Daily News Archives

February 2006

 

02/28/2006 - Body fat levels; Nice diet tweak breaks my plateau; Monthly pictures tomorrow.
02/27/2006 - Requested revised SGX meal plan; AtLarge sale extended/stock issues resolved.
02/26/2006 - Feeling a little worse today.
02/25/2006 - Cutting progress; Stress; Sore throat; Mom's retirement; Today's plans.
02/24/2006 - Overslept.
02/23/2006 - Database server hard drive failure; AtLarge Chocolate Nitrean supply issue.
02/22/2006 - Forum security update may cause you to have to log back in; Deads!
02/21/2006 - Amazing transformations; Are you procrastinating?
02/20/2006 - Cheat meal pictures; New protein sponsor!
02/19/2006 - 2nd annual JSF cheat meal report.
02/18/2006 - "All The Whey" has been let go and is no longer a sponsor here.
02/17/2006 - Last night's leg workout; Tonight's workout; JSF cheat meal.
02/16/2006 - Pointless update.
02/15/2006 - Wonderful night last night/cheat meal leads to rough morning.
02/14/2006 - Last night's workout; Valentine's plans.
02/13/2006 - Cold weather brings backyard "intruder" - dogs, er dog, attacks!
02/12/2006 - New wardrobe (body building is expensive!)
02/11/2006 - Early haircut appointment; Cutting update (w/ picture).
02/10/2006 - Cutting FUN?!; Giving in to temptation.
02/09/2006 - Running late; When's the last time you read the archives?
02/08/2006 - Planning your meals: a recopied for success (*groan*).
02/07/2006 - Abdominal muscle cramp - OUCH!
02/06/2006 - New sponsor - Mass Nutrition!
02/05/2006 - Cutting progress; New sponsor announcement tomorrow!
02/04/2006 - 19 inch arms (w/ picture); New split/schedule for SGX weight training; No cheats;
02/03/2006 - Last night's leg workout; Huge amount of water lost in 2 days.
02/02/2006 - First day of cutting went well; Visualization techniques.
02/01/2006 - End of bulk wrap-up; Monthly pictures; Cutting goals.

 

February 28, 2006

I'm hovering between 11% and 12% body fat right now. I'm going to go ahead and leave it "officially" at 12% for tomorrow's monthly pictures. When I look in the mirror I can see a big difference in my bodyfat level as compared to just 28 days ago. I've lost around 15 pounds this month, and about half of that was water. My muscles still look full, and my lifts have remained constant; in some cases, they've improved! My abs are just starting to peek through again, and my face looks leaner. Everything is starting to tighten up, and it feels great. Hopefully this progress will be apparent in my pictures tomorrow morning.

Chris adjusted my diet yesterday morning (thanks for the fast service!), and boom! After 2 weeks at ~211 pounds, I'm down to 209.6 pounds this morning! That was a very intelligent tweak, it seems.

Have a great day - I'll be back tomorrow with my monthly progress pictures!

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February 27, 2006

I'm pretty happy with my cutting progress this month, but my fatloss seems to have stalled: I've not lost any weight in 2 weeks, despite perfect adherence to my workout/diet/supplement program. I sent my formal request to SwoleCat to have him revise my diet based on my current weight. When I started cutting I was 225 pounds, so it only stands to reason that at 211.8 pounds I need a different eating plan. I'm looking forward to getting the new diet: I've been working very hard and I have been 100% strict in every area, so it's a bit frustrating to not see progress. Still, I'd rather play it safe and take it slow: I don't want to lose muscle, and I'm willing to sacrifice speed for lean mass preservation.

AtLarge Nutrition, who you may recall was blindsided by the huge demand for their Chocolate Nitrean, has replenished their stock! Because of the unexpected shortage, they have extended their 10% off sale through March 5th. That's 10% off everything they sell, not just Nitrean, so now's the time to stock up on AtLarge products! Just enter "JSF" into the "coupon code" section of the payment method screen when you place your order to get the discount.

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February 26, 2006

Whatever this bug I have is, it's not letting go easily. I rested all day yesterday but this morning my throat is still very sore, and now my stomach is bothering me. It's not stomach cramps or anything like that, it's just very tight feeling, like I swallowed concrete or something.

I'm still going to go get my cardio in. I don't see how it could hurt, and it may actually do some good. Once my cardio is done, though, it's back to bed for a rainy movie day of rest.

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February 25, 2006

My workouts this week were all extremely good: I increased reps or weight on just about every exercise and had plenty of energy. It doesn't look or feel like I've lost any muscle size, but I'll be doing my weekly measurements tomorrow or Monday to verify that.

