We cuttin now ✂️

[Smont]

I see people all the time over the years posting pictures or videos in a dark gym 4:00 a.m. and they're the first person there, like this is hardcore. This is how you become the man, motivation to the masses, did you get your lazy ass up yet.... And to those motivation spreading warriors I say ........ STFU, this hobby isn't hardcore it just makes us morons, you're not gangster for getting up at 4:00 a.m. on a Saturday, you're just an idiot who could have slept in for two extra hours and then made a big ass breakfast, maybe rolled over and banged your girl first for some morning sex before she cooked your eggs. But nope, you decided to be hardcore, you're so hardcore your girl is going to be pissed off that you're not there in the morning that she has to eat breakfast by herself and then she's going to send you back out to get her a dunkin' donuts coffee.

Oh well, maybe it's the need to always be in better shape, or maybe it's the brain damage from getting punched in the head too much because you're 41 and your reflexes aren't as good as they used to be lol

In the words of the late great DMX, Here we go again!

 

[Smont]

185 this morning, got the first workout in obviously and I felt pretty drained so I decided to start a little half ass carb load.

I forgot to track that I added a quarter teaspoon of a mixture of pink Himalayan salt and regular salt. Not that that really matters but the sodium is more like 1150 milligrams sodium.

Shooting for 400 carbs without going over 2400 cal

 

[Smont]

Hit my numbers yesterday, but , went over my calories by 150.

Woke up 189.7

Did 3.1 mile jog fasted in 36min. Very easy pace, I could have had a full conversation no heavy breathing at all. But my lower back and knees do get a little irritated when I run.

186.4 post run. Going into work for 6-7 hours and I'll eat from 10pm till midnight tonight.

Il float through work with a coffee and some caffeinated sparkling Waters from Aldi. 70mg per can.


I have a temporary deadline for November 14th, weight class is 176lbs, so I'm just going to set myself a goal of dropping 10 lb over the next 3 weeks to make this weight class and that's going to be a one-day thing, and I'll make assessments from there. All likely weigh in at 176 that day and finish the day at 185 I just know myself and that's what's going to happen lol.

Nothing really to train for, it's all going to be cardio and conditioning related so I'm just going to keep doing what I've been doing

 

[Smont]

Blood work and my physical got rescheduled I can't do either until after November 1st but I'm going to have both of them done the first week of November

 

[Hyde]

I mean, if 4am is the only time you have to train then it’s hardcore. But if you could have gotten more recovery first then yeah, you should have stayed in bed lol.

 

[Smont]

I mean, if 4am is the only time you have to train then it’s hardcore. But if you could have gotten more recovery first then yeah, you should have stayed in bed lol.

Not if you wanna be a top G! Some ppl go to the gym at 8am and do warm ups to get there body ready to handle the workout.

But I go to the gym at 4am so I can get the gym warmed up to handle me!


Edit: some idiot will read this down the road and treat it like I'm serious, and to that idiot I say.....

It's 4am, do you know where your gym membership is?

 

[Smont]

no legs or eggs again this morning, just me, the cold empty gym and this photo that looks like it was taken with a Polaroid instant camera, and somebody didn't wave it around in the air enough to make the ink dry in time. O well, today's punishment was 10 rounds, 2min each and 1 min between.

Post workout meal was 1050 cal and 95gm protein, 17gm carbs and the rest fat. I just decided I was splitting up my food today and not doing the back loading thing.

 

[Hyde]

A lot of Sundays nobody comes to the gym when I do (usually arrive 8-9am). I will arrive alone & often stay alone, which I don’t prefer - but if I only trained when other people could come, I’d have no gains! The training has to get done if you want results, so you either want it enough to pound away or not. I often have to remind myself that I can truly leave anytime I want. Nobody is watching or cares.

That’s the part I think people miss: the path has been laid out for us. Take X drugs, follow Y diet manipulations, and train in a Z fashion - that’s the recipe to get really jacked and/or strong. It is not hidden or overly-complicated really. It’s just very difficult for most to actually walk the path, consistently, for a long time. It’s going to take a lot of being hungry, or full, or uncomfortable, or side effects, and it’s definitely going to take a lot of brutal work where nobody will be there to push you or hold your hand through it.

