2 month progress pics, one month apart, after 2 months sober.

[DrivingForward]

It may seem that I spend a lot of money on food, but the thing is that I used to drink a lot of scotch... My older brother bitched me out a couple of months ago (He's a CPA and tax attorney, he does my taxes and book keeping) I was spending $2500 a week on eating out and booze!! It was not uncommon for me and my girl to go to places in downtown eat and drink $500 a night or even for lunch a couple of times per week... Hell a few times we went to the same restaurant twice the same day, once for lunch, then for dinner, each time was around $300...

I also drank a bottle of 15 year old McCallens scotch per day... Sometimes two... I did that for a month straight, started drinking since I woke up and wouldn't stop until bedtime... I had horrible withdrawls, thought I was going to die for sure, had pains in my stomach and wouldn't eat anything for a week, then that's when I decided to stop... The withdrawls were the absolute worst I've ever had in my life and I was addicted to a lot of substances in the past, those were easy to quit, the booze was not, I had seizures, I was having vivid hallucinations of demons for a week straight... I did a lot of praying and meditating and took a good look at my life and the people I was letting down, especially my son, that's really what made me hit rock bottom, when I knew that I had to change now...

So my girl told me that with all of that money I spend every night eating out and drinking, I could eat anything I want at home for the week...

She was absolutely right, plus I'm not ruining my health and fighting with everyone drinking so damn much... So as a reward for not drinking; I've been eating good quality, healthy food and supplements...

Right now my food bill for the week, is about 1/5th of what I was spending on booze and I feel great, best decision I ever made, my head is clear, I enjoy my diet and I'm making very good progress... Been without a single drink for 42 days now... and the last time I got drunk was at my little brother's wedding on the 15th of January... Every day I wake up, I feel grateful for having the strength to stay sober and that motivates me to eat right and get in the gym, get progressively better every day and maybe do another show...

Have you found a solution that works? I just did my taxes and learned that I spent $96k on my personal (not business) AMEX last year alone. Most was eating out, entertainment, And gifts for my wife. You don't realize it, because you pay AMEX in full every month. It really just says we're spending a fortune in this shit that distances us from our goals.

 

[Designbuilt]

Have you found a solution that works? I just did my taxes and learned that I spent $96k on my personal (not business) AMEX last year alone. Most was eating out, entertainment, And gifts for my wife. You don't realize it, because you pay AMEX in full every month. It really just says we're spending a fortune in this shit that distances us from our goals.

Exactly the same boat I was in... You have to set goals and limits... It's a lot easier to say than to do, I know that... Just set a budget write it down at the beginning of the month, set a limit as to how much you're going to spend on those things and follow through, put them on a calendar or chart and deduct whatever you spend for that month, then you know what you have left in your entertainment budget... Have a talk with your wife about it and come to an agreement, it's for both of your own good...

Besides, having a budget can be fun, that way, you can wait to spend it and the more you do, the more fun you can have when you do go out, or decide to buy a nice gift...

OR you can also look into getting a financial planner, I was using one that my brother recommended, but he was a real pain in the ass... Always calling me when I was busy... Although it's not a bad idea, I may looking into getting one again, especially this year, things are looking promising with some of my bigger clients and I want a solid plan in place... Otherwise the money seems to evaporate... It's surprising how fast and easily money can be spent without having anything to show for it...

I don't know how my dad did it, he made the least of anyone in our old neighborhood, because he didn't have the connections to get into the steel mills, he started at the bottom, at another steel mill that paid about the equivalent of about $10/hour today, he saved for a down payment for the first home, built equity and saved the rental income from the second unit, maintained good credit, made a budget and stuck to it...

A few years later, he bought another home that we moved into, rented out both units of the first and the next thing I knew, fast forward 15 years, he was retired in his early 50's and owned have of the south side of Chicago, I'm shocked at the people who know him...

There was 9 of us, my mom was a stay at home mom, but my dad managed to do it, It's all about discipline, organization and hard work...

One thing my dad told me since I was a kid was that you don't need to make a lot of money to become wealthy, you just need to work hard and not have any bad habits...

 

[JETHRO TULL]

Great work on the physique!

