Daily Blog Archives
Check out my daily blogs from days gone by.
February 27th, 2008
Today is my day off from lifting and cardio and I can't say I'm not excited about that. I've been a bit under the weather lately and I'm feeling a sore throat trying to come on. Liz was feeling pretty bad on Sunday and Monday but is doing better now. I'm really hoping I don't have to deal with any kind of cold. I hate being sick.I've got to keep this short and sweet as I've still got a lot to do today. Talk to you in the morning.
Scotty
February 26th, 2008
I'm still holding quite a bit of water from the weekend's poor eating and have decided to postpone my weekly pictures until Thursday. I was looking extremely "smoothed out" this morning and thought it would serve no purpose to take pics. Plus, Thursdays will be a better day for pics Liz as has to take them which means she is up much earlier. Thursdays just work better for us.I was happy this morning to see that I had dropped a pound of the now infamous water weight. I'm thinking it should all be out in the next 48 hours. We'll just have to see.
Okay, I'm off to the gym to hit blast my arms and do 13 minutes of HIIT. I will talk to you all in the morning.
February 25th, 2008
As those of you who read this blog on a daily basis already know, I didn't do any updates this weekend as I was out of town on Saturday and most of the day Sunday. Needless to say, my diet was very lackluster. In fact, I even gave into temptation and ate at Jack-In-The-Box on Sunday followed by desert directly afterwards at Burger King. This is probably the most embarrassing post I've had to write over the last 5 months.This morning I was holding about 2 pounds of water from all the salt in the fast food I ate yesterday. I've been feeling sluggish and lethargic all day and my workout was pretty lackluster. I'm still paying for yesterday's lapse in willpower.
Regardless of this weekend's shortcomings, I'm still on the trajectory toward my goal. I receive quite a lot of email from people asking me how I stay focused when I feel like giving in or I've slipped up on my diet. I think the answer to this question is much simpler than people realize. Here goes...
You succeed by doing the right thing more often than the wrong thing.
If you screw up on your diet and go on a weekend junk food binge or you miss your workouts all week long, just make sure the next week you eat clean and hit all your workouts. As long as you do the right thing more often than the wrong thing, you will succeed. This is my philosophy and it works. I don't focus on my failures, I simply focus on my goals.
February 22nd, 2008
I've been getting some mail lately telling me my weight loss has been unhealthy, or my calories are too low, or I lost weight too fast. Are you kidding me??? I'm not really sure who these people are who like to make a negative response to everything the see/read but it's kind of ridiculous really.Let's take a look at my caloric intake. It's around 1600 calories a day. Maintenance level for someone my height/weight/activity level is around 2400 calories a day so I have created an 800 calorie a day deficit. Health professionals recommend a 500-1000 calorie per day deficit for healthy weight loss. This would equate to 1-2 pounds of weight lost per week. Unhealthy? I don't think so.
Others have said, "Oh, you've lost the weight too fast." Are you serious? I've been dieting and training for over 5 months. How long do you expect it to take to lose weight?
Finally, I want to address those who say my weight loss is "unhealthy." This one really takes the cake. If you would take a look at my food logs, you would see a diet low in simple sugars and saturated fat, moderate amounts of "good" carbs, and enough high quality protein to sustain muscle growth. I have a hard time seeing how this is unhealthy. Most adults eat fast-food 4 times per week, eat junk food at their desk, and donuts at their morning meetings.
I'm not trying to sound haughty or anything but I thought this should be addressed. I appreciate all of the emails I receive and try to respond to them each individually. I just thought this might give my general thoughts on the subject.
February 21st, 2008
Sorry, I'm getting to the update so late. It's been an incredibly busy day so this will be very short and sweet. Not a lot to report other than I hit a new low in my weight at 163.2 lbs. It feels good to see the scale moving.Talk to you in the morning.
