Day 2 - Special Delivery!

Supplement order arrived today!  This completes my supplement stack for the program.  I was hoping they'd arrive last Friday but that obviously wasn't the case.  So now i have the 3 legs of the stool all sorted:  Training, Nutrition and Supplementation

(from left to right)
- CNP Professional Pro MR meal replacement
- DY Nutrition NOXPUMP
- Optimum Nutrition Creatine
- NOW Green Tea Extract
-  Optimum Nutrition Casein Protein
-  Optimum Nutrition Opti-Men Mutli Vitamin
-  Optimum Nutrition Whey Protein
-  Twin Lab Yohimbe Fuel
- Scivation Xtend
- NOW L-Carnitine
-  Optimum Nutrition Glutamine


Shout outs to http://a1supplements.com.au/ for THE cheapest supplements in Australia and also to http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/

Meal 1 – 2 scoops of protein powder

Meal 2 – 150g chicken breast, 150g brown rice

Meal 3 – 150g chicken breast, 150g brown rice

Meal 4 – 150g chicken breast, 150g brown rice

Meal 5 – 1 cup of liquid egg whites (omelet)

Meal 6 – 180g round steak

A.M Cardio - 20 walk

P.M Cardio - 20 Cross Trainer

Pumped up for chest and tris tomorrow at Fitness'n'Motion!  But until then...

Day 1 - And It Begins...

5am start this morning. Woke up and nailed down a brekky shake, chucked on me woolies and hit the road for 20mins of cardio. Cardio was a lot easier than I expected, in saying that I was pretty pumped up being the first day. I found that I didn't get much of a sweat up but it was about 15 degrees outside. Might try to rug up a bit more tomorrow.

Found it pretty hard to eat all my meals today, the smell of chicken and rice was a big reminder that this isn't going to be easy. Took me 40mins to eat meal 4. I'm thinking about packing a shake for meal 3 in future.

Brock and I it the gym at around 6pm to do back and biceps. I always find my lats difficult to really hit but we'll see how sore I am in a couple of days. Hyperextentions almost killed me again, I blacked out for a few seconds after the second set which pumped me up to see if I could pass out on the third but my lower back was well spent by that time.

I found that having music in my ears was more of a hindrance than a help. I might save the ipod for solo workouts.

Anyway, just finished my post workout shake, time for a shower and bed. Until tomorrow...

Meal 1 – 2 scoops of protien, 1 cup of oats

Meal 2 – 150g chicken breast, 150g brown rice

Meal 3 - 150g chicken breast, 150g brown rice

Meal 4 - 150g chicken breast, 150g brown rice

Meal 5 – 1 scoop of protein, ½ cup of oats

Meal 6 – Post-workout shake


4 litres of water

Pre-workout supps – NOXPUMP (DY Nutrition)

Lat Pull Down – 3 sets of 15 reps with 11 plates

Seated Cable Row - 3 sets of 15 reps with 10 plates

Dumbell Shrugs - 3 sets of 15 reps with 25kg

Hyper-Extention - 3 sets of 12 reps with body weight

Machine Preacher Curls - 3 sets of 15 reps with 2.3 plates

Concentration Curls - 3 sets of 15 reps with 7kg

Post-workout Supps: 2 scoops of protein power, 80g dextrose, 5g creatine

Day minus 1 - Cooked

Good evening reader.

I post this using my phone as i lie in bed absolutely cooked after spending all cooking (see what i did there?)  unfortunately my benches are made for midgets, not men so my back is a tad bit sore.

But i still had to make a post seeing its one more sleep till we kick this all off.

Anyway, gotta hit that hay, got 20mins of cardio in about 7 hours!
Gotta get shredded!!! Haha

Day Minus 5 - "It's" about to get real

Good evening reader(s),


Just thought I'd post a quick post out seeing it's only 5 days from the start day.


To be honest, I'm not as pumped as I thought I would be this far out.  I think that's because I have tried and failed before and really don't want that to happen again.  In saying that, I feel I have covered every base so actually failing should be quite difficult.
I have a training partner who is more than excited to kick this off and transform himself into Thor.  I have this blog where I will share everything I do helping me to keep accontable.  And I have a very judgemental bathroom mirror haha.
But I'm sure once I finish that first cardio session before work on Monday, I will be psyched for it.

