Today's weight: 152.8 lbs.
It's funny. I originally started this Summer Shred experiment to lean out for the Summer. I was new to the flexible dieting/IIFYM/IF lifestyles and it is amazing how much you can learn and implement in such a short span of time. I looked at myself, my continued success with this diet, and thought about the idea of competing again. As of this morning, I weigh 152.8 lbs, the lightest I have been this year. I stepped on stage last December at 148.0 lbs @ ~5-6% bf, so I am not far from stage weight. I hope I have made SOME gains in the past year, but let's say I haven't. That would mean I am less than 5 lbs away from last year's stage weight. If I did make 1-2 lbs of gains (hopefully in the legs department--I have small legs), then I should be just as well conditioned as last year at about 150 lbs. But if a competition is what I want to do, I want to bring a better package than last year.
Last year's contest prep plan:
-cyclical ketogenic diet--ultra low carbs, ultra low calories
-traditional approach to food choices--chicken/tilapia, broccoli, and almond butter
-traditional approach to 6 small meals a day, feed every 2-3 hours
-mentally and physically difficult w/ minimal energy and decrease in performance
-life revolved around contest prep--no life balance (thank you, Then-Girlfriend-Now-Fiancee, for sticking by me even though I was probably a stink to be around)
This year's contest prep approach:
-flexible dieting/IIFYM/IF approach
-low fat, maximize carb intake for maximum performance
-meal frequency and meal timing is irrelevant--eat what I want when I want so long as it fits my macros
-this time last year at 152 lbs, I felt like shit--I feel 100x better today with this new diet approach
-balance is key--if my Fiancee wants to eat out, I'll consider eating out too given the restaurant provides nutrition information
What show am I going to compete in? Honestly, I'm not 100% sure. I'm taking a different approach to the way I select my shows. Instead of pointing one out 5-6 months out and going all in for that target date, I'm going to do it ass backwards to allow for a much more stress-free experience. I'll just focus on getting shredded and getting prepared for a show. When I am getting close to the level of condition that I am happy with, I will then select the show. The next show that I may be ready for is the 2013 NPC Excalibur (the same show and production that I competed at last year) on December 14th, 2013. I may be cutting it close to be ready in time for that show, and in case I am not completely happy with my physique by that time, I'll just aim for another show in January or whenever I feel like I can deliver the best physique that I can carve out. It's not about entering a show just to compete, but to showcase the best damned physique you can possibly deliver. And sometimes it takes much longer than expected--that's okay! Rome wasn't built over night, right? Also beginning 2014 will be the end of my membership in the NPC. It's been a great experience, but I am a natural bodybuilder and would love to continue competing at a more even playing field. I will look into other bodybuilding organizations that are drug-tested, such as the NANBF, OCB, INBA, and so forth. I don't know a great deal about these organizations yet, so I will need to do my research on them.
Here's a great video by Eric Helms from Team 3DMJ on expanding on the different major natural bodybuilding organizations, as well as the controversial topics in natural bodybuilding:
What started to be just an experiment with flexible dieting to lean out for the Summer has now become contest prep just because I am having such a great experience with dieting thus far with this method. On that note, I strongly recommend that you keep your mind open, maintain a student mentality, read the facts and take all of it with a grain of salt, be open to try new things, and just keep learning. You never know what you might come up on that works better for you and completely change everything you knew about bodybuilding.
So that's it for today! I dropped 0.4 lbs versus last week and I had chips and beer on Saturday on my refeed day (it was a Halloween party so I had to enjoy myself). The contest prep journeys on!
Current macros--
Regular Days:
2100 calories
230g protein
180g carbs
50g fat
Refeed Day:
3000-3200 calories
230g protein
400-450g carbs
50g fat
Current Training Plan--Goal: burn as many calories as possible through lifting weights; I hate cardio and will only utilize this method of burning calories if my joints/muscles are sore
6 days on, 1 day off
Push/Pull/Legs, repeat, off
Currently no cardio, but will consider adding cardio on off day
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