Scotty
February 20th, 2008
After watching my sodium intake very closely and drinking about a gallon of water, I was able to shed most of the retained water from Monday night's stir fry. Today I weighed in at 164.2 and look much more defined than I did in yesterday's weekly pics. I ate very clean yesterday and didn't overdo it on the calories. It also didn't hurt that I did 25 minutes of HIIT on a different elliptical machine that seemed much harder than the others. According to the machine, I burned 360 calories (though I'm not too sure how accurate those things are).Today is my day off from lifting and cardio but I still plan to eat very clean. I'm really loving the balanced 40-40-20 eating plan I have been doing lately and my body seems to be responding to it quite well. This morning I took an "unofficial" body fat reading with my Fat Track Gold digital body fat calipers and tested out at 9.6%. I won't post official readings until Sunday but I'm thinking I should be around the mid 9's then.
Anyway, I need to get to work. I've got a busy day ahead of me. Thanks again to all of you who have been sending positive messages and emails encouraging me to enter Bodybuilding.com's transformation contest. I am considering it once I reach my goal of sub-8% body fat.
Talk to you tomorrow.
February 19th, 2008
Today I took new weekly pictures and I wasn't too impressed with the progress. It could be that I'm holding some water from last night's stir fry which contained some added salt. I weighed in a pound heavier and looked very smoothed out this morning. I think it shows quite a bit in this week's photos.Today, I am drinking plenty of water and being very careful with my sodium intake. I should be able to flush out the water and see the scale start moving down tomorrow. Although, weight is not a primary goal, it is a huge motivational factor. It's much easier to go on day after day when you see the scale moving in the direction you want it to.
Well, I'm off to the gym for some HIIT. I will be doing 25 minutes today which should pretty much wipe me out. I'll talk to you all tomorrow...Scotty
February 18th, 2008
I updated the stats page yesterday and was excited to report my body fat is now down to 9.9%! This is great news as I had been stuck between 10.2% - 11.2% for over a month. After changing up my diet and increasing my cardio, I'm starting to see some significant drops. I'm hoping to report more movement next week.I'm off work today so it will take a bit more diligence to stick with my diet. Work days are much easier because I pack my food for 9 hours and that is all I have to eat. There is really nothing there to tempt me. At home it's a different story. But, my resolve is strong and I have my meals all planned out so there should be no surprises in today's food log.
Tonight I will be preparing my protein for the week out on the BBQ. I love the taste of BBQ chicken and turkey burgers and will eat them throughout the week for my lunches and snacks. It really doesn't bother me to eat the same thing everyday. Food has really just become a tool that I'm using to accomplish my goals.
Well, I better get going. I have a lot I want to accomplish today and the weather is great right now in Washington State. Until tomorrow...
February 17th, 2008
Although I thought yesterday's workout was going to be great, that was not the case. I really had a hard time getting into it and wasn’t too impressed with my lifts. I finished my workout but it was nothing to write home about.Today's workout was much better. I hit my chest pretty hard and although I didn't go up any in weight, I felt like I got a good workout. I finished it up with 15 minutes of HIIT and was on my way.
A few weeks ago, I purchased an Air Card from Cingular Wireless that lets me use my laptop anywhere I get cell phone service. So, today I took my it with me to the gym and was able to read some of my favorite blogs while resting between sets. I usually read books or magazines during my rest intervals so this was a nice way to mix it up a little. I may bring my laptop with me again when it's not too busy.
Well, I'm cheking out. Sorry it took me so long to get to this update. I'll talk to you tomorrow.
February 16th, 2008
I'm really feeling good lately in the gym. My lifts have been very strong and my cardio has been off the charts. My chest used to really burn when I would do cardio (probably due to smoking...I quit back in 2004) and that would be what stopped me. Now, I feel like my lungs could go forever and it’s simply the burn in my legs from legs that takes me out. I honestly am already in the best shape of my life. This should serve as inspiration for those of you who are thinking about getting in shape. In only 5 months, I have been able to completely revitalize my health.I have been cycling my calories as I mentioned previously and it has been working out well. I will have a high calorie day again today as I'm making chili tonight for a friend's birthday. It’s actually pretty healthy but I may top my bowl with cheese and sour cream. Of course, I will log everything. I plan to eat around 2000 calories today. Tomorrow and Monday, I will eat around 1300-1500 calories and then for the rest of the week I will be eating around 1600 calories a day.
