Almost down to just 4!

Back day baby! 4 days left (after today)......

181.2lbs this AM, holding steady......kcals at 1830ish

30 mins stepmill MISS cardio this AM (HR around 145-150)

Then at 3pm we nailed it as follows.......


-reverse grip pull downs: 3x15 @ 140lbs

-hammer seated row machine: 4x12 @ 2 plates a side

-hammer iso-lateral pulldowns: 3x10 @ 1 plate + 35 a side

-low back hypers w/ 35lb plate across chest: 3x15

-hammer iso-lateral high row: 3x15 @ 1 plate + 25 per side

-smith iso-pause shrugs: 4x15 @ 1 plate + 2 10's a side

Energy a little low today between cardio's end and workout start. Downed 3, yes 3 keurig jet-fuel brand k-cups plus my green tea tab to get a pick me up going. Did the trick to!

Its going to get harder then next 3 days before it gets easier I know this.....gotta suck it up and make it happen!

6 and counting...

I know I said I would wait till Monday to update but today leg workout was so awesome I had to get it down now! Its the last leg workout I will do till post show next weekend so this one had to count big!

181.2 today....down 3.8lbs in a day......WTF??

30 mins MISS cardio via stepmill at 8am...

3pm...LEGS!

deficit deadlifts:
135x12
225x10
275x8
295x6

hammer v squat, reverse position:
3x12 @ 2 plates + 35 a side

cybex hack squat medium stance:
3x8 @ 2 plates a side

bb back squats w/ 4 sec ecc and 2 sec iso hold at bottom
4x3 @ 2 plates a side

hoist horizontal leg press, wide stance:
3x15 speed reps @ 4 plates

seated calf press:
3x12 @ 2 plates + drop set on seated straight leg calf press machine 1x25 reps

leg ext superset w/ prone leg curls
3x25 reps each short of failure @ 70lbs each

6 minute recumbent bike cool down...pnf stretch....done!!

Carbs as of today have been dropped to 120g today through Wednesday. Going to finish out week as follows:

Will do 20 mins LISS post workout each day as well..... back+traps monday / chest+abs tuesday / shoulders+arms wednesday / thursday 40 mins LISS only / pose, pose, pose Friday

I will throw up my peak plans later this week as I get closer to show day. For now all I have done is add a dash of sea salt to every meal and keeping my water at 2 gallons a day. Still taking 5g creatine post lift each day as well. Dropping out yohimbine HCL tomorrow, all fake sweetners and shakes go out Thursday as well.

The FINAL WEEK!

So let me first get yesterdays workout out down before heading into the final week (AKA peak week)...

Yesterday I did not do cardio which was VERY nice to get off from......saved up the energy and put it all into my afternoon upper body push workout session. See below...

230pm-4pm

incline bb bench press
4x8 @ 35 per aide

seated bb shoulder press
4x6 @ 25 per side

hammer incline press
4x8 @ 45+5 per side

hammer shoulder press
4x6 @ 45+10 per side

flat hammer chest press
1x failure at 35lb per side

hammer 180 ground based high pull
1x failure at 45lb per side

hammer seated tricep push downs
4x10 @ 2 plates per side

incline db fly superset with incline rear delt fly
2x15 each @ 30's and 10's respectively

bb jump shrugs
3x15 @ 1 plate + 35 per side

decline sit ups superset with flat db tricep kick outs
3x15 each with bw only and 25's respectively


More volume again yes......love getting a real good pump going as I feel it helps with fullness and hardness as the show gets closer. Still going heavy as you can see but I also add in more sets and more exercises to really hit as many angles as I can and get some major blood flow in the muscles the whole workout.

Jason has sent me my peak week plan with every last detail outlined for me. Went to the grocery store last night and stocked up on EVERYTHING I will need for today through Saturday night. Want to be....need to be 100% ready to do business and that starts with preparations and pre-planning, leaving nothing to chance.

Today I weighed in and found myself at 185.0.....up 4lbs from yesterday...?? Not sure why or how that is but the same thing happened from Monday to Tuesday this week as well with no reason for why? I lost it is all 2 days later but still? I used the same scale, same time, same final meal the night before, no clothes worn etc.....all controlled for. Oh well....not going to freak out one bit.....the body does odd things when its being stressed this much so you never can quite predict what it will do day to day.