I think it's about time to have Chris adjust my cutting diet, as I seem to have leveled off at around 211-212 pounds and have been there for almost two weeks.

This past week was very stressful for me. There were a number of stress-inducing issues going on in the three main areas of my life: personal, business and JSF. When it rains, it pours. I am proud to say that I did not allow any of these problems to get in the way of my training or diet: As of this morning I've performed 45 minutes of LISS cardio for 25 straight days, and I have also not missed any of my weight training workouts (4 per week). My diet has been 100% on target, as well: I've missed zero meals since I started cutting, and have only had two cheat meals (Valentine's Day and the 2006 JSF Cheat Meal).

Unfortunately all this stress and rigorous training may be leaving my body slightly unprotected against the many viruses and bugs that seem to be floating around: I've been fighting a pretty bad sore throat all this week. So far it's been nothing more than yet another annoyance. I hope the scratchy throat is not the beginning of something more severe, like the flu. So many people I know have been sick this season. Thankfully Lisa and I have remained 100% healthy so far, save my recent sore throat.

My mom's retirement party is this evening. I wish I could be there (she's in Texas), but Lisa is out of town for her quarterly manager's meeting and there's no one to stay with the dogs (I won't board them). Mom, you are a wonderful teacher, and you have positively influenced countless lives over the past 20+ years. You have been, and continue to be, my inspiration. Congratulations on your retirement! It's time to travel the world and see all the places you've only read about and dreamed of. I look forward to accompanying you on at least some of those adventures.

Well, with Lisa out of town, no weight training today or tomorrow and my throat still hurting, I think I'm going to go do my cardio, eat breakfast, curl up with the dogs on the couch and watch movies all day long. I hope you enjoy your day, too!

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February 24, 2006

IMPORTANT NOTICE: At approximately 5:53 PM EST Wednesday afternoon, we suffered a hard drive failure on our main database server. I do regular data backups and have duplicate hardware on standby for times such as these. The server was quickly repaired and the backup was restored within hours of the failure. Unfortunately all posts, changes to existing accounts and new user registrations made between early Tuesday morning (February 21) and Wednesday afternoon were lost in the crash. If you created a new account between approximately 7:00 AM EST on Tuesday and 5:53 PM EST on Wednesday, then you will need to re-register.

I fully understand that losing even 36 hours worth of posts is quite a inconvenience. I sincerely apologize for any problems this data loss has caused our members. Believe me, I share your stress, but I am also thankful that we were able to get back up and running fairly quickly and with a relatively small amount of data loss. Thanks for your patience and understanding.

I'm running late this morning: it's been a rough couple of days, and I overslept. Have a great Friday!

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February 23, 2006

IMPORTANT NOTICE: At approximately 5:53 PM EST Wednesday afternoon, we suffered a hard drive failure on our main database server. I do regular data backups and have duplicate hardware on standby for times such as these. The server was quickly repaired and the backup was restored within hours of the failure. Unfortunately all posts, changes to existing accounts and new user registrations made between early Tuesday morning (February 21) and Wednesday afternoon were lost in the crash. If you created a new account between approximately 7:00 AM EST on Tuesday and 5:53 PM EST on Wednesday, then you will need to re-register.

I fully understand that losing even 36 hours worth of posts is quite a inconvenience. I sincerely apologize for any problems this data loss has caused our members. Believe me, I share your stress, but I am also thankful that we were able to get back up and running fairly quickly and with a relatively small amount of data loss. Thanks for your patience and understanding.

As you probably already know, AtLarge Nutrition was named the Official JSF protein sponsor this week. I think they were caught a little off-guard by the huge response, and have temporarily run out of Chocolate Nitrean. They will have more in stock in just a few days, and now that they know what kind of volume to expect, this should never happen again. Here's a message from Daniel, co-owner of AtLarge Nutrition.

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I just want to make everyone aware of a problem we are experiencing which is going to have an effect on anyone that's placed a chocolate Nitrean order today and of course anyone that's wanting to place one this week.

Unfortunately we have experienced a problem with our supplier and we are not able to ship chocolate Nitrean out at the moment. We sincerely apologise for this, it's a problem that we did not expect to occur and we are making sure that going forward, it doesn't occur again.

We have therefore had to remove the option to purchase chocolate Nitrean from the website for the time being and plan for it to be available to order again on Monday/Tuesday next week.

For those that have already ordered (affects 4 or 5 people) we can do a few things for you and we have already either tried to call you or send you an email.

1) We can switch the chocolate for vanilla which we have ready to ship which means we can get your order out ASAP. (This is most preferable as it means we can get your order out in full today)
2) We could refund you for the chocolate Nitrean and ship the rest of the order without the Nitrean.
3) We can send your order without the chocolate Nitrean and then send the chocolate Nitrean when we are able to, which we expect to be most likely, the beginning of next week.

