Before I get into a bunch of stuff, just made these comparison shots. These are the some of the first pics I EVER sent Stu when we started working together, October 4th and October 11th, 2015, so almost exactly a year and a half ago. Crazy what can be accomplished in a year and a half of consistent, hard work, without drugs.
Today was a good day, the LAST leg day of the prep. Didn’t do squats so I did some more sets of leg extensions and leg press than usual, followed by lying leg curls, hamtractor, RDL and some calves. Regarding all training this week, I’m really just focusing on getting a few hard sets in for each muscle group, dialing back on volume just a bit and definitely not going to fail. Negatives aren’t as slow as usual either, mostly focusing on solid MMC and lifting heavy. At this stage I’m not trying to build any new muscle and DEFINITELY not trying to incur any muscle damage. Relaxed, full muscles will look much better on stage than depleted, damaged muscles. As I’m already on low cals with tons of cardio, the goal is just to make sure I lift heavy so my LBM doesn’t go anywhere, and not beat myself up too much.
Folks, there’s good news, I am slowly leaving Mordor! Yesterday was the third day in a row I experienced some low blood sugar symptoms, so I’m taking this as my body telling me, “look bro, it’s getting dangerous.” I’ve also experienced some really odd and new symptoms, like extreme cold, more lightheadedness/dizziness, etc. I think the 1500 calorie days with 2 hours of LISS were exactly what I needed at the time to force my body to drop the last bit of stubborn fat, and get to the point where I’m starting to look hard/dry all the time. But, nothing works forever, and I reached the bottom.
SO, we’re now adding carbs and calories back into my LLLM rotation, and I’m already seeing the benefits. Granted we would have done this anyway because I seemed to be approaching dangerous territory. BUT, if you’re really stage ready early, and have been dieting for a long time as I have (almost 7 months!), and have been low carbs (check!) adding cals in the form of carbs, little bit little will start speeding the metabolism back up and increase fat loss even further to get the very last bit of fat off, coming in fuller/tighter/harder/dryer. Today was the first day we did that. Went from 1500 cals to 1700 cals, 75g carbs to 115g carbs, and I’m already feeling the effects. There’s a difference between prep suffering and low-blood-sugar fogginess, and I’m out of the fog. I feel more alert and “with it” than I have in a long time. My hunger is also coming back, after the metabolism starts tanking hunger actually kind of goes away. I’m pretty starving right now and haven’t felt this way since before the first show. I’m already looking tighter, with veins through my entire mid section and new lines coming in my chest and shoulders.
Didn’t make huge adjustments. I added an apple to my first big-ass salad of the day, which was deeeelicious. Today’s was the usual bag of butter lettuce, with 5oz turkey breast, a cut up apple, and Walden Farms 0 cal honey dijon dressing with some added salt and pepper and garlic powder. SO GOOD. Usual pre workout meal, then I had 2 pieces of Ezekiel bread with dinner, and my last meal of the night is now cold-soaked oats with protein and almond butter, instead of just P+F. CARBS BEFORE BED YOU SAY?! WON’T THAT MAKE YOU FAT?! No, no it won’t, that some broscience BS right there. Caloric surpluses make you fat. I chose cold soaked protein oats with almond butter because:
-Cold soaking increases resistant starch, making them more fibrous, slow digesting and metabolism boosting
-Added fat and protein slows digestion more, keeping blood sugars stable throughout the night
-It’s freaking delicious.
Tomorrow is a medium day, now 2050 cals and 225g carbs. I added a small amount of fats to the day rather than all carbs and protein to keep blood sugars a little more stable, and chose some smarter carb choices. Here’s the menu for tomorrow, (which may change depending on my mood but here’s what I have so far)
MEAL 1 - egg whites, with cold soaked oats, topped with this new bangin’ granola I CAN’T WAIT TO TRY. Granola will provide some mental pleasure, amazing taste and also a little fat. It smells incredible and has taken all the will power I have left not to try any yet, but my wife says it’s amazing.
MEAL 2 - Big Ass turkey salad with sourdough pretzels as croutons.
MEAL 3 - Usual pre-workout meal of cream of rice, protein and almond butter
MEAL 4 - Same as usual. chicken, veggies smothered in hot sauce and 2 pieces Ezekiel bread
MEAL 5 - Big bowl of chocolate sprouted rice cereal with protein milk
MEAL 6 - Cold soaked protein oats with more granola
So, steering clear of angel food cake, bagels, and other things that could have a negative affect on my blood sugar as that’s something I’m really keeping an eye on now. Assuming things go well with the granola, I’m going to use an assortment of granola’s and cereal for my carb up day before the show. I haven’t had oats in a while, they used to bloat me, I’m hoping the cold-soaking will work well as I’ve always had them hot.
I feel ready to rock the stage with every body part, except my quads. They’ve definitely deepened and are way more defined than they were for my first show, they just don’t have the hard/dry look I’ve been seeing everywhere else lately. So, I’m thinking since the rest of me is very tight, it’s an inflammation issue that will slowly get better now that I’m not training legs twice a week and have cut out all cardio except my 60min in the morning on the elliptical. I’m already seeing some feathering, with the inflammation, and my quads hold a lot of it. So, hoping a tan and carb up and recovery, and increasing carbs to boost metabolism, will all come together. It’s gonna be what it’s gonna be, I feel very confident and can’t wait for the show.
MAN I AM STARVING. Metabolism is most definitely coming back.
Speaking of which, time for some proats which I will do my best to eat slowly ::reaches for the baby spoon::. 12 days to go!