I am glad you are doing good with not drinking. That shit ruins people.
I don't do it either.
Impressive changes on the physique and with experimenting with your training.
In the past we used to visit quite a bit as far as responses to each other's threads

It is really good to see you have got your shit together! Hahahahahaha

 

[Designbuilt]

I am glad you are doing good with not drinking. That shit ruins people.
I don't do it either.
Impressive changes on the physique and with experimenting with your training.
In the past we used to visit quite a bit as far as responses to each other's threads

It is really good to see you have got your shit together! Hahahahahaha

Very good hearing from you! Training has been going ok, but I haven't been eating nor sleeping well.

 

[Designbuilt]

UPDATE

I've been out of it for a while, just absolutely swamped with work and really falling behind, so much that the city has threatened to suspend my license to file new building permit applications... I have to meet with them tomorrow to prevent that, a lot of it is out of my hands because clients are stalling on a lot of these projects and some of them I just fell behind on from too much work, so I haven't been that focused on the gym, have been going in maybe 3-4 times per week, but my diet is right on the money... I am eating a lot less, about 3 meals per day, two of them are shakes, mostly because of time, I cut down on the gh dose and switched the gear to primobolan, test prop and that's about it for now... the gh went from 10ius, to 15ius for a couple of weeks (mistake, felt like shit on that dose) back down to 5ius per day, morning and late afternoon... my bodyweight is down to 196, I slacked off on the legs, I was doing good, but feel too stiff from lack of sleep... I am looking pretty damn hard though, check it out... If I do a show, it will be in about two months, first weekend of July, but we'll see...

 

[G.I.Bro]

15iu! Jesus. What brand of gh do you use?

 

[Designbuilt]

15iu! Jesus. What brand of gh do you use?

black and greys, that only lasted about 10 days and I felt like hell from it, didn't feel like doing anything.

 

[Michael30]

You can really notice the changes in those last pics. Keep going you will really notice from now forward!! Good job!!

 

[Designbuilt]

Thanks man, I'm getting to the point that I feel major changes daily, but at the same time getting lazy and feel like giving up. too drained, but I know that if I push through this and keep going, I can achieve a conditioning I've never had before and a whole new look, i'm going to keep going, even if I have to take a small break here and there...

 

[TeknoViking]

Really big improvements man, keep on grinding!

 

[Pinit]

Well, I slipped up once or twice, but only had 2 drinks, once it was beer, the other scotch... Been 100% without a drink for 32 days as of today... Anyway, the first picture was taken in January, I was about 200lbs, second picture taken on the last day of February weight about 228 (I thought I looked good in clothes, liked feeling strong and full) but obviously once I took pics I noticed I looked like shit... (For some reason the 1st picture keeps failing... So I gave up... Take my word for it, I was small and flabby... Third was two weeks into my diet, I started trimming down the body hair a bit...

Glad to hear you're sober man

 

[Freedom15Muscle]

Well, I slipped up once or twice, but only had 2 drinks, once it was beer, the other scotch... Been 100% without a drink for 32 days as of today... Anyway, the first picture was taken in January, I was about 200lbs, second picture taken on the last day of February weight about 228 (I thought I looked good in clothes, liked feeling strong and full) but obviously once I took pics I noticed I looked like shit... (For some reason the 1st picture keeps failing... So I gave up... Take my word for it, I was small and flabby... Third was two weeks into my diet, I started trimming down the body hair a bit...

Huge progress from your starting pictures. Keep it up man, you look great.

Sent from my SM-G530P using Professional Muscle mobile app

 

[Designbuilt]

Thanks guys, the words of encouragement really help, sometimes I feel completely alone in this endeavor... I'm not around a lot of people who train seriously, my girl goes to the gym, but isn't interested in anything serious... I train at the Y because it's convenient, there are mostly post-menopausal women there at the front desk, they usually ask me if that's all I'm doing, that maybe I should do more, because my workouts are too fast! lol!

My younger brother used to train with me, but he's all but given up since a few months before he got married in January...


Besides that, these past two-three weeks have been hell, I had to finish up or at least address all of my pending projects at work... My hands were tied on most because it was up to the clients, their attorneys, etc... The ones I could fix, I did... So looks like everything is under control... As far as training, I haven't been training as hard as I should be, I get in there maybe 3 times per week and my mind's at work... However, my diet is right on the money and i'm getting unbelievably lean! I really am considering doing a show, I currently weigh between 192-194...