All I got going today is 30 minutes of HIIT on the stepmill coming up later today which should be just dandy on 110g carbs for the day. Only 1 more HIIT session to do before the show and my last legs workout will be tomorrow as well to allow 100% recovery in the legs and avoid any water retention in them as well.

Thats all for this weekend gang. I will post again on Monday with updates!

Pulling for a win!

Pull indeed! Thats just what I did today in the gym with today's upper body pull session at the North Island Warehouse gym this afternoon. I love working out at this gym not only for a good change up but also because its got a bad ass set up of equipment, no AC and its pretty well wide open on the inside making movement pretty easy and it feels HUGE in there.

181.5lbs this morning. Down  1 pound the day after a refeed......did not see that coming! Oh well, thats how my body decided to respond so be it. Jason sees this and he tells me where to go. Enough said.

The change of enviroment helped as did the change in workout time today....crazy good energy and awesome workout overall. A little change up always helps!

Here we  go.....8am, 33 minutes cardio via triplet series....11 mins each lifefitness elliptical, matrix treadmill hill walk, lifefitness upright bike. HR around 145-150 the whole time.

345-5pm...back and biceps workout

60 seconds rest between all sets

hammer low row:
4x20 @ 1 plate + 25 per side

seated cable close grip low rows:
4x16 @ 140lbs

wide grip lat pull downs:
4x12 @ 130lbs

hammer high row:
4x10 @ 2 plates per side

hammer underhand pull down:
3x8 @ 2 plates per side

incline db biceps curls:
4x8 @ 30's
drop set to failure with 20's

6 minutes stepmill at level 13......done!

Thats a wrap for today gang......more to come tomorrow with upper body push day! My favorite day of the 3 day split!

Just 3 workouts left after tomorrows! Then its just peaking time again baby!

10 Days till seasons end!!

As of tomorrow I will be at just 10 days out from my 2nd and final contest of the fall season and as most in the sport come to call....the end of formal "season" which typically coincides with the Mr. Olympia contest at the end of September and as anyone reading this likely knows.....takes place this very weekend starting up Thursday night and commencing on Sunday afternoon. Of course other contests do and will take place through years end in all organizations but they tend to become few and far between and less frequent in smaller cities. As for me it wont much matter. I have set plans to bust my ass until late March to put on some much needed size and thickness to my storky 6'2'' frame. I will have the helpful eye of Jason Theobald of Scooby Prep assisting me with my diet and nutrition to assure things keep on clicking the whole time so I see good things happening come October 6th and beyond for darn sure!

Yesterday I did a early morning 30 minutes HIT spin class which I teach for the command. No workout later on, just rest and recovery.

Today was 40 minutes gauntlet cardio in the AM with HR between 130-145 via 10 minutes of each:

1. incline treadmill walk
2. woodway curve jog
3. recumbent bike
4. stepmill

Time goes by way faster when you break it up back to back like that on a different unit each 10 mins I swear!

Later on around 630 it was time for LEGS and here is what we got done!

smith squats, close stance- 75 sec rest between all sets

2x15 @ 1 plate a side

2x12 @ 1plate + 10 a side

2x10 @ 1 plate + 25 a side

2x8 @ 2 plate a side

2x6 @ 2 plate + 10 a side

1x20 @ 1 plate a side

hamstring hypers with 45lb plate across chest

3x15

bw standing calf press

4x30

assisted chin machine- single press downs

3x12 per leg at 150, 160, 170lbs (each set increase in weight)

swiss ball crunch series:

3x20 front

2x20 side

2x20 reverse crunch

TUT cybex leg extension/seated leg curl rep out series:

3x30 reps each back to back with 30 sec rest between each exercise (burn baby burn!!)

7 minutes cybex arc trainer with HR at 145-150

Done!

Today was refeed day so I got a whole whopping 210g carbs today! I savored every last extra bit of oats and yam I got pre and post lift let me say that much! 

Calories overall are now just under 2000 per day except refeed days. Getting down and dirty now at the very end. Gotta stay strong and pull through it. Only time I get truly hunger is after meal 1 lately. Outside that I have been pretty good really. 

Also.....have a new player in my supplement regime now.....trying out shark liver oils at 2g a day starting today onward. Research seems promising after a in depth talk I had with the lead researcher and company CEO. Testing myself before I push or promote anything to anyone else, military or otherwise. Will see...

