47 Days | 22 Hours | 31 Minutes and Counting

Sometimes you get to a point where you make the decision that at all costs - I will make this happen.  I have been working with the Boss now for over a year and in that time I've learned a lot about trainings and nutrition that I can carry with me for life.  Most of all, he has continually reinforced such an important intangible ingredient in this whole equation - believing.  Before you can do anything you have to believe and then after belief there is "do" - no try, only do (from Star Wars).  If there is a "try" in there, then it will not happen.  There is no middle ground, it is one or the other.  It is build the muscles or lose the weight.  It is have faith, or not have faith.  There is no gray area.

Trust me, many days that I question what I am doing.  I turned 30 years old this year.  I'm relatively late entering this bodybuilding game.  Where many of my friends and family are getting married and planning families, buying/building houses, making their next big career moves upwards -- I'm over here pursuing yet another dream.  One that challenges the "known" timeline of life.  I should be striving for the same things as everyone else - right?!?

It's not that I don't want those things, but I have spent too much time quieting/ignoring that "thing" deep inside.  With every training day, every repetition, every weight increase I am not only building a body, I am building my faith, my courage, my fearlessness.  I am choosing to "believe" that "the plan" that everyone else is following is not necessarily the plan pre-defined for me.  It's not that I don't want those things - because I definitely do -- but to follow your heart to wherever it may lead is the ultimate show of faith.  Now when I wake up in the mornings, I know above all else, that I can do this - "this" being whatever it is I dream of doing.


Diet
I started the week a bit stalled in my weight loss.  It pretty much came to a screeching halt.  So after

talking a bit with the Boss, I took some time and evaluated everything I was current doing and looking for areas of change.  I switched from chicken to turkey, which surprisingly wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.  I always think of turkey as dry and unbearable.  I cooked it like I cook my chicken, so I turned out really well.  I think I will make a video of how I cook my chicken.  Turkey has a bit more protein and I am eating 1.25kg (uncooked)/day.  This is approximately 1,300 calories, give or take.   The rest of the calories are focused on the fillers (e.g. romaine lettuce, broccoli, mushrooms, paprika).  Before I was eating 1900-2000 calories, I am not consuming 1800-1900 calories a day.  The goal is to always be able to eat as many calories as possible while still losing.  

I also find myself needing more water.  Lately I have been up to 7 liters of water a day not including the tea and coffee I drink.  I drink water ALL THE TIME.  I down 1-2 liters in the morning before I have my first meal.  Even during the night when I wake up I still drink water.  Staying hydrated is key.

Training
Training this week was good - really good actually.  Well I take that back, Monday was a bit suspect.  It was international Chest Day - so all the guys were out and I should have went later.  I really focused on getting and keeping a sweat this week really tried to push the intensity.  This was a difficult change from the off-season where things were slower.  Longer rests between sets.  Where the goal was to build and not burn.  My focus was good, and at least for my heavier lifts I still felt strong.  I start to get tired a little faster towards the end.  This week I will split my legs into 2 days.  Hopefully this helps with leaning them out more too.

Cardio
I am doing cardio now 6 days a week (not on the day I squat).  I have increase the time from 20-30 minutes.  Still walking, although I took a nice jog outside yesterday.  Even on the "off" days from training I still get in the cardio.  This helps because I sit 9-10 hours a day at my job and this wreaks havoc on my fat burning.  The more movement I can get on a daily basis the better (then I can still eat food. ;)

Weight
As I said earlier, I saw a halt in my weight loss this week and some adjustments needed to be made.  This morning I clocked in at 74.2kg.  Not my 73kg goal, but I am happy that it has come down and I am right now on my way.  I have 7 weeks to go and I am starting to figure things out more and more to how my body responds to things.

Comparisons 7/28/2014 vs 9/5/2014