Well i figure i will make a journal too, something to keep me motivated and interested, even if i stop updating it after a week :rolleyes:

Curret stats:
Height: 6'4
Weight 183.8lbs/83.4kg
Age: 19
Bodyfat: 11.4%

-I dont eat dairy
-I supplement with a multi every morning, and also 10g of fish-oils per day (even though its not written)
-It may look like im eating chicken for 99% of my protein, but i substitute it for tuna/kangaroo/turkey/lean protein-X
-I count the calories in vegies, but not the carbs, i also count fiber as a carb(excluding vegies of course)

My current stats are:
Height: 192cm (about 6'4)
Weight: 189lbs
Age: 19

Breakfast (pre-workout)

60g Oats
120g Chicken/1.3cups egg whites
90g Pear/Apple/Orange (90g on cardio days)

Calories: 414
Protein: 37
Carbs: 51
Fat: 6

Post-workout

90g Oats
30g Whey
40g Banana

Calories: 493
Protein: 32
Carbs: 67
Fat: 9

Meal 3:

120g Chicken
300g Sweet potato
300g Vegies

Calories: 474
Protein: 42
Carbs: 60
Fat: 2

Meal 4:

140g Chicken
300g Vegies
138g Apple/Orange/Pear

Calories: 323
Protein: 42
Carbs: 21
Fat: 3

Meal 5:

170g Salmon
300g Vegies

Calories: 360
Protein: 37
Carbs: 1
Fat: 18

Meal 6:

120g Chicken
30g Natural Peanut Butter

Calories: 310
Protein: 36
Carbs: 3
Fat: 15

Totals:

Calories: 2460
Protein: 224
Carbs: 203
Fiber: 61
Fat: 65


check out my previous bulk diet here (http://www.users.on.net/~jafae/Bulk%20diet.txt)

Ok next for my workout! :bb: (nice too see some good smilies!)

i've been doing this for a while, but just recently moved my workout too the morning because i have to go back to school, and its probly better for me in the morning.

Anyway heres how it goes, i do the same weights everytime i goto the the gym(goto the gym to do weights that is)

just a note: all cardio is low-intensity, under 60%


Monday (Legs/traps)

Tuesday (30-45min cardio in the AM, 45min walk in the PM)

Wednesday - (Chest/Triceps/Front Delts/20-30min cardio after or 30-45mins in the PM)

Thursday (30-45min cardio in the AM, 45min walk in the PM)

Friday (Back/Biceps/Rear Delts/20-30min cardio after or 30-45mins in the PM)

Saturday - 45mins low-intensity cardio

Sunday - off

Well today i learnt that HIIT is harder if you have a cold of some sort
took me a bit longer to catch my breath, but i got through it!
im going to skip my abs workout today because my chest is sore! (probly from coughing!)

also im still looking for a good carb alternative for my 4th meal, rather than just eating 2 extra slices of bread, while im sure its not "bad" for me, there must be something better, i think i'll add up my diet again (i use www.fitday.com) make sure have it all accounted for

Hey everyone, another update, or rambling more like it :)

today is my day off, but im feeling a little un-motivated as my diet is annoying me, and i havent been too active over the past few days although i still got my workout in
im probly going to scrap the salad for some peanut butter(natural of course) with wholemeal crispbread, as i dont think i need walnuts (i can get EFA's from the tuna and peanut butter) also this will be easier for me at school, i'll edit my diet post as soon as i figure out quantities and all :)
also im going to throw in a vegie with my turkey sandwich, maybe carrot or cucumber!

oh well thats it from me today, a new version came out for my favorite game (natural-selection) so i guess i will be playing that for the rest of the day! then back to working out tomorrow!

well yesterday was sure fun, first day of my week, felt very motivated after my workout
then my friends dropped into my house and we decided to go swimming, for a whole 6 hours! spent lots of time in the pool/sauna/spa and was pretty fun! (too many annoying kids , it was funny tho!)

well i've updated my diet a bit, im using a peanut butter sandwich, or on some crispbread (yet to be decided) and i've added some carrots too fill some some cal's

on a much more bad tasting note, i tried to experiment today in the kitchen, which turned out rather badly
i mixed tuna and cottage cheese together, then i put it in the frying pan untill the cheese melted, and did it taste BAD, if you like a really overpowering tasting of tuna go for it, but its not for me! YUCK!
so that went in the bin and i made my usual cottage cheese + tuna on a plate NOT COOKED!! and not mixed too!

taffer,
I would not drop the walnuts for an actually poor choice for EFAs which are tuna and peanut butter. I mean they will work but there are much better choices. I would choose salmon over tuna anytime or place because it has much, much more EFAs than tuna. Plus it doesn't have the mercury problems that tuna has. As for the peanut butter, I'd let it go if you are trying to lose some BF. I'd replace it with cod liver oil if you are using it for EFA purposes. If you are just wanting to eat it I'd atleast use the 100% natural kin and better yet I would use almond butter.

i would like to eat salmon, but unfortunatly i hate most seafood, so im kinda limited to tuna
to be honest i sorta got sick of my walnut salad, and i wanted to cut a bit of fat (even if it was EFA's) outta my diet
i'll see what i can do about replacing the peanut butter (it is 100% natural BTW) its just that when i go back to school, having a peanut butter sandwich is so much easier than having a walnut salad
maybe i could just bring some walnuts to school and have some crispbread
for now im going to enjoy my peanut butter! :p

well a nice day today, workout wise :)
i had to walk 10mins in the rain to get to the gym, lucky i have a good jacket + umbrella! (stupid melbourne weather, its ment to be summer!)
anyways i got through my HIIT workout pretty well, and because its saturday, its time for my weekly weigh-in, and it was better than i expected
i've lost another 4 pounds (113kg to 111kg) now im 244pounds, im not sure i've ever been this light in years! and im feeling great!! although i know 4 pounds in a week is a little too much, so im going to pick up some whey protein today (car is broken so i havent gotten around to it yet!) hopefully that will help me sustain more muscle
other than that its all good :D

hey everyone again (to anyone that reads this :p)
anyways i got my whey protein :D damn that tub is HUGE!
my friend reckons that a serving of it make you fat, yet it only has like 120 cal's and less protein that chicken, oh well hes an idiot anyway...

today is my day off from workout, so i went out last night and got home at like 5am! then slept till 11, so i had breakfast and lunch in 1 meal to make up for lost time
tomorrow i gotta try waking up at 6:30 which is hard after a night out! but im going to be pushing it back to 6am, doing my workout at 7am for school

i sure am loving this whey powder, it tastes awesome!, i just mix it with oats and water and eat it up!

anyways i changing up my diet just a little, im going to try swaping my turkey sandwich for my peanut butter sandwich, the reason behind this is that it will be better for me to have that protein earlier in the day, and eat my fat's a little later, no big change but it may help anyway

everyone has been commenting on how much weight i've lost, but im no where near done yet! i still got alot of body fat to lose (about 50pounds still) and alot of muscle to gain (down the track) although its a HUGE motivation to have people comment on your progress

hey everyone again!
just a few thoughts of mine....
im probly going to add some rice to go with my peanut butter sandwich, as its a good, (relitivly) low cal, low-GI, carb source
also i've found that whey protein mixes alot better with "quick oats" rather than just the normal rolled oats, there is little difference in the GI or nutritional value, so i'll probly just make the switch, or have rolled oats pre-workout and quick oats post

EDIT: also re-calculated my diet, used more of the "custom food" tool on www.fitday.com to get a more accurite diet, everything is going well in the diet department now!

well today was weigh-in time, a weekly even i now look forward too
i came in 109.9kg or 242.2lbs, which means i lost about 1.5kg or 3.3pounds, last week i was probly 111.5, although i recorded it at 111, anyways, im going to start eating rice today, as i'll definatly need that energy for school (starts this monday for me!) i dont wanna lose any of my precious muscle!
hopefull i'll lose about 1kg a week (2.2lbs) and be at my target in about 5-6months, its a long and hard journey, but i belive it will be worth it when summer comes along (jan-dec-feb here in aus!) i hope i'll be toned by then!

well i started school today :D so i got something to keep me occupied between meals, and it will probly make my burn more (lets hope i lose 1kg this week, cant be bothered adding more food)
alot of people have noticed a difference, and i've inspired a friend of mine to come to the gym with me at 7am before school! he said he would take some "before" pics of me with his digital cam, so i may post them, or i may hold on to them untill i got something good to compare it too (i found an older pic of a much fatter me, i'll post it all when im ready)

my diet is going good tho, im finding it easy to fit into my school day! and the water intake is no problem, if anything im drinking more! so its all good, hopefully by june/july i'll be a skinny man and i can call all my friends fat for once! :p (not that they do that anymore!)

i guess its time for me to add an entry, as i was listening to the radio this morning and they said its good to keep a diary, so if you arent already do it!

anyway this week i've started eating my rice, and i'll have to see how well that works out on saturday, my weigh in day, it should make my weight loss slow to about 1kg a week, but im not sure how much energy i burn off at school, so i'll just have to wait and see

also i've been getting some pretty bad stomach pain's from my whey, i thought it would go away after a little while, but i'll see if i can get some medication for it and hopefully it will be all better (i got another 4 or so lbs left of whey so it better get better!!)

well today is saturday and i just got back from the gym, another weigh day!
although not as good as i expected, i lose 700grams (1.5lbs) this week, which means i have been eating too much rice (the rice was really a trial for me this week) so this week i am cutting down on my rice from 1/2cup to about 1/4 to 1/3 of a cup, also something i didnt take into account is that i drink like 1L of water (i've been upping my morning water lately) before my workout, i'll try to lower my morning water before next weeks weigh-in so i can get a more accurite figure! (enough excuses for now :))
hopefully i can get it right this week and lose my aim of 2.2pounds/week
and dont worry im not discouraged, last week i lost about about 500grams too much so it evens out i guess, also i probly added some muscle this week so its all good!

well its time for another journal update i guess!
i've changed my morning diet a little, just the timing of things, because a whole scoop of whey post-workout makes me feel sick, i've decided to have 1/2scoop pre-workout and 1/2scoop post, hopefully this will fix my problem
as far as my workouts are going, i've moved up a level on the stationary bike for my speed intervals (HIIT) which shows im getting fitter, also im having an easier time recovering from it
my weight training is going fine, i increased my leg press weights, now i can really feel it (my legs are pretty strong!) for the rest i am increasing them steadily, although i think my muscle is a little limited, for obvious reasons

yesterday i got some spelda and cinnamon for my oats (yeah i cook them now and drink the protein) and it tasted pretty nice, only problem i have with oats is that they are too damn hot! and i wanna eat them as fast as i can after my workout, so i just nuke them for 3 1/2 mins in the microwave and blow on them for a while! i have a whey shake before that so it aint so bad!

i uploaded some pics of myself, you can check them out here (http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/showthread.php?t=1261)

anyway thats about all i can think of for now, i got another couple of days before i weigh myself again and as usual im nervious about what the scale is going to say!

well its saturday again! and you all know what time that is! weigh-day
i've gone from 109.2kg(240lbs) to 106.8kg(235lbs)
anyway a confusing week, i've lost nearly 5pounds! this week i lost 700grams last week, so i cut out some rice, maybe only 50cal's a day, then this week i have lost over 2kg
i can probly say this is due to my increased activity level, and harder workouts, i have more classes at school than i thought i did, so i spend alot more time at school now, but more importantly i have more breaks between classes, where i walk to a coffee shop with a few friends, and walk other places in these breaks
so i guess im going to up my rice again, and try to remain active, damn my fluctuating body!

its the start of a new week again! i dont bother counting what week or what day it is, i just know i've been doing this for about 1 1/2 - 2 months and all is going well i guess

i had a bit of problems with the lat pulldown this morning, it hurts my shoulder, no other exercise does this except that machine, i think im going to move to more freeweights as they are alot better than machines
that and i think i took a bit of a hit in the muscle department after last weeks shock loss, hopefully it will be better this week!

the simpsons just started so i'll end this here

i figured it was about time i updated my journal with some new stuff that i have added
basically what i've have done is cut my protein powder intake in the morning (post-workout) in half, cos its making me sick, i've simply replaced that 1/2 a scoop with 4 egg whites, as they have the same cal's and same protein (well almost the same)

sure the egg's will probly slow down the absorbtion of the whey, but i dont have much of a choice as going to school feeling sick everyday aint good

in other news i got a fitness assesment this sunday, so probly update my bodyfat, and get a new weights program (more freeweights!)

wow saturday has come by so fast again! and yes its time to update my weight

this week *drum roll* i have lost my taget weight :D 1kg (2.2lbs) going from 106.8 to 105.8 now hopefully if i keep this up, in about 15weeks i will be at my goal

only problem now i can see, is when i start getting down to a lower weight, i'll have to remove cal's from my diet, which is going to be hard, funny how when you start its really hard to get enough cal's then when you have to remove some, its hard again!

today was a weight day, but not just a regular weight day! i've started a new set of weights, more free....but alot harder!!
an instructor showed me how to do all of them today, and let me say they are a ton harder.... but more rewarding cos i know they are working me better :D

the hardest thing would have to be all the new techniques i have to remember and getting them right, getting it right is the hardest part, also even though i may do a little less weight on free weights than on the machine, damn its harder (i've said that about 1000000 times now!) just because you have to balance it alot more and correct yourself constantly

as soon as i can remember all the names, i'll post it up! but if your going to a gym and getting bored of the machine i would really recommend getting into some more free weights!

wow today was a good workout, i did my HIIT cardio today and really pushed myself after i was a bit slack/tired on tuesday
since my motivation was running a little low, i re-read the reasons why john started, also thought about why i started again
i found it very motivating to know that john would finish his workout at 110% or pass out, which is funny too :P but i made a nice little catch phrase out of it "all out or pass out" which got me laughing, and motivated, which is nice!

so today re-motivated i went to the gym and had my best workout ever, i think i was sweating more than ever, and i dont sweat much!

its saturday again! and what a week, new weights, done some good cardio this week (well 2/3sessions were good, didnt have the best start to the week)
today i came in at 105kg or 231lbs, which is a 2lb or 800gram loss from last week, which i must say im happy with, hopefully since my workouts have become alot better of late, i will push it back to 1kg, but it doesnt bother me that much, i may cut down a few cal's here and there if i have to, but so far everything is going to plan

right now i have a 4 day weekend, all of australia has monday off because of labor day (the gym is still open :D just later) and then i got tuesday off cos i always have that day off school (timetable thing)

also i got a george foreman style grill (not the actual thing) i think the one i got is better than the foreman grill, it seems to have more features, and is made of stainless steel instead of plastec, and it cooks a chicken breast in 6mins! so im going to be using this alot more... also another good feature about it, is that you can use it as a sandwich maker(it has temperature controll) so if you are thinking of getting a george foreman grill i would recommend it, the brand i go is "brevlle" but they are australian only i think.

ahhh good 'ol sunday, my resting day
and belive me i need it this week, im sore from my new weight program! im sure it will feel better on monday when i've recovered and i'll try get my technique better so it doesnt strain my muscles as much

i still gotta buy some broccoli today, and maybe some cottage cheese later
i finally got around to writing myself a check list of all the foods i need each day, so it should be alot easier to do the shopping

i must say, there is nothing better than natural peanut butter and pumpernickel bread, its going to be a regular part of my diet from now on, pumpernickel is small and dense, so you have to slowly eat it, and enjoy! food for kings!

also i bought some green tea today, i plan to drink a cup or 2 a day from now on!

ok so i havent update my journal in a little bit, but i never miss a saturday
this week has been a good week, got though my sets, did some awesome cardio work, and im more flexable (do your stretches!)
today im came in at 103.5kg, or 228lbs, a loss of 1.5kg or 3.3lbs, which im pretty happy with
im no longer in the 230's, now im a 220's man!, gotta make yourself feel proud for something i guess :)

im going to eat my oatmeal and drink my green tea now :D


EDIT: i've updated my weight program, i finally memorised it :O

another day another HIIT workout, its really getting easier for me, as i become more fit, its amazing me how much progress im making internally as well as externally
i can run faster, for longer, stretch further (go flexability!) and lift heavier
im feeling great everyday and my confidence is really improving alot (im still a bit of a shy-guy tho, i'll try to shake that :))

also the green tea is making me feel alot better i've noticed, i recomend anyone who isnt drink at least a cup a day to start doing it!, i usually have one with my post-workout meal just to give my metabolism that extra boost (and get through the morning classes, some of them are just drainers!)

well another week another kilo :) its saturaday and i've lost 1.1kg, i went from 103.5 to 102.4 (228lbs to 225, about a loss of 2.5lbs this week)

i have 2 more weeks left untill school holidays, and i hope to be under the 100kg mark by then, say goodbye to triple figure weight for good, its a nice short/medium term goal i think, gives me something to aim for which is a big step, as i started off at about 125kg(275lbs, i was about 265when i started at the gym, dont ask how i lost that other 10lbs im not proud of it!) and i havent been under 120 for AGES, im in the best shape i've ever been in, and im loving it :)

when i get to 100, thats only 10kg away from my final goal, and HOPEFULLY i can reach that by the end of the semester, my friend is planning a huge game of dark zone(laser guns in a maze for 3 hours, free pizza!, funfun) with about 30 people from my school, and you can bet im going to be wearing my sleavless T-shirt!! and being fit enough to run around for 3 hours will be a great night for me, a truely perfect cheat meal and reward for myself when i get to that point!

how ever now im really going to concentrate on my short and medium term weight goals

im so tired today! i dont know why, maybe its cos i went for a 20-30min walk yesterday on my rest day, then was running around in the kitchen last night cooking dinner, and got to bed about 20mins late, still i was feeling a bit worn down yesterday, i should probly relax more on my rest days and just lie there for 8 hours!

also i would like to plan a semi-cheat meal, that being a big steak! lean of course, i think i really need a nice dish of red meat to get my energy levels back up and get me lifting heavier again (after all creatine is in red meats) maybe in a couple of weeks, or if i find myself being completly tired this week, i'll make it my sunday dinner instead of chicken and see if it makes a difference

all i can do now is hope im not as tired tomorrow, which means taking it easy today at school and getting to bed early!

wow what a great day i had in the gym today, im full of energy!
bit weird after yesterday i was SO TIRED! today i had one of my hardest HIIT workouts, i almost dont get it

however this morning i ran outta cottage cheese, so i decided to have a glass of milk instead, which was nice for me (same thing anyway)

also this is pretty embarrasing, but i've been measuring my peanut butter wrong, so i havent been getting enough
up untill yesterday i had been guessing 1 tablespoon, and i had been guessing under! i finally found a proper measuring spoon and it turns out i wasnt getting enough PB! maybe that has something to do with my weird energy today, lets hope it will last!

i've decided to add 1/2cup of milk to my post-workout meal, becuase the other day i ran outta cottage cheese and had to have milk in its place, and i enjoyed it so much i want it everyday now :) i need the extra protein post-workout anyway

also after re-calculating some of my diet, i need some more cals too

its saturday again! the end of another week, another week closer to my goal
nothing too exciting this week, im down another kilo from 102.4 (225lbs) to 101.4 (223lbs) another 2.2lb loss, and i think i can actually see the results this week which is great
i dont think im going to get under 100kg by next week, but i will be by easter for sure!
just gotta get through this week of school then holidays! then easter i still gotta decide if i wanna stick to my diet, have 1 dish, or stuff my face! i do come from an italian family so there will be lots of good food there, so i gotta make a hard choice and stick by it!
also i dont think i'll be drinking that extra milk in the morning, as it appears i dont need it

i figure i should make an entry now, im pretty bored (its my day off today)
i fed my brother a scoop of my whey protein this morning to see if it would make him sick (as it makes me sick) i told him if it didnt make him sick, he could have the rest of it (2-3lbs left) and if it did i would buy him some crapes with ice cream, good deal i think :)

i have made up my mind on easter, and im NOT cheating! simply because i want to save up, for a huge cheat, i have finally figured out what im going to do, goto an all you can eat buffet, and make a pancake sandwich, with so many layers all crap food :p and also stuff my face generally, but i want my pancake sandwich! and ice cream!! all i gotta get through is the next 3 or so months hopefully get to 200, and just hope i look alot better then, or i'll have to cut another 10lbs or so to make my self look pretty ripped, then big cheat, then i start workout on showing my abs, or adding muscle depending on what i look like when im done

also i have joined a "weight loss race" on another forum (not really a fitness forum, more of a fitness section to an overclocker forum) there are a few catergories, im racing to 90kg, some other people are racing to 100, 80, 105, etc... its not really a race(there are weight loss rate rules), just a good motivational thing, losing weight with other people makes it so much easier, and its such a good idea to compare your progress with others and help each other! i reckon its a great idea and its got me pumped!

humm i didnt expect to write that much!

well its another saturday, weigh-day!
this week is a bit...inaccurite, and got me thinking about my weighing ritual
i came in 100.65kg(221lbs) which is about a 800gram or 1.7lb loss from last week, now i bought some new shoes this week, and i think they are a bit heavier from my last ones (my old shoes had ALOT missing :p)

so what i did, after i weighed myself normally, i had some water, did some stretches and weighted myself again (after drinking water) and i came in 1kg heavier! i didnt know water was so heavy! so then i took my shoes off and weighed myself once more and came in at 100.4kg so my shoes weigh about 1.2kg, im not going to start taking my shoes into account with my weight, as the weekly weigh in is only to see if ive lost ~1kg (im not that obsessive!) but this week my weight is a bit weirded up

so next week i wanna be under 100kg with my shoes on, normal ritual thing i always do
hopefully i'll be able to keep my activity level up these next 2 weeks, as it is school holidays! so i'll do my best! and hopefully be under 100 next week

once i get under 100 i belive it will be alot easier, as its a pretty big landmark, and hopefully my body will start taking huge chunks of fat off my gut :) well one can only hope, i cant wait untill i can look straight down my body, and not have a basketball in the way! looking straight down, its really hard to notice a difference untill you have completly lost your gut, even in the mirror its hard for me to notice a difference, but i do see me everyday(big surprise there :)) so the shock effect is sorta taken away.

wow im full today, and its all cos of my breakfast this morning, it consisted of...
1cup oats
1/2cup cottage cheese
1/2cup skim milk

i ate this raw, and raw oats fill you up sooooo much more!
on sundays i usually do a hybrid of my pre and post workout meals, i had never done this one before, as its just my pre workout meal with extra oats and cheese, but im not hungry at all today, i had to force myself to eat my turkey sandwich, i could have gone without, but food is food and i gotta eat it as today is my recovery day!
i have been slacking off the water intake today, probly because im so full that my body just doesnt want anything put into it, well TOO BAD im drinking more water now..... ok i got some, now i dont feel as guilty

my brother had his friends party at our house last night (i know it doesnt make sense!) they had a big BBQ, im happy to say that i didnt cheat 1 bit, even though they had sausages, honey chicken wings, burgers, steak and some cake, i was most tempted by the cake cos i like its texture (it was an angel food/yellow cake) but i just poked it and it satisfied me! how ever i stayed up till 12, so i took a sleep in this morning till about 8, i needed it :)

i think i may goto a walk to the park, just 5mins up the road, its sunny outside (its autum in australia) and i got my sleeveless shirt on, i love my sleeveless shirts, but i gotta lose more bodyfat to show off my arms
after that i gotta goto my second cousin in-law's birthday party or something, i dont get why we are going to such a distant relitives birthday, but i guess italians like to have big family things so everyone's invited, also i may see my cousin there who is a powerlifting and maybe talk to him about supplements or something :)


once again i wrote more than i expected, until next time :)

its been a few days since i've posted, so its time for some more!
this mornings workout wasnt so good(HIIT), my legs were just buggered, i forced them to finish though! i managed to finish about 10-15calories less than i normally burn, so it doesnt matter i guess, however im going a bit easier on my legs today, resting a bit more, cos i've been walking around alot lately! i still gotta go shopping today, so i'll rest up for that :p

i tried to make some cottage cheese ice cream the other day, but freezing it seemed to take all the flavor out of the cottage cheese and the topping! (sugar-free of course!) so im just going to do the same thing today, without the freezing, see how that goes

on another note i finished my friends diet, its probly better than my diet now! i'll get around to re-doing my diet some day, maybe in a few months, i would really like to have better post workout nutrition, with a good shake with whey and dextrose straight after the workout and then a 1-hour later meal, what i have now is good, but it could be better

also tonight im going to a friends b'day party, so im going to have to eat dinner a few hours early! hopefully that will keep me full untill i get home, its good friday tomorrow anyway and the gym is charging $14 entry(even with a membership) and you HAVE to donate to some easter fund, so im just going to do some push-ups, sit-ups and some dumb-bell curls and hopefully i'll find a good leg workout! easter sunday will probly be boring for me, so no reason for me to go off my diet, i figure if im going to cheat, its going to be with friends at a buffet where we can waste large amounts of food making stupid inventions :) (pancake sandwich for me!)