You have to just want to be at the gym at 4am lol

 

[Dustin07]

I found while i don't like the bitterness of coffee for some reason sips from an espresso have a different bitter quality that makes it enjoyable in the same way that sipping whiskey is for me.

yessir, I get that from like a really good espresso with that crema (I think thats what its called??) layer. last Christmas got my wife one of those nespresso machines and the pods are kinda pricey but they make a great espresso! really good for black coffee too. otherwise we've been running cafe bustello this week on the drip.

you're just an idiot who could have slept in for two extra hours and then made a big ass breakfast, maybe rolled over and banged your girl first for some morning sex before she cooked your eggs.

LOL this is exactly why I usually don't join my buddy for his 6am golf tee times on the weekend. I'm like WTF dude are you celebate? also I hope you mean literally cooking chicken eggs and not some metaphor I'm unfamiliar with.

There is a huge push in the fitspo social media world on the before work lifting. I see how it really works well for some people but my favorite time of day is like 10am if I can, otherwise after work, unrushed, with time to finish in the sauna or hot tub and shower off if I feel like it. Morning sessions are awesome in their way, but I always struggle to get hydrated enough and hate feeling rushed to work or packing work clothes to the gym.

 

[Smont]

A lot of Sundays nobody comes to the gym when I do (usually arrive 8-9am). I will arrive alone & often stay alone, which I don’t prefer - but if I only trained when other people could come, I’d have no gains! The training has to get done if you want results, so you either want it enough to pound away or not. I often have to remind myself that I can truly leave anytime I want. Nobody is watching or cares.

That’s the part I think people miss: the path has been laid out for us. Take X drugs, follow Y diet manipulations, and train in a Z fashion - that’s the recipe to get really jacked and/or strong. It is not hidden or overly-complicated really. It’s just very difficult for most to actually walk the path, consistently, for a long time. It’s going to take a lot of being hungry, or full, or uncomfortable, or side effects, and it’s definitely going to take a lot of brutal work where nobody will be there to push you or hold your hand through it.

You have to just want to be at the gym at 4am lol

Oh yeah dude, whether you're talking about nutrition training or drugs, consistency is always the game killer.

It's really hard to stick to that same path and do what's on the piece of paper over and over and over again, but that's what builds all the greatest physiques and the greatest athletes in the world.

Who can do the most, the most consistently, for the longest amount of time.


I've actually only been coming to the gym this early because I've been awake by 3 most days lately , I'm probably not actually starting my workouts till 5:00 or 5: 30. It's usually around 4:00 a.m. when I make the decision to go get it out of the way, and getting workout in before the day starts makes double sessions easier. Sometimes if I don't have to work at all which I don't on many Mondays, I'll hit the gym three times throughout the day. When will usually be a serious conditioning session, one will usually be some weight training, and at least once while I'm there I'll be working on just random things. I might try some new exercises or new angles, I might work on my footwork or agility. Maybe flexibility. I'll just do something random. There's actually quite a few of us who are in and out of the gym several times a day. Basically all the self-employed guys.

 

[Smont]

I don't know if this counts as cardio but I got like 4 hours worth of trimming to do

 

[Smont]

After trimming I usually hop on my fingertip skateboard

 

[Dustin07]

After trimming I usually hop on my fingertip skateboardView attachment 264061

probably helps that your fingers have that sticky icky grip after lol

 

[Smont]

probably helps that your fingers have that sticky icky grip after lol

Yeah bro it's like pine tar! But better

 

[Smont]

Edit: lots of rambling ahead



I just want to preface this by saying it's my own fault, I am in way too much of a deficit and doing way too much cardio and I'm really trying to fast forward some things at the cost of others.

I'm having food issues lol, I've been starving all day and I have not let myself have a second meal because something is making me guard my last 950 calories until later in the night because I'm too afraid to eat them early. I did a second workout, couple machine exercises for chest and triceps, little bit of light dumbbell stuff with 30s for shoulders, did another 6 rounds on the bag, and I'm starving, but I don't want to use my calories yet.

My calories are not concrete at 2000, I had 2550 on Sunday, I had a day that was 1700ish and only like 135 g of protein because I fell asleep before my last meal. When I'm eating 3500 calories a day, I don't even have to think about protein, it's like impossible to not get over 200. It's usually closer to 275 because I'll aim for 200 through my actual protein sources and then I'll get another 75 G from things like sourdough, peas, beans, sweet potatoes and a good amount of lactose-free milk, Now I have to prioritize protein or I run out of calories for the day.