Once again, we sincerely apologise. We feel extremely bad about this and we truly never expect for this to occur again. We recognise its bad timing seeing as we have recently taken over the protein sponsorship of the forum. We hope that everyone can understand that sometimes problems can happen and we are working hard to make sure things are back to normal as quickly as possible and we don't experience such issues again.

As a gesture on our part, we are throwing in an AtLarge Nutrition t-shirt FREE with those whose orders are currently in the system and are directly affected.
-----

Well, at least the last 24 hours have not been boring! Thankfully the web site and forums are back up, more Nitrean is on the way and everyone has been kept up to date with good communication. If you take one thing away from today's update, it should be this: problems happen every day in life; it's how we deal with those problems that makes the difference between success and failure.

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February 22, 2006

IMPORTANT NOTICE: At approximately 5:53 PM EST yesterday afternoon, we suffered a hard drive failure on our main database server. I do regular data backups and have duplicate hardware on standby for times such as these. The server was quickly repaired and the backup was restored within hours of the failure. Unfortunately all posts, changes to existing accounts and new user registrations made after early Tuesday morning (February 21) were lost in the crash. If you created a new account between approximately 7:00 AM EST on Tuesday and 5:53 PM EST on Wednesday, then you will need to re-register.

I fully understand that losing even 36 hours worth of posts is quite a inconvenience. I sincerely apologize for any problems this data loss has caused our members. Believe me, I share your stress, but I am also thankful that we were able to get back up and running fairly quickly and with a relatively small amount of data loss. Thanks for your patience and understanding.

I applied a minor security upgrade to the forum software this morning, so you may have to log back in. When you log in, be sure to click the "remember me" box (to the immediate right of the username entry box) or you will be logged out again after 30 minutes of inactivity. If you've forgotten your password, you can reset it here; just enter the email address you used when you signed up.

Last night I performed deads for the first time since early January, which is when I injured my lower back. My back has not hurt at all for around two weeks, so I figured it was time for a test. I did the deads last in my workout so my back was nice and warmed up. I also only used four plates, and my form was textbook. By the end of the second set I could feel a bit of pain in the injured area, but nothing serious. I did a total of four sets and, thankfully, there were no "drop the bar and grab my back" moments. I knew this morning would be very telling, and I'm pleased that I'm not in pain right now. Still, there is a definite ache in the injured area. I'm not going to do deads again for a few more weeks, as I'm obviously not fully healed. 225 pounds may not be a lot of weight, but I'm still happy - especially considering that I couldn't even put on my own socks a month and a half ago!

Reminder: AtLarge Nutrition has been named the Official JSF protein sponsor. Details and money-saving coupon code can be found here.

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February 21, 2006

Some of the progress photos that have been posted on the forum recently are absolutely mind-blowing! If you are looking for inspiration, you'll want to check out some of the transformation/progress posts in the Fat loss forum, the Media Gallery forum and the Fitness Journal forum. You'll find hundreds and hundreds of people from all walks of life who decided to stop making excuses and start making real progress. These people are the reason why JSF is here. When I look at their pictures and read their stories, I become inspired all over again.

If you are fat, out of shape and/or unhealthy it takes guts to face up to that fact and then REALLY do something about it. I have an incredible amount of respect for our members, and feel honored to be part of their lives in some way.

Are you reading these updates, but still sitting on the sidelines? Stop procrastinating. Every day that you wait is another day wasted. Start now, face your problems and then fix them! We are here to help, but you have to start the process. Please, create a free account on the forums and start the ball rolling. Even if it's just to say "Hello, here's my situation" in the Introduction forum; it's a start, and every journey must have a beginning.

A couple of reminders, in case you missed yesterday's update: AtLarge Nutrition has been named the Official JSF protein sponsor. Details and money-saving coupon code can be found here. Also, the 2nd Annual JSF Cheat Meal photos are up.

I'd better get on the bike - lots to do today!

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February 20, 2006

The 2nd Annual JSF Cheat Meal photos are up! We have a huge batch of pictures this year - over 40. I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as we enjoyed making them.

I'm proud to announce that the new Official JSF protein sponsor is AtLarge Nutrition! As most of you know, AtLarge is already a trusted and well-respected sponsor of this site. AtLarge's protein powders have been gaining an incredible following on these forums - and that support came about based on nothing more than word of mouth; there has been no direct promotion of AtLarge's protein on our forums, or on this web site. Probably the biggest complaint we heard about our former protein sponsor was very slow shipping times and poor customer service. You will not have to worry about either of those things with AtLarge: Chris and Daniel take customer service very seriously, and there are already countless positive comments on the forum to prove it. Please feel free to post your reviews and comments in the existing AtLarge Nutrition review and discussion thread.

