best friend (the mirror) looks better at 202.06 this morning than it did the other day. My legs are tighter, harder, more separated. I gauge everything on how my legs look. My best friend never lies

After tonight’s leg workout, it wouldn’t surprise me if I dropped below 202, which was Friday’s weight after depleting for 3 days, that’s how much tighter I am at this 202.6 weight now

Yesterday was probably the hardest day eating no carbs so far.

After eating 3500 calories on both Saturday and Sunday and Monday having another full day of carbs too, then to go to zero carbs again, my stomach growled with hunger pains the whole day, I was so hungry!

I’m a firm believer that the more you eat the faster your metabolism is

People often say when you get older your metabolism slows, I say when you get older, you stop eating as often (some people only once a day) and that is what slows down your metabolism.

Eat often and give yourself energy and your body a reason to burn calories, burning calories burns fat!

Legs today gone tomorrow… Zero carb day #2

I have to say today is my favorite day, I love filling up my legs with blood, it’s the best feeling in the world, having your quads, hams, ass and calves, so engorged with blood you can’t even walk normal, it’s such an accomplishment, it make the rest of the week seem so easy

One of best thing about squats is they work your whole body


Time for a protein drink

11 days out from competition - 0 carb day #1

6:30am weigh-in 204

After 10 pounds of potatoes, 1 1/2 gallons of water, 600 grams of protein between Saturday and Sunday and on Monday eating my normal pre-contest carbohydrate meals, my BF (mirror) says nice!

I did spill over a little on my legs, but not too much. They are still hard and separated; just not as hard and separated as they were on Sunday morning after the first 5 pounds of potatoes and gallon of water.

Back to carbohydrate depleting for today right up to Saturday where I may do a little carbohydrate loading, to see what the lesser amount of carbs will do.

Never in my lifetime have I been in this kind of shape at 204, this is the biggest I’ve been at this weight and in this condition and with 11 days left, I can only improve

Last nights Chest and Arms workout was sick, my pump was so big and my skin was transparent. You know you did something right when the same guys who saw you Friday night all depleted and then see you on Monday after carbing up are blown away... and people start asking them how'd he do that and their reply is, "he's knows his shit, you should check out his blog"

That’s a nice feeling...

I may not know everything, but I do know myself and my shit. Through my own experiences, I make everyday a learning experience

Time for a protein drink

12 days out from competition

6:30am weigh-in 204.6

After the second day in a row eating 5 pounds of potatoes, but this time only drinking 4 pounds of water (1/2 gallon), I lost .04 pounds from yesterday’s weigh-in, because I only drank ½ the water amount for the carbohydrates to hold onto

My BF (mirror) perfect, nice and dry, I’m bigger and harder and just as separated, and as I sip water today I will become harder and harder

Total intake for the whole day yesterday was 300 grams of protein, 5 pounds of potatoes and 1/2 gallon of water.

Again dividing up the 5 pounds of potatoes into 6 meals, eating approximately 325-350 grams a serving every 2 1/2 hours.

I woke up and had my usual 2 cups of coffee (24oz of water)

9:00am I had 2 scoops of IsoCool Whey Protein (50 grams) mixed with (8oz) of water and 2 or 3 potatoes

11:30, 2 scoops of Protein, (8oz) of water and 2 or 3 potatoes

2:00, 2 cans of Tuna (no salt) and 2 or 3 potatoes, topped with vinegar and lemon juice and (8oz) water

4:30, 2 scoops Protein, (8oz) of water and 2 or 3 potatoes7:00, 2 scoops Protein (8oz) of water and 2 or 3 potatoes

No more water after 7pm

9:30, 10oz of boneless chicken breast cooked with Mrs. Dash and the last 3 potatoes, no water this time

Today I will continue taking in carbohydrates and sipping water. I'm treating today as the competition day. I won't be getting on stage until 1pm the earliest, so I need to make sure I don't spillover by drinking too much water and at the same time remain having a full and hard look

Starting tomorrow I will go back to zero carbs to squeeze all the water out of the muscles again to get ready in 12 days for competition.

Time for a protein drink

13 days out from competition – pre carb-up day #2

6:30am weigh-in 205

After eating 5 pounds of potatoes, drinking 8 pounds of water (1 gallon) and eating a 1 ½ pounds of chicken, I gained 3 pounds from yesterday’s weigh-in

My BF (mirror) says yes, I’m bigger, harder and just as separated as yesterday morning, which is what we want

Total intake for the whole day was 300 grams of protein, 5 pounds of potatoes and 1 gallon of water, to the tee!

I divided up the 5 pounds of potatoes into 6 meals; it came out to approximately 325-350 grams each serving. I started eating later then normal, so I was only able to get in 6 meals every 2 1/2 hours.

I woke up and had my usual 2 cups of coffee (24oz of water)

9:30am I had 2 scoops of IsoCool Whey Protein (50 grams) mixed with (8oz) of water and 2 or 3 potatoes and another (8oz) of water

12 noon, 2 scoops of Protein, (8oz) of water and 2 or 3 potatoes with a cup of coffee (12oz)

2:30, 10oz of lean ground chicken cooked with Mrs. Dash (leftovers from night before) and 2 or 3 potatoes with a cup of coffee (12oz)

5:00, 2 scoops Protein, (8oz) of water and 2 or 3 potatoes with another (8oz) of water

7:30, 2 scoops Protein (8oz) of water and 2 or 3 potatoes with another (8oz) of water

10:00, 10oz of lean ground chicken cooked with Mrs. Dash and the last 3 potatoes with 48oz of water and I craved the whole amount and not a drop more.

