Awesome. Tomorrow I'm beginning a mean cutting phase that will last through the end of October. Then I'll hopefully be ready for some bulking. I'll toss in some meals, weight programs and cardio sessions along with results, and maybe some of you guys out there can put in a few tips or some advice.

Basically I've got a program from the internet that I'm going to follow. It outlines some protein to carb ratios and I'm going to implement food choices from Tom Venuto's Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle. I'm all about being all natural, so no supplements other than a multivitamin.

Here's a simplistic version of my plan of attack:
-30 minutes aerobic cardio on an empty stomach in the morning.
-6 meals throughout the day.
-Weights 5 evenings a week.

I want to shoot for about 1/4" from my waist every week. I'll keep the measurements as seen on mybodycomp.com to track progress. If my progress slows, I'm left with a variety of options:
-Introduce caffeine (mainly in green tea). I haven't had caffeine for over half a year, so it will boost my metabolism a little.
-Substitute more fibrous carbs in for starches as I will begin eating a lot of oatmeal, whole wheat, etc...
-Add a brief (15-20 minute) moderate intensity cardio session right after lifting.


If anyone can think of anything else that I'm leaving out, help a guy out and let me know please! I'll definitely bring some pictures out eventually since I just recently got my camera working.

Time to get some sleep for my 5:30 cardio session tomorrow! :spaz:

Morning Cardio:
Running
30 minutes
800 calories*

1st Meal:
-Pure Protein Shake
-1 and 1/4 cup oatmeal
62 carb/35 protein

2nd Meal:
-Met Rx Meal Replacement Bar
35 carb/32 protein

Pre-Workout Meal:
-1 and 1/2 cup fat free cottage cheese
-2 cups fat free yogurt
-2 apples
80 carb/50 protein

Workout:
Chest/Shoulders
3 sets of 8-12 reps until failure with 1 and 1/3 minute rests.

Post-Workout Meal:
-Egg Whites
-3 apples
-1 banana
76 carb/50 protein

Meal 5:
-1 and 1/2 chicken breasts
-1 can spinach
-2 cups fresh spinach
16 carb/37 protein

*This is what the treadmill read, but as it doesn't even request weight, I'm guessing I burned closer to 600 calories.

Comments: All in all a good first day. I'm still a little puffy from being sick from being convinced to eat fried seafood, but it should soon go away. I'll see how much progress I get on just morning cardio, and up it as needed until I hit about 45 minutes. Weight sessions are going awesome, getting a lot of comments on my arms! Well, need to be off to bed, I'm shooting for 8 hours a night.

Missed cardio this morning! Thought I had classes starting at 11, so I let myself sleep in 'til 7, but it turned out I had an 8 o'clock class! Snagged a short one after my weight workout though.

1st Meal:
-1 cup oatmeal
-1 and 1/2 cups lowfat cottage cheese
61 carbs/36 protein

2nd Meal:
-1/2 cup oatmeal
-1 can tuna
23 carbs/25 protein

3rd Meal:
-Balance Bar
23 carbs/15 protein

Pre-Workout Meal:
-2 cups yogurt
-1 and 1/2 cup fat free cottage cheese
-2 apples
80 carbs/50 protein

Workout:
Legs/Biceps
3 sets of 8

Moderate intensity cardio on elliptical:
-20 minutes
-400 calories

Post-Workout Meal:
-3 apples
-1 banana
-Carton of egg whites
76 carbs/50 protein

6th Meal:
-2 cups spinach
-1 and 1/2 chicken breast
10 carbs/37 protein

Comments: Still feeling fresh and alive. Making sure the decreased calories don't push me to an overtrained state. Gonna hit it hard tomorrow!

I can't believe I'm still kickin'. It's been a good many months since I've done the early morning cardio, but I'm doing alright. I've really got to make sure I don't overtrain though, that was a big problem the last time. Hah, even more distressing news-all the guys who aren't juicin' up at the gym are taking handfuls of supplements, fat burners, and other such crap. Sigh...I'll just have to show them what results can come from eating right and meal timing.