I got tons of grilled chicken, I got all the ingredients to make burrito bowls, what I'm thinking about taking a cup of those beef chili that I made and using that as a base to the bowl. Then put all the chicken and taco bowl style toppings on top of it.

So it would basically be chicken, beef, three different kinds of beans, corn, cheese, lettuce, veggies and salsa, maybe a big plop of Greek yogurt and some powdered ranch, hot sauce ect. . Got a avocado that really needs to get eaten as well but it's a lot of f****** calories. I'll probably have that tomorrow morning with eggs and cottage cheese

 

[Smont]

I'm also noticing my personality change as I get hungry and tired. Like a bad little kid

 

[MrKleen73]

I'm also noticing my personality change as I get hungry and tired. Like a bad little kid

You are getting HANGRY!!! That can be a dangerous situation. More often for others... Maybe have some psyllium husk fiber around for those moments when the hunger is out of control butyou have to wait for hours for that last meal. That or feed right after the session, suck it up and go to bed hungy so you can burn more fat while sleeping and you can't feel the hunger.

 

[Hyde]

Been doing Benefiber at the full 4tsp twice per day last couple weeks per bottle for appetite control (and primarily lipids and regularity on keto). Definitely feels like hunger has dropped some.

Mixes clear, no texture, no taste, seriously could spike any drink with it. Stuff is absolutely amazing, nothing like psyllium husk sludge.

 

[MrKleen73]

Been doing Benefiber at the full 4tsp twice per day last couple weeks per bottle for appetite control (and primarily lipids and regularity on keto). Definitely feels like hunger has dropped some.

Mixes clear, no texture, no taste, seriously could spike any drink with it. Stuff is absolutely amazing, nothing like psyllium husk sludge.

I might have to try this that psyllium husk is exactly that sludge. If you don't drink it fast enough it is super gross.

 

[Dustin07]

my wife has been making us a morning shot of ginger, turmeric, pepper, lemon, chia seeds, bitters, lemon juice, coconut, water, and salt thats pretty good but can get sludgy, which bothers her a lot more than me lol. I don't know how she landed on that recipe but if it were me the only other thing I'd add might be apple cider vinegar.

 

[MrKleen73]

my wife has been making us a morning shot of ginger, turmeric, pepper, lemon, chia seeds, bitters, lemon juice, coconut, water, and salt thats pretty good but can get sludgy, which bothers her a lot more than me lol. I don't know how she landed on that recipe but if it were me the only other thing I'd add might be apple cider vinegar.

That sounds like quite the shot, how long does it take to prepare it or does she do a batch for like a week?

 

[Dustin07]

That sounds like quite the shot, how long does it take to prepare it or does she do a batch for like a week?

she's been making a batch of it, about shaker sized. so probably around 20oz? when she pours the coffee in the morning she' pours us each a shot of this new miracle concoction lol. I like chia seeds, I think the legend is that Aztec warriors counted on them for battle and travelling.

 

[Hyde]

she's been making a batch of it, about shaker sized. so probably around 20oz? when she pours the coffee in the morning she' pours us each a shot of this new miracle concoction lol. I like chia seeds, I think the legend is that Aztec warriors counted on them for battle and travelling.

Aztec warriors also had to fight with weapons primarily made of wood.

Old is not better - better is better

 

[Dustin07]

I'll take the placebo effect lol these chia seeds make me a great warrior.

 

[Smont]

Edit, I thought I posted this yesterday. The full body workout was Tuesday. The cheat was Tuesday night and the sparring and everything else was Wednesday (yesterday)


Did a 1.5hr full body workout last night and then I had a 2361 calorie cheat meal/****-load, and honestly, no harm no foul. Seems like once a week I need/tolerate a sloppy refeed. Slept like ****, woke up at least 10 times, finally got up at 5am, 186.5, had the same bloated stomach and bubble guts in the morning but I took some Pepto and by 730 i hit the gym fasted (5 calorie flavored sparkling water with 70mg caffeine)

Walked in the door at the perfect time. With pretty much no warm ups for either of us I got 5 rounds with my boy, Pro MMA and Pro Bare knuckle boxer. He definitely let me live a few times but we probably got 3 good ones in before I started gassing out. After that I thew on a second sweat suit and bundled up and did.

3 rounds jumping rope
2 shadow boxing
5 rounds rotating through cardio equipment
Rowing machine
Wind bike
Ski machine
Elliptical
Incline treadmill.