Next 5 pounds of potatoes are in the oven now

Time for a protein drink

Did you know the egg is the best source of protein in terms of utilization?

The body utilizes the Egg most, then 2nd being Milk, then 3rd all the Meats and Fish and 4th Nuts.

1 egg has 7 grams of protein, 3 grams in the yoke with 5 grams of fat and 4 grams in the whites with 0 grams fat and the whites having 50 grams of sodium.

I eat 8 to 12 eggs whites (no yokes) for a meal. One meal I like to make is Oatmeal and Egg Whites.

Bring the water to a boil, drop the eggs whites and oatmeal (no salt added) in at the same time, then simmer real low and stir often until everything is thick.

Pour it into a bowl and run maple syrup around the top in a bull’s-eye fashion.

Now you have a clean (low fat) complete protein and carbohydrate meal that’s sweet!

Bon appetite!

Time for a protein drink

14 days out from competition – pre carb-up day #1

6:30am weigh-in 202

Just about a one and a half pound drop from yesterday’s weigh-in.

My best friend (the mirror) looks better than it’s ever looked at 202 and being as flat as I am (no carb, no full muscle bellies)

My legs have lines I have never seen before, this tells me my leg training is paying off… can’t go anywhere in this sport with out legs.

I have 10 pounds of Yukon Gold potatoes for today and tomorrow

5 pounds are in the oven set at 375. I’ll bake them for 1 hour, then let sit in the oven for another 15 minutes, they should be perfect.

I’ll divide the 5 pounds up as evenly as possible to go with my 6 protein meals every 2 ½ hours

5 pounds of potatoes equals just over 2000 calories plus another 1200 in protein will give me 3200 calories for today. Up from 1600 all week (zero carbs) except for Tuesday’s carb day at 2700 calories.

Now 3200 doesn’t seem like much, but after 3 days of zero carbs, 1600 cal days, my body should fill out nicely and by keeping my sodium in check (as low as possible), any water in my skin should get pulled into my muscles from the carbs.

As far as my water intake is concerned, I will most likely drink as I’m craving water and seeing I’ll be taking in a large amount of carbs, I will be craving water.

I’ll probably end up drinking anywhere from ½ to one gallon. I’m not too worried about the first day of carbing up and my water intake

Now on Sunday, I’ll stop drinking water around 6 o’clock PM. I want to make sure I don’t spill over (carb up to much)

The water intake believe it or not controls this. You can eat all the carbs you want, if you don’t feed yourself water, then the carbs don’t have anything to hold on to and fill your muscles up hard. But if you drink too much you will spill over and smooth out.

Think about a sponge that you squeezed all the water out of. As you slowly drip water on it, it gets bigger, but you can still see its crevices and craters, but as the water over fills the sponge, you stop seeing the crevices and craters and you see the water smooth out the sponge. Same thing happens to your muscles if you over drink you water

Also by stopping water at 6PM on Sunday (I’m sure I will still be thirsty) I’m hoping the carbs will pull all the water it wants from under my skin (since I have no sodium to hold it there) thus wrapping the skin even tighter as the muscles harden

When I wake up Monday morning, I’m being waking up as if it was Saturday Oct31 (competition day)

Don’t care what I’ll weigh, just want to be big, hard and ripped

Time for a protein drink

15 days out from competition - 0 carb day #7

6:30am weigh-in 203.4


This is somewhat surprising, to go another day zero carbs (1600 protein calories) and to gain a 1/2 pound from yesterday.

Now it was my day off, but in the early weeks, when the day before would have been a carb day, my weight stayed the same the next morning, go figure, could I still be growing?

One more day zero carbs, then I’m going to carb up Saturday and Sunday eating 5 pounds of potatoes each day as I would two days before the show. Monday will tell me everything, in terms of “was that enough potatoes or too much?”

Still having two weeks of training (6 more workouts) I’m not too worried either way; I have plenty of time at this stage of conditioning.

Tonight’s Back and Shoulders and I know already it’s going to be a tough one, I’m so drained right now, but my BF (the mirror) is telling me I’m in the best sharp of my life, so I’m rolling with that

Time for a protein drink

16 days out from competition - 0 carb day #6

6:30am weigh-in 202.8

Just as expected, I dropped just about 2 ½ pounds from yesterday’s weigh-in

I want to start by saying, what a great leg workout last night, just when you think you can’t get your legs any more sore than you have in the past, there comes yet another day where you completely trash your legs.

Thanks to my training partner Rodney for bringing the right attitude and intensity. Legs are gone today for sure!

I noticed a big different this morning in my body, my waist line dropped even smaller (pants are starting to swim on me) My wife says to me this morning while looking at me in my birthday suit, “man you are so lean” Well, I definitely feel lean today.

I decided to go zero carbs for the next 2 days. Then carb up on Saturday by eating 5 pounds of potatoes throughout the day to see what reaction my body has on Sunday. I know what it’s going to do, but I want to see first hand.

