Diet and Training Its a daily grind

[Alex A]

I was curious to hear from some of the members on this.

Which do you find more challenging....Sticking to your detailed diet with no cheating ? or busting out hard workouts day after day? Cardio seems to be an issue for many....

I personally have trained my body to follow a contest prep type routine year round..

I like this type of routine all year....but shopping for fresh food, cooking, cleaning, training, cardio, prepping food etc..its a grind...

But i wont change my ways. Everybody has different goals in mind... but reguardless of our goals we all have our challenges.. how is everyone doing?

 

[david2135]

I would have to say sticking to a diet without cheating. I have a broken foot from a car accident and still running atleast 3 miles 6 days a week. My goal is to lose weight though, so my view might be skewed compared to others.

I pretty much now prep all my food for a week on one day and then when I am ready to eat I dont use the microwave, I use a convection oven to reheat. It's made it alot easier for me, and I save a bit of money at the store buying larger portions.

d

 

[VTliftVT]

I love to diet...I say that bc there is NO better feeling than looking in the mirror and seeing changes day after day. When you get your body in that fat burning mode by keeping your diet tight and clean there is no better feeling. I love eating and sweating like hell shortly after and then being hungry shortly there after bc i know my body is doing what it supposed to do. When I cheat I just feel fat and I can tell it takes my body a while to get back into that fat burning mode and that sucks. I am currently working with Shelby for a show in September and the changes I have seen in my physique over the past week just gets me excited. I am scheduled for a cheat meal in a few days and I am NOT looking forward to it bc I love how things are currently going...but I know it's necessary so I will just have to take it and enjoy it haha.

I love training as long as I am not completely exhausted. Lately the grind for me has been getting enough sleep. Over the past 3 weeks I may have had 3-4 nights that I have slept more than 4-5 hours total. So leg days are tough at times due to the amount of energy I know I will spend and the pain that you have to push through to get things done right.

I hate sitting at the house so cardio, shopping for food etc isn't a problem. I love to be in the gym and not lying in bed or watching TV or something unproductive so those things I actually look forward to.

 

[MAINEVENT]

The training is the easiest for me.....i just love to workout. I have come to enjoy cardio believe it or not.

Its the diet for me....not so much what i eat but cooking it and having it prepared that seems to be the hardest.

 

[EasyEJL]

cardio by far.

Sticking to a diet is easy as you just make sure you have some cheats built in. Whether its 2 meals a week, 1 open day a week or whatever the frequency is, at least you can then focus on that day/meal and go with

"i'm going to Molly GoodHead in Ozona saturday for my cheat meal and having fried calamari and the shrimp fettucini and stopping by Strachnan's ice cream on the way back for 2 scoops of maple walnut" and knowing that will keep me eating whatever the rest of the week

 

[bigguns078]

I love to cook.. Don't mind shopping or prepping food.. I love training hard.. Now that i cut back on volume (sets, reps, and days in the gym) I sometimes get anxious about my next session..

I hate early morning cardio.. The last thing i want to do is roll out of bed and drive over to the gym... I have to shower and eat breakfast before i even walk my dogs...

Diet is fine.. Except for late night cravings.. Especially since i train early evening.. Weekends pose many threats for cheat meals since you have social occasions with friends and family..

 

[Diesel City]

I love the training aspect and everything that goes with it.

What I'm getting burned out on is cardio. It's not that it's hard, I just get really bored...

 

[HawaiiMuscle]

Dieting is a breeze compared to training hard and testing your pain threshold each and every work out. Its a challege each workout trying to get progessively get stronger. With that comes pushing heavier and heavier weight each time, which takes a lot of guts. Not many are willing to do this, thus they stay the same wieght year after year. Training by far!

 

[pesty4077]

I know this is going against the grain, but the Diet is the easiest for me. I think Cardio for me is the hardest, mostly because it is boring. The Training comes in second, because for me to get in superb shape at close to 50 it hurts alot more. I am not complaining about none, because to see the results and know I can look as good as some 1/2 my age, it is well worth the sacrafice.

 

[Theatrix]

I would have to say Diet. Always looking for easy meals. I'm in a fortunate position that I have a full kitchen in my business, but I still hate having to take the time out every couple of hours to prepare. It breaks my concentration in the office from what I need to do in my work day. But it is what it is!

 

[mo chuisle]

This is a very timely question, as I'm currently struggling with maintaining my diet in the off-season. During contest prep, I don't have a very difficult time sticking to my diet because I have a concrete goal, and foods not in my diet aren't even options. Off-season, however, they become options ... and I find myself starting to reach for foods I normally wouldn't even touch. I make conscious choices each day to eat or not eat certain foods that appeal to me. It gets a little easier each day to make the right decision - to stay on my diet and choose clean, healthy foods. Also, I find the weekly food prep really easy and a comforting routine. I don't have to stress about what I'm going to eat each day because it's already planned out.

Training ... I LOVE to train. Even on the days I don't feel like going to the gym, I still go and always feel better afterward.

Cardio ... Booooooooorrrinng!! I tell myself it's "Me Time" in order to psych myself up for it. I also think of it as "Research Time" where I can catch up on all the bb mags and industry gossip.