11 days to go now....

Today was day 3 of the split and here is what she looked like:

6pm: upper body push day- all 60 second timed rest between sets

seated db press: 5x6 @ 45's
flat db press: 5x5 @ 65's
decline medium grip bb press: 4x8 @ 135lbs
bw tricep dips: 3x6
incline db fly ss w/ rear peck deck fly: 3x15 @ 35's / 75lbs
flat db tricep kick outs: 3x12 @ 25's
triple drop set on machine lateral raises: 80x12,65x8,50x8,35x8
8 minutes post lift stepmill w/ HR at 135ish

90 minute workout with shocking amount of energy and output tonight. not bad at all for being on a no more then 2100kcals a day lately! i'll take it!

post lift meal for the day....and past 3 days matter of fact.....mashed yam w/ cellucor whey blender shake. simple but effective!

Day after....back to biz!

1 day post contest and its back to the grindstone baby! 13 days out today from show #2 on Oct 5th right smack in my own backyard via the NPC Border States Classic. 

Here I will be doing the Mens Physique Novice class. Going to be a step up for sure from what I saw at the last contest held by the NPC here in SD at the same venue just over a month ago now. Gotta bring the A game and that started last night with legs session and continued into today with upper body pull day....take a look...

40 minutes LISS at 8am this morning, half walking at incline, half on elliptical, HR between 130-140


645pm....right after seeing the new documentary movie Generation Iron which IMO was very good but not Pumping Iron Quality. Just me....

Back and Biceps: 1 minute rest between all sets

Pillar Prep, Dynamic Movements.....

BW Neutral Pull Ups-
4x6

hammer underhand pull down/row-
4x8 at 2 plates a side

life fitness seated underhand horizontal row machine-
4x10 at 145lbs

hammer high row-
4x12 at 2 plates a side

db pull overs across bench-
2x15 at 50lbs

incline bench db curls-
4x12 at 27.5's + 1 drop set of 15 at 17.5's

fascia stretching....foam rolling, 5 mins mile bike cardio....done!

I will also note that as of today through Oct 5th show day (and perhaps longer) I am now working with a 3rd eye........none other than Jason Theobald of Scooby Prep to help me peak as best as possible for my next show and make the right jump off point in the first several months of my offseason after the show.

Right now starting today my macros look like this per his settings:

260p/180c(on)130c(off)/35f over 5-6 meals per day. I refeed on leg days with 245p/250c/30f

My training through the Wednesday before the show will go right back to what it was before this last show.

3x/wk cardio via fasted LISS style HR at 130-140 range

3 on 1 off split of legs/upper pull/upper push/off

I will continue using my homemade thermo-stack combo of:

•  600mg green tea extract*
• 15mg yohimbine HCL 
• 81mg asprin
• 400mg caffeine 50/50 from pill and *black coffee

I take these 20 minutes pre LISS cardio day *(also taken 20 mins pre lift)

The only other additions to my prior supplement stack are:

100mg R-ALA with my 3 carb meals, breakfast, pre and post lift
3g USPLabs D-apartic acid with breakfast daily

4000 IU VD daily with any meal (continued)
1 multivitamin tab at breakfast daily (continued)
2g fish oil at every meal (continued)
50mg zinc with 1 meal daily (continued)
200mcg GTF chromium with a 1 carb meal daily (continued)

Thats a wrap for today folks.......12 days to go tomorrow....peace!!

The BIG DAY has come and gone!

OK then there now folks! The big day has indeed come and gone! MPD debut contest was yesterday in Brea, CA via the ANBF first ever in Orange County, CA. This was a very small show but the fact this is the ANBF's first year its early, very early yet. None the less it was an awesome experience of which I and the posse of friends from work who came with me had a blast at!

This was how things shook out yesterday....

Saturday I got up at 7am, weighed in, took pictures...........

I was 181 pounds and based on my Omron BIA device came in at 7.5% (mind you its not the most accurate method of body comp of course, could be higher or lower by a bit). Mirror is my ultimate gauge!

My diet plan and supplement plan for the day went down like this and this was only based on my own personal responses to my bodies feel and look by the hour and my passed experiences with how I respond with such items. I did not add or have any high salt foods from meal 2 Friday onward through the end of show time Saturday, just noting that for all who want to know. I had been adding salt to all meals prior to that. My water stayed high at 2 gallons per day through Friday night 9pm. See my last post "4 days out" for the rest of my peak plan M-F night.