Anyway, I'm off to the gym. I'm planning to hit it a little extra hard today as I feel like I have plenty of energy. My goal is in sight and I can't wait for my weekly stats posting tomorrow. I'll talk to you then...Scotty
February 15th, 2008
Well, yesterday was Valentine's Day and Liz and I were invited to have dinner with several other couples at a new friend's house. It was a wonderful evening and we both agreed it was the best Valentine's Day we ever had.Of course, I deviated quite a bit from my usual diet, eating my fair share of perfectly cooked prime rib, shrimp, all of the sides, and cheesecake. I thought about trying to log all of the different foods I ate but since there was so much, I will probably just lump everything together and log it as a "cheat meal."
Yesterday's daily news update received quite a bit of feedback from visitors to the site. I'm glad so many of you are pursuing a healthy lifestyle. Health and fitness has definitely changed my life for the better and I will continue on this path for the rest of my life.
Finally, I posted a side-by-side picture comparison in the Photo & Media Gallery of the Scotty's Body Forums yesterday and thought I would expound a little more.
I started my transformation at 195 lbs. and 28% body fat (measured with my Fat Track Gold digital body fat calipers) and on Tuesday I weighed 165.4 lbs. at 10.2% body fat. That's 29.6 lbs. lost in less than 5 months. But, let's do a little math and see what we come up with...
195 lbs. @ 28% bf = 54.6 lbs. of fat and 140.4 lbs of FFM (fat free mass)
165.4 lbs. @ 10.2% bf = 16.9 lbs. of fat and 148.5 lbs. of FFM
So, it would actually be 37.7 lbs of fat loss and 8.1 lbs. of muscle gain. Pretty cool, huh? This is why body fat testing is much more accurate than using the scale alone.
Anyway, I hope you all enjoy your Friday and I'll talk to you tomorrow.
February 14th, 2008
Yesterday was my day off from training and I'm very glad to get back in the gym again this afternoon. My resolve to reach my goals is so strong right now that I can hardly believe it. I've never been the type of person to really push myself beyond my limits. Usually when I got close to reaching a goal, I would just slack off, knowing that I had probably accomplished more than most people. To simplify it, I was satisfied with simply being above average but never really striving for my very best.Health and fitness has completely changed my outlook on much more than just diet and working out. Of course, I'm in the best shape of my life, feel 10 years younger, and am looking better and better every day. But, even more important, undertaking this transformation has led me to realization that I can accomplish anything I set my mind to. I don't mean that to sound vain or egotistical, I'm just trying to express how much a healthy lifestyle can affect your entire life. It's really quite amazing.
If you're reading this and trying to make up your mind to get in shape, I say, GO FOR IT! It will be the best decision you will ever make and will greatly improve every facet of your life. The hardest part is actually making up your mind to do it. Once you do that, it's simply a matter of doing the right thing (proper diet and exercise) the majority of the time. It is possible for anyone to accomplish what I've accomplished with just a little drive and determination.
I wish you all the best in your own body transformations. I highly encourage your to head over to the forums and start a thread in the "Training Journals" category. Chronicle your progress daily or weekly. Post progress pictures and track your food intake. This was one of the main reasons for my success. I kept a written records of everything. Your can do it too!
February 13th, 2008
I'm sorry yesterday's update was so short. I had a lot to say but no time to say it. I'll make up for it today. Sit back, relax, and enjoy a double daily update.First, new weekly progress pictures were added yesterday. These were by far the best pictures yet showing a lot of definition coming in on my arms, shoulders, and chest. The abs are still a little blurry and the love-handles are ever-present but I can't complain. The HIIT is paying off and I will definitely keep it up through the end of my cut. There really is no substitute for hard work.