Here is a special message from Chris and Daniel, the co-owners of AtLarge Nutrition:

Daniel and I are very excited that John has chosen AtLarge Nutrition's Nitrean and Opticen to be the solely endorsed and advertised protein products on his website. We understand the importance of John's endorsement to both him and our company. We know that John does not lightly endorse any product and that he is only willing to work with the best.

As many of you already know AtLarge Nutrition has a select range of high quality proprietary nutritional sports supplements. Since our inception it has been our credo to only offer the highest quality products that truly work as claimed. We also pride ourselves on having the best customer service in the business.

Why should you choose Nitrean and or Opticen?
Both Nitrean and Opticen utilize a proprietary protein matrix consisting of whey (isolates, hydrolyzed, and concentrate), casein, and egg proteins. This blend of proteins is superior for all purposes to ANY whey-only product. This is no loose claim of 1000% greater effectiveness or anything of the like. It is a lab proven fact that the absorption rate of a given protein type has a direct effect on one's net retention of ingested protein. The blend in both Nitrean and Opticen will provide a superior net retention of ingested protein when compared to any whey-only product. As the goal of protein supplementation is to increase the amount of protein available for use by your muscles both Nitrean and Opticen accomplish this better than any whey-only product on the market.

The products' efficacy is one thing but we know that a protein powder has to taste good and mix well for anyone to use it over the course of time. Nitrean and Opticen mix and taste as good or better than any other protein products on the market.

AtLarge Nutrition will be offering JohnStoneFitness.com members a special 10% discount* on our entire lineup through March 1st in order to commemorate John's endorsement of our protein products!

Give us a try and get on the road to optimize your body!

* Simply enter "JSF" in the "discount coupon" section (on the payment method page) when you place your order.

 

There you have it! Have a great Monday, and I'll see you tomorrow!

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February 19, 2006

Last night's 2nd annual JSF cheat meal was a total blast! It was an honor to share dinner with such a wonderful group of people. I need to thank Roger (Bluestreak) and Chris (1FastGTX) for setting the whole thing up and making sure everyone got there. You guys did a great job - thank you!

Normally I am in bed by 10:00 PM or so, but last night I didn't get to sleep until after 1:00 AM. Of course the dogs woke me up early this morning for their food (but they did let me sleep an extra hour), so I am beyond sleepy right now. I think I'm going to have to do something I've not done in ages: take a nap this afternoon.

It's going to take me some time to get the picture album up: there were lots of cameras there, and I want to give everyone a chance to get their photos to me for inclusion in the album. I think we've got some real gems. I'll try to get it up later today, but it may take a little longer.

I'm running behind and dead tired, but I don't want to break my 19 day cardio streak. I'm going to finish off this pot of coffee and get on the bike. I'll post an update later if I have the JSF cheat meal album ready to go. Have a great day!

8:10 PM EST: The 2nd Annual JSF Cheat Meal pictures are finally UP!

Sorry for the delay - it took some time to get all the photos together because they came from 3 different sources. Then I had to go through and select which photos to use. Also, some of the photos needed to be re-sized, cropped, color corrected, etc. Then I had to write all the cheesy captions.

We have a huge batch of pictures this year - over 40. I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as we enjoyed making them. :)

Thanks to AbGuy and 1FastGTX for their photo contributions!

http://www.johnstonefitness.com/images/jsfcheat2006/

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February 18, 2006

Today's news is a little bit of sad news, and some good news...

First, the sad news: yesterday I severed my ties with my very first sponsor, All The Whey. As most of you already know, All The Whey has hit some bumps in the road over the past year. I made every effort to support them through their growing pains, but the problems seem to be getting worse, not better. The lack of communication - both to me, and to the customer - could no longer be tolerated. A report by one of our members of rude customer service was the final straw, and I felt I had no choice but to let them go. I will no longer be using any ATW products, and I no longer endorse or recommend ATW products. I'm sorry that it came to this, but I made my choice with a clear conscience: I can not support a company that treats their customers poorly and doesn't deliver as promised. The official announcement and discussion thread can be found here.

The good news is that on Monday a new protein sponsor will be in place. This company has a sterling reputation for customer service, and their protein powders have been earning practically unanimous rave reviews. I know the owners of this company, and I can tell you that these two guys are the type of people who will always follow through and will deliver the products and customer service that you expect and deserve. Look for the official announcement on Monday!