Cardio:
Running at 140 to 150 bpm
-30 minutes
-800 calories*

Meal 1:
-1 cup oatmeal
-1 and 1/2 cup lowfat cottage cheese
61 carbs/ 36 protein

Meal 2:
-1/2 cup oatmeal
-1 can tuna
23 carb/ 25 protein

Meal 3:
-1/2 cup oatmeal
-1 can tuna
23 carbs/ 25 protein

Pre-workout Meal:
-2 cups yogurt
-1 and 1/2 cup fat free cottage cheese
-2 apples
81 carbs/ 50 protein

Workout:
Back/Triceps
3 sets of 8-12

Post-workout Meal:
-3 apples
-1 banana
-Carton of egg whites
76 carbs/50 protein

Meal 6:
-2 cups spinach
-1 can tuna
10 carbs/32 protein

Comments: I'm finally recovering from the most dirty, nasty, terrible cheat meal I took this past weekend. I enjoyed it considering I won't cheat again until November, but I lost a lot of definition from eating so much processed food and getting sick from the greasy stuff-gah! I'll never eat fried food again!

Wow, I was definitely starting to drag a little in the afternoon, but a quick drive through the JMU campus was good enough to perk me up again. It's incredible how many good looking women go to JMU, and how my little school is very lacking. I suppose if I ever overcome being so shy, I will have to see which school has got it goin' on in terms of intelligence and personality. Meh...oh well, on to today's log.

Meal 1:
-1 cup oatmeal
-1 and 1/2 cups lowfat cottage cheese

Meal 2:
-1/2 cup oatmeal
-1 can tuna

Meal 3:
-1/2 cup oatmeal
-1 can tuna

Pre-Workout Meal:
-2 cups fat free yogurt
-1 and 1/2 cup fat free cottage cheese
-2 apples

Workout:
Back/Triceps
3 sets of 8-12

Cardio:
-20 minutes
-400 calories

Post-Workout Meal:
-3 apples
-1 banana
-1 carton of egg whites

Meal 6:
-1 cup spinach mixed with various peppers/onions
-1 can tuna.

Comments: Well, seeing as how I eat the same thing every day pretty much, I'm just going to keep the layout simple. I can't wait 'til I'm lean and ready to bulk, I'll get to eat a lot more. The strange thing I've noticed is that I continue to get stronger, despite the fact that I'm losing fat. Perhaps I'm just one of the lucky ones who can pull off such a feat. Oh well, gotta try and grab at least 6 hrs. of shut eye.

Man, I'm getting behind. I was draggin on Friday, and I had to come in and do legs. Today's workout was the first time I've ever felt a slight tingle of nausea afterwards. I think it was because I started pretty soon after eating my pre- meal. Oh well.

Meal 1:
-1 cup oatmeal
-1 and 1/2 cup lowfat cottage cheese

Meal 2:
-1/2 cup oatmeal
-1 can tuna

Meal 3:
-1/2 cup oatmeal
-1 can tuna

Pre-workout meal:
-2 cups fat free yogurt
-1 and 1/2 cups fat free cottage cheese
-2 apples

Workout:
Legs/Biceps
3 sets of 8-12

Cardio: Elliptical
-10 minutes
-120 calories

Post-workout meal:
-3 apples
-1 banana
-1 carton egg whites

Meal 6:
-2 cups spinach with various peppers, onions
-1 can tuna

Comments: I was really dragging yesterday, but I met all of my lifting goals for the day, which is exciting. If I push myself to get at least one rep more in each time, there's no way I can't get stronger. I think later today I'll post just some anything posts for reflection's sake.

Well, I've got a few extra minutes today, so I'll fill this journal up with a bit more of me. I did figure out how to get pictures off of the camcorder, so I should be able to slap some up pretty quick. I hope I can get the scanner working so I can get my 'one year before' photo up...it's crazy. Other than that, I'm just gonna keep on cutting hard through the end of October, and hopefully put on a good amount of muscle. I was just reviewing my logs thus far, and I eat almost nothing but oatmeal and tuna! lol... I guess I have a slight advantage over some people because I'm indifferent to food, it's not a big 'enjoyable event' for me, I just eat what's convenient and what meets my ratios. Oh well, I'll eventually add more vegetables and remove oatmeal as my fat loss slows, which should make for a healthier diet overall, but until then I'll just keep taking my multi's. Alright, I'm out.