Saturday:

8am-

20oz large black starbucks coffee with 1 shot espresso

2 tabs (600mg green tea extract)

4 tabs Xpel (only to keep fluid moving through me, not to dehydrate myself!!)

9am-

50grams protein from egg whites

12 cooked asparagus spears

1pm-

6 oz chicken breast

2 plain rice cakes (30g carbs)

100mg R-ALA

200 mcg GTF Chromium

On stage at 3pm......see pics...(actually right after t-walk pre judging was done....wanted to be on my own close up in the sun for these to be used just for this reason, catch my peak condition without being rushed on stage. Hit a few bbing poses yes but so what!? I can do as I please and have fun with this!

I did not eat or drink anything after my 1pm meal as I felt I looked as good as I was going to at the time so why mess with anything. I never got too thirsty, too hungry or anything negative so no harm done. At 5pm I ate 4 more rice cake and 6 oz chicken and this was only because I actually planned on going to (and did) hit the gym for legs when we got back (given the show took just 3 hours and we were all done by 6pm!) This show went right through from pre judge to finals with a quick guest pose between by Marc The Machine Lobliner. All I had after that was comparisons and awards......and that's where I was handed this bad boy!

1ST PLACE OPEN MPD BABY!

Video of stage walk

Now I will say right here and now that my class had just well.......2 guys, me and 1 other guy. He was 160lbs and 5'10'', guy named Nate, really cool guy but he was very new and very unfamiliar with the specifics of posing and t-walks in MPD, he kinda hit borderline bbing poses in his walk which hurt his score I am sure. His physique was decent but more like a super lean runner vs thicker MPD type athlete. I cant talk much cause I barely make it as MPD caliber myself sitting at 6'2'' and 181.....

1st place is 1st place and I am happy to have gotten this award. I came in how I came in regardless of how many others were on stage with me. I cannot control that part of the show, I worry about bringing my best package to the stage no matter what. As long as I do that to the best of my ability......its all in the judges hands after that.

And yes......being just 14 days to the day from my next contest on Oct 5th, the NPC Border States in San Diego, CA.......meant no time to waste on cheat meals, another day off etc......I got home and rocked out legs with renewed motivation form the show (and 4 shaker bottles of water in me post show!) at 24 Hour Fitness. Here she be!

715pm-

Pillar Prep, Dynamic Movements, Hip Matrix.....

Smith Squats:

5x12-6 reps pyramid down in reps, up in weight

-Drop set free weight back squats at 135lbs wide stance pause at bottom, 1x20 reps

Hamstring Hypers w/45lb plate across chest:

3x12

Single Leg Horizontal Machine Press:

2x12 each

Kneeling Cable Crunch:

3x15

Swiss Ball Reverse Crunches

3x20

Seated Calves

2x15

Leg Press Calves:

3x15

Leg Extensions SuperSet with Prone Leg Curls

2x16-18 each

4 minute mild treadmill walk, PNF stretch, foam roll, done!!

Only "treat" I gave myself after this was a stop at Souplantation near home for my post lift meal which was 2 plates of garden salad with veggies with Walden Farms Dressing, 2 small baked potatoes with salsa and 7 oz diced chicken (from what I had left with me at show.....no meats served at any Souplantation I know of) not extacly the post show meal I am used to but with just 14 days to go for the bigger and much harder caliber NPC level show on the 5th......cant be taking it easy now....no freaking way! 

I want to give some thanks to a couple of orgs, friends and companies for helping over the past 8 weeks of formal prep for this contest. 

EAS (for the tons of supplement samples/support you have given me all along)

Ian Lauer and PSR (for priceless information of doing my first MPD show)

Souplantation/ Sweet Tomatoes Restaurants (for being my 1 stop precontest out to eat venue)

iTan Solarium (for the awesome color baby!)

Marc Lobliner and the ANBF/HPN Staff (for putting on a kick ass all natural show)

Scivation (for the Xtend I use multiple times a day every day)

Cellucor (for the 6 flavors of whey protein I use every single day for killer recipes and smoothies)

My friends and family for supporting me every single step of the way to reach this goal in life! 

4 days to go!

Getting down to the wire now folks! I am growing more and more excited by the day as the show grows ever closer!

