segunda-feira, 3 de dezembro de 2007

Starting week 7 :)

Weight: 71,1kg
BodyFat: 10,0%

:)

domingo, 2 de dezembro de 2007

segunda-feira, 26 de novembro de 2007

Stats

So after taking those pics last night, today I have my stats:

Weight: 71,2 kg
BodyFat:10,7%

I'm so happy with these results. I'm almost at single digit :)

domingo, 25 de novembro de 2007

Starting week 6

So here I am guys, with new photos to upload...
This week has been so hard because of work. I have been getting off work between 10.pm and 1.am, but hey, that's life. Nevertheless, I have been absolutely rigorous about my eating, even though I had to skip a few cardio workouts because I usually do them after work.
I bought myself a stationary bike, and so I've been doing a few cardio workouts, namely my HIIT at home. It's freezing outside and I prefer doing my cardio indoors ehehhe.
The fat is really coming off my front abs, I can really feel it coming off, so great work for me this week, even with all the adversity.
So here are my pics.

(PS. Tomorrow is CARB DAY :D)

terça-feira, 20 de novembro de 2007

Pics and more

Hi guys,

Here are the pics I took yesterday.



I'm finally gaining some shoulder, and my chest is growing too as my arms. I've got to measure my arms because I think I already gained around 1 cm or something (flexed).
Yesterday was carb day, and today I woke up with minus 0,2% body fat, and had gained 500g in my overall weight, which means, glycogen restored :)
The differences are really starting to show :)

segunda-feira, 19 de novembro de 2007

Starting week 5

Hey guys,

Sorry I haven't been doing any updates, but I've been really busy at work. I haven't fallen off my diet though, I've been strict about my diet and my training.
Today I weighed and was at 11,6% BF, from 13,1% two weeks ago. It's a nice improvement. I'm way in schedule for my goal of less than 9% (on my scale) by December 17th.
Today I'll be posting the pics I took yesterday to show my improvements.

Best regards

segunda-feira, 29 de outubro de 2007

Starting third week

Hey guys,

So I'm starting my third week on this program. Yesterday I took some pictures, and in only a week and such (from when I took my last pics) I can see quite a difference in my gut...
This will keep up, until I can almost see my abs. Another thing I want to really know if everyone in the Internet has been lying to me, is about stretch marks. Everyone that I've seen talk about this, say that when you get "lean enough" the stretch marks almost disappear. As you can see from my photos I have plenty of them, so this goes out to prove, once and for all, if it's really true or not.
Not that I'm THAT unhappy about having them... I kind of brag about them, I say they're my war scars :)
Anyway, it would be nice if they disappeared or at least diminish their sizes.... let's see.
For this week, I have another thing to note. Weekends are killing me...
Usually, people have problems at weekends because they tend to overeat, or have a few alcoholic beverages and stuff like that. I have the exact opposite problem. At weekends I tend to undereat :| This week I lost a bit of muscle mass, but I also lost 1.1% body fat, so I'm not that sad. I'm really trying to hold on the muscle I have.
Things that I must do differently this week:
  • Increase my calories a bit (150-200 cal a day) because last week I skipped 2 cardio workouts because I was losing too much weight and didn't want to increase my calorie deficit even further
  • Plan my meals for the weekend on Friday because FAILING TO PLAN IS PLANNING TO FAIL.
  • Stop forgetting my creatine intake... I never forget my glutamine or my BCAAs but I often forget my creatine.
  • Not forgetting to keep track of everything I eat on the weekends.
  • This week I'll also increase my fat intake, to see if I see significant changes. I'll increase it by taking more Fish and Flaxseed Oil. It's a clean way to increase my calories and keeping my macronutrient ratios more in balance.
So enough of the chatting, let's see my improvements for the week:

sexta-feira, 26 de outubro de 2007

I can only say.. WOW

Guys,

I had heard that carb cycling was brutally hardcore when it came to fat loss. Nothing would ever tell me that it was THIS great. I know I shouldn't have done it, but when I woke up today I stepped on my scale and measured my body fat. From monday to this friday, it came from 13.7% to 12.4%, with minus 1.3kg. And it came ALL from fat, no muscle lost, according to the scale.
I truly wasn't expecting this... Man, I wasn't even prepared to see this. I can't tell you how glad I was for this progress. I am really looking for monday, to see at home and in my gym's scale, what it tells me. I think the guy at the gym won't believe my progress :P So, I'll just stick to everything I've been doing, because it really IS working.