So, tonight is the 2nd annual JSF Cheat Meal. I'll have some pictures and stories for tomorrow's update (if I'm not in jail). It should be a crazy time!

I'm off to do cardio, have a great day!

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February 17, 2006

Last night's leg workout was a killer! I was feeling particularly strong; despite my cutting diet, I went up in weight on all lifts while keeping my reps the same as last week. It's only been 14 hours since my workout, but this morning I'm already starting to feel the beginnings of DOMS. Very satisfying.

Tonight is a big workout: arms and delts. I like the cardio aspect of this particular workout. This workout contains a lot of volume, and the bicep/tricep supersets are extremely difficult - especially after toasting my delts. Once the workout starts, it proceeds at a fairly relentless pace.

Tomorrow night is the 2006 JSF Cheat Meal! There are going to be a lot of new faces this year, and I'm really looking forward to meeting everyone and having a great time. I'll bring my camera, and will have some pictures up on Sunday or Monday.

Don't forget, the annual cheat meal is ALWAYS held on the 3rd Saturday in February. If you want to come to next year's get-together, then go ahead and pencil in February 17, 2007 on your calendar.

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February 16, 2006

I don't have much to report this morning, and I'm running behind (as usual). Rather than sit here trying to come up with something semi-interesting to say, I think I'm going to just hop on the bike and get my cardio done. Sorry about the short update. Enjoy your Thursday!

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February 15, 2006

I had my first "cheat" meal in two weeks for last night's Valentine's dinner. It was delicious! I made fillet mignon on the grill along with a garlic, herb & butter sauce, crab cakes and baked potatoes. Lisa and I also shared a very nice bottle of wine. The wine was my first alcoholic beverage in over three months. I enjoyed the wine while I was drinking it, but this morning I'm feeling somewhat run-down and less than 100%. Of course part of that run-down feeling might be due to lack of sleep, and that's all I'm going to say about that! ;)

I'm holding about 3 pounds of excess water right now. I hate how bloated cheat meals make me feel the next day. I'm going to be having another cheat meal this Saturday for the Annual JSF Cheat Meal, but after that I'm going to do away with them altogether for the rest of my cut.

Cardio time!

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February 14, 2006

I think I have a touch of a bug or something. Last night my throat was a little scratchy and, just before my workout, my stomach started bothering me. I almost skipped my workout, but I decided to go through with it anyway. I worked my chest and abs; doing ab work with a sour stomach is not the most pleasant activity in the world, but I got it done. This morning my stomach feels fine, and my throat is feeling better, too.

I'm glad that I'm feeling better, because Lisa and I have a nice Valentine's evening planned. Tonight will be my first "cheat" meal in 2 weeks. Actually, it's not even much of a cheat meal: I'm going to have a steak, a potato and a glass of wine. I'm taking off from work early, and will be doing my workout at 4:00 PM instead of 6:00 PM so that we can eat our dinner (my PWO Meal #2) around 7:00 PM instead of 8:30 or 9:00.

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February 13, 2006

I know many of you are snowed in right now, and are in no mood to hear about how "cold" it is in Orlando; however, it really is pretty cold for this part of the country. Last night the temperature where I live dipped into the upper 20s, and I ran the heat for the first time in a long time. We also built a nice fire last night. Because we knew it was going to drop below freezing, we covered a couple of our tropical plants, including the beautiful Sapphire Duranta ("Sapphire Showers"). We definitely don't want that one to die: it's one of the prettiest trees in our backyard!

Anyway, the Sapphire Duranta has grown to about 6 feet tall and once it was covered it looked like a ghost. This morning around 6:15 AM I let the dogs out, and they instantly FREAKED! Well, Loki did - Turtle barked a couple of times, but was so cold that she immediately ran back inside to watch the action from the comfort of our family room. In the pre-dawn light it looked as if someone was standing in our yard, so Loki repeatedly sounded his "alert" bark. Of course every other dog within two miles started barking along with Loki. Once Loki was within 10 feet of the "intruder", he crouched down and, growling and snarling, began to creep up on the plant. I had to run outside in my boxers with no socks on and bring him inside. I didn't mind - he's a good boy. Best dog ever!

Yesterday morning was pretty cold, too, and by the time I finished my cardio all the windows in my gym were steamed up and "sweating". It's time once again to generate my own heat on the bike. Have a good Monday - stay warm!!

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February 12, 2006

Yesterday was a very productive day. I got everything I wanted to accomplish done, including purchasing a new wardrobe. The new wardrobe was a must: after this last bulk I found that my old clothes simply no longer fit. Yesterday I purchased clothes large enough to accommodate my current weight of around 213 pounds, but I also kept in mind that in a couple of months I'll be around 13 pounds lighter than I am now. Most of this weight will come off my mid-section, and a little off my thighs.

