You can do it! My 3 month transformation with Pics

Transformation Challenge
The start of something new...

Introduction
84 days can be broken down to 2016 hours; Or further reduced to 120,960 minutes or 7,257,600 seconds; I can tell you now, that I have spent every day, hour, minute, and second thinking of how this challenge was going to end; However, this is just the beginning for me. Does not seem like much time to transform a physique, let alone a life; however going through this, I have.
I started this challenge on January 4th, 2013 at a beginning weight of 248 pounds and approximately 18% body fat. Along with the unwanted weight gain, I also had the worrisome notion that I may never get back to where I was just 6 months prior. The holiday season, along with football season (I coach high school football), led me to stray from my calculated eating habits that I had developed for my very first physique competition this past July. My competition weight was 205 pounds at 8% body fat; I had gained 43 pounds and 10% of body fat in just 6 months! There needed to be a change, and this challenge was the best opportunity for me to get my life back to the way I WANTED to live; Shredded.
At the conclusion of this challenge, March 29th, my final measurable statics were: 216 pounds at 9.5% body fat. I did not finish where I was last July, but like I said earlier, this is just the begining...






Training
I used a myriad of training programs, from Muscle Pharm programs to MFT28, and developed that into my own combination. I always started my workouts with a 10 minute warm-up session, weather it be a mile jog or jumping rope, I always did something to get my workout started.
I did strength training 5 days a week and 6 days a week of cardio. I broke down my strength training and cardio sessions into 2 workouts in one day. Often it was strength training in the morning and cardio in the evening.
For my cardio sessions I would do steady-state, fasted, cardio for a maximum of 45 minutes; and as I got closer to the end of the challenge I reduced the time of the cardio sessions. I tried to do HIIT after my strength training; the duration was short a maximum of 20 minutes. Often times my strength training was so fasted-paced, that I had nothing left for HIIT.
As for my strength training program, I LOVE super sets, giant sets, and even quad sets. It was beneficial for me that I went to the gym so early in the morning (5 am) and got my workout in before the crowd got in there; I got all the work I need to get done without getting in the way of other gym patrons. I kept it fast and controlled. I mirrored the single body part a day template. Starting with Legs on Saturday and ending with shoulders on Wednesday.
My workout schedule was as follows:

Saturday: Legs/Cardio
Sunday: Chest/Cardio
Monday: Back/Cardio
Tuesday: Arms/Cardio
Wednesday: Shoulders/Cardio
Thursday: Crossfit type-workout or Cardio
Friday: Rest
Diet
This by far is the most difficult and most intricate part thing for me to overcome, the “diet” part; as it is a hindrance for most people, it is more so for me for I am surrounded with young adults who do not have healthy eating habits. Temptation was around me, nay, surrounded me, but I knew that the sacrifices that I made, would yield the results that I set out for. Every time I said, “No thank you,” or “I just can’t,” I became stronger mentally. In one instance, one of my students had baked “goodies” for the class, and I had to decline the nice gesture. Before this challenge I would have enjoyed the my “fair” share of the class portions and would have had my allotted sugar intake for the day in one glorious bite of a red velvet cupcake with cream cheese.
The first couple of weeks of this challenge was the most difficult. I had to get acclimated with a calorie deficit. Before the challenge I approximate I was consuming double my caloric intake (approx. 5000 calories) that I finished my challenge with. My caloric intake was set at 2500 calories a day with 40% protein, 30 % carbohydrates, and 30% fats.
My foods consisted of what I like to call my “variety of constances.” Meaning that I would eat the same things, but not necessarily in the same order everyday. I would often reverse the normal routine of prototypical diet and ate fish in the morning and eggs at night. My food list included:

Proteins: Beef, tilapia, chicken breast, salmon, egg whites, tuna
Carbohydrates: Brown rice, steel cut oatmeal, sweet potato, lettuce, spinach, bananas, oranges, apples (fruits were limited to mornings).
Fats: Avocado, olive oil, peanut butter (my favorite), fish oil

I did have my refeed days (cheat meals) once a week leading up to the start of week 10. It would be either a hearty meal that I normally would not have through the week (Chipotle or Subway were always good choices) or a delectable dessert after one of my prepared meals. This really helped me mentally. I knew if I worked hard and stayed disciplined through the week I would be able to enjoy a meal without worry.
The final 4 weeks of the challenge I completely changed my diet. I did a 40% fat, 50% protein, and 10% carbohydrates breakdown. The first two weeks of this diet I would only have some carbohydrates pre and post workout. The final two weeks I completely cut carbohydrates out pre and post. I would only recommend this type of diet for a maximum of 4 weeks to maximize fat loss.
One thing that was really helpful for me was to log my foods. There are so many apps out there to help do this or you can do it the old school way of keeping a journal, but in my humble opinion you need a place to actually see how much you are consuming. I think today we underestimate how much we are actually eating these days. Before I would never measure my food, nor did I care, but actually measuring out what 6 oz of fish is and getting the right nutritional value of it, is paramount when you need to stay under a specific calorie goal. If you never know what your nutritional value of your food is, how can you ever know how much you really need? It is the little things, like weighing your food and preparing your meals ahead of time that will add up in the end to help you reach your goals.