oh well i had 3 great workouts and 1 just below average, and i've been active this week, so i guess its all good, i cant wait till saturday to see if i broke 100kg i always have doubts when it comes jumping on the scales! but the least i have lost is 800grams, im always doubtfull though!

well its good friday, no gym for me today, cos they are charing today! *grumble*
i've done some stuff at home tho, i did some push ups, lying tricep extentions, one handed d/b bench press, d/b curls, lunges, and some ab work
i only had 1 dumbell which was 22lbs, so nothing really good today, but it was the best i could do, i'll be doing some garden work later today so that should burn some more calories

and also today i had a protein shake after mywork out, normally i just have quick oats and protein powder, but today i got a coffee grinder, and made really fine oats, then put that and the protein powder in a shaker with water and made one :D
i only did it because i started my workout late, and i finished 30mins before my next meal, so i needed something fast absorbing! maybe i'll make it a regular thing, we will see

oh well no more home workouts for me in the near future, hopefully tomorrow will bring a sub-100 weight, which i've been talking about for ages, but tomorrow i will find out if i have done it!

its saturday! am i excited....sorta!

this week as been weird, i've had a couple of bad HIIT workouts, a couple of good weight sessions, a late night, a postponed meal, a home weight session on good friday! and as of today another diet revision

last week i was 100.6kg (221lbs) today i am....... 99.2kg (218lbs) which means i have reached my goal of getting below 100kg! i have lost 1.4kg or 3lbs this week, which is a bit over my goal, but oh well.

as for this week, i had some bad HIIT workouts, my legs just said "no" im not sure if i have lost some muscle, or i havent been eating enough, i havent cheated with my diet or anything this week, but i've had a few late meals, and i've cut down my calories by about 70-100 a day, because i got sick of carrots, so i have just been having a turkey sandwich with 1 carrot grated in it, and for the past few days i've been having tomato in it instead, which takes away 30cals from that meal of carbs, however i havent been eating 1/4cup of rice, i usually have a bit less, never seemed to affect my weight loss/muscle mass so it doesnt matter, probly just another stupid fluctuation in my body

now i did mention a diet change, im going to be swapping the peanut butter, for tuna, so i'll have a tuna sandwich from now on, there is no caloric change! i've just been reading john beradi a bit more, and he doesnt think fats and carbs should be mixed, so im going to give this a trial for a bit see if it pays off

i got some almond butter too which i'm going to be trying today instead of peanut butter, it costs twice as much as the PB, and i get less! so it better be good

resting today! my new diet is really going well, i made a big mistake not having a good protein source with my 2:00 meal before, its all good now! even if it doesnt make any changes, im keeping it like this, because it fills me up, you should always have a protein source with every meal, let this be a lesson learnt though my mistake!

also i got some almond butter, instead of peanut butter, DAMN IT TASTES GOOD! say good bye to peanut butter on my diet from now on, hello almond butter, its better for you than peanut butter and it tastes 100times better! (yeah and i like my PB)

hopefully i'll be recovered my tomorrow, im really taking it easy today, after last weeks poor performance on the bike, this week im going to eat well and train harder! and try to keep active at the same time!

i've wanted to write an entry all this week, but i have been doing so much!
the new changes to my diet are working out very well, i have tons of energy, gotta love the tomato's in my sandwich's now, i am making sure im eating a good level of food, and not cutting back at all! (sometimes i would cut back on a carrot or a bit of rice, nothing big, but big enough!) im really feeling good this week, no disapointing workouts

i went to the doctors, got my health checked, and im in excellent shape! just gotta lose the last 9-10kilo's, she reconed i should go down to like 94kg, which i think is too heavy (so did she sort of) and saw no problem with me at 87-90kg, her computer weight calculator said like 80kg for my height, which she said was way to thin! bad calc :)

anyway i got school next week, end of holidays! school is sorta starting to bore me now, they are just forcing jazz on me too much (im doing a music course) sometimes i dont get how i can be so motivated in fitness, but not as much in my music, maybe i just like to play alot, but not learn it full time, but i'll still finish my course, as quitting is contagious, and i never really like to quit anything, i just get bored :p

anyway, this saturday i should be like 98kg, i have been doing things a bit differently this week, i had my first diet coke yesterday, we'll see what happens on saturday anyway, just got 2 more workouts, i'll make them count! i feel like i can see the light at the end of the tunnel now, now that im in the 90's, and my goal is 90!
im sure i wont stop cutting after i reach my goal, but i will definatly have a big steak every week, and a good cheat meal to celebrate!

well its saturday, i wouldnt call it an average week, but its close enough
today im 98.46kg (216lbs) down from 99.2(218lbs) a loss of 2lbs or 740grams, which is decent i guess, not hitting my 1kg a week target, but i did lose like 1.5kg last week so it evens up
i have been very active this week, so personally i thought i would lose more, but i have been having some really good weight sessions, and eating a bit more so maybe i just stacked on some more muscle!

also today i had my second sample of "Dymatize elite whey" and i thought banana was good.... i tried choc mint today, WOW very very good tasting! if this doesnt make me sick, im going to pick up a big tub of this stuff! tomorrow i get to try "berry blast" although i think im just going to go with a tub of chocolate flavor when i buy it, althoug im unsure where to buy it from, one place is alot cheaper, but i dont know if i can return it if it makes me sick, but another shop said they would return my money if it did make me sick, these samples dont make me sick, so i think i'll compare prices and make a decision, the more expensive shop(it wasnt expensive, cheap compared to some other places, but more expensive none the less) was alot more helpful and gave me the samples, so i feel that i should go back there, because they are so helpful and give me a money back guarantee

after i get a big tub 'o whey, i'll start ordering from bb.com hopefully, cos they are a ton cheaper than anywhere in australia, only prob is that it takes like 2 months to ship here!

Hey, second update today, i've made another few diet changes, half out of nessicity, and half out of interest! no real change to the total cal figure, i re-added up all my totals again in fitday, so everything is fresh!

im going to use wholemeal pita from now on for my 2pm meal, because when i go back to school a normal peice of bread doesnt hold 185g of tuna! so i need a pocket, pita is the answer, with a GI of 41, i cant say no

also im going to try eating brussel sprouts this week instead of rice, i have been doing some reading about vegies and this change can only bring good things! (thanks to jeremy for enlightening me more-so on the effects of vegies!)

EDIT: i've added more detail to the totals, i reckon it looks pretty good now :D
also i no longer have deli slices of turkey, i found fresh turkey breasts! no more high-sodium deli crap for me anymore! :claphigh: not only that, its about $6/kilo cheaper, double ++

entry time! i guess i have been slacking off the updates lately, i've been back at school though!
i'm loving the new changes to my diet, the brussel sprouts really fill me up and i know they are doing me good, i can just feel it! (my workouts have been great this week)

on the subject of my workouts, i try not to think about them anymore, i used to always go "gotta do HIIT tomorrow" or "2 hours of weight training tomorrow", but that always brought me down, so now i never think about my workouts, i think about fitness, diet and whatever, but i try to keep my mind off the actual workout untill im doing the actual exercise, it make the time go past alot quicker and its giving me some better workouts (im not dreding anything!)

i've been making some tuna wraps with wholemeal pita bread, and i really hate them, not cos they taste bad, but the pita ALWAYS BREAKS! its very very very annoying, i wrap it in plastic so i can eat it, just gotta peel the plastic down (like a banana :o) but i reckon im just going to get some pull-ring tuna and eat some bread on its own, or find another carb source, cos these wraps are just such poor quality!

yepyep saturaday again
this week im 97.54kg(215lbs), down from 98.46kg, losing a total of 900grams(1.9lbs) this week!

sure it would be nice to have lost 1kg, but i figure i gotta slow down towards the end, or i'll start losing muscle!
i've been liking my tuna wrap (even though it breaks!) and brussel sprout meal, so im going to keep it! even though it really hasnt changed my results (hey maybe im gaining some muscle, thats why i havent been hitting 1kg exactly for a while)
i would really like to get my body fat checked, as i know weighing myself each week isnt the best indication of fat loss

oh well next week, going to work hard, as usual, maybe change my diet a bit, as i get lighter i may have to reduct my cal's a little? maybe not :) there is alot of debate about that i wonder if fat takes more energy to sustain, and if my total cal intake should be on my total weight, or something different, well just more things to test i guess :D

hey all again, just re-assesing my diet again!
im going to trying added half an apple a day, and scraping the tuna pita's and just have canned tuna with some bread, although the bread has 10-15 less carbs than the pita (about 10less cal's) so i figure an apple will even that up nicely, and i've always wanted to try adding fruit to my diet, so this week is the week (well except for today!)

also if your wondering what "performax" bread is, its a special bread i buy that is very good, it has a GI of 38 and has tons off good stuff in it!

Hey man, sorry to break in on your journal but I just had to give you a HUGE thumbs up on your continued weight-loss! :tucool:

You're lighter than me now! Damnit ;) Keep it up!

thanks :D hopefully i can keep it up, sometimes my diet just annoys me a bit, not the eating part, but the working-out and varying part (damn pita's!)
i liked seeing your progress too sheepish, as we are pretty close stats wise, and i reckon we look sorta the same :p hopefully i'll be posting some transformation pics in 2 months so you can comment (the "unveiling" of taffer hehehe, i got a good "before" pic)

when i hit 90kg or so, i reckon im going to over-haul my whole diet, this one has been with my for a while and has a few flaws that i would like to get rid of, but i dont wanna disrupt my diet too much untill i've reached a good goal and can afford to mess around a bit more

but i will probly cut untill i got a 6-pack, or untill i reckon i look stupid (i may look stupid with a 6-pack!) but i want a really nice body for summer (dec-jan-feb over here!) so i got plenty of time

thanks for your support, it means alot!

having a good day today, had a GREAT workout this morning, really pushed my self 100% and it paid off!
maybe its because its the start of a new week, but i have tons of energy today, yesterday it was really cold, i was really cold anyway, i hate the cold!! and we got winter coming up and i cant buy any new jackets cos i dont know if i will fit into them in another 2months! (although the baggy look could be fashionable! :p)

anyway last night i ate a ton of broccoli, i think the 1 piece was about 1.5lbs(damn it was big), but i gave a bit of it to my mum, and ate the rest, probly about half a kilo or a bit more, maybe thats why i have more energy this morning, lets hope it increases my LBM!

on another note, i found a great new spice for chicken, paprika! i've been experimenting a bit with how much i should put in, last night i made more of a paste, i dont think it worked that well, but the other night i made it more of a liquid and it worked great, the flavor is great, but if you over do it, its really not as good
it gives my chicken an awesome red and black look, i just wanna look at it instead of eating it, but i know how tasty it will be so i eat it in 2 secs!

i should really get a camera and post some pics of my meals, i've always wanted to do that, but im missing a digital camera! maybe i could get my family to make a savings jar for one!

just a quick entry, got my bodyfat checked today! kinda spur of the moment thing
anyways im 18%bodyfat, which is pretty good, of course cos im a taller/bigger guy 18% bodyfat would be alot more fat compared to a smaller person! however it is spread over more space so i guess it evens out :)

hey y'all :p saturday again, weight day!

today im 96.72kg(213lbs) down from 97.54kg(215lbs) a loss of 820grams(1.7lbs)

good enough! sure its not 1kg but its pretty close, i guess things are starting to slow just a little for me, hopefully i can hold out until i reach my goal! (i only got 18kilo's of fat on my body! so another 6 or 7 kilo's off should lose me my gut)

anyway this week i think im going to weight a few more things, i guess i better put my new diet scale to good use!
im not going to weigh my chicken or broccoli, cos thats been with my since the beggining, and its something i really look forward too! (im such a good grilled chicken chef now!)
i'll probly weight my brussel sprouts, make sure its ~200grams, and my almond butter to make sure the serving sizes are correct, i think i will weigh my cottage cheese too, just for interests sake, i probly wont change how much i eat (unless i find out i've been eating too little!)

i have lost over 51lbs today, from about the 15th of december, i probly weighed more before then, which is a great achivement, but i still got more to go, i guess i shouldnt be surprised that my progress is slow just a little after 5 months of cutting! i just gotta stick in there for the last 2, to lose my gut, well i hope anyway :) then once i lose my gut, i figure i will get a 6-pack just for fun, however it will be easier on my mind because i would already be "skinny" or "normal" whatever you wanna call it :p

oh yeah i picked up some cashew butter the other day (seems to be EXACTLY the same as almond butter, the nutritional label on both are exactly the same!) but it doesnt taste as good, its like peanut butter, but it sorta has a bit of a....cant explain it really! next on the "to try" list is hazelnut spread, which is the same nutritionally, so may as well give that a shot, i dont think anything is going to beat almond butter though, however these products will make going back to almond butter taste even better :D

i feel like posting something today, i dont know what!
i had an interesting breakfast this morning, ever since i got my tub of dymatize whey(rich choc), i love the flavor so much i use it everyday :)
this morning i had 1/2cup oats, 1/2cup milk, 1/2cup cottage cheese and 1 scoop of whey, it tasted alright, i reckon dymatize stuff tastes better with water, maybe i'll cook my oats next week!

i've been eating cashew butter instead of almond butter, not because i like it better, but because i paid $6 for the jar and it would be a waste if i didnt eat it! so im going to force myself to finish the rest of it, it doesnt taste too bad, sorta like peanut butter, which with a more cashewy flavor, if that makes sence

yesterday me and my brother made some no bake, things (not sure what to class them as) i didnt eat them cos they were REALLY unhealthy, 2cups of sugar, 1 cup of butter, 1 cup of PB, 3cups of oats, 5tbsp cocoa... you can imagine how unhealthy these things are, but my brother just wanted to make something! and who am i to give up the opertunity to cook!
although last night i got bored with my normal chicken (pretty un-usual for me) so i decided to flatten my chicken out a bit my thumping it, then rolling some lemon slices, herbs and garlic in it, wow what a waste of time and effort! didnt really make it taste special, just stupid, i guess i was a little too bored! its really a dish that needs to be baked and done with cheese, and maybe some ham if you like that sorta thing

cant wait untill this term is over for school, i got so much i gotta do, but i cant be bothered doing it :) im very lazy! i dont know how i keep up with this fitness thing, very weird! maybe im just not that interested in my course ATM and i like reading about fitness! funny how some things turn out in life, but oh well

its winter in australia, getting cold, i hate the cold! i always like to be warm, only good thing about winter is that i can wear big jackets and stuff so when i reveal my new body in spring, everyone can be amazed :D shock value is priceless

well i've rambled on enough!

arg, damn HIIT cardio :p had a less than average session today, and its the start of the week, i think when i lower my weight on the bike, it makes it harder! so i think i will put the level down on thursday, just so i can put in that extra bit of effort, not much point getting a leg weight session instead of a cardio session, i figure if there is less resistance i will be able to push myself further cos my legs wont be filled with acid! (mah legs just say no!)

in a few weeks i plan to add a medium intensity cardio session to my workout, just like 75% heart rate for 45mins, 1 day a week, something like that, i think my body is starting to get used to HIIT, and it would be a nice break from the high intensity workouts, my legs definatly need!

i was going to post an entry yesterday but the forums werent working for me for some reason! anyways i'll make one now
i did my HIIT workout 1 level lower, and it was good, i powdered through all of it, although i burnt less calories, i felt better at the end (maybe less tired!) im not sure if its a good thing, cos my legs didnt really hurt as much, dunno if it was a better or worse workout, its weird, but my legs deserve a break from a higher-level for a while, so maybe after a week or so i will bump up the level again, or do different levels for different days! who knows

just a thought on what i "may" do to my diet, i was thinking of swaping the cottage cheese and tuna in my diet, this because john berandi is always going on about carbs and fat being bad in the same meal because insuln + fat + carbs in the blood isnt good or something like that, i know alot of people think he is wrong, and i know a carb + fat meal wont hurt me, but i cant help but wonder because dairy has a low-GI but it creats a larger insuln response, it may be affecting me, im always up for testing things, its not going to impact my calories in anyway, just a nice test, also i'll be getting my carb meals outta the way by 2:00pm (except vegies at dinner but they dont count) so it may help cos im not that active at night time, only time will tell! we will see how the weigh-in goes tomorrow!

also today in class i got a clap from the whole class for my weight loss! :o unfortunatly my teacher has be diagnosed with diabieies, my friend announced(in front of the whole class!) that i could help him with his diet and so forth cos im a nutritionist guy now :p then i got asked how much i had lost, i said about 23 or more kg, and i got a clap :D
when winter is over, my big jacket will come off, and i'll slow off my awesome body, hell maybe i'll even do it in the middle of winter if i get ripped in time!
at least by summer i know i will be nicely cut (summer is dec-jan-feb here)

saturday again, im pretty happy today, lowering the ressistance level on the bike has been a good idea, im able to power through my workouts even faster now, without getting leg pains (well not as much ;))
anyway today im 95.84kg(211lbs) down from 96.72kg(213lbs) thats down 880grams, or 2lbs! which im pretty happy with
i think i wont change my diet just yet, but i'll keep that idea in the bank for a later date
good to know my weight loss isnt slowing down consistantly, im nearly at my goal, only 1-2months to go (i can still remember when i was saying, ok only 3-4months, then ok only 2-3months, now only 1-2months, its great!)
this week im going to eat hard, lift harder and destroy my cardio sessions! im all motivated now, i always like a hard workout, without the feeling that i've "given up"

ahh sunday morning, i got the heating on, just had my breakfast, and its mothers day today! :O me and my brother got my mum a non-stick frypan, and my sister got her some perfume

this morning i've gone a little crazy with the sugar-free stuff in my breakfast, but i came out with a great idea for a recipe
what i did in the first place was mix 200grams of creamed cottage cheese, 1/2cup oats and 1 scoop rich choc whey protein (dymatize) now that just tasted "ok" it was really thick, which i had intended, but the whey protein on its own without much liquid wasnt the best, so i added some diet choc syrup, which moistened it up a bit, and added a nice chocolate flavor which really added to the taste, so it was better, but for the grand finalé i remembered that i had some sugar-free jelly (strawberry) left over(made up already), so i dumped some of that on the rest of the mixture, and together it tasted awesome!
now i just gotta figure out how to make these into some breafast bars or something, cos i really did like the mix!
but i did end up eating a bit of sugar-free stuff, i'll probly have some more later on today, just to get the cravings outta the way for the week, its nice to have a kind of cheat without cheating type thing :p

wow, what a workout i had today, lowering the ressistance level was really a good idea, im getting a much better workout now! i can really feel my cardiovascular system getting a great workout, instead of my legs! (i go alot faster now) just goes to show its not always about how much weight you do, but the intensity that matters!
so feeling good, i can feel my metabolism getting a boost! just pretty excited about this :p
makes me feel like a fool cos i could have been doing better workouts in the past, but you live and you learn! hopefully now i can power home to my goal in 6-8weeks

anyways, tomorrow is going to be a early morning, i have to be in at school at 9am, ok that may sound slack, but i usually start at 11 on wednesday, so im going to have to get to the gym at 6am (means waking up about 5am) because my weights usually take about 1.5-2hours to complete, so its a bit of a rush!

its saturday already, today always comes so quickly!
first off, you cant tell, but this is my second time typing this message, i was typing my entry just a few minutes ago, when my computer froze for no reason at all, it just stopped working, so i lost the whole message!!! very annoying, but i will type it out again, the second time is never as good as the first (coming straight off your head is always best) but oh well

today i came in at 94.96kg(209lbs) down from 95.84kg(211lbs) a loss for 880grams (2lbs) which im pretty happy with, i have a feeling my bmr is getting lower as my weight is going down, maybe its time i re-calculated my diet and got some exact figures! (measuring everything!)

anyway its always nice when you break a 10lb barrier (230,220,210, etc...) so some extra motivation for me :) when i get to 204lbs i will be "normal" according to BMI so maybe that can be a mini goal for me in the next 4 weeks or so, not that im going to try anything drastic to reach it, but a goal is still something extra to work for!

i got my fitness assesment this tuesday, its a free thing my gym does where they do a few tests (blood pressure, bodyfat, measurments, bike test for cardio) they write you a weight program and help you with your goals too, damn my gym is good :)
anyway im thinking of adding in a low/med intensity cardio session once a week, just so my legs dont get so tired, and maybe my body is getting a bit too used to HIIT, also i would like to work on my endurance a little to, john seems to be having fun with his lower intensity workouts, so maybe it will be a good thing for me to do!

im going to submit this before my computer decides to freeze again! maybe i'll have another update later today :p

urg hectic sunday today!
i tried the bodybuilder pancakes recipe today, i think i really suck at cooking pancakes :)
not that they really tasted that good anyway, oh well i guess you gotta try stuff out to see if its good! but i prefer my big bowl of stuff :p

i ended up having a bit of diet coke today, just cos i could, i'll probly have some jelly or something later today, for stress relief :) sugar calms the nerves! or maybe a turkey sandwich, sometimes my diet is a bit stressing, with the amount of strictness i put into it, i guess its just on sundays where im trying to find new ideas for breakfast with the ingredients i normally use for my morning meals, next week im just throwing lots of stuff in a bowl, no fancy stuff, true bodybuilder style :)

urgh so tired today, didnt have my best workout :\

i think there was a few facotrs that contributed to this, my binge on sugar-free products yesterday, and i went to see kill bill 2, got home a bit late, had a late meal, and i woke up 20mins early this morning!
im going to be sleeping alot today, getting my energy levels back up, drinking a ton of green tea and so forth

yesterday, what a day of sugar-free filled craziness
i had a cup of the new lime diet coke, a few tablespoons of sugar-free jam on my bread (2:00meal i usually just eat bread plain, sometimes i add the jam), some splenda and diet chocolate sauce on my cottage cheese and almond butter, with a side of 500ml of sugar-free jelly (jello in america! the giggly stuff!) damn that stuff fills you up with only 20calories!

after that i went out to a movie with some friends, was going to buy some diet coke for the movie, but you know movie prices, like $5 for a small so nuts to that! probly better i didnt buy it anyway!
got home a bit late, had my chicken + broccoli a bit late, went to bed a bit late too, and got up early!

im never eating that much sugar-free stuff in 1 day again!!! im going to only have like 1 serving of sugar-free jelly a week and thats it, i wonder how this will affect this weeks results! :o

i had another fitness reassesment today, all went well! i got a new weights program which is a 2 day split, and it has supersets! and a few other new and challanging things, im looking forward to it!

i got all my measurements taken, i got my instructor to write them down, and compare them to when i started, here they are...