When Lisa and I returned home with my new clothes, we went though all my old stuff to see what, if anything, I could still wear. Just for kicks, I tried on one of my old suit jackets. It was hilarious! I had to force my arms down the arms of the jacket; Once the jacket was on I could not lift my arms or button the front. You could clearly see the shape of my arms through the material, and when I flexed Lisa yelled at me to stop because it looked like the material was going to rip at the seams. I kind of wanted to see if I could do a "flex 'n rip", but the jacket is in good shape and I'd hate to ruin it. Lisa had to help me get the jacket off, and then on to the Goodwill pile it went - along with about a dozen shirts and several pants...

While we were shopping there were a few shirts that I really liked, but my arms were too big to wear them. For the most part, though, I had no problem finding shirts. Pants, however, are another story. Finding pants that are small in the waist but big enough to accommodate my 26 inch quads is tough. I found some jeans (Levis "569" jeans are big in the thigh), but forget about Khaki-type pants. I found some Khakis that sortta fit, but they were too tight in the thigh for my comfort. That's cool, I'm not a big Khakis guy anyway. I'm much more comfortable in jeans.

I'd better get going, it's cardio time. Have a great day!

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February 11, 2006

I'm rushing around this morning because somehow I made my haircut appointment for 8:30 AM. I make the appointments in advance, and I have no idea what I was thinking when I said "Sure, 8:30 AM sounds fine!" I've got to get the web site updated, have my coffee, do my cardio, shower and eat my first meal by 8:00 AM. After my haircut I'm coming back to pick up Lisa; we're going shopping for clothes and to then we're going to Costco.

I posted a cutting progress report and new picture in my forum journal. Here's a direct link to the latest entry.

Enjoy your day!

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February 10, 2006

A lot of people find cutting (fat loss) boring and tedious. I'm not one of those people. When our fat loss diets and training regimens are both in order, hard work and dedication is rewarded relatively quickly. I find it very gratifying and extremely motivating when I start to see visible results in the mirror and with the tape. These small (but frequent) improvements keep my motivation high, and make the sacrifices well worth it.

Sure, I have food cravings just like everyone else does, and sometimes I don't feel like doing my cardio; however, watching my body improve is infinitely more satisfying than any food I've ever eaten. When temptation is gnawing at me, I try to think about how lousy I'll feel the next morning if I were to give in: bloated, further from my goal and disappointment in my lack of self-control. Waking up in the morning after a day of clean eating and exercise is very rewarding. I love waking up knowing that the day before I did everything "right". It's a great feeling, because there are A LOT of temptations out there, and succumbing to those temptations is very, very easy. These temptations are what separates those who want health and a good body from those who actually have them.

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February 9, 2006

I woke up on time this morning, but it seems like everything is taking twice as long as it normally does. I should be getting on the bike right now, and I still don't have today's update done. Well, cardio trumps a long update, so this one is going to be short. If you're bored, go read the news archives: surely there's something in there that you've missed or forgotten. ;)

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February 8, 2006

I think a lot of people fall off the nutritional wagon because they fail to plan their meals and do not have the foods they need readily available. Not many people who can't even take the time to plan their meals in advance are going to go to the store when they realize they are out of what they should be eating. If you're out of chicken breasts and have a frozen pizza in the house, chances are you're going to be having pizza for dinner. Solving this problem is simple, but it takes some discipline. I always plan all my meals for the week in advance, and then I create a shopping list from those meal plans. We go to the grocery store once per week, and we only get the food items that we need for that week's meal plans. If you buy junk food, you'll eat it - so don't! If you have a weekly "cheat" meal you can get that while you are at the store, but it requires discipline to ignore those foods until your cheat meal actually rolls around. If you find yourself eating your "cheat" foods before you should, then don't buy them; order out for your cheat meal, or go out to eat.

As you probably know, proper diet is the keystone for fat loss. If you really want to succeed, then don't waste your time falling back on excuses because you didn't plan ahead.

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February 7, 2006

Last night was chest & ab night. The pecs portion of my workout went great, and then I decided to completely demolish my abs: I did twice the volume that I normally do, and after every set I felt like the wind had been knocked out of me. When I finished, I collapsed on the gym floor and didn't move for almost 10 minutes. Normally that would be the end of the story, but it's not...