~ Mo

 

[abolish the weak]

Def. the diet. training is easy. The first 6 wks out from a show the diet is not bad for me, the last 6-8 wks is hell. I often wake up in the morning feeling loopy and drugged, the days just keep passing by. I get to a point where I couldn't tell you if it was a Mon or a Fri, day after day its all pretty much the same minus the changes my body makes. People become an issue as well, everyone wants to constantly talk about it and ask you why you are doing the things your doing to yourself. They go on about how your never happy and "dont you get sick of carrying a cooler everyplace?" It just really gets old, to the point I hardly answer them anymore.

 

[SOCOM]

Hey Alex!

Im excited about having you as my trainer and about the diet/workout plan you have set up for me. I really enjoy busting my workouts after work, even more after one of those days when someone pisses you off and you need to let out some aggression..and I like doing cardio because it gets my mind off of everyday bullshit and I sleep better. But for me sticking to a diet requires a bit more commitment but definetley more rewarding in the long run.

 

[abolish the weak]

The thing I respect and like about ya Alex, is you seem to have found a way to make contest dieting more so of a regular diet for you, you've found a way to make it work and the conditioning shows. I'm trying to modify my off season diet to look more like your routine. If you diet year round, then when you really decide to contest prep you just look insane, and I dont think the modifications are as much of a shock on the body and coming in peak is more in your control, wouldn;t you agree?

 

[RONJON]

For me the diet is easy. Its the buying of the food that sucks! I guess when you are still trying to make it to be a PT its a hard journey and it gets tough on the pocket book.

The training is hardest. I sometimes have trouble getting fired up to train. Recently though Ive been getting really hyped and the training has been superb!!!

Rj

 

[Gutz4glory]

I like to train. Cardio sucks but I feel fantastic afterwards. Diet is my problem by far I can eat it but I hate to cook and prepair it its just a pia for me.

 

[Alex A]

Awesome posts everyone...It seems like we got some of the best posting on this one.

It seems like this forum attracts more of the serious types, even the beginners here are much more serious.. I respect that.

Personally, as i mentioned and Main Event and Pesty also many agree that the grind is not so bad...

Abolish The weak: you got it man... As a competitor, i have to do what i have to do to prepare for my shows and i really dont know if i bodybuild all year to compete or just compete because i body build all year..

What i do off season compliments what i do on stage..

I want to be competitive at the biggest show of the year...and It is one of those shows that takes a few years to nail it. And my goal is to nail it . And i will work for years non stop to get there.

Then again, competition aside.... I want to look like a competitor all year long.. Thats just me.. Thats what i like..

My legs never get a break from the cardio, lots of food to cook, clean, measure and weigh up. A lot of shopping, and cleaning a lot of training And yeah bodybuilding is on my mind all the time despite a lot of commitments to my kids and wife..

Also, for me, i want to set an example to the many on here that have put me in their corner, past and present.

Most recently i want to acknowledge SOCOM who is having me help him. He can hang with the daily grind day in and day out in the gym, follow a planned out diet and be held accountable. Hes no beginner but wanting to learn and get better, before he knows it, cooking up those meals will be as easy as feeding his dog.

We all have our challenges, but think about it.. We all have on thing in common.... To look and feel good ...

and we are all here in an attempt to better ourselves.. Thanks for being part of the journey with me.

 

[SABAGOY]

Dieting is a breeze compared to training hard and testing your pain threshold each and every work out. Its a challege each workout trying to get progessively get stronger. With that comes pushing heavier and heavier weight each time, which takes a lot of guts. Not many are willing to do this, thus they stay the same wieght year after year. Training by far!

I couldn't have said it better myself! Sticking to my diet and not cheating is EASY compared to giving it all you got each and every time you hit the gym.

 

[tkav1980]

In physics space and time are interwoven into the same thing. you always measure one with the other not against it. same goes for training and diet. IF your doing your job both should be fantastic challanges. with progressive weight comes progressive eating to build the new tissue. i think about every meal and every rep the same way, or at least i try to. that i only have one chance to do this and get it right. thats where we seperate ourselvs from the masses of people who year after year remain the same. we force ourselvs out of our comfort zones in to strange waters to accomplish what shouldn't be possible. seriously...have you looked at the physiques on this board? Phil, Alex,B-Boy, Big A, Dante, Dusty...and on and on....to most people that type of physical development really borders on impossible. but not us. we smash ourselves into wall after wall chasing a new level of mass,power,strength,mental toughness after a goal that we see as perfectly attainable if we prove to ourselvs that were tough enough to go get it. all while taking beatings every day from the iron. coming back from injuries, forced layoffs because life got in the way and so on. acting with a single minded purpose of doing what others cant or wont. taking the harder path and literally forging our bodies uner the force of iron and sheer will. so, if both your diet and your training arent a nearly impossible undertaking on a daily basis your shortchanging yourselves somewhere.

 

[SABAGOY]

if both your diet and your training arent a nearly impossible undertaking on a daily basis your shortchanging yourselves somewhere.

I really liked your post and I understand this mentality for training but not dieting...unless you are training to be a competitive eater...Why do you feel you have to push yourself like this on your diet, especially since you have worked with Phil in the past and understand his dieting strategies...providing my body with the amount it needs and when it needs is pretty easy...Do you believe in force feeding yourself for growth is necessary now? Just curious if you could elaborate more on this.