Preparing for "Peak Week" & Updates!

Taken about a week ago - No pump, feeling a bit bloated, but it's OK!  Practice, practice, practice!!!

New bodyweight low in this prep - 148.4 lbs. on November 21, 2013

The 2013 NPC Excalibur is 3 weeks out -- I'm so excited!  Every bodybuilder looks forward to the grueling last haul at the final stretch -- "Peak Week."  Well, almost every bodybuilder.  As a natural, certain 'broscience' methods and strategies of peak week is not necessary, and borderline dangerous to the health!  Layne Norton is a huge advocate in going against the grain of bro-methodology in leading into peak week; and he is a huge inspiration for me and how I live the natural amateur bodybuilder lifestyle.

Let's see... What are the general methods that a lot of bodybuilders go through during peak week?
-Cut sodium
-Cut water
-Load diuretics
-Load potassium
-Stop training legs
-Stop lifting heavy and just go marathon on those weights
- ...and the list goes on!

Why make it complicated?  Are these the things I do normally during my prep?  The best way to go about peak week is NO SURPRISES by keeping it simple.  Perhaps the aforementioned head-spinning to-do list is what athletes on super-supps must go through because of all the crazy imbalances in their body from the gear.  Or perhaps even natural athletes that are simply just not lean enough and want to do whatever it takes to "appear" leaner on stage.  Either way, these are drastic changes and comes with drastic repercussions.  People have fainted, even died at shows taking these unnecessary steps just for a plastic trophy.  I don't know about you, but I'd like to be lifting and looking better with age up to the last moments of my life.

This is my take on peak week:
-get LEAN and I mean as LEAN and conditioned as possible; then you don't need to think about cutting water or sodium
-look for patterns--I noticed that with my current macros, I look my best 5-6 days after my carb load day.  This is perfect because I will continue to keep my carb load day where it is so I will load carbs as I normally do exactly 7 days from the competition.  Then on competition day, just eat small meals of protein and fat and throw in carbs here and there to maintain the physique
-look for more patterns--my legs look best 2-3 days after leg day, so I will train legs 2-3 days prior to competition
-NO SURPRISES--I will train normally the way I do and maybe just ease up on trying to lift as heavy as possible; but stick to the 6-12 rep range on all exercises.  The only difference is not training to failure so I don't end up being sore on stage.
-That's it!  Nothing really special for "peak week" except a nice coat of competition tan ;P

As for updates, I have added more and more cardio into my regimen since 2-3 weeks ago so it can do the grunt work in my fat loss, instead of cutting back calories.  I am happy with my 2000 calories a day!  How the hell did I live on a low of 1400 calories last year?!  It's crazy... I am so happy with this prep thus far.  I feel a million times better, and I am cutting on carbs, eating cereal and ice cream for dinner and on refeed days (I even ate Chipotle last week!).

Here is my current training plan--

Monday - Push Day & Abs w/ 300 calorie burn low intensity cardio
Tuesday - Pull Day
Wednesday - Legs w/ 300 calorie burn low intensity cardio
Thursday - Push Day & Abs w/ 150 calorie burn low intensity cardio
Friday - Pull Day
Saturday - Legs w/ 300 calorie burn low intensity cardio
Sunday - Abs & Weakpoint Training w/ 300 calorie burn low intensity cardio aka "Rest Day"

Total cardio per week: ~2 hours; and if I run out of time to finish my 300 calorie burn on Monday, for example, I will finish the remainder on Tuesday.