15/12/03

bicep
-right 38cm
-left 40.5cm

Chest 112.25cm
Waist 118.5cm
Thigh
-right 69.5cm
-left 68.5cm

18/05/04

Bicep
-right 35cm *3cm loss
-left 35.5cm *5cm loss
Chest 104cm *8.25cm loss
Waist 87cm *31.5cm loss :eek:
Thigh
-right 62.3cm *7.2cm loss
-left 63 *5.5cm loss

im pretty damn happy with that!
i also got my bodyfat checked at it is 17.59%, which is good

another thing i did was a cardio test on a bike, which i did really well on! i got 4/5 (1 being the least fit, 5 being the most) just goes to show HIIT works in more than just burning fat!

one more thing i should note, is that i have created a new diet, its on bb.com for critique, i'll probly post it up here later if i need more help, hopefully i'll start it next week, along with my new weights! i think i will take it easy this week, still do a bit of cardio, no weights tho!(except tomorrow when i get shown how to do the new exercises!) start fresh next week, all pumped again!

i got my shown my new weights today, damn its alot more intense! its going to be great, im pretty glad a wrote a new diet for it, cos im going to need it!!
im pretty glad its a 2-day split, makes things alot quicker, so maybe i can sleep in a little more :p or actually get to school on time! (j/k!) most of my weight days are on days that i start at 11am, with the exception of friday where is start at 9:45am, so no big deal!

i really want this week to end already, so i can start my new diet, im going to start it on saturday, weigh myself, but not compare it to last week, as this week i've been doing less exersice, so i wont count it, then for a few weeks i'll track my progress and see how this new diet pans out, i really do think its alot better than my old one, far more efficient! but like any diet it needs testing! maths formula's can only take you so far, hopefully it will all turn out well and i wont need to change much, but you never know!

today is my last day on my "old" diet, i didnt do weights today, like i normally did, rather i did 10mins of the bike, and 10mins on a tredmill(new for me!) then i did some ab work
tomorrow i'll do a normal workout, i dont expect it to be as intense tomorrow as my legs felt pretty sore today when i was doing my cardio, but who knows, maybe i'll amaze myself :p

anyway, im really looking forward to getting into my new diet and weights, its like im starting over from the start, just without the mistakes! instead of thinking "only 2months to go" that will be gone from my head, and im more wondering how the next 6 months will treat me, and if this diet will work, it always makes training alot easier if you never get it right, if your losing too much weight, or too little, you can tinker with your diet and you just gotta wait a week too see if your changes have paid off! which makes the wait alot easier!

i've just posted my new diet, since i just finished my last meal, of my old diet!
i really have high hopes for this diet, its far better than my old diet, more vegies, more fresh food, less processed food (bread basically!) most of my carbs are from vegies which will give me a big metabolic boost, also my pre and post workout meals are alot better, they actually give my body enough energy after a workout, then i have my post-post workout meal, because i will be having a shake PWO, i even bought a stick blender for it tonight! (check it out here (http://www.breville.com.au/products_detail.asp?prod=232))
i hope it goes well, who knows maybe i will have to add more food too it! im going to make sure i work extra hard this week!

new diet and weigh day today, a weird and good day
today im 92.54kg(204lbs), down from 94.96kg(209lbs) a loss of 2.42kg(5lbs) which i have NO idea why i lost this much, i did less work this week!
on monday, i had a crap weight session, cos i went out on sunday night, i didnt cheat or anything, just had a late meal and got to bed a little bit later
then on tuesday i had a fitness assesment, where the hardest cardio i did was a bike tests, the highest my heart rate got was 120 (that was a peak, only for a few mins towards then end where it gets "hard") i didnt do my normal HIIT on that day
then on wednesday, i had an instructor at the gym show me my new weight routene, which was pretty hard i must admit ;)
thursday - HIIT as usual
friday - no weights, i just had some fun doing low-intensity cardio on the bike and tredmill (10mins each <120bmp) i also tried some new ab exercises

i assume cos i did less, it gave my metabolism a jump start, or something like that! oh well, new diet now so i guess i can just track my progress


ok also new this week, my new diet! i just had my first shake, and it was awesome! my stick blender is the best, i couldnt even taste the potato, it was like a banana-choc milkshake! tasted awesome! lets hope my results are as good as that shake!

been on the new diet for 2 days now, and im feeling alot better, all the extra vegies are making me feel great, and more energied, i now regret not making this change sooner! but well all make mistakes and i have only been doing this fitness thing for 6-months

chuck norris doesnt count a mistake, unless he doesnt fix it, and according to him he has made no mistakes! (and we all know chuck defeated the WHOLE vietcong army in missing in action! :p)

anyway i cant wait too get into my new training tomorrow, then come home and have a nice shake, im very proud of the PWO nutrition now, a nice thick, chunky, 400calorie shake! nothing better...

also sweet potatoes tastes awesome! im never going to get bored eating them, i cant wait too see my results at the end of the week, see if i have to tweek my diet, i hope i can add more food :p but im not going to jynx it, so we will see!

well today was my first day on my new weights! and to tell the truth it felt a little easy! i think last weeks, taking it easy phase really helped me get some strength and energy back (even though i lost 2.5kg, go figure! :confused:)

anyway i've decided to wake up a whole 30mins later on cardio days, because i want to get all my meal times right! and cardio just doesnt take as long, and i dont wanna go on a 4-hour fast between my 1-1.5hr after meal and my 1pm meal! cos i really do have to have that meal no more than 1.5hours after my shake!

im still wondering how this week will turn out, are my weights intense enough? only time will tell... :cool:


oh yeah i'll update the weights as soon as i can remember them all!

i havent update my journal much this week, i've really been busy with school, yeah i actually did school work this week :o
anyway today is saturday, and im pretty happy, im 93.06kg(205lbs) up from 92.54kg(204lbs) which means i gained a pound, this week, however as we all know last week wasnt normal and i lost 2.5kg, these results have shown me that it was just a stupid fluctuation and in reality, over 2 weeks i have lost 1.84kg(4lbs) which is great
im pretty releaved about this result because it means i didnt lost a big chunk of my muscle! and also it mean i have more weight i can lose before i reach a healthy weight.... if that makes sense

i was thinking that i would weigh 91kg this week, and that would mean im only about 4-5kg away from my "ideal weight" and i thought i had more than 4kg of fat in my gut and other places, so i was getting worried if another 4-5kg would be enough to get me looking "skinny" or at least not have a big gut hanging over my belt

anyways, today is market day, going to stock up on all the fresh fruit, vegies and meat i need, for a cheap cheap price! also its a good day out of the house, get some good exercise too! :D

today is a different sunday, i've decided to get rid of a few cravings i've been having, dont worry i didnt cheat though!
i had a very different breakfast this morning, which included 1 egg (whole), 1 large apple (about 200grams) and a hot, whey chocolate (3/4cup milk, 1scoop whey)
i managed to fit it into my diet, on a sunday morning
and this afternoon i plan to have a whole thing of sugar-free jelly, that should take care of my cravings for another 2 weeks! (after 6-7months sometimes it bugs you a bit!)

anyway i enjoyed my "different" meal, even though it really isnt a cheat, because its all healthy, and its pretty much along the guidelines that i normally eat in the morning, its still a treat to me! i really do enjoy a good apple and hot chocolate, as for eggs..... i was just craving them for some reason, may it was because its possible for me to fit them into my diet once a week heh oh well! :p

today i really should do school work, but i think my friend is coming over and we are goign to go to the gym for some spa/sauna/swimming, we will see what happens!

i still have to get used to my new weight program, adjusting the weights so i can do good sets (not to heavy, not to light!) its hard to get it right, its kinda annoying though, im getting a bit sick of cutting and not being able to increase the weights alot, luckily im pretty close to my goal, i just gotta do it, for another month or 2, then bring back my sanity with a huge cheat meal, hell cheat day....and a half ;)

right now i just want this semester in school to be over, i hardly care what marks i get, cos im losing a bit of interest in studying music, i still love to play it, and plan to after this year, but its just the academic side that really gets me down, and playing stuff i dont want to, but have to :\

maybe a nice piece of chicken and broccoli will cheer me up, i can NEVER get bored of chicken and broccoli, i dont care how much i eat of it, i will always look forward to it at the end of the day! which reminds me, i should probly start preparing all my vegies, and maranate my chicken now

im feeling alot better today, all it took was a great cardio workout, i was feeling drousy and unmotivated in the morning, after my workout, feeling tons better and confident again! gogo endorphins :D
chuging my potato-banana-choc-protein shake today was alot more rewarding :p
anyway lots of stuff to do today, shopping...bass lesson...school work, i wonder if i'll do any school work today, i really should as i have exams next week, i'll try harder next semister! (ps: thats what i say every semister, maybe this one will be different because im fitter, i doubt it though! :p)

weird week, lots of ups and downs (motivationally speaking) but i still stuck throuh it, and have come out feeling good
todays weight in was.... 91.80kg(202lbs) down from 93.06kg(205lbs) a loss of 1.26kg(2.7lbs) a bit more than i would like, but still under 3lbs so its not that bad, im not sure if i should make any dietry changes, maybe i will just be a little less strict with my portions, instead of having 300-350grams of broccoli, i'll just have 1 big piece :)

but im getting really close to my goal of 90, although im not sure that will be the weight that i stop cutting at, im thinking more of 85-87, cos i kinda want a 6-pack, also i really wanna DESERVE a huge cheat day, so i can go and eat anything and not feel like it was for nothing, or end up regretting it!

oh well just gotta keep on doing it untill im happy! nice to know all this hard work is actually paying off, and my new diet is working :D

i figure its time for an entry
today i've been doing lots of school work, of course i've been distracted by my PC today as usual, but i still got alot done.... i think :)

my dad is over again, still concerned that im missing nutrients, just because im losing weight, for some reason you have to cut out vitamin A to lose weight :rolleyes:

not only that he wants me to eat crap food because its "fun" he doesnt understand that fun to me is eating well, lifting hard, and seeing good gains, and that fun doesnt have to involve simply opening and closing my mouth then putting inches on my waist line! its getting annoying, he keeps telling me things that are not true, and he is just making up stuff some times or talking out his arse
just had to vent that, my dad can be very very annoying, thinks he knows everything about everything and will lecture you at any chance he gets *shudder*

anyway, in other news, im doing more research into training, i thought that i would design my own weight program next, because right now the gym just tells me what to do, and i would like to learn how to design my own program, i'll probly get started on that in about 2months or so, whenever i'm done with my current weight program! (i just started it 2 weeks ago!)

i just updated my weight program, finally got around to it!!

as you can see SUPERSETS! are there :D they are pretty intense, but i like it that way!
i cant remember the names of a couple of the ab exercises, but i'll get them soon :)

whoa late night entry tonight, i though i would make one while i wait... im not sure what im waiting for! perhaps my mum to get hope, but anyways! IM REALLY TIRED!
i've got a bass tech exam tomorrow, then my major performance exam on friday, also i gotta play another like 6 songs for my friends exams, and do a couple of other written assignments (my fault for not doing them sooner!) its going to be a tiring week this one, cant wait untill friday!! even on friday i finished at 10pm because my friend needs me to practise late night (only time he could get) then i get to come home to.... my brothers b'day party! yay, i'll just wanna collapse in bed, but i will have a party going on around me, how annoying! still the week will be over, i'll go weigh myself the next day and see if i should increase calories or what! right now i just want school to end! the end is nigh!!!
ok im rambling now! i guess thats what i do when im tired and stressed, but after next week....3 weeks of holidays (well next week i dont really have classes, just friends recitals, alot less stressful and less time consuming)

over the holidays, i will hopefully break the 90kg barrier, and be on my way to the 86-7kg mark which in which case i can go out to an all you can eat buffet and kill my stomach (and cravings) when you are really close to a goal, you crave alot of things, i dont think its when you have been dieting for a long time, but rather when you are so close to a goal, you can taste it!

anyways i think i've sounded stupid enough for one night, im going to get ready for bed and hope that i pass my exam tomorrow!

arg, tiring week this week, have had exams, and lots of other things on, late nights, tired workouts, etc...

my brother had his party last night, so i got to bed pretty late, woke up an hour late and did my workout, and weighted myself
today im 91.20kg(201lbs) down from 91.80kg(202lbs) a loss of 600grams, or 1.3lbs, which i dont know what to think of, its been a weird week, maybe its cos i've had several late nights and alot of stress, or because i woke up later(very late night last night) this morning and didnt really have a good workout so i held more water
i got noooo idea! :)

anyway me and my mum are going to get a cake for my brothers birthday today, so we can sing happy b'day, maybe i'll have a slice! just maybe ;)

in conclusion this week doesnt count :p

well yesterday was a hard day for me to accept, but im fine now, i even wanted to go bu a scale yesterday to weight myself this morning in a fasted state, shows how obsessive i am :rolleyes: but still, over 2 weeks i lost a good consistant amount of weight, so i guess it evens up again
this morning im feeling alot better, i was really really tired yesterday, i have had a real lack of sleep last week, i had go into school late at night to practice for friends, and also i had my own recital(and other exams) to worry about
next week i still have a couple of things to stress over, but they arent that big, right now i just wanna relax for a few hours, my brother is in bed, i've just had a big bowl of oatmeal and some cottage cheese, and im in my nicely heated room, nice and relaxing
maybe i'll go play some warcraft 3 :)

wow im feeling GREAT this morning, i have really made up ALOT of sleep and im feeling so energied, i had an AWESOME workout, then i came back had my shake, which was also GREAT! and my turkey about an hour later, best, turkey, ever, nice and fresh, thats how i like it, unfortunatly i have to buy a kilo a week then freeze it (in 100g portions) and thaw it out everyday, sorta kills the taste a bit, but i always have the fresh stuff on sunday/monday and its always better!

i must say extra sleep is really important, i forced myself to get tons of sleep these past few days because i knew that i had missed out on sleep last week, but in reality, i should have always been sleeping this much (about 8-9hours) now i regret not doing it! but you know you have to make mistakes, you can never think "if i would have know that 6 months ago, i would be so ripped!" you have to make the mistakes and disadvantage yourself in early stages to learn, there is no way around it

also this week i have been going natural, which means im not adding alot spices, or herbs to anything, just enjoying the natural flavor of all my foods, except at dinner, where im going to use 3 cloves of garlic on my chicken and broccoli, as i feel it gives me more energy in the morning and better performance, if anyone reads these logs i suggest you try it :) enjoying the natural flavor of food is a must i belive now, alot of people go "eww how can you eat that" even though i put pepper and stuff on it, now i can simply explain to them that they havent tasted crap, unless they have gotten themselves used to the natural flavor of a big chicken breast, or a nice huge piece for broccoli! its better than all the artificial crap out now, why hide the natural flavor of foods with herbs and spices, when the natural flavor is so much better!

anyway i've rambled on about crap from long enough, i should probly start doing something more productive, i got peoples recitals i gotta play for this week, and cant let them down! i want everyone to get distinctions like i did (had my recital last friday, glad its over!, seriously i have no idea how i pulled it off!)

well im on holidays, was really busy today, doing shopping, getting some medication for my hands (they are really dried out, been washing them too much, damn increased water intake :p)

over the holidays im going to try and stay more active, school kept me sorta active during the day, but without that for 3 weeks, im going to have to go on walks and stuff! which i normally wouldnt mind, but its winter here in australia, and i HATE the cold, i'll still walk though :) maybe i'll do something energy consuming around the house

anyway im looking forward to tomorrow's weigh in, i just wanna see how this week has treated me, i've been eating everything without herbs this week, and i've decided what foods need herbs and what foods dont!
i've really gotten to like the natural taste of chicken and turkey in particular, i dont need to add herbs to them anymore to make them taste really good! i just add garlic to my dinner chicken + broccoli and its all good! (i've been eating about 3 cloves of garlic at night for a week, see what effects it has! i reckon its been a great addition to my diet)

vegies need something on them i think, but not much, garlic is enough for my broccoli and i think i'll continue to mix my brussel sprouts with cottage cheese, thats damn tasty!!
im going to spice things up next week for sure, i just wanted to test the natural flavor of things for a bit, its pretty interesting (call me crazy, i am!!!)

its saturday again! end of another week, and phew im tired! nice workout this morning (its always harder on the last day of the week)

today i weigh 90.78kg(200lbs) down from 91.20kg(201lbs) a loss of 0.42kg(0.9lbs)
humm weight loss slowing :o but i've still got lots more to lose in my lower-abs!!
so this week i've decided im going to try to throw in a medium intensity cardio session (like john) probly on thursday, instead of my normal 3-day-a-week HIIT program
i guess i have done HIIT for ages now, my body has probly gotten used to it so this will be a welcome change, i hope it boosts my fat loss a bit! i really wanna get rid of this lower-ab fat, its really annoying!

bad night last night, couldnt sleep properly, got to bed at about 9:30, woke up at about 1:30am to goto the toilet and never really got into a "deep" sleep again, got outta bed at about 4, had a shower then did some stuff on the computer (re-arranging my diet, yet again!)

anyways i had a good breakfast, nice and big, like 540calories :D
today i had 100g cottage cheese mixed with 1 scoop whey (wow this was DRY!)
also i had 50g of oats with 50g of sultana's (like raisins, but smaller) microwaved, now thats a TASTY dish!
i think im going to make myself some lime jelly today, just cos of this slow weight loss, i've had an urge to want to cheat (its always at night, probly cos im hungriest then) so i better at least get my sweet tooth under control (there is no controlling my cravings for a huge bowl of pasta with meat sauce tho :p)

anyway since i mentioned i was playing around with a new diet, i may as well elabourate a little!
depending on the results i get this week, with a changed training plan, im going to try upping my calories a bit, mainly through adding a pre-bed meal, with like 150g cottage cheese and 1tbsp of flax oil, now it seems like a simple addition, but then it got me thinking about how much cottage cheese i was eating!! i already eat 120g for breakfast, 200g for lunch, then another 150g for pre-bed, thats a massive 470g a day! talk about lack of variety :p also i dont know what the deal is with eating that much dairy in a day, i'll have to make a few posts about that, but i was thinking of just adding in half a chicken breast there, and then to make up for the lost cals/carbs add some fruit (was thinking cantaloupe)
but in total i would add about 250calories to my diet, mainly in fats, and a bit of extra protein and some carbs, just to get rid of that midnight catabolism/hunger, maybe save more muscle and boost my metabolism (if i need it, we will see after this week, it could just be my training)
of course there would be a whole new timing in this new diet, i've put a bit of work into it already, call me obsessive (i know i am)

well its going to be COLD today, and COLD every other day here, stupid winter, i still wanna go out for walks to keep my activity up, i guess i better just rug up and boil a green tea for when i get back, maybe i can find a bike to go riding on, or clean my room :p that would burn about 5000calories right there!

i've been doing pretty well keeping myself active these past few days, just walking around, its been "interesting" but i dont know if i can just walk an hour everyday for 3 weeks, but i'll see how i do! :p

i've been answering lots of questions in forums lately, i find that when i get home from the gym, i find myself sitting on the computer for like 2-3hours just browsing this forum and bb.com forums mainly, reading threads and replying, i find its the best way to learn is to help others, and explain some things to them, although it can get frustrating seeing the millionth "look at my diet" or "im overweight, help" thread! sometimes i feel like answering them, sometimes i dont!

anyways, i feel that this walking is doing me good though, i think its having a good effect of my lower-ab fat, but who knows, i'll have to wait untill saturaday to see how much i've lost

i got my bodyfat checked this morning, it came out 14.5% which we both though was too low, so a good estimate would probly be 15-16%

anyways i got shopping and stuff to do today, so i should be able to keep myself entertained, away from the computer (im addicted to this thing!)

ok weird morning, i get to the gym, all excited about my med-intesity workout, and it turns out the gym is closed because of some power failure!!
i was stressing out for a bit, but then i decided i would just go for a bit of a swim, which i did, however it wasnt much of a workout cos i suck at swimming (my arms and legs keep hitting the bottom of the pool, and i have no goggles so i cant go in a straight line) i ended up just paddling around on my back for a while, hit the spa + sauna, went home, and then went for a 10min jog, which felt pretty good, i didnt know i could jog for that long!! so im pretty happy that i was able to do that

anyway today i got tons of stuff to do, got a bit of walking i can do, make up some lost cal's and hopefully have a good weight session tomorrow!
i sure hope all this stuff accelerates my weight loss a little, if it slows down again, im going to have to kill myself (aka: lower calories!) :p

or maybe i should try raising them, im not sure if that would fix the problem though!

ok time to update my journal then make something to eat! i've been browsing the boards for a bit, and gotta get my post-post-workout meal cooked (on the holidays i like to cook everything fresh cos i got the time!)

anyway today i came in at....90.26kg(198lbs) a 520gram loss (1.1lbs) which is pretty nice i guess, i have busted the 200lbs marker, i think this has been a long goal of mine for a while, unfortunatly i still have a big 'ol gut ! :p (its probly smaller than i think, but you know, you can never see the results in yourself) so im going to slowly cut down do 190, maybe even 180 if i have to, i really want a 6-pack by summer (dec/jan/feb) so i do have quite a while to do it, so i better take it slow so i dont lose muscle
im considering adding a night time meal, but just a tablespoon of EFA/flax oil with maybe a whey shake, just to give my metabolism a bit of a boost, and see how that goes for a week or so, now that im under 200lbs i feel i can experiment a bit more, adding calories here and there
since i didnt get to do my med-intensity cardio last week im going to try it again, hopefully no power-failure this time!!! im really interested in how i'll do, since i have been doing HIIT for ages!

any i better start cooking, i got shopping to do today, need a new multi(going to get a good one this time) and i may as well pick up some more whey, and some EFA oil while im there, my bank account is going to come under attack today :p

i've been feeling guilty not making a journal entry for a while, i cant think of much to say!
i got a new tub 'o whey, dymatize elite "butter cream toffee", its ment to be their best flavor, since i mix it with a banana and a potato i think it dull's the taste a little, but it smells really nice, im going to have just that + oats this sunday so i can really taste it, see what everyones raving about!
i got lots of running about to do today, gotta goto my school, drop off some work i should have handed in several weeks ago :p then goto my bass lesson, which im starting to think is a big of a waste of money, since i dont really learn much anymore, we just jam about, then i pay him $20, but i've been seeing this teacher since i started playing bass so i cant just go "i've learnt all i can from you, goodbye!!" i just feel that going to music school has expanded my playing so much, but he cant keep up with what i need to learn and improve on, i feel pretty guilty feeling these things, but its the truth damn it!

i also got a new multi-vitamin, no more centrum for me, i got a good one, i also got $10 off :D its called "swisse" i think its an australian only brand, but its got tons of good stuff in it, more vitamins, larger quantities, and also some good herbs in there!! the tab is like twice the size of centrum, but i know its good :)

hopefully my goal of breaking 90kg will come this week, ever since i started my new diet, i've been losing about half the weight per week, which is a good thing, i've come to accept, less muscle loss! but you know me and my gut, i want it to goooo! its very stubborn! :p but slowly but surely im sure it will disappear, i've been keeping up some good activity, going on a few walks, also doing some cooking/cleaning around the house has kept me a bit occupied

weirdest thing happened yesterday too, my friend rang me up and asked me where i buy my protein powder, and what cottage cheese i ate!
i also saw him posting on bb.com forums for advise, which i helped him, but he doesnt know it was me!! HEHE ;) i'll continue to follow his posts and make sure he does well! looks like some inspiration has finally rubbed off on my friends!!! no way im letting it goto waste!

anyway, as usual i said i didnt have much to talk about, but then i wrote an essay, good to get some things off your chest, only a online bb for everyone to see :p

i think i need to make a post, to get some things off my mind
i recently posted my pics(in a few forums), and people thought that i had alot of sagging skin, really unelastic, which has got me worried
i wanna see a doctor about it really soon, so i know whats going, as i've been told its not looking normal
right now i dont know what im feeling about it, a bit depressed to be honest, i really hate that lower-ab "fat" (which im not even sure it is) and if i'll even get rid of it now, unless i can fork out lots of cash i dont have, for an operation
right now i dont know what to think, apart from bad elesticity of my skin, i have one other thought why it could be like this, which i'd rather not say right now, but i dunno, im going to have to speak to a doctor
now i dont feel like doing anything, really unmotivated, feeling sad :\
it probly sounds a bit weird me saying all this stuff in an online journal for everyone to see, but its really the only place i have, and i dont like writing stuff in a book!! im just confused now :(

feeling tons better today :)
i guess i got over my loose skin factor, and now im more happy about tomorrow, i should be on track to break 90kg, which has been a huge goal for me for a while now, that would mean i have lost over 30kg (about 66lbs) in the gym and 30-40kg in total (pre-gym i lost some weight, but then i learnt how to do it properly!)
i think im going to have a huge cheat meal next saturday, all you can eat buffet, i dont think i'll do the day of crap after it (maybe a couple of things :)), just a big binge, followed by a cheat meal every week or so
i want to learn how to cook, so what im going to do is maybe cook myself up a dish once a week, maybe some fancy chicken dish (who said a cheat cant be sorta healthy!) or sometimes a big cake :p
and maybe once a month i will treat myself to a huge pizza or pasta dish from a restaurant, thats untill my cooking gets better (or i cant stand it anymore!)

i think i will continue to cut down my body fat for a little longer, i dont think i will go lower than 85-87kg tho (187-191lbs) i will just start bulking at that point, or maybe i will change my goals sooner, depending on the feedback i get as regards to my skin (i've been told to keep cutting, and bulk up, nice and confusing, the way everything is!)

but since my skin will shrink over time, and its not a matter of staying 100% strict to my diet, i shouldnt really "punish" myself for it, cos i have been craving alot of things, so i figure i can still keep it pretty healthy, since i never really craved sweets before i started my diet, only since i started it have i really appreciated how good a creme filled dounut tastes!!, its always savory stuff that is the nicest (and the most evil, except for maybe cheesecake, damn thats evil)

well a new mind-set, a new plan? we'll see tomorrow, i've done a good bit of activity this week, went for a nice walk to think yesterday, did me good, i only get annoyed at things for a day, then im all good the next day for some reason, no matter how bad it is! it just takes me a day to get over it
gotta pick up some chicken later, so i guess i will take a walk to the supermarket, hit the HIIT hard tomorrow and hopefully be at my goal (only really 300grams away, but if i dont reach it, there is always next week!)

this has been a nice entry for me, i feel alot better now! i wonder if anyone read it :p

I'm still subscribed to this thread, and get e-mailed your entries :) So I read it! The loose skin thing isn't so good, but I'm glad you've realised that just because your body MAY not turn out how you imagined it, doesn't mean that you shouldn't strive to be the best that you can be. Keep up the good work!

yeah im a bit nervious about incorperating cheats into my diet, cos i just wanna cut slowly now, and hope my skin shrinks enough by summer so i can take my shirt off
i took another pic of myself in a fasted state, in the morning, and not relaxing my stomach (not flexing, but you know, "natural") check it out here (http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/showthread.php?t=6119) (down the bottom)
i dont think its as bad as i originally though, i just hate not know how much fat i have left, as the skin calipers would probly be inaccurite on me, and im not sure how much more weight i should lose, i think im going to continue cutting, untill im about 85-87kg, i dont belive i should go any lower than 85 for sure, its pretty confusing now!
i think im going to incorperate healthy cheats each week, accompanied by the occasional binge on crap, as i dont want to have a crap meal every week, cos im the kinda guy, instead of eating a piece of pizza, has the whole thing! and i think a better way for me to control these cravings is to do it less often, but more
healthy cheats will only do me good though :) well i hope anyway

your progress has been great sheepish, you are like over 100kg and still lean! i wish i could be like that! damn.....body


in other annoying news, i told my brother to clean his mess before he left for sydney, but he just cleaned like 2 pans and now hes gone for a week, leaving me with the mess (he cooked a cake, thats alot of mess on its own, but he also had some yogurt, left the half eaten cake on the plate, there is still half the cake in the dish, not to mention all the measuring cups, and also he didnt clean much from the stir-fry he made last night, im sure there is more!)
i gotta find a way to get back at him, maybe i'll leave a bag of sugar in his room for the week and let the ants do the revenge for me!
or just beat him up :p .... gotta be more phycological tho :)

Lol... not too lean, I'm around 23% bf at 116kg or 257lbs. There's a photo here (http://www.dulindor.freeserve.co.uk/me.jpg). I'd say that this is one of the few times in my life I've been really happy with my body... I'm strong, I'm good looking (er... :p ), healthy and I feel great.