Now,  I originally planned to do a few detailed posts on training, nutrition and supplementation but I recently decided that I won't.  Only because all the details of these things are covered in the book (http://www.amazon.com/Body-Design-Complete-12-Week-Transform/dp/1451602170/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1314193149&sr=8-1) and I want to encourage you to buy it.  In saying that I will still be posting what I train, eat and supplement with each day and if you have any questions, just comment on that post and I will be happy to help.


A quick summary of the training schedule is weights 3 days a week, cardio 7 days a week and twice a day on rest days.


I will be eating only whole foods.  My protein will be coming from chicken breast, lean steak and fish.  My carbs will be low G.I, these will be rolled oats, brown rice, sweet potato and some vegetables.  The only fats I'll be eating are that fats naturally occurring in the protein sources.


I will be taking protein, pre-workout, post-workout, recovery and fat burning supplements.


I will elaborate why my training/nutrition/supplementation is like this as the program goes on instead of just flooding you with information, so if you are interested, stay tuned!


Anywho, my training partner, Brock Beazley and I are going food shopping tomorrow so I'll take some photos of that and throw them up and HOPEFULLY all my supplements will be delivered in the next 2 days and I'll get a few pics of them for you too.


I'll leave you with a song from one of the best hip-hop acts of all time and one of my favourite acts, The Streets.  This song has got some great lines in it and I am sure it will help me make it though the tough 12  weeks that are ahead of me.  You'll probably just think "what is this rot I am listening to?!" haha.  Untill next time...

- Scott

Day Minus 9 - Goal setting with FLOW

Alright kids, it's time for another blog post.

This morning I'm going to share with you my fitness goals and pretty much what I want to get out of this transformation.

In the book, Kris uses the F.L.O.W goal setting technique which I’m sure some of you have seen before. FLOW stands for:

Fixed

Limitless

Opportunities

Weaknesses

Fixed goals are like, short term goals. In this program they will relate to your physical appearance, for example: Get six-pack abs or lose 10kg.

Limitless goals are more long term goals or goals that inspire us from within. These goals don't have a “completion date.” Examples of these goals are: Becoming fitter so I have more energy to play with my kids or feel confident in your body.

Opportunities are doors that will opened as you continue to improve your health. Some of these may be: Become a qualified personal trainer so you can help other people reach their fitness goals or meet new like-minded people who may inspire you.

And finally weaknesses are things that are potential 'roadblocks' or things that will distract you from your goals. Like: bacon strips, bacon strips, bacon strips or poor organisation skills.

This is my FLOW chart

To explain my weaknesses, anyone that knows me well, knows I am terrible at organising myself which last time lead to missed meals and cardio. This time round I am consistantly working 1-3 nights a week as well as during the day which is going to be THE hardest thing about this transformation. But if I sacrifice a little bit of sleep to get my cardio and workouts done, make sure I have all my meals precooked and always have a meal replacement shake in my car just in case, I shouldnt have any issues.


Unitl next time...


PS If you wanna learn more about proper goal setting for motivation have a look at:
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/the-new-science-of-motivation-body-by-design.html
and
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/kris-gethins-4-secrets-to-success-for-2011.html
OR

Go and buy the book: http://www.amazon.com/Body-Design-Complete-12-Week-Transform/dp/1451602170/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1314085733&sr=8-1

Day Minus 16 - A Quick Update

Welcome back! Or if it's your first time here, welcome!

After reading the first blog post again (if you haven't read it yet, I suggest you do it now), I thought some of you may be asking yourselves “how can he be so confident that this program will work?” Let me take some time to explain.

I have followed one of Kris Gethin's 12-week transformations before  (12-week hardcore trainer to be exact) and due to my own undoing, it was with out 100% success. I ended up “wussing-out” after 9 weeks after getting a cold, making excuses and creating a defeated mindset instead of picking my chin up and powering on. In saying that, I did lose about 18kg (40lbs) in 9 weeks and put on some solid muscle. So I am certain this program will work, it's all up to the individual and how badly they want it.

The biggest thing I struggled with was accountablilty. I didn't tell many people I was following the program and therefore, if I missed a meal, if I cheated, if I missed a cardio session, only I knew. Which made is very easy to fall off the rails. This is pretty much the main reason of this blog. It says in the book to join “Bodyspace,” (http://bodyspace.bodybuilding.com/) which is a fitness social networking website to help with accountability and tracking your progress. It was good for various reasons but because I knew no one on it, I could still get away with what I was doing. But this time I will be all over facebook, posting on this blog and I have a training partner with the same goals so it be a WHOLE lot easier.

