Becoming a machine; first contest prep

makeitcount · Aug 13, 2012

Was looking at pictures from saturday night and think I'm gonna cut out cardio on w/o days, and up my cals to about 200 cals under maintenance. I'm pretty sure if I continue the way I am, I'm gonna end up losing wayyy too much muscle. I'd say where I'm at right now, I could be on stage in 3-4 weeks if I pushed hard...it's just damn mind games saying "You need to be absolutely shredded now!!!"

Will more than likely cut out the shitloads in favor of a smaller cheat meal 1/week. Prolly a pint of ice cream...love me some Ben + Jerry's Phish food!

ajdonutz · Aug 14, 2012

Do you feel your weekly binges have been aiding in fat loss/muscle retention?

makeitcount · Aug 15, 2012

ajordana said:
Do you feel your weekly binges have been aiding in fat loss/muscle retention?

The first one definately did. I was very run down before it, and could tell that it was needed. I'm not 100% sure about this latest one...I haven't baselined yet, so I'm kind of concerned. There are a few things besides the binge that might have an effect on that, but I'm going to play it safe from now on out...1 cheat meal/week will be all I have. I might do a high carb day right under maintenance if I feel really flat, but other than that, no weekly binges.

In future preps, I will only utilize binges if I feel like I absolutely need them. I DO think they have a place in a hard prep, but I don't think they're needed weekly.

makeitcount · Aug 16, 2012

Weight is up, but again, think its mainly water. Feel like I'm making progress in the mirror. Just for shits and gigs I used a keto strip earlier today and it shows small amounts of ketone bodies. Don't know what to think about that....a lot of guys say you don't want to go into ketosis.

And yes, I know I'm lame

ajdonutz · Aug 17, 2012

Damn bro lean as fuck.. looking great!

makeitcount · Aug 17, 2012

Thanks bro. Glutes are starting to come in, little by little. Interested to see how progress goes with only a cheat meal this week. Even with that meal, I think cals for that day will only be slightly above maintenance.

makeitcount · Aug 19, 2012

Cutting cals by quite a bit, but also reducing cardio as I have been dreading it. Also gonna play with my macro ratios to see if I can pull up my energy levels in the gym.

As far as my cheat meal, I'll be pushing that back until Wednesday instead of Sunday as usual.