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DAY 6

So far I still haven't got myself to the gym, tomorrow night i will be 100% as i have renewed my membership, so I'm kind of looking forward to getting back into it now I'm down a bit of weight. This first week has been a little relaxed with my main focus on controlling my hunger, eating times and portion sizes which I have succeeded well with, the chicken and rice meals help suppress hunger and they make me full but they are sooo boring without a sauce or something, so for now I'm adding whatever I want as long as i don't exceed 500 calories per meal, every 3 hours. I have had some good success this week I'm down to 244 lbs, a total loss of 6lbs, considering that's only through diet I'm happy enough, but i know I can do more once I get back to the gym.

Day 6 - 244lbs

Mentally I feel a little better, I don't have that feeling of sloppiness or insecurity when i wear shirts and i can feel my body pushing out of it or feeling too tight, they're hanging off a little with a more relaxed fit so that's a big confidence boost, having to always move up a notch to the next belt hole also made me smile. The plan for the next week is to see 235 or anywhere below it, I want rid
of the 240's for good, and now my diet has adapted the gym and fitting in workouts is the next big thing to get nailed. I have family coming down on the 1st July, 22 days so by that time i want to find a nice fitted shirt and jeans to go out with, just like some women picture their perfect bikini body I'm picturing the fit of that shirt which by that time i want to be dipping below the 220 mark or be below 100kgs (222lbs) at least.

Still working full time hours 6 days a week, takes it out of you and the stress that comes with it almost all the time makes you want to reach for a takeaway and beers and just think fuck it tomorrows a new day, but I'm over that craving and the thought of buying a takeaway is starting to disgust me a little. I still have been drinking alcohol but nowhere near as much! I can see my skin is looking better and less discoloured around certain areas due to the quantity of water I'm drinking also.


CURRENT WEIGHT: 244.2lbs                 -5.8lbs

DAY 1

Last night i had a hell of a work shift! I usually work days in a 24 hour store in the city centre but just to shake things up i was on a 9pm-7am shift, so unfortunately today most of my time has been spent sleeping. About to put in some rice and chicken to get me through the night, one thing that sucks about been fat is chaffing so bad, it is so embarrassing i never used to have this problem at all, but the inside of my thighs feel like barbed wire. The gym is a no go tonight as ill only make it worse and i have work tomorrow also, so just gonna eat clean for tonight and see the numbers drop a little tomorrow. Irregular shift patterns are always a big factor in people's weight loss so I've seen from countless documentaries and actually heard from people saying, they get stuck in a rut, finish work, eat junk and drink which i am guilty of having been stuck in for the past year.

Full moon on the
night shift!

Rice rice Baby!

Could not make it through the day
without a few of these
bad boys still

CURRENT WEIGHT: 249.6 lbs                   -0.4lbs

MY CUTTING DIET (Day 0)

So you've probably heard you phrase you cant out-train a bad diet, and it couldnt be more right. I'd give it a strong 80% diet, 20% Working out split as when you workout thats only a few hours max of your day, the rest of them hours all depends on your nutrition and willpower, if you want some more information on macronutrients flick back to the posts on them below.



So my basic diet will consist of 4 meals, a complex carb, protein source per serving, plenty of water and vitamin supplements, for the time being i wont be taking any workout supplemets or protein shakes as i am squeezing around 140g of protein into the diet as it is which is exactly what my intake was during my first cut and i was happy enough with the results. I will be consuming on average 2000-2200 calories per day, around 1300 calories from plain rice, 450 calories from protein sources (chicken/turkey etc) and an additional 250-450 calories from full fat milk.........Dont panic, I know theres a lot of skeptics out there saying these ratios are all wrong, there are too many carbs, too many fats, But dont just go off what you read, this diet would be unhealthy if i was consuming more than my BMR + exercise output, but this is way below with additional low level cardio included also, fats and carbs are essential for every single metabolic and function in your body. These numbers will adjust slghtly and protein intake will take over the rice as i approach my goal weight of 195lbs as well as increased workout intensity.