Yeah, speaking of my training partner, Brock Beazley (of http://www.brockbeazleyphotography.com/ fame, yeah, a shameless plug haha) has decided to do the program with me! So I'll keep you updated about him as well, because being a small-business owner, he will be doing it on a budget and doesn't work a regular “9-5, 5 days a week” week which some of you could relate with.

Anywho, I might leave this post here, short(er) and sweet. But I will be back soon with more detailed posts on my training, nutrition and supplementation as well as a few little tips and tricks I learnt from last time I followed the program. And I will touch more on all the specifics of the program as I get closer to the start date of August 29.


Until then, watch this video. It's the trailer for the Body By Design book, which I complete forgot existed until I had completed the first post. It explains things a little better than I can. Enjoy!


- Scott

PS Go and buy the book: http://www.amazon.com/Body-Design-Complete-12-Week-Transform/dp/1451602170/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1314085733&sr=8-1

Day minus 24 - The First Post

Greetings!

Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to read my blog, well, to read this far at least.

I thought I should set the scene so everyone knows why I am taking the time to write all this.

My name is Scott Long and I have an excessive body fat percentage.  In other words, I am big fatty haha.  I am just your average, run of the mill, 25 year old kid from Caboolture, QLD.  I work as a technician for Telstra and I enjoy fishing, going to the gym and apple turn-overs fro Mai’s Hot Bread Shop (which unfortunately, do not go hand in hand). 

My weight has not really been big an issue for myself (it has for my knees haha), but as I get older, everyday things are getting harder to do.  Things like tying my shoes laces, getting in and out of cars and walking, anywhere haha.  One day I thought to myself "If I'm only 25 now and it's this hard to do things, imagine 5, 10, 20 years time?!"

So like many people that are overweight and looking for a solution, I have been actively trying to find ways to 'lose weight' and keep it off.  After trying a few diets and exercise programs, I have found the answer.

This program is called "Body By Design" and it’s the product of Kris Gethin, who is the Editor In Chief of bodybuilding.com a specialises in 12-week transformations.

Kris has been around the fitness and bodybuilding scene for many years.  I am not here to blow smoke up his behind so if want to know more about him, you can read more about him in his book or on bodybuiling.com.  Long story short, I trust he knows what he is talking about.

Gethin’s book, Body By Design teaches a few things that are vital to successfully reaching your weight loss/gain goals which I will touch on at a later date but today I'm here to tell you why I've started blogging.

This blog is going to help me firstly, by tracking my progress.  “Research has shown that keeping a food journal alone can double weight loss. One study published in the journal Behaviour Therapy took it a step further by determining that "obsessive-compulsive" self monitoring was the most effective-this means that the more detailed you are with your records, the better your results.”

So I plan to record everything from what I eat, what I lift and how I’m feeling about everything on this blog.

Secondly, it’s going to help me keep accountable.  “The most powerful method to bind internal goals to external actions is to tell everyone about your goals: in other words, to make your private commitments public. Studies have shown that turning a private goal into a public one can propel it from a passive to an active state; like the flip of a switch, sharing your goals with others shines a light on your commitments and ensures that you stick to them. It may seem as though a simple concept couldn't possibly have such a significant impact, but research has repeatedly provide that telling others about your plans can make all the difference.
What happens when you make a visible commitment is that you put your reputation on the line. If you share a goal with someone and then act inconsistently with fulfilling it, you are seen as lacking integrity and trustworthiness”
So even if only one person reads this blog, (which will be my Mum haha) I can be kept accountable if I miss a meal, eat something I shouldn’t (or ‘cheat’ as they say the in fitness industry) or skip a workout/cardio session, I have someone/where to confess to.


And thirdly, it will hopefully inspire someone else to take up the challenge of completing the Body By Design 12-week transformation as well.  The blog will be able to show that if you put in the hard yards, you WILL reap the rewards.



That’s just about enough for the first post.  Hopefully every post won’t be this long so you don’t get bored of me rambling and lose interest.


If you want to learn more about Body By Design you can go to the website:  http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/body-by-design.htm or just go to amazon.com and buy the book.  It’s about $30 US which is about 25 cents Australian and it is well worth the money! 

PS  I am not paid or sponsored by anyone to write this blog or blow smoke up it, I simply believe it is a great product and want to tell anyone who will listen about it.

- Scott