Basically, I’m going to be doing the same type of preparation, come the last week.
I will go zero carbs Monday through Wednesday and carb up Thursday and Friday for Saturday’s competition.
I’m just not too sure on how much to eat on those 2 carb up days, so by doing 3 depleting days in a row and doing one carb day on Saturday, I’ll have a better idea on how much to eat when carbing up 2 days before the show…

Besides, I’m so lean right now, this will not hurt me in anyway, if anything, it will help me maintain more muscle and give me a little more energy to burn the pound of fat that’s left

Time for a protein drink

17 days out from competition - 0 carb day #5 - legs

6:30am weigh-in 205.2

Just as expected no weight change today…

Legs tonight, gone tomorrow!

So I go on-line this morning to find some bodybuilding results from back in my day.

At one time I found on-line the 1991 Gold’s Classic results for me showing that I placed 2nd and the 1991 Mass State results were 2nd as well and the 1992 Gold’s Classic 3rd place finish and now I found this years Jay Cutler Classic results with me placing 6th out of 16 in the opens

Not too bad for not being right on. I could have used one more day of carbing up, I came in flat and small

http://npcnewengland.com/archives/2009jc.htm

Mens Light-Heavy

1. Rockie Furtado
2. Brendon Doherty
3. Ken Johnson
4. David Richardson
5. Glen Rodriguez
6. Rob Costarelli
7. Joseph D'Agata
8. Kenneth Johnson
9. Eric Zammitt
10. Shawn Moscoffian
11. Sean Jackson
12. Thomas Ianuzi
13. Peter Munoz-Bennett
14. Ryan Desreuisseau
15. Kevin Trask
Withdrew: Nathan Quinn

This is a definite confidence builder…

This time around I will be in shape!

Time for a protein drink

Weight Loss vs. Fat Loss

Took and edited from Stronglift.com

Weight Loss vs. Fat Loss: Are you sure you’re Losing Fat?

Weight loss is one of the hottest topic ever. Everyone seems to be trying to lose weight nowadays. But what’s the difference between weight loss & fat loss? People seem to use both terms interchangeably.


Weight Loss vs. Fat Loss. What’s the difference?

Let’s start by defining weight loss & fat loss so you know what I mean here. Weight Loss. You want to lower your body-weight, the sum weight of your bones, muscles, organs, body fat, …

Fat Loss. You want to lower your body fat, the amount of fat your body carries. Healthy goals are 10% body fat for men and 15% for women.

Problems with Weight Loss. If you want to lose weight, it’s most likely because you carry too much fat. There are people who must lose weight, like athletes before a competition, but most want fat loss.

Your body-weight can fluctuate daily since it’s influenced by your stomach/bowel/bladder content, water loss/retention, muscle loss/gain, fat loss/gain, you’ll have no idea what’s going on.

2 people with similar height can weigh the same, but look completely different because one has lower body fat than the other. Check the picture at the top for an example.


The last point shows why the BMI standard is flawed: it doesn’t take your body fat into account. Both guys in the top picture have the same BMI, but one is clearly healthier: his body fat is lower.

Carbs & Water. Carbs bind to water. So eating less carbs will make you lose weight: water loss. This is why you lose so much weight on a diet like Atkins the first 2 weeks: it’s mostly water. Of course, increasing your carb intake will make you gain weight again: water retention.



Muscle Gains & Fat Loss. You’ll gain muscle while losing fat when you get into weight training. But on the weight scale it will look like you’re not making progress: your body-weight doesn’t change

How to Make Sure You Lose Fat, Not Muscle? 5lbs muscle takes less space than 5lbs fat. That means you’ll look slimmer at the same body-weight by building muscle.

Some keys to losing fat not muscle:

Get Stronger. Weight training builds muscle & prevents muscle loss. It also helps sticking to your diet.


Eat Healthy. Eat whole unprocessed foods 90% of the time

You can do cardio to speed up fat loss. But without weight training, cardio will cause muscle loss and you’ll end up skinny-fat.

You Might Not Want to Lose Weight. Big guys who want to lose weight often change their mind once they’ve lowered their body fat. They realize they prefer to stay big as long as their body fat is healthy.

Focus on fat loss first. Once you’ve got your body fat down, check if you like what you see. Then decide if you still need to lose weight.

Time for a protein drink

18 days out from competition

6:30 am weigh-in 205.2

Body weight dropped one pound from yesterdays no carb day.
Last week I lost .06 pounds following Monday’s no carb day. If everything is staying the same as far as action and reaction is concerned, tomorrows weigh in (following today’s carb day) I should stay the same as today, 205.2 and come Thursday mornings weigh-in following Wednesdays zero carb day, I should drop around 2.5 pounds

Remember I eat and drink the same thing everyday at every meal and other than my training varying, nothing changes, making predicting easy and at this point in the game, it’s all for fun. I’m already there, I could compete this weekend, and I would just need to carb up

Remember the scale is only a tool and it's used with the mirror, another tool, to help you understand. First off, how different you CAN look at the SAME body weight, but it also helps you know everything is working. Ideally you want to lose weight as slowly as possible and it’s ok to drop some, and then come back up, as long as the mirror changes or your clothes are starting to look and feel different on you. Then you know your losing fat not just body weight


Time for a protein drink

19 days out from competition - 0 carb day #4

6:30am weigh-in 206.2

I mentioned in yesterdays post that in one week’s time I’ve lost 2 pounds. Actually from last Monday’s 6:30am weigh-in to this morning’s weigh-in, I have lost .04 pounds.