To a leaner me...

quinta-feira, 25 de outubro de 2007

Carb day....

Today I woke up, and one of my first thoughts was: "YAY CARB DAY!!" Yesterday evening I was starting to get some serious cravings, so carb day is right on time.
I haven't cheated once, since I started the program, and I don't feel like doing it, because I really don't feel the need. But this thing of only getting on the scale once a week, is kind of killing me, I am so anxious about my results. Monday will be my measuring day, and even though I'm doing everything right, I'm a bit scared of not losing enough fat, or that I am losing a bit of muscle tissue.
I don't want neither of those. Tomorrow I'll do my first HIIT since I started this program, and today when I get off work, I'll do my long distance running in the street hopefully, if it doesn't rain. I hate running in the gym in the afternoon. It's way too crowded for my taste, it gets a little too hot, and everyone is always looking to see how much longer I'll be using the treadmill.
Anyway, my mood is way up, I am loving my carbs and.... well

To a leaner me :)

segunda-feira, 22 de outubro de 2007

Starting second week

Hey guys,

First week has been great. One thing I have to really take care is my sleep during the weekend. I have a natural tendency to sleep late, and today is monday and I'm starting the week tired, which is NOT good. Anyway, I really feel that I made progress, and to really know the differences from week to week, yesterday I shaved. The pics I'm posting now were taken last week, so we can consider them my before. My true after's will be by December 10th.
Oh another thing, Saturday I bought a new scale, that measures body fat and such. This will be my new tool to measure progress.... Anyway we all know the scales aren't accurate measuring this, and I do know my body fat is not what the scale tells me, but I don't really care about the error for now, as long as it is consistent and I can measure progress from week to week.

As I told you last week my body was at about 17% overall (as measured by my gym's scale), but my scale, today in the morning said I was at 13.7% body fat. Next week, I'll measure myself again for the last time in my gym's scale, and after that I'll only consider my scale's result.

Anyway, without further ado, here are my before pics:



sexta-feira, 19 de outubro de 2007

Hard...

Hey guys,

Yesterday I had my re-feed day... Carbs up, hell yeah... Had whole wheat bread twice, and whole wheat riggattoni, which was great.
Now I'll only have carbs again on Monday... Man, these cravings are NOT fun. I look at food, especially sweet stuff, and even FRUIT, and only think about eating them. I know this will be hard... The next 9 weeks are gonna be the single most HARDCORE thing I've ever done in my life.
But I will not fall, not now, not on this. I'm proving everyone I know that no matter your fit level to start with, being lean is a choice. We choose to be lean if we want to, and if we're men enough to take the challenge. I know I am.
Today I went running before going to work, and I think I'll go run again before dinner.
On the circuit I usually do, yesterday I did minus 3.30 minutes.... It felt great, hard but great.
I know I'm on the right to track to being 10% body fat by December 10th.
I hope I can upload pics today...

To a leaner me...

quinta-feira, 18 de outubro de 2007

Stats

I forgot to tell you my starting stats...

Height: 1,84m
Weight: 78 kg
BF: 17%

Tonight I'll post my pics..

terça-feira, 16 de outubro de 2007

The real deal...

Hi,

Yesterday I started my Cutting Phase. Man, this is going to be hard... But I'm all up for the challenge, because body fat isn't stronger than me. :)
For the next couple of weeks I will be with 1426 cal diet. From my personal math, I will end this phase in 10th December 2007, so it's roughly 8 weeks.
I am not eating starchy carbs except on Monday and Thursday (actually this monday I skipped my carbs because I ate so much Sunday that I surely don't need them), but these will be my re-feed days for the whole process. I am now at 17% body fat, and will stop at 9/10% before I start my bulking phase. I am keeping my detailed log book of everything I eat (including how many cals, how I sleep, how much I drink, etc etc).
Today I got my accountability partner, my female best friend, to keep me accounted for what I do. I expect this to be like the last time... She telling me "I can't tell you anything but Good Work. You don't do anything you shouldn't or fail any workout" :)
But this time, it really is for real. I have never been so committed before, and I know I'll have a starting to see six pack abs by December 10th.