-Shafe

I really told myself I wasn't going to let loose again on this past Sunday...but I did. It didn't really hurt me too much, maybe a little water retention. I'm really, really getting tired of hearing all the crap from my family when I don't eat all of their junk when they have family get togethers. "What's the matter, don't want to ingest our trans-fat laden chips and cookies with us?" Haha, I'm noticing that all of my relatives are packing on the pounds, so there's probably a genetic issue with weight gain following aging, as it is with many people. Oh well, a splurge here means all the resolve against it the next time. I'm considering just going ahead and hitting the weights a sixth day, and just running/taking it easy on Sundays. First of all, on Saturdays, I'm still on this "high" from my Friday session, and I don't even think about bad food. Second, I'm not quite as puffy on Saturday, which has played a factor in Sunday cheats, because I get ground into the whole, "I'm not making any progress" rut and end up giving myself an excuse to go lax on my diet. Thirdly, exercise in the morning kills appetite for the rest of the day, plus it will help me to burn even more fat. Oh well, this week should go a lot better, even though the gym's closed for Labor Day. :mad:

-Shafe

I found a few photo albums with picture of me from a little over a year ago...It'll be good to keep them here to help me put emphasis on my workout plans.

-Shafe

Haha, I found some recent pics of me...however low quality they may be. I'm going to start posting some weekly pics on the media forum I believe, so it will have much better photos. These were from a party in at my friend's place around the third week of August, so not too long ago.

-Shafe

(To the only girl I'll ever tie up.)

WOW! That is unreal! :claplow:

How long did it take you to go from point A to point B?

Holy motherf**king Moley !!!!!!!!!!!!

Thats possibly the most amazing transformation ive ever seen. And no way are you 12% BF in those pics. More like 10%.

You should take a good "after pic" with a front flexed pose and post it next to that before photo with you stood on the right of a line of people. It would be the most inspiring post for ages. Title it 34% to 10% in a year or something to grab people attention. Everyone here should see this. :nod:

My hat goes off to you sir, for your dedication shines through ! Nice work. :cool:

Thats a awesome transformation, it definatly has given me some motivation for my workout tonight.

Keep up the good work! :claplow: :tucool:

Incredible, awesome, unbelievable transformation!! Bravo!!! :claphigh:

Unbelievable work!!! I would have no idea you were the guy in those before pictures. :D :claphigh:

Jesus H. Christ himself couldn't have done it better! Congratulations, that's awesome! You're a really good looking guy now. :claphigh:

Hah, thanks guys, I really needed some extra push to get through this week. I have felt like I've been lacking credibility on the forums, so I went ahead and posted to develop a little. The pic of me in the line with my family was taken closer to a year and a half ago, I believe around Christmas. The other pics were from Late May/Early June of last year. I was about 260-265 lbs in those pics...but I was 280 coming into the previous winter months, but sadly I wasn't able to find any pictures from that period. I can't really say what motivated me...I just went psycho one day...but from the start I decided to keep it all-natural to prove that it could be done without taking fat burners and the like. I'm helping out a lot of guys at my gym, so I don't mind answering questions from you all either. Besides, you all have offered an overwhelming amount of support and info. for me already.

-Shafe

lol studly shafe, honestly i thought you icon pic was a pic of brad pitt from the thelma and lousie movie. Then when i scrolled down and saw your before and after pics i couldnt believe it, it wasnt brad it was you. All i can say is incredible job, so amazing.

I already posted in your other thread, but these pictures are even better! You're an inspiration! Keep it up! :claplow: :gl:

Holy cow... how'd I miss this post? Insane transformation. Congratulations. Oh, to be 19 again and know then what I know now...

-R

This is definitely impressive. It's guys like you who've made me realize weight loss is not just about industry hype.