My contest prep plan for peaking is pretty mild as it stands now in that the extremes many go to for bodybuilding are not warranted for MPD as well as the fact that half the "tricks" many competitors employ are pure BS and don't have any real merit in the first place. Tactics like:

• drastic water cutting
• salt loading/cutting
• huge carb loads
• junk food binges
• red wine shots
• herbal diuretics

Seen it all many times before (even tried a few of them myself yes...) and watched most fail miserably or give less then mild results at very best. I prefer to use and stick to what got my to where I am in the many weeks and months leading up to the contest vs trying to pull some magic trick last minute.......the body hates last minute abrupt tricks of any kind and it will fight you for it to!

Layne Norton taught me a very important lesson about this using hard nosed science and physiology to explain how and why most the above "tricks" fail 99% of the time for men and women alike. He talked about La Chatelier's Principle and how that applies to water/salt balance, carbohydrate/glycgogen storage levels etc......using basic physiology as it applies to drug free athletes it made perfect since to me why these tricks do not and cannot work well for someone trying to look and feel their best on stage in front of 1000's of people while sitting at 4-7% bodyfat with 90% of your skin exposed for just a few minutes to a panel of judges........when I say it like that it almost makes me wonder why ANYONE would EVER want to try and pull some hopeless and unfounded trick on the body in hopes of gaining the extra 5% at the risk of losing the other 95%???

So with that said this is my game plan from today through Saturday end of show.

Today/Tomorrow (Tuesday/Wednesday)

Training-
last 2 hard training days, lower today then upper tomorrow to allow for legs to be 100% Saturday
2 exercises per muscle group, 1 compound, 1 assistance, 3-4 sets each
pyramid sets 15 reps down to 5 reps stopping 1 rep shy of failure each set
slow 2-1-2 tempo for all movements (not getting hurt now!)
fasted AM cardio 30 minutes mild intensity 130-150 HR

Diet:
Only carbs all day both days are from veggies and salad greens and a 14 oz raw weight yam (then baked) eaten post workout.
Protein higher at 60 grams a meal for all 5 of my daily meals from lean either albacore tuna, egg whites, fat free, plain greek yogurt or whey isolate.
Fats are coming only from my barleans fish oil pills at about 12 grams a day.
Water is at 2 gallons per day or a bit more
Salt being added to all meals
My total daily intake for these 2 days will be about 1900-2000kcals per day.

Thursday and Friday:

Training-
40 minutes non fasted LISS cardio, mild effort at 130-135 HR
Foam rolling and PNF stretching

Diet-
Meals exactly the same both days
5 meals with-
40g protein from either egg whites, whey isolate or plain chicken
60g carbs from unsalted brown rice cakes
2g fish oils from pill form
Water intake stays high at about 2 gallons per day
No salt added to any meals

Saturday-
TBD as it all depends on how I feel and look that morning after the prior days effects really set in. I may add more carbs, keep them the same, drop them down, add salt, drop salt etc.....it depends. I will have all the food items, supplements and goodies I need with me on the drive up to Brea, CA just in case however.

Drug testing starts at 9am and goes till noon, athlete check in is at 1230 until 2 when the athlete rules meeting begins. The show starts at 3pm sharp. I plan to be on the road with my 2 buddies coming up with me by 8am Saturday. Its a 90 minute drive which is not bad and perhaps a good time to really calm down and focus myself on the show and myself, not anyone or anything else.

I am begging a work friend to come along as he is awesome with a camera and does amazing pictures of all kinds! I offered to pay his round trip gas and admission ticket to come up and get pics of the show and more after the show for me. Asking him to give up most his Saturday 90 mins away is a big favor I understand that so I cross my fingers he accepts my offer!

I will have pics regardless on my phone and my digital camera and hopefully from the contest promoter as well (most have DVD's to buy from the show) and those I will post up for you all to see!

So........with that all laid out I dont think I will post again until day of the show or the day after to give you all the full story on what happend and how it all went down. Until then its time to apply all this stuff here to myself and see it through to the end and let the judges score as they will.

Game on folks!

Just 1 week to go!

Short and sweet here folks!

7 days left to go till debut MPD stage time ya'll! I am really excited now in that peak week is here at last! Getting my music made, tan finished, meals planned for the week/travel up to Brea, CA etc.....all the final week details.