You are doing GREAT with your diet right now. Every time I read one of your posts I think... "wow, he's still going!"

You're 6'2"-ish, yeah? You look pretty lean already, and you don't want to go too light at your height. Having said that, the guy I train with is your height and only weighs 76kg. It depends a lot on your body type.. he doesn't look ANY thinner than you.

im closer to 6'4, 192cm (borderline 6'3/6'4, i always say 6'4 tho :p)
i just wanted a flat stomach! i guess it will all happen, by summer if im lucky (dec/jan/feb here)
i guess my next goal is figuring out what im going to do next year, im looking at being a security guard! just earn some money, also i'd like to play in bands, so i get some extra cash from my skills as a bass player (i have been studying music for 2 years!)
i guess if i get that all down, i wont feel so pressured to achive such goals by the end of the year, and i can take it much slower, lead more of a normal life(enjoy more foods, but also enjoy going out more, which has been lacking since i started my weight-loss, but when i was overweight i was pretty anti-social anyway, too many computer games!), which i would like :)
maybe this half of the year will be different, a slower, more enjoyable change? we will see :)
i got alot of thinking and decicion making to do!

well its saturday, but not just any saturday
today is THE saturday, that i REACHED MY GOAL (destroyed my goal really)
today i weighed in at 89.74kg(197lbs) down from 90.28kg, a 540gram loss or 1.2lbs

now the reason i used the word "destroyed" is because i decided to weigh myself twice, once with my shoes on (how i do it normally) and once without my shoes, and without my shoes i came in a whole kilo lighter :o (88.70kg, 195lbs) so my real weight is closer to that, i still dont know my fasted-sunday morning weight, i should really find that out! my clothes probly weigh a bit too, oh well

anyway, this week i did my medium intensity ride, for 45mins, i really had trouble getting my heart rate up to 150bpm(damn this new fitness! :p) and i've been eating 150g spinach, 180g broccoli at dinner time, same calories, just i reading all that acid balance stuff, and spinach is a great neutraliser of acidic foods (the chicken!) so i figured i would give it a shot
i guess i feel a little better, but as you can see from my results, no real difference, from both changing my cardio and eating the spinach, i guess its more of a long term thing!

anyway, i feel really great now, reaching such a huge goal, after such a long time (started at the gym 15th of december, thats more than 7 months cutting)
but i have learnt soooo much, it has truely changed my life, not only my life but also i've at least made people think a LITTLE healthier, even if they dont convert like me, maybe it will stave off diabities or a heart attack for a few years of their life! maybe enough time to change their habbits, and save their life! maybe i'm thinking a little too big now :p

anyways, i couldnt have done this without my addicition to bodybuilding.com and of course john stone!!, best resource ever, people are always bagging the internet saying that everything is false, but me, and alot of other people too, are living proof that there is alot of GOOD info on the net, its just a few bad eggs that spoil the reputation of the other sites, which is crap :\

but gotta finish this post on a big smiley face, going to the market today, pick up fruit, vegies and meat, then relax for a few days!!

:D

heh what a day!
i went to the market, and i bought my usual fruit, veg and meat, but i did a few things differently!
i tried some full fat cheese (oh damn is it fat + calorie dense, i ended up buying a block cos it was so damn nice, but i dont think im going to eat it! my mum and sister will like it tho)

also i had a few hazelnuts with my almonds, they taste good!

and just then, i had a HUGE dinner, big peice of chicken(over 8oz for sure!), about 400-500g broccoli, 150g or so cauliflower, like 100-150g sprouts and about 100g spinach left-over from last night
and to top it all off i had a strawberry
i reckon i can still eat more, even though im completly stuffed!! which is a good sign cos i wanna really eat big at the buffet im going to next week, no holding back, this week is all about raising my metabolism, well, sorta, just eating a little more really!

im seriously considereding bulking, but i wanna cut for a little longer, maybe, im not sure right now!! i know i need more muscles, but not sure if i've blasted enough fat
i'll get a few peoples opinions this week, or feel free to post here or pm me with what you think (you can view my pics here (http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/showthread.php?t=6119) if you havent already seen them, also you may miss this (http://www.users.on.net/~jafae/memorning-side%202.07.04.jpg) one, which is me in a fasted state, not relaxing like the other ones, but not flexing, so natural, ok im obsessing again, i'll stop!!)

anyways good day, lots vegies, tomorrow is my day off, i guess i have alot of growing to do tomorrow!! since i just ate a TON of good nutrients and anti-oxidants

ahh sunday, day to relax?
i ate too many vegies last night!! next saturday, im dreading the day after, i guess i could have chewed my food a little better (im a pretty sloppy eater :p)
anyway, im so full, whenever i eat something it fills me up soooo much
if you ever craving any food, just go eat a kilo of various vegies, the next day you will hate food :)

anyway, i think im going to start bulking soon, i've been re-configing my diet, dont worry im not going to jump from 2000calories to 3500calories in a day (i think i would explode) i'll do it gradually, maybe starting tomorrow i'll add some calories to my PWO shake or something, im still working on the complete diet, so that will probly take a week or so for me to perfect (im quite the perfectionist!) then i'll just have to build up to the calories i gotta eat (something like 3400-3600 a day for my size, but i can imagine my metabolism is slow as crap cos i got no muscle left :p)

so i'll bulk for a few months(maybe even 3-4 if i feel like it!), dont wanna gain more than .5lbs a week, reaaaaalllllllly dont want extra fat, i'll keep my cheats healthy, and if i really feel i need a doughnut then i'll have one or 4 :p but i'll work it off hehe ;) but my goal is to stay cheat-free as much as possible (should be pretty easy, since i've been able to do it for the past 7months) but i'll give myself more lee-way this time

anyway my stomach is feeling bloated, but it aint (hey i only had like an extra 200-300calories of vegies last night, shows how good vegies are for killing cravings at a low cost!)
i think i'll go for a walk just to make me feel a little better! nothing hard, but its better than sitting around all day!

ok, first step into bulk territory is tomorrow
im going to be increasing my calories a whole 220 PWO! a few changes in the shake too, heres what im having (*note i wont update the first page of my diary untill im in my full bulk diet, maybe a while! :o)
anyway...

Post-Workout Shake

2 Scoops Whey Protein
176g White Potato
118g Banana
30g Dextrose

Calories: 612
Protein: 48
Carbs: 98
Fat: 4

see how that goes for a week, then maybe add some more calories

i had my new PWO shake today, im my road to 3500calories :D
and damn, im on such a sugar-high, i can really feel it!! so much energy, i feel great!
nothing better than chuging 100g of carbs and 50g of protein after a workout, im going to be lookig forward to this shake everyday!
well untill my body gets used to the large amount of carbs im pumping into myself :p

hopefully i'll get my metabolism running again this week, damn cutting has ruined it, but this week + the huge cheat im going to have on saturday (hopefully it will come together!) will surely leave me very much so carbed up!! (and bloated, but i deserve it after sooo many months of strict dieting!)

im going to look forward to doing really well in the gym from now on, even though it may take me a while to get started, cant increase the calories too fast or you will get fat!! no more than .5lbs a week for me

well i figured i better make an entry, see what im thinking, i never know what im going to write, but i always end up writing a ton!

so ummm, i think im pretty happy with my new bulking diet, i'll probly increase the calories 250-500 a week, we will see how much i have lost (or not) this week, i should lose weight this week as i am still eating below maint, but i was only losing 1lb a week on 2100calories, so we will see :)

anyway i've got my cheat meal coming up on saturday, i've decided not to go all out at a crappy all you can eat food bucket!, rather goto a nice italian restaurant down the street from me, dont worry i'll still eat ALOT but it will just be of a much higher quality
also i'm considering have some treats for lunch (so i'll miss out on some anti-oxidants for 1 day, big deal!!) i just dont wanna binge earlier in the day, so i cant fit it all the great italian food i will have for dinner (and i really like italian food, i never appreciated it before because i come from an italian family, and i guess i just got more of it, also pizza is an easy take away food!)
i'll probly go for a nice spaghetti bolognese, with tons of cheese, and after that a pizza of some sort (depending on how big the pasta dish is! these guys pizza's come in "small" "large" and "massive" i wonder how big massive , i'll take pics if its impressive enough :)) then maybe for dessert *looking at their menu now* oooo chocolate mousse.....baci :drool: or the classic tiramisu, even though im not much of a coffee fan (i really hate it) i really like tiramisu!
heh there is even a couple of desserts here i dont know what they are, i'll have to ask my mum!
still im going to stay away from booze/soft drinks, not worth the extra fat! rather eat something :D

anyway enough craving, it will only make the wait more painful, i gotta concentrate on my cardio tomorrow!
i reckon i am going to get a new weight program happening, maybe a 4-day split so i can really concentrate on building muscle, and throw in a couple of HIIT sessions in there, because cardio is anabolic!! despite what some people think, they are crazy though :)

thats about all i can think of right now, going back to school soon, next week! i wonder how my new diet will go at school, i get to eat alot more food! should be all good, i got away with eating brussel sprouts last semester, sometimes i would dunk them in my cottage cheese, damn thats tasty, even though it sounds weird, it has a nice creamy taste, although i think it would only work with the "low-fat" stuff, i tried the "no-fat" cottage cheese once, and its really bitter, i dont like bitter stuff (probly why i dont like coffee, figures :)) maybe it was just that brand, but there is only 1 no-fat variety i can find! and there is like 3 low-fat, which are all exactly the same (except in price) and yes i've tested them out, the cheapest is the same as the most expensive, so i just get the cheapest, obviously :)

thats about all i can think of :p oh wait i already said that, heh, looks like i did it again!

oh wow, tomorrow, cheat day, i cant wait
going to do my workout as usual tomorrow, weight myself, see how the extra calories did me (hopefully i can add more.... i will anyway :p)

tomorrow, going to have my PWO shake, then that will be it for my diet for the day :p im going to have some of my nonna's pasta, some ginger cake, some muffins, maybe a doughtnut or some cake, im going to the market, so i will maybe get a doughnut from there, there is this one place that is always packed, and it always smells so nice, maybe i'll try one :)
i was thinking i would just do the dinner thing tomorrow, and eat normally for the day, but then i thought....to much stuff i wanna eat, and its not like im going to do this for a while (maybe the odd cheat every 2-3weeks, which will be kinda healthy, or a small treat sometimes)

im still going to go out for dinner, have lotsa food, thats why im going to be doing the bulk of my cheating in the morning, or around midday, so my stomach can empty a bit, im sure the gi of all the foods will do it pretty quickly anyway :p
im going to be lacking some serious protein tomorrow, maybe i'll have some turkey just to keep it up! but its only 1 day, i may as well enjoy it while i can, its not like i can put on more than 1-2lbs of fat, maybe not even that if i keep active throughout the day (im doing shopping at the market too!!)

anyway, im sure it will be a fun day tomorrow, i'll see if i can get pics.... maybe i'll go for a swim on sunday, just to releave the guilt a little :) even though whenever i swim, its never intense, well....we'll see! all i know is that im going to satisfy myself tomorrow, and maybe then some :D

its saturday, after my workout, cheating time :p
heh not yet, i went through my regular "thing" this morning to weight myself, your going to be laughing after this.... i lost more weight
today im 88.94kg(196lbs) down from 89.74kg(197lbs) a loss of 800grams, or 1.7lbs, which is more than my average of 1.1lbs for the past month or so, which means i wasnt taking in enough calories all along!!! HOW ANNOYING! :p
the metabolism works in funny ways i guess! so if your having trouble losing weight, add calories before subtracting!! in your PWO shake it shouldnt matter none of it goes to your fat anyway

ok im increasing calories as of tomorrow, going to incorperate another meal, post-post workout, here it is....

Meal #3 (Post-Post-Workout Meal)

150g Turkey Breast
210g Sweet Potato
100g Brown, Long-Grain Rice


Calories: 486
Protein: 41
Carbs: 73
-fiber 8
Fat: 3

lets see what my body does this week, crazy body :p

phew what a day yesterday, i ate sooooo much :D all over now
the story is in the media gallery (http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/showthread.php?t=6416)

anyway today, i had a nice big breakfast, and im increasing calories by 130 this week, not that much, i guess its better since i ate so much yesterday!!! dont wanna put on too much fat :D
im still holding about 4-6lbs a water and stuff (probly a bit of fat hehe) im really looking forward to what my weight will be next saturday, see what effect this cheat had on my body, i think i'll get up to some cardio today, maybe a light 1hr walk, or some swimming, i just wanna do something that doesnt require me to have a PWO meal!
maybe some low-intensity cycling followed by some swimming or something, i'll figure something out

one thing i know, is that i enjoyed alot of the food yesterday! was a fun day, however i dont think i wanna cheat for another month at least!!! and even then, it will probly be a more healthy cheat, like a meat pie, or a small amount of ice cream :)

im wondering what my bulking goals should be right now, 12 week bulk, or 16
im leaning more towards 12 because i dont think i need THAT much more muscle, i think this bulk is more of a break from cutting, and maybe a boost for the 'ol metabolism cos i know i got more fat to lose! but i'll get around to that start next year probly, or november/december this year, im not sure, seems like alot of jumping around in the diet! how it may work well

im going to increase calories again tomorrow, another 150, putting in my new pre-workout meal, which is....

150g Low-Fat Cottage Cheese
60g Quick Oats
1/4cup Skim Milk
160grams Fat-free Plain Yoghurt

if i dont like the plain yoghurt, the artificially sweetened one is the same price :) or i can just put up with it! depends what they use to sweeten it i guess

next week another meal gets increased, then maybe half way through the week, another, then at the end of the week(depending on results), i'll put the last meal in place, and move completly to the new diet, this is all depending on results! i dont wanna start gaining lots of weight! but i wanna get into this new diet as quickly as possible! so we will see how it goes i guess :D

this morning i tried mixing all of the above in a bowl, needless to say, i underestimated how much 160g of yoghurt is :)
i think i'll just eat it seperatly from now on :D

also for my post-post workout meal, instead of having rice, i think i'll just have more sweet potato, as its easier and more nutritious anyway!

i've been really feeling alot more energy while ramping up my calories, when i eat a meal on my old cutting plan, it feels like i lose some energy! so i just wanna increase calories now :eat:

phew another week gone, back at school, so i've been a bit tired in the gym! (done a bit more standing + walking than on the holidays) so my HIIT sessions havent been the best, however my weight sessions seem to be getting a bit better, obviously cos im eating more :D

anyway today is weigh day, i really didnt know what to expect this week, but i came in at 89.38kg (197lbs) up from 88.94kg (196lbs) so i gained 440grams or a bit less than 1lb, which is probly just alot of water and glycogen considering last week i lost 1.7lbs, and its not like i've gained 2.7lbs of fat in a week, even when working out, its just not possible :) (been eating more carbs + lets not forget last weeks cheat day :p)
so im going to continue increasing calories as of tomorrow, i'll replace my forth meal with....

70g Tuna
400g Brussel sprouts/mixed vegies
150g Apple/Orange/Pear/strawberries
2 Slices Soy and Linseed Bread


mmm carbs :D
should be a few weeks before i fully get into my diet, then maybe i can squeeze in a cheat meal every week, once im more consistant, right now i just wanna get it right, then i can see how my body reacts to cheating!

feeling pretty tired today, went out to some pub last night, but it wasnt very good, all we did was stand around and drink (well i didnt drink of course)
my friends kept trying to offer me drinks, but i never gave in, i really dont like alcohol anymore, unlike some people, booze was the easiest thing to cut from my diet, i never really drank that much, and when i did drink i liked it, but it was no big deal for me to cut it, its not really worth wasting all those hours in the gym, for some bitter water and a baaaad feeling after a few hours of happiness, i'd rather be happy 24 hours a day because of my good body and fitness levels, than be "happy"(drunk!) for a few hours then feel like crap the rest of the day, and not have a good body or any sort of fitness level!
if you need alcohol to have fun, your going to be pretty bored later in life (in the hospital with liver damage :p)

anyway i've been working on a new weights program, and i've got a fitness assesment today to check it over, its the first one i've written for myself, so there is probly 100mistakes, but i really feel that i need to start getting into this side of bodybuilding, as the gym cant write me up weight programs forever, because like diet, its a very personal thing

i think im going to lie down for a while! i only got like 4 hours sleep last night :(
not good for my GH, next time i go out its going to be to somewhere when i know i will get at home at 2-3am at the latest, not 5am, last night, not worth it, it was boring and cold!!

ouch, my legs are still sore from monday!!!
i've been doing my new weight program! which is a 4-day split! im up to day 2 today, just did chest/tri's/abs
im still getting used to how much weight i can do, i've even have to reduce some of my lifts, due to my exercises being in a different order now!
i'll update the first page of the diary after this post :)

today i just wanna relax, alot, not move the legs, i think i'll put off my bass lesson because i dont wanna walk! just wanna sit around all day (its my day off :D luckily)
i hope my legs recover by tomorrow, when i do HIIT cardio, if they dont, im screwed :p i may have to cut the session in half or something! or just finish it in great pain!

well cardio went well this morning, i did it at a lower ressistance level because my legs were sore! but i really hit it hard! i pedaled faster than usual, like another 30rpm faster! but it was less ressistance so its to be expected, i didnt burn as many calories as usual, but i would have burnt even less if i would have tried to do the workout at my normal level, so it turned out well, i got my heart rate up, and i got breathing heavy, i think all the extra blood flowing around my body is doing good for my recovery, its amazing how everyone thinks cardio is bad for bulking, when it actually helps get the nutrients to your muscle more effectivly!

anyway, no more cardio untill saturday! :p and i'll add another meal this week, im thinking of adding my bed time meal this week, and depending on how much i gain/lose next week, i'll throw in my final 2 meals over the week
again its a case of "we'll see"

nice workout this morning(back/biceps), i did my first sets of DEADLIFTS, my new favorite exercise :D :tu:
i didnt get to do abs because ran outta time, but thats because i was still trying to get how much i can lift right!! (alot of new exercises)
i'll do abs tomorrow, i'll probly move abs to tomorrow anyway because i dont do much, and i'll need something to fill the time!

going to see steve vai on sunday :D should be a great show, i'll work my nutrition into it somehow, cos we are going to have to line up so we can get front row, then we cant move from the front row!! im thinking of just bringing a plastic bag with some foil wrapped stuff in it, so i can just "drop" it on the ground when im done with it :D

only thing i have to be worried about is my legs the next day!
mabe i'll just push everything back 30mins so i can sleep a bit longer :D 30mins can make all the difference

end of a new week, and what a week its been, im still sore :p

anyway my weight this week is, 89kg(196lbs) even! down from 89.38kg(197lbs), a loss of 380grams or 0.8lbs

this does make sense as i am still eating below matin calories (about 2800/day)
heh i wish i ate more before, to think i was starving myself on a 2100calories a day diet :D

anyway this week im going to be changing my scedule a little, to make way for a bed time meal, no major time shifts, just a little here and there

so this week im adding...

100g Low-fat Cottage cheese
30g Natural Peanut Butter

totaling 280calories, bringing me to about the 3000calorie mark! im almost at maint calories.... i wonder what my true maint is, this will be a very good learning experiance for me!

sunday! steve vai today :D :D
my friend is already waiting in line, even though there is going to be no one there, steve vai "may" come out, im going to go later, at like 1pm, i still wanna be front row! but no way im waiting in the cold for like 8-12hours, i like it here in my heated house!! (with all my yummies food :p)

im not breaking my diet either! im just going to throw a few things in a plastic bag, and...well, litter :o yeah yeah i know its bad, but its not like i litter everyday! just this once!

last night i enjoyed my cottage cheese and PB, although since its only a 270 calorie meal it didnt seem like much, i may increase it when i get to my goal totals and can spare the extra calories, i was also thinking of replacing the peanut butter for heavy whipping cream, as that saturated fat is good for muscle growth!
i think im starting to get into the weird diet stuff like jeremylikness, i dont think im ready to go extreme like him yet hehe ;) but i like the idea of heavy whipping cream, as i've noticed my diet doesnt have that much saturated fats in it! i dont think it will hold back my gains though, something for testing i guess!

oh yeah, i got some kangaroo meat the other day! it costs the same as chicken (well the same as the fancy free range chicken i get, only $4 more a kilo for ALOT better quality and no crappy hormones or chemicals, worth the money) and has more protein/gram so you can eat less of it and get the same macro's (less fat too!)
instead of replacing chicken though, cos chicken is just classic i cant replace that! (well sometimes i will, with red meat or some salmon if i get around to trying that, and seeing if i like it) i think i will have it instead of the turkey, cos turkey is pretty expensive, and not only would i have to use less kangaroo to get the same amount of protein, but it costs less, so its like a double saving on money + kangaroo is a red meat, which has to be good for my lifts :D and its probly got a TON of good nutrients in it that white meat just doesnt have
if you compare it to turkey, 150g of turkey = 105g of kangaroo, also 140g of chicken = 100g of kangaroo, so you can see how its better!

heh i think i've gone on long enough, im considering trying wallaby, but cant find the nutritional value of it, also emu interests me

ohh what a night last night, i waited around for about 6 hours outside the venue, but.... it was worth it
i had to stand up for like 2 hours outside cos they made us all line up (we were sitting on the steps before that) my back was killing me! i sat down a bit on the ground when lining up, but it didnt help that much, so i was aching through the opening act, they were crap anyway, but when steve vai came on, wow it was good! i sat down on the ground a little inbetween the opening act and steve vai, and i rested on my friends back a bit
anyway when vai came on, i felt better, he puts on SUCH a good show, its awesome, eventually i got up the front and could rest on the barrier a bit (i was second row most of the show)
anyway, they played for almost 3 hours! so many good songs, great show, great music, amazing concert!

i did manage to get all my meals in!! which is great, however instead of cottage cheese, i had a tub of no-fat yoghurt, same thing, maybe like 15calories more but i dont care, its protein! and i had my peanut butter on celery :D
i got home about 2am, had a shower (just felt like one!) then got up at like 6:15am to hit the gym, had a decent workout, was legs and i was feeling ok at the gym

but i made a new discovery, my usual potato shake is just awesome, but this morning i didnt have my potato pre-steamed, so i had to steam it in the morning!! i put it in the shake while it was still warm, not only did it blend easier, but it tasted AWESOME!! it was alot more sweet, and had a nicer texture, i dont know if i'll be able to cook the potato fresh every morning, but i'll try to do it if i can find the time!

so anyway, i just had my pre/post/post-post workout meals an hour later, and waited an hour less for lunch (2 hour wait instead of 3)
i think i made up for it though because i went asleep again at like 2pm, and woke up at 4! missing my 3pm meal, but its all ok, i just wanna get tons of sleep tonight and this week!

well its been 4 days since i added my breakfast meal, but im already seeing a few holes in my morning timing, it takes me a bit longer than i thougt to get up and make breakfast (i though it would take me 5min to get up, put on some clothes and have breakfast, but really its more like 10
so i'm waking up a bit earlier, just so i dont have to rush in the morning, and can take my time to prepare a good breakfast, eat it slowly, and let it digest
this morning i didnt have the best workout (HIIT) i felt that i ate too close to my workout and i could sort of feel the food in my stomach still, but that is hopefully all fixed now! im going to give my stomach a good 50-60mins to digest my huge breakfast meal :D hopefully this will improve my performance in the gym, i guess its just one of those things you gotta test

also i've decied to up my calories again tonight, just adding 15ml of olive oil to my chicken meal, i'll throw some vinegar in it to make a nice dressing for my chicken or vegies, i've been eating spinach for a while in the meal, so i dont have to increase that part, which is why im able to make an increase after 4 days, i wanna get into this bulk diet already! hopefully this sat/sun i will "upgrade" my last meal, which is....

