Lost 96lbs and made top 10 in physique contest...

That is my biggest worry with my coach. She has me on so low carbs, even when I had fruits at 20 weeks, that I am always under 100g, higher end until yesterday, yesterday around 60g. When I hit 18% bf what is she going to do to get my body to let it go? More cardio? I am a hard fat loser but a great muscle gainer. She seems to be throwing me into her cookie cutter program and cutting out anything I can't have due to my medical issues and it is leaving me so flippin' limited. Can you tell I am frustrated. I think for my real prep at 8 weeks, or maybe I will just start a 12 week right after this 12 weeks, that I might pay her out the rest of my contract to get away from her and just get a better, more realistic, weathered coach.

And look at your Cholesterol levels ! Do you supplement with folic or is that just from your diet?

For cholesterol - nothing I take in specific. I just need to hit my macros as prescribed by Layne. If fish oil and flaxseed oil counts, then yes I guess. My macros seem to change weekly now given how my photos look and my scale weight. The increases from Layne in terms of carbs can been as little as 5 grams or as high as 30 grams. My fat macro increases have been minimal...and I mean minimal!!!

That is my biggest worry with my coach. She has me on so low carbs, even when I had fruits at 20 weeks, that I am always under 100g, higher end until yesterday, yesterday around 60g. When I hit 18% bf what is she going to do to get my body to let it go? More cardio? I am a hard fat loser but a great muscle gainer. She seems to be throwing me into her cookie cutter program and cutting out anything I can't have due to my medical issues and it is leaving me so flippin' limited. Can you tell I am frustrated. I think for my real prep at 8 weeks, or maybe I will just start a 12 week right after this 12 weeks, that I might pay her out the rest of my contract to get away from her and just get a better, more realistic, weathered coach.

And look at your Cholesterol levels ! Do you supplement with folic or is that just from your diet?

I forgot to mention. My cholesterol before was about ~187; so yeah a big improvement getting it to 110

Wow that is amazing, I could feel your excitement in your posts, so much info:) glad I read it and will defiantly read it again! Thanks for the inspiration.

Thanks for the reply...and 2nd read.

Now for those carb'ing up...........................................

These are USDA Certified Organic POP TARTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now this is "Carbs Abundant," the other half of the shipment is coming. Believe it or not, USDA Certified Organic Pop Tarts. Ironic thing was I bought them not for the "Certified Organic," it was the cost/unit was cheaper than Kellogg's Pop Tarts. Other half coming tomorrow... Now what to do with the insulin rush I wonder. hmmm......

Thanks everyone...and to clarify the "Awesome" is for me and not the USDA-Certified-Organic-Pop-Tarts-from-Nature's-Path-that-are-cheaper-on-a-per-unit-basis-than-Kellogg's-Pop-Tarts-Right?

I am thinking so!! On a side note, I am suddenly really hungry for a poptart!!

You and me both...

You look so much YOUNGER!!!! wtg!

Thanks. I feel younger too. But then again, my joints and hairline tell me different

Wow. One thing I'm curious about; you said you did low carb to lose weight at first. How long did you do it and how much did you lose? But then when you made the switch and I presume, increased your carbs, did you gain any weight back? What did you do to counter the additional carbs? Step up your workouts? Thanks for sharing and congratulations on your success.

Here is a great article http://www.simplyshredded.com/layne-norton-the-most-effective-cutting-diet.html - that's my coach... Basically, eat enough protein and fats for your level of lean mass and fill in the rest of your caloric needs with carbs. Find out what maintainence is for you and deduct the carb numbers that will help you lose weight. I can go on and on about the process of testing "what" does "what" to your body and the optimal macronutrient composition for you, but again, testing to see what does what to your body takes some time.

I'm still learning to test to see what's optimal. I will say one thing, when you get your metabolism functioning optimally, you can increase your carb allowance to 500 grams so the next time you diet on say 200-250 grams it's high enough where you can still eat and have fun and not starve yourself too badly. I remember the days of eating 30-90 grams of carbs a day - that was not fun at all. No one knows hell, until they've been on an extremely low-carb diet

Now that my metabolism is on fire (thanks to my coach) I'm at about 375 grams per day and I'm not putting on any weight. He figures I'll top out at 400-500 grams somewhere, I think closer to 500 grams, which is about 2000 calories from carbs only. This is fun!!!

In short, I didn't gain the weight back and I went from as low as 30grams to 375 grams, but it took time and Layne meticulously and methodically increased it and other macronutrient variables that "tries" to optimize my metabolism. Simply put, he just tells me how much of carbs/fat/protein to eat and it's up to me to figure it out and eat the foods that will hit those macros.

Now I sit at 177-180 and I'm leaner NOW than I was at 175. Doesn't sound like a lot but, the 2-3 lbs I've gain has totally changed the way I look.

Layne and I compared how I looked at 178lbs at two different points in time spaced roughly 3 months a part and visually I look so different. The last time I was 178lbs when I was dieting down and through that number I was flat, and relatively flabby. And the more recent photo of me at 178lbs I'm bigger and much leaner (much leaner). So what ever it is he's doing, it's working.

Check out my post on blood test and my triglyceride numbers, it's low for someone eating the amount of carbs I'm eating, and my cholesterol - damn. It's like I'm 18 again!!! 110 cholesterol with HDL/LDL ratio that's almost double what is considered "good" I have the metabolism of a marathon runner my physician saids, but the ironic thing is I only do cardio 2x per week :bigsmile:

So I think it's finding the optimal amount of diet and exercise. Now what "is" optimal is different for different people I guess. There are some guys like Alberto Nunez (google him) that can diet on 400grams of carbs per day and refeeds on 1000 grams of carbs. I don't think I will ever get there. He's 5'9" and competes at 160lbs as a natural bodybuilder. And then there's my coach, Layne Norton, who when dieting has to get as low as 100-150 grams dieting for a show. Layne, I believe, competes at 196 lbs at 5'10". They might not sound "huge" but if you google them, they are massive because they are at those weights literally with no fat on their persons....

I hope this helps,
N

Amazing transformation!! And, congrats on being in the top 10, especially out of 215 people!

Thank you - I cannot wait for 2012-2013...Now what color posing trunks? hmmmmmmmmmmm.........

I'm on the same page... What color suit to do next... Best of luck in future competitions!

You too...great sport.

You get to transition to peak shape (during peak week) and then to off-season shape, but hopefully never out-of-shape. Feels real good.