ok-530am Saturday July 4th morning~ feeling very stiff (body still sore from the move) Having a set date is a HUGE motivator for me-in fact I will say the biggest. In years past Ive tried to use *going to the beach* going on vacation*weddings*meeting old longtime ago friends* etc as reason to “stay on the program”- But nothing and I mean NOTHING keeps me on course with my diet and exercise like preparing for a physique show. To be honest, if it werent for the upcoming show, I would be in my warm bed and sleeping like everyone else.

First thing I observe is I dropped from 189lbs. to 186.5 pm to am. I am dieting at about 75% off a 100% Bbding diet. Up until today, im still eating pretzels, diet soda, as much fruit as I want, nuts, whole grain bread.etc. healthy per se' but as soon as I follow my get ripped nutrional guidelines, fat will fall off.

Right now im about even carbs to even protein-2-250 carbs daily to 200 protein. starting today, I will decrease carbs by 50 grams (150 area) and bump up my protein to 250) I will see much fat loss wth this ratio change) At my leanest and holding NO water from PM to am-I will drop 5 pounds of water from the time I go to sleep and wake up in the am. With my carbs at 2-250grams, I dropped only 2ish.  SO yes, carbs hold onto water for me (as well as the excess sodium from processed foods)

I am drinking coffee and took a thermogenic (aka fat burner)-let me be clear, there are no “fat burner pills”-more like central nervous stimulants that “rev” me up for my upcoming cardio. Dont be mislead in thinking that there are some miracle pills out there you ingest and it zaps fat-lol-I wish! The only pill I know of that works is my “WILL-PILL”….all natural and endless supply! Pure grade stuff too!

After I get done writing this thread, I will do 30-40 minutes of cardio at about 120-130 BPM with BW (bodyweight) exercise sprinkled in between. ex-powerwalk for 5 minutes, hop off treadmill and do 50-75-sometimes a 100 pushups, then hop right back onto treadmill for another 5 minutes repeat process) ive on many occasions completed 6-7-800 pushups in an hour. it can be sit ups, pullups, dips, lunges etc. I REALLY BELEIVE that doing BW exercises between the cardio breaks up the boredom as well as takes your physique to another level of fitness. I have never in my life been able to do more pushups-situps-plullups as I can right now!

**drink as much water as you can during your cardio session

**have mirrors around so when you workout-you can see and focus on lagging areas (we tend to look the other way at things we dont like about our bodies-ourselves)

**alternate cardio activity-treadmill one day-jump rope the next-powerwalk outside next day-stepper another day etc.

** measure and document your progress-how far did you walk in that 40 minute session or how many pushups did you get in. Strive to set daily-weekly and monthly goals-this is huge-if your getting stronger-THINGS ARE HAPPENING!!!!

** start a journal-heck start one here with  me-I  will help by looking at it if you like!

OK-enough talk-time to go “Be about what I talk about!!”

Had a great Monday in terms of diet and training! Im positive I am at least 1 percent leaner this am~ Im sure water loss plays a big part,, but I can see and feel a big difference from Sunday night no question!

I will eat clean and within my macro breakdown till the weekend (maybe before) and then I will allow myself a high calorie refeed (one meal whatever I want)

I got to tell you, NOTHING Motivates me more than seeing results!!! ISnt that the point? Biggest problem I see is that people go at it 80 percent and see nothing for weeks, or you can go 100 percent and see weekly results-guaranteed!!!

Sometime in the am, I am not humgry before exercise so I will cardio on empty stomach. Then there are times I am feeling hungry. On those days I will have a small carb/protein snack before I work out.

Here are some morning pics! Im gonna guesstimate myself at 65%of where I see myself competing! I need to get really lean!!

hmm..sorry pics didnt come up-ill figure it out! Saturday am early! absolutely no problem to get up ay any time I desire to cardio -3 am 4 am it doesnt matter.

My body and more importantly my mind has become a machine. First, your body will fight you on wanting to exercise and just MOVE! This is where you have you have to ”will” yourself to just do it! Once this becomes routine, your body and mind will crave exercise and eating right-talk about “enjoying the journey”-this experience alone is worth the effort to get started!

Eating very clean-not 100percent bbding diet yet. Meaning I still use ketchup-much fruit-salty seasonings-diet soda here and there (these things will ultimately get eliminated) but my goal isd to get really lean with these items in place.** I want to create a lifestlye where I can eat these things and still look like I can get onstage the next day!

Interesting observation-Im not so reliant on the gym for my precontest workouts anymore. My ritual at the house and doing”active things” around the house (garden work-house work-playing with kids etc) I now incorporate into a regimen more than say a strict gym schedule as in days past-interesting-because, well as a parent/husband these things are more important to me in my life!! funny-this growing up thing-lol!

Hvae a great Saturday everyone-

** post up any  questions if you have-

JOHN