Today I weighed in at a new low, 164.4 lbs. This is very encouraging as I have been sticking to a very strict diet over the last week. I'm trying to cut out some of the foods that are not really conducive to getting down to 8% body fat. These include things like ketchup and BBQ sauce. I'm also watching my salt intake more closely and drinking more water (1 to 1.5 gallons a day). Combining these changes with the HIIT has proven to be effective.
There is (yet) another significant diet change I will be making to my diet that was suggested by one of our forum members, TT_Boy. Starting tomorrow, I will begin doing some calorie cycling. This diet concept is supposed to jolt a slowing metabolism. You see, I've been eating somewhere around 1600 calories for the past 4-plus months. My body has essentially gotten used to this amount. In order to continue losing, I would have to create an even larger calorie deficit which I don't believe would be healthy for the long term. Instead, I will do 2-3 days at around 2000 calories, 2 days at around 1300 calories, and 2-3 days at around 1600 calories. It should average out to around 1600 calories a day but my body will be tricked into speeding up my metabolism. Therefore, if you're watching my food logs closely, don't be alarmed if you see my caloric intake shoot up. I am just employing this advanced fat loss technique to get down to a low level of body fat.
Finally, if you are checking the site frequently, I highly encourage you to sign up and begin posting on the new forums. Although, I love getting emails and will continue answering them all, I believe many of your questions would benefit others if they were asked over at the forums. Plus, you will most likely get a faster response.
Alright, it's time for me to get to work. Have a great day and I'll talk to you tomorrow.
February 12th, 2008
Hey All, I don't have much time to write today so this will be very short. New pictures (from today) are up. Take a look and let me know what you think.Talk to you tomorrow. Scotty
February 11th, 2008
Well, it's Monday which means I have been extremely busy today and am not getting to the daily news update until now (evening). Mondays always seem to be extremely stressful. I didn't get my protein cooked up last night so I did it today when I got home from work. I cooked up about a pound of chicken and a pound of turkey burgers. I purchased some Mrs. Dash mesquite flavoring, which made the chicken taste great. I like to use Mrs. Dash with a little salt substitute on most of my meats. This should get me through the next several days. I don't like to cook too much protein at one time, as it seems to get tough in the fridge after about 4-5 days.I'm about ready to head to the gym here in a few minutes for an intense shoulder workout followed by 25 minutes of HIIT. I'm enjoying my workouts much more this month now that I am back on the carbs. I am able to accomplish more in the gym and am considerably stronger.
Well, I hope you all are enjoying your Monday. I'm off to the gym.
February 10th, 2008
I'm sorry for getting to this update so late. It's been quite a day. Don't forget, I have a 7-month-old baby boy who takes a lot of my attention. I digress. Yesterday's workout was cut short. We were having dinner with some friends and I had to do a bunch of errands before I hit the gym. By the time I got there, I only had time for cardio and had to put off my arms workout until today. I ended up doing 25 minutes of HIIT on the elliptical with 1-minute intervals alternating between levels 2 and 10. I was dripping with sweat when I got off and felt awesome. I love cardio. It takes me a about 10 minutes before I start to get in my groove, but once I do, I feel like I could go forever. Good times.Today, I hit my arms very hard. I decided to start with alternating dumbbell curls and was able to go up 5 pounds on each arm over previous weeks. Cardio was the same as yesterday but for the first 12 minutes, I alternated between levels 2 and 12. Again, it felt awesome.
Getting down to sub-8% body fat is going to take some work. I'm taking a serious look at my diet but I'm sure this increased cardio will help. I'm fully prepared to endure whatever it takes to get down to my goal.