WOW! That is one amazing transformation!

OMG, I am about your size three weeks into my new way of life and I will be IMing you very soon. ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC JOB!

:tu: :tu: :tu: :tu: :tu: :tu: :tu:

PUG

Wow ... just wow.

*speechless* except for :drool:

Shwew. It's been a really tough week, but I'm ready to get back on track. Thanks for all the words of encouragement guys, it's a more powerful fuel than any supplement can provide, that's for sure! I've been busy getting in touch with various people on the forum and getting to know a few guys. I've chatted a few times with Pug. He's tearing it up at 2 pounds a week! That guy is going to be a beast! For anyone who wants to talk about fitness, diet, or anything else, my sn is shafe14 and it's cool to IM me anytime. Well, I'm going to get back with keeping this thing regular again, and probably adding a few more dimensions to it to make it more useful to people trying to put their own programs together. Be back with it tomorrow!

-Shafe

Well, I began my cardio-intense 6 week program today. I cranked out 45 minutes on the treadmill this morning, and I'm feeling pretty good. I think I'm going to record my progress doing lower intensity, prolonged cardio for 6 weeks, then try doing HIIT for 6 weeks, and see if I notice any significant difference. I made an accountability agreement with Mike (this huge guy that works at my gym-he can bench 500!!!) so that for each morning I miss, I owe him a larger portion of a nice breakfast in town. That guy looks like he can really eat...so I don't think I'll be missing much cardio this time around. Time to get back to class.

-Shafe

Okay...ate the usual plan and got back with the weights today. I've started this week at 3 sets of 8-12 reps to failure with 1 and 1/2 minute rest periods. I'll work my way up until the 6th week, when I'll be doing 5 sets of 4-7 reps to failure with thirty second rest periods. I've still got a little water retention I'd like to hustle out, and get back to cutting so I can be where I want to be by October.

-Shafe

Lifting went pretty well today. Didn't take any ginseng, so I made it through with a decent amount of energy. I'm starting to see definition creep back in. I weighed myself...over 8lbs of water weight from this weekend! :o Oh well, I'll be back to an awesome status by tomorrow or Thursday. I'm getting pretty fired up about finally getting this last bit of fat off of me. I've noticed that I always get close to the lowest bf% I've ever had, then I back off. This simply means I need to set my goals lower, so I'm not so close and tempted to ease up. Oh well, off to bed...morning cardio tomorrow.

-Shafe

Shafe, 8:23 and yur going to bed? Please tell me how you do it. I average 5 hours a sleep a night and feel great (have been getting up early since I had my first job: paper-route for 9 years). If I go to bed that early I wake up at like 3 AM rearing to get going for the day. LOL

Whats yur secret man, share the wealth! :nod:

BTW, thanks for the nice post in my journal... keep up the great work, yur an inspiration to all... me especially!

Pug

I need to decide what I'm going to do. I'm so eager to start bulking, but I really want to cut down more than anything right now. I'm still sort of hovering at 10%, and I had made the decision the other week to start doing morning cardio again. Sadly I haven't done it to the effect I had in mind. It's been sort of half-hearted I guess. The same goes with training. Perhaps this is my first mental plateau, and I believe I just need to stop for a second, and get a clear mental picture of where I want to go. 8's just a number, and I don't have a clear idea of what that's going to look like, so perhaps I'll just formulate what I want my body to look like, and get back on track. I'm one of those people who tends to get down on myself due to lack of quick results at times, so maybe that's what I'm experiencing. Or maybe I just need to be accountable to someone until I learn to be accountable to myself, which is the only answer in the long run. We'll see...

Oh, and Pug, I go to bed early so I can try and get about 8 hours of sleep. I aim for at least 6, because I've read that sleep has a lot to do with muscle recovery and fat loss. It also means I don't have a lot of late night partying...which is probably a good thing considering the average college student's nightly liquid diet.

-Shafe

Have you taken anytime off from training ? If not maybe it's time to take a week off and then hit hard again ??