As of today I was 183lbs and 7% bodyfat this morning fasted, nude right out of bed.

Workout today consisted of 30 minutes mild intensity cardio with HR around 135-150ish on the spin bike. This was at 745am.

At 645pm I hit up 24 hour fitness mission valley and nailed out a change up workout in that I did back and biceps vs back and chest....why not I figured.....just felt like it.....here we go!

Training: 
pillar prep movements, scaptions, shoulder prep

hammer front pull downs
4x8-12
1x20 drop set

compound set seated 1 arm cable row w/ 1 arm db rows
2x10-12 each movement
1x20 drop set seated 1 arm cable rows

hammer high row
3x12-15

low back hypers
3x20

smith bb shrugs
2x20

seated db pause shrugs
1x20

hammer preacher curls
4x6-12
triple drop set db zottman curls w/ 22's, 20's, 17's
12 reps each load

kneeling cable crunches
3x15 reps

prone leg raises
2x30 reps

Thats a wrap!!

Grub:

9am-
2 cups egg whites
1 bag stir fry pepper blend

12pm-
9 oz roasted chicken, skin removed
3 cups stir fry veggies

430pm-
9 oz roasted chicken breast
4 cups mixed greens

830pm-
12 oz baked yam
160 grams frozen bluberries
2 scoops cellucor whey
1.5 cups original almond breeze

1115pm-
2 cups chobani plain greek yogurt

Back On Land at Last!

So after 9 days at sea with the carrier I am at last back home for the next 6 weeks before my next tentative outing at sea.

The last 9 days were a real test in that I had to stay on par perfectly with diet and training while on the carrier 24/7 to stay show ready for my now 8 days away MPD debut contest!

I managed to nail all my workouts, all my cardio and hit all my meals spot on. It was very routine and boring but it worked and I was able to hit my daily macros spot on each day. I spent my 29th birthday aboard the  carrier as well which was a first and in fact made today the first day I stepped on dry land at 29 years old.....kinda cool I guess lol!

The culinary team and my work division even made me a birthday fruit basket vs a cake as they often do for peoples bdays while at sea. Knowing I would not be able to eat any cake while in show prep they got creative and whipped up this bad boy!

How cool is that!

Today was my first day back in the "normal gym" via 24 hour fitness and it was of course......leg day! This is what it looked like:

Training:

Also did 30 minutes treadmill/bike/elliptical combo this morning at 745am....

645pm-8pm

foam roll, band pnf stretch.....go time!

bb traditional deadlifts
225x6 (2 sets)
275x5 (2 sets)
315x5(2 sets)
375x2 (4 sets)
315x5 (2 sets)

bb wide stance squats
225x5(4 sets)
135x20

assisted chin up single leg push downs super set with seated calves
3x12 per leg / 3x20

leg extensions super set with prone leg curls
3x12-15 each machine

standing calf press with cable pull through
3x12 each

Daily Grub:

breakfast-
2 cups oikos plain ff greek yogurt

lunch-
large garden salad with veggies and walden farms dressing
2 packs syntha 6 isolate

pre lift meal-
9 oz cooked/roasted chicken, skin removed
4 cups mixed greens

post lift blender shake-
12 oz baked yam
2 scoops cellucor whey
160g frozen blueberries
1.5 cups unsweet original almond milk

before bed-
2 cups chobani plain fat free greek yogurt


Tomorrow I am taking my weight and bodyfat reading to see where I am after the last 9 days at sea. I will try again to get someone to take my pics in the right place, right location without seeming like a total weirdo about it. Sucks not having a go to person for this right now!

Last post update till 9/13

So yes, as the heading of this post update says, this will be my last update until Friday the 13th. The reason being is that I will be out to sea with the ship from tomorrow morning till our return the 13th and net reception/connectivity is spotty at best most the time so no promise of any chances to do any blogging sadly. However when I do get back in I will be just 8 days away from show day!

I will be a bit tested on keeping my act together on the diet side given I wont have any kitchen or means to make my own meals but I think I have a solid game plan mapped out. Take a look below to see how I plan to keep on track during the underway period.