Still haven't ate. I went and did a job right after the gym that took about 5-6 hrs of walking around, up and down stairs and carrying a few 50lb buckets.

Did a 2.2mile mini hike around 5pm

And then had 2200 calories between 7pm and 11pm

 

[Smont]

Next phase of my diet. 5 low days 2 med-high days.

 

[Smont]

 

[MrKleen73]

Getting into the nitty gritty here! I love it. I am more than likely cutting my 2nd day off of my carb refeed on the weekend to increase my deficit for these last 4 weeks of this transformation contest.

 

[Hyde]

Getting into the nitty gritty here! I love it. I am more than likely cutting my 2nd day off of my carb refeed on the weekend to increase my deficit for these last 4 weeks of this transformation contest.

Based on your response last weekend and especially your timeline being aggressive, no slow like mine, I really think that’s the right play. Just the one measured hi carb day every 7. DiPasquale set the Anabolic Diet up as a lifestyle to be used indefinitely largely. But in the Anabolic Solution for Bodybuilding he makes it very clear that 1 day, even shorter windows like Carb Nite type, will be necessary for some based on response and goals. He talks about how if you need to get down to 1,400 calories in a prep, there really isn’t going to be much fat in play either - you’re getting closer to a PSMF with a bit of fats for hormone production basically.

 

[Hyde]

You know Smont if you stopped wasting 120 calories on that bs creamer you’re using you could have another 30g protein or carbs.

I use Coffee Mate Zero Sugar if I don’t drink it black, and it’s 10 calories per tbsp, basically just a gram of fat with artificial sweetener. And it’s good! I usually will use 30ml/20 calories worth for a 10oz cup.

 

[Dustin07]

I use Coffee Mate Zero Sugar if I don’t drink it black, and it’s 10 calories per tbsp, basically just a gram of fat with artificial sweetener. And it’s good! I usually will use 30ml/20 calories worth for a 10oz cup.

I always figured I ended up with 4-6 servings if I used that stuff so if i'm on a cut I just skip it entirely and keep my 2 cups of black coffee per day. 3 cups if I'm fasting.

 

[Hyde]

I always figured I ended up with 4-6 servings if I used that stuff so if i'm on a cut I just skip it entirely and keep my 2 cups of black coffee per day. 3 cups if I'm fasting.

Moderation is key. So is weighing your food so you know what you’re getting.

 

[Dustin07]

Moderation is key. So is weighing your food so you know what you’re getting.

yeah but 2 servings of that stuff tastes worse than black coffee and not as good as 6 servings so I go all or nothing. thats probably why I've grown to like fasting more than daily deficits too, lol.

 

[MrKleen73]

yeah but 2 servings of that stuff tastes worse than black coffee and not as good as 6 servings so I go all or nothing. thats probably why I've grown to like fasting more than daily deficits too, lol.

Well moderating in that aspect could just be one coffee with the creamer, and one black. So you get one coffee the way you prefer it, and the second just as a pick me up.

 

[Smont]

You know Smont if you stopped wasting 120 calories on that bs creamer you’re using you could have another 30g protein or carbs.

I use Coffee Mate Zero Sugar if I don’t drink it black, and it’s 10 calories per tbsp, basically just a gram of fat with artificial sweetener. And it’s good! I usually will use 30ml/20 calories worth for a 10oz cup.

I quit drinking booze almost 8 years ago. My coffee is my long time replacement. And I like my coffee like my ladies, Tan and bitter. I don't enjoy black coffee or coffee with skim milk or any of those things.

So the alternative would be I stopped drinking coffee in the morning and have a monster for 10 calories instead. But I will have a look at that creamer.

I was also thinking about using half of a vanilla protein shake with my coffee and that would make it 15 G protein and half the calories. I'm getting to the point where I'm going to have to get out of my comfort zone very soon anyways though, I'm probably going to be dropping coffee soon, il be cutting most of the dairy out of my diet with the exception of Greek yogurt and cottage cheese. And I'm getting to the point where I'm almost ready to start doing just meet and vegetables. But before I do that, I'm going to rock with this meal plan for the next 2-3 weeks and see what I can squeeze out of this.



ALSO!

Monday after my physical and all that, I'm starting up the cycle. I'm not going heavy because I'm going to save the gas for when I'm bulking back up.