Oh, by the way, as I started my Upside Down Training in the beginning of September, and I haven't actually been careful about my eating, I gained about 5 pounds, being 3,3 lean muscle. Not bad for a month of pigging out :)

To a leaner me....

quinta-feira, 11 de outubro de 2007

Update v2

Hi guys,

Thanks for all the support you've been giving me, and I did not give up on having my six pack abs, I just decided to do it differently, that's all. I'm not following Arnel's program anymore, but Vince del Monte's... I'm really happy with the results so far, even though I still haven't really started the actual training (I'm just correcting posture and strengthening my weakest muscles).
I really found a program that makes total sense to me, and helps me with the different stages I know I need (improvement, fat cutting, bulking up) etc..
How are you guys doing following Arnel's program ? Much to see yet ? :)

Update

I'm growing bigger. I can feel it, especially in my arms and back. I've had some back issues in the past few weeks, luckily my girlfriend is physiotherapist and has been taking care of my back for me.
Not only bigger but I also feel myself getting stronger, and my weights and reps confirm it.
I'm on week 4 of my Upside Down Training, following Vince Del Monte's "No NonSense Muscle Building". I plan to do 5 weeks of UPT, and then start my fat cutting phase. As I'm about 17% body fat at the moment, I plan to cut fat for about 7 weeks, to reach 10/11% body fat, before I start my bulking phase.
For the moment I'm not exactly eating clean, but I don't really care. I'm going to enjoy a bit of my time before I really start cutting, and at that time, there will be no junk whatsoever. It will be the most disciplined 7 weeks of my life.

Until next week :)

quarta-feira, 5 de setembro de 2007

Day 1-2-3

It's been 3 days since I started this program.
On the first day I did the Week 1 workout in the end of the afternoon, when I came back from work. On the second day, I did nothing. I was bit sored and I don't know why but I haven't been sleeping right.
Today, as I moved to a different gym (because I just bought a house and moved to a gym closer to my new house), I had the physical evaluation in the morning. In the late afternoon, again, I did the Week 1 workout.
It got a little better than the first, that I couldn't complete. Today I completed even though I did less pushups on my last set.
I've been feeling good, but I sure hope today I will sleep better than the days before.
Tomorrow morning I'll do my cardio. I'm thinking if I will be doing fasted cardio, or if I'll eat something. It will be my morning decision :)
Tomorrow I will bring a notebook from work, to start writing several times a day my goals.
I will make my visualization exercises more real, and I assure you all my mental efforts will be in the right mindset to achieve my goal. That is 10% bodyfat in December 23rd.
I've been eating right, and drinking a gallon of water everyday.
I went to the scale and I'm way heavier today, and the only difference in my meals was that I had an extra banana in mid morning and mid afternoon. Tomorrow I will go back to just eating a tuna or chicken sandwich and about 20 grams of nuts, to see how it goes.
See you tomorrow

terça-feira, 4 de setembro de 2007


So let's talk about this.

My Way before Pics:












Right now, I can't believe I was ever this fat.

This is my Before (as of now)
In 16 weeks I will surely look MUCH better ;)

My story

So, it all began in 2005.
In September 2005 I was weighing 254 pounds. I then moved to another city, and because of my work I naturally went from 254 to 233 pounds in December 2005, with around 34% body fat.
One day, playing Pictionary with some friends, a friend of mine had to mimic "Obese" so he started pointing at me and stuff, and a friend of mine got to the word. These are my best friends and I know that they did not intend to make me feel bad or anything, but it really hit me. It was the first time that I realized "I am obese". So I decided I wanted to do something about it.
In the beginning of December, me and a friend of mine went to an Herbalife seminar, and we really enjoyed it. My plan was to get thin using the products, and then make money selling them.
I started taking the products, and a week and a half later I had lost 13 pounds.
So I thought "I'm not doing anything to deserve my weight loss. I'm not looking for a quick fix, I know I need to change my habits for this to be for life, and this is not a challenge. What I'm looking for is a challenge. It's my health". And so I stopped taking the pills, and meal replacements etc etc.
For the year 2006, every week day at 7am I would be at the gym door to start my workout.
Christmas 2006 I was weighing 165 pounds at 18% Body Fat.
I then started to bulk but I had an herniated forearm and had to stop weight lifting, and did only cardio for a couple of months. I hit an all time low weight of 152 pounds. By the way, I'm 1,85m tall (6,06").
And now I'm back in business and in the 6 pack attack following Arnel Ricafranca's regimen.
I will have my six pack abs in 16 weeks, or at least very very close to it.