I saw a good friend of mine this evening. She's changed...but then again so have I. Her name is Rachel, and I used to date her, and though I never mentioned her before, she's part of the reason I lost so much weight. We dated for a while back when I was about 215, and she was cool, then she sort of played me in a bad way. Or so that's what I'm left to assume because she still hasn't explained what went on. So I left her, and ended up getting back with her again later on, after I had dropped sub-200. Those were...and still are some of the best months of my life. I'm not sure how many of you guys have found someone that you can just talk to about anything, someone you instantly connect with and can just go out and have fun with. I would come close to saying a soul mate, ya know?

Guys, I don't care what some of you say. Screw the sex, making out, kinky crap...there's nothing like cuddling for hours with someone who's that close to you. Nothing. (lol, don't get me wrong, the aforementioned items are good too ;) ...just not quite to the same degree.)

So...the initial weight loss was a result of being angry because I thought it was me that was the problem during our first deal. My continued weight loss was because I wanted to be the hot stud that showed up after school to whisk her away from all of her high school/family troubles. I also later got a pair of cruise tickets I was going to surprise her with, and wanted to be cut up for that (7 nights in the Caribbean! :eek: ). But unfortunately things fell apart, for fake reasons, at least in her mind...

I told her I'd take her to her Prom, and that was cool with me, but we had been having a few spats here and there, and on top of that, the week was just hellish. (Which happened as a result of me following a dating tips newsletter-which guys, is for dating, NOT relationships, lol). When I did pick her up for the dance, she was in a bad mood, and stayed that way. Later on she kept trying to hold my hand, but I couldn't let her...why had she acted so pissed before we got there and then all the sudden so friendly now that we were there? It didn't make sense, but I could see that it wasn't heading in a good direction. So then one of her friends informs me that she's going to get rid of me after the dance...so I figure it's best to get things over with, and I take her outside, and we start the talk that ends in her saying, "We need a break." lol...how many times do we hear that one guys? Well, one of the last times I talked to her she said that was never her intention and whatever...I doubt she'll ever just straight out tell me. Actually, I would love that! I would love to chill with her for a few hours and just say straight out, no bs, how things were with us then, to see if we screwed up over nothing. But anyway...

I just decided then that I liked too much...I guess more than any girl I have dated or am dating now. So I made up my mind to be an asshole at every chance I had in order to make sure she couldn't pursue me nor I, her, ever again.

Then I started dating...gah, it's a tough road. Trying to find somebody you connect with by simply going out and seeing is a drawn out process. I guess I was spoiled by the fact that it happened so easy the first time, but it's been rough these past couple of months. I believe Rachel has this idea that I just go out and use all of these women. She calls them my "tribe." lol...love that girl's humor even if she's being a bitch about it. But I guess tribe is a good label considering how much those dern women attack me! Women are lusty beasts! :tucool:

And that all leads me here, sitting at this computer, wondering what I could've done different to not have to go through all this work to find somebody else. I mean, it's cool being able to go out and have a good time with a girl, but it's not on the same level as what I had. I'm not saying necessarily that I would want Rachel back either. I personally don't think she could handle it. She knows about the cowboy pictures (a side of me she never convinced me to show her) but she doesn't know about all of the massage skills, cooking finesse and crazy things I do now...which is probably a good thing. I don't think she's on the maturity level where she wants to go back to at least a semi-serious relationship either. Bleh, I dunno. I guess I'll just go on letting her believe I'm some self-absorbed jack-ass, and hope that she doesn't convince me to be more than just friends. She and I both know that we're so right for each other...but maybe it's pride...or maybe it's ignorance that keeps us apart.

Hahaha, okay, the previous post was just me venting. Time to get back to life!!! lol...that was slightly metron-esque. Okay, I'm puffing up this weekend, just taking it easy (as suggested by CASD). I'm going to try a different approach to my training for the next couple of weeks, keep pictures and the like, then post another thread with the results to compare them with my first thread in the media gallery. So hopefully that will help some people out as well. I've also been thinking about starting up my own website...nothing to compete with John's! lol. But just to provide all the information I'd like to get out so that I can save some people some time who have been contacting me on messenger and through mail. Alright, back later tonight or tomorrow!