My workout routine for the time being will be very little, i wont have the energy to bench 100kg for sets on end but i will be doing resistance training to maintain muscle mass and low level cardio for 30 mins per day, this worked for me like a treat the first time round even though everyone said i was wrong and i would never lose the weight, so you need to just find out what works for you. I'll also be working a full time job soemtimes with irrregular hours, so this will be a huge test of my mental strength especially with a takeaway next door! Day 0 begins now, im more intrigued to see how my mental health changes with this cut, so i will be emphasising a lot on how im thinking and feeling also with posts.

SUMMER 2015

Hey guys, it's been a while since ive used this blog as i have been extremely busy and distracted with that annoying thing we call life. If theres any fellow Students out there at university big shout out to you i know you feel my pain too, ive treated the past few months as a BIIIG bulking period, my current stats are 250lbs and approximately 20% BF. Now Summer in the UK is coming at me faster than a bullet, so for now im making my short term goal for september when all the students return to the city and i begin my final year of study. Sometimes life throwas all sorts of curveballs at us that disrupts routines, mindsets and physically causes you to slump and go down a downard spiral and thats exactly what happened to me.

Alcohol..........Alcohol..........Alcohol! I really do drink way too much, and the saying goes something like it is just happiness borrowed from the next day which i totally agree with! I feel horrible, im a lot more moody, down, depressed, less energetic and just not motivated to be social or even go out of my room, i used to make excuses to leave the house just because i felt great, you really do become your worst enemy when weight gain and lifestyle changes occur. So for anyone who is new to reading my blog i had some success with my physical appearance and mindset but soon was thrown off it, if you need a good read please check out my previous posts below even i was learing as i was typing them up it was great! 

So there's my excuses. out and open i know i need to change it up and this was my biggest motivation to smash it, so thank you again for reading this and all i can say is here we go!

CARDIO

HIGH INTENSITY INTERVAL TRAINING VS ENDURANCE

When it comes to cardio you can go down one of two paths, that is moderate pace but for long periods of time (Endurance), or High intensity for short periods of time repeated in repetitions (High Intensity Training).

Now picture a marathon runner, they are very lean, not a huge amount of visible muscle but can run for hours and hours at a time, so what type of cardio do they do? Endurance. When you do long periods of cardio your body has little energy left over to contribute to muscle growth and repair and so muscle is sacrificed. Therefore we can say this type of cardio is catabolic (results in the breakdown of muscle). This also is key in endurance runners as muscles require oxygen, so the less muscle you have the less fatigued more quickly you become.

However when you look at professional sprinters, they have huge quantities of muscle mass, specially designed for anaerobic respiration over sprints of no longer than 20 seconds. When you have this scenario the cardio exercise does not last long enough to break into your muscle to break it down for energy and so muscle mass can be maintained. This is classed as anabolic (Building of muscle); it has also been proven that this type of cardio increases your testosterone production in the bod which in turn can cause maximal muscle growth throughout the body.

So if your overall goal is to lean down and build your body for marathons then set your pace right and hit the machine for as long as you can go. However if you're looking for that bulky, defined look and still need to incorporate cardio into your workouts then try high intensity interval training, for example go on a treadmill, jog at a comfortable pace for a minute and then sprint all out for 15-20 seconds. Repeat this 15-20 times and this will maximise testosterone production to help build muscle

CUTTING

WHAT IS CUTTING?

Me at 190lbs 10% BF

Cutting is a term used by bodybuilders that basically means they do not want to build any more muscle but instead want to get lean, loses body fat and looks ripped to shreds. The process of cutting simply involves increased amount of cardio, high weight and low rep range with resistance training and reduced calorie intake through food.