It’s pretty amazing how you can change how you look through food manipulation.

The mirror has changed so much in one week. My skin got even thinner, my legs have even more definition and separation, but I did become flat, which will come back. All from losing .04 pounds of fat

Zero carbs again today, going to do same as last week. Zero carbs on my training days (MWF) that will leave me at 14 days out come Saturday (two weeks).

I think this week is going to get rid of the remaining 2-3 pounds of fat. It wouldn’t surprise me if I’m not around 2%bf come Saturday.

If my thinking is correct and I do strip down to 2%, then just for the hell of it and to make sure I don’t lose muscle (no fat left) I will eat a 5 pound bag of potatoes (Yukon’s) on Saturday, just to see how my body reacts on Sunday. I have plenty of time at this stage and I’m always up for learning.

This will shoot my caloric intake to 4800 calories (3200 carbs, 1400 protein, 200 fat) My body should come back nicely in terms of muscle hardness and size, but let’s see what Saturday brings first

Why potatoes? Well for no other reason then they are one of the foods with the highest amounts of potassium and we all know potassium holds water in your muscles, so why not? I always got a great carb pump from running on potatoes before, might as well stay with something you know that works well

Now it is starting to get good!

Time for a protein drink

20 days out from competition

6:30am weigh-in 204.4

So I woke up weighing .06 heavier this time.

Let us look back at the week. I decided to go zero carbs on my workout days (M W F)

Monday was the first day of zero carbs; I woke up weighing 206.4 to start

On Tuesday after one day of zero carbs, I weighed 206, losing .04 of excess water carbs.

On Wednesday after a one day of eating carbs, I weighed 206 again, leveling off

On Thursday after the second day of zero carbs, I weighed 204.8 dropping 1.2 pounds this time and really changing, starting to become flatter and more separated

On Friday after a day of carbs, I weighed 204.8 the same again just like earlier in the week after a carb day.

Now yesterday after my 3rd day of zero carbs, I woke up 203.8 and my BF (the mirror) made my legs look like they never looked before at this weight, so separated

So here’s were it gets interesting, I wake up today after yesterdays carb day and was heavier at 204.4, not staying the same weight as the other 2 days following a carb day, but gaining weight

My legs looked just as separated as yesterday, but now they are fuller and harder and when squeezed I have cross strides

Remember when the time comes you engorge yourself with carbs which fill the muscles to hardness

Doing zero carbs on the workout days is working out just as I hoped for, I’m going to keep it going again for next week

In one weeks time I lost 2 pounds and have changed so much

Time for a protein drink

Spray tanning booths… who would think?

Back in my day (mid 80’s) when I used to compete, preparation for competition was tanning everyday for 30 minutes, (you can never be dark enough for the stage) which was how long the sessions were back then, we’d even pull doubles. Boy you would sweat out so much water, which was nice before a show.

Earlier this year, I started to tan 3 months out from the Jay Cutler classic on May 4th. Tanning now is only 12 minutes, not much sweating these days, but you still get dark, well maybe not dark enough for competition.

My friends in the gym were starting to make fun of me because I was so dark. I even used Jan Tan, a product that you paint on you the day or so before a show, that actually washes off and doesn’t stain anything.

Well it washed off alright, along with my tan as I was sweating during competition. So needless to say, I was looking pretty white on stage that day

I remember from back in the day, I used to use this product called Pro Tan, now this stuff doesn’t come off, in fact, its on you for a few weeks and stains everything, but if it doesn’t turn you green or orange (some people) you’re good to go with a deep rich dark tan, perfect for competition.

I reached out to a friend of mine who owns a few tanning places, Mark Taslakian http://www.glowtanningcenter.com/ and is a great competitive bodybuilder as well and asked him if the Pro Tan that’s out these days is the same as back then

He told me to save my money and come down to one of his place, he has a spray booth that will do the trick.

Spray booth are you joking me?

What is does, if I understand what Mark said to me, the solution that is sprayed on you works with the proteins in your skin and kind of causes the air to oxidize your skin, as an apple would if pealed and left out in the air.

Well, it took less then 20 seconds to get sprayed and as each day passes, I’m getting darker and darker

I was told to come back the week of the show for 2 more sprays, one early in the week, then one the day before competition

So if you're looking to compete in bodybuilding and want to save time and money or you just want a nice real looking tan all year long, check out one of the Mark’s locations

Time for a protein drink

21 days out from competition

6:30am weigh-in 203.8

I didn't lose as much as I expected, only one pound. Kind of confirms what my BF (mirror) is showing me, that I’m pretty rock bottom in terms of body fat and excess carb held water (flat) a good place to be at this point in the game

I would say from this passed week of zero carbs every other day (workout days) I lost at least 2 solid pounds of fat. I can see this by how much my lower abdominals have changed.

You might not think that 2 pounds is a lot, but think about, take 2 pounds of fat (trim off some meat) and put it down on a table, I bet you will be surprised. The same for muscle, 2 pounds is a lot of muscle. Shit I’d be trilled just to put on 2 pounds every 3 months.