-Shafe

Alright, I've decided to give it about 12 weeks hardcore. I was visiting www.bodychangers.com and saw a good many people who had slashed their bf levels in just 12, so I guess I decided I could do that too. Got off to a good start this morning with about 35 minutes of cardio, though I'm going to move that up to 45. The owner of the gym said she'd be looking to hire me soon too, which is good because I definitely need the money. Time to head to class, then a little lifting!

-Shafe

Hooah! Workout went good for a change today. Popped two ginseng tablets and an aspirin beforehand just to see if I would notice a difference...I did...a mild case of heartburn. Didn't seem to do much more than that though. I know caffeine drives me nuts...so I'll save that for later when fat burning gets tough. I've got my heart set on getting to a pretty low body fat % this time, and so I'll cross my fingers and hope the 12 weeks goes smoothly. Time to down some cottage cheese and get to bed. Nice 4:30 wakeup for cardio tomorrow!

-Shafe

Nailed my cardio this morning. Finally got it in like I wanted...a good 50 minutes keeping my heart rate at 160-170...which might be out of "the ideal range" so maybe I should check up on that. The treadmill gave me a readout of 1200 calories burned, so I figure my actual amount was probably 800, which is still not too bad. I was starting to hurt towards the end and then I just thought about what I used to do...as hard as I could handle for two 40 minute sessions, which ended up being about 12 miles a day. Pff, I'm glad I'm not quite that psycho anymore! Anyway, pumped up for my weight session this afternoon. Time to get on to class.

-Shafe

Hell yeah!!! I just scored my dream job! I finished my cardio, and then guess what I did? HIIT! High Intensity Interval Taxforms baby, because now I'm an employee of my gym. This is awesome. I get to work out/tan/use the powerwave massage bed for free, while my duties include keeping the place clean and making tanning appointments. Haha, finally some good times. On top of all of that, I had an AWESOME, kick-arse, killer workout yesterday. I took the ginseng and aspirin on an empty stomach and waited for about 30 minutes before I ate my pre-workout meal, and man oh man did I get a kick going into my workout. Then, when I was in the gym, one of these huge guys came over and said, "You gotta get intense man. You gotta lift like you're a mofo'n warrior chief!" I don't know why (because when he said "warrior chief" I thought, "Oh yeah, me and the squaws baby!" Rather than picturing some beastly dude) but it got me pumped up. My back and tri's are still tingling from yesterday's workout.

I also met my cabinet for this Democrat club (I'm not a Democrat or a Republican) that I'm starting at school. They are three girls...three insane girls...and they're taking me out for what they call, "Thirsty Thursday" tonight. LOL.

Life's good. I'm psyched. :spaz:

-Shafe

Got to lift while working yesterday...an interesting experience. Considering I've just started my cycle over again this week, I was having long rest periods anyway, so I took care of tanning customers between sets. I think I'm going to love that job. Anyway, I'm trying something new...adding about 200-300 more calories to my post workout meals (spread out, not to each!!!). I've been doing it since Monday and I've noticed increased strength/better recovery than usual. I think I'll do fine as long as I keep up with my morning cardio. Awesome. Well, I'm out. Have a good one.

-Shafe

Sigh...I ate like crap today. Well, the food wasn't too bad for me, but I just ate so much of it. I guess these past two weeks I've been bulking, as I've lacked the emphasis on controlling my calories and leaning out. But I want to get back on track with that. So I'm going to do a late night session tonight and do a long session of cardio here in just a bit to try and make up for all the calories I've consumed. Oh well, it'll be good going into tomorrow. I just need to take measurements and start going in the forwards direction again.

On another note. I've met some fiery ladies who want to hang out for a while tonight, tomorrow...whenever they can. They're asking for my phone number...but I won't give it to them. This is an interesting experience...I'll have to see how it turns out, though I doubt I've been working out long enough to handle all three of 'em at once. lol. Have a good rest of the weekend.

-Shafe