45g Walnuts
70g Tuna
360g spinach (/1.5 for broccoli/sprouts)
1 Slice Linseed + soy bread

a 248 calorie increase, so it all evens out to about 300 calories a week :D


also i got a "cheating plan" if you will, im going to do a healthy cheat, but use it to benefit my training, i like the idea anyway!
its going to work as a "carb up" but only when i think i need it, what i wanna do, is if i feel a cirtain day is lacking momentum (right now tuesdays, chest + tri) im going to throw in a huge bowl of wholemeal spaghetti (with meat sauce, low fat cheese, wanna keep it as healthy as possible!) or something with alot of carbs, and that i've been craving!
i reckon i can make up a nice healthy wholemeal pizza, or some nice chicken dishes or something :D
sorta like a refeed but more of a one meal thing, im really interested as to whether this will help me, but i wont be starting doing that for another few weeks, i still wanna make it at least 5 weeks without cheating! maybe even more if i dont feel i need it(even though my cheats will be healthy!) i'll have to do more research into this, but i hear it can work quite well!

oh yeah once thing that i forgot to say a few days ago, is that i finally weighed myself on my home scale, with only undies on, totally fasted, after being to the toilet, remember it isnt a digital scale, but its pretty new so its probly accurite
it said i was 87kg :o which is like 191lbs, i think i have too many weight figures of myself! i dont know what to go by anymore but i know one thing, i gotta bench more! im sooooo weak, i really gotta stack on the mass, now when i say im weak, im benching(8 reps for 1 set, then failing on the second!) 20kg, + the bar which is like 19kg thats like 85lbs! and im a big guy, i guess i do, do fly's and incline d/b bench before that which tires me out alot! so maybe im not that weak (i do 15lb fly's and 12.5kg incline press, dunno if thats good or bad!)
heh anyway, im probly not as weak as i think, but all this cutting and not increasing my lifts has been really annoying, and i wanna start increasing the weights!
and yeah i know its not about how much you lift but what you make the weight do for you, im not that much of a meat head :p

ok i've typed enough, damn i typed alot, i guess its to make up for being quiet/shy in real life :D

today is the day that i end my "cut" and officially start my "bulk"
today i will finally complete my planned out bulking diet, adding more food, about 230calories!

and of course today is the day i weigh myself, i came in at 89.1kg up from 89kg, a 100gram(0.2lb) gain from last week, this week i expect to gain a bit more since im adding more carbs, and more carbs = more water and glycogen storage, so im going to be tracking my progress over a few weeks, rather than just one

this week i feel my cardio was lacking energy, im considering lowering the resistance level, just so i can put in more effort, like a while ago, it feels like im getting more of a leg workout than a cardio workout, and my legs get enough work on mondays! :p
oh well yet another thing on my list of things to "test"

pretty good timing to start my bulk, its the 31st, so new month, new diet, new everything! it feels pretty good getting to do it from the end of the month, easier to time everything!

i'll post my diet on my first page to make it official i guess, whenever i look at my old diet i kick myself because i could have been eating more, but oh well!

phew yesterday a was a busy day for me, i did my workout, went to the market, came back, cooked, went to an art show, came home, cooked more, then went back to the art show :p home, food, bed :D

anyway to go into more detail, yesterday i did something a little naughty (nothing bad though :D) i made a batch of brownies for my mums tea party, damn it was an evil batch, nutrition wise, i added up all the calories and for all of them it was about 6500 for the whole tray
now my sister talked me into having a small forkful! just a little bit!! and it had a big walnut in it so it was healthier than just the plain dough, still after i ate it (couldnt have been more than 50calories worth, although this is VERY calorie dense) i got a sugar rush, thats why i went to the art show, to walk somewhere (it was pretty close to my house) and use all this energy i got, also my mum had a few works there :rolleyes: it turned out not so bad!! i met a few people, a person from my gym, and a couple of people i havent seen in AGES (mainly my old friends parents)
i stayed there for about 30mins, rushed home to cook food, after all that sugar i wanted some GOOD FOOD!!! and i wanted it badly, so i quickly whipped up some broccoli, chicken, spinach topped with olive oil (damn olive oil makes vegies taste alot better!) the chicken was plain, i think i put a bit of pepper on the vegies but it was basically all plane, however it tasted REALLY REALLY good, heh, i know it was that little bit of brownie i had, made me want more food, i can only feed sorry for the people that eat a whole brownie, then a few hours later dont have a bit nutritious meal to back it up, so they binge on more brownies, or other crap!

anyways after my feast (i wolfed it down so fast, mmmm) i went back to the art show to see the auctions, but i missed my mums chair being auctioned off, but i heard it got sold for $150, which is ok i guess, but some of the other chairs there got sold for like $600.... for a chair!! they did look pretty awesome tho!

anyway today im resting up, carbing up, i think i have seriously underestimated how much vegies i eat, i may have to go upto my supermarket and spend like $10 on vegies to last me a few days :p im sure i'll get by, i did get quite a bit when i went to the market, still more wouldnt hurt

oh yeah you may have noticed i dont eat turkey anymore, kangaroo is better! more protein, more nutritients(great source of zinc and iron) and most importantly, CHEAPER!! i think there is like 2 kangaroo's for every person in australia, so i better start eating to even out the score! *pats stomach*

one thing i am worrying about, is how im going to go back to cutting after all this, sure i will be eating more than my previous diet (2100calories what was i thinking!) heh i guess its only for 3-4months, and i could probly squeeze in a refeed or something, things like this always sort themselves out when the time comes, right now i just gotta concentrate on getting fat again :p

OH wow im tired, i've just been.... cooking
this spinach has really got me! its so hard to prepare and cook!, not only that, you gotta put in TONS of effort cleaning it and stuff, and then when you cook it you get like 400grams(that is from ALOT of uncooked spinach), which is enough for like 2 meals for me :p along with all the other vegies i gotta cook, also chicken, kangaroo, its so much! i think i've been cooking for the past hour or so :p
i think im going to start pre-cooking alot more things, just because i dont want tuna sandwiches everyday
like i'll pre-cook some kangaroo, or some chicken if i wanna have a variety of sandwiches

heh i really gotta plan this out more, i guess i did have to cook my mums vegies, we will see how i go tomorrow! or the next day, since tomorrow i got the day off school :D

oh yeah, im a little dissapointed today, because i found out that kangaroo actually has less calories and protein per 100g than i thought, the figures i first got were inaccurite, i got some newer ones, from the CSIRO (australia's main sciencey place :)) and its actually 120cal/100g with 24g of protein, basically same as chicken, oh well, i guess its still good for variety, and its cheaper than turkey + i get that red meat goodness!
just gotta precook a bunch of it, in either 150g (for post-post workout) and 70g(for sandwiches/tuna replacement) portions

ok so i havent updated my journal in a while, i've been busy... well busy/slacking off :p

anyway today is saturday, and i never miss a saturday
today i came in at 89.92kg(198lbs) up from 89.1kg(196lbs)
thats a gain of 800grams or 1.8lbs, which is unusual, but i strongly suspect that its glycogen and water, because im "only" eating 2400-2500calories, which for my body size + weight doesnt seem like i should be gaining this fast, which is why i will probly keep my diet the same this week, if i gain too much next week, i'll chop the calories off

workouts this week have been great, i've been increasing the weights, lifting harder, my cardio sessions have been better, also i have alot more energy throughout the day, im feeling great!!

i broke my scale yesterday :( so i had to estimate a few things, but i got another one last night, they were out of the $5 analoge ones, so i got a $50 digital one! i reckon its great, worth the money! this one wont break for sure, and is alot more accurite than my old one, also it has a couple of other good features which i like

ok time for my relaxed sunday post :)

this morning i woke up, went to the toilet, then jumped on my home scale, and it said i was a bit under 88kg(its analogue so no exact figures), last week i think i was about the same, so this give me even more reason not to decrease calories this week, i will just have to assume i was holding alot of water when i weighed myself!
although this does lead me to even more dislike the idea of weighing myself at the gym, as it seems to be more inaccurite, i would really like a digital scale at home, but i dont know if the cost is justified (they are like $50-100) and i've gotta buy a new tub 'o whey and some multi's soon, im running low!! :d_eek:
maybe i'll ask for one of those tatiana scales for christmas

oh well, i just had a nice breakfast, today i used natural yoghurt in my breakfast mix instead of the flavored kind! it tasted good, but i reckon some splenda would make it taste better :rolleyes:
anyway im still hungry after the breakfast, even though it was like 650calories (100g oats, 200g yoghurt, 1/3cup milk, 1scoop whey)
but i will be cooking up my sweet potato and kangaroo soon

good news on the kangaroo, i found out that i was buying an expensive cut of kangaroo, now i get it for a whole $5 cheaper a kilo! which is great, more kangaroo for meeee :claplow:

today im just going to stay inside, relax, eat lots of good food, have a steak for dinner! and do some other cooking too, for the week, i wanna pre-cook some chicken and some other meat, so i can just pull it out of the fridge and stick it in my lunch box or sandwich, nice and easy!

oh yeah yesterday, for my #5 meal, usually i would have 360g vegies + a slice of bread, but i felt like more vegies(i had some things that were getting a bit old), so i doubled my vegies inplace of the bread (amazing how 1 slice of bread can = 360g vegies) so i ate like 720g vegies :D and did it fill me up big time! i was hardly hungry for my next 2 meals!
just goes to show how good vegies are at eneminating hunger, and giving you tons of nutrients while your at it!

ok im forcing myself to write stuff in here now, just cos i feel so guilty about not making entries that often since i started stepping up my diet!
lifting has been going well, i definatly have TONS more energy in the gym, im really feeling it, my workouts are more intense, and im actually increasing the weights!! which im really glad about!

i took some pre-bulk pics just for myself, to make sure i dont stack on too much body-fat :p also probly should get my measurements done, maybe next week, i like to get them done at the gym, because its more accurite! and they know how to do it well
also i'll get my bf% tested, which im expecting to be at least 1% higher because of all this water weight i've added! hopefully this week i'll be given an accurite weigh-in, hopefully i dont have to chop cal's, but i dont care if i have to, i guess it will just make it a little easier and cheaper for me :p

i've got a family get together coming up in a week and a half i think, not sure if i should enjoy the fine italian food, i will think about it based on my results over the next few weeks, maybe i will try a cheat meal, and see how my body reacts to it, if it aint too bad, or doesnt make any difference, i'll go ahead and enjoy myself, but i dont wanna be putting on useless pounds that will take me a week to burn off for one meal! italian food is semi-healthy always :D

oh well i really gotta do some school work now, then goto bed, i always get tired after my lunch time meal, probly cos its so damn big, i was really sleepy today! even though i make sure i get a good amount of sleep, maybe i just need some more!
yesterday my hot water broke, so my mum was worrying about that, we had to ring up a bunch of people and found out we had to get the whole unit replaced, also i was cooking dinner for my family, so very busy night! i think i got to bed a bit later that night, maybe thats the reason, oh well i'll aim to get to bed by 8:30 tonight, i got a hard back/bicep workout tomorrow, gotta do them deadlifts, my favorite exercise, gives me such a good feeling when im all sore, i've never felt really "sore" before i started my 4-day split, and bulking diet, i really think those full body workouts are crap now, not for me at all! intensiy all the way! i like to destroy my muscles in the gym, so they grow back even stronger! oh yeah, and eating lots is also fun :D pre-paring the food can sometimes be a bother, but then i just think.... im going to be eating all this food, and it really isnt that hard once you get into the habit of cooking it, i know what i need, and how much of it i need, its pretty easy and quick, just a bit of a bother

ok ok, im really going to get into some school work now.... or in 5mins :D (i'll probly get started in about 20mins to be honest) i've only got 3 hours of school tomorrow, all in a row, so i go in, 3 hours later i go home, looks like i'll only have to pack 1 meal (just realised that!!) heh i got more time now, i guess i can justify buggering around a bit more! i know thats not a good attitude but meh!

well its saturday again, i may as well get the reporting over and done with

today i came in at 90.60kg(199lbs) up from 89.92kg (198lbs) an increase of 680grams or 1.5lbs, a whole pound over target, so i gotta cut calories, first on the chopping block....protein, i'll just cut down then protien in my post-post workout meal and beond, also in meal #5 i'll probly replace bread with more vegies, but still equiling less calories than the bread (more nutrients so it wont hurt my gains)

ok i've figured out my new diet, i cut 250calories, from mostly from protein, bit of carb, and a bit of fat

basically, instead of having 70g of animal flesh in my sandwich/#5meal i will just have 50g (makes it easier to fit in a sandwich anyway!)

also in meal #5 i will no longer have just a slice of bread, i have more vegies (500g total) also 10g less walnuts

in meal 6 im halving my chicken breast, and having more broccoli (420g instead of 280)

i'll post the diet on the first page, lets hope i dont starve :p

also im thinking of doing some lower-intensity cardio tomorrow, for a few reasons, well obviously since i've been eating too much these past few weeks, but also my family get together is next sunday, and i wanna burn some extra calories (this week and next) to make way for it! im going to have to control myself alot (well we'll see how much i control myself :p) and do some extra cardio!
it will be a nice "carb up" at least :D

well its sunday, semi-rest day :p
i did do some medium intensity cardio(65-75%), i did 45mins on the bike between a couple of protein + carb meals burnt like 500 or so calories

to tell the truth, i feel alot better after doing it! i'll see how tomorrow goes though (leg day) i hope i didnt hurt my legs too much, shouldnt be a problem!

next week i got my cheat meal with the family, should be good to eat alot of italian food, i'll have to cut calories during the day (probly just eat vegies, no breads or whatever) also i'll do 60mins on the bike a few hours before (gotta have time to have a shower, i dont wanna stink!)
hopefully this week will bring me a slower gain, my brother and sister have noticed my increase in size, my brother just said "you've gotten fatter", i figure its just water! but who knows :o im kinda looking forward to cutting again, i guess i just like losing weight better!

damn, i havent had the best week workout wise this, just havent been able to put in the extra effort :(
maybe its cos of that extra cardio session i had, im not sure, but anyway i took today off school cos i was feeling so tired, i think i overdid it a little, but we will see how my next 2 workouts go, i am confident they will be alot better

i changed my diet a little today, not perminently, but i figured out how to incorperate something into my diet everyday (if i want) that i have always loved, and missed so much
PASTA, yep, instead of a chicken sandwich, i replaced the bread with wholemeal pasta, i cant belive i didnt see it all this time, they are basically the same thing!
i had a jar of pre-made sauce in the cupboard (the ingredients checked out ok, so i used it!) so i heated up the sauce(with mince chicken in it), boiled some pasta, and made a nice bowl of pasta, along with some sprouts and an apple, same calories really, just a bit more carbs and a bit less fat and protein (only like 2 grams of each)
and let me tell you, i enjoyed it, i may even consider adding this to my diet everyday(or every other day), i will just have to cook up a big batch of pasta every so often, and throw it in some tupperware, heat it up at school, or just eat it cold i dont mind!

heh i've got another italian cheat coming up this sunday, sorta takes the fun outta it a bit now that i can add pasta to my diet whenever im craving it, although, im sure it will taste better with full fat cheese and a nice meaty sauce + there are lots of other italian foods which are great, and i couldnt dream of adding regulary to my diet! so i'll have a good time :D

last night i had some lean beef burgers for dinner, topped with this new "low-calorie" tomato sauce i found, also a tasty treat, that isnt outside my diet!
pity when i go back to cutting, these things may have to take a back seat as i have only vegies as my carb sources (well mostly vegies anyway)

just came back from a nice workout! that rest day on thursday really helped, i lifted pretty hard on friday, while i didnt increase any weights, it felt good to have energy again...
and of course its saturday, weigh-day :p
today i came in at 90.56kg(199lbs) down from 90.60kg(199lbs) a loss of 0.08lbs or 40 grams, which means nothing, i maintained my weight this week, which means the past 2 week i was just putting on water! :o
anyway im going to increase calories a bit, not return to my old diet, i wanna change it a bit, i'm going to add more carbs to pre and post-post workout, and maybe some more protein
tomorrow though, i got my cheat meal! looking forward to it, dont wanna go overboard, but who knows, my nonna will be there and she will be force feeding me all night!
should be fun!
i'll cut calories a bit earlier in the day (just eat vegies instead of bread and stuff) and goto the gym, low-intensity for like 45min to an hour (depending on how i feel) just to depelete glycogen, so i can lift with the intensity of 1000 charriots of fire on monday!!!
i will be so carb loaded tomorrow :p

ok i think i've finally done my diet, i hope :p

anyway, i've added 276calores, its basically, more oats pre-workout, i was going to add some more food post-post workout, but i figured im taking enough calories in 1 hour already and thought i should probly add some foods later in the day
so i did, in the form of fats, i eat more walnuts, more olive oil and more peanut butter!
i'll see how this goes
i'll update my first page as usual :) hope it goes well this week

also i think i've got a "plan" for my bodybuilding goals
i think i will bulk for another 6 or so weeks, maybe more if i feel i need it, then i wanna stop counting calories for a bit, just eat healthy, maybe take a break from working out in the morning and do some night time workouts
and yeah, just relax on the diet a bit, if i wanna eat a meat pie, damn it i will just buy one, probly do that for a few weeks, then i wanna start cutting again, to get rid of the rest of my fat for summer, i wanna start carb cycling, just cos its different, and alot easier, you dont count calories, and it seems like it has alot of phycological advantages too (especially "high" carb days, also no-carb days you can eat as much protein as you want! :O but we all know how protein fills you)
i really wanan try this, too see how my body reacts to different carb levels, and manipulating carbs, i really think i will respond well to this type of diet, well, we'll see
the most important thing is that i sustain as much LBM as possible, which i have heard this diet is good at doing! so it will be a fun experiance!

damn i ate SOOOO much food yesterday
i had pizza, chicken, beef, salad, this awesome couscous stuff, roast potatoes
then for dessert there was cheese cake (i just had 1 slice) ice cream, and profiterroles, which are just the best food :D
im pretty sure i over did it, as i was feeling a bit of pain in my chest after i had finished, but i just couldnt stop! next cheat im going to have more control definatly, its not like i have to stuff myself to enjoy the food, even though.... it was all awesome, chirstmas is going to be a trial :D

anyway, i've changed my diet a bit more, just a bit less fats and more protein for dinner and bed time snack (back to 15ml olive oil + more chicken, also back to 30g PB but 150g cottage cheese)
i just didnt feel i needed all that fat, and that protein would probly be more beneficial to me

anyway i cant wait too see how much i gain this week, with my cheat, and extra calories, should be interesting!

ok i just wanna finish my thoughts now, since i was in the middle of making dinner at that last post :p (dont ask me why i didnt just wait untill now to make a post, i just did ok!)

anyway, this morning i had tons of energy! my gym session was so good, i did all my exercises with tons of power, i was hurting after every one (in a good way!)
also i was alot warmer this morning, like all the digestion of food raised my body's temperature, normally when i walk to the gym in the morning, i have my big jacket on, with the hood, also my hands in my pockets, huddled up... this morning i held my head up, letting the wind blow in my face, didnt have my hands in my pockets, i could feel that my body temp was higher... weird, must have been all the work that my stomach put in overnight digesting the food

i did eat alot of protein that night, the chicken, beef, and all the dairy products, also a ton of carbs to get it into my muscles (i hope muscles!, i think that i gave the food just enough time to digest in time for my workout)
and alot of the saturated fats that jeremy says are so good for gains, even though not in those amounts, i wouldnt be surprised if it helped me grow, as with the salt, i wonder if that helped me too
i guess i will see at the end of the week :O

i know i have spent tons of time on this bulk diet, but im getting a bit tired of the planning meals thing, just for a bit, i'd rather take a break and get back to cutting for summer/end of year ball for school(nov 22) :) but i know i gotta add mass, im not sure if i should stop caring about fat so much and just go for ~1lb a week, or just do a very slow bulk... we'll see how i feel :D
i really wanna get into carb cycling, as its a new and exciting thing for me, not having to count calories really, and it really does regulate your calories automatically, which i reckon is great
anyway i'll stop typing now, i just remembered i left my potato in the steamer :o

im thinking of taking a break from lifting next week, i just feel that im really tired, i've lost motivation for playing music, and im just really lazy of-late(well more so! :p)
im thinking of taking next week completly off training, no cardio, no weights, then the week after that take a break from dieting, but go back to lifting, but at night time, because without a strict diet, i can eat my pre-workout meal whenever i want, and not have to worry about times that much
i have been training for basically 8 months non-stop, and i really feel that i need this break, i hope it re-motivates me especially in school, where im just not doing anything, wasting my time completly, a week of R&R should hopefully fix that, then maybe trying to bulk without counting calories, or at least maintain, i will try to increase my lifts though :)
i probly should have taken a week off before i started bulking, but i cant do much about that now, i'll see how i feel in the next few days, but i've had this feeling for well over a week, even a few months, i always get really sleepy about 11-12am
even though i do get minimum 7 hours sleep a night, most times 8+
it could be because i always get up to goto the toilet at night, but i really cant help that! (stupid bladder)
we i will see.....see if i can get some more sleep, but i'd say i need a week of anyway, and a break from this whole dieting thing in general

well an interesting week this one, big cheat meal, tiring week, a couple of good workouts, a couple of not so good ones

anyway, at the end of the week i came in at 91.90kg (202lbs) up from 90.6kg(199lbs) a gain of 1.3kg or 2.8lbs
a big fluctuation, im just clueless, i only increased calorioes 250, i did have a big cheat, but i feel leaner this week, also i did do alot of damage control for that meal
only thing i can think of is simply more glycogen and water storage, because i increased carb intake, it would have to be that, a bit of fat, and a bit of muscle
also i think in need to buy a digital scale, because weighing myself at the gym is proving to be a bit inaccurite, i snuck in a weigh on my analouge scale, and it said i was like 88-89kg (a bit down from last time i weighed myself on it in fasted state)

anyway im going to be looking at getting a digital scale, hopefully i wont have to pay too much for it, i heard you could get them for like $50, i'll look around, its not something i wanna spend alot of money on!

anyway its my week off now, i dont think i will continue to count calories for a while (a month, then carb cycling to cut, which you dont count calories on)
so im just going to enjoy my freedom a bit more now, im not going to eat unhealthy, no way! just eat when im hungry, make sure im getting enough protein and vegies, and i should be good :D
i aim to maintain this week, then get back into bulking, doing gym sessions at night time, taking a break for the whole "hardcore" (or "obsessive-compulsive" :p) thing

i doubt i will put the fat back on, as long as i continue to workout (well i need this week of rest!) and eat well, i doubt i will ever get back in the shape that i was, and if i do start to get a bit fat, i know i can always cut down again (which i will after like a month, i dont think i can do much damage in a month....or can i :D naaah!)