February 09th, 2008
My chest workout last night was the best ever. I successfully added 5 more pounds to my bench for 6 reps and have now added 55 pounds to my bench press in just over 3 months of lifting. In all humility, this is pretty impressive since I am in a calorie deficit and have been shedding fat while gaining some muscle. Many people believe it is not possible to do both at the same time but my progress so far has shown me that it can be done. I think a lot of this is due to the low rep sets I'm doing. I usually do between 4-6 reps per set. This forces me to lift heavy and heavy weights build muscle. I believe a mistake made by many people when "cutting" is to increase their reps to 12-15 reps. I believe this method actually produces muscle loss. Your workout becomes more aerobic and you are not really doing anything to preserve lean muscle. Low reps while cutting keep your hard earned muscle and may even add more.My diet yesterday was spot on. It feels great to not even want to cheat. I think I'm at the stage where I can see my goal in sight and any cheating would just delay me from reaching it. I plan to continue my fat loss until I reach between 7-8% body fat. I'm not exactly sure when I will hit my target but I'm anticipating it being somewhere between March 15 and April 15. If I hit my goal earlier, that's great but I’m pretty sure it will be somewhere during that timeframe.
Alright, I'm off to the gym to blast my arms and do a 25 minute session of HIIT. Talk to you tomorrow.
February 08th, 2008
Well, it's Friday and I can't say I'm disappointed. It's been another long week and I'm definitely looking forward to the weekend. Yesterday's leg workout was good but I didn't go up any in weight. I will try next week. I'm going to blast my chest tonight and I'm sure I will be able to add 5 pounds to my flat bench press and incline bench press.I have received quite a bit of email about the EAS whey protein powder I have been taking, most saying it was junk. I totally agree that EAS is not what it used to be as a company and have essentially sold out. I don't, however, think that the limited increase in quality of some of the much more expensive protein powders really justifies their exorbitant price. Sure, you may get a little better product with more whey isolates and less filler but does it really justify paying more than double? For me, the answer is a stern "NO!" Perhaps if I was a professional bodybuilder with an unlimited budget I would opt for the more expensive supplements, but I think for your average guy, everyday supplements work just fine (if they are even needed at all).
Anyway, that is just something that I wanted to address as I've received several emails on the subject. You are free to choose whatever supplements you wish to take and I, in no way, endorse EAS or any of the other companies I mentioned last week. I'm just giving you my $.02. Take it or leave it.
If you want to discuss it further, head over to the forums and see what other members think.
Enjoy your Friday and don't forget to work out and eat healthy. I'll talk to you all tomorrow.
February 07th, 2008
Man, it's been a crazy week. I feel like I haven't really had much time to devote to the website. I hate that because it really is a labor of love and I miss it. Well, I'm back so here's a little update.My back muscles are incredibly sore from the pull-ups on Tuesday. Pull-ups have to be about the best exercise for your back because a) you're using a lot of weight (your body weight) and b) you are forced to use the auxiliary back muscles to hold yourself steady. I have never really been able to do pull-ups before and always did lat pull-downs because my back was always too weak or I was too heavy. At around 165 lbs., I'm now able to do seven reps for three sets.
Today I'm planning to hit the legs and I hope to go up a little on my squat and straight-leg deadlift. I'll let you know tomorrow. I'm also going to add a little LISS cardio at the end if my legs will permit it. Aside from really wanting to do cardio today, I'm hoping this will help keep my legs from getting too sore. I have some plans for Saturday night and I don't want to be walking around like some kind of cripple.
My weight has finally started to drop and today I'm down to 165.6 lbs. That's 0.8 lbs. off of my low from January 29th. I'm thinking my body will find it's balance with the carbs and with the calorie deficit, and start burning fat. I'm planning to keep my caloric and macro nutrient intake about the same for the remainder of the fat loss stage. The only thing I will do is maybe increase the duration and intensity of my cardio. I'm fairly confident this should take care of the remaining body fat I want to lose.
Have an awesome day and I'll talk to you all tomorrow.
February 06th, 2008
Well, it's going to have to be short and sweet today as I don't have much time. Last night's back workout was great. I'm not too sore yet but will be tonight. Cardio is feeling better than ever. Today is my day off from the gym but tomorrow I have legs. I seriously can't wait. I may see if I can add some cardio at the end.I encourage everyone to join the forums. They are only as successful as the activity in there. If you visit the site often (or even occasionally), why not create an account and introduce yourself.