I will post some pics maybe on Monday, I need to shed some body hair again, I know the legs are definitely lagging, but my hamstrings have come up for some reason... I've been doing the seated leg curl with the settings to an extreme where I get a very big stretch... That's about all they have at the Y I train at, but my hams are definitely developing much better than they have in the past... My diet is a couple of shakes the rest seafood, just not as much food as I was eating, sometimes i'm so busy, I have to hold my damn piss for a good hour or two and my bathroom is only about 15 feet from where I work!

I just got my old phone to turn on, as of today, I'm 83 days without a single drink, I had it under control before then, but without any whatsoever it's been 83 days, so I'm proud of that, nearing the 100 day mark...

 

[Size2XXL]

DB cleaning up nicely brother! Keep at whatever it is you're doing because its definitely working :headbang:

Ditto this....! Good work, nice progress pics, they do a helluva Justice, profound difference in the first pics, and
what a dramatic difference having a that winter insulation
Removed too Loll.....! Keep it up man, look good in the latter shots.

******* What's up NOS.....? Good to see ya brother..!

~ Size2XXL

 

[DM2000]

Great work mate. Keep it up.

Sent from my SM-J700T1 using Professional Muscle mobile app

 

[Designbuilt]

Update

Here's some I took today, I know that my legs are really lagging, I've been neglecting them, actually everything, only trained twice last week, twice this week so far... But I'm going to get back into it, I'm definitely leaner though, this is at the tan bed... I weigh 194 at 5'10" So I do make the cut off for classic physique and I know I can put on some size because I've been under-eating, only about 2 meals a day the rest are a shake or two and now I switched to lbas... I've just been too busy with work, but getting it under control now...
I am more vascular, skin is thinner and if I do decide to do a show, the one I want to do is a month away... Otherwise, I can sit it out and maybe do a show in I think it's September or October, not sure, but put on some quality size on the wheels... I am definitely going to start hitting them harder now, but I'm afraid to go heavy on anything because I'm so dry right now... I'm open to suggestions...

 

[Designbuilt]

here are a few more I just took in my bathroom... I can tell that I lost some size, but I am at 194, so I make weight, still disappointed, I know the wheels have to come up and my lower abs don't really want to come in... The rest of my abs look good, the back looks ok, i'll get some better pics that someone else takes soon... I might just sit this out and wait until fall... We'll see, I want to get in one solid week of training in...

 

[alfresco]

great progress

I think you look just fine. Just keep plugging away.
All the best to you and your upcoming shows.

I don’t recall your age but as far as your legs and
lower abs are concerned . . . you are human (and
therefore a mammal) and as we age our waists
unavoidably thicken, legs tend to shrink and lose
strength and fat becomes increasingly difficult
to shed especially around our midsection. Again,
it’s the price you pay for being human. Just make
the best of you have and be happy with what you
have achieved which is perhaps the most difficult
part . . . much harder than training and dieting in
my opinion.

And congrats on your continued sobriety. That is far
more important than bodybuilding.

 

[Designbuilt]

I think you look just fine. Just keep plugging away.
All the best to you and your upcoming shows.

I don’t recall your age but as far as your legs and
lower abs are concerned . . . you are human (and
therefore a mammal) and as we age our waists
unavoidably thicken, legs tend to shrink and lose
strength and fat becomes increasingly difficult
to shed especially around our midsection. Again,
it’s the price you pay for being human. Just make
the best of you have and be happy with what you
have achieved which is perhaps the most difficult
part . . . much harder than training and dieting in
my opinion.

And congrats on your continued sobriety. That is far
more important than bodybuilding.

Thanks Alfresco, I'm a week away from 100 days and not missing it one bit... I'm 43, I didn't binge last night like I usually do after working on the computer and woke up a lot leaner just after one day... I didn't make it to the gym today though, just way too much going on, but tomorrow, I am going no matter what...

I like that there's a classic physique class, I think that's to my advantage because I'm very small boned... Then I heard that they have a masters classic physique class and that's also in the nationals...

So... Maybe that illusive pro card isn't that far out of reach, if I they had a say... 5'9 to 5'10 weight class for 194lbs and under, over 40, dark hair, Hispanic origin, who grew up on the south side of Chicago and works in architecture/building design, then I'd be set...

 

[Designbuilt]

here are a few more, one I took yesterday, one this morning of the wheels, I know I have some work to do, but I'm at 194ish, possibly less, the legs are hard, but need size... Crappy selfie, mirror pic, but you can get an idea...