anyway this will be a good experiance for me, i'll learn alot about my body no doubt, and have fun of course!!

sundi! i just had a nice breakfast, yep, no counting calories, just putting whatever i want into the bowl
i had, muesli + milk (good muesli, not the sugar coated stuff) natural fat-free yoghurt mixed with cinnamon and splenda, and a bit of cottage cheese, that should satisfy my for a while :D
yesterday i didnt stick to a diet either, i simply ate healthy, although i didnt eat as much vegies as i normally do, i still ate very healthy!
i had some lean (skinless) sausages for dinner (these things are great, low-fat and taste greatd!)
also i had a bowl of muesli for after noon tea, heh i just felt like it!!



anyway, i actually bought a digital scale, only $50, and it checks your bodyfat and hydration level too!
so from now on my "weigh day" will be sunday morning, fasted state...alot more accurite (unless i have a big cheat the day before :p)

anyway it said i was 89.5kg which is 197lbs, so thats the figure im going to be going by from now on!
i got like 23% bodyfat on it, but i think thats a little inaccurite :)

well this week is getting more interesting every day :)
my no calorie counting thing seems to be working ok, im really not worrying about eating at particular times, heh i've completly slacked off!
its not like im binging, im still eating all healthy, except for yesterday for breakfast i had a big bowl of spaghetti, it wasnt really unhealthy, just alot of calories, it filled me up good though, i dont think i had anything else to eat untill like 12 after that!

anyway, i've found that i've been eating less vegies and healthy fats, so im going to make a better effort to eat more vegies! and walnuts (not that i havent been eating vegies + good fats every day, just not as much of them!)

also i've found that it takes tons of prep to eat alot of protein, since most of its meat, and you gotta wash/cook/prepare/clean that! i can see why so many people like tuna now :D

i havent beening eat alot of food, well really, im not sure! maybe i have, maybe i havent, i have been trying to keep my quantities a bit lower because im not working out this week, next week though, i think i will be a bit more....open with what i eat :)
as i will be working out later in the day, not only can i have carbs for dinner, but also carbs before that, i should have alot more energy!
i guess i'll just have to wait and see!

damn i slept alot last night, at least 10 hours or so, probly not that much in reality, since every night i get up to goto the toilet in the middle of the night, and always have trouble getting back to sleep, its really annoying

anyway, i'll be honest here, i weighed myself this morning, got up, went to the toilet, got on the scale! and i was 89kg, im guessing im losing a bit of water, with some muscle and fat, since i havent really been eating as much
dont get me wrong i havent been starving myself, just not preparing a ton of meals and also paranoid me, trying to eat a little less this week because im not training, personally i cant wait for this rest week to be over, cos i wanna go back to training, but still having a free diet, which i have been enjoying, its good not having to weigh everything and count every calorie, although its always in the back of my head

yesterday i had the nicest sandwich, well it only had 1 piece of bread, but it was awesome, i had the "elvis sandwich" but in a healthy way, without the frying, i just got a slice of bread, put a good amount of peanut butter on it, topped that with a few slices of banana (i've been eating tons of fruit lastly, mmm fruit) and put honey on to of that, now that tastes AWESOME, and its pretty healthy too! unless your one of those "no carb + fat" preachers, after that i wanted more, so i had some broccoli, an apple and something else i cant remember :p

anyway, i have been enjoying myself, not worry about times and planning meals, tonights dinner is spaghetti, i should pick up some reduced fat parmasan cheese tonight, we can only get 33% less fat :( i know in america there is fat free everything, we dont get fat-free mozz, ricota, cream cheese here, just reduced fat, its annoying

anyway i better be getting ready for school now, heh im still slacking off at school :D

its saturaday, but for the first time, it isnt weigh-day, since i havent gone to the gym today (week off) and also i got my new scale, and will be weighing myself on sunday, fasted and after going to the toilet...

anyway, today i did quite a bit! went to the market as usual, got some good vegies and fruit, also some cheap chicken, hopefully enough to fuel me in my workouts for a while :p
im still not going to count calories for a while, and just workout, always eating healthy, although because i'll be workout out, i'll let myself eat more, also i'll put more of an effort into getting more protein!
also today i went to the gym to speak to an instructor there, who im pretty good friends with, i told him that i wanted to get off the smith machine for squats, but he didnt think i was ready for free-weight squats, but i didnt wanna keep going on the smith machine, because i felt that it was affecting my back, in a not so good way, so im going to start doing full deadlifts to work my legs, instead of squats, and maybe i will add a leg press in there if i feel i need it, but im sure deadlifts will be fine
i got another appointment with him tomorrow and im going to learn how to do chins, but on the special machine where you can take weight off yourself, me being ~90kg, im not sure i could lift my body weight, maybe i can, i'll have to see! i'd like to get shown how to do them properly anyway, which ever machine i use

it will be interesting tomorrow to see how i do, see how the week has treated me, i have been eating a bit more these past few days, probly just because im bored, the most unhealthy thing i ate was some sushi, and that isnt really unhealthy, it just has some white rice in it

and we will see how fat i get next week as i eat lots :p who knows i may even have another cheat meal at the end of the week, there is a great indian place i wanna check out down the street from me, they are ment to have 5 star food, at cheap prices, so who knows :D

ooo sunday, getting closer to a proper spring/summer, ment to be sunny today, however a top of only 16degrees (C not F!!)
anyway, today i weighed myself, and i was 88kg!
now i dont think i am 88kg exactly, just i gotta find one place on the scale to stand every week, because i stood in a few different places, and i went as low as 87.7 and as high as about 88.3, so i figured i'd average it out this time, but next time i'll remember where i stood :p
anyway, this means i havent even been eating enough to support my weight when im just sitting around! now i gotta bulk with more activity! should be fun... even though my losses were probly just in water weight, i wouldnt have lost that if i ate enough :)

anyway im going to enjoy my last day of relaxing, back to the gym tomorrow! going to destroy my legs, and my stomach, maybe i will treat myself a bit today, heh who knows, my friend at the gym said he used to eat whole pizza's so im a little inspired, not to eat dirty, just not care so much about bodyfat, i mean if i only do it for a month i wont gain that much fat, and i've got a few kilo's to spare anyway! so we will see, more sushi for me :p

not such a good workout for me today...
i made a post about it on another board, i dont feel like typing it out again (you'll read why) so i'll just paste most of it

reporting in after my first workout, i wish i could say it went really well, but it ended in disaster

im just trying working out at night, so it was my first time in the evening! but anyway, i did the squats with a pretty light weight (15kg, heh im pretty weak anyway, still was relitivly easy) i asked an instructor to watch my form, he says it was perfect, which is good, i felt a little soreness down the side of my lower back

anyway, i got through the squats, went onto to leg extentions, did them, noticed i was a little weaker, probly for my week off not eating enough anyway, after that i was a little tired, but i pressed onto leg curls, did them, and felt pretty tired after them
ok heres where the "bad" stuff happened
i was just about to do some calf raises, but some woman steals the equipment i need, and she i using it for like 10mins at least, doing squats, and supersetting them with some other stupid exercises, doing like 30reps, she did like 4 or 5 sets of these, anyway, while i was waiting there, all of a sudden i felt like i was about to throw up, then i got really light headed and couldnt stand, a person near me went and got an instructor and she got me some orange juice and a lolly snake
i filled out a first aid for, did a light stretch, walked home and had my PWO shake


i think it was because i either, ate too much on one go that day (i had breakfast, a small snack around 11, then a pretty big meal at 1:30 pasta + meat sauce, with a few bites of chicken and some vegies, i got a big appitite then pre-workout some oats, cottage cheese, and yoghurt)

i reckon it was becuase i havent really been sleeping that well, i always get up to goto the toilet, and can never fall back asleep again, or it takes me several hours, last night i had to watch some tv for half an hour after several hours of trying to fall asleep, stupid bladder :\

also it could have been because i didnt drink enough water, i doubt that because i drink tons of water, but who knows, maybe i needed to drink more prior to my workout

i really think i pushed myself too hard, maybe had too much food in my stomach from the day (im used to workout out after just 1 meal in the morning), pity, i really wanted to destroy my first workout...
hopefully tomorrow will be better, i'll have more sensible meals and train a bit lighter

heh what a rave... i guess i learnt a lesson though :\

---

anyway, im seeing a doctor tomorrow, this stuff with my sleeping isnt too good, i really cant get back to sleep sometimes, especially last night, i had a really bad sleep (i was really alert in the morning though which is weird and just died after school)
tomorrow i'll go alot easier, im kinda sad that my first day turned out like this, stupid body, has to be so damn complex :p

well im feeling so much better today
i honestly felt like crap yesterday, i've asked around, and i found out it could have also been because i wasnt breathing properly when doing squats, add that to tiredness, and yeah...
i had a bit of crap last night, my mum made a stir-fry, while its not really unhealthy (just a bit of olive oil for the fry, rest was all healthy vegies and lean meat) i did have some fruit cake, and a ginger cookie, which was nothing considering i didnt really eat as much as i would have liked that day, but who knows, im just going to discard yesterday, i worked my legs, my quads are sore :D, missed my calf's :( but doesnt matter, its in the past, i've learnt a lesson

anyway! today is great weather!! its sunny, its finally coming to spring, im ready for my workout today, since i get every tuesday off school, im going to goto the gym a little earlier today, so it should be nice, quiet, and no crowds!
yesterday when i was in the gym some annoying woman took ages on the smith machine (i usually do calf raises on it) i dont belive how stupid her workout was, i think i explained it in the post above (i was pretty out of it then :p) but anyway, i'm going to learn how to do donkey raises or something just incase, cos there is only 1 smith machine in the gym, and when it gets crowded, i dont want a repeat of yesterday!

ok i've lost my train of thought now because i was commenting on a diet at the same time as typing this :p
i'll make a post later today about my workout, im looking forward to it, but im still going to take it a little easier :)

just came back from my workout, and it turned out well! i did all my lifts well, i didnt really decrease the weight on any of my lifts(only a couple, i think i was doing too much on them in the first place anyway), and for a couple i felt stronger! and i didnt even pass out! :p

anyway, i still feel a bit weight about workout out in the afternoon (i went at about 2pm, day off school!) but it was nice having basically the whole gym to myself, i think there were about 10people there, even less doing weights, maybe 3-5
i wonder what all the people who are used to seeing me in the morning are thinking, if im dead or something, maybe i should visit them, we'll see hehe :)

after the workout, i still have my PWO shake, although its modified a little, a bit less carbs and protein, just a tad, im just testing out a few things (going my john berardi's figures, bit more carbs though) i plan to have less directly PWO, but see if i can fit in more in the hours after and before, we'll see how it turns out :)

today has definatly been interesting, i've been so hungry, i've been eating so much!

i'll try list everything i've eaten

breakfast
-oats
-cottage cheese
-milk
2 fruit muffins
an apple

bit later...
couple of small crisp breads
few walnuts
slice of sourdough-rye with peanut butter and jam on it
a small pear
some tuna

bit later
scrambled eggs
few slices of chicken

lunch
can of tuna
brussel sprouts
an apple

then i got home early, so i had my pre-workout meal which was
brown rice
some chicken
small amount of oats + milk
some yoghurt
a banana

i guess i just had a bit of everything, my serving sizes werent all that big, but i never really felt stuffed at all, infact i got hungry rather quickly, probly because my body has been absolutly destroyed over the past 2 days of intense weight training, and also i didnt eat enough on monday, i dunno about tuesday, i think i got enough, post-workout i had a whole cup of milk in my PWO shake which really filled me up, so i dont think i had enough carbs after my workout (post-post workout i had a sweet potato, some bread, banana, honey and a few small crispbreads(dont worry these crispbreads are very grainy and good for you!!) i felt soooo bloated and full after that
so who was i to deny my bodies cravings for food! it was all healthy so, its all good :)

anyways, onto my workout today(HIIT), it was GREAT, all that food i ate today, obviously did me good, i could probly even say it was my best workout ever, for cardio that is :)
i changed my PWO shake a bit, i had 214g white potato, 46g dextrose, and 45g of whey, i'm going a bit more by abcbodybuilding's "the window of oppertunity" article, although they dont suggest using a potato because of the fiber because of gastric emptying or whatever, maybe i'll try a pure dex/malto shake, if i can find a cheap enough place to buy it! (seriously i cant find it anywhere, all the corn sugar i have found has cane sugar added to it, maybe i'll have to order it over the net)

anyway, i got a HUGE energy boost from this shake, i can really feel it, i also now sip it over 30mins(consume half of it as soon as i get home), even though its ment to be 45-60mins, i dont know if i can make it last that long :p i can feel the energy returing to my body!
all i need is my post-post workout carbs and a bit of protein, then i better eat some vegies.... and i gotta practice my bass, which im not(ever really) in the mood for, i dunno why, but i just dont wanna play it, i still enjoy music, and doing my thing, but i think i have had too much stuff forced onto me, i've sorta lost the passion, i just wanna finish my course, which i doubt i will pass anyway, and take a year off, work, earn money, not worry about school work, since i've been going to school since i was like 5! (not including pre-school) i think i've just had enough of it
i'll still play, cover bands for money, cover bands for fun, only stuff i wanna do though (probly metal :p) but yeah, take it easy, not worry about learning scales or whatever for a bit

ohhh what a week :)
today i weighed myself, and the scale said 92kg!!(202lbs) which is 4kg(8.8lbs) up from last week :o
i sure hope alot of that is water :p i have been eating like a starving man all week, i guess it was just a good week break, however this week im going to put in abit more effort into getting more protein and vegies in particular, and having more organised meals, so i dont go around snacking on just carbs, i wanna have protein with every meal, and hopefully alot of vegies this week!
i'm still going to be eating... :D but a bit more organised this week! and see how things turn out! should be interesting, i dont really wanna go over 95kg though, but we will see what happens, i havent really noticed any extra fat on me, im still pretty lean.
i think i have been influenced by powerlifting dieting techniques a bit, since one of the instructors at the gym was a powerlifter, and he just says to eat eat eat when your bulking, so you will have some fat to strip down, good enough excuse for me! :p but i really think i need more protein still, less complex carbs like bread, oats, rice and more vegies!!
i'll see how i do this week... :D

just did my leg workout, all i can say is OUCH
i had a GREAT workout, i didnt hold back at all, my squats were great, my traps were a little sore, but thats only cos i got distracted and had the barbell on my shoulders while resting between a set :o other wise good, did a good 10-20reps
also for leg extentions i DESTROYED my quads, i did 1 and a halfs, which is basically going up, then going down half way, then going up, then dropping down, thats one rep, i did that, on a pretty good weight, although i had to drop the weight down to get some reps out, thats another great intensity technique for destroying your bodyparts
i did the same technique for leg curls, destroyed me too, what a great technique, i cant wait to try more shocking principals tomorrow on my chest and tri's, im going to change up my chest routine to include include flye's then a flat bench press, then some d/b presses, doing a 5x5sets for my bench, hopefully will add some strength/size with that!
im just really looking forward to trying all these new techniques and exercises i have been reading about, i've really gotten into the weight training side of bodybuilding now, giving the diet a rest, its allowed me to concentrate on it alot more!

but dont worry im still eating, i wasnt too hungry today, im sure going to be hungry tomorrow though!!! going to eat alot! i really just wanna get alot of strength, i wanna be really strong and powerful, i can cut fat off pretty easily, so i wont worry about that too much, but it will still be in the back on my mind, its not like i wanna get fat again, im not going to be doing this for much more, maybe 3weeks, 4 at the most, then back to cutting for summer!

my legs are going to be sore tomorrow...! :D

well i got a good workout, and an "ok" workout to report
on tuesday i worked my chest + tri's, i completly re-worked by routine
for my chest i did incline fly's, followed by a 5x5 set of flat bench press, then some incline dumbell presses
its was just, ok, im not the biggest fan of incline stuff, as i cant really feel it in my chest as much, i really wanted to work the bench press harder, so i tired a 5sets of 5 reps kinda thing, and i did it as my second exercise so i would be able to lift heavier (usually its my last exercise, and im cant lift too much on it because of the other exercises i did before that!) but i dont really like the 5x5 method, maybe i didnt use enough weight, maybe that low-rep just isnt my thing, oh well you gotta try these things i guess, to see what works for you, next time i think i will go the flat bench fly's followed by flat bench press, the incline d/b presses last, maybe i will be able to push out an extra few kilo's on the bench that way, and really work my chest (gotta do fly's first for pre-exhaust)

anyway, for tri's i changed my routine completly again, i think i still need a little more intensity, i added a few sets in for tri's cos i really wanted to shock them
anyway, i started off with some close-grip benches, which i did for the first time off the smith machine (i dont wanna use that anymore, one of the trainers at the gym put me on it saying it will help me with form and whatnot, i dont think i need it anymore, i hear alot of bad things about it)
anyway the close grips went pretty well once i got the right weight, next week im either going to superset it with skullcrushers or do extended 5's, both are ment to give you a great pump :D
i moved on to push downs after that, which went well, i guess, i hate it how you have trouble doing an exercise, like you struggle to finish the rep, but then, you just dont feel it in your tricep! you know its workout it, sometimes i put my opposite hand on my tricep and i can feel it tensing, i know its working it, but, i just cant feel it! (which we all know doesnt matter! its still annoying tho :p)
on after that i did some kick backs, for my middle head, which i think i have been missing in my other routine, this is the set that i added extra this week, i did 2 sets of kick backs, considering it was the first time i did them, and i had no instruction apart from online sources!, i could feel this in my tricep, but also a bit in my shoulder too, hopefully i wasnt doing something wrong!
and i finished off with reverse push downs, as usual, im slowly increasing my strength on them! i consider that my weak point, i belive its the outer head of the tricep(heh im learnding quite a bit about anatomy now :D)

anyway, yesterday (wednesday) i did my HIIT cardio, which went really well, as it has been for the past 2 weeks, i think its because i have not only been eating more protein before my workout, it has been meat protein, which is giving me more energy, i used to just have cottage cheese, milk and yoghurt before my workout, but i guess i just respond better to more protein! i still have carbs pre-workout, just now i have more protein, and i wait a little longer before i hit the gym too, like 60-70mins instead of 50mins before, it seems to be working out great! im really getting to know my body alot better now :D
the other day i ate some vegies before my workout (my chest+tri day) i really felt sick for the first 20-30mins of the workout, but that feeling passed eventually, a mistake i wont make again!

another thing i noticed, i havent been getting that elusive soreness that everyone is always raving about, even though i had my most gruling leg workout ever on monday, my legs are actually less sore!
they still do have soreness, but not as much, although i sometimes do find it harder to walk than usual, so less soreness, more....crippling :D 1 and a halfs FuDgE you up! bigtime!

now all i gotta do is workout what kinda shock techniques im going to use for back and biceps, im thinking of doing some heavy sets for deadlifts, not sure for the other things, for biceps, i reckon i'll do that one how you doing 10-12reps, then go down a weight and rep-out, then go down a weight the rep-out, also maybe i will try extended 5's for my second bicep exercise (i do barbell curls then hammer curls or preacher curls, today is hammer curl day though :p)

oh well i got lots of reading to do, and experamenting to do, hopefully i will destroy myself in the gym today, that is my goal every time i hit the weights!

been an interesting few days, i have learnt quite a bit about how my body likes different types of training and so forth, i've been trying to do thinks in a higher-rep range, i dont think i really need shock techniques at this point, i think im still a bit too.... underdeveloped? anyway, i've just been adding another exercise here, some more sets and reps there, i've been going over a few things, and decided that i'd like to try things in a higher-rep range, like arnie ;) but i have been reading "big cat's" I.C.E training guide, which i did base my first program off, but i think i didnt follow it enough, like not really listening to my body enough "feeling" the pump and burn, no matter how many reps or sets it takes, also if you feel like doing more, do it! he also doesnt belive in low-rep training, and personally neither do it, i like higher-rep, higher-volume training

i did a good back workout the other day, almost too good, i was so drained i think it effected my bicep workout a bit, i was planning to add in some concentration curls, but i had been in the gym like 50mins already and was so tired (i tried tempo changes for bicep curls, i think i got through 4 reps before my arms gave up! :p) but im sure my back workouts gave my biceps a pounding!! i added in a set or 2, i was so tired after it! i got a huge pump in my biceps after i had finished
also my shoulder workout went well, higher-reps, i added front laterals and a few sets to my existing exercises, i really felt it, this workout made me realise how important it is to feel it working, getting a good pump and getting that mind muscle relationship is pretty important!
im considering buying arnies bodybuilding book, but i think i will just re-read the I.C.E traniing program, i dont think i have been doing enough sets, what he suggestest seems like alot when i started doing it, but now i see that the volume he suggests may actually be nessisary, i'll see what i can handle, gotta eat up big for lots of weights :D

as for my diet, dont ask! its hasnt been bad, but i have been overeating alot :o
all healthy of course but damn i eat alot :p
i'll try to restrain myself next week, but i make no guarantees :D

anyway i reckon im going to get on the carb cycling train soon, maybe next week, i reckon i can go another week of gaining, but i think i've been getting a bit bloated, im not sure if its water or fat! its pretty annoying not knowing, maybe i'll get my bodyfat checked today or tomorrow and see how im going!

today i weigh 92.7kg(204lbs) up from 92kg(202lbs), only a 700gram(1.5lb) raise from last week :p okok thats still over 1lb a week, but i dont really care that much, i think i will try to cut down on my....rampant eating a bit this week (i said try :p)

anyway, last night i went to the inflames concert, first time they have been down to australia, it was pretty fun! although they made us wait too long, the doors opened at 8:30 and they started playing at like 11:30, we had to wait through warm up bands to see them, but it was worth it i guess :)
the mosh was pretty good, not that i got exhausted, but i got so covered with other peoples sweat, its not funny! i had a shower as soon as i got home, ewww!

today, im going to be making sushi rolls :D i always buy them for like $2-$2.50 each, but thats too expensive, so instead i got some nori (seaweed) a rolling mat, some sushi rice, also some nice fresh salmon from the market (we got it from an asian fish place, they skinned it for us and washed it too i think), i got some rice vinegar and mirin, oh yeah i also got some wasabi, i had a bit of that on its own, just a bit, and it almost blew my head off!

anyway i cant wait to make it today, i'll have to cook some chicken too so i can have some chicken sushi, the best thing about it is that its nutritious, maybe i'll cut down on my rampant eating....tomorrow :D

havent made an update in a while, i was meaning too yesterday, but i got soooo busy!

anyway, sushi turned out great! very tasty, i had 2 whole rolls to myself, maybe i'll make another one today :confused:

workouts have been HARD this week, leg day was good, chest + tri day, was long, i threw in more sets to my chest routine, i added 2 sets of cable crossovers, i like them alot, so i think i will keep them, i sorta wanna learn how to do dips though! maybe its time for another fitness assesment, i wouldnt mind to know how my cardio level is doing! also get my bodyfat + measurements taken
anyway, i tried to do some french presses for my triceps, but my left shoulder really hurt for some reason when doing them, it was the same type of pain i get when i do pullovers (for chest) so i couldnt do them! but i did quite a few sets that workout, i had to skip my ab work cos it was taking too long, i ended up doing about 18sets in total, i was so tired by the end of it!
on wednesday, i had a great workout (HIIT) i really pushed myself, but i had a good reason! i went to my aunt's house for dinner :D so i didnt have a PWO shake, i just went straight there, i figure it would reduce the damage, and taking a cheatish meal instead of a PWO shake once wont hurt me, especially since it was just cardio
the food wasnt that unhealthy, i mean its not like italians eat deep fried chicken, we had pasta, with salad, some boiled chicken, in tomato sauce, grilled capsicums, and i treated myself to a small piece of cake, and an after dinner sweet with some strawberries, it was a nice evening, i enjoyed it, and i didnt binge out like i normally do! :D

im going to start carb cycling next week! i've got a good plan worked out, and im ready to go, cutting up for summer! this should be very interesting, i hope it works well, im sure it will though! i got my meals planned out (im not counting calories, just i know what sort of foods im going to eat, and when)
i'll be sure to keep a good log on how things are going with that!

