I have 7 days left to try and get every last bit of definition possible.  I finally had a little breakthrough this week (maybe 7%), if I’m lucky.  Once you have gotten to this point, it is very difficult to lose any more body fat in 7 days, so it’s time to manipulate your carbs, water, and sodium intake so your muscles can look full for your event and you’re not retaining subcutaneous water.  The final 7 days are critical.  You must not lose focus.  One false move this week and you will blow it.  Hard days ahead, but only 7 hard days. [Read more…]

This thing is apparently broken.  Needle’s stuck.

It’s week three of my fat loss cycle and I’m starting to see some NOT very exciting results.  This time can get frustrating, but this is exactly when we need to keep our wits about us and forge on.  For me, fat loss has always been about making a hundred decisions every day.  Humans are governed by only 2 forces: 1. the desire to avoid pain and 2. The desire to have pleasure.  When I make the decision whether or not to eat a piece of chocolate, I must admit that the chocolate will bring me pleasure.  Sometimes, choosing not to eat the chocolate feels like pain.  I must remind myself that looking in the mirror and seeing belly fat brings me pain.  I must feel that pain when I am holding the chocolate.  Then I must walk away from the chocolate and know I am doing this because I seek the pleasure of seeing my abs in the mirror.  This process must be repeated hundreds of times for blacklisted foods.  It will get easier, but it will never get easy.

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This post is first in a series about fat loss.  Over the next few weeks, I’ll be posting about tactics I use and the protocol I’ve developed for cutting.  I am starting a 30 day cut.  I think I’m about 10% body fat in this picture.  I will be posting my progress.  (Shit, now I have to get rid of this belly hair.)

I guess I’m about 10% body fat here.

This plan works for me consistently whenever I need to cut up in a hurry.  Warning: I have never made serious mass gains when trying to cut body fat quickly.  If you are trying to build muscle, then you need to supply the body with an excess of calories, period.  Lean bulking is possible, but lean bulking is not cutting.  What I do most of the year is lean bulk, while keeping my body fat below 10%. This means most of the year I am eating plenty of carbs.  When it’s time to go to the beach or the pool is about to open, or it’s almost my birthday, I switch to this protocol.  Turning a year older is always easier when I can see my abs in the mirror. 

There are a thousand of protocols like this floating around the internet.  Honestly, most of them work if followed strictly.  (I have tried damn near all of them.)  I found the one protocol that works best for me uses the ketogenic diet as a basis with some of my own modifications.  [Read more…]