Supplements
My staple of supplements year round include:

Multivitamin
Fish oil
Whey protein
Creatine
Glutamine
Flaxseed oil
Branch Chain Amino Acids
For the challenge I included the following:
Fat burner (Oxy-elite Pro and Detonate)
CLA
Solid (By BPI)

Motivation
Motivation, for me, really comes intrinsically. It comes from within. I am the only one that can push myself as hard as I need to be pushed; but we all have times when we lose that "fire" and need to find that "spark" to get us going again. For me, the best way to get that “spark” again was to always change my workout routines; I never did the same workout twice with little tweaks here and there, it almost like I started a new workout program every week.
Like my “variety of constances” with my diet, my workouts had the consistency of the order in which I did my workouts. For example, here is a sample routine for my chest I would do for a week:

Incline Barbell bench press 4 sets of 8 reps; rest 90 sec
Flat dumbbell press 4 sets of 8 reps; rest 90 sec
Dumbbell Chest Fly 3 sets of 15; rest 90 sec
Machine Fly 3 sets of 12; rest 90 sec

Then the next week I would do the same exercises, BUT change the reps and the rest duration:

Incline Barbell bench press 4 sets of 15 reps; rest 45 sec
Flat dumbbell press 4 sets of 12 reps; rest 45 sec
Dumbbell Chest Fly 5 sets of 8 ; rest 45 sec
Machine Fly 3 sets of 12; rest 45 sec
That kept me motivated and energized because I loved the fact that I was not doing the “same” thing every time, so it did not get so mundane for me.



Final thoughts
Through this 12-week challenge, I found myself debating to why it really was I was doing this. I asked myself, “Why are you pushing yourself so hard?” I can truthfully answer that by saying, “I love doing it.” Plain and simple; every aspect of fitness: from dieting to training; the commitment and dedication is what I love. However, I know that I am not perfect, nor will I ever be; but I will try my hardest to be the best version of myself everyday that I have a chance to do so.
I had some speed-bumps along the way that I thought really hindered me from achieving my ultimate goal; but even with those speed-bumps along the way, I knew that tomorrow will be better and I learned from my mistakes. There was one day that I remembered where I went through my whole kitchen and sampled everything in sight, it seemed that I could not get full and almost fell off the wagon; but I realized that it was only one day. We will all have our days when we are not our best, but we must find a way to learn something from those days so that we can control in the future. I knew that when I was bored or had idle time was when my snacking or my cravings would get triggered. Knowing your triggers are important because you now know when it is going to happen. I found some helpful tips to combat these cravings and triggers:


Take a walk right after my meal.
Read a book.
Go on BodyBuilding.com and get inspired.
Do household chores.
Drink black coffee with splenda or stevia after meals (to fight my sweet tooth)
Chew gum



I mentioned earlier, that 84 days seems like a short time to change one’s life, but it really has made me reflect on where I want my life, fitness-wise, to go. I have always have been the one to use the excuse of “It’s okay that I get big, I’m bulking.” That is what got me to 248 pounds at the start of this challenge. To me, that was just an excuse to be a gluttonous fool. I now know that I can and will live a healthier lifestyle balancing exercise, diet, and life in one harmonious cycle. This challenge has made me refocus my energy and to really reflect on what is important to me. My health is the most important facet of my being, not just for myself, but so that I can be there for others. As an educator, it is important to be a role model for my students to see what dedication really looks like. That old adage, “If you want it bad enough, you have to work for it,” really means more if you can live it. I really wanted to get my life back that I had 9 months prior when I did my first competition. Even if I do not win this challenge, this platform as made me really integrate all the things I have learned through hard work and the perseverance. To me this is just the start, it is not just a diet, but a lifestyle and I intend to live my life that way from now.
I could have not done this with the help of my family, friends, and co-workers. I would especially like to thank my online community on BodySpace and MyFitnessPal (calorie counter) for the continued support through this whole journey. I would also like to thank Bodybuilding.com and Dymatize nutrition for sponsoring this amazing challenge. For this is not an individual effort, but a collective effort of many to achieve one goal.

Thank you again for the opportunity to share my story and my journey with you.
Here is the end of this challenge, but the start of my new approach to life; Day 1 starts...now



Sincerely,
True Blue