well its sunday, i had a biiig breakfast, it is my last day on this "maintain/bulk" thing
and yes i did weigh myself
today i weigh 92.1kg(203lbs), down from 92.7kg(204lbs) a loss of 500g or 1.1lbs, considering i was trying to add weight, its bad....but i dont really mind that much as im heading back into a cut next week (tomorrow)
i have cut out milk from my diet, i did that a few days ago, after i tried adding milk in my PWO shake, i felt very bloated after it, and not hungry, so i decided to cut it out, and i am feeling alot better! im less bloated, and i fart less :p i still eat yoghurt and cottage cheese, because they have cultures in them that take care of the lactose, but milk is gone!
also i have started taking fish oil caps, im also feeling better since taking these, i think that cuttnig out milk, and taking fish oil make me lose a bit more weight this week, hopefully now with this new discovery, my cutting phase this time will be alot more effective, also my next bulk, will be alot better :)

anyway good workouts this week, got in a cheat meal, which was good, i think i will have more of them, but controlled, like maybe some low-fat ice cream or something, or going out to a restaurant! meh i'll figure something out!
oh well time to enjoy my last day on a totally free diet, tomorrow i eat by the clock, but no counting calories still! i dont think i will count calories for a while now, i dont think i need to!
hopefully i wont get screwed (much) by my loose skin, maybe the fish oil will help it! well i'll just have to see, should be a very interesting cut!

its my second day on carb cycling, i was going to post something yesterday, but i was sooo tired, i could hardly move!

anyway, yesterday went fine! i ate carbs, worked out, had a PWO shake, then no more carbs :)
although for dinner i dont think i ate enough, i had about 200g of beef, and about 150g broccoli, after about 1.5-2hours i was REALLY hungry, maybe cos it was just after a leg workout and my body just wanted more! next time i'll load up on the vegies a bit more methinks, or maybe move a carb meal to that time, we will see :)
my workout went good too, my squat form is improving every week, i fix something every week, but then find something more i can improve on (this week i have to stop leaning forward so much, im not hitting my upper quads enough)

today there has been a bit of a mix up in my routine, today would normally be a chest + tri's day (low-carb) but i've been forced to make it a no-carb day (went for a very light 30min walk before breakfast) because i am getting a deep tissue massage today, and the lady said no working out!! because they are ment to make you sore for 24-48hours after the massage, my massage is in 1 hour, so im VERY excited, cos as we all know, you gotta LOVE the soreness :D
anyway the no carb day is treating me well so far, im not hungry at all, and all i had for breakfast was about 150g of kangaroo, and a bit of broccoli, im not going insane or anything, im also a bit less bloated, im definatly losing alot of water, but im drinking like twice as much as i normally do :p
im actually feeling a little more energised just eating protien, its weird, maybe its also because i didnt do an intense workout, i cant do anything intense today, because if i do, i can say goodbye to my muscles, which i definatly dont want to do!

ok i've been a little slack updating my journal :) but i'll post an entry now

carb cycling has been very interesting, im just discovering how much i should eat, especially on no-carb days, i think i didnt eat enough (i basically stuck to 35-40g of protein a meal, which is reasonable i guess) i think i just need to eat more vegies on no-carb days

my massage went well, she said i was in very good "nic" and im pretty flexable, although i had no circulation in my arms, so she fixed that up, and gave me some stretches to do, and told me to walk more! i guess it is getting warmer, so i will be more inclined to walk!

as for my workouts, they have been good, my chest+tri workout was just ok, i think i've been doing too much volume, so i've been scaling it back just a bit, just doing a few less reps, heavier weights though, i feel i have more energy this way, and i can actually be more productive without spending over an hour in the gym!
todays workout was great (shoulders+traps) strength was up for all my lifts which im excited about! hopefully with carb cycling i can increase my strength, because i can really put alot of carbs around my workout, like i was bulking, but still lose fat!

strength was also up on thursday, being a high-carb day, i dont see how it couldnt :p
which reminds me, i had a "high-carb+" meal, which is basically a cheat meal :D i ate a nice big meat pie, they use real steak, nice and lean, not one of those crappy dog food pies, this one was top knotch (it cost $4.50 for 1!) so at least i got some good protein out of it, the only probly was probly the crust, being a refined carb! but oh well, i doubt i gained anything from it, infact i think i look leaner today! i should make it a once a week thing to cheat!
anyway im done with my carb meals for today (low-carb day) all these different days arent really painful at all, i just need more experiance on them, especially on no-carb days, i've only had 1 of them so far (only 2 a week)

oh well, hopefully i will keep lifting heavy and hard, also losing fat, doing cardio just once a week, 15mins of HIIT :D (twice if you count my 30min light walk on wednesday's no-carb day)

its sunday! i get to rest up today, and bum around, although i really should do some school work, which i have been putting off for a few weeks now (well longer than that, but i dont think i've done any school work over the holidays :D)

anyway its been an interesting week of carb cycling, and i have another interesting week ahead, obviously this week im just going to be losing mainly water, so it would be pretty stupid of me to think i've lost like 2kg of muscle, although its imporssible for me to tell if i have under-eaten this week! bah i guess i will just have to go by my stomach for another week! then see if i should stuff my face more, or hold back more

i did weigh myself this morning, i came in at 90.1kg (198lbs) which means i've gone down 2 kg, or 4.4lbs which is probly all water and glycogen, i will weigh myself tomorrow as this is after a "low-carb" day, i wonder what i will weigh after a "no-carb" day!
dont worry tomorrow i get to carb up again, as its a high-carb day! :D
the only worry i have about monday, is that im going to have to do my workout in the morning, because of school, this only allowing me to have 1 carb meal before my workout, i hope its enough to get me through my leg workout, we'll see, at least i will be able to get alot of carbs in after my workout! :D
im going to try and increase my strength when cutting, i belive its possible! all i have to do it eat alot of high-carb days, a little less on low-carb days (i will be doing slightly easier workouts on low-carbs days) and just rest up good on no-carb days!
even on low-carb days, i do manage to cram quite a bit of carbs in around my workout, since i need to get 200g of carbs in 3 meals, i usually have about 60 for 2 meals, and have about 80 for my post-workout shake, although im not sure if it would be best to have 1 carb meal pre, then post, then post-post, or have 2 carb meals pre- then one post, heh all very confusing! i guess i will just have to experiment a bit!

i have another fitness assesment booked in today, im not going to be getting a new program or anything, just getting my measurements done, and boyfat checked, im really interested to see what my bodyfat is, because i will be depleted, i think it will give me a good indication of how much fat i really did gain in my "bulk" (if you wanna call it that :p)
also i'll do a 10min bike test, and learn how to do a few new exercises, hopefully it wont eat my muscle too much!

ahhh high carb day, what a relif, sort of :p you always feel guilty chowing down on so many carb! but i know its for the best, my chest already looks alot fuller! i know it loves its carbs!

anyway i weighted myself this morning, and i was 90kg(198lbs), so i lost a bit of weight since yesterday, but i'll just put it all back on today anyway! as long as im 1lb lighter each week i'll be happy! i know im already looking leaner, which im happy about!

todays workout was nice, i increased my lifts across the board, except for squats, but i think i couldnt do as much for squats because i was using better technique, i wasnt cheating by leaning forward too much like i did before (i think i cheated 1 rep and it was ALOT easier! so it pretty much explains it :D) im really going for increased strength, i've been doing "hypetrophy" training for a bit too long and i think a couple of my bodyparts have started to plateu on on (bi's and chest in particular) so im going to be try to lift heavier from now on, i know i can improve my strength while losing fat!

i had a fitness assesment yesterday, got some measurements taken, my waist is 34in which im happy about, but my triceps seem to be lagging, my bi's are really dominating them (well thats what the guy said, and i agree with him, once he pointed it out, i could have slapped myself for no realising!)
my arms stand at 13.5inches, which is probly crap by most standards, but i got basically no fat on my arms, when he was taking my bf% measurments for my arms he commented on how little fat i had on my arms! i guess thats where i lose fat, arms and chest!
i also go my bodyfat checked, and it as 14.9% which was alot lower than i expected, considering the last time i got my bodyfat checked was before i started "bulking" and it was 14.59%, so i didnt really gain much fat at all! hopefully i can shed alot of this fat in no-time! :D

so goals? cut untill summer, then bulk, my fitness instructor reckons i should go for a big bulk in autumn and winter, cut for 6-months, and i'll be laughing! heh we will see how i go, as it appears i dont gain fat too easily, and i probly have large glycogen stores :D

anyway i gotta get ready for my first day of school, the most boring day, history and performance platform (it sounds more exciting than it is)
at least its a high-carb day :)

i may as well make a post while my vegies are cooking!

today went alright, second day back at school, well sorta, i didnt go today, because we get every tuesday off! on the first day back, i only went to 1 class then went home (only had 2 classes on that day, but monday is a REAL BORE!!!)
i was going to do school work tonight, but i decided to watch TV instead and browse fitness forums :rolleyes: yeah yeah i know its slack, but i've just lost all motivation to pick up my bass, i dont know what it is, im sure if i actually picked up my bass i would play it for a bit, but then put it down again after 30mins, cos i would be bored of practicing!

but on a more fitness-related note, todays workout was...better i guess, i went alot heavier on the weights, changed up my chest routine a little bit, and really went for a lower-rep range, as my chest doesnt seem to be responding to the 8-12rep range that much, however i did feel my strength was also up today, even though i did less reps, i could just feel it was easier, hopefully next week i'll push the weight up more, aim for 4-6reps maybe pushing 8 if im lucky on the first set, hopefully i will respond better to that
triceps....well what can i say about my tri's, my routine is ok, but for some exercises i just cant help but cheat, especially on the close grip bench, my elbows always flare outwards if the load starts to get too much, but if i lighten the load, its too easy, and i dont feel like they are getting a good enough workout, its also annoying when i was doing skulcrushers, i wanted to go a little heavier, so i added like 1.25kg to the bar (each side) and i couldnt do it, but then when i took those plates off, it felt too light (going for a slightly lower-rep range with tri's too, as they are lagging) perhaps i just gotta do what i can do with good form, and go as heavy as i can, i think i thought i could lift more because its easier on the first set, but not always on the second, especially if you increase the weight!
but an alright day in all, i enjoyed lifting heavy, and i'll look forward to (hopefully) increasing my strength

ahh and finally my diet, its going well, i dont know whether i should could fiber on "low-carb" days, i know it doesnt get digested, but i dont know if the original artical intended for fiber to be counted, i know your not ment to count vegies (just have 3 servings a day) but im not sure about the fiber in oats and fruits, for example
oh well i'll just go on my merry way, and see how my results turn out, if i dont lose enough, i can always start counting fiber as a carb, that will lower my intake
no carb day tomorrow, they arent so hard, protein really does fill you up, and vegies just make it so easy, i dont really dread it, i just see it as a good carb depletion, making it so i can lift heavy on my carb days, allowing me to eat more when i need it, its a good sacrifice, and it appears to be working (so far) i cant wait untill i get a few weeks into this diet so i can see some real results!

hello, its saturday! well the endish of saturday, i've done my HIIT workout, WOW i went at it so hard, and destroyed myself, i think i took like 15mins just to catch my breath after it :p

anyway, diet has been going good, no cheating! of course :D but i have decided to make one change next week, probly, im going to start using low-GI foods post-workout, now i know that you have to "restore glycogen as fast as possible" and all that, but i have been doing alot of reading, and its been shown that there is no difference between low-GI and high-GI post-workout, and people have reported less fat gain while using low-GI, i figure i have to try it out for a while too see how i feel with it
also carb cycling doesnt suggest any insulin spikes, so i guess i will be following the diet 100% from now on! :D

with my training, i have been using lower-reps, trying to push my strength higher, im really going to try and gain strength while losing weight, i know its possible, i hope that i can do it(i KNOW i can, thats the attitude :p)

had to vote today, damn election, but i think we really need to get rid of our prime minister, john howard, he is just the worst PM in my opinion

right now im feeling a little full/bloated from my post-workout shake, maybe i need to take a small walk! or have a shower, yeah thats a good idea, i probly smell from my HIIT session, oh well untill tomorrow! ;)

damn its a nice day today!! warm weather, no rain, im in heaven, its so nice i even took a walk on my no-carb day :p

im pretty tired though! i went out last night, just to a friends house, we sat around a fire, it was pretty fun! i prefer doing that than going to a crappy bar, i wouldnt mind going to a good bar, with fun people, but the last time i went to a bar it was full of "older" people, who were like 25+, not really my crowd!
anyway, i got to sleep at about 3am, and woke up about 9:10am so not that much sleep! i can only fit in 5 meals today! but thats ok, i just have to have more protein with every meal, so no big deal!

anyway, i decided to weigh myself today, just cos i always do on sunday! i weighed 89.2kg which is 900g less than last sunday, i'll weigh myself tomorrow, after my no-carb day today, as its probly the best time to get an accurite figure of my weight!
and maybe i will weigh myself after a high-carb day, just out of interest, last time i did, i was lighter! than after the no-carb day! funny how your body works!
i should probly eat a bit more on no-carb days, i'll make adjustments based on how much i weigh tomorrow, but i think i could stand to eat a bit more protein on no-carb days! right now, just eating more protein per meal is making me feel better, or maybe i should eat a little more on low-carb days, for the past 2 low-carb days i have been counting fiber as a carb, maybe i should start excluding it, i guess i will have to try both, lets hope my LBM doesnt come out second best to these tests :p

im looking forward to good weather tomorrow! :D
i dont know what it is about warm weather, but i always have more energy and willingness to workout, i absolutly LOVE walking home in the sun, after a hard workout, its like an extra pump!

speaking of pumps, i got a good shoulder pump on friday :D i've been going the lower-rep ranges, if i havent mentioned it before, its kinda hard for me to let go of the fact that i cant always "feel the burn" but i convince myself that its still working the muscle! and i gotta see if my muscles respond well to this!

oh yeah, john howard won the election :( if bush gets re-elected we are pretty F^ed :D john howard is just bush's hush puppy, he will anything bush says! and bush is an idiot, shows the level of intelligence of our PM! :rolleyes:

what a nice day it is today! well it was hot, not hothot, just hot :)
its a cool night right now, maybe i will go for a walk, cos its so damn nice, i gotta get the most of it (all i've been doing is buming around today :D) in the next few days it should be cooling down, and then rain towards the end of the week (thats what happens when you get a sudden change in temp, damn evapouration!)
anyway, i had a nice workout this morning, it was warm in the morning so i decided to go straight after breakfast, it was a nice walk there, although a bit windy, it was warm so i enjoyed it! i hope it will be just as nice tomorrow morning so i can go for another walk!
anyway, i once again, messed around with my whole routine, i did d/b bench press first, i have actually started to warm up a little better, as i have been reading more on max-ot, so yeah i was going heavier in my actual sets, i did 20kg dumbells on each hand, for 4-6reps, same for incline d/b presses, although i struggled alot more with them, i will keep the weight the same for next week, as if i wanted to go down, i would have to go down 2.5kg on each hand, which would probly make it too easy

after the presses i did a couple of sets of flyes, which despite doing the pressing exercises before, i was able to lift quite a bit! and then i finished off with some crossovers, i like them :)

triceps of course! i did the tricep workout inthe max-ot pdf file, it went pretty well, hopefully my tricep strength will increase, as long as they dont shrink i'll be happy :)


anyway, my diet has been going great, im not craving any junk foods, i just want more oats!! no carb day tomorrow so none of that, but i got a high-carb day after that so its all good :D

in other aspects of my life, i've become REALLY lazy towards school, i sorta wanna do some work, but i just dont, and me and my friend skip most of our classes now, we didnt goto any on monday, they are all useless anyway, im not really enjoying it anymore, im not sure whether to stop going to classes and just work as much as i can, i got a new job (casual only, but around this time of year their should be lots of shifts, its at a department store-deli section :D)
while im 100% dedicated to my fitness and all, bah to my course! i've never really "given up" on anything school related before, but i just dont wanna learn another walking bass line, or classical study, im pretty much sick of it!.....although i'll still goto the end of year ball, and im playing in the "spring concert" our act is easily the best, we arent doing jazz, we are playing steve vai, last time we played, we drew a huge crowd (we played in a performance class, where usually 1 year level just sits and watches peopel perform, we had about 10 teachers come in too see us play, the back doors were open and people were flooding in!)
its great that all of us are anti-jazzers :)

hopefully everything will turn out for the best, i just want it to end! i should do some homework, i'll see if i can bring myself to learn something, i'd rather go for a walk though....!

ok so i've been a bit lazy towards updating my journal lately, but dont worry i've still been working hard

anyway i weighed myself this morning and i was 88.9kg, which is a loss of 100grams (0.2lbs) which isnt exactly as much as i wanted! buuuut i feel i have actually gained muscle this week, as well as losing some fat! also i think i went just a bit overboard on my "high-carb" days :D also, i read a packaging wrong for a cerial, so i think i ended up eating like 50g carbs too many on my low-carb day! :o so a few factors to take into consideration....i'll see how i go this week, i'll control myself more on my high-carb days, and i wont stuff up reading the packaging on low-carb days!

anyway, lifts have been going well, im still getting a bit stronger, today's leg workout was good, i increased all lifts, except for squats, however i did more reps! (i really work squats HARD-4sets!) although i can still improve my squat technique! i gotta stop leaning forward so much (at times, im getting better at it!)
i think the lower-rep training has really been paying off, i'll keep it up for another few weeks before really seeing how its affected me, but i think its going well, except i think i gotta do higher-reps for a couple of more isolated exercises, expecially when it comes to shoulders, i felt going heavy wasnt good for my shoulders, at least not for lateral raises, i dont think i could get a good range of motion with a heavier weight, and it just didnt "feel" right!

anyway all is going good! i'll be sure to control myself better this week, more vegies in my "high-carb" meals to fill me up, also get tons of those good vegie goodnesses in me :D i had a HUGE piece of broccoli today, as well as some sweet potato! yum with lemon juice and oregano!

well i have been REALLY busy these past few days!
im going to be starting a new job soon (just sales rep stuff) and had to be trained, the training hours were 9:30am to 5:30pm, so a full day(well 2 days, but today we got off early :D), luckily it was paid :D :D

so i've had to get up really early, goto the gym, get home, have my lunch ready (i did it the night before) have a shower, get dressed, and catch a train!
its not that it was hard to do, just alot of stuff to do, its harder to preprepare all the food, especially for a high-carb day! today, low-carb was alot easier to prepare for....also i just ate tuna and salmon out of cans :p although i did bring some vegies, and oats (gotta love those oats)

my workout have been ok, strength, not really go up too much these past 2 days, im not sure if its because of the earlier gym times (i got up at 5am, gym by 6am) less sleep, or because i've been controling myself more, and i think i have been a bit more active this week

i had a performance a few days ago, all went well, it was even on a no-carb day, and i still had energy (performing does that to you :D)

anyway, diet still going well, i think im looking a bit leaner, dont want to jynx it though, i cant wait to see how much i weigh on monday, i think i'll start to phase out the sunday weigh in, although i may still do it just cos im curious (and impatient :p)

well cardio tomorrow, just thinking of it now make me tired, although i have been walking around alot today, since we finished unexpectedly early, i went and picked up some more whey powder, and multi's, same place i normally go, same brand(Dymatize, my favorite!) i got choc mint flavor, i remember when i tried some dymatize samples, choc mint was my favorite, so i got a whole tub of it! enough fruit flavors for me, maybe next time i will get apple or orange....or even vanilla, i've never had a tub of vanilla before, still, dymatize is great value for money, tastes great, and works! i cant wait to have some in my post-workout meal tomorrow
anyway, i was rambling about cardio tomorrow.... i feel tired thinking of it now! but thats cos im a bit worn down, i always get that lazy feeling when i think of doing HIIT, cos its so intense, its like ARRG before you are doing it, and in those first 4 or so intervals, you gotta push your mind to push your body, then in the last few, its like "ok im nearly done" then when you finish, its like "phew, that was good, im glad i did that!" but that end though never lasts a whole week (or even a day :p) i guess endorphines are killed off quickly in my body :p

its really starting to heat up here in melbourne! i got sunburn yesterday, not bad sunburn, but enough to make me realise its getting to that time that i have to wear sunscreen!

anyway its been a really busy week for me! lots of activitiy!
today i weighed in a 88kg (194lbs) down from 88.9kg (196lbs) thats 900gram or 2lb loss, which is a bit too much for my liking, however i think its because i did some much damn walking this week! maybe this week i will aim to be lazier :p if that doesnt work i'll just eat a bit more on my low/no carb days

i also got my bodyfat checked, im 13.8% which im really happy about, since its lower than what i got when i finished my first cutting phase, its great to know each day now, im going somewhere i havent been before! also we did my measurements and they are holding up (no losses) which means im sustaining good muscle mass, so looks like carb cycling is doing its job!
also im increasing strength, this morning doing squats was a bit too easy, i increased the weight on the last set, but i still felt i could go higher, and i will next week! just shows what a good night's sleep allows you to do! i always get 8-9hours a night, it works wonders :)

so im feeling great today, mainly because the sun is out, im 100% powered by the sun, if its shining, i always perform better, feel better, have more confidence, everything!

damn i've had ALOT of vegies today!
i've decided i wanna eat more vegies, so on high-carb days, i just cook up tons of vegies, and eat lots and lots of them! fills me up for ages! and i like them too :D

dieting has been going well, today i feel like i ate too much, but i ate tons of vegies so i dont know! :p i had lots and lots of sweet potato! i got a huge purple sweet potato (this thing was seriously BIG) and i baked it in the oven, took 2 hours to cook through, but it was SO nice! i can never get enough of the purple flesh sweet potato, most people get the orange flesh one, that tastes like pumpkin, but the white/purple flesh sweet potato is the one that actually tastes very sweet, yum yum yum! i had sweet potato after my workout, and for lunch, i also snuck some in before my workout :D i still have some left over, thats how big it was! oh yeah my mum also took some (yeah it was BIG!)

anyway training has been going well, chest is responding well to low-reps, my triceps....well they are just there, i hate them tho :p todays back/bicep workout was ok, i have been going too heavy of the curls i think, not getting the full range of motion, i decreased the weight a bit, got a good range of motion, it felt alot better, i think im starting to see what body parts respond well to lower-reps and what responds well to higher-reps, although its a bit hard to tell during a cutting phase!
hopefully this week will go well, i wonder how my vegies binging will affect my weight :p i cant wait to see! hopefully no plateau! just gotta stick to my low-carb days, and i should be right, i hope ;)

ok time for my monday update, with a weigh in (geez i remember when this used to be on saturday!)
anyway today i came in at 87.2kg (192lbs) which is a loss of 800grams, or 1.7lbs, a little too much, i'll just make sure i hit 64-66g of carbs on my low-carb days(i never go below 60g unless i intend to make it up in another meal), and maybe eat a little more on my high/no carb days

anyway, training has been going fine, lifts are holding steady, today was leg day, i increased my squat! and doing a good amount of reps (It gets HARD on the 4th set....but i love it :D) although since i went so well in squats, i think it make my leg extentions suffer a bit! which is kinda annoying, but its a good indication that i went hard on the squats i guess, which is the real important exercise!