... so last night I was lying in bed and was nearly asleep. I was really thirsty, so I decided to take a sip from the water bottle I keep on my nightstand. I tensed my abs and lifted my head up - almost exactly like a crunch - and started to sip the water. Suddenly part of my abdominal muscle cramped up! I've had calf cramps, leg cramps, pectoral cramps, forearm cramps and upper arm cramps but I've never had my abs cramp up before! Let me tell you - the pain is unreal! I tried to relax but the cramp did not go away. It looked like a scene from the movie "Alien": there was a noticeable protrusion where the muscle had cramped, and I was writhing around yelling out in agony. I finally got the cramp to go away by laying flat on my back and arching upwards. This morning I feel like someone stabbed me just above and to the left of my belly button. I hope I never have to go through that again!

If you missed yesterday's update, you'll want to check it out! We've added a new sponsor, and they have the lowest prices around on National brand supplements. You can always get to their web site by clicking their banner ad at the top of the forum. There is also a review and discussion thread.

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February 6, 2006

As most of you know, I've always strived to select sponsors that are the absolute best at what they do, and I personally endorse each and every one of them. While some amount of product overlap among our sponsors is unavoidable, I've also taken great care to choose sponsors that don't directly compete with one another. One area that, until today, has been a glaring hole in the JSF sponsorship lineup is a full-line, National brand retailer. Over the past year I've been approached by quite a few full-line supplement shops that wanted to sponsor JSF; I refused the offers, because there was one company that I knew was the best and I didn't want to settle for anything less. That company is Mass Nutrition. Let me tell you the story...

There are a number of products that I buy on a regular basis that our current sponsors don't carry - for example, supplements like Universal's Animal Pak and BSN's NO-Xplode, CellMass & Nitrix. I found Mass Nutrition almost a year ago because their prices were the absolute lowest I could find anywhere. I continued to purchase from Mass Nutrition ever since that first purchase because their customer service, shipping time, shipping rates and prices are the best I've ever seen. They are the "total package".

Once I realized how good they were, I approached them about becoming a JSF sponsor. Keep in mind that Mass Nutrition is the ONLY JSF sponsor I've ever approached "cold" - I was that impressed with them. When I first contacted Mass Nutrition about a possible JSF sponsorship, they were already involved in a number of advertising campaigns, and politely refused my invitation. I continued to order from them, and continued to let them know the door was always open. Last month, they finally accepted my offer, and I am proud to report that they are now a part of the JSF "family"! I can't tell you how excited I am about this partnership, and how strongly I recommend them. Here are just a few of the things I like about Mass Nutrition

I've been buying from Mass Nutrition for almost a year, and they've never let me down. I promise, you are going to love them as much as I do. Please check out their web site and give them a try. You won't be disappointed!

If you've used Mass Nutrition before and want to post a review, there is an Mass Nutrition official review and discussion thread on the forum. I encourage everyone to give them a try and post their experiences in the review thread.

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February 5, 2006

I love the new training schedule I'm following (see yesterday's update)! It's so nice to have my weekend evenings free again, and I don't mind the daily morning cardio sessions (in fact, I'm really enjoying them). I've already lost almost 8 pounds since I started cutting on Wednesday, and I am looking noticeably trimmer than I did when I took my February 1, 2006 pictures. I'd say roughly six pounds of that weight loss is water weight, and around 2 pounds is fat. It's amazing how drastically retained water affects our physiques. Anyway, I'm officially "in the zone" and feeling great about my progress. The hardest time for me is after my post-cardio meal: I tend to feel very hungry for a while, but that hunger goes away by the time I have my next meal. Other than that, I feel like I've completely adapted to the cutting program. Full steam ahead!

Be sure to check out tomorrow's update! JSF has added a major new sponsor, and I'm really excited about this partnership. More tomorrow, but right now it's time for my cardio.

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February 4, 2006

Now that I'm on SGX, I've moved from a 5-day split to a 4-day split. Basically I'm combining delts and arms and working them on the same day. I work delts first since they need the most attention, then I superset my biceps/triceps. Last night was my first of the arm/delt workouts, and it was a great one! I hadn't planned to take any pictures, but after the workout I measured my arms and was shocked to see that they measured 19 inches. That's a personal best, and especially surprising because I'm into my cut and I'm already down 7 pounds (as of this morning). More details on the workout and a picture to mark the occasion can be found in last night's journal entry.