TYPICAL CUTTING NUTRITION

The typical cutting diet consists of complex carbohydrates, low intakes of fats and regular intake of protein. Depending on your basic metabolic rate (the number of calories your body uses in all metabolic reactions) you should aim to eat 500-700 calories less than that per day, this can result in a 1lb loss of fat per week without any cardio. However if you do cardio exercise as well you can burn sufficiently more. 1lb of pure fat is equivalent to 3500 calories of energy, so by burning 500 calories on the treadmill every day you could burn another 1lb of fat per week also. So in terms of ratios of macro nutrients, the typical diet is 40:40:20 or 30:50:20 (carbs, protein, fat respectively).

THE IMPORTANCE OF WEIGHTLIFTING

When cutting your body is not taking in as many calories as it needs and it will do anything to get those extra calories, even break down muscle tissue if needs be. This can be prevented by frequent high weight, low rep range weightlifting. Not only does this help maintain your muscle mass, it will also tell your body that you still need to use this muscle and so it will be more reliant on fat reserves to break down for energy. Sufficient protein must also be taken in daily around 120-180 grams in order to help keep your muscle strong and maintain size. You will find you will not be able to do hours in the gym at the time like you used to because your body simply does not have the energy to do so.



Picture source: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_STOgeSTvbwA/TOVbj7Rv3fI/AAAAAAAAAAU/umI2iGE3A4s/S748/shawna-lean-muscle-building.jpg

BULKING

WHAT IS BULKING?

Bulking is a term used by beginners and bodybuilders who merely want to try and build up as much lean muscle as possible, where this is the primary goal, it is also desirable to gain as little fat as possible in the process. The general rule of bulking is to consume more calories than your body burns during a day, increasing weight training intensity and reducing cardio to minimalistic time periods to reduce calories burned by exercise.

TYPICAL BULKING NUTRITION

The typical bulking diet can be approached one of two ways, by either a clean bulk or a dirty bulk, these are pretty self-explanatory, however let's have a look at clean bulking first. A clean bulk diet typically consist of complex carbohydrates, unsaturated fats and lots of protein, the majority of calories comes from the carbs and healthy fats and the increase in protein, up to 250g, contributes to the increase in lean muscle mass. If you aim to consume 500-1000 more calories than your basic metabolic rate, you will gain 1lb of muscle every 14-20 days with sufficient tearing of the muscle fibres and sufficient nutrition. Common ratios used in bulking are 30:20:50 and 40:10:50 (carbs, fats and protein respectively). Also do not forget to always take a multivitamin tablet or training supplement to aid in recovery and protein intake.

TRAINING WHEN BULKING

In order to get the correct response out of your muscle groups while bulking bodybuilders tend to hit moderate to heavy weights in a rep range of 8-12, or even as low as 4-6. This type of training causes maximum stimulation to the muscle fibres to tear and grow, and as long as you are eating enough protein you will see results fast. Weight training is the same for every muscle group, however when it comes to cardio try to keep it very short, no longer than 15 minutes or even 10 minutes if you do high intensity interval training (which can also promote anabolic growth and spike testosterone levels in the blood). When you tear your muscle fibres down as much as when you do training with this system, protein synthesis in your muscle fibres and surrounding cells is amplified greatly, so the increase in protein uptake is simply there to provide the amino acids in order to keep up with the body's demand, if it is not met, the muscle will simply not grow bigger but be broken down by the body which is just a waste of your hard time.

Bulking can last for however long the individual requires, however i would reccommend a time allowance of at least 3-6 months on a bulking programme in order to make it worth your while to build up some serious gains that are noticable once you do a following 1-2 month cutting programme. Dont fall in to the trap of stopping your bulk a few months in and thinking oh no im getting to fat i need to cut! Not only will you not have gained any real muscle mass but when you cut back down again youre just going to be the same weight and look the same size. You need to ride it out! Don't be a middle man.