time for me to ramble a bit off topic, a few days ago, i bought..... a book, the divinci code, i havent touched a book in like...2 years now, and i didnt even finish that one (was for high-school exams)
hopefully i can finish this one, heh i havent even started it, but im determinted to read a book, im sure it will benefit my intellienge, well i hope it will anyway :)

back onto health related stuff... i think im losing fat around my arms and legs right now, i can see my tri's better, also my back has some good definition coming! i just wish my body would take more fat off my mid-section damn it, i mean it is coming off, im leaner than i've ever been, but damn it, i still got that layer of fat over my abs!! you would think losing like 70lbs would get rid of it, but noooo, stupid body :p heh just gotta keep pushing forward, its not like i have a choice, its better than gaining all that fat back, like some people do, what a waste of time, i would just be thinking "damn i would have been so ripped right now if i had just stuck to it"

anyway i got a 4-day weekend, however its going to rain, so thats very annoying! melbourne cup tomorrow, gotta place your bets! maybe i'll put $10 on a horse this year, last year i lost $5, maybe this year i will win something :D

heh i havent updated since monday, i've been lazy with the updates, but im always on with my diet!
on monday, i ate an absolute ton of vegies, for one of my high-carb meals, like half a head of cauliflower, a stalk of broccoli, and some green beans, i was so stuffed, but still felt like i was missing something, probly complex carbs :D
workouts have been going good this week, strength mildly increasing, i guess i cant expect my strength to explosivly increase every week, after all i am cutting! however i have still been having good workouts

i've just started workout today, in the deli, first day as a sales rep :o i had to learn a bit, and sure i stuffed up a bit, but im getting used to it, hopefully i'll earn lots of money, which is what i wanna do, maybe get a new PC, or just save for the sake of having tons of money, cos i like to save my money, rather than spend it, so i always seem to have lots of money (unlike the rest of my family, sometimes genetics just dont make sence! i think it comes from my grandad actually)

anyway, todays workout was good (HIIT) i got a new brand of oats (yeah i finally decided to spend more than $1 on oats... not much more though :p) but they are really alot better than my older cheapo oats, so they have been my only carb source today, i've been cooking them in the microwave, mmmm tasty! although i cooked them in the saucepan this morning, for a more traditional thing! makes little difference though!
however i since i put in tons of water with the oats and cook them now, it really fills me up, so im not really hungry at all! im feel very full actually! cooking them sure helps stop the cravings, and i havent even eaten any vegies today (yeah i know bad me, but i had to work so i just threw some pork in my bag, it was lean pork, which actually has less fat than chicken, although it has less taste, however its more tender)

my cooking is improving, since i've been using my non-stick frying pan to cook stuff, i used to burn meat alot, now i can cook it pretty well, same with cooking egg whites, i can do that pretty good now too :D)
i have been cooking for my family a bit, all healthy, im getting alot better at making healthy dishes, before i just liked to cook anything(i didnt eat it), but now i only cook only healthy stuff for my family

my mum has been eating alot healthier too, since she got her cholesterol levels back, and it aint looking good! so she is totally reformed now, eats alot healthier, and she is telling me how much better she feels now, before she ate semi-healthy, but had too much butter, full fat cheese, and other fatty snacks in her diet, which she can do because her dad (my grandad) died of a heart attack (the 11th one got him :/) and a history of high cholesterol! at least she is trying to fix it now, however i warner her about eating crap before!

well its been a longish week, its got past sort of fast :) some bits faster than other!

i've been working for the past 3 days, and i got another 2 days of work left! then i have to take a week off because i got exams

anyway i weighted myself this morning
i came in at 87.2kg, which is the same as last week!
why didnt i lose weight? i think its because i cut back on carbs too much last week, because i went from losing 1.7-1.8lbs a week, to nothing, so maybe i didnt eat enough, or maybe my body has gotten to that annoying point where it doesnt wanna let go of fat! well i ate alot today :D i'll see what happens this week... gotta wait another week! arg...
if that doesnt work, i think im going to have to start doing more cardio, see if that works, cos im being lazy with the cardio! maybe it would help if i threw in some more cardio sessions :D i was thinking of going for a walk 3-4times a week, because my mum needs to do more exercise, and i guess it couldnt hurt to go walking with her, just to get her out there (she has high cholesterol and exercise helps lower that!) so it could do us both some good
right now im just a bit tired, because im on my feet all day, i dont get much time to rest, i guess its good active work, just i dont like that i have to think about school, i want it to be over, my exams are....not going well, i dont want to waste my time on them, i just wanna play for other people, and forget about the rest, i just want to get it over with, im sick of it already!

anyway, i think im either going to watch a bit of the price is right, or read some more of my book (yeah i actually started it! didnt have time to read anything last night :( but i will read more tonight)

right now im just a bit tired, because im on my feet all day, i dont get much time to rest, i guess its good active work, just i dont like that i have to think about school, i want it to be over, my exams are....not going well, i dont want to waste my time on them, i just wanna play for other people, and forget about the rest, i just want to get it over with, im sick of it already!
I know what you mean. I'm in a similar situation. I work full time (40 hours) and sometimes overtime (> 44 hours) and go to school part time. I find it very difficult concentrating on my studies, go to work, keep up with my fitness routine and squeeze in a social life. I keep thinking about how much easier it would be if I didn't have school. Then I'd be able to get a regular 9-5 job and not have to work so irratically. But, I have about 6 months left till I'm done.. if I can just keep it up it'll be done and I won't have to worry about it anymore.

So keep it up! It's very difficult but when you're done it'll feel so good!

heh i've got another week left, if exams really, only 1 of mine
i'll be honest, i really dont enojoy my course right now, and there is no chance what so ever i will pass, and i dont intend to do another year next year for a diploma in music! (the actually ranking of this diploma is being downgraded next year, so its literally worth nothing) i think i should still do my resital, although i dont want to, i'd rather just play for other peoples exams, and then get on with my life, i really need a year off, i've been studying for... about 14-15years straight, i think im just sick of it already, next year, i wanna just eat, lift, work and eat :p enough school!!

right now im tired because i did a 5hour shift today, i think i got to sit down for 20mins, so pretty active day :) i got another 5 hour shift tomorrow, luckily starting at 1pm, its on a no-carb day though, so i wonder how that will go, last sunday it went ok, i'll just load up on the vegies :D

well its been a semi-relaxing 2 days! i didnt get much rest (or any carbs!) on wednesday, so my workout on thursday was lacking, my strength wasnt good, and i didnt feel the best (also the weather that day was horrible!)
today (Friday) i feel tons better, i had a good night sleep, had a great weight session, i even did some cardio after the weights, i was feeling so good :p
it felt great to do a bit of cardio straight after weight training, alot of people (including me, not so long ago) belive that your very catabolic after a workout, and that you need to eat 500lbs of sugar after a workout, but after a weight session you can still go on to do some low-intensity cardio, there is no way i would do HIIT or a 45min cardio session, i just did about 12 or so mins on the highest incline, with a fastish walk, it got my heart rate up (incline walking is great!)
yes i have been reading, and it turns out that things like weight training and HIIT cardio are great at releasing free-fatty acids into the blood stream, however you need diet and low-intensity cardio to oxidise them, so doing a bit of cardio after weights should help you get rid of those FFA's!
as long as you have a good pre-workout meal, you should be fine with the catabolism side of things
so i guess i will try doing some cardio after my weights for a week or so, see how that turns out, then go home and have my low-GI post-work, geez i've really changed my thinking about working out and workout nutrition over the past few months!

anyway on thursday morning, the morning after my super big activitiy no-carb day, i was so lean! i could see a good outline of my abs, which is good, but then i had a big high-carb day now im a bit bloated :p heh maybe i went too far! oh well
hopefully i wont plateau again this week, i think that if my weight doesnt move this week, or next, i'll give carb cycling a rest and go on a normal diet for a bit, i think i need a little more strictness! sometimes i think i go overboard with my high-carb days, but sometimes i think i dont eat enough, purposly limiting myself because im afraid of eating too much, which, with my appitite is so possible!
well we will see how it all turns out, hopefully for the best :D

ooo im on my 9th page :D sometimes i do go back through my journal and have a read of it, its pretty funny sometimes! but it helps me keep on track, because i realise how long i've stuck to it, sometimes i wonder how i did it, especially since im getting close to the end of my weight loss journey, and its taken me a over a year (well it will be soon!) and i've still got more to do, i dont think alot of people have the will power to stick to something like this for a year, and when they think about trying to do it for a year, they give up before even starting, i guess i can credit it to me really enjoying fitness, wanting to work out every day, and always having my goals in mind, also i think a very important factor is taking it one week at a time, there is no way anyone can stay focused over the course of 1 year, let alone 5 or 10..... or even a lifetime, you just gotta take it in small steps!

anyway enough rambling, i did weigh myself this morning as usual! :D anyway i came in a 85.9kg (189.3lbs) down from 87.2kg (192.2lbs) a loss of 1.3kg or 2.8lbs!!!
ok i think this has something to do with my plateau last week, i probly was holding a bit of water, because i ate more this week, lots of carbs! yum yum, anyway i'll continue to eat i guess :) i got a fitness assesment next week so i'll get an updated bodyfat% and measurements, should be interesting!
i think also my loss is because i was alot more active last week, i worked for 5 days in a row (sat-wed) which is really active work, no sitting down at all! while its not like a labour job, its still more physical than most, its great though, also i've been doing some more walking this week, like last night i went on a walk with my mum, for about 45mins, and we will probly go on another one today, i dont care if it makes me more active, i'll just eat more, i really gotta start walking more though, and i want my mum to walk more because of her high-cholesterol, and exercise helps cholesterol levels! so i gotta make her walk! also its a good excuse for me :D
this week i got the week of work because i will be playing for other peoples exams at school, today i have off completely, no work, no recitals, my mum also has the day off, so we will probly go walk down to the boat house and have some lunch or afternoon tea, i better pack a ton of carbs for that! as its pretty hilly around there! also its a long walk! should be fun though :)

anyway thats about all i can think about for now, i think i'll have a shower, hard workout this morning! i think i could have eaten a bit more pre-workout, i had egg whites and some sweet potato (weird breakfast!) with a mango, yum yum mango, i'll be eating tons more of them :D

well its the end, end of school, never will i have to go back again!
actually that was yesterday, today is saturday, and i've just finished a cardio workout!

ok i havent really updated much, but i have come to a few decions regarding my diet
i think im going to stop carb cycling, its been a good 8 weeks, but i just want a strict diet right now that i can manipulate, right now high-carb days are really uneven for me, i feel "satisfied" so i stop eating because i will be guilty if i eat anymore, but then i should have eaten more, so i end up losing 1.5-2lbs in the week, or i plateau, so i think i need a more strict diet, that i can add and subtract too, also sometimes i think that the no-carb days limit my energy and limit how much cardio i can do, because i do want to do more, as i have been feeling guilty about letting my cardio slip! and no way im doing cardio on a no-carb day!
anyway i've writting a new diet, i'll post it on the first page, i have learnt alot from carb cycling, and there are alot of principals in my new diet from it, however i eat carbs everyday! but with no high's or low's, just one figure (i still eat lots of my favorite foods! oats....sweet potato...vegies! i love them all)

anyway this week im not really working, i havent really got any hours, i was dissapointed at first, but i guess its a good oppertunity to take a break from school and work, do some thinking, some lifting, some eating ;) and get my diet 100%!
however if my hours dont start improving after christmas, i may have to look at doing that security course i always wanted to do, i guess i will see in good time! right now i should relax, i have my last "no-carb" day tomorrow, also a fitness assesment, where i will get my bodyfat and measurements taken

along with my new diet, i did say i would add in more cardio, this time im going to try cutting out HIIT completly, i have been doing it for so long, every week, i think i have gotten a little bored of it, and want to try something new, as im lifiting 4 times a week, i dont think there is much purpose for HIIT

oh yeah, i dont think i will be doing much cardio after my workouts, as i have been asking more questions, it seems doing that is better when you are bulking! and only after small muscle group workouts, so looks like i can do it on shoulder day or nothing! i still plan to go for walks though, i enjoy them, i will be doing more cardio in my week now anyway, so its all good :D

so my new week will be like...

monday - legs
tuesday - chest+tri's
wednesday - cardio
thursday - back+bi's
friday - shoulders+traps
saturday - cardio
sunday - rest

untill tomorrow....

well today is weigh in day, i'll get on with it
this morning i weigh 85.3kg (188lbs) which is a loss of 600grams or 1.3lbs, which is a good end to my carb cycle (lost the target amount of weight for once!)

im starting up my new diet today, im so full with all these oats, i've already eaten 190g of oats in 2 meals :D and i got another 300g of sweet potato, 300g of vegies and 120g of flesh to eat in my next meal :D then i eat less from then on, however i did figure eating tons in the morning would fill me up lots so i wouldnt have to eat as much towards the end of the day, so i guess its working out well!

todays leg workout was just ok, i increase weights, but felt a bit run down, next week i think im going to reduce sets a bit, incorperating more compoud movements and less isolation, as with a few of my days coming up, just going to focus on hitting my muscles with alot of work, but not as much isolation, i think this will benefit my energy levels and help me sustain more muscle!

i got my end of year ball tonight, im pretty excited, im going to get all dressed up, and look classy, it should be fun, however there is no way im cheating or drinking, infact i've offered to drive, and i wont be tempted by the finger foods they have (HAHA i cant even be temped by ice cream, finger foods are nothing!)
i'll see if i can post up some pics of me looking fancy :D

speaking of pics, i posted some... here (http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/showthread.php?p=94132)
i wanna add muscle, but i gotta lose this fat, i wont feel "right" untill i have at least some abs showing, but dont get me wrong, i know have to bulk, just i cant yet, in my mind anyway... i just dont wanna add fat on top of that layer of fat i already have, that will just make it harder to get it off.... oh well, i do plan on continuing my fitness thing for a long time, so i figure in a year, i have lost 80lbs or so, in another year, with all the extra knowledge i have, i can easily make better progress, and i'm sure i will!

ok ok so i havent really updated my journal this week :) oops! i guess i just didnt feel like it this week!

anyway i have been doing my new diet this week, of course i stuck 100% too it, although i did have a couple of late nights (end of year ball, had to play for my brother in some concert) but everything seemed to go well
although i really do feel that i am eating a little too much pre+post-workout, so i have reduced it a little, i feel really bloated after eating alot of oats, especially when i cook them (i love them nuked in the microwave!) you know it may be the whey protein bloating me... maybe i should try an isolate

anyway, also the reason for me cutting calories this week, is because i didnt lose any weight :p granted i did come off carb cycling and its probly just to do with water and so on, but im not cutting calories much, just a little bit out my pre workout meal mainly, and a little out of my post... although im still considering having more in my pre-workout meal and cutting carbs from my 3rd meal (sweet potato)

i think i've been fooled by some of the varieties of sweet potato, as i dont get the yellow flesh one that much, i get white or purple flesh, which i think is more dense (calorie wise) so when i eat 300g of purple sweet potato, i get more calories than if i eat the yellow flesh stuff, i can sotra "feel" it filling me up more, and the texture is alot more dense and thick... so maybe i will just stick to white and yellow flesh sweet potatoes this week, if i feel like im lacking energy in the gym, i will up my carbs pre-workout, and reduce them else where, if its even necessary

oh yeah, my weight is 86kg(189lbs), which seems like an increase, but im going from last sundays figure (after my last low-carb day) comparing with no-carb day would be really inaccurite

another update time i guess!
just been another week, of sitting around! i didnt get any hours this week, even though i should have, i rang the manager and he said he would call me back, but he never did, but when i called him today, he was like "where have you been!" (excited not angry :)) and he has just been really busy so he forgot about me! but he said if he doesnt call me by 4pm today i should call him :p so next week i will work more, get some money! :D

anyway, workout wise, been a good week, next week im going to change it up though, lots more cardio, this may seem a little extreme, but it has to be done, im going to do cardio basically everyday, change my workout to a 3 day split, and do TONS of cardio, ok i left something out, its all going to be low-intensity, nothing over 60%HR so hopefully i can chop through this last bit of subborn fat! its really annoying me now, it doesnt wanna go away, so we will see how my new plan goes, i gotta try these things :)
maybe i need a cheat meal, although i can never will myself into doing it, maybe i should force a few slices of pizza down :D

well another week over, i'll get to my weight... im 85.5kg(188lbs) today, which is a 500gram or 1.1lb loss, i did weigh myself yesterday, and i was still on 85.9-86, so i lost 500g in one day, which is probly because i went outlast night and got in quite a bit of activity, went around to a few pubs, more active than sleeping anyway :) so the new split is still on, at least im under 86kilos! :D err again :)

such a nice day today, i got my sleeveless t-shirt on, i'll go for a walk, as soon as my sweet potato settles :p
i get to work next week :D which should have me alot more active, this means good things for my weight loss! maybe i wont have to do so much cardio because i do alot of activity, not only at work, but getting to and from work, so we will see, maybe i wont have to go cardio crazy everyday, maybe on days i dont work, or dont work much

i tried pearl barley for breakfast this morning.... i dont think i cooked it properly, actually im sure i didnt cook it properly, it wasnt very tasty anyway, im going to stick to oats from now on! although i gotta try them steel cut oats, i'll soak them properly though!

i'll update my new split on the first page, as usual!

well my week has been going good, on my new split, i did my first low-intensity cardio session yesterday.... so easy :D then i went for a nice walk for an hour later that day, which was nice i must say!
my energy levels seem to be holding, so i guess this cardio isnt burning me out, but we will see, i cant wait too see how all this low-intensity cardio turns out!

im going to order some sesathin today, i've always wanted to try it, its got such good reviews, and i figure not only will it help me lose more fat and retain more muscle, but also help the "damage control" for christmas, i just cant say no to italian food, i think its the best type of food in the world, while i dont really crave it, when i eat it i like it, just like i dont crave chocolate, buuuuut if i eat some its like .... ohhhhh yeah baby :p

anyway i've been getting screwed with hours at work, i dont think they like putting people on cos they are trying to make money, they know they are under-staffed, but they dont care, so maybe i should look for another job, i wanted to do a security course, maybe i can do that, or hopefully they will give me more hours towards christmas, they better!

hi, i guess my entries are becoming more of a twice a week thing now, i think im just getting lazier :)

anyway i got a bit to talk about today, first i'll get it over with, i weighed myself
today im 84.9kg(187lbs) down from 85.5kg(188lbs) a loss of 600grams, or 1.3lbs, on target :) which means this new split has been working!

i think that the bikes at the gym heart rate monitors are a little bit screwed, but i think i have them worked out, i think that i have to find a bike that is "off" (they are powered by peddling) and start on that, not one that has just been used and still has some juice left
sometimes the heart rate doesnt come up (you put your hands on some sensors - a little heart icon flashes along with your heart rate) sometimes it flashes a few times, then just disapears, and i think once it was giving me an inaccurte figure, so i did a bit of heart rate counting the old fashioned way, with my fingers and a clock!
anyway i think i enjoy just going for walks more than going on the bike, however i like going on the bike in the gym in the morning, just because its a routine thing, but i think for my PM sessions i will go for walks, they seem to work better too

anyway along to new things, im going to be doing a smallish "refeed" this monday, as i've been told to be in a caloirc deficit for more than 5-7days (err i've been in one for the better part of a year, except for that 6 week "bulk" :lol: )
so im just going to raise my carbs up a bit for that day, calories at 3000, then after that i wont do it the next week because christmas is coming up, that can be a refeed, then after that im going to the beach (10th of jan, maybe i'll slip one in there!) then after that i'll probly make it a regular thing, for health reasons, or maybe i'll have a cheat meal (mmm jar of PB :D)

anyway it should be interesting how it affects me, i'll probly lose more fat :rolleyes: damn stubborn me :)

well its been a week since i updated, yeah yeah i've been lazy, sometimes i just dont feel like typing alot, heh i do enough typing as it is!
however it is sunday, and i did weigh myself

today i came in at 84.6kg(186.5lbs) down from 84.9kg(187.1lbs) a loss of 300grams or 0.66lbs
which is ok, i'd say its because im getting to a really low body-fat that its getting harder and harder to lose weight, i do have a fitness assesment today, where i will get my measurements done again, check my bodyfat, see what kind of progress i have made, i think i have been losing fat, i think i look leaner in the mirror, i can definatly see my abs coming through more, which is great

anyway training last week went good, strength was so-so, however i think i just need more sleep, weirdly enough, my leg day was awesome, i increased all my lifts, kinda weird! but good, must be all this low-intensity cardio :D

anyway i gotta workout hard this week, cos christmas is coming up, i think i will just treat myself a little for christmas, i dont wanna set myself back too far... i have set myself another goal....180lbs, it seems so low for a guy my size, but a goal is a goal, and i really need one right now, it helps to motivate me, i expect to hit that goal around late january/early feb, of couse im sure something will happen and i wont achive it for some reason, but i will achive it one way or another (unless i get some good ab action happening before that weight!)

hopefully my sesathin will come soon, im really looking forward to trying it, i've heard so many good things about it, and it should be here this week :D hopefully customs wont hold it up for long!!

well i figured i should make an update, heh i've been so lazy with them... oh well!

anyway this week as been tiring, i've worked 2 late nights at work (untill 9pm and 10pm) so my chest lifts were a little down, although my triceps are going good, which is weird, usually im doing well on chest and not so good on triceps, i've been doing a bit of a different routine with tri's, going close grip, then reverse pull downs, then dips, i think its working well, although i have to change up my chest routine, its getting a bit old

my diet, perfect as usual, however i got christmas coming up, so i wonder how that will effect me

this week im trying fasted cardio, still low intensity, but just giving fasted a shot, my first shot at it didnt feel too bad, i think i have to get used to it a bit more, but its not like i was going to pass out!

oh yeah, i got my sesathin!!! i started taking it today, my first day on it, interesting, i felt alot less bloated after my carb meals, but i cant comment on results just yet, however it seems like a great supplement so far (well after 1 day :p) hopefully it will reduce the damage on christmas eve (thats when my italian family gets together) i wonder how much this cheat meal, will affect me, there is going to be alot of food there, also its my uncles 50th, so that means calorie dense desserts... oh well i'll just enjoy myself and not binge, and just restrict myself a little, but not too much as to stop me enjoying the food!

i gotta get more sleep though, im getting to bed early tonight because i've been up late for 2 nights, which hasnt been the best for my workouts, especially doing cardio every day, work is also kinda active, so yeah i need the sleep, i sure hope it pays off!

its sunday, well its late sunday, i have been working all day, then i went to some big boxing day sales, i've had like 20mins rest in the past 10hours, im SO tired, this will be a short update!

i did weigh myself today, came in at 85.1kg(197lbs) which is very inaccurite because i had a big 'ol cheat on friday, then another christmas lunch on saturday... which was healthy and i ate light, so it doesnt really count

i weighed myself on friday and i was like 84.5, which is the same :/ so this week im hoping my cheat will raise my metabolism and get me burning fat again, next week i will do another refeed as they seem to be keeping me losing weight
i think i burned off friday's cheat today...oh so much activity!

phew another week gone, this has been a... weird week to say the least!
had my cheat on christmas eve, i ate lots of good food, all so yum, i wont list it all, i had a bit of everything, but didnt binge! :D although i did have about 5 slices of cake, and a few THICK slices of plum pudding (oh it was GOOD)

anyway, it seems that that cheat meal, has actually accelerated myweight loss...

today i came in at 83.4kg(183.8lbs) down from 84.6kg(186.5) - weight on christmas eve, before the cheat!... a loss of 1.2kg or 2.6lbs :eek:
which is far too much, so i think im going to do another refeed this week, and cut cardio, just no more cardio on weight days, see how that turns out and maybe some ligher cardio for my "cardio" day sessions (actually this week i've just been going for a 30min walk up the street, although i have been working, which requires a bit of walking to get there, then activity on the job, then more walking back!)

im still working a bit this week which is good, i got some good shifts, a whole 5 hours on monday which i get extra money for because its a public holiday :D and should keep me active, although im doing a refeed on that day, so looks like good preperation is needed! but should be a fun day of carb loading, gotta remember to drink lots of water though, so i can store all the glycogen with water, and i have been reading a bit about glycogen supercompensation, and when you store alot of water with glycogen it can cause anabolic signaling, which can actually have you gaining muscle while cutting! although this is coming from something i read about keto, i do belive it has alot of merit outside of ketosis

anyway, this weeks gym sessions, have been weaker, i can really feel that i lost too much weight this week, i was weaker in the gym, i've been lowering my weight a bit, pumping out a few more reps, just because i think i been a bit of a break from lifting as heavy as possible, however i think i was still weaker, and i notice im looking a bit smaller, however that may be just me :D but i probly did lose too much muscle last week!

well its sunday, update time (yeah yeah i've been slack - i've been busy, but im not working this week so its all good :D)

anyway this week, im 83.3kg (183.6lbs) down from 83.4kg(183.6lbs) a loss of a whole 0.2lbs!
heh i really dont think my body wants to lose any more weight, and i think i have been losing too much muscle with all this cardio (i've been doing it fasted recently to try it out - i dont like it fasted anymore!) my strength hasnt been too good, and im getting way to skinny, i have an appointment with a plastic surgeon on the 2nd of feb, so im going to start trying to maintain untill then, i just dont know where i am on a bodyfat level, i dont think i can phychologically bulk, because i have all this skin, but cutting is probly unhealthy for me at this time, because im so light, i really dont know whats up with me, so its probly safest to maintain, untill i know the situation with my skin

so im going to try and do my new years resolution and not be so damn strict with my diet, its gotten ridiculas now, its restricting too many area's of my life! right now i wanna stop everything, not gain, not lose, just eat healthy (still follow a plan, but more of a maintenance plan, and maybe have more room to move... for like going out and stuff)
so i'll start increasing calories a bit, probly pre-workout to start, some more oats, i wanna do it really slow to make sure i dont put on alot of water weight, which although is just water, i know because im so obsessive it would goto my head :)
so very slowly, i'll add, and lets see what happens!