Test is going up to 250mg, ment is going to 50mg, I'm gonna go through 4-6 weeks on 20-30mg rad 140 daily and I think when the rad is done I will wrap this but up with 250 test, 100 ment, 100 tren (E and A 50/50) after the I'm satisfied with my leanness I'll drop the ment and tren and start working testosterone up and adding GH. (Or so that's the plan at the moment). You know everything's always up in the air with me though, I play Life by ear lol

 

[MrKleen73]

I quit drinking booze almost 8 years ago. My coffee is my long time replacement. And I like my coffee like my ladies, Tan and bitter. I don't enjoy black coffee or coffee with skim milk or any of those things.

So the alternative would be I stopped drinking coffee in the morning and have a monster for 10 calories instead. But I will have a look at that creamer.

I was also thinking about using half of a vanilla protein shake with my coffee and that would make it 15 G protein and half the calories. I'm getting to the point where I'm going to have to get out of my comfort zone very soon anyways though, I'm probably going to be dropping coffee soon, il be cutting most of the dairy out of my diet with the exception of Greek yogurt and cottage cheese. And I'm getting to the point where I'm almost ready to start doing just meet and vegetables. But before I do that, I'm going to rock with this meal plan for the next 2-3 weeks and see what I can squeeze out of this.



ALSO!

Monday after my physical and all that, I'm starting up the cycle. I'm not going heavy because I'm going to save the gas for when I'm bulking back up.

Test is going up to 250mg, ment is going to 50mg, I'm gonna go through 4-6 weeks on 20-30mg rad 140 daily and I think when the rad is done I will wrap this but up with 250 test, 100 ment, 100 tren (E and A 50/50) after the I'm satisfied with my leanness I'll drop the ment and tren and start working testosterone up and adding GH. (Or so that's the plan at the moment). You know everything's always up in the air with me though, I play Life by ear lol

Are you running a cycle just to avoid more muscle loss as you try to get down for that fight or competition whatever you said you had to be in the 170's for?

 

[Dustin07]

Well moderating in that aspect could just be one coffee with the creamer, and one black. So you get one coffee the way you prefer it, and the second just as a pick me up.

dude that is hilarious cause thats actually exactly what I do when I'm not cutting. first cup with wife, add creamer. get to work, any additional cups are black lol

usually same thing saturday mornings. even if I am cutting, we always have coffee together and watch a show or whatever. first cup I'll make however I want, additional coffee is black.

 

[Dustin07]

I quit drinking booze almost 8 years ago. My coffee is my long time replacement. And I like my coffee like my ladies, Tan and bitter. I don't enjoy black coffee or coffee with skim milk or any of those things.

the reality is that not drinking alcohol for the avg person is probably 1400+ calories a week. What do they say is the "accepted" level? like 2 drinks per day for men? if thats an IPA that could be 400 calories a day. wine would be like 250 calories. if it were 2 shots of a high proof bourbon, like say 120 proof, that right there is about 1 calorie per proof point, so 240 cals x 7 days a week is 1680 calories just in liquor which would be about 1 full day of an average natty persons calorie intake on a cut.

 

[Hyde]

Yeah if you wanted more protein for same calories like I mentioned then using a protein powder/RTD as creamer is definitely a great play.

The reality of that or using the no-sugar coffee mate is that it’s not going to taste the same as a hi-cal creamer, whether that’s from high fat, sugar or often both. But it’s pretty good, if you just need something, and works towards your goals instead of against them.

Of course, if something is THE thing that’s truly important to you to keep, then that can always just be accommodated. But when you’re under 2k cals, doing whatever means something else is going to have to get cut - like you said, cut cheese or carbs, etc. Just depends if you can find something good enough.

 

[sammpedd88]

Yeah if you wanted more protein for same calories like I mentioned then using a protein powder/RTD as creamer is definitely a great play.

The reality of that or using the no-sugar coffee mate is that it’s not going to taste the same as a hi-cal creamer, whether that’s from high fat, sugar or often both. But it’s pretty good, if you just need something, and works towards your goals instead of against them.

Of course, if something is THE thing that’s truly important to you to keep, then that can always just be accommodated. But when you’re under 2k cals, doing whatever means something else is going to have to get cut - like you said, cut cheese or carbs, etc. Just depends if you can find something good enough.

Those caramel flavored Premier Protein RTD’s are great in coffee.