Take care...Scotty
February 05th, 2008
I've been eating a lot of Oven "Fried" Chicken lately. It's simple, tasty, and one of my favorite ways to prepare chicken when I'm eating carbs. Check out the recipe and give it a try. I'm almost guaranteeing that you'll like it! I've also been doing the Oven "Fries" recipebut swapping out he white potatoes for sweet potatoes. Absolutely delicious.I had another great workout yesterday. I hit the shoulders and traps pretty hard and then did my standard abs workout of 100 crunches and 50 leg lifts. My lifts have been staying about the same for the past 2 weeks. I haven't been able to add any weight. I did expect my strength gains to stall somewhat toward the end of my cutting phase. Honestly, I didn't really expect to gain as much strength as I have.
My cardio workouts have also been great this week. I'm doing 20 minutes of medium to high intensity interval training. I don't quite feel like I'm going to puke when I'm done but I am dripping with sweat when I get off of the elliptical. As I plan to keep this up (and increase my duration), I am expecting to see a pretty good drop in body fat for the month of February. January was fairly stagnant so I've made the proper adjustments to my diet and training and now it's time to see results.
I know a lot of you visit this site most every day. Why not join the forums and introduce yourself. Let's build a community of people who want to discuss health, fitness, or anything else. I'll see you there.
February 04th, 2008
First order of business is that I launched the new forums today! I'm very excited about this. I have received so many emails from visitors to the site with questions and comments that I thought it would be a good idea to build an area where we could all engage in open discussion regarding health, fitness, and just about anything else. I invite everyone to register and begin posting over there.Last night's workout was great and I expect today's to be even better. I have increased my cardio both in intensity and duration. I'm now doing 20-30 minutes of moderate to high intensity interval training. This is possible because I am now back to a diet of 1500-1700 calories consisting of around 40% protein, 40% carbs, and 20% fat. I'm expecting to shock my body a little bit after a month of doing a cyclical ketogenic diet. I can already tell the difference in my strenth.
My diet is going great and I expect to be able to stay very strict for the next several weeks because of balanced meals I'm eating. I will be consuming far more vegetables now which really seem to fill me up. I will also try eating around seven small meals a day, about every two hours.
Well, it's time for me to check out of here. Have a great day and I'll talk to you tomorrow (unless you're on the forums this evening).
February 03rd, 2008
I apologize that I'm a little late on my daily update. It's been a bit of a crazy day with the Superbowel, etc. I had a great workout today and am feeling very energetic now that I've upped my carbs. I hit the arms very hard and did 20 minutes of HIIT. I should be seeing the remainder of the fat melt off over the next several weeks. Good stuff! More to come tomorrow.
February 02nd, 2008
Yesterday I began adding carbs to my diet and lowering my fat intake and let me tell you, it is great! I will be trying to concentrate on good carbs like oatmeal, sweet potatoes, whole wheat breads, and fruits and vegetables. I have already noticed a difference in the way I look as the carbs have been filling out the muscle quite a bit. That is one thing about low-carbing, you always seem to look flat. Now I'm looking very full and solid.I think it is very good to switch up your diet plan often. The body is a very efficient machine with the goal of preserving fat to keep you alive. When you get down to low body fat levels, it becomes even more efficient with keeping body fat. You essentially have to trick your body in order to get it to give up the remainder of body fat. That is what I'm doing now. After a month of low-carb eating, I'll be changing it up drastically, as far as by body is concerned. I'm expecting the fat to start falling off again now and I hope to be under 160 lbs. this month and somewhere in the high 8 percent body fat range. Then it’s only a short jaunt down to around 7 percent.
In other news, I'm going to be adding a forum to the site. It should be up and running sometime this week. I'm hoping this will be a place for visitors to the site to ask questions and get help on their own body transformations.
Alright, it's time for a bowel of oatmeal and a protein shake and then it's off to the gym. See you tomorrow.
February 01st, 2008
I've got to make this short and sweet today as I've got a lot to do. I have decided to go ahead and switch my diet. Starting today, I will begin adding carbs and lowering fat. It will probably take me a few days to get it back into the swing but I'm really looking forward to it. See you all tomorrow...