Team Best

The Post-Contest Struggle

Written by Josh on November 3rd, 2010

I wanted to briefly write some thoughts on my post-contest diet struggle. In the past, I always ate whatever I wanted and actually tried to eat as much as I could. This time, however, I really wanted to maintain a somewhat lean physic during the offseason. I knew it was going to be tough.

It was tough… and again, a learning experience. The first week I tried to stay very lean… I stayed around 156 and stuck to a strict diet. Then I broke and I had a few days where I probably hit the 5,000 calorie mark. I jumped up to 173 at one point… but now I’ve been consistent at the 162-164 mark for a week+.

I learned a few things… one, you need to splurge… maybe a couple times, to get it out of your system – otherwise you’ll be constantly thinking about it. And two, add some variety – I just ate about 3 or 4 different foods for the last 6 months… it really helped when I added a lot of different, healthy foods to my diet – apples, cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, beef, mixed vegetables, etc. Three, moderation. Once you’ve splurged and you’re back on your good diet and you feel a craving for a cupcake – have it. I say, have one cupcake today so you’re not eating a whole cake tomorrow. But I also add it into my macro’s for the day. I don’t really have any specific macro’s that I’m trying to hit at this point, but I am tracking them and keeping them reasonable.

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Tags: diet, lessons, post-contest

Offseason Diet – October 2010

Written by Josh on October 18th, 2010

Here is my offseason diet that I started today. I’ll keep an eye on my weight and make sure it’s not going too far too fast in one direction or the other and make adjustments if necessary.

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Tags: bodybuilding, diet, food, offseason

10 Days Out: I’m ready to be done

Written by Josh on October 6th, 2010

I don’t want to read any more about bodybuilding. I don’t want to see any more pictures of bodybuilders. I don’t want to listen to anymore bodybuilding podcasts.

I want to be done (with this contest prep, anyway).

I’m ready to move on… and I’ve been ready for a long time now. I’ve known for several months that this will be the last contest that I compete as a beginner. And that’s what’s really been on my mind… after the contest.

So here are a few things I should read before doing my next contest.

Plan
I think the #1 thing I should do next time is map everything out. I really have never mapped anything out besides my diet – which I seem to change on a whim. I don’t want to do that next time. However, I do want to listen to my body, and if something isn’t working right change it… but not nearly as frequently as I did this time around.

Getting lean
I figure there are 2 options for the next diet to improve on how lean I get – either a) diet longer or b) start at a lower bodyfat. Those 2 options will also have to be combined with the nutrition knowledge I’ve learned over the course of this diet. One thing is, I will not do a keto (drop to 0 carbs) hopefully at all, but at least not right away – which is what I did during this contest prep.

Those are the 2 biggest things that will help me when it comes time for contest prep. I did do quite a bit of cardio this time around – but nothing was high intensity… I like doing low intensity cardio – so I don’t think I would change much about that. Next time I would maybe start cardio a little later than I did and try to do the least amount possible. I would rather keep cardio as a tool in my toolbelt and only get it out when it’s needed.

Getting big
This is where I’m having my internal war right now. I’ve always tried to gain as much weight as I can and become as strong as I can after my contests – but I’ve been wanting to take a different approach this time. If I stay leaner, it would help me in 2 ways – 1) getting lean would be easier and 2) I would be able to see if I’m making any gains during the offseason. On the other hand, gaining a bunch of weight would allow me to 1) get stronger and 2) not worry about what I’m eating (doughnuts, brownies, cakes).

I don’t think I can do it halfway – the main reason is because I don’t want to be stuck in the nothing phase. So I either want to stay very lean or get very fat. Maybe I’m too extreme.

One of those options definitely sounds more fun to me and also since I really don’t want to do another bodybuilding contest for several years it might be a good option. But, the one thing I have to keep in mind is that it might be possible to stay lean but also not feel terrible (like I’m dieting for contest prep). If I don’t feel terrible and starving all the time – it might be a good possibility. That’s just one thing I’ll have to see how it goes since I’ve never done it before. The other thing I keep pointing out to myself is that just because I stay lean does not mean I have to stay small! I hate being small and the whole idea of bodybuilding is to build your body.

That’s what I really want to keep my focus on – building my body – the best way I can.

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Tags: best of the midwest, bodybuilding, diet, food, future, thoughts, update

A theory I have

Written by Josh on September 18th, 2010

The human body has an incredible ability to adjust and adapt to pretty much anything you throw at it – it’s one reason why humans have survived ice ages, etc. We all know that if you continue to do the same exercises for the same reps at the same weight – you will stop getting stronger. Your body has adapted to those exercises and those weights and it has become efficient at getting that specific job done. So what should you do? Change up your exercises, change the number of reps, change the weights – keep your body guessing.

Why do we not think the same is true for losing fat as it is for gaining muscle? We so often hear that bodybuilders should eat on a schedule, every 2 hours, the same thing, at the same time, every day.

My theory is that your body is able to adapt to what you’re feeding it. After awhile, it knows it has another meal coming in 2 hours so it won’t shed as much body fat. It knows it will have some carbs coming in the morning and some carbs around workout time.

What I’ve started doing
I’ve started to mix up my diet a little more – especially timing of meals. For the most part I stick to my routine, eating about every 3 hours… but I’ll also throw in some times where I don’t eat for 6-8 hours at all. I’ll also throw in some times where I take in a substantial amount of calories in a short period of time – followed by a period of straight protein, for example.

I have no scientific fact to back up my theory – it’s just my theory. The body is too good at being able to adapt – keep it guessing.

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Tags: bodybuilding, diet

5 Weeks Out – Update

Written by Josh on September 12th, 2010

Just a quick update. I’m at 5 weeks out and feel that I’m right on track – but always in the back of my mind I feel a little behind. I feel I look good… but then I take a look at this post on Bodybuilding.com and realize I still have a long ways to go. I feel I’ll come in at my best ever – which is the main goal; but I don’t feel I’ll come in at the leanest I could ever be – a goal for another contest.

Diet
As far as the diet goes, I’ve been sticking with a keto-type diet. I have a slice of Ezekial bread with natural peanut butter on it in the morning and a couple scoops of natural peanut butter at lunch time – those are the only 2 times I eat carbs/fats – the rest of my food is pure protein (boiled chicken, tilapia, egg whites).

I do have a refeed / high carb day about once a week. It’s nice when it comes around, but it also feels counterproductive — when really I think it’s beneficial. This is what I look forward to all week…

Whole wheat pancake mix, egg whites, and oatmeal pancakes with natural peanut butter on top

Cardio
Cardio has been bumped up quite a bit. In a future contest I would hope not to do as much cardio – but for this contest, I want to push myself beyond where I’ve been at before. So I’m doing low-mid intensity cardio twice a day nearly every day. I’ll take a cardio session off if I’ve had an extra good workout, absolutely need a break, or am having a high carb day.

Going forward
I don’t see many changes to the routine going forward… just keep pushing myself. The main goal right now is to keep the intensity up at the gym – which is difficult sometimes.

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Tags: best of the midwest, bodybuilding, diet, food, update