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:

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...

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 :)

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:

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...

Stats

I forgot to tell you my starting stats...

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

Tonight I'll post my pics..

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....

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 :)