• Breakfast each morning around 9am will be 2 cups fat free plain greek yogurt mixed with a Cocoavia flavor packet.
• Lunch will be a whole food meal at noon in the galley, veggies and lean meats with some healthy fats.
• Dinner will be around 4pm and also be a whole food meal in the galley just like lunch.
• My 8pm meal will be 1 of 2 kinds of powder shakes, either EAS Recovery Protein after weights or EAS Lean 15 for after HIIT only days.
• My 1130pm meal before bed will be 2 cups of fat free cottage cheese mixed with cinnamon and cocoa.

Its kinda boring yes, very repetitive yes, but works. I hit my macros almost perfectly and I more or less enjoy the foods I'll be eating. Plus I can store them all in my office fridge or stateroom pretty easily.

Yesterday I hit up legs despite feeling really shitty (almost called of my workout completely for a bit) for the most part of the day due to 4 hours outside in 88 degree heat and pure sunshine without enough sunscreen or enough water while at work........how smart of me right!!??

I slammed endless amounts of water and took a short nap+asprin at home after work and that helped enough to get me to the gym where I had a slightly less then par workout but still got the job done in about an hour or a little under. Nothing to total failure and kept my rest periods a little longer to keep my strength up.

Today will be chest and back and I have yet to put the last touches on that workout yet so I cant post it quite yet. It will be a doosy let me say that as its the last really good workout I can do without being limited to the ships gyms equipment/space till we get back on dry land.

Today's Grub was/is as follows:

• 8am: 2 cups cooked 100% egg whites with salad greens
• 12 noon: 2 cups ff plain greek yogo with cocoavia flavor pack
• 4pm: grande skinny latte with 3 shots espresso, 6 oz low fat firm tofu
• 8pm: large garden/veggie salad from Souplantation with Walden Farms dressing, 2 cups fat free cottage cheese and 8 whole grain rice cakes
• 11pm: 2 scoops cellucor whey with 2 cups 30 calorie almond milk

That's all for now folks. I will be back with updates and news on Friday the 13th.....8 days from show day!

Peace out ya all!

Some time off

So after the past 3 days it's been super nice to just kick back and have a few days off work to really focus on diet, training, recovery and just chilling out with friends taking it easy on the sunny San Diego beaches of California. I had 3 awesome workouts Friday Saturday and Sunday as well as a solid  refeed meal on Saturday night. That was my last set refeed before show day hits to. Pictures of my 5 plate feast from Seasons Buffet at Barona Casino & Resort are found below.....no drooling!

My go to guy who I will keep nameless saw my most recent stats and pics and felt I was very flat looking and suggested I have a refeed meal on one of my 3 training days. Making it so I would get 150% of my dieting calorie intake for the day. So 2800+1400 = 4200 calories for the day of the refeed. He suggested I have 3 light meals during the day and then 1 really big meal as my post workout and final meal of the day that stayed within these guidelines to work best.

• Finish the meal in 45 minutes
• Keep fat intake low and sat fat/trans fats to bare minimum 
• Avoid pure sugar or minimize as much as possible
• Drink water with the meal as well as afterwords
• Consume mostly lean protein sources
• Keep dairy minimal or 0
• Veggies are optional
• Carbs can be of any source but shoot for whole grains low GI as much as possible

 For $28 this was worth every penny! Now keep in mind this was a clean refeed to, not a cheat meal so just imagine what else I could've had lol!!

Today I'm taking the day off from the gym with only cardio which was 25 minutes low-intensity steady-state on the Woodway and 15 minutes HIIT on the upright bike. 517 calories smashed!

I have just three regular 9 hour work days at this week before our carrier begins a short 9 day sea trial. During that time I will be tested to see how well I can comply with my diet and training so close to show time. By the time we get back I will have one week pretty much to the dot until show day....now that is really getting down to the wire! I figure if I can make this work, there's really not much that can stop me from prepping for contest 100 percent on par with no excuses!

As of this morning I am 186.6lbs and 7.8%. With 19 days till show day its getting serious now. My mind and body continue to be full throttle focused on bringing the best package I can to the MPD stage!

Today's Grub:

hometown buffet:
egg white omelette with veggies
garden salad with chopped eggs and vinegar
grilled ham slices with onion, pepper and mushroom

plain ff Greek yogurt with unsweet almond milk

souplantation:
large garden salad with Walden farms
9 oz lean sirloin steak

16 oz carton egg whites with salsa

2 scoops cellucor cookies n cream with 2 cups almond milk blended with ice for a milkshake

I hope you all had a good weekend and enjoy your labor day holiday as well.....be safe, be healthy!