Here is a web site that you can look up Nutritional data; it’s a pretty cool site. Just punch in whatever food you want to look up and you’ll get a bunch of options; it even gives you brand names and fast food places you might find yourself eating in
Check it out… http://www.nutritiondata.com/

We are off to Topsfield fair today, I haven’t been this in over 25 years…can’t wait to see how much fun my 8 year old (Anthony) is going to have. http://www.topsfieldfair.org/

We are leaving around 12:30 right at my 3rd meal, which will take me 5 minutes to eat. I’ll pack all my carbs and protein for the rest of the day. I’ll carry dry carbs with me and protein powder with water to mix it, so traveling is relatively easy.

With every meal I take a chewable Vitamin Mineral supplement by a company called Pioneer. http://www.pioneernutritional.com/

I remember when this company just came out back in the mid 80’s, (I competed from 85-92 and used this product then) this is a great product, but make sure you get the one that has no iron or else you will have hard “shit happens”. Unless of course you bleed a lot, which is the only time you lose iron.

You can find this product at your local WholeFoods Market

Time for a protein drink

22 days out from competition - 0 carb day #3

6:30am weigh-in 204.8

Am I good or what... I had a feeling my weight was going to stay the same after yesterday's carb eating day, just like the other day, weight comes down, then levels off

My prediction after tonight's Back and Shoulders workout is I will drop 1.2 pounds, weighing in tomorrow morning at 203.6. I may even drop to 203, Back is a big muscle workout and takes a lot out of you.

Back damage tonight will start with pull-ups and chin-ups, alternating between them for 4-6 sets total. I chalk my hands for dryness and go to town (much stronger with dry hands). I can get 15 reps for both on the first set, then only half that for the following sets. (Short rest 30 seconds) This movement works the whole back, for upper and lower width and thickness.

From there a wide grip bent over movement (or machine) working the upper width and thickness for 4-5 sets. My reps range anywhere from 8 to 20 (energy permitting) I always strive for higher reps for the back, in the 15 to 20 range.

#3 should now go down to your lower lats. A close grip will hit that. Remember always keep your shoulders as low as you can on all back rows and your chest and ribcage out and up as high as possible, squeezing your shoulder blades back and down. If you pull the bar below your belly button, this will help you with that.

Your back muscles are just like your chest muscles, only going the other way. That dimple you see at your arm pit (tie-in spot) for your chest. Well your back has the same kind of dimple too by the shoulder blades.

So please make sure you contract your back as much as possible by keeping your shoulders low and chest and ribcage out and up, during your row movements and always stretch out as far as you can and please don't be afraid to row the weight as if you were rowing a boat

The last movement is some type of reverse grip with your palms facing up (like chins) or a pullover off a bench with a barbell or a dumbbell. This really stretches the Back muscles and hits the front part of your lats that tie into your intercostals and really helps open up your ribcage

Time for a protein drink

23 days out of from competition

6:30am weigh-in 204.8

Last nights zero carb Leg workout, was a tough one to say the least. My energy wasn’t as high as it was on Monday’s zero carb workout. (Chest and Arms) I’m definitely at rock bottom in terms of carbohydrate/caloric intake, definitely in survivor mode.

My BF looks awesome this morning, my legs are the most separated so far and other then being flat, everything looks in-line

I’m one to pretty much be self sufficient, when it comes to training. I can always motivate myself in the gym and pretty much always have awesome workouts, but sometime when things aren’t “normal” a training partner is irreplaceable!

What that being said, I want to thank my training partner for showing up, not only to train, but to train hard… Rock on Rodney!

I got to the gym at 5:50 (we start normally at 6) and he was already doing his first set of squats. After being sick for the last 10 days and not being able to train, he was all fired up and had the energy I needed to have as much of an intense workout as I could, not having any carbs again for the second time in two days and my caloric intake almost cut in half.

My body weight did as expected drop double the amount from the first day of zero carbs. It wouldn’t surprise me, after today’s carb day, my weight will be the same for tomorrows weigh-in. Leveling off just like it did on Tuesday’s weigh-in

Now Friday’s zero carb day workout, (Back and Shoulders) will be the hardest one of the week, being the last day of completely hitting all the muscle groups and it wouldn’t surprise me, if come Saturday morning I lose 3 times as much weight

But I know I will have an intense work out!

Time for a protein drink

24 days out from competition - 0 carb day

6:30am weigh-in 206

Legs today gone tomorrow

I actually started writing this blog last night. I can’t get “legs day” out of my mind. In fact, I started thinking about legs right after Monday night’s workout.

I keep roll playing my workout in my head, thinking about squatting my ass off and getting a sick pump, and when it’s all said and done, my legs are gone, completely wasted.

The next day the legs just have that numbing feeling and you feel so accomplished and during my working out, I can’t even walk normal my legs are so pumped and that's just from squatting, I haven’t even gotten to hack squats yet or leg press or front squat (any of those 3 would be my 2 second movement)

Then onto walking lunges for #3, if you really want to shape your legs, build thickness and tie everything in (glutes and hams), add walking lunges to your routine, trust me.

#4 is squeezing my quads on the leg extension machine, starting with both legs to warm up, then onto singles, one after the other, left to right to left to right, like if you were doing dumbbell curls, talk about a blood pump burn!

