8 weeks to get as cut as possible.

[DanielBishop]

This is more for my own benefit than anyone else who may happen to be reading it.

I'm 3 weeks into my cutting phase, and it hasn't gone as well as I would've liked thus far. I've eaten pretty clean but because of one reason or another I haven't done that much cardio yet.

And today has been my unscheduled cheat day (not that I have an official scheduled one).... I didn't eat anything too bad, just some yogurt, 4 slices of wholemeal toast and some lasagne (okay, the lasange is bad)....

.... but that's enough to get me motivated and back on track. Tomorrow, I refresh myself and have a new beginning on my routine, with just over 8 weeks until my target date.

I don't have a target weight as I don't believe in scales, but I would like to get below 9% bodyfat.... not that I believe in bodyfat percentages anyway, but.... whatever.

So tomorrow morning.... HIIT training, early AM. Followed by my back/biceps workout in the afternoon, and maybe some endurance cardio after the workout if I feel like it.

As for food.... it's unpredictable. So I'll just try to eat as clean as I can BY MY OWN STANDARDS and possibly give myself another cheat meal in 3 weeks time.

4 weeks out, I will start taking an ECA stack.... and probably buy some "Cutting Gel" which someone recommended. I can't afford it until then.

Okay.... so this is it. This is the last day of slacking off and being weak-minded....

.... strong and focussed from this day.

 

[DanielBishop]

Okay, here are two photos taken just now.... my stomach is flexed, but not sucked in.

 

[DanielBishop]

Side view.

 

[DanielBishop]

Okay, false start.

Due to sleeping problems beyond my control, it didn't start this morning....

.... but I'll try again tonight to actually sleep, so I can be awake tomorrow and get things under control.

And the imaginary contest date is now brought forward to November 26th.... this gives me exactly 45 days to reach my goal. Not much time.... so I gotta be extra strict.

I'll probably get on that ECA stack a little earlier too. When I get my next paycheck.

 

[DanielBishop]

Did HIIT training this morning.... second time, and it was pretty brutal but I guess I can get used to it. I'm still finding an appropriate routine for my level of fitness....

Today I did 2 warm-up laps at moderate pace, then half a sprinting lap, half a moderate lap, half a sprinting lap, half a moderate lap and half a sprinting lap. I was actually too exhausted to do my cool down laps, so I had to just stop.... but walking home from the track is probably an okay cool down.

I can improve on this, I'm sure but I want to ease my way into it. Someone told me a regular athletic track is 400m.... if so, I did 1.2km moderate paced running today, and 0.6km high intensity.

I wasn't running for too long, but that's really intense for me.... if I want to increase exercise duration, I'd have to reduce the intensity somewhat. I'll experiment for another week to see what happens.

Diet has been good today. My only carbs were a bowl of oatmeal in the morning, and one slice of wholegrain bread around lunch. I think that's probably adequate.

I'll take my measurements again on the weekend to see what sort of progress I've made at the 4 week period.

Off to the gym to do back/biceps and some cardio soon.... haven't been to the gym for way too long. Need to get some rhythm again.

All I need is probably a week or so of momentum, and I should be able to carry through for the full time.

 

[DanielBishop]

Dieting is going okay since I last posted, although I'm finding it hard to get enough protein.... I'm reluctant to drink skim milk now that my "contest date" has been brought closer.... I have to diet pretty strict and train pretty hard.

Cardio this morning was nice. Did an extra sprinting lap.... I think I can probably build up progressively like that. Although towards the end my "intense" lap probably looked like sloppy jogging and my "moderate" lap like crazy walking.... but, I guess it means I'm doing what I'm meant to be doing.

Replaced fruit/juice with honey as my post-workout meal. I hope it's not detrimental to dieting.... still have to find out about that.

Workout yesterday (shoulders and abs) was fine, and 20 minutes cardio that seemed like an hour.... dunno why. Chest and tris today, and I'm ready to start over.

So in the first 4 weeks, I've lost exactly 11lbs and 33mm from my waist.... which is okay, but I seem to have also lost 10mm from my biceps, which isn't good.... I know I don't keep much fat on my biceps, so that means I'm probably losing a fair bit of muscle. I'll try to up the protein, but that's not really in my control. We'll see what happens.

Considering I ate pizza 3 nights out of my first week of dieting, and then I think another 2 times in the following weeks.... plus one or more cheat days.... that's not bad. Wasn't off to the best start, but I'm beginning to gain some momentum now.

 

[DanielBishop]

Okay, well yesterday was fine.... cardio in the morning (30 minutes of 70%) and then workout in the late afternoon. No problems there.

Diet is okay, haven't had too much of an urge to cheat.... the only thing is milk. I had quite a bit of skim milk yesterday, and some today. I try to keep it earlier in the day, anyway.

I think I'll cut out the milk in the last 4 weeks, at the same time that I'll start using Thermadrene/Ripped Fuel.... or whatever I decide to take. I know 4 weeks isn't all that long, but I don't have much choice....

I'll hopefully go do some HIIT training tomorrow morning, and workout biceps and back tomorrow afternoon.

Protein intake is probably still below par, but there's not much I can about that at the moment. Things going okay.

 

[DanielBishop]

Finding it hard to get up in the morning to do cardio, but in the mornings I don't do that, I make sure to do it after my workout.... only thing being, when I'm at the gym I do endurance cardio for about 30 minutes instead of HIIT training.

Either way, it's going okay and I've lost 15lbs so far.... I'm about 5 weeks into it, got 5 to go.

Dieting is going okay in terms of not eating the bad stuff, but the problem is actually eating the good stuff. Today was a hectic day, and I would be lucky to have gotten 1/3 of my protein requirement. I start working again on Monday, so hopefully I can get some routine and normalcy back into things.

All things considered, I'm reasonably happy so far. When I buy the supplements next weekend, I should be able to lose fat a bit faster.

 

[DanielBishop]

I've been dieting for 5 weeks, and now I'm down to 195/6.... from 205lbs, so that's okay.

I will hopefully increase the cardio from now on, and I think I've got enough momentum in my diet to continue without cheating. I didn't cheat this week, or last week.... I don't think so, anyway.

Today I will buy protein powder, as I haven't been getting enough protein.... with a little luck, that will stop some muscle wastage. I'll also be getting some Thermadrene for energy.... something I could use first thing in the morning when cardio is the last thing I wanna do.

I can see progress. I'm reasonably happy with it, but I have exactly 5 weeks until my imaginary contest date. In the last 4 weeks, I'll cut the skim milk and ham.... so lower the sugar intake (lactose) and also try to cut out as much sodium as possible so I can shed some water.

Things not going too badly.... since the first measurement I took, I've lost 53mm from my waist, and I seem to be staying consistent with having lost 10mm from my arms. That worried me a little bit, but I'm hoping that 10mm was fat.... losing what little muscle I have, isn't appealing.