I've decided to change my weight training days while I do SGX. I'm not changing the order of my workouts or the timings between workouts - I'm just shifting the days. The reason is because I want to keep my weekend evenings free, so I'm going to do all my weight training on weekdays. I do cardio 7 days per week, but at least now I won't be tied to the house on the weekends knowing I have an evening workout. Here's the split:

Monday: Cardio (AM); Chest & abs (PM)
Tuesday: Cardio (AM); Back & traps (PM)
Wednesday: Cardio (AM)
Thursday: Cardio (AM); Legs (PM)
Friday: Cardio (AM); Arms & delts (PM)
Saturday: Cardio (AM);
Sunday: Cardio (AM);

With the exception of a glass of wine on Valentine's day, I've decided that I'm not going to have any cheat meals or alcohol until the annual JSF cheat meal on the 18th. I haven't had a drink in something like 3 months, so I'm pretty used to that... but it's been a while since I went the "no cheat" meal route. I may take one day each week on which I'll eat extra calories, but no junk food whatsoever. I'm focused on one thing right now: fat loss and cutting. I don't want to do anything that stands in the way of that goal.

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February 3, 2006

Last night I worked my legs for the first time since I tweaked my back on January 6th. I was able to do everything but squats. While I don't consider leg presses a replacement for squats, they are certainly a great way to tax the quads without any lower back strain. With the Titan I have the option of low leg presses, high leg presses and even vertical leg presses. My back is feeling slightly tweaked this morning, so I know it's still healing. Realistically it will probably be at least another month before I can squat or deadlift again: I want to make absolutely sure it's fully healed before I put too much stress on it.

I'm amazed at how much water I've lost in just two days - I'm down to 218.8 pounds! That's a 6.2 pound loss since Wednesday. A small portion of that weight loss is fat, but most of it is the excess water I've been carrying around. My face and body don't look nearly as puffy and bloated as they did just 2 days ago. Now that I've shed most of the excess water I was holding, from this point forward the weight I lose will be almost entirely fat.

Cardio time for me, and then a busy day of work ahead. Happy Friday everyone!

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February 2, 2006

My first day of cutting went very well (my bulk is over, in case you missed yesterday's update). It's going to take me a few days to get used to the reduced caloric intake, but once I do I'll feel better than ever! In fact, I already feel really good because I know that I'm on the road to my summer body... I'm just a little foggy-headed right now.

I enjoyed yesterday's cardio more than I thought I would. I had a book all ready to go, but I never picked it up. I used the time I was on the bike to focus on my goals and think about how far I've come over the past three years. I've always found that visualization work wonders. I first learned the power of visualization when I was a competitive swimmer. The night before the meet and just before each race I would visualize the entire race in my head: the dives, pulling ahead with each stroke, every flip turn and touching first each and every time. When you can see what you want clearly in your mind and you allow that image to become part of your daily life, then making that dream into a reality becomes considerably easier.

Today is a dual-workout day: cardio this morning, and legs tonight. I'm still not able to squat, but I should be able to do leg presses, leg curls, calves and lunges. If I find that I can't I'll probably work my delts so I can focus on just my arms tomorrow.

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February 1, 2006

My bulk is over! Check out those pictures... The fat I've added and the water I'm holding really shows in the profile shot - just look at my gut and my face. Other than those two areas, I'm still fairly lean.

On to the good stuff! I'm very happy with the progress I've made: there have been noticeable muscle gains in every major area. In particular, my shoulders look considerably better than they did last month. Also, I see some nice lat and traps growth. My chest, quads, calves, forearms and upper arms are at all-time personal bests. Here are the final stats. All measurements were taken cold and flexed (before -> after):

Weight (pounds): 188.8 -> 225.0 (+36.2)
Body fat: 8% -> 14% (+6%)
- Lean mass (pounds): 173.7 -> 193.5 (+19.8)
- Fat (pounds): 15.1 -> 31.5 (+16.4)
Upper arms: 16" -> 17.5" (+1.5")
Forearms: 13" -> 13.75" (+.75")
Chest: 42.25" -> 44.25" (+2")
Quads: 22.5" -> 26.5" (+4")
Calves: 16" -> 17.25" (+1.25")

Here are a few pictures. Even though I'm carrying some extra fat right now, this set of pictures is pretty dramatic. The time between the first and second picture is 1 year and 7 months. My progress during that time was hampered by my hernia and shoulder injuries. The time between the second and third picture is 1 year and 6 months. I was relatively injury-free during that time.

January 6, 2003
215 pounds @ 30% fat

August 6, 2004
172 pounds @ 9% fat

February 1, 2006
225 pounds @ 14% fat
Front: January 6, 2003
Front: August 6, 2004
Front: February 1, 2006

Front View

Now that my bulk is over, I'll be cutting for the next 3 or 4 months. I plan to cut until I reach 7%-8% body fat.

I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who visits this site, and who has offered their advice, encouragement, support and inspiration. Of course I'd also like to thank SwoleCat for his excellent bulking program, SUP2. It's been a fantastic three years, but we're not done yet, so stay tuned!

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