Bodybuilding, weight-training & lifestyle – Project-30.com

Well this mini journey has come to an end, and thank f**k for that

I dominated my last can of tuna about 40mins ago – and whilst I can’t eat anything else today, I am just glad that is over with. It has been a different sort of adventure, and has pushed my willpower to new levels. Not helped by my colleagues at all, especially when they all tucked into Subway for Lunch – but on the whole it can only be considered a success!

3 days on the Tuna and Water diet has resulted in a total of 3kg fat loss. Before I started this on Monday I was weighing around 88kg, today after my body balance class I weighed an astonishingly lighter 85kg. On the whole it looks as though most of the weight loss has occured through fat loss. No doubt some of the weight loss is also attributed to less food weighing me down, not to mention only drinking water (no calories) compared to normal daily liquid intakes.

Tomorrow sees me getting onto a more healthy rounded eating plan. There will be one treat – a nice big fat subway for lunch tomorrow – but the day will be started with a nice couple of poached eggs, placed on some smoked salmon and then placed on toast. Having a glass of orange juice to wash it down will seem heavenly!

At the moment, the diet can only be considered a success for me. However I guess a lot will depend on how the body now adapts to regular food again. I will aim to keep carbs and fats slightly lower, whilst ensuring I am getting a wider range of nutrients through fruit and vegetables.

I won’t post any pics yet, because I want to give it until just before I depart for the UK – which is about 9 days away – before I snap any. If I can get down to 84kg by 22 May – I will be a happy chappy. The last time I was down to this sort of weight would have been in June 2005. The comparison below is a picture taken from that time, compared to a recent picture. The ideal benchmark for success has been to look better than I did back then – I have given myself until Feb 27 2010 – the day I turn 30 – however I think it is fair to say I am well on the road to success already!

Well its Day 2 in the Tuna and Water house, and I am feeling surprising not too bad! I wouldn’t go as far as to say I am feeling like the best ever, but I do believe the body is starting to adapt to the change just a little bit.

I am treating myself to nicer tuna first thing in the morning and last thing at night. Those 2 slices of love have been served with a little bit of olive oil, ground pepper, small amount of vinegar and some chilli powder! It’s amazing how much better it tastes and how much easier it is to eat. There are no real calories in the extra ingredients, so I know it shouldn’t effect anything at all, if anything the addition of the chilli powder might slightly increase my metabolism, just a bit.

Tuna tin 5 has been replaced with a large scoop of whey protein though – yesterday it was because I left the bloody can opener at work, but after reviewing it yesterday it made sense. Meal 5 is my pre-workout meal, so it felt easier to have a shake rather than another tin of tuna.

I am missing other drinks (rather than just sticking to water), and tomorrow morning will be a major test as the coffee lady will be coming round, however if I managed to survive my colleague munching through a gorgeous looking foot long, double meat, meatball subway at lunch today, then anything is possible!

Tonight at the gym felt better than last night. I was still pretty wiped out all up, but I had a bit more energy and focus. Crazily I even managed to increase some weights I was lifting. Lat Pull Downs went from the average of 7 plates, up to 9 for a good 8 reps! However I had to really mentally prepare for it, and half the gym was screamed down – but I think it was worth it hehe.

However the highlight of the gym came at the end when I was barely propping myself up at reception! I asked if they had some scales, and knowing I weighed in at 88kg only 6 days ago (which has been a steady weight for some time now) I was absolutely shocked to see my weight down to only 85.9kg – with 1 more day to go! I can see that the abs are showing a little more, and hopefully when I move onto a slightly more normal diet they will continue to show even more still.

I have had to really focus on this diet, and super focus during training to get to the sort of intensity needed to feel the weights working. But it has been an interesting couple of days. I know I will be very relieved by Thurs morning when I can go back onto some level of normality. Check back then for my final update! And remember to check back in about 10 days time when I update the final pics before heading over to the UK.

Well its been a pretty crazy day, managed 5 tins of tuna, but had to sneak a whey protein into the mix! Was gutted to have to do it, but like a complete spanner I left the can opener at work, and only had 1 can left with a ring pull on it!

It has certainly been a testing day, energy levels have seemed a little zapped, so had to pop in a couple of thermogenic fat burners to keep me mentally alert. Day 1 is over though, surprised I kept it going this long, but heck only 2 more to go now. I am enjoying the challenge of it all, both mentally and physically.

At the gym tonight it was chest, shoulders and triceps, we hit flat bench to begin with. warm-up set at 50kg, followed by an easing in set at 80kg and followed this up with just 2 sets at 100kg! My god I was done for and it was only the first exercise! I followed this up with some incline dumbbell flyes, only hit 17.5kg dumbbells rather than the normal 20 or 22.5, 3 deep sets and chest was nicely cooked!

My shoulders have been suffering recently, so I decided to give any presses a miss, and just focus on a pump, plus I was all pressed out after bench lol. So instead I hit side laterals for 3 sets on 7kg dumbbells and then blasted front and rear delts for 2 reps a piece on the same weight. Ended the session with some dips – 2 sets to 10 reps, and then blasted out 2 sets of tricep extensions on the crossover – no idea what the weight was, just pushed until they were fried!

Was pretty buggered after the workout, was benching close to my best bench, but had to really get in the zone mentally – still amazing what willpower will do for you! I think tomorrow will be considerably harder than today. I have had less than 20gm of carbs today, so tomorrow I will be very depleted – but I am hoping by Wednesday (3rd day) I will start feeling/seeing the benefits of this crazy stuff.

It has been about 6 months now since I have been back training, and I have made some major progress. I have been lucky that my muscle memory has kicked right back – I am as strong now as I have ever been I think – altho legs probably not quite so much.

It has been a good journey, especially as my old job and marriage went to shit – but the old saying, what doesn’t kill us only makes us stronger is absolutely true! I have been through all sorts of emotions the past 6 months, but the gym and training has remained constant. It has stayed true, never failed me, only enabled me the platform to take it to the next level. It has been my friend, my enemy, my counsellor and my solace. I have rekindled a love affair which disappeared, and now the love is stronger than ever!

In celebration of 6months of hard work I will add a little progress pic, taken about a week or more ago:

This is just 6 months of renewed faith, and hard work. There have been good weeks and bad weeks, better eating and shit eating. Good training, bad training and bloody awesome training, but the journey and the total goals are what is important, not 1 bad session or 1 great session. Anyone having a bad week in the gym, don’t lose your motivation or throw in the towel – instead refocus and consider the total progress made!

I am less than 50% through my training program – with a deadline of 27 Feb 2009 – but already the results are speaking for themselves. It will be interesting to see how much leaner I can look before I head to the UK in 12 days!