Picture source: http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m1j0srjXAK1qbbjkro1_r1_1280.jpg

TESTOSTERONE/STEROIDS

TESTOSTERONE AND STEROIDS
When it comes to the most important hormone involved in bodybuilding, the title goes to testosterone. This sex hormone naturally occurs in all males and females, up to 8 times more in males than in females, and is directly synthesised in your body from cholesterol. So for all of those who thought cholesterol was the work of the devil, think again and it should be present in every body's diet. This hormone is also responsible for all of the changes you undergo through puberty, giving males those visible characteristics; it is also produced in the testicles.

 

HOW DOES TESTOSTERONE WORK?

Once produced in the testicles, the testosterone hormone is then transported in the blood to target tissues by a sex hormone binding globulin (A protein in blood plasma). Once the hormone has reached its desired tissue, the testosterone binds to a specific protein receptor on the exterior cell surface membrane. This binding causes a unique change in the structural properties of a receptor protein on the interior of the cell membrane and in turn this allows it to move in to the nucleus and increase the production of DNA binding proteins. The presence of this altered structure causes some lengths of DNA to be copied thousands of times more, in turn producing more RNA that enters the cell and is then translated into functional proteins. These genes can code for things such as bone hardening molecules, hair stimulating enzymes and an increase in proteins that are needed by muscle tissue to grow. This is how testosterone affects muscle growth and repair, the more testosterone you have, the faster your body produces testosterone and so the bigger your muscles grow, and the quicker you can recover between workouts. The production of increased testosterone in muscle tissue also counter acts the action of cortisol, a hormone released during times of stress which increases the breakdown of muscle tissue, so by suppressing this process muscle tissue is preserved. This is why steroids can be very desirable in the world of professional sports.

WHAT ARE ANABOLIC STEROIDS?

The word steroid actually relates to the group of molecules testosterone belongs to and these molecules are naturally made in the human body, therefore steroids are a natural product. However there are up to 46 artificially modified steroids that do not synthesise in the body and these can be extremely dangerous if taken in large amounts. The collective group of molecules we are looking at are called anabolic steroids, basically meaning to build muscle. The way these anabolic steroids differ to body synthesised steroids such as testosterone is that they directly affect the nucleus. What I mean by this is, is that when natural testosterone in your body reaches a cell, it does not enter the cell. Instead it binds to a structure on the external surface of the cell, which causes reaction on the inner side, releasing a protein that enters the nucleus; therefore we say it does not directly affect the nucleus. However anabolic steroids have been modified so that they can penetrate directly through the cell membrane and reach the nucleus, this amplifies their effect significantly leading to bigger, faster gains and smaller times of muscle recovery. They do build uscle very quickly, but however if left to long periods of inactivity, muscle deterioration will be significantly more than in an athlete who is natural, easy come easy go I guess.

SIDE EFFECTS OF ANABOLIC STEROIDS

I'm sure you have all heard of at least several side effects of pro longed anabolic steroid use. The most linked causes are heart disease and heart failure, shrinking of the testicles and excessive aggressive behaviour. Other problems such as reduced blood glucose tolerance (less glucose is present in the blood), Depression, anxiety and man boobs.

Heart failure can be caused by a few things, anabolic steroid use leads to high blood pressure and if excessive this can cause arteries to burst and can lead to a heart attack. It also increases the amount of LDL (Low density lipoproteins) in your blood, and this promotes the movement and storage of cholesterol in your body, mostly your arteries. Alternatively HDL (High density lipoproteins) actually causes the breakdown of cholesterol and removes them from the arteries and circulates in the blood where excess amounts are filtered out through the kidneys. This build-up of cholesterol in the arteries can lead to plaques forming, which in turn leads to a heart attack.

The shrinking of the testicles is down to your body stopping testosterone production, or lowering it significantly as it is being provided by an external source. When you inject anabolic steroids, your body recognises your cells are taking in more than normal levels of testosterone and so what your testicles do is lower or stop the production of testosterone all together, and when you stop taking the steroids it can take a very long time for them to kick back up into action which can lead to permanent loss of testosterone production in your body if you cycle steroids for long periods of time.

So is it really worth it for a quick fix?