There’s nothing like squeezing blood filled quads until you can feel them again, it’s like your squeezing the blood out of them, but at the same time changing the blood pump to a burn.

Then hamstrings, where when lying down on the legs curl machine, your quads have so much blood in them, that it lifts you even high off the pad, causing an even more stretch on your ham and with every curl, your quads burn, because your stretching them every time you curl your hams and your hams cramp with every rep, but only to stretch out when the weight is lowered…. Oh I can’t wait for tomorrow...

And of course my new found favorite exercise (thanks to Kai Greene) where you get down on all 4’s behind the leg curl machine. (So the machine is behind you) Put one foot on the pad where your ankle would go if you were in the machine doing leg curls. You then push on the pad backwards using your ass like a kick back… talk about burn.

Not too long ago I pulled my left groan muscle (still not 100%)and I still had to go to the gym to train legs when legs day came. I tried to squat just with the bar, no go. (I should have figured, seeing it hurt just to get out of the car) I tried pressing, it hurt less and was able to do one set with a very light weight (3 plate aside), but wasn’t getting a pump at all in my left leg, so I stopped.

I was determined to get an even pump on something. I tried lying down and standing curls, no go… forgot to mention I also pulled (at the sometime) the muscle behind your knee that works for pivoting movements.

Finally I tried the ass movement exercise (Kai Greene's) and although I could feel the back of my knee pain, all the pressure was on my glutes. Never in my life time have I ever got just a ass pump, this was the weirdest feeling to have nothing else pumped but my ass… so I know first hand this exercise really hits your glutes

A whole day of eating carbs, yet the body weight stayed the same, this tells me my game plan is working, coming down a little, then leveling off

After today’s no carb workout, I should come down another ½ a pound or more and then level off again the following day…

I still need to bring my hams in more. I may need to go zero carbs longer and really force my body to rid these few pounds of fat.

At this point, I’m not worried about losing size, I can always eat myself big again (which is the plan) the leaner I get and the more flat I make the muscles (from this point on) the more POP they will have when I eat my ass off 48 hours before the show… I need to get more ripped

I’ll know more by Saturday

Time for a protein drink

25 days out from competiton

6:30am weigh-in 206

Zero carbohydrates all day yesterday total calories 1600 (400 grams of protein) and my weight only dropped .06 pound for the morning before and I trained Chest and Arms last night.

My BF (the mirror) tells me I'm tighter and dryer (legs have deeper cuts) then I was at “28 days out” weighing 206.2 (pretty much weighing the same) so my water is shifting the way I want.

I am a little of the flat side (not as big and hard) but you need to give this up until all your fat is gone, I don’t have too much time left. (Remember I can carb up in 48 hours by engorging myself with carbs)

I want to make a correction on yesterdays post (already corrected on post). I use the wrong terminology. I meant, I wanted to put my body into “survival mode” and what I said was “starvation mode”.

In “starvation mode” everything slows down i.e.: your metabolism and a lot people do this when the go long periods in between eating. This is not what you want to do.
In "survival mode" I’m eating all day long, but my calories are low and not quite enough for a day’s energy.

This heightens all your sensors and causes your brain (the ultimate survivor) to burn what it needs to survive and since I wasn’t taking in carbs for the day, my body reaches into my stored liver carbs and uses them for energy, thus burning fat during my workout last night and I can notice a difference in just one day

Training last night was good, I got a nice pump, my skin looked great, deep cuts, very vascular. I had plenty of energy, rest was minimal (30-45 sec in between sets), but my strength wasn’t all there, having only eaten 1600 calories.

From this point on, I’m not looking to go heavy as much as getting a pump, with less rest and more reps

The damage was as follows…

Flat bench 185/4 sets/15 reps (8reps last set)
Inclines smith machine 185/4sets
Incline flies/ 4sets
Machine flies/ 4sets

Onto Triceps;
Close grip benching (smith machine)/ 4sets
Skull crushers/ 4sets
Pushdowns superset with overhead/ 4sets

Onto Biceps;
Dumbbell curls/ 4sets
One arm preacher curls/4sets
Barbell reverse curls/4sets
Wrist curls off the end of the bench both ways/4set
I end every workout with 3 sets of stomach crunches or 3 sets of leg lifts

Now today I'm going back to eating as I would on a none workout day, which is as follows

7:30am- 50 grams protein (200 calories)
9:30am- 50 grams protein/200 calories in carbs (400 calories)
12:00pm- 50 grams protein/200 calories in carbs (400 calories)
2:30pm- 50 grams protein/200 calories in carbs (400 calories)
5:00pm- 50 grams protein/200 calories in carbs (400 calories)
7:30pm- 50 grams protein/200 calories in carbs (400 calories)
10:00pm- 50 grams protein/200 calories in carbs (400 calories)

On a normal training day there would be an extra 25grams of protein and 100 calories of carbs post workout

Time for a protein drink

26 days out from competition - 0 carb day

6:30am weigh-in 206.6
Body weigh is down 1 pound from yesterdays weigh-in. But it's up 2 pounds from after Yoga.

Today’s best friend (the mirror) tells me I’m still flat and have not carbed back up from yesterdays Yoga class. Skin still is on the dry side though.

Decisions, decisions, decisions… Plans this week is to have zero carb days. I am planning on going zero carbs on training days. (Today)Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

I'm pretty lean right not, definitely 5% body fat. The belly button has changed, which tells me, my BF is around 5%.

When your this low, your body doesn’t want to give up the remaining fat (I have around 3 pounds left) so you have to put yourself into a survival mode, which forces your body to strip the remaining fat.

By just eating protein my caloric intake will be 1600 calories, that’s 50 grams of protein ever 2 hours for 8 meals.

Will I lose muscle, no. Will I lose size, yes, but only water weight held by carbohydrate in the muscle, which can come back with in 48 hours.

I’m going to do zero carbs every other day. I pick the training day to do this, so my body reaches into my carb reservoir (cup of water) to help contract the muscles doing my workout, to assure I’m emptying the glass, only to fill back up the following day, for the next workout… this will force my body to strip the remaining fat.

Zero carbs isn’t a healthy state to be in, because you need 60 grams of carbohydrates a day to just to fuel your brain and for your organs to function normally, but it’s only every other day and should be enough to rid the remaining fat

When you do carb depletion and limit your calories right before a show, followed by engorging yourself with mega calories (4000-6000 range) your muscle reacts in such a way, that they swell up bigger then ever, which will last for a couple of days.

But the trick is to limit your water in take during the carb up process, so that you don't spill over and remain tight and dry, full and thick, but make sure you take in enough water to allow your muscle to come back even bigger then before

A lot of times competitors don't get this right and they either don't carb up enough (which is more so) or they spill over and smooth out.

When you carb deplete, in a sense, you're staving your body from carbs and sometimes calories (remember your muscles are like a sponge) so when you put large amounts of carbs back into your body following a depletion, your body reacts in such a way, its mind boggling.

You swell up to a enormous size, while your skin is thin. By limiting your water intake your muscles (sponge) thirst for water, so its going to grab water from anywhere it can, like under your skin, so you skin get sucked in even tighter like saran wrap.

This is all for the days before the contest, but I’m slowly going to bring myself down, so my body graves carbs and will react as such.

By weeks end I should have got rid of the remaining fat or most of it and will probably go back to carbs everyday and decide if I’m going to carb deplete the week of the show or not

From this point on, it’s going to get interesting and I have to stay focused on my game plan… carb limitation can cause you not to think straight, so I need to keep reminding myself what I need to do

Let the games begin

Time for a protein drink

Baptiste Yoga (hot room) To sweat or not to sweat...

Before Yoga weight was 207.4, after already consuming 800 calories (100 grams of protein and 400 calories in carbohydrates) and I want to add that “shit happens” twice this morning.

After Yoga weight was 204.6, that’s a 2.8 pound water loss. I did consume during class 32oz of water, which is 2 pounds.

So taking that into consideration, if I didn’t drink that 16oz of water, I would have lost a total of 4.8 pounds. I find this pretty amazing.

What I noticed when I’ve done Yoga in the past (4 other times) the first 20 minutes your sweat is salty. Well since dieting and controlling my sodium intake (keeping around 750mg a day) my sweat today had no salt at all, none.

After yoga I wasn’t any tighter, but I was dryer. Meaning my skin was kind of dehydrated, for a dry look to it (which is a good thing for competition). But I was also flat, the 2.8/4.8 pounds of water I lost was mainly from with-in my muscle bellies. I lost my hardness and flattened out.

I need to see what happens now in the days to follow. I’m going try lowering my sodium even more to 500mg a day and see if I can not keep my skin dry longer while I carb up.

You don’t want to go too low with your sodium, for one, it gives you strength, helps cushion your joints, aids in muscle contraction and works with your potassium for water balance for your muscles, (out of balance will cause muscle cramps) to name a few.

Would I do hot room yoga the day before a competition… absolutely not. Would I do it a week out… sure, I may be able to use hot room yoga even 3 days out.

I have to see how long my skin stays dry and is it the little bit of sodium held water removed, causing the dry skin or is it the splash over from carbs, having still too many carbs and now that I’m flat, I’m drier, we shall see… I'm think it maybe a little of both...

In any event, it was a great hour an a half class… Namaste!

Time for a protein drink

27 days out from competition

6:30am weigh-in 207.6

Having yesterday off from the gym and eating the same 2700 calories (52% carbs,40% protein and 8% fat) I gained back 1.4 pounds (just about a pound an a half) from the 2.8 (almost 3 pounds) lost from yesterday morning. I think I found my spot in terms of how many calories and how they are rationed out % wise.

I say this because of the mirror (your best friend at this point in the game) my scale sits right below my BF and it’s one of those electric scales that you have to touch first to turn on.

So every morning around 6:30 (always after I have my first cup of coffee) I touch that scale step back and hit poses. My attention is always on my legs, the last thing to come in for me. What I see just about every day is more tightness and hardness.

Tightness tells me, I’m not spilling over (too much carbs) and my sodium is in check and hardness tells me, I’m carbed up, not flat. Remember I eat the same thing everyday and to see the scale pretty much stay the same. Goes down, comes up, but still losing a little weight. This is exactly what you want to happen. This tell me I should be able to keep everything the same and have time to come right into this contest, big and hard, 27 days from now


Off to hot room yoga at11. I’m planning on weighing myself before and after. I’m dying to see how I look after stripping all the water out from under my skin.

If I keep my fullness, then it was only water under the skin (which I don’t think is going to be the case, you sweat way too much) if I am flat too, then the muscles lost water also.

Which is ok, I’ll still see the tightness (no sodium water under the skin) and I can carb back without sodium, to get the fullness back and see what’s what. I will be able to see clearer on how much fat is left verse water and where my weigh is… fun shit here!

Keep in mind I’m a junky when it comes to this stuff. I’m so addicted to actions and reactions and when your body fat is 5% or lower, every change causing a clear reaction. This is the only way you can truly understand your body in connection to foods.

Remember, you are what you eat and this is a true statement.

I do this for fun, because I can

Time for a protein drink

28 day our from competition

6:30am weigh-in 206.2

Last nights workout was a tough one, I didn’t fully recovered from Wednesday legs workout. Got a good pump, but the intensity was hard to keep up, no energy.

Now I know why … just over a two pound drop in one day, 2.8 to be exact. This clearly tells me, I’m right at bottom for the amount of calories I need to sustain my workouts.

I need to see what happens come Monday, having these next two days off from the gym, to determine my next move.

Remember nothing has changed in terms of what I eat everyday. Dropping 2 pounds like that, becoming even tighter, and maintaining fully carbed up muscle bellies and still keeping my size is exactly what I want to be happening.

The only thing that’s going to be changing is yoga. Hot room (Baptiste) yoga that I started over a month ago once a week (done 4 times) and this Sunday at 11 to 12:30 will be the first time since dieting, two weeks ago.

In hot room yoga, the room temperature is kept somewhere around 95 degrees and you can lose up to 3 pounds of water easy, never mind the extra calories you will burn.

I’m looking forward to see what’s going to happen come Monday with this new element added to the mix.

What I’m hoping to get from hot room yoga, is to use it as a tool, ridding the skin of water held in by sodium (water on top of muscle) I’m hoping to be able to use this the week of the show (the Sunday before)

So I need to pay close attention to what happens and not so much that day, but the days to follow.

Once stripped of all water from under the skin, sodium intake would be the only thing to put it back and I can eliminate that all together if need be... we shall see, I don’t' want to get to far ahead of myself, lets see what happens with Yoga tomorrow

Time for a protein drink

29 days out from competition

6:30am weigh-in 208.6/208 (shit happens)

Now everything is starting to settle down in terms of my body weight. I’m slowly coming down a little at a time, which is what I want to do. Slowly eating away the little fat that’s left and controlling my water and thinning my skin each day with each workout.

It takes about two weeks before you start to run off straight complex carb (liver stored carb) which is what you want to do to control your water.

By not eating all other carbs, you will start to run on just complex carbs that are stored in the liver first, before they are used as energy (blood sugar).

Picture a glass filled with water (stored carbs) and as it starts to over flow, that’s your energy (blood sugar) by keeping that glass full you maintain full muscle bellies and burn fat efficiently.

All I’m looking to do is burn the reminding fat, by keeping my muscles full, so they work at full capacity to burn fat and controlling my water, so I can clearly see where I’m at.

Next week I will start to lower my carbs on some days, just to flatten out a little and force my body to get rid of the reminding fat.

I find when your body gets down around 6% body fat, it doesn’t want to give the rest up, and you need to force it. How I’m am to do this, is by fooling the body to think it’s getting a lot of food, by eating every two hours instead of 2.5 hours. I'll add another protein meal and removing a couple of carbs meals.

In a sense, I’m keeping my caloric intake the same, but shifting the % around to more like 60% protein 32% carbs and 8% fat… Calories are the same, but I’m lower my carbs a little more, to start to make my body reach for more fat storage, but not too much, that I eat away muscle.

Remember fat burns more efficiently with carbohydrates present, they burn 50-5o and without carbs in your blood, you will most likely eat away at your muscle and not burn fat efficiently.

Remember fat is the last thing your body wants to lose, it protects all of your vital organs.

Tonight’s damage will be Back and Shoulder!

Time for a protein drink

30 days out from competition

6:30am weigh-in 209/207.8 (shit happens)

I woke up having to go #2 more then usual, so I decided to weigh myself before and after… now that’s 1.2 pounds difference, wow!. So it’s safe to say… after a pound, you’re “full of it”!

Legs last night … on man, GONE today for sure! My legs are so toasted from my ass to my calves; I have this humming feeling running through legs and what a great feeling!

The damage all started with 7 sets of squats, climbing my way up to 365 for 8, ending at 315 for 12, then onto 5 sets of hacks, working my way up to 4 plates each side, to failure on each set.

From there;
4 set extensions, to failure
2 sets walking lunges, to failure
4 sets lying down one legged hamstring curls, to failure
2 sets seated leg curls (right quad started to spasm, had to move on)
4 sets of standing one legged curls, to failure
No stiff legs today.
4 sets on kneeing down behind the lying down leg curl machine and pushing backward from the floor, working the ass muscles… Great movement really, targets the glutes
4 standing one leg calf raises, 4 seated and 4 machine seated calf press, one side at a time, starting with left calf and ending with left calf. Grabbing that extra set on the left calf (slightly smaller calf)

One of the best feelings I have, is right after I have a great legs work out, it’s a good feeling knowing you have accomplished yet another growing intense leg workout; it makes the